Disclaimer: Naruto and all of its characters belong to Shueisha and Masashi Kishimoto. I own nothing but the original characters I create.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 334: Family
"Don't look at me like that." Naruto was standing at the gates of the village as the sky started to darken.
Next to him was his first wife, Hinata, giving him a look of disapproval.
Two very uncomfortable-looking Chunin were standing in the background. They couldn't leave since they had been ordered to guard the South Gate, but they also didn't want to get in between any argument between these two.
"You went too far. She just graduated, and you threw her in the middle of a bandit camp?" It was very rare for Hinata to get angry with him. This was one of those occasions, though.
"She is a genin now. Facing dangerous situations is going to be a normal occurrence for her. And besides, don't forget that you're not the only one who trained our daughter. I know perfectly well what she is capable of. A few dozen bandits won't be able to hurt her all that much."
"Naruto, it's not about combat skills. Himawari has no experience facing real enemies who will stop at nothing to kill her. That's very different from facing something during training, when you know there is no real danger." Hinata pointed out.
"Hmph, real danger? You think I didn't leave a dozen clones hidden around that camp to protect those three if things got serious?"
"Oh…" Hinata looked at her husband. She should have realized it sooner. He had always been very protective of her and Ino. She shouldn't be surprised that he would be the same with his daughter.
"Sorry, I shouldn't have doubted you."
Naruto didn't mind it. "There is no real danger for them. But they need to believe that there is… otherwise, this would have been a pointless exercise."
The two of them stared into the distant forests for a few minutes as the sky continued to darken.
"They're barely going to make it on time… they got lost three times. Do they teach them nothing useful at the academy?"
Hinata focused her chakra and activated her eyes, granting her enhanced vision over the whole forest. The more chakra she used, the further she could see.
"They're still five miles away, and look terribly tired, but I don't see any serious injuries. Poor kids…"
"At least they're moving at a good pace, despite being tired. I'll give them some props for the guts." Naruto stood there and waited for twenty more minutes until the new Team Seven finally showed up.
"Huff… we made it back…" Koga could barely breathe. He had to put his hands on his knees to avoid falling down.
Asuka and Himawari didn't look any better. They were covered in sweat, blood, and dirt. Several tree branches were poking out of their hair.
"You look terrible," Naruto pointed out. "And the sun is almost out." He pointed at the sky. There was barely a sliver of sunlight coming from the horizon.
"So, we passed?" Asuka asked.
"Barely, but yes," Naruto said.
"We're officially genin then?" Himawari looked at her father with a complicated expression.
"Yes, you are." Naruto nodded.
"Congratulations!" Hinata cheered for them and went to hug her daughter.
"You can all go home and rest. In three days, I'll come get you for your first mission." Naruto instructed the new ninjas.
Neither Koga nor Asuka had the strength to say anything else, or even to celebrate. They dragged their bodies back to their homes so they could finally rest their tired legs.
"Let's get you home and have Ino look at those cuts and bruises before you take a bath," Hinata told her daughter.
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At night, the family was having dinner together at their home.
The house that his parents had left him, the one that at the time seemed too big for just himself, was now getting too small for them.
Ino and Hinata used to have their own private bedrooms, but those had to be given up to Himawari and Shinobu.
And now there was another one on the way.
"You think it's going to be a boy or a girl?" Ino asked.
"It's still too early to say," Hinata responded, although she would like to give Naruto a son at least.
"Naruto, we may have to expand the house a little bit…" Ino turned to him.
"That shouldn't be a problem, if it's just adding one or two more rooms. I'll talk to Yamato."
"Can't we get another house? A bigger one and closer to the center?" Himawari asked.
"No, we can't," Hinata insisted. "This house used to belong to your grandparents. We're not going to leave it unless there's no other choice."
Himawari rolled her eyes. "Fine… I'll get an apartment for myself once I'm a bit older."
"A bit?…" Hinata raised an eyebrow. "You're still eleven. It's going to be a while before you do that."
"Hey, Dad."
His son, Shinobu, called for him.
"Yes?" Naruto put down his bowl of ramen to listen to what his son had to say.
"Grandpa was a great Hokage, right? I read about him the other day at the library."
"To be fair, I never really met him myself either. But from what I heard, he was a great Hokage, yes. Why do you ask?"
The boy's expression became one of excitement. "Because when I grow up, I want to be a Hokage, just like Grandpa and Grandma Tsunade!"
"Huh?… really?" Naruto looked surprised. He wondered where his son got this sudden urge to become the village's leader.
Hinata and Ino chuckled.
"Is this the first time you hear him say that?" Hinata asked.
"He's said that to Lady Tsunade a dozen times already," Ino said with a grin. "She told him she was going to save the position for him."
"A Hokage, hmm?" Naruto looked at his son. "Well, if that's what you want… I suppose I'll need to train you much harder than up until now."
"Yes!" Shinobu exclaimed.