Chapter 19: Bracketing

Hinata popped her head into Hanabi's room.

"Hanabi, do you have any plans for tonight?"

"Hmm?" Hanabi answered distractedly while scribbling notes over the study guide splayed before her desk. She grabbed a highlighter and drew it determinedly on the passage that was giving her trouble then glanced at her sister. "Not really."

Hinata breathed a sigh of relief. "You wanna come with me tonight for dinner? I'm going to Minato-ku to meet some friends. There's this really awesome place I just found out about."

Technically, that wasn't a lie.

Hanabi immediately perked up, her eyebrows high, surprised to hear that from her sister. "You? You're willingly going to Minato-ku?! To the fashionable and swanky part of Tokyo?"

Hinata laughed. "I know, right?"

"Must be really nice then. You sure you don't mind me going with you, Kiba, and Shino? Because it sounds interesting. Can you afford it?"

Hinata was silent and thought of a way to answer that as honestly as she could. "I really want you to come with me."

There! That wasn't a lie either. Her sister just assumed the "friends" she mentioned were Kiba and Shino.

"Then sure!" Hanabi was beaming at her.

Hinata pointed to her sister's study guides to distract her. "I'll leave you to your studying then, but be at NishiAzabu station around 6:15, okay? Dinner's at 6:30."

Hanabi glanced down at her textbooks when her sister had pointed to them. "Oooh! It's a very ritzy restaurant if it's at NishiAzabu. I'm super excited!"

Hinata nodded nervously, but at least Hanabi had believed her. "See you tonight."

She quickly made her escape and left for work.

"You look really nice, Hanabi!" Hinata cried out when her sister came into view. She was glad. Hanabi looking fantastic was going to work in her favor when she met up with her idol later.

Hanabi brushed at her elegant outfit and grinned at her sister. "Thanks! I've been meaning to wear this, but I just didn't have an opportunity. When you mentioned NishiAzabu this morning, I remembered I had this dress that Neji-niisan got for me a long time ago. I'm glad it still fits."

She looked around, her eyes darting excitedly at the upscale shops nearby. "Where's Kiba and Shino? And what's the name of the place we're going to?"

Hinata took a deep breath. Now or never. "I didn't want you to bail out on me, but we're having dinner with Naruto. His parents invited me—"

But her words were cut off when she felt Hanabi dig her fingers into her arm.

"Wait." Hanabi's expression was icy with disbelief. "You're telling me that I'm going to meet with not only a famous fashion photographer, but also the governor of Tokyo tonight, and you didn't have the decency to give me warning?!"

The answer to Hanabi's question was on Hinata's face, at the guilty expression on her face.

"Ow! Hanabi! Ouch! Let go!"

Hanabi's voice was pitched high with outrage and suspicion. "She knows I'm coming right? That I'm crashing your dinner?"

Hinata shook her head. "No. I've never met them. This is the first time I'm meeting them, too."

"What the fuck, Nee-chan?! So you brought me along knowing the invite was only for you?!"

Hinata remained silent.

"Nee-chan," Hanabi hissed low then clutched at Hinata's arm. Her sister's fingers dug even more painfully into her flesh, making Hinata wince. She tried to pull her arm away, but Hanabi's grip wouldn't give.

"No way you were going to commit this social faux pas of dragging me along to a dinner that the Uzumakis planned for a small intimate party of four?!"

Hanabi looked like she wanted to hit her, the evil glare on her face made Hinata realize how much trouble she was in. "Despite how inconvenient this would be for everyone, you were still planning on doing it?!"

"Um, yes?"

"I don't believe this! Nee-chan! You can't be this big of an asshole!"

"You told me you wanted to meet her!"

Hanabi scowled at her. "Yes, but not like this!"

"I promised I would do what I can. This is it."

"No. This is not how normal people do it!"

Hanabi finally let go of her sister's arm, which Hinata rubbed. She was suddenly grateful she'd worn a long-sleeved turtleneck today, pretty sure she would be bruised later tonight.

"Hanabi, I couldn't take the risk of first asking to bring you and his parents saying no. This way, when we show up together they have to invite us both in. I'll apologize, of course."

"Argh! You can't just do shit like that and expect everything to be okay!" Hanabi was frustrated, her normally bubbly face creased into lines of embarrassment and anger at Hinata. "I'm going home!" She turned around, heading back toward the station.

"This might be our only chance, Hanabi."

Hanabi whirled back. "What do you mean?"

Hanabi, of course, knew about her relationship with Naruto. When Hinata had come home last week that day from his apartment, she'd immediately told her younger sister about what had happened, spilling everything about sleeping with him, her mistaken belief that he'd been in a relationship with Ino, the whole drunken episode at the club.

Hanabi was ecstatic at the progress of their relationship, but she was just as cautious as Hinata in thinking too much about what everything meant.

Hinata was being honest now as she faced her angry sister. "Look, I'm just going to say it. This thing with Naruto might not last. Hell, I don't even know what this is. You know me. I do a lot of stupid things that piss people off."

Hanabi snorted in response.

Still, Hinata appealed to her. "I know it's sudden, and it's a really dick move on my part, but I can guarantee you that today, you can meet the governor of Tokyo. This could be your only shot, Hanabi. You might never get another chance to meet Kushina Uzumaki again. Are you really going to pass up this opportunity?"

Hanabi was clearly torn, Hinata could see. She could even understand it. On the one hand, her sister really wanted to go, but just not under these circumstances.

"Come with me," she urged. I'll take all the blame."

"But you are completely at fault!"

Hinata shrugged. "I know. And it's going to be awkward, but you know how I am. I've been awkward my whole life."

Hanabi fidgeted with her fingers.

"But you're different. You've got the grace to deal with it, the skills to smooth over all the awkwardness.. You can charm them, I know you can."

Hanabi wavered.

Hinata pressed on. "Think about it, Hanabi. Because of how unconventional this is, it's going to make a lasting impact on them. Like I said, I know it's not ideal, but this is the best I could do."

Hanabi looked a little calmer so Hinata continued speaking. "Kushina Uzumaki will remember this night forever, remember you, that you were at her house for dinner when I invited you without asking. She'll remember your name in the future if you ever decide to go into politics yourself. Just crash this dinner—"

Hanabi's angry stare made her rephrase her words. "Er, I mean, you could grace us with your presence tonight at his parent's dinner."

"Ugh, Nee-chan! The fact that I'm not only considering it, but what you just said actually makes a lot of sense makes me feel like I'm an asshole."

"You're not!"

Hanabi sighed. "But you know people just don't do these kinds of things, right?"

Hinata nodded, contrite. Still, it sounded as if Hanabi was willing to do it.

"And Naruto doesn't know either, right?"

"Nope." But Hinata beamed, certain of one thing. "Don't worry, he'll be okay with everything. Trust me. He's too well-mannered to ever say anything to make us feel bad."

"Oh, god! This is such a mess!"

"Come with me, Hanabi," Hinata urged one final time.

Hanabi closed her eyes and swallowed. "Uh! You have no idea how badly I want to! But—"

"It's fine. He's very polite, which means his parents are the type of people to be tactful about these things."

"I hate that you're so manipulative!"

"I'm not manipulative! I'm shrewd," Hinata retorted.

"Or an ass!" Hanabi snapped. She sighed with frustration. "But yeah, I'll come with you. I just hope she'll forgive me."

"She will. I know it because you're cute and bubbly," Hinata answered loyally.

"I have to go buy a present to give them."

"I've got a bottle of wine that Kiba's mom recommended." Hinata held out the bag.

"I'm bringing one of my own." Hanabi looked at her watch. "What time is he coming to pick you up?"

"He should be here soon."

Hanabi pointed to the department store. "I'm going to run in there and grab a box of sweets."

Hinata waited while her sister disappeared for a few minutes.

"What did you end up getting?" she asked when Hanabi came back later.

Hanabi held up her bag. "I remember her mentioning in an article that she likes this particular kashiwara mochi because they remind her of her childhood, with her uncles. I'm lucky they had it at the store…"

When he got to the station, Naruto saw her immediately. He had to do a double-take, however, because he experienced a feeling of déjà-vu when another girl, a slightly taller version and more elegantly dressed than Hinata, came running with a shopping bag on her arm.

He recognized the bag from a sweetshop that sold the mochi his mother loved.

How strange, though, he thought, as the women spoke to each other. And he knew right away that this was the sister Hinata had mentioned before, the one who'd made the frog purse for her.

But what was she doing here tonight?

He had a sinking feeling when he approached them and saw Hinata's smile widen.

It distracted him momentarily and made him forget that he should be suspicious of her.

"Naruto, hi!" Her smile blinded him with how bright it was. And then he was completely befuddled when she kissed him flush on the lips, lingering and making sure he couldn't think properly. When she released him so he could finally breathe, she added, "I hope you don't mind, but I brought my sister along to join us for dinner."

Uh, what?!

He blinked back his surprise and was happy he hadn't said that thought aloud.

But she was still smiling like none of this was awkward, and he knew it was awkward because Hinata's sister's smile was strained and wobbly—and clearly embarrassed: proof that Hinata was being wild and crazy again. And Hinata, despite the pleasant expression on her face, was conveying a clear message in her eyes, Please let my sister come. I'm not going to take no for an answer.

"You can tell me to go home, that I'm not welcome to crash and that my older sister's bananas for assuming you're okay with all this," the younger girl said.

There was enough truth, humor, and apology in that statement that neutralized any negative feelings in Naruto. Plus, Hinata's sister was doing something with her lavender eyes that made him think of cute little puppies with bright round eyes.

"I'm Hanabi. It's nice to meet you, I hope?"

Naruto found himself smiling at her, disarmed by the sweet tone to her voice. "It is. I'm happy to meet you. Hinata's mentioned you before."

"She did?" Hanabi's glance at her sister was filled with suspicion, but when she turned back to him, she'd turned on the charm again. "All good, right?"

He laughed, and he saw that Hinata was smiling at both of them. Naruto felt himself softening. No wonder Hinata loved her sister. She was bubbly and friendly, completely charismatic without being overbearing with her friendliness. He knew instinctively that his mom would love her.

"I also hope you don't mind that I got this gift for your mother?" She held up the bag.

He knew that his mom would love that, too.

His mom!

Shit, he had to warn her.

"Will you excuse me one second?" he asked. "I just need to make a phone call."

Panicked, he walked a few paces away so that they wouldn't be able to hear him. He grabbed his phone and dialed his mother. When she picked up, he started babbling to her without really thinking. "Oh, god, Mom! I'm sorry, I don't have the time to explain, but can you ask Dad to set an extra plate? Hinata brought her sister."

There was a slight pause, then his mother answered, "She did?"

"Please, Mom. Please. I'll make it up to you later."

"Yes, of course. I'll do it. She's more than welcome to join us."

"Thank you!"

Kushina chuckled to herself when she hung up.

Minato looked at her.

"That was Naruto," she answered. "We have an unexpected guest?"

"Do we need to clear security?" Minato asked, ready to stop cooking and to pick up the house phone to make a call to her bodyguards.

"No, it's the sister. We've already done the security checks on the whole family, so she should be okay. I'll text Genma so he can update Iwashi and Raido that Hanabi Hyuuga's joining us tonight."

Minato smiled and went back to chopping. "Oh, well, if you don't mind, I don't mind, either."

Kushina looked at her husband with wonder. "Minato, he promised to make it up to me."

Minato, who'd been chopping vegetables, almost cut off a finger but he avoided it in time. He gaped at his wife. "He did?!"

Kushina was still reeling with surprise. "I don't think he was aware of what he was promising."

"Oh, dear."

Minato was worried. Naruto was well aware of how the Uzumakis operated, especially the way his uncles and older relatives used promises and favors as a way to dictate the future—with lots of strings attached. A favor owed usually had to be compensated later and sometimes came with a lot of danger. This was why their son had always been careful to never make any casual promises to his mother because he never wanted to be indebted to her in any way.

But this was the second time Naruto had done it, and both times, he'd been desperate.

The look husband and wife shared acknowledged the depth of Naruto's feelings towards Hinata.

"He's so deep in shit with this girl."

"Kushina!" Minatao chided. "Language, please."

"Sorry, dear," Kushina answered and then amended her statement with, "He's in so much doo-doo with this girl."

All three silently made their way to his parent's house, Naruto holding on awkwardly to Hinata's hand. She'd slipped it into his suddenly when they'd started walking from the station. Unsure of what to do, he'd smiled at her tentatively and was rewarded by a laugh and a quick kiss—again right in front of her younger sister, who didn't seem to think that these affectionate touches were anything amiss. Instead, Hanabi was looking around at the area, trying to force herself to relax because tonight she was finally going to meet her hero.

It only took them ten minutes to walk to his parents' luxury hi-rise condo, but the girls noted the area's beautiful buildings, the pristinely maintained tree-lined streets, and the array of expensive cars parked in the neighborhood.

He saw the quick look they exchanged when they got to the entrance of the building and his mother's security detail held the door open for the three of them.

"Thanks, Raido," Naruto murmured and offered the man a smile.

Raido only nodded before he spoke into the mouthpiece hidden on his wrist. "They're in the building. They're heading up your way."

"Roger that," came the response.

When they were in the elevator, Naruto turned to the girls to explain, "That was Raido, one of my mom's regular body guards. There's going to be another one stationed at the door. His name's Iwashi."

"Okay."

Again, he saw the quick look exchanged between the sisters when he pressed the last button of the elevator.

Both girls were quiet, and he didn't blame them. He'd known this was going to be a strange experience for them even before he'd asked Hinata to come meet his mother. The same thing had happened years before when Sasuke and Sakura had come over to meet his parents for the first time. Because he'd been so used to it his whole life, he'd thought nothing of the constant presence of his mother's faithful bodyguards and assistant. But for others, dealing with the attached security was probably jarring because it was so different from their day-to-day lives.

However, when they got to the penthouse floor, it was not one man, but two men, waiting for them.

Surprised, Naruto said, "Oh! Hi, Genma. You're here, too?"

"Hey, Naruto. Sorry, I just wanted to make sure." Genma didn't elaborate further what he wanted to make sure of, but his gaze on the girls was intense. "But I'm not going inside this time."

Iwashi nodded at all three of them. He rapped on the door, and opened it for them.

"Thanks, Iwashi." Naruto said with a smile, then he turned to his mothers's assistant. "See you, Genma!"

Because he was nervous about the whole night, Naruto quickly ushered the girls in, and rushed to say, "Genma's my mother's personal assistant. But to be honest, he's more like a third parent to me because he's been with us for so long. He's actually a good friend of my dad. They were college buddies. But Genma ended up working for my mom bec—"

But his words died when he came face to face with his parents inside. He hadn't expected them to be at the entrance way, waiting. He'd thought they would be in the kitchen still getting ready for the girls.

His mother, however, hadn't been able to keep her excitement to herself. Mom was looking composed, but the gleam in her eyes was so bright he had to blink.

"So you're Hinata Hyuuga," she said neutrally, but Kushina hadn't missed the way Naruto and Hinata were still holding hands. She also didn't miss the way Naruto was gazing at Hinata with quiet adoration.

Hinata's eyes responded merrily to his gaze, and she squeezed his hand, which she'd held on to the entire time. When she looked at Kushina, she beamed at her. "I am! It's nice to meet you, Governor Uzumaki."

Kushina cracked a smile and raised a brow, but she turned her attention to the younger sister. "And you're Hanabi."

Hanabi came forward with a low bow, holding herself stiffly in the formal Japanese tradition, arms at her sides. She kept her bent posture even as she apologized. "I am deeply sorry for the awkwardness of me being here, Governor Uzumaki. I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me for the intrusion, but I couldn't pass up this opportunity. I just really wanted to meet somebody I've looked up to my entire life!"

Kushina laughed. "Your entire life, huh? You must be all of what, twenty-two? Oh, goodness! Now you've made me feel so old!"

Hanabi abruptly straightened up, her expression embarrassed. "Governor, I'm so sorry! That's not what I meant!"

"Stop right there, young lady. Tonight, I'm not a governor. Tonight, I'm just Kushina. You can go ahead and call me that."

Hanabi blanched and shook her head vehemently. "I'm sorry, I can't do that. You're forever going to be Governor to me."

Before Kushina could respond, though, Minato interrupted with a smile. "How about we do all this while we eat dinner? Why don't you girls take off your shoes so you can finally relax and come inside?"

True to Hinata's expectations, the Uzumakis proved how gracious and well-bred they were with the courteous way they treated her and her sister, encouraging them to be not so formal and to make them feel at ease.

Naruto was slightly surprised to see that Hinata did have a quiet side to her, that she could be intimidated into silence by his mother—only to find out that her passing reservation disappeared quickly when she saw his childhood photos displayed on the wall that never failed to embarrass him.

She rushed to stand before the photos and squealed loudly as soon as she saw the one of him when he was barely a year old in the little watermelon outfit that his mother loved. In the photo, he was wearing a red shirt that had little black watermelon seeds. His shorts were green, flecked with streaks of lime, representing the rind. The little red hat on his head was pointy, and he was holding and chewing on his favorite stuffed animal, drool dripping from his mouth.

Hinata's eyes and mouth were wide with excitement when she exclaimed, "Oh, my god, Naruto! You were such a cute baby!"

Kushina laughed, too, and Naruto heard satisfaction in the sound. She came to stand next to Hinata. "Right?! Wasn't he?"

They stood looking at the wall of family pictures, both women pointing to the photos they loved, the various pictures of him as a young boy. "He's so adorable in all of these! I love these little outfits you picked, Governor! Yiiiiiii! I just want to pinch his baby cheeks!"

Hinata grinned first at Naruto and then turned her gaze back to Kushina, who was smiling indulgently at her. "Like, he's so stylish now as an adult, but I love these pictures of him when he wasn't so perfect."

"Tell me about it!" Kushina agreed with a laugh. "Sometimes, I'm afraid to hug him because I'm scared to wrinkle his clothes!"

He groaned. Hinata had picked the one subject that his mother loved to talk about: him.

"Oh, god, Mom!"

Beside him, Hanabi was equally mortified. "Nee-chan!"

Minato, a little miffed to be ignored, said, "If anybody cares, dinner's ready."

Dinner with his parents was a strange and wonderful affair.

The Uzumakis were used to dealing with unexpected situations, even uninvited guests, but it didn't really matter because Kushina's team had already done the background checks on Hinata's family. She had a thick file on the Hyuugas tucked away in the desk of her home office.

More importantly, as his mother, she just wanted to meet Hinata—and if that meant including the sister, she welcomed it. Kushina's goal tonight was to make sure that her son's heart wasn't going to be trampled on by some ruthless floozy who was going to use him for his connections. She'd been prepared to dislike Hinata on sight, but she just couldn't hate a woman who adored baby photos—especially her son's.

"Yeah, I work with children, and there's something about their wildness and their innocence that just—" Hinata tapped her chest. "I love it. It's crazy stressful because everything's so unpredictable, but it just feels really fulfilling."

Kushina nodded and chuckled. "That sounds a lot like my job."

They beamed at each other and Kushina steered her guests towards the dining room, where the one thing she hadn't counted on happened.

Hanabi had gained an unexpected fan in her husband.

Minato had gone all out to prepare the food. Hanabi, who played the same role in the Hyuuga household, complimented him on the presentation, the taste, the texture of the dishes that came out: the sashimi arranged beautifully on the sushi boat, the nikumaki of thinly sliced pork wrapped around the asparagus stalks, the miso soup seasoned to perfection, and all the little side dishes that required time and love to prepare.

In the midst of all that, though, what made Minato fall in love with Hanabi was her vocabulary.

When he'd brought out his pièce de résistance, the tai meshi of sea bream mixed into and cooked in rice, and that he'd set the dish in front of her, Hanabi hadn't been able to stop herself from clapping her hands in delight and exclaiming, "That looks amazing, Minato-san! I bet it tastes good, too! Teitei naa!"

Minata had frozen and then looked at her when he'd heard those unfamiliar words.

He quickly went back to his place at the table, pulled his seat closer and gazed at Hanabi with an expression of intensity.

"That's an interesting phrase, Hanabi. I'm very unacquainted with it."

Hanabi glanced at him and blushed. "Oh, whoops! Sorry, Minato-san, it just came out of me. It's got a good meaning, I swear! It means awesome."

But Minato's eyes were wide and gleaming keenly, as if he was looking at a cross-section of the population he was encountering for the first time. "Hanabi, are you, perhaps, a gyaru?"

She shook her head. "I'm not, personally, but my best friend Moegi is definitely one."

"Excellent!" Minato exclaimed and then abruptly left the table. He then ran to grab a notebook. When he came back to the table, he quickly set aside all the dishes and food to make room for his note-taking. "Could you please explain that phrasing for me? Tei-tei na. This is new slang among younger people?"

Hanabi was startled but she said, "Yes."

"How would you define it? What situation would you use this word? Do you perhaps know the origin…"

And then they were off, with Hanabi explaining the meaning and the use of the phrase. She also rattled off a few more expressions that Minato wrote down and tried to translate.

"Kyo no deeto dotakyan! Maji de pieeeeeen!" he repeated after her, imbuing his tone with the girlish fervor popular among Hanabi's age group.

She nodded solemnly. "That's right."

"Ah, so in this context, it means: My date canceled."

She shook her head. "It's more nuanced than just simply canceling, more like suddenly canceled, without warning, so it's quite shocking."

"I see! Yes, of course, the word dotanba plus cancel equals dotakyan, without warning…last minute…suddenly canceled…causing distress…" he muttered to himself while he scribbled some notes. He glanced at Hanabi with a puzzled face. "I'm afraid I don't know what pien is. The only thing I can think of is pii-pii naku. Crying?"

"Yes. the sound one makes when they cry."

Minato continued to take copious notes. His grin was ecstatic, his nod emphatic. "By the way, this is really good stuff!"

Naruto didn't bother putting a stop to his father's "research." There was no way he could once Dad was lost in his never-ending quest to find words to include in his dictionary. He shook his head and glanced apologetically at Hinata, who just beamed at him and nodded proudly at her sister.

Kushina only watched on in amusement, completely happy with the way this evening had unfolded. Her husband busy with Hanabi, she turned to Hinata. Pretending she didn't know anything about her, she asked, "What made you choose wildlife photography?"

Hinata, aware that a woman like the governor probably already knew everything there was to know about her, grinned mischievously. "It helped that I had a sugar daddy."

Kushina blinked, then burst out laughing. "Tell me more about this sugar daddy!"

"Well, you see, Hiruzen Sarutobi approached me…"

While Naruto, who was still reeling from the sugar daddy comment, sat and watched, slowly coming to the realization that Hinata and his mom definitely shared some personality traits.

When dinner was over, Naruto insisted on walking them to the station, but the girls protested enough to convince him that he should let them go on their own. That and his mother had pressed a hand to his arm and furtively whispered, "Genma's still around."

Which meant Genma was probably going to keep an eye on them to make sure they were okay getting to the station.

After thanking the Uzumakis, Hanabi stepped out alone into the hall, leaving her sister to say good-bye to Naruto. His parents did the same.

Alone at the entrance way, Hinata leaned up and kissed him on the mouth, uncaring that his parents were around. She was grateful that he'd agreed to include her sister, ever so gallant, which made him so much more attractive in her eyes.

"Thank you for tonight," she whispered, smiling at him while toying with the button on his shirt.

Aware that his parents were just a few feet away, he cleared his throat, and his cheekbones stained red, said, "Thank you for agreeing to it."

She laughed and after one last lingering kiss, turned around and stepped out the door.

The door closed behind Hinata as the sisters left to go home.

In the Uzumaki household, the inhabitants took a moment to compose themselves before the inevitable discussion followed. Kushina was smiling to herself, loving the sweetness of their guests' sisterhood, something she regretfully could never give her son. She also fully approved of the affectionate way Hinata treated Naruto.

Minato was thinking about Hanabi's wealth of knowledge in young-speak. She was a valuable resource he could consult to help him navigate the changing nature of modern Japanese language.

Naruto, meanwhile, was simply grateful nobody had broken down into hysterics—especially him. He was just glad everything worked out in the end despite Hanabi's awkward presence at the dinner table that had originally meant to be an opportunity for Mom to grill Hinata.

Kushina turned to face Naruto and folded her arms. Naruto winced, bracing himself for his mother's opinion, but he suddenly felt relieved when Kushina laughed.

"I like her," she said simply with a grin. "She's got a lot of balls bringing her uninvited sister for dinner."

"Kushina!" Minato reprimanded gently. "Such language! You have to remember the more polite terms I taught you, especially when you're speaking in front of your voters. Election's coming up."

"Yes, of course, dear," Kushina answered automatically, placatingly. However, she rolled her eyes at her husband but she continued smiling at Naruto. "I meant to say, I like her testicular fortitude bringing Hanabi to meet us."

"I'm sorry about that, Mom," he said with a grimace. "But I did warn you that she's very unpredictable."

"You did, and I appreciate the warning. I was ready for it."

Minato walked back into the living room and started clearing up the teacups. Kushina and Naruto followed right after him.

She glanced at Naruto, still keeping the pleasant expression on her face. "I also want to add that she's good publicity."

Naruto, who'd been bending to gather the rest of the dishes, slowly stood up when he heard that particular tone in her voice and stared at his mother—his politically savvy mother who was always conscious of the image she portrayed before society.

"Mom?"

She tapped her fingers nervously on the side of her favorite green dress. As opposed to the suits and the polished way she presented herself to the public, tonight for dinner, she'd dressed down. She was smiling, the rare one where she showed him her weakness: her ambition, the all-consuming desire to rise to the top, the fact that she was always thinking about how she could spin stories, how she could use them to her advantage.

Kushina sighed with relief. She knew, too, that her family accepted the truth about her, that she was ambitious—almost ruthlessly so. "What a hero she is, Naruto.," she explained herself. "Hinata's the kind of person that a lot of people would want to support because she's got such an underdog story, the fact that she went through that lion attack and lived to fight another day."

Naruto nodded, but he waited, aware that there was something more she wanted to say.

At this moment, this woman before him was not his mother; she'd reverted to one of her many roles. Right now, she was not simply a politician, but the governor of Tokyo, a rising star in the Liberal Democratic Party—and potentially the first female prime minister of Japan.

"I like that Hinata comes from a normal, working-class family. She's got a kind father who adopted his orphaned nephew. Then she has that brother who worked through college to pay for his own education and then picked a career that made enough money to help pay for the girls' college, too." Kushina paused to laugh with delight. "And the icing on the cake is that the youngest one wants to get into politics because she was inspired by me and thinks I'm amazing."

Naruto pictured again the charming Hanabi and smiled at his mom in agreement.

"Very good publicity," Kushina repeated again.

But then Kushina's eyes turned gentle and she was back to being his mother, not the astute politician she was.

What she'd seen tonight was enough to reassure her. She'd observed the genuineness of Hinata's personality, the frank and open way she answered questions, the smile she flashed at Naruto every time their eyes had met that made her son melt; the way her son looked on proudly by her side when they'd been discussing the contest and their line of work; the well-intentioned but bumbling efforts to help her younger sister.

Kushina smiled at Naruto.

"Like I said, Hinata's a wonderful choice. You couldn't have picked a better girl to fall in love with."

He sucked in a surprised breath and raised his arms to stop her thoughts from progressing too far. "Woah, Mom! Not yet. I don't think it's love between us. We just got together."

Kushina laughed. "Oh, so you guys are just in it for the sex?"

"I don't want to talk about my sex life with you!" Naruto's face was red.

"So there is sex."

"Mom!"

Naruto heard his father muffle his own laughter in the kitchen.

Still blushing, he glared at her. "Your constituents would be so ashamed to hear you talking about this with your son."

"Wrong!" she retorted. "I think they'd be happy to know that I have such a good relationship with my son that I can talk about this with him."

"A little too much!"

"Kushina, stop teasing the poor boy," Minato interrupted, but his tone indicated he was entertained by their conversation.

Boy, Naruto thought with sudden amusement. In his parents' eyes, he was always going to be a child despite being close to thirty.

But Mom walked over and placed her hands on both his arms. "You know I love you, Naruto. I'm your mother and I'm always going to want you to be happy. And if she's the one you're happy with, I'm not going to stand in your way." Then her eyes turned apologetic and sheepish. "It's just, I didn't think she'd be the type of woman you'd end up with."

Naruto frowned at her. "What? Mom, you just said you liked her!"

She shook her head at him. "I do! I genuinely do, but I just thought that you being so quiet, I was expecting you to be with a person who had your same personality. That you'd be more comfortable with a calmer woman."

"Oh." But he grinned at her. He much preferred spending time with a woman like Hinata who kept him breathless with excitement.

She laughed. "And obviously, she's the opposite of you. Hinata's a little…wild? Boisterous?"

Kushina tilted her head but then turned to Minato to check with him. He squinted and thought for a minute. "Rambunctious."

She lit up with a smile. "Yes! That's the right word for her: rambunctious."

Naruto nodded. It fit Hinata perfectly. But then he glanced at the clock. "I've got to go or I'll miss the train."

Minato took off his apron and shook his head. "Why don't you just stay the night and leave early in the morning?"

He looked at his parents' wistful, expectant faces. "That's a good idea."

Hinata and Hanabi sat next to each other on the train on their way back to their home in Kamata.

Hanabi yawned but she quickly hid it behind a palm. "I'm so glad you convinced me to crash the dinner, Nee-chan. Governor Uzumaki's even more perfect than I imagined."

Hinata sighed in relief. "I'm just happy everything ended up okay."

"They're very well-bred people, for sure! But I can't get over how nice she was to me! I'm going to remember this night forever." Hanabi sighed and then suddenly chuckled. "But his dad's such a nerd, though. Don't get me wrong, I was happy to meet and talk with him, but I never pictured him to be that much of a geek for vocabulary. But it makes a lot of sense since he's a dictionary editor."

Hinata laughed, too. "I love him, though! He's awesome and I like that he's a little more down to earth than his wife."

"Yeah."

Hanabi yawned again, but the next look she sent to her sister was full of teasing. "He's such a mama's boy, though!"

No question who the 'he' was.

Hinata burst out with a loud guffaw. Shoulders shaking, she responded honestly. "He's not. I think it's part of Naruto's charm. They obviously have a good relationship with each other."

Her sister nodded. "The Uzumakis have this image of being the perfect family or just perfect people whenever I see them on television, but I keep forgetting that they're people." Hanabi's tone was filled with wonder.

"Yeah, once you get over the fact that you're surrounded by security and live on the penthouse floor."

The girls laughed.

But Hinata agreed with Hanabi's sentiment. "It's strange, isn't it? Despite them being famous, uber-rich, and powerful, they're really decent human beings." She chuckled. "But at least we see now why she became governor, right? There's just something about her. She's an unstoppable force."

"I love her," Hanabi said simply.

"Hah! And you didn't even want to come with me when I sprung it on you so suddenly."

"The food was fantastic. Minato-san was a very good cook," Hanabi replied instead, refusing to be baited and only continued smiling. But then she placed her head on her sister's shoulder.

"Nee-chan, was Kaa-chan's cooking nice?"

Hinata wrapped her arm around her sister's shoulders and pressed a kiss on top of Hanabi's head. She closed her eyes and tried to remember. "It was, Hanabi. I really wish you could've met her and tasted her cooking."

"Mmm. I thought so." Hanabi sighed.

"But you know what? I think Kaa-chan would've been very proud of you for continuing the tradition and being an amazing cook."

"Thanks, Nee-chan."