Shikamaru was surprised at what Naruto told him.

"What?"

"I said you're not going to the party anymore."

"But, why? And, who's going instead of me? Don't tell me you're going yourself? You can't leave the village for just a nonsense party."

"Shikamaru, first of all, that party was organized by our Daimyō himself. It's not just a nonsense party. Yes, surely it's a waste of money. Lots of it. But it's a night where you can enjoy yourself and have a nice drink and good time with someone you love. It's a Valentine's Day party. It's that time when you can be romantic and express your love to someone special to you."

"I just don't get it why people glorify Valentine's Day. It's just a dragging day where you have to spend lots of money and try to be some romantic person that you are not. It's not even a real holiday. We don't even have the day as off."

Naruto gazed at him.

"What? What's that look for?"

"I'm just surprised that you said that. Valentine's Day is a special day, Shikamaru. Didn't you hear what I've just said?"

"Yes, but it still does not justify why you make that day special. And it definitely didn't answer my question about me not going to the party and the one you're sending as my replacement."

"Valentine's Day is a day where you can make someone you love feel special."

"But, can't you do it every day?"

"Can you?"

Shikamaru didn't answer. It's like the gravity of his argument all weighed on to him.

"See? You can't answer because the answer is no. Yes, we love our wives, and we want to show them that every day possible. But we can't. We can't because we're adults now and we have a lot of responsibilities not only to our village, but to the whole world. Sometimes, we take our relationships for granted. And there's this one day when we can say, 'Hey, I can't go home late today because my wife would be waiting for me. It's Valentine's Day.' It's that day when we were given the chance to think of no one else but the love of our lives - our wives. I might not be able to explain it to you that well, but I hope you understand that Valentine's Day is not just a troublesome expensive day. It's a special day of love."

Shikamaru just stared at Naruto. Truth is, he hit all the buttons and made him realize what he wanted him to realize.

Naruto continued. "I don't want you to go to that party without Temari. I want the two of you to spend that night together because it's what couples do during Valentine's Day. And since Temari can't make it, you don't have to go there also. And more so, she is sick. Nothing is more special than having someone you love take care of you and stay beside you when you don't feel good, you know. I'm sure Temari would love to have you by her side especially now that she's feeling under the weather. And finally, I've thought of someone who will go to the party and I made sure he's not going alone."

Shikmaru nodded. Again, he was inspired by this blond guy who doesn't even know the effect that he has on other persons. That made him smile.

"I hope that smile means something beautiful," Naruto said.

"Do you know that you just say the right things unexpectedly?"

"Huh?"

Shikamaru shook his head. "Never mind… Thanks. You made me realize how dragging it is to be on that party… especially without my wife with me."

Naruto smiled. "It sure is."

Shikamaru turned around and is about to leave, but he stopped and said, "Could I take the day off tomorrow? I want to be with my wife and take care of her personally."

Naruto smiled. "I'm giving you my permission."

Shikamaru smiled again before he left. Naruto leaned on his chair, with a satisfied smile plastered on his lips. One down, one more to go. He stood up and did some signs on his hand.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

A shadow clone appeared on his side.

"Go and look for Sarada and Boruto. Tell them to come here at my office. They do not have a mission now so I'm positive that they're just here in the village."

The door suddenly opened, and Kiba came rushing in. Akamaru is behind him, but he seems a little hesitant as compared to his master.

"Naruto, I need to-"

He stopped upon seeing the two Narutos in the office.

"Ahm, which one is the real Naruto?"

"Me." Naruto raised his hand.

"I'll go now," the shadow clone said.

"Okay," Naruto said to his clone.

The shadow clone left the office, leaving Kiba and Akamaru and the real Naruto alone.

"What brought you here, Kiba?" Naruto sat on his chair again.

Kiba went closer to his desk. "You have to do something about that Sai!"

"What?" Naruto frowned.

"He keeps on talking as if he knows everything! He meddles with someone else's life as if he's an expert when he doesn't even know the difference between being angry or feeling sad!"

Kiba pounded on Naruto's desk that made the latter raise his eyebrows.

"I don't think he still doesn't know that… What's wrong with Sai? Did you two have an argument?"

"He told me that I don't know a lot of stuff about growing up and having a lot of responsibilities because I'm not yet married!"

"Oh…" was the only word Naruto can utter.

"I mean, what does me not being married have to do with my maturity? Can't I be matured even if I'm still single? Besides, I have a girlfriend, and we do almost everything that married couples do." He looked down and suddenly became embarrassed. "We even… do that thing that you married couples do… I can actually do it better than most of the married guys out there."

Akamaru whined, as if embarrassed by his master's demeanor. Naruto just raised an eyebrow.

"So Sai should not tell me that I don't know a lot because I'm still single. Marriage is not something that should define you. It's not something that makes you know more than other people. There are a lot of single men out there who are better than other married men in the planet. So you can't just brag about you being married and me being left behind because I'm still single!"

Kiba was panting when he finished. He's tired because of how he yelled the things he just did, and he's breathing fast because of the rage that he's feeling. Naruto waited a few moments for him to calm down before he speaks.

"I guess what Sai means is the difference between being married and being in a relationship with someone."

"How does that differ?"

"Because when you're married, you get to live together on one roof."

"Sometimes, I stay at Tamaki's place, or vice versa."

"Every day?"

Kiba looked away. "Sometimes…"

"Not all the time, not even most of the time."

"Okay… point taken…"

Naruto leaned forward. "Kiba, when you get married, you promise to be with each other for all the time for the rest of your lives. That means you have the responsibility to fulfil that promise no matter what. No matter how hard life might get. No matter how hard it is to achieve. You have to fight for that promise because that's the vow that your hearts made with each other. It's the promise that makes them intertwined."

"But, how about Sasuke? He's always away from the village, from his family."

"And he comes back whenever he has the chance," Naruto said. "Because his heart is connected to Sakura, and that bond will not be broken even if he goes out of the village for months or years without returning. His heart will still find its home. Especially now that they have Sarada. That bond became stronger because another bond was interlocked with it."

"But still, you can live with someone even if you're not married, right?"

"Yes, you can do that. But what if you felt you don't want to do it anymore? What if one day you woke up and just realized that you don't want to live with that person anymore? You can just end it that easily and walk away just like that. But if you're married, you can't just go out that easily. The vow that you made is something so precious that it's too hard to break. That's why before you get married, you need to know if you're really willing to spend the rest of your life with that person because there's no turning back. So you do everything to fix every problem and save the relationship that you have."

Kiba fell into a deep thought. Naruto just let him think and just looked at him. After a while, Kiba sighed.

"Now I know why you became the Hokage."

"Huh?"

"I guess among all of us, you're the one who got mature the most. I mean, I have known you're quite a talker, but you really hit the spots, you know."

"Why do I have the feeling that I've already heard that a while ago?"

Kiba smiled. "Maybe you did. Thank you, Lord Hokage."

Naruto blushed. "Uh, you can call me Seventh, or Naruto. It's fine with me."

"Shikamaru said I should address you more properly."

"Yeah, but I prefer it not to be too formal."

"I'll just call you 'Knucklehead' then."

Naruto smiled. "Yeah, that's fine with me, Knucklehead."

Kiba grinned. "I still think I would be a better Hokage than you, but I guess it can't be helped. I should go now. There's something that I should do."

Naruto nodded.

"Akamaru, say goodbye to the Hokage."

Akamaru barked at Naruto.

"See you around, Akamaru."

The two left the office. Naruto leaned on his chair again as he suddenly felt exhausted. The door suddenly opened, and Naruto's shadow clone entered with Boruto and Sarada in tow.

"Dad!"

"Come in." Naruto straightened up.

"Good afternoon, Lord Hokage," Sarada greeted.

"Good afternoon, Sarada." Naruto looked at his shadow clone. "Thanks for your help."

"Just call me whenever you need me," the shadow clone said before disappearing.

"I have a mission for the two of you. This should have been just for Sarada, but I thought of making you help her, Boruto."

"What is this mission?" Boruto asked.

"I need you to bring someone back to the village. Sarada is the only person who can persuade him and ask him to come back."

"Hmn?" Sarada frowned.

"He's on a mission now, but I need him back here… I mean, his wife needs him for tomorrow."

"Where is this guy?" Boruto asked.

"He's heading for the Hidden Rain Village. He left just this morning."