A/N: AHOY! Just want to say before we start, some reviews, I forget who and asked if all the Akatsuki members would be appearing in this after the appearance of Hidan Ramsey. And well I thought about just having a few members in some Cameo roles.
If I stick to the fluffliness of this fick, I can have this done by chapter 20. However I had another, darker subplot in my cards, which I'm not sure whether or not to play, because if I did play it, this could go to like 50 chapters.
So what do you think, keep it short and fluffy, or add a bit of a dark subplot and stretch it out?
August 23rd
"Come on, Himawari! Just keep kicking towards me!" She watch from the side as her blue haired daughter kicked and squirmed in the clear water as she pushed herself slowly towards the blond man standing easily in the shallowest part of the pool.
She smiled happily as Himawari finally reached close enough for Naruto to pull her the rest of the way towards him gently, hold her small coughing head out of the water.
They were at the start of the school summer holidays when Naruto had discovered that Bolt and Himawari could not swim. And he insisted to help them learn how to do so, as he had grown up on an island, he pretty much learned how to swim before he could walk.
Plus, it helped that he owned an Olympic sized swimming pool as well as smaller pools where they could begin learning and they would have all access to for free.
Bolt took to it naturally, and within a few weeks was swimming up and down the large pool with ease. It was just one of his things, he was loud, brash and confident, and although he didn't take to studying quickly, he was a prodigy when it came to physical activity.
Himawari on the other hand took a bit longer, now ready to tackle the larger swimming pool without arm bands, still needed help grasping the concept of keeping her head above the water by herself, as well as strengthening her kicks and strokes so she could actually move easily in the water.
"Great job, Himawari! Soon you'll be making dolphins jealous at how well you swim-ttebayo!" Naruto beamed to the small girl, who although panting heavily, smiled back softly in return.
"Thank you for all your help, Naruto-san." She spoke back happily.
"You ready to try again?" He waited for Himawari to nod. "Great, swim back to your mom now." He said, turning the girl around and holding her steady before giving her a small push to get her going. He watched carefully as Himawari paddled away towards Hinata, who sat at the side of the pool, her feet dangling in the water.
"SNEAK ATTACK!" He heard being shouted behind him, he turned to see Bolt in the air above him, his arms high up ready to push Naruto under the water.
Naruto caught the boy's arms however, stopping his attempted move. "It's not a sneak attack if you scream it out before you do it, Bolt-ttebayo!" Naruto laughed, quickly moving to grab the boy from under his armpits before lifted him high and backwards, creating a huge splash when the boy went under water.
The boy's head sprung back out, whipping his blond hair rapidly to get it out his face. "It's not fair though geezer! You're bigger and stronger than me, I have to rely on sneak attacks-ttebasa!"
"You want to get bigger and stronger?" Naruto asked, and the boy nodded furiously. "Well then swim up and down the length of this pool ten times, you won't realise straight away, but you'll be stronger at the end of it."
The boy nodded before speeding away towards the deeper end of the pool. "Naruto-san!" He was laughing when he turned to see Himawari about a metre away from him. "Oh, back already eh?"
"Yes!" She smiled as she got close enough for him to grab her once again.
"What do you say then, feeling confident enough for a deeper part of the pool?" He asked the blue haired girl, who nodded back affirmatively. "Let's go then!" He beamed, holding her up as he walked along the floor of the pool, pulling the small girl with him.
Hinata giggled happily at the sight. Hearing Himawari shout to the blond man, she had never heard her speak so loudly before, she could already see some new found confidence radiating from her.
"You're lucky." She turned her head, seeing a random woman stood behind her, as if she was watching the three of them as well. "He's really good with them. I wish the father of my child was half as good with his kid as the father of yours are with his."
"H-He's not…" She cut herself off, before looking over to see the blond man laughing loudly, watching her daughter and son swim around him, both with beaming smiles of their own.
What that man, Shikamaru said, at first she didn't really believe him despite her own assumptions. But seeing the three of them together, what he said began to create more and more truth. It was almost like an instant, subconscious connection with the three of them. The way Naruto and Bolt spoke like one another, the way he seemed to pull Himawari out of a slump with ease. She had spent years trying to help Himawari build some confidence, yet Naruto seemed to have accomplish more in a few weeks than in all her years of attempts.
She was probably making it worse for herself, knowing the possibility he might actually be their father, and not having the courage to at least run the idea by him. And the longer she was holding it off, the deeper the hole she was digging grew. She didn't want to scare him off by throwing the idea at him and hoping he would remember that night all those years ago, because he was quite clearly oblivious to the memory. But she knew, when he did find out, he would probably be angry, or upset, or filled with hate for her, or all of the above.
She knew she had to tell him soon. And the perfect opportunity would arise soon and that would when she would lay everything on the line, and hope that Naruto was as perfect as he made himself appear in her eyes.
But for now she smiled at the seen in front of her. "Yes… He is…"
"So kid, you're not a bad swimmer eh?" Naruto spoke whilst leaning against the sink, waiting for Bolt to emerge from his changing room.
"You're not bad yourself geezer! Do you teach swimming here or something?" He heard Bolt's loud voice call back from behind the locked door.
"Nah. I own this place, kid. Usually when I get bored of my stuffy office I go and help out in different areas in the building. I've been helping with the kids soccer teams recently because it's got more popular after the World Cup. You know soccer right? That game you're really bad at playing on the PS4?" Naruto grinned back childishly at hearing the boy's yell of frustration.
"Hey! Get me a real ball and I'll show you just how awesome I am at that game in real life-ttebasa!"
"Really?" Naruto egged him on. "Well the next practice session is on Thursday at six thirty. Come down if you think you're brave enough!"
"Oh I'll be there!" The boy emerged from his changing room, his backpack filled with his towel and swimming trunks in his hand, he threw it lazily towards Naruto, who caught it with a puzzled look. "Now let's go geezer. I got to get ready for Shikadai's mom's birthday party."
"Shikadai?" Naruto asked, leading the boy out of the changing rooms and towards the exit to where they were to meet Hinata and Himawari.
"Yeah. It's his mom's birthday and he said they are having some boring dinner and he invited me so he'll have someone to talk to!" The boy grinned while looking up towards the blond man.
"Cool! Looks like I'll be seeing you there!" He could help but grin when the boy's eyes widened with a sense of horror. "Me and Shikadai's dad as well as me and his mom's brother go way back-ttebayo, so I got an invite as well. Shikamaru even let me invite Hinata and Himawari."
"Aww man!" The boy groaned, grasping his head in his hands. "You guys are gonna cramp my style though!"
"Can't cramp something that isn't there." Naruto laughed loudly as he held the door open for Bolt. "Now let's go. Your mom's waiting."
"You!?"
"You!?"
"What are you doing here!?"
"Better question. What are you doing here!?"
"I work with Shikamaru! I've known him since we were kids, of course I'd be here!"
"I've known him since birth!"
"Forget Naruto and Bolt. Are you sure those two aren't related?" Temari whispered quietly to the black haired man as she watched the two blondes arguing away. They had begun as soon as they clocked each other upon Naruto, Hinata, Bolt and Himawari entering the restaurant.
"Absolutely. Blonde hair and blue eyes aside, they're just loud, obnoxious idiots." Shikamaru responded dryly, similarly watching the two adults go at it. "Naruto, Ino. Sit down and be quiet." He barked out, causing the two blondes to silence themselves.
The two blondes gave each other another grumpy look before Naruto moved to sit with Gaara and Kankuro. Ino smiled towards Hinata and the two children, giving the blue haired woman a quick hug. "Come on, Hinata let's sit down." She pulled the woman towards the large table in the restaurant. Retaking her seat next to her pale skinned boyfriend Sai, with Hinata sat on the other side.
Bolt went and sat next to Shikadai, and Himawari claimed the last seat next to Bolt. Quite a few people had turned up for Temari's birthday dinner despite the blond man, Hinata and her two children. Ino and Sai were together, although Sai sat with his face down towards a sketchbook almost doodling away in silence. Temari's brothers, Gaara and Kankuro were deep in conversation with Naruto whilst Shikamaru spoke in a hushed whisper in Temari's ear. Even Shikamaru's parents were there, in a conversation with Shikamaru's oldest friend Choji.
"So guys, how's things been going in Suna?" Naruto asked eagerly to the two brothers.
"Naruto, it's only been a couple of weeks since we finally got the construction permits from the city. We're still bringing in materials and equipment." Gaara responded bluntly.
"Yeah, but what about the whole cultural activities you wanted to put in to it. Kankuro, you have any ideas?" Naruto specifically asked the brown haired member of the Suna siblings.
"Got some. Puppetry always been a soft spot in Suna ever since Sasori rose to prominence. So me and Gaara have been bouncing ideas around to include that. Puppet making, puppet theatre stuff like that. We're thinking of have cacti cultivation for stress management, but that as well as many of our ideas are still in early stages. We've got surveys floating around all over the city. We can't plan anything until they get back, man." Kankuro finished with a shrug.
Naruto nodded in understanding. He figured as much about the puppetry. Sasori was the biggest thing to come out of Suna since ever! He and his Red Sand troupe had performed their life-sized puppet theatre all over the world. Sasori and his assistants built their own puppets from scratch, and Sasori himself wrote the screen plays himself. In fact the blond was sure the last film he saw was based on one of Sasori's plays.
"All that can wait though, Naruto. We've still got tons of planning to do." Gaara added on. "Hopefully construction can begin before the end of September, but we've still got to deal with how we're going to fill up all the pools that are going to be in the facility. Suna isn't exactly known for its heavy rainfall."
"Tell me about it, last time I went to Suna I think I lost ten pounds of water weight." Naruto groaned loudly. Despite its surfacing gold mines providing a massive boost to it's economy, Kaze no Kuni was still basically an arid desert.
"Yeah, and you went when it was mild." Kankuro snorted loudly, taking a sip of his beer in front of him.
"I've got a contact in Mizu whom I am corresponding with. I'm hoping to set up a way to import the water from there instead of having to use the local supplies and drain their resources. Even see if they can set up a way for us to store large amounts on site without it evaporating. If that falls through, I'm looking up any options available in Ame." Gaara continued on from his earlier statement.
"Sounds good. I've never really been to Ame before, but Jiraiya said if there's one thing promised in a stay in Ame, its rain." Naruto nodded in agreement. Ame no Kuni was a small country, and its capital city Ame wasn't even half the size of Konoha. But its near yearlong rainy seasons did provide it with an absurdly large supply of natural water reserves, and the country had more reservoirs that some of the countries three times its size. Konoha had its long history of stability and success, Suna had its Gold, and Ame had its water.
"Hey!" They were interrupted by Temari, glaring at three angrily. "Enough talk about work. This isn't a conference meeting, it's your big sister's birthday party."
"Sorry." The three men mumbled in unison. Temari continued to glare at them for a moment, before turning back to continue speaking to Shikamaru's parents.
"Hey." Naruto turned to see Bolt smirking at him snidely. "That was lame geezer."
"Trust me kid. There's only one thing you really learn as you get older." Naruto leaned in closer to whisper in his ear. "Girls are scary."
"Pffft." Bolt snorted back. "Mom's not scary, Himawari's not scary, Aunt Hanabi isn't scary. You're talking crazy!"
"Just wait till you're about fifteen and do something really, really stupid." Naruto grinned back cheekily. "That'll be the day I tell you I told you so."
"Like you'll be around that long." Bolt huffed back. "Whatever it is going on with you and my mom. I give it another month, two tops."
"Losersayswhat?"
"What?"
"Exactly." Naruto grinned towards the boy, who after realising the cheap trick, punched him in the arm before moving seats, swapping with Himawari.
Naruto and Himawari began chatting away, laughing and giggling away to each other. "She looks like him as well." Ino spoke softly to the blue haired woman, both staring at the blonde man and the blue haired girl from across the table. "Well she has his eyes anyway."
The blue haired woman remained silent, still watching how Himawari smiled happily and laughed to whatever the blond man said.
"So Hinata…" Ino turned to the woman, giving her a wry smile. "It's the first time I've seen you with a boy since… well since you told me about that night of yours seven years ago. That's a really long time… How was it?"
"H-How was what?"
"You know… It." The blond woman wiggled her thin eyebrows suggestively, the wry smile on her face growing more and more prominent.
"I-Ino!" Hinata nearly squealed as she understood what the blond woman was asking.
"No way…" Ino's face turned to surprise. "You guys… haven't…?"
"No…" She responded quietly. "We… We h-haven't really had the chance. With Bolt and Himawari-chan around, it's hard to do those kind of things. Naruto-kun hasn't even stayed over for the night yet. He said he wanted Bolt and Himawari to trust him before he stayed over…"
"Hello." Before they could continue their conversation, Shikamaru stood up from his seat raising his glass. "Well all of you here know me, so you know I'm not good with speeches and stuff like that. So I'll keep it short and sweet. All of you are here because we're celebrating Temari's birthday. Temari, this birthday is just another milestone in what has been a long road together, one that I hope is still longer ahead."
"Where we off to Shikamaru?" Naruto stood next to the dark haired man, leading the troop of people through the town in the dimming light of the sun.
"It's a surprise." Shikamaru replied through a puff of smoke.
"Oh! Got a surprise party for Temari?" Naruto grinned cheekily, playfully jabbing the man in the arm with his elbow.
"Not really. She actually knows about this." He replied, before dropping the butt of the cigarette on the floor and stamping on it. "We're here."
He looked up at the building, and waited for Temari to approach. They smiled at each other before entering, with the entire group behind them.
There wasn't much in the reception, just a desk with a secretary sat behind and a few chairs for people waiting. They followed Shikamaru and Temari as they approached the lone secretary. "Hi. In sight of all these people here, we'd like to get married."
"WHAT!?" They turned at Naruto's sharp scream, he was apparently voicing the opinion of everyone present, as they all stared wide eyed and slack jawed.
"It's exactly what I said. We're going to get married now." The black haired man sighed back heavily.
"B-B-But what about the wedding day! The bachelor, bachelorette parties!" Naruto argued in response. "What about a best man!?"
"We don't need any of that." Temari responded, giving the blonde an angry stare. "The whole wedding day is just a show, and a waste of money. This is the part of a wedding that matters. I don't need to be stood around for hours to show something I've already proven. Shikamaru is the man I love and am going to spend the rest of my life with. Use that as an 'I do', Naruto and shut up."
"Besides, wife is less troublesome to say than 'Girl I've been with eleven years and have a kid with." Shikamaru added, gaining a chuckle from his father, who in turn gained a clip round the ear from his mother.
"But I'll never be a best man now!" Naruto almost cried out. "You're gonna be Choji's for sure!"
"There's always Sasuke?" Shikamaru responded dully.
"I find it unlikely for Sasuke to take a wife!" Naruto barked back.
"Naruto. This is our choice. I told you once we don't need a big day to prove something we've known for years." Shikamaru retorted back.
"Well Shikamaru, I like it!" Choji spoke happily. "Congratulations!"
"Yeah! Congratulations Shika!" Ino beamed. "Although I am annoyed you got married before I did…" She added to herself in a low grumble, her eyes darting over to her chestnut haired boyfriend. He spotted her and gave her a weird look back.
"Although I kind of agree with Naruto, you should have the wedding itself. I know what you're like, and at least I got to see you get married." His mother spoke back with a small smile.
"Just make sure you know what you getting in to…"
"What was that, Shikaku!?"
"Temari, mom would be happy." Kankuro spoke only a few words, but the empowered the smile that her heart created tremendously.
Gaara merely nodded, giving a small, agreeing smile. He had no words like Kankuro had. He never met their mother, and their father… he left a rather distasteful impression on them.
"Well congratulations Shikamaru-ttebayo!" Naruto beamed. "You've cheated me out of a best man position. But I know you and Temari are great together! And you'll be great together for the rest of your lives!"
Shikamaru turned away from them and filled out the paper in front of him. "Here you are, now you'll just sign this certificate!" The secretary beamed, sliding them the piece of paper closer. They took turns in signing the document. "Congratulations, you are now registered as husband and wife."