Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
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"Dad?"
Naruto mentally groaned before looking up from a mission scroll to his eldest daughter. Unfortunately for him, she was a renowned brainiac so unlike himself and more akin to Hinata, and had recently taken to asking questions about the opposite sex. He knew she was well into her teens and naturally these types of topics came up. But he hated to discuss male-female relations with his innocent although deadly daughter.
Regardless, he was her father and would always be there for her, even during the awkward teenage years. Naruto folded his scroll closed on the family kitchen table and looked at her expectantly to continue.
"Well I kind of have a personal question…" She trailed off nervously and scratched the back of her head in a way very reminiscent of Naruto's embarrassed self.
He paled at the oncoming question and braced himself for impact. Silently, Naruto wished she had also gained her mother's shyness if not tact.
"And?" He prompted.
"I just don't understand!" She yelled angrily.
Naruto leaned away in his chair at the uncharacteristic shout, he expected some sort of physical hit to follow such an angry voice. Then he felt silly because this was his daughter and not his wife discovering he hadn't done the dishes. Or a certain pinkette from his past who hit him every chance she got.
"I'm the first child of three. The oldest. I know you had lots of important people in your life and that's why you honoured grandpa by naming Minato-kun after him and it was the same with Jiraiya-kun. But what's up with my name!? I've checked the village records and there is no one in your past with my name!"
His precious daughter's face flushed red with anger and he couldn't help but grin. This really didn't assuage her anger any but Naruto was quick to take an authoritative tone.
"My records are sealed first of all with some very powerful jutsus which means that it's confidential. As in not for your eyes."
His daughter was quick to rebut. "Oh please, those jutsus were child's play, if you really wanted to keep the file secret you could've tried harder. And don't try to change the subject, father."
Parental pride swelled in his chest at his daughter's blatant disregard for the rules and her superior shinobi skills. Although he couldn't exactly condone the behaviour, Naruto held up his hands in surrender and motioned for her to sit down.
His face turned serious and she became instantly nervous at seeing her father not as his usual smiling self.
"The truth is…. When I was younger there was this mission to Cotton Country and I met this amazing cook. I was young and stupid and didn't really know what overeating meant. Anyways he had this specialty ramen so incredible that I promised to name my first born after it. So I named you-"
"Naruto!"
The Hokage visibly gulped and a look of sheer terror came over his face at hearing his wife's stern tone. He mustered his courage and turned around to look at his beautiful Hinata standing at the entrance of the kitchen. Her face was confident and had a no non-sense air about her. Raising their children had finally allowed her to overcome her shyness and she was not afraid to lay down the rules with him too.
"Hi honey!" Naruto smiled grandly at her and because she could never refuse his smile, Hinata's face softened. But she wouldn't let him off that easy for playing tricks on their daughter.
"Stop lying to our daughter. Look at her!"
Naruto turned back around and was met with a very scary look that rivalled Ino's. He kept smiling to hide his fear and patted his daughter on the head to placate her.
"Okay I'll tell you the actual story behind your name." Naruto said happily.
His daughter continued to glare at him. "If you lie this time I'll stop sparring with you." She wisely threatened.
It was no secret to the family or the village for that matter that Naruto treasured and prided himself on teaching his three children the ninja arts. Naruto could already picture his daughter as Hokage or an ANBU captain when she was older. But not without his excellent tutelage.
Even if that included throwing kunai at her while she slept.
"Alright for real this time. Your brothers as you know were named after my mentor and my father. These men were true shinobi and irreplaceable family in my heart so I had to name my sons after them. I could have named you, my first child, after one of them too but it wasn't the right time."
Hinata came up behind Naruto and placed her small hands on his shoulders to offer comfort. After sixteen years he still had a more difficult time discussing those two than any of the other people he had lost and for good reason after what they gave to him. Naruto appreciated his wife's comfort and smiled under her touch before continuing.
"My old team, before I became Hokage were my surrogate family. I'm sure you've seen the picture of them in my office." His daughter nodded her head in recognition, having been watched over by uncle Yamato her entire life and then there was uncle Sai who had been her genin team leader until she made Chunin.
"But I've never much mentioned the female on my team or our leader, mostly because they passed away a few months before you were born. It wasn't fair not to talk about them…they were a part of my original genin team." Naruto paused to let the momentary grief pass before continuing.
"Sakura and Kakashi saved my life at the end of the last great shinobi war. They are especially important to me, just as you are. One day I will tell you everything about their relationship and history but for now I'll tell you that those two never wished to be separated. So I named you after both of them because they meant the world to me and I didn't want them to be apart."
Naruto smiled fondly at their memory. It still saddened him that they couldn't be here to see how the world changed or see his beautiful children or even retire to that small cottage in Fire country.
Still, when Naruto thought of Sakura she was always smiling brightly and encouraging him to never give up on his dreams and Kakashi would stand at her side with his usual eye-crinkle smile, telling him to dust himself off and try again. They gave their lives to him. So he would continue to smile in their places and for this precious life he was able to live.
Naruto watched his daughter carefully as she digested this new information. Obviously she wasn't expecting such an incredible reason behind her name. Her hands were neatly folded in front of her and none of the anger from before remained. Her head was bowed and Naruto was afraid she may be upset.
"I see." She managed to say through tight lips. Then she looked to her mother still standing behind him. "Mom we should probably go pick the boys up from the academy now." Hinata looked up at the clock in the kitchen and gasped in surprise by how late it was already.
"I'll grab our coats!" She yelled as she sprinted from the room.
Naruto eyes stayed glued to his daughter as she stood up and moved silently to his side. Without warning she threw her arms around his neck like she had done at a younger age when he would carry her to bed. That was before he started throwing sharp things at her while she slept.
"Thanks dad, I'm glad you named me after them." She quickly let go and bounded out of the room.
Naruto smiled to himself at her unusual display of affection since she was now a teenager and all. A rush of steps came towards his direction and he was not surprised to see his daughter come back into the kitchen.
"You know I think you're a great ninja and all but age must be getting to you because I placed one of uncle Sai's explosive tags on your back and you haven't seemed to notice." She admitted while beaming one of her best smiles his way.
Naruto was also smiling as he reached around his side to feel the paper explosive with his hand. That's when his smile chipped at the realization that she managed to get him with a highly dangerous explosive…again. Another second passed before his daughter turned and ran away as fast as her legs could take her.
"KASURA UZUMAKI!" He bellowed down the hallway.
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A/N: A little spoiler to the after after story.