NaruHina: Clandestine

Chapter Seven: The Family

"It should be a masquerade ball," Ino was saying behind him, making Naruto wince to hear the dreaded words as he glanced outside the office, eyes focused on the vast blue sky. He continued ignoring all of them, the back of his chair turned away from the three.

They were at the Hokage tower a few days after he'd received his gift from the Mizukage. Today, his council was bothering him with more issues that he didn't think needed this much attention or discussion.

"I can see the argument for a ball, but it doesn't need to be a masquerade, Ino," came Sasuke's response.

"Sasuke, come on!" Ino protested. "Our Hokage's finally getting married! Do you know how rare that is?! The previous ones were either already married or remained single while they were on the job. This is the only chance we have, so Konoha should go all out with the celebrations!"

"I don't think so, Ino. That's excessive. I still think a big event like a ball is stupid," Sasuke argued coolly. "It's just an engagement, not a wedding. Why don't we wait to do it then? For this news, we'll just announce it simply to the whole village with the two of them standing in front of the Hokage Tower."

"Oh, I don't know," Shikamaru said slowly. "I think it would be nice to see the two of them decked out in weird costumes to celebrate this farce of an engagement?"

"See? Shikamaru agrees! A masquerade ball to celebrate the two of them getting married."

"No," Sasuke said, continuing to press the issue. "It's a waste of time and money. This ball needs to be planned and organized. Right now, we're busy. There are so many things to do. Plus, the two of them are scheduled to go to Kiri again to help out with their jinchuuriki."

Ino's voice was still pleasant, but there was a hard edge to it as she remained adamant. "Oh, organizing and planning a ball isn't going to be a problem! He's Hokage, and there are so many people out there who would kill for the chance to do this for Naruto and his future wife. We don't have to do a thing, just delegate it to capable people. And hell, Neji's right, you know. If we appeal to their snobbery, I'm sure the Hyuugas will pay for everything. They live for this kind of stuff, let them spend their money on Naruto and Hinata."

"Ino!" Shikamaru said with a laugh. "You are so mercenary!"

Naruto sighed inwardly, still with his back turned away from them. This was such a pain in the ass, but he remained quiet, swallowing his protests. Privately, he agreed with Sasuke's opinion. He didn't particularly want to have a ball. However, he was going to have to agree with Ino because he still felt guilty for ignoring her and not seeking her advice earlier, when Hinata had rightfully reprimanded him for not doing a thorough job of using the talents of the people around him.

The thought of Hinata brought a sudden smile to his face. She was away on a mission—after finally tearing herself away from the Mizukage's gift. Hinata had loved it so much, she'd wanted to bring the sword into the bedroom, but Naruto was firm and put his foot down.

"But Naruto—"

"Hinata! I'm almost insulted. My rule: I'm only allowing one sword into the room! And you choose right now." He glared at her and folded his arms over his naked chest. "So which one is it?"

She flicked a glance to his abdomen, to the middle of his pajama pants and pouted. "Fine!" she said and then reluctantly turned around to bring Kubikiribocho back to the living room before coming back up to join him.

"Dammit, Hinata, I can't believe you'd even think of bringing that thing onto the bed," he muttered darkly against her ear, tucking her more firmly into his body when she slid under the warm covers. She sighed but didn't apologize. "When I'm away, you're probably going to sleep with that thing, aren't you?"