The Sun & The Moon: Chapter 6 – "25 Years"
"Mama, Papa," Himawari, now sixteen and looking more like her mother every day, called upstairs. She stood in the foyer of her childhood home wearing a cute dress that was navy blue and came in at her waist but flared out at her skirt. She wore light make-up with her hair hanging over her right shoulder and falling in curly waves. "Mama, Papa," Himawari called again.
"We're coming," Naruto called.
Himawari puffed her cheeks as she glanced down at her watch. She heard the key turn in the front door and she turned to see Boruto, now twenty, standing in the entryway in a suit. "Onii-chan."
"Hey, are they not ready yet?" Boruto questioned as he stepped into the house and checked his watch.
"He said 'they're coming' for the last five minutes," Himawari whined. "Where's Sarada-nee?"
"She's already at the venue," Boruto answered. They both heard a door open upstairs and looked up the stairs.
Naruto and Hinata came into view. Naruto wore a simple black suit with black shoes and black bow tie with his hair slicked back. Hinata wore an elegant white chiffon, floor-length dress. She'd recently trimmed her hair to stop just above her shoulder so it hung there with some of her hair on the right side pulled behind her ear. She wore a pair of simple diamond earrings with a matching necklace and bracelet.
"You're so pretty, Mama," Himawari gushed as Naruto and Hinata came down the stairs.
Hinata smiled. "Thank you Himawari-chan."
"You look mighty handsome tonight sir," Boruto complimented as he brushed his father's shoulder off.
"Ah, well," Naruto shrugged and adjusted his jacket, "I try."
Boruto and Naruto grinned at one another.
"So, what's the plan for tonight?" Naruto questioned.
"Well, seeing as it is your twenty-fifth anniversary, Himawari and I wanted to celebrate with you so tonight, we are at your service," Boruto explained. "But before you have us do your bidding, we wanted to take you to dinner first."
"All right," Naruto agreed. "So long as I don't have to pay or drive, I'm all for this."
Himawari giggled while Boruto rolled his eyes and Hinata scolded her husband. Together, they headed out the front door and once they were outside, Hinata and Naruto saw the limo parked out front with the driver waiting at the back door.
"You got a limo?" Hinata questioned. "Boruto, all of this really wasn't necessary."
"Yes, it was," Boruto argued as he ushered his parents towards the limo. "Come on, get in. We don't want to be late for our dinner reservation. I almost had to sell my kidney to get this reservation, and I refuse to let it go to waste."
With their son's persistence, Hinata and Naruto climbed into the back of the limo, Himawari and Boruto climbing in after them before the driver shut the door. Naruto and Hinata settled in naturally with his left arm over her shoulder and his right-hand holding her hand.
The entirety of the car ride to their destination, Naruto and Hinata watched and listened to Boruto and Himawari chat away. It was a part of their routine to talk animatedly to one another whenever Boruto came home from school seeing as he had plenty of things to update his little sister on. As Naruto and Hinata watched the two of them, a nostalgic look came on their faces. But, because Naruto and Hinata were distracted, they didn't notice that their driver hadn't taken them to where they both expected initially.
"What's this?" Hinata questioned as she looked outside.
They were parked outside of a favorite executive event hall located within Kannabi Village. They had used the venue recently themselves for Boruto's graduation party and Himawari's Sweet Sixteen.
"It looks pretty deserted, doesn't it?" Naruto commented as he noted the lack of lights and cars.
The door opened and Naruto and Hinata exchanged a look before looking at their children. They both wore innocent looks. Naruto shrugged before climbing out and offering his hand to Hinata. She took hold of it and climbed out, followed by Boruto and Himawari.
Boruto slipped a tip to the driver before Himawari practically skipped to the main entrance. Boruto walked ahead and stood to one side of the door while Himawari stood on the other.
Naruto chuckled. "What are you two up to?" he questioned as he approached the door with Hinata and stopped when Himawari held out her hand.
"So, obviously, I lied about dinner," Boruto confessed.
"Obviously," Naruto and Hinata said in unison.
"But," Boruto grinned, "I believe you'll like this much better." Boruto looked at his little sister who grinned at him. Together, they each took hold of a handle and pulled the doors open.
As the doors opened, the interior of the hall came to life and there, standing in the foyer, was all of their family and friends.
"Happy Anniversary!" they all exclaimed as Naruto and Hinata entered.
Boruto and Himawari joined their parents, the two of them still grinning.
"Surprise," Boruto and Himawari said in unison.
"You did all of this?" Hinata asked. "For us?"
"Of course," Boruto said. "Hima-chan and I wanted to do something special for the two of you on we figured what better way to celebrate your twenty-fifth anniversary than to spend it with family and friends."
"You two always said that the best occasions are spent with family and friends," Himawari chimed. "So, tonight, we all wanted to celebrate the two of you, with you."
Naruto smiled. He hugged his daughter who happily hugged him back. He kissed her forehead before looking at Boruto. "Thank you, both of you, for all of this."
"It's the lest we could do," Boruto said and blushed a bit when Hinata kissed his cheek. He cleared his throat before clapping his hands together and looking to the guests. "Let's have some fun tonight, shall we?"
The party began. As Naruto and Hinata entered into the main hall, they were taken aback by the familiarity of the scene. Boruto and Himawari had gone out of their way to recreate their parent's wedding reception.
"How did you manage this?" Naruto asked.
"Wedding photos," Boruto answered. "Luckily Uncle Menma knows how to take a half decent photo so it wasn't too hard to figure out the details. Plus, we found Okaa-chan's old wedding planner in the attic."
"I forgot that was up there," Hinata commented. "What were you doing in the attic?"
"Himawari needed help finding your Spring Formal dress from college and figured we should check the attic first," Boruto said. "We found the planner before we found the dress."
"That was last year," Hinata remembered. "You've been planning this for over a year?"
"Yup," Boruto admitted. "Now, enjoy yourselves."
Naruto and Hinata were doused with congratulations and other words of praise for lasting twenty-five years. They reminisced with old friends over food and drinks and enjoyed each other's company.
Hinata danced with her nephew Nawaki - Konohamaru and Hanabi's ten-year-old - while Naruto danced with Naruko. Naruto and his friends from college managed to pull off their old dance routine while embarrassing the hell out of their children while their wives enjoyed the show.
Partway through the night, Boruto gained everyone's attention as he held a mic in his hand and a glass of champagne in the other. Once everyone had settled down at their tables, and the champagne had been handed out, he proceeded with his remarks.
"First off, I would like to thank all of you for being able to come out and celebrate with us on Mr. and Mrs. Uzumaki's twenty-fifth anniversary," Boruto stated and grinned when the crowd clapped, cheered, and whistled for Naruto and Hinata.
Naruto and Hinata sat together beside the podium where Boruto spoke. Once again, Naruto's arm was around Hinata and they were holding hands. Boruto looked and smiled at them for a moment.
"I'll try and be quick since we have a lot of these to get through," Boruto assured before clearing his throat and looking back at his parents. "Okaa-chan, Otou-san, I just want to thank you for being you. Growing up, I was able to see the love one person could have for another. Okaa-chan, I want to thank you for putting up with me, especially when I turned thirteen."
Hinata groaned at the memory of Boruto's dark years and the crowd laughed at her reaction. Boruto chuckled along with them.
"I know I wasn't the easiest kid to deal with back then but I want to thank you for loving me anyway," Boruto continued. "And Otou-san, I want to thank you for showing me what it means to love someone. At one point, I believed that once you were in love, then you were in love forever but you taught me that it's not that simple. And love that is that simple, isn't love at all. I can't even begin to list how many times you've gone above and beyond not only for me but Hima-chan and Okaa-chan too. And it's not even just the big things, it's the little things too. Okaa-chan, you always had words of encouragement for me and you taught me that it was okay to fail. Otou-san, you always listened and no matter what, you were there for me in when I needed you."
Naruto and Hinata smiled.
"I can only begin to hope and pray that I turn out to be everything you've hoped for me to become and that I can be half the man you were and half the parents you were," Boruto said. "Thank you, for everything."
Boruto stepped away from the podium and hugged both his parents. The crowd clapped as they had their moment and as Boruto sat down, Himawari took to the podium.
"Good evening," Himawari greeted everyone. "If it's not painstakingly obvious, I'm Uzumaki Himawari," she clarified and the crowd chuckled. "Okaa-chan, Otou-san, thank you. You've both taught me so much over the last sixteen years and it's hard to believe that in two more, I'll be out of the house and off to college. Now, I know you wish I could stay at home forever -."
Naruto cleared his throat loudly before taking a sip of his champagne. The crowd laughed and Naruto gave a playful grin to his daughter who shot him a disapproving look. She couldn't help but roll her eyes and smile before continuing.
"Okaa-chan, you taught me how to love myself, be confident, and have a voice," Himawari said. "When I was little, I remember being bullied because of my birthmarks and the minute you found out, you told me that was it not only okay to cry, but it was also okay to stand-out. And then Otou-san came in and told me the story of what our whiskers meant. Now, Oba-chan always said that an Uzumaki had red-hair because we were direct descendants of the diety Kurama but Otou-san, you told us that those marked with whiskers had personally received Kurama's blessing and that these whiskers symbolized our strength and tenacity.
"You both taught me to be strong and accepting of myself and I can't even begin to thank either of you enough for that," Himawari confessed. "Okaa-chan, you taught me what it looked like when a man truly loves you and Otou-san, you taught me what love is supposed to look - or should look like - when he loves me. Granted, my standards are a bit high now," Himawari shrugged and the crowd laughed while Naruto clapped, "but I'm glad I know what true love looks like. I hope to find that love one day."
"Not too soon," Naruto mumbled and the crowd laughed some more.
Himawari rolled her eyes as she stepped away from the podium and hugged her parents. Once Himawari sat down, guests began to take to the podium and share their stories of Naruto and Hinata. When everyone had gone, Naruto stood at the podium.
He couldn't help but smile at all their friends and family before looking at Hinata. He held out his hand and she instinctively took it and smiled up at him.
"We," Naruto began before pursing his lips together. The crowd clapped and shouted words of encouragement. He chuckled before looking at Hinata. "We can't even begin to tell you how much this means to us. Boruto, Himawari, thank you for all your efforts in putting this together. Your mother and I are beyond grateful for the two of you and we have officially reached the point where we wouldn't trade you for anything else in the world."
The crowd laughed while Boruto and Himawari grinned at one another.
"But seriously, just hearing all of your stories of Hinata and me, it warms my heart," Naruto confessed. He looked at Hinata now. He tugged on her hand a little and she stood with him.
"Hinata, I can't even begin to tell you how grateful I am for you," Naruto said. "You made me the happiest man in the world when you became my wife and since that day twenty-five years ago, you've done nothing but fill my life with joy. Every second of every day that I've had the privilege of spending with you has been a dream come true for me. You are my best friend, the mother of our children, my whole heart, and my life. Thinking back, I don't know how I survived without you in my life."
"On ramen and caffeine," Kiba and Sasuke shouted.
Naruto shrugged and Hinata giggled. He smiled. "Thank you for all that you have given me through the years. I love you to the moon and back."
Hinata smiled before Naruto leaned down and kissed her. She happily kissed back and giggled when Naruto lifted her off the ground. When Naruto pulled away, she laughed as she wiped some of her lipstick off his lip before holding his hands.
"Naruto, I don't even know where to begin," Hinata confessed. "For the last twenty-five years, you have managed to put a smile on my face every day. You've done so much for me that I may never be able to pay you back in full. You are an amazing father, an amazing friend, and an amazing husband and I cannot imagine my life without you. I love you so, so much."
Hinata teared up. Naruto smiled and hugged her, the two of them swaying as their friends and family clapped and cheered.
"Congratulations!" they all shouted and cheered.
The night carried on with more dancing, drinking, and eating. Menma's son, Kawaki, snapped photos in his father's sted and made sure to document as much as he could. And before anyone realized it, the night came to an end.
Naruto and Hinata thanked their guests as they filtered out. When they returned home, Boruto changed into more comfortable clothing before hopping into his SUV and heading back to his dorm. Himawari went to bed and Naruto and Hinata returned to their room.
In their tub, Naruto and Hinata sat together with her back against his chest, the two of them enjoying the hot water and suds. Naruto wrapped his arms around Hinata's waist and rested his chin on her shoulder.
"We have some pretty great kids," Naruto muttered.
"We do," Hinata agreed.
"Twenty-five years," Naruto breathed. "I turn fifty in October."
"Do you? You're older than I thought," Hinata commented.
"Excuse me Mrs. 'I'm thirty-five' for the twelfth year in a row," Naruto teased.
Hinata flicked Naruto forehead and he gently nibbled on Hinata's shoulder. She giggled and lightly scratched his head. "I think I'll be forty-seven this year."
Naruto faked an exasperated gasp and chuckled when Hinata elbowed him. He kissed her shoulders before rubbing his cheek against hers. "Let's aim for twenty-five more years, Hinata."
"Why not fifty more?" Hinata asked.
Naruto grinned. "Fifty more sounds better."
To Be Continued…