"I'm really glad you could make it; It means a lot to me. It'll make her day too" a tall blonde man said, standing on the small concrete porch to a house. His back was towards who he was speaking to as he fiddled within his pant's pocket, fishing for something. In his other hand was a red cloth bag, decorated by golden string that weaved through the red to create appealing embroidery. The person he was addressing stood a few feet behind him, carrying a box between his torso and arm. Wrapped around his other arm was the arm of his companion, a blonde haired woman. His long, dark hair swayed from the gentle breeze that cooled the trio.
"I wasn't going to miss something as important as this. I made sure to double-time it on my way back home" The dark haired man replied.
"You sure did. You were half way across the country this time, weren't you?" The blonde asked back, turning to the couple. He had the key he needed in his hand now, but his hand hung idle by his side, occupied by the conversation they were carrying.
"Sure was, but shouldn't you know that already, Mr. Hokage? I turned in my mission file to you less than a half hour ago." He smiled as he asked. The blonde gave a short snort of amusement followed by a playfully dismissive shake of his head.
"I should, yeah, but I've been drowning in work for the past week trying to get it all done early. And stop calling me that, Sasuke. We're not at work anymore, are we?"
"I don't know, Naruto. You tell me."
"We're not, I hope. Though It is hard to keep track of everything... I'm lucky I finished when I did and caught up with you here. They probably don't expect us right now."
"Even better. I love a good surprise" the woman commented.
The blonde nodded in agreement before turning to the door and putting the key in. He twisted it, creating a clunking noise as the lock moved. He then slowly opened the door and stepped inside, the other two following him shortly after. Sasuke closed the door behind them. They stepped into the well lit entrance, and were immediately noticed by the child sitting crisscrossed on the living room floor. She had lightly colored clothes, and a small blanket with two of its corners tied together to keep it in place around her neck. Around the girl were crayons, and a partially colored book was at her feet. Other toys were strewn around her sporadically, like a small explosion sent them to where they were now laying. The noise of the door opening had caught her attention. Bright blue eyes cut through a veil of shaggy black bangs to look at the visitors. The eyes widened upon recognizing who entered the house.
"Daddy!" The little girl exclaimed.
She immediately got up and ran towards them as fast as her little legs could take her. The makeshift cape tied around her neck caught air and floated behind her, waving like a horizontal flag. The air resistance it created was also slowing down her light frame. The blonde man was already on one knee, arms open. When she reached him, she was quickly enveloped by his arms in a tight hug, which she tried her best to emulate; her arms could only reach so far around him though. A few seconds later and she was lifted up into the air with a grunt of effort from Naruto. A heartwarming laugh escaped her mouth from the feeling of weightlessness that being quickly lifted up gave her. Naruto bounced her higher up a few more times before sitting her on one of his arms. Her arms wrapped around his neck, a much easier thing to hug for the small girl. Her face pressed into the crook between his head and shoulder as she squeezed with all the might her young muscles could exert. The blonde tilted his head to put it against hers.
"Hey kiddo, how are ya? I missed you" he said as he patted her back.
"I missed you too!" she replied after taking her face off from his shoulder. Naruto lowered her back down to the floor and rustled her hair with his hand.
"Are you excited? It's a big day for you." His answer was an enthusiastic nodding of the head and a quick sound.
"Mhmm!"
"I bet. It's not every day someone turns five." Sasuke commented. His words brought the child's attention to him, who she hadn't yet noticed.
"Sasuke," she started before noticing the other, "Mimi!" The little one scuttled towards the woman and hugged her legs.
"Hi Narumi. It's good to see you again" Mimiri said as the girl jumped excitedly around her.
"You're home early" A new voice said to join the conversation. It was from Mikoto, who was standing in the kitchen. Her hair was up in a ponytail, and an apron tied around her. She was stood next to a counter, with a knife in hand. It was obvious that she was in the middle of prepping food when they arrived.
"Sure am. I worked hard for it" Naruto answered with a grin. Narumi then took Mimiri's hand and tried to use it to pull the woman with her. It expectedly didn't work, given the size difference. It was still an endearing sight, seeing the eagerness of the young girl to show her something.
"I want to show you my book" she explained, pointing towards the coloring book on the floor with her free hand. The woman gave a look to Sasuke, in a way to ask him to come with them. He nodded.
"I'd love to see it" she answered before letting Narumi guide her to the center of the living room. Sasuke followed behind them and sat down on the couch close by. Naruto made his way to the kitchen as the two followed his daughter. Mikoto had just been cutting carrots for the food she was working on when he reached her. He came up to her, slipping his arms around her to hug her from behind as she worked. She turned her head to face him before he leaned in for a kiss. After, his chin came to rest on her shoulder.
"How's your day been?" He asked, watching her slide a pile of diced vegetables to one side of the cutting board and put a whole one on the block.
"Good. Getting better with you here."
"Thanks. Has Narumi given you any trouble today?"
"No, actually. She's been surprisingly tame, especially for it being her birthday."
"That's good. Maybe she's been saving her energy until we got here" Naruto said as he watched his daughter run circles around the two guests in the living room. She must have already finished showing them her coloring book, and was now showing them how fast she could move around the room. This included vaulting over and jumping off the furniture. She would try to use her cape as a makeshift parachute when she did so.
"Looks like it. She must've been bored until now" Mikoto mentioned, bringing Naruto's attention back into the kitchen where he stood.
"How's the little one been? Any kicking going on?" He asked as his hands palmed her somewhat enlarged stomach. She set her knife down and put her hands over his to guide them around her stomach in small circles.
"No, not yet. It's too early for that. What about you? How's your day been, Mr. Bigshot?"
"I just signed papers and sat through meetings all day, nothing fun."
"I think you mean your clones did that" she said with a smile. He gave her one back and scratched his cheek with a finger.
"Hey, they only do most of the work, and if I didn't use them today I wouldn't be here right now."
"I know, I'm just giving you a hard time."
"Yeah? I'll have to give ya a hard time later then."
"Really now. How do you plan to do that?"
"I think you can figure" he answered. Her eyebrows raised a moment later.
"Oh, on our daughters birthday?"
"Why not? She doesn't have to be the only one getting presents today" he explained. She clicked her tongue and shook her head.
"More than five years together and you still say the cheesiest lines trying to get with me. You're lucky I love you."
"I'm reminded of that every time I wake up next to you."
"Oh, that one was better."
"You think so? Another original by yours truly."
"Your genius astounds me."
"So, are we on?"
"We're on." Naruto smiled in agreement before leaning in once again to kiss her. When he pulled away he also unraveled his arms from her waist and stepped back. He clasped his hands together in a determined manner.
"Sweet. Need help with anything?"
"Sure! Let me get you started on something" Mikoto answered. She handed him a knife and the two started working on preparing food for the group. They started working shoulder to shoulder, cutting, dicing, and crushing various ingredients together. It was something they had done many times before, and now they were able to work without tripping over each other. It wasn't long after chopping that they split up to do separate tasks. Even though their backs were to each other, each facing a different counter top, they still held a light-hearted conversation as they prepped the meal. Every now and then Sasuke would stop by and talk with the two as they worked, usually snacking on something as he did so.
It wasn't terribly long before the oven timer let out it's loud alerting sound to signify that the food was done cooking. The dish was taken out of the oven to cool off for a brief moment before being set on a cloth and placed in the center of the dining table. Mikoto called out to all those in the living room, telling them to come to the kitchen. Narumi was the first to come bolting into the room, followed by the other two who followed her in with a smile. The little girl climbed up onto her chair and sat down on her legs so she could see over the table. Sasuke and Mimiri took their own seats next to each other, followed by Naruto and Mikoto doing the same on the opposite side of the table. Plates had already been set earlier, so people took turns moving food from the dish to their plate, with Narumi being helped by Mikoto for hers.
They laughed and talked as they ate, the adults catching up with one another with the little girl chiming in often to share unrelated but well liked contributions. Narumi finished her dinner first, as children usually do. A combination of the food being her favorite and her youth made her scarf down the food while the adults took their time. Despite having to wait for the others to finish, the little one seemed to be enjoying sitting at the table. Her little legs swung back and forth in the air after she changed her sitting position.
Her patience paid off after the others finished, as the time for cake had arrived. Everyone in the room knew of the child's sweet tooth, and they found the excitement in her eyes endearing. Naruto stood up from his chair and walked over to the counter where the freshly baked cake was just finishing colling off. He slid it closer to him so he could pick it up and move it. Mikoto was digging through a drawer, looking for a something to cut the cake. The dessert was placed in the middle of the table, and five candles were stuck into the center in a ring. Sasuke snapped his fingers once and a flame appeared from the tip of his pointer finger. He used it to light the candles and, intentionally or not, impress the little Uzumaki.
After the obligatory song, Narumi closed her eyes and leaned forward towards the cake. She took in a large gasp of air before blowing as hard as she could at the dim flames dancing on the wicks. One by one, the miniature fires went out by the force before they all died out and smoke rose from the blackened strings. The candles were then removed, and Naruto put the bottom ends in his mouth to clean off the cake that stuck to them before setting them down on the table. The cake was then cut, and sliced were put on small plates and distributed to everyone. As was tradition, Narumi got the first plate followed by the rest in no order. She gave a big smile when she tasted it, a universal sign of approval.
After the cake was demolished by the attending party, the group moved over to the living room. Naruto and Mikoto stayed behind for a moment, putting the plates in the sink to be cleaned later. When they arrived at the other room, Narumi was sitting on the floor with the box that Sasuke had come in with. Seeing the gift, Naruto looked at the front door to see his own gift sitting to the side. He grabbed it to give it to the girl after she opened the others. He took a seat on the couch with the other adults, next to Mikoto. She rested the side of her head on his shoulder when he settled into the couch.
"Go ahead, open it" Sasuke said. She gave a curious look to her halfbrother, who gave her encouraging nod. When she opened it, the lid came off to reveal a set of three vibrantly white shuriken and a single kunai of the same quality. They were set in a block of fabric with perfect shapes cut out to place them in. Her eyes widened at the sight of the bright metal tools, and she took them in with interest.
"White shuriken?" Naruto asked.
"So they don't get lost when you throw them" Sasuke explained.
"They also look pretty" Mimiri added. Naruto nodded in agreement. Narumi must have also agreed because she stared at the pieces like she was afraid they'd disappear.
"Thank you!" she said to the two with a beaming smile. She set the box to her side as Naruto grabbed his bag. The decorations of the bag instantly grabbed the attention of his daughter, who studied it as it was handed to her. Naruto sat down next to her and gave her the okay to open it. Inside the bag was a medium sized disk. There was a white, paper like circle in the center with ring wrapping around it's circumference. The ring was a darker white, with black writing going around the ring. Accompanying this disk was a specialized pen and a large vial of ink. At first, Narumi had no idea what she was holding was supposed to be. Neither did anyone in the room except Naruto, so he had to take the items and show what they did.
"Alright, so you take some of the ink from here and dip this pen in it. Next you draw something in this circle here. It can be anything, as long as you can imagine it. Then you put your hand underneath the circle and concentrate on what you drew while applying chakra. And then, this happens" Naruto said as he did as he described. He had drawn a crow olin the circle, and forced chakra through the bottom. The seals on the outer ring began to glow, and a few moments later a miniature crow phased into existence inches above the drawing. It was three dimensional, and moved like it was the real thing. Its wings flapped as it did loops and barrel rolls in the air. Narumi stared in amazement as the drawing came to life. The others were impressed too.
"How did you find this?" Mikoto asked.
"Me and Sai have been working on it for half a year now. His special ink and paper and my seals, like a butt-ton of seals, came together to create this. It's like an animated display that can display whatever you can think of.
"It's so cool!" Narumi screamed as she watched the bird do tricks.
"Give it a go." Naruto pulsed chakra into it again and the bird popped out of existence as the ink faded away. He handed the disk and the pen to his daughter, who immediately began drawing. When she put her chakra to it, a fuzzy teddy bear came into existence. It had a top hat and a cane, and began tap dancing on the carpet. She danced with it. The display gave everyone a good laugh. Not long after, she hugged her father.
"Thank you" she said as she wrapped her arms around his neck.
"Happy birthday Narumi."
Narumi drew a few more things in the disk, still amazed each time a new idea came to life in front of everyone. The others found the gift amazing as well, impressed by its abilities. The little girl played with the drawings until her eyelids started to feel heavy, signaling that it was getting late. Sasuke and Mimiri left soon after, but not before giving hugs to the birthday girl and family. Eventually, Narumi had curled up on the couch and passed out with a smile on her face.
Naruto looked at his sleeping daughter with a smile, his heart filled with a specific, warm feeling that he had never felt until she was born. Slowly, he slid his arms underneath her to pick her up off the couch. He gingerly held her in his arms and against his chest as he walked her to her room. He then placed her on the bed and pulled the blankets over her. He set down his and Sasuke's gift next to her on her nightstand. He looked at her again and had to move some of her hair out from her face. At this time, Mikoto had quietly entered the room and put a hand on his back, making him look back at her. She gave him a smirk in the dark room, happy to see his smile.
Naruto didn't know how to describe what he felt inside, what he felt every night he tucked his daughter in, every second he felt Mikoto in his arms, or every occasion either of them laughed, sang, or smiled. He didn't know why he fell in love with Mikoto. He didn't know why he was allowed to be so happy. He didn't know why he deserved to be living this life he found himself in.
But he knew one thing:
He was alive.
END
