"Happy birthday, Himawari!"
Himawari, at the ripe old age of two, did what she'd practiced and blew out the candles on her cake. The adults at her birthday party clapped and made a big deal about her being so mature for her age while the children's eagle-eyed glances sharply observed the cake. It was big, strawberries glistening with a thin coating of gelatin, the piped creamy frosting on top made their mouths water expectantly. More importantly, it was handmade by Boruto's mom, whose bento boxes were legendary among the children at school.
Aware that the kids were watching her every move, Hinata carefully took out the candles and picked up the cake. Sensing that they were about to have some, the older children stood up, too, which made her laugh. In the crowd, Hinata sought Naruto, and their eyes met. Their unspoken communication traveled the distance of their home: her lavender ones asked his help in dealing with Himawari, who was still sitting in her high chair. He nodded. His blue eyes, meanwhile, indicated that he understood that she was going to deal with Boruto and the rest of his friends.
Holding the cake high, Hinata led the procession of children to the kitchen so she could cut it into pieces for everyone. She left Naruto in the living room to deal with the other guests.
Himawari fussed since she was done with her own role. She held up her arms and cried, "Papa!"
She was begging to be put down on the floor so she could toddle and break things—especially whatever was in the boxes with the colorful wrapping and shiny ribbons that everyone had brought to the house. However, before Naruto could place her down on the floor, she was scooped up by one of her parents' friends.
Himawari glanced up and found herself face to face with a man with pale skin and short, dark hair. His eyes were twinkling with mischief as he smiled at her. Himawari associated this man with the boy who had Papa's hair coloring and who always drew pictures. This was his father. She placed a hand on his cheek and squeezed, which made him laugh.
"Times like these, I wish I could convince Ino to try for one more," he said to her father as he hugged her back. "But she's hard to budge on that issue."
Naruto snorted at him but smiled brightly at Himawari when she continued squishing Sai's cheeks. His friend didn't seem to mind it, though, so Naruto held back from admonishing his daughter, who was giggling now that Sai was squeezing her into a tight hug every time her chubby fingers pinched his cheeks.
After a few minutes, when she got tired of playing with Sai, she squirmed with discomfort, which made him put her down on the floor. On unsteady legs, Himawari used the sofa to guide her to the pile of presents sitting on the table.
Again, though, her plans were foiled because Temari picked her up and hugged her before she could get to her destination.
"Gotcha!" Temari exclaimed. She glanced at Naruto for permission. "I'm borrowing her for a couple of minutes."
Like he could say no to her?
Naruto smiled at her instead.
Seeing that Temari had the birthday girl in her arms, she was presently joined by Hanabi, then Ino, then Tenten.
From a safe distance, Naruto and Sai observed the women as they fussed and squealed over his daughter, who was doing her best to look cute in her little Kurama outfit. Hinata had done a lot of begging to get Kurama to agree until the Fox Spirit had finally agreed to being replicated as a cutesy children's outfit.
While he'd kept quiet in the face of Hinata's pleas, Kurama hadn't hesitated to make sure Naruto bore the brunt of his displeasure at being reduced to such a state. When they were far away from the village, Kurama had flamed up in their shared psychological plane, picked him up in his big claws and shook him like a rag doll.
