While he was wrestling with this, Himawari slid down from Akamaru’s back, picked up the paper bag with the Kuraa-ma in it, and handed it to the man. “Here. This is yours, right, mister? You shouldn’t drop it.”
“What?” A question mark popped up above the man’s head.
“Himawari?” Naruto wore his own question mark.
She looked back at him with a faint smile just like her mother’s, as if she had seen through to the heart of everything. “This man was just trying to bring the Kuraa-ma he bought to his son. Right, Daddy?”
Naruto understood what his daughter was getting at quickly enough. “Oh. Yeah.” He understood, but… “Are you sure, though? I know you wanted one, too, Himawari. Pretty bad.”
“It’s okay. I have this.” She pulled out the Shukaa-ku Naruto had bought by mistake. “It’s a special present from you. I love it.” And then she gently stroked the silver paper shuriken hanging around her neck. “You’re always so busy, Daddy. You never play with me. But today, we got to spend the whole day going to all these different places. It was super fun. I have too many treasures now. I can’t carry any more.”
“Hima…” Naruto’s face relaxed as the faint smile on her face was replaced with an innocent grin that showed her age.
“Whoa, whoa. If this little girl doesn’t want it, I’m—” Kiba started to reach out, but Akamaru and Akemaru both snapped at him, and he quickly yanked the hand back. “Ouch!” Even still, he was smiling.
Naruto grew serious again, crouched down, and brought his face close to the man, who was still on his knees. “We’re good on the Kuraa-ma thing,” he declared, quietly. “But the way you were pushing around the people of the village, I can’t actually let that slide.”
“I know.” He hung his head in dejection.
“As of today, you are released from your mission to investigate the borderlands,” Naruto said.
He closed his eyes tightly, shaking in despair.
The Hokage placed a hand on his shoulder before continuing. “Starting tomorrow, you’re on guard at the gate. I’ll tell Shikamaru. It’s the biggest landmark in Konoha, after Hokage Rock. So you better take good care of it. Believe it.”
“Is this…a demotion then? Oh! No, please excuse me. I will carry out my duty to the utmost of my abilities.”
Listening to the man’s humble words, Kiba snorted with laughter. “Idiot. It means you don’t gotta be away from the village anymore. Take good care of that son of yours.”
“Oh!” Tears welled up in the corners of the man’s eyes again. “Thank you so much!”
“So.” Naruto pressed on his joints, stiff from a full day of being worked like a slave, as he slowly stood up. “Woh-kay. How about we head home?”
“Borutoooooo! Supperrrrr! Daddy bought hamburgers! It’s already nighttime! How long are you gonna sleeeeep?!” Himawari yelled for her older brother from the bottom of the stairs.
Boruto’s sleepy voice came in response, and then there was the sound of the front door opening.
“Oh! Mommy! You’re home! …Yeah, he did come home… Huh? On my ears? Hee hee. Pretty great, huh? Daddy bought them for me. And this, too! And this. And this…”
It appeared that Hinata was home. For the first time in a long time, they would be able to have supper together as a family.
As he dozed on the sofa in the living room, Naruto turned his ears toward Himawari’s excited voice. Normally, he slept away his days off, but he’d spent this one in a flurry of sorts. He hadn’t been able to rest at all, but if anyone asked if he was unhappy about that, he would have smiled and said no. It was absolutely the right way to spend Family Day.
“So you’re home?”
Naruto’s eyes flew open. He had apparently fallen asleep at some point and hadn’t realized that Boruto was right beside him. The look on his face was sulky in the extreme. Guessing the reason for that, Naruto turned to face his son. “Sorry about yesterday.”
“It’s fine. Whatever,” Boruto snorted, annoyed, hands clasped behind his head.
So then he wasn’t mad that Naruto hadn’t been able to make it home. Which meant he was just in a bad mood because he spent the whole day sleeping? Or maybe… Naruto turned his mind toward the entryway. Himawari was still showing Hinata the various presents the day had brought her.
“You wanted to hang out today, too?” Naruto asked.
“Wha—?!” Boruto threw his head back in shock. “Why would I want that?! I was just—I just wanted to complain ’cause the hamburgers you brought back are so teeny…”
“The bag’s not empty yet, though.” Naruto pointed at the Thunder Burger bag on the desk.
Boruto glanced over at it and stiffened up. He flapped his mouth open and closed like a goldfish, looking for some other excuse.
And then Naruto noticed that he had something in his hand, a flyer, although it was mostly hidden behind his head, so he couldn’t make out the details. The page was crumpled, just like with Himawari that morning, but Naruto could just barely make out the name of the shop: Ninja Tools Tententen.
Smiling wryly so as not to show that he’d guessed what was going on, Naruto put a hand in his pocket. “You’d probably rather have a video game, but… lightning scroll, was it? I don’t really get that stuff, though.” He pulled out a long, slender package and offered it to Boruto.
“What?” His son raised an eyebrow. “What’s this?”
“It’s a present. Believe it. I figured hamburgers alone weren’t quite enough.”
“Huh?” Cocking his head to one side, Boruto opened the package. A kunai with blades at both ends of the hilt glittered, brand-new. “This…” A grin began to spread across his face, but he quickly pursed his lips to maintain his sulk. He crumpled the kunai’s packaging and whirled around. But as he was leaving the room, Naruto heard him whisper “Thanks,” in the smallest voice.
“Yup.” His own voice in reply was also small. He shot another wry grin after his complicated son before he settled back down on the sofa. There was someone else he had to speak with.
“So? Heeey? C’mon, stop grumping already. I picked Shukaku ’cause of a bit of a mix-up. Believe it. How long are you gonna pout? I’m absolutely fox over tanuki, you know. I mean, I get the kitsune fried tofu on my ramen and everything! Fox ramen, right? So…are you listening? Hey. I said, hey. Kurama? Kuraa-maaaa?”