7:00 AM.
"Are you sure you'll be alright? I can cancel, I just-"
"Hiiiinata!" He stopped himself, cringing. The kids were still sleeping, and the last thing Naruto wanted to do was wake up. Quietly he spoke, "Hinata, you need a day to yourself. I'll have everything under control here. What could possible go wrong?"
She looked at him skeptically.
He grinned, guiding her to the door. "It'll be okay. We'll be okay. You just relax all day and don't think about us at all- I'll take care of things."
Hinata sighed as the blonde opened the door, eagerly as always. "Call me if you need anything. Okay?"
"Mm. Yeah. Alright." He kissed his wife sweetly, before parting. "Have fun!"
And with that, she was off.
He grinned dumbly before turning around. It was early morning; perhaps the sun had just risen. In his youth he would have never been up before noon, especially on a rare day he did not have a mission. Well, now he was an adult. He was admired, he had a beautiful wife and two perfect children, and he also rarely slept or relaxed as much as he used to, but that was okay. The jinjuriki slowly circled his kitchen before entering the desolate living room. It was quiet, which wasn't surprising. It never got too rambunctious, but nonetheless he savored the peaceful feeling, gazing over Konoha as clouds began to gather in the sky.
"...Daddy?"
He turned to find his daughter, Himawari, rubbing her eyes and gripping her blanket. She was the spitting image of Hinata. It nearly always caught him off guard.
"Himawari? Why are you up so early?"
"Where is mommy?"
"Sweetie," He kneeled to face her, "Mommy's on an important mission today. She will be back later this evening, but it's very important that she has her full focus on her task so we won't bother her. Okay?"
She gazed at him with wide eyes before silently nodding. She was obviously still half asleep, but Naruto had very little hope of getting her back in bed for a couple more hours.
"Come on Hima, let's get you back in bed. Okay?"
She stubbornly stamped her feet. "No!"
Naruto half panicked, quickly placing a finger to his mouth in a hurried gesture to shush her. "Okay, okay! But let's at least be quiet, okay? Big brother is still sleeping." He grabbed her gently beneath the arms and lifted her up. Himawari smiled wide, dropping her blanket. That's okay, he thought, he would just get it later. "If you're going to stay awake, then I think it's bath time. Someone is stinky!"
Himawari giggled, "with bubbles?"
"Of course!"
His descent to the tub, however, was quickly interrupted by a much more awake-looking young boy.
"Oh! Look who is awake!" Naruto exclaimed, scooping up his son. "I swear sometimes I think you aren't my son…"
Both of his children fell into a fitful laughter as he struggled to grip both of them in a comfortable way. Sure, he was one of the strongest ninja on the planet. But kids are heavy.
After a few minutes of struggling, he was successfully able to fill the tub up to the perfect height, with the perfect temperature, and maybe just a little too many bubbles. And by a little, the tub was overflowing with them. What was partly credited to Boruto suddenly jumping on his father's back, causing Naruto to drop the entire bottle of soap. This, of course, caused no dismay to his children, who both hurriedly undressed and jumped in causing water and bubbles to slosh over the sides of the tub. Naruto desperately tried to shampoo their hair, but once the kids realized they could easily make waves by simultaneously shifting their body weight, Naruto's attention was shifted solely to trying to clean up the massive amount of water on the floor.
"Okay! That's enough of that." He groaned, lifting his children out of the tub. He wrapped each one in a fluffy white towel.
"Yup, nevermind. Definitely my children." He sighed.
He managed to quickly resolve the water issue by dropping a massive amount of towels on the floor and using his feet to quickly soak up the water. "I'll pick these up later," he thought, turning around. His children were no longer there, but their towels were.
"Boruto! Himawari!" He shouted, running into the hallway. He barely managed to glimpse a bare butt run into his bedroom.
Although it was a mere second before he cleared the doorway, Boruto had already managed to climb onto his bed and was rolling in white satin sheets. It must have seemed like quite an effective way to dry himself.
"Oh, no, no, no!" Naruto gasped, lunging for the boy. "Those are Mommy's sheets! We don't get those wet!" He lifted up the boy, "Where is Hima?"
Boruto was laughing too hard to answer.
Naruto sighed and headed back to the hallway. Meanwhile, Boruto's squirming was causing him to get soaked as well. "Himawari?!"
He was answered with a loud crash coming from the kitchen.
"Hima?!" He gasped, clearing the corner (while still managing to maintain a death grip on his son). He was awarded with the sight of his naked child standing in a pool of broken eggs and tears in her eyes.
Despite wanting to scold the two, he couldn't help but to laugh.
"Oh, Hima. It's not breakfast time yet. Okay you too, enough play time. It's time to get dressed." He put down his son, instructing him strictly to remain in sight, and wiped Himawari's feet off. "Okay, now you two follow Daddy into your room."
They did as they were told. Finally, something was going right. Now he just had to quickly dress them and make food, and the rest of the day would hopefully be a breeze. He quickly fastened their diapers and dressed them in some questionable fashionable attire before taking the combs to their hair, which was nearly the same length. That didn't go too well. At least this time only one of them cried.
Naruto then gracefully guided them to the kitchen where he strapped them in their appropriate high chairs. He quickly grimaced at the pile of broken eggs on the floor. "Yeah...I'll clean that up later."
He pulled out the various fruits stored in their refrigerator and chopped up a decent portion for each of his children. The blonde then sat quietly across table as Boruto and Himawari happily chowed down on their breakfast. He was so exhausted. Glancing at the clock, it was only 9:30.
"Daddy?" His blonde haired son squeaked.
"Boruto?" He answered hesitantly.
"Who was the strongest ninja you've ever fought?!" Boruto exclaimed, pounding his fists against the table. At least only some food went flying. The grin plastered on his face was too cute for Naruto to care all that much.
"Oh? The strongest ninja?" Naruto brought his fingers to his chin in an overly-exaggerated thinking pose. Boruto and Himawari leaned forward in anticipation. "Well, kids, there are a lot of strong ninjas out there. But the best ninjas are not those who are only strong, but are smart, too. They are the ones that studied in school and paid attention to their books." That was a blatant lie. He knew so many, including himself, that did amazing without school. "
Boruto cocked his head, "But the strongest?"
Naruto chuckled. "Well, one time me and Mommy fought a big monster man. I...I almost died- uh, I mean he almost beat me. A very strong, very smart ninja saved me."
Himawari grinned. "Really, Daddy? Who was he?"
Naruto smiled gently. "Your uncle, Neji." (Neji was technically their cousin, but formality aside he had always been considered more of a sibling to Naruto's wife) The children were born long after that day, and although they did not know much about their late uncle, they knew he was gone. It was an early, necessary lesson about death for the both of them. Gone, but always family.
Boruto scrunched up his face in bemusement. "But uncle Neji is in the ground…"
"Boruto, Himawari," Naruto began, "Yes. But uncle Neji wasn't always in the ground. He used to be my friend. He was like a brother to Mommy. And Neji was so, so smart. He was so strong. And most importantly, Neji was kind. I fought him when I was just a little older than you, Boruto."
"Did you win!?" His son grinned.
"Yes, eventually. But that is a story for another time." Naruto laughed, and quickly regained his composure. "Neji was defeated that day. So many people would say he wasn't the strongest ninja. But he did something not a lot of ninjas could ever do...so to me, he is the strongest ninja."
The blonde smiled at his kids as they stared at him in wonder.
"Well! It looks like you guys are done with breakfast. How about we get you out of those chairs and break out some toys?"
They children quickly went wild, "Play time! Play time! Play time!"
7:00 PM.
The rattling of keys echoed gently through the house as the front door slowly crept open. The raven-haired girl placed her bags on the nearby table while scanning her surroundings. The entrance area was dimly lit and a little too quiet. Worried, she paced quickly to the kitchen.
Her day truly was peaceful, and she spent it honestly on herself. Her hair felt soft after a needed trim, her nails were now square and had a fresh coat of blue paint on them. She even treated herself to a new summer dress. She almost felt shameful of enjoying the relaxation so much.
It didn't last long, though. As she arrived in the kitchen she immediately found a pile of broken eggs and footprints on the floor, accompanied the dirty plates cluttering the table. It was dark, however, and still oddly quiet. She continued to the living room, which had an ungodly amount of toys spread across the floor and the seating. A few picture frames here and there were knocked over. Her descent into the hallway was no better. And she couldn't help but to see all of their towels sitting in a jumble on the bathroom floor. Finally, she arrived to her bedroom. She paused for a moment, wondering if she truly wanted to open that door.
She did.
Well, it wasn't too bad. Nothing was knocked over, and no toys seemed to find their way past the door, but she couldn't help but to notice her husband, clothes covered in paint and dirt, passed out on the bed. Oh, and when she laid her hand upon the bed it was also damp. She didn't want to think of the reason for that.
But where were her kids?
She hurriedly turned around and burst into their bedroom, only to find that they too were sleeping peacefully. Yes, their room was also an utter mess but Hinata could tell they were exhausted from an eventful day. She smiled gently and turned.
"Mommy?"
Hinata gasped quietly, turning around. Her daughter was sitting up, rubbing her eyes. Hinata said nothing as she quietly walked to sit on the edge of her bed, allowing her daughter to lean her head against her mother's lap.
"How was your mission?"
"It went well," Hinata smiled. "You should sleep. You had an eventful day, I'm sure."
Himawari yawned. "I heard a story today."
"Really?" Her mother whispered. "Did Daddy tell it to you?"
"Yeah." She paused. "He told us of the strongest ninja."
Hinata giggled. "And who would that be?"
"Uncle Neji."
Hinata looked at her daughter in unexpected shock. She was fully expecting her daughter to start praising her father, Neji had not been spoken of in quite some time.
Himawari continued, "he said that uncle Neji was so smart and kind, and that is why he is strong. He saved you and daddy."
Hinata was smiling. She didn't notice the tear rolling down her cheek until it fell upon her daughter's head. "Yes. Yes he did, Himawari. He was the strongest."
She gently kissed her daughter's forehead and tucked her in bed, exiting the room quietly. She was still smiling as she entered the kitchen. She was surprised to find her husband bending over cleaning up eggs, and when he noticed her he was equally surprised.
"Hinata!" He sprang up, lurching towards her. "Hey! How was your day? Oh, this here...yeah, don't worry about that! Okay? We had a bit too much fun here...hehe..he…"
She shook her head gently in amusement and pulled her silly husband into a long embrace. He felt so guilty. This was her day off and she shouldn't be coming home to a mess.
"Naruto," She smiled. "It's okay. Let's just relax and clean up tomorrow."
He glanced at her to make sure she was genuine before relaxing. "I can clean it now…"
"No," She began, pulling his hand towards their room. "I missed you."
