Day 25
Red Scarf
"Why is that scarf so special, tou-san?" asked Himawari, her eyes zooming into the scarf Naruto was currently wearing.
"How do you know it's special?" challenged Naruto, a smile starting to spread on his face.
"We know it's special because you always wear it when it's cold and you take care of it," Boruto added, sitting on the floor with his imouto.
Their Christmas tree was sitting in the corner of the living room, it's bright, flickering lights the center of attention most of the time. The Christmas atmosphere in the Uzumaki household was lively and warm. The family decided to gather around the tree and have a family night.
"Well it's special because your kaa-chan gave it to me when I realized how much she meant to me." He smiled cheekily at Hinata who blushed in return.
"When did she give it to you?" asked Boruto, curious why his kaa-chan was turning a dangerously cherry red.
"It was a long time ago when we were around nineteen."
"You're old," interrupted Boruto with a wide smile.
"Oi! I'm old but I can still kick butt!" Naruto regained his composure and brought Hinata closer, who was still blushing madly. "Like I was saying, it was a long time ago when your mom and I were both nineteen. Back then, I didn't realize how precious she was to me until we went on a mission. It was a crucial mission because they kidnapped Hinata's little sister, Hanabi!"
"Hanabi-oba-san!" cried Himawari, her face expressing shock. "W-What happened to her?"
"Oh, she was taken by a man named Toneri." The name was seethed out and Naruto's eyes narrowed dangerously. His aura darkened when he remembers that Hinata was almost taken away from him by that man.
Boruto's throat was dry and he felt Himawari snuggle close to him. It was Hinata who laid a hand on her husband's shoulder and kissed his cheek. "I'm here and I'm not leaving," she whispered into his ear, knowing exactly how much of an affect the Toneri incident left on her husband. He relaxed his tense posture and gave his family an apologetic smile.
"Gomen, gomen, I just really hate that guy."
"We could tell, dattebasa," mumbled Boruto making Himawari giggle.
"Why do you hate him?" asked Himawari after her little giggle fit.
"Hmm…" Naruto cupped his chin and scrunched up his face. "I hate him because he tried to take your kaa-chan away from me."
"What?! Why would he do that? Doesn't he know how powerful you are! He could have gotten killed, dattebasa!" screamed out his son.
"Why would he try to take kaa-chan away from you?" asked Himawari, her eyes stinging from the tears.
"Well," began Hinata, scooping up her daughter in her arms, "that man wanted my Byakugan and when he couldn't take mine, he took Hanabi." Hinata kissed her daughter on the forehead and then looked at the two men who are precious in her life. "That man succeeded in getting the Byakugan from my imouto and then he came after me." Her children gasped.
"Yeah. It was then that your kaa-chan gave me that scarf and told me she didn't love me after I confessed to her. She left with Toneri."
"Why did you leave, kaa-chan? D-Don't you love t-tou-kun?" Himawari looked ready to cry and Hinata hugged her daughter closer. She glanced at Boruto and her son was simply looking at her in a perplex way.
"I-I left because I had to. I'll die to protect your tou-san. If I didn't leave with Toneri…he would have killed Naruto and the rest of the world." Hinata closed her eyes tightly and shook her head. "I love Naruto-kun so much that I'll do anything to keep him safe!"
She felt Himawari leave her arms and, instead, she was pulled into a hug. Her tears raced down and Naruto hugged her tightly, his head on top of hers. "Shh, don't cry Hina-koi. It's not your fault you left. It made me realize how important you are to me and how strong you are." He grabbed her head and gazed into her teary eyes. "You are selfless and what you did back then, it was to save me, to save the world, and to me that was amazingly strong and not wrong at all. I was sad, yes, but you had a good reason. And it was all for me. So please, don't cry." After a few minutes of silence, she nodded and wiped her nose, her face turning red when her husband kissed her.
"Kids, this long, red scarf represent the love your kaa-chan had for me ever since she was a little kid. And this," he held up Hinata and his hands, showing off their wedding rings, "represents the commitment and love I have for her ever since I realized a long time ago how important she was to me. And with that, my children, the story comes to an end."
"Why don't you make a scarf for kaa-chan, tou-san?" asked Boruto casually before getting pulled into another conversation with his sister.
"Naruto, are you okay?" Hinata touched his shoulder when he seemed to have frozen.
"Yeah…I'm all right…" he answered in a daze, his mind somewhere else.
2 weeks later
"Hinata, I present to you a red scarf so we can match!"
Hinata stopped brushing Himawari's hair and focused on the long scarf Naruto had in his hands. His fingers were bandaged and red and Hinata smiled. She grabbed the soft material and didn't voice out the many large spaces the scarf had in between. Instead, she covered her neck with it and kissed Naruto's chin.
"I-I love it."
