"Good morning, love." Ino softly called out as she rose from their bed. Her Naruto stood upon the small porch looking out at the village they had saved countless times with an unreadable expression on his face, though it softened as her arms wrapped him up against her as she rested her chin upon his shoulder.

"It's a beautiful day." He remarked softly.

"Just perfect to go see our light bulb." Naruto's hands slid down her arms and cupped Ino's in his, squeezing softly.

"Yes." He slid her bang aside to kiss her forehead tenderly. "Let's get ready."

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Fakers!

Chapter Twenty Three: Daddy's Girl

By

Hibiki

Ami, Hotaru, the Harus and a few others.. Like whatever his name is… are mine. Naruto and Ino and the others like them are Kishimoto's. We can trade… but I have a feeling no one would want to see Yamaguchi in Naruto for real.

AN: This one ain't so funny or happy, so ye be warned.

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Black civilian clothes, rather formal but still simple, clothed their forms. While Naruto's pants went to his feet, mimicking the first Shinobi who walked the path they did, Ino's fit the classic Kunoichi with shorts, though their tops were matching. Little was said between then two, as nothing was really to be said, and soon the two began walking down the stairs. Yamaguchi merely gave a subdued good morning as he saw their garb, and watched as they made their way down past him. Standing in the street, waiting, was Naruto's 'family' of Konoha. All dressed in their mourning clothes it made people pause and whisper.

Ino would have questioned why, but she had learned that this was the first time Naruto had walked to the cemetery.

"I don't want to hide her away any longer, so I'm not hiding away on this day either."

Naruto said, and it made her smile remembering Shizune's words to her. That he was getting better.

Tsunade, Shizune, Iruka, nodded as Keiichi ran up and was taken into the arms of his Uncle Ruto. They slowly made their way down the road a short ways until they stood in front of the closed Yamanaka Flower Shop and the two figures who where awaiting them. Yamanaka Inoichi and Chigusa joined into the precession, but only after Chigusa had hugged her 'son' and handed him a bouquet he had requested. Whispers and pointing followed the entourage as they moved through the village. Standing at the entrance of burial grounds were the Sabaku. For once it wasn't just The Kazekage and his wife, but all the Sabaku. Temari's customary black dress was more somber lacking it's more cheerful ornamentation, and even Kankuro was out of his face paint. They nodded or shook hands with Naruto, the girls giving him hugs.

Naruto's mask, one of indifference, fell as he looked into vast field of white markers that made up the civilian section of the cemetery. Turning to look at Ino he gave a slightly watery smile.

"Can you… give me a few minutes alone with her before you all come?" Ino nodded, choking back the tearful lump that threatened her seeing his face right then. "And let Sakura know she can join in. She's in the tree behind us." With that he turned and began walking into the marble strewn grounds. Ino turned to Tsunade and nodded.

"Sakura." The Hokage remarked and the pinkette landed before then, also garbed in black like the others.

"H-hai Shisho." She looked over at Ino, then down at the ground ashamed at following them.

"When Naruto broke that night, he was mumbling under his breath wasn't he?" Tsunade, it seemed, had figured out why. Inoichi hid his eyes remembering his baby girl's eyes looking at nothing with that death smile.

"H-hai. He said he couldn't loose Ino too. Not like his Hotaru." She frowned. "I was curious, so I looked into the archives. I found only two female Uzumaki in the city. One was his mother. The other…"

"Was his adopted daughter." Ino remarked, she felt a little upset her best friend would snoop like that, but she couldn't blame her for it. Had she been in Sakura's shoes she would have done the same. Sakura flinched at Ino's words. "She passed away today, three years ago."

"I realized, right before Sasuke's attack, Naruto just disappeared. When he reappeared again, that… dammed smile was back up. He wouldn't talk to me, and shied away whenever I asked. I was so upset, but now all I can do is feel horrible for cursing whatever had pushed him away. I wanted to make amends. I was going to ask for f-forgiveness when I saw you all. I'm sorry to have intruded on something so p-personal." She bowed and turned.

"Come on forehead." Sakura stopped and looked at Ino stunned as the blonde woman smiled and held out her hand. "I know your idiot teammate wouldn't mind you seeing our girl."

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The only sound other than the wind was the soft grind of gravel as he kneeled before a small marker, brushing the remains of a few lily petals from it that had fallen from an adjacent monument, before looking at the name upon it.

Uzumaki Hotaru

A whirlwind of memories, and emotions filled him.

"Thank you Uzumaki-san" A small brunette smiled happily from her bed as he brought her, her favorite dish. "I really appreciate it."

"I'm glad! And stop calling me Uzumaki-san, I'm starting to feel like Sandaime-Jiji! Eat up, so you can get strong and we'll have you our of here soon! Dattebayo!" She looked a little sad then nodded bringing her hand up and clenched it.

"Right! Naruto-san!" He smiled as she grinned, a fire finally lit on them again.

…

"I'm afraid Kirukio-san, that your condition will only diminish from here on out. The chances of you living are incredibly low. At this point we can offer a painless release, to allow you to sleep away the pain." Naruto's hand paused at door handle as the two doctors that stood inside told that sweet little girl she was going to die. He grew angry, that they would just give up on her.

"I don't care! I'll keep trying! I'm not giving up! Because as long as I try I have a chance!" He smiled, though that pain she was giving up, and slammed open the door.

"OI! What kind of doctor are you to just tell Hotaru-chan that she's not able to get better? A load of crap!" Hotaru's angry face fell to a happy one.

"Naruto!" She cried as the tall rather imposing man pushed up his glasses to get a view of the intruder.

"Hmm, Uzumaki-san… You must be the one filling this poor girls head with false hope, somehow I am not surprised."

"Shut UP! She's not poor and it isn't false hope! If Hotaru-chan thinks she can do it, then who are you to stop her! I know Tsunade-baa-chan is working on a way, so just shut up and leave if you're going to do nothing but hurt my precious person." The doctor and his assistant frowned at the boy.

"I think you are the disruption in this place, so unless you are a family member then I will demand you to leave and not return here." Naruto's anger only increased knowing Hotaru didn't have anyone else so like he always did, made a rash decision that would change his life.

"FINE! I'm march right up to Baa-chan and demand to adopt Hotaru! I'll be her Papa and get rid of you! Just you wait! I'll be right back Hotaru-chan, I swear it!" The teary eyed girl in the bed smiled and nodded forcefully.

"Hai, Naruto-papa!"

…

"I love you Papa! This is great!" Hotaru exclaimed as she enjoyed her eighth birthday. Tsunade, Gaara, Iruka and Shizune were there with smiled on their faces, as the little girl played with all their presents. "Ne! Papa! Come feel!" The man walked over and his daughter put his hand upon Shizune's bare and swollen belly, much to his hidden desire and embarrassment. "He's really kicking! Koff koff I can't wait till I meet him!" She coughed out as her ribs twitched. Shizune quickly hit a few buttons on the device next to Hotaru's bed, increasing the already ample dose feeding into the little girl's upper arm. Unbeknownst to the young Uzumaki, Shizune's worried countenance turned to her master and the two medics shared a guilty look while Iruka turned away unable to look at his former student in the eye as Naruto glared for a moment then turned his smile, a true one, to his baby girl who he loved. Gaara watched on, dispassionately.

…

His breathing hitched and his words were cut short as his little girl writhed in pain, her cries hurt him almost as much as what he was going to have to do. His hands were shaking almost as bad as the ones he held, waiting for the pain to pass. But it wasn't passing. Fresh tears began running down his face as he realized he couldn't do anything.

"It hurts so much daddy. Please make it stop." The tears in her eyes, the sharpness of her breathing did little to hide the resigned look in her eyes, the pleading. He took a shuddering breath as he tried to find the courage to let her go. She couldn't hurt like this anymore, not for any selfish reasoning he had. He finally nodded.

"O-okay Hotaru, Daddy will make it s-stop." He took her hand in his kissing it softly rubbing it to his tear stained cheek softly. "Daddy's so proud of you for trying as long as you did, and he loves you so very much."

"I'm s-sorry d-daddy."

"Oh god b-baby, you have nothing to be s-sorry for. You don't realize how h-happy you make me. D-don't worry, where…" He forced the words past the clamp that had grabbed hold of his throat. "Where you're going, your other family will be waiting. I-it's not going to hurt there. You'll be able to run and jump just like everyone else."

"A-are you g-going to be there d-daddy?" He desperately wished he could be, to say goodbye to this godforsaken place that would hurt her like it had. But they needed him. He shook his head, hating himself for disappointing her.

"No, honey, I can't go there just y-yet. I need to make certain no other little girl is hurt like my b-baby has been." She struggled against the pain, unable to move truly, but he knew his girl nodded.

"I'll m-miss you daddy." Shaking his head against the urge to scream, his sobs were forced down to keep her calm. He had to be strong for her, like he always had been.

"I'll miss you too baby, so much. I love you. I love you so much." He stood up, brushing her bangs from her forehead to give her a kiss as his other hand hit the button for the machine. She's jerked a little and he cried out with her before he slid back, his hand running though her hair as he watched her slowly drift away. Her eyes found his, and she gave him a smile he would remember forever, then just as quickly as she entered his life, Uzumaki Hotaru left it. The tears, the pain, the love for his little girl came to a head, and Naruto kneeled over her again, holding her head against his as he screamed to the world for taking her away from him.

…

"Hello baby." He called out, half expecting to hear her voice, yet all that remained was the stone. Every time he visited, he always hoped for some sign that she was here, but only for a moment, because he would realize that where ever she was, so long as she was happy, he was glad. "I've missed you. So very much, Hotaru. Maybe more than I have ever in the three years since I last saw you. Daddy's… very sorry he was selfish, and kept you all to himself. Ino, you met her… when daddy was so scared he lost her too, your mommy, has been helping me. It's still hard, to talk about you, but please don't hate daddy." He was trying so hard not to cry, ashamed of himself for treating her like he had, and guilty for hiding her away. "Please forgive me. Your new Aunty Temari finally kicked the sense your mommy was giving me into my head finally. I'm not going to be selfish anymore. I want the world to know about Uzumaki Hotaru, and how strong she was, even until the end."

He put the flowers across the base and gave a kiss to the top of the monument.

"I'm still keeping my promise. So don't worry. I'm also… I'm happy, so don't worry. You're mommy Ino has been making me so very happy. I hope one day soon we can make her your mommy for real."

"Mommy would like that a lot. Hey light bulb." Ino kneeled beside him also giving a small kiss to the monument. Sakura kneeled on the other side and bowed softly.

"Hello, Hotaru. T-this is your aunty Sakura. I'm so sorry for blaming you on making your daddy sad. He loves you very much. I'll make certain he's okay, so when you meet again one day, he'll have nothing but happy stories for you."

"Hey squirt." Tsunade put her hand on the monument and wiggled it, as if she was ruffling Hotaru's head in her standard greeting they did when Hotaru was alive. "I know I know you hate it, but I can't help doing that, I miss you."

"It's Shi-chan, Hotaru-chan. I'm doing okay."

"Hotaru-onee-chan! Hi again!" Keiichi waved, but at his age didn't really understand what was going on.

"Hi Haru-chan. It's big brother Iruka. I'm still keeping Keiichi and his mommy safe, don't worry I've been keeping my promise."

"Hotaru. These are my brother and sister. Temari and Kankuro." [bonk] "urk"

"He still forgets me, Hotaru-chan, it's Aunty Matsuri, hope your doing okay!"

"Hey Hotaru, if anyone ever messes with you just let Aunty Temari know, she'll even kick the shinigami's ass."

"Temari language… Hey squirt, nice to meet you, ditto what my sister said."

"Hello Hotaru, this is your mommy's mother and father, even though we didn't get to know you, you are our grandbaby, and we love you, for making our boy so happy. And for loving our baby girl." Chigusa put a comforting hand on the trembling man before the stone. "Be happy, little one."

Naruto couldn't help it. Hearing everyone and their words to his little girl, he broke. Tears and

"T-thank you, m-mina. Thank you for taking care of my baby girl!" Ino's arms pulled him close as Sakura rubbed his back. Chigusa squeezed his shoulder. "Thank you… for loving her too. Thank you… thank you…"

Done-232323-Done

Yeah this one really made me feel like I did in 'His Firefly' and not just because the final flashback was the scene Naruto talked about in 07, but I brought out a lot of things that pulled at me like they did in that one.

Not funny was this, but then again 'Daddy's girl' was never going to be. It was a chapter about Naruto accepting he doesn't need to hide away his feelings for Hotaru anymore, and that his family, though odd, would be there for both of them. As I wrote this more people were added. And Sakura's placement was from before the monument to a tree outside the cemetery. The last bit is cheezy, but I stopped and though about it. People are cheezy anyway so why the hell not. Uzumaki never seem to do traditional, like come to a cemetery and pray for happiness to their ancestors and lost loved ones. So it fit.

Read and review, let me know what you think.

Next chapter: His Home, Her Home, Arguments

Till then, ja ne.