Adult-FanFiction.org : Naruto

New Beginnings	By : tragic.violinist Category: Naruto AU/AR > Het - Male/Female Views: 2494 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: NARUTO and its respective characters were created and are owned by Masashi Kishimoto. No copyright infringement intended. I make no money from this story.

Chapter List
- 5
- 6
- 7
Chapter 6. Christmas
It was the day of the big party, and Hikari was stressing out trying to make sure everything would be ready in time, they had invited the entire rookie nine, along with Sai, Neji's team, Tsunade and Jiraiya, Itachi and Kira, as well as Shizune, Iruka, Gai and Kakashi. She was frustrated because she wanted everything to look perfect but she was banned from actually helping set up, as Tsunade had told her it was too much for her in her state. Jiraiya had arrived in town that morning and he along with Hinata and Shikamaru had been convinced to help with the setup while Hikari and Neji went to their appointment with Tsunade. As predicted Jiraiya had taken the news very well, he was excited to have a new kid to spoil, now they just had to worry about Orochimaru, she was just as worried about Kabuto's reaction but she wasn't going to tell Neji about that.
So now just a few days before Christmas Hikari and Neji sat in the exam room waiting for Tsunade, today was the day they would hopefully get to hear their baby's heartbeat for the first time. Hikari was laying on the table in a hospital gown and Neji was pacing back and forth.
"Would you stop that, you're stressing me out," Hikari demanded.
Neji looked at her apologetically, "sorry." He came to stand at her side and held her hand.
Hikari sighed, she knew her emotions were getting the best of her but she couldn't help it, she silently cursed the stupid pregnancy hormones for putting her on edge, of course Neji was always understanding about the situation and tried his best not to complain when she was acting irrational. "No I'm sorry, it's just..."
He silenced her with a kiss, "it's okay, let's just both try to relax."
Hikari took a couple of deep breaths in an attempt to calm her frazzled nerves. Tsunade entered the room a few minutes later.
"Come stand here on the scale Hikari," she instructed her. Hikari did as she was told and Tsunade made some notes in the chart she had with her, "okay your weight gain is on track so far, are you still experiencing morning sickness?"
"Yes but it's getting better."
"Good, any unusual cravings yet?" Hikari shook her head, "okay, some women don't experience them at all but they may still happen. Let's get you back on the table and see if we can find the little brat's heartbeat."
Hikari laid back down and Tsunade brought the hospital gown up to expose her belly, "this will be a little cold," she squirted the blue gel onto her stomach and used the fetal doppler to try and locate the baby.
Hikari eyes widened in surprise when she heard what she could only describe as a galloping sound, she shot her aunt a questioning look, "is that?"
"Yes that's your baby," she said with a smile, "now shh I need to count."
Hikari could feel the tears trailing down her face, she was in awe of the sound, one look at Neji and she could tell he felt the same way. He gave her hand a gentle squeeze and kissed her forehead. Tsunade moved the doppler slightly and a confused look came over her face.
"Is something wrong?" Neji asked.
"No it's just," she paused for a moment, "it might just be the umbilical cord, Neji could you use your Byakugan for a moment please, tell me what you see."
He did as asked, he saw the same chakra signature that he had seen before, it was a little bit bigger than the first time about the size of a lime, he noticed the slight movements, that must have been from the baby moving, then he saw something else, a third chakra signature, slightly hidden behind the other, he looked between Tsunade and Hikari, "there's two, twins?"
Tsunade tapped her chin in thought, "I suppose it makes sense, twins do tend to skip a generation. This may complicate things in the long run though, twins are rarely full term when they are born, so they may need to spend some time in the NICU when they are born but as I said that's not unusual. It's almost certain now that you will spend the final month, at the very least, on bed rest maybe longer."
"Twins," Hikari whispered, the next thing they knew she was crying again. Neji helped her to sit up so that he could hold her, after Tsunade had wiped the gel off, "I'm sorry, it's just all so overwhelming, I'm so happy."
Tsunade patted her back, "why don't you get dressed, I'll walk with you to the party."
Everything was ready for them when they got there, and it all passed Hikari's inspection, now they just had to wait for the guests to arrive. They had discussed the situation on the way home and had all agreed to keep the news of twins to themselves until after the reveal, that way they could still surprise Jiraiya, Hinata and Shikamaru.
Ino showed up first followed quickly by Naruto, Sasuke, Itachi, and Kira. The others trickled in slowly and no one was surprised that Kakashi was the last to arrive.
"Everything looks great as usual," Ino told her. "I don't know how you how you manage it. So tell me when are they going start sending you out on missions again?"
She had known this question was coming sooner or later and she was prepared for it. "Aunt Tsunade wants to ease me back into those missions, that's why she has me at the academy right now, assisting Iruka."
Ino looked sympathetic, "well I suppose that beats babysitting and chasing cats, and at least you always know when you have time off."
"Now that you mention it, I feel sorry for that poor cat, if I were it I'd run away too."
Ino just laughed at that, "oh I have some exciting news."
Probably not as exciting as mine, Hikari thought to herself, "what is it?"
"I finally convinced Shikamaru to move in with me," she squealed.
"That's great, will you be living on your clan land or Nara land?"
"That's the best part, we'll be living a few blocks from here, honestly I was surprised Sasuke agreed, though I think Naruto might have had something to do with it."
"More than likely," Hikari agreed.
"I'm glad you're finally feeling better, so any idea what was causing it?"
"Believe it or not, an allergic reaction to beets," she lied smoothly.
"Beets?"
"Yeah, I only tried them once or twice as a kid and I hated them. But that ryokan just had this way of preparing them they were so good, too bad they didn't agree with me," she laughed.
Neji chose that point to come up behind her, he put his arms around her, careful not to rest them on her abdomen, like he wanted to, just incase someone figured it out too soon, "dinner's ready."
"Good I'm starving."
After dinner Jiraiya brought down a tray of fortune cookies and started handing them out, Neji pulled Hikari to the front of the room and called for everyone's attention, "please don't open them quite yet," Hikari said, "we have something we want to share with you all." They waited until everyone had a cookie, "okay everyone together, open them."
The room was filled with the quiet crunching of everyone cracking open their cookies.
A baby is a gift unwrapped…that should only be given with LOVE.
Silence filled the room, followed by whispers as everyone soon came to the conclusion that each cookie carried the same message. Ino squealed loudly and the next thing Hikari knew she was surrounded on all sides by not only Ino but by Shizune, Sakura, Tenten and Kira as well.
"Congratulations."
"When's your due date?"
"How far along are you?"
"Are you going to find out if it's a boy or girl? Or will you keep it a surprise?"
So many questions were fired at her at once she wasn't even sure who was asking what, Neji meanwhile had been pulled off by Naruto and Kiba and was surrounded by the men receiving his own congratulations.
"Slow down, slow down," Hikari laughed. Tsunade and Hinata had come over to join the group of girls. "Okay one thing at a time. We don't have a due date yet, I'm about ten weeks along right now, as for the whole boy or girl thing, as long as they're healthy we're happy, though it would be cool if we ended up with one of each."
"Wait you mean you're having twins?" Sakura exclaimed loudly, Hikari just nodded and was pulled into a tight hug by the pink haired girl.
"Allergic reaction to beets my ass," Ino grinned at her. "I'm so happy for you guys."
The next few hours were filled with a lot of hugs and people touching her stomach. Not knowing the danger Jiraiya had broken out some Sake to celebrate, luckily Hikari had it under control and convinced Lee to do the noble thing and not drink so that she didn't have to be the only sober one there. Not that it really took much convincing. The house slowly emptied of people until just Jiraiya, Tsunade, Kira and Itachi remained. Tsunade was passed out at one of the tables and Neji wasn't far behind. Being the expectant father just about everyone kept pushing congratulatory drinks on him all night long. He was sitting beside Hikari, his head resting on his arms. The others were also gathered around the table just talking.
"So do you guys already have something planned as far as a nursery?" Kira asked.
"We were planning on using what is now the guest room, would you possibly be interested in painting it for us?" Hikari asked hopefully.
Kira lit up at the prospect, "I'm sure I could come up with something."
"You know Hikari, that's all well and fine but if you end up having a boy and a girl you will eventually need a room for each of them," Jiraiya pointed out as he downed another shot of Sake.
"You could always just add an extension on to the house, there would still be plenty of time to get it done if you started it this spring." Itachi suggested. "I wouldn't have a problem with it, and I doubt Sasuke would either. That way you could keep the guest room as it is."
"Excellent idea," Jiraiya agreed, he looked over at Tsunade who was starting to drool in her sleep. "I should get sleeping beauty over there home, mind if I use your guest room tonight?"
"Any time Uncle Jiraiya, I'm glad you could make it tonight."
"I wouldn't have missed it for the world kiddo. I'm really happy for you Hikari, I can't think of someone more deserving of happiness than you.
"Have you told Orochimaru yet?"
"I was planning on telling him when he comes to town for Christmas."
"He'll be disappointed to be the last one to find out."
Hikari smiled sadly, "I know that, but I also know he wouldn't have been impressed if I wrote him a letter either. All things considered I'm not able to travel to deliver the news myself, and needless to say I wouldn't send Neji, or anyone for that matter, into the snake pit alone to tell him. This is the best choice."
"A wise decision indeed, I only hope Neji isn't in the immediate vicinity when you do."
Hikari just laughed, "no need to worry about that, I have it all planned out."
"Good to know, well," he stood up and moved over to Tsunade, "I'll be back in a bit."
Hikari tossed him her house key, "just in case I'm not still up." They watched him struggle to wake up Tsunade and get her out of the house.
"We should head home as well, did you want some help getting him upstairs?" Itachi offered.
Hikari looked over at Neji, "I guess it's either that or I wait for Uncle Jiraiya to get back," she conceded.
Once Neji was settled in bed and they had left, Hikari locked up and went up to bed. Neji was barely hanging on to consciousness as she climbed in next to him. He moved to rest his hand on her now slightly protruding belly.
"It's still hard to believe I'm going to be a dad," whispered into the darkness. "It's amazing, a miracle, two miracles." Hikari nodded in agreement. "Hikari, can I ask you something?"
"Of course."
"Will you marry me?" he asked quite seriously.
Her breath caught in her throat, "Neji, you're drunk, go to sleep."
He propped himself up on one arm to look at her, "that's not an answer," he frowned, "I'm serious."
"Are you sure it's not just the alcohol talking?"
"You're evading the question."
Hikari sighed, "I'll make you a deal, if it's not the alcohol talking and you still remember this in the morning I'll give you the answer then."
"Promise?"
"I promise." She gave him a chaste kiss, "now go to sleep."
The next morning Neji learnt exactly what it meant to pray to the porcelain God, Hikari would have found the situation more humorous if not for the fact that she was still suffering from morning sickness, she was never more happy to have two bathrooms, unfortunately Jiraiya was experiencing his own spiritual awakening in that one, she ended up forcing Neji to use the sink instead before heading downstairs to make breakfast, mumbling to herself about stupid hangovers.
Jiraiya was the first to join her in the kitchen, joined a few minutes later by Neji. She watched the two of them eat a hearty breakfast, even if it was closer to lunch, while she nibbled on some toast topped with applesauce and rice, a weird combination but she found it appetizing. She was a little disappointed that Neji didn't bring up the previous night's conversation, but she couldn't say she was all that surprised, he had been really drunk after all.
After breakfast Neji had to go to the market and pick up a few things for Christmas, and Jiraiya claimed he was going to do some research. Hikari was fine with that because it gave her time to wrap the presents she had purchased. She was still hard at work in the den when Neji returned. He went straight to the study and half an hour later he called for her to come join him.
He was sitting at the desk and he beckoned her over to him so he could pull her into his lap, "Hikari, about last night..."
"Don't worry about it," she tried to brush it off.
Her took both her hands in his, "no, Hikari, I know it was unexpected, but I meant what I said," he took a deep breath, "that's why when I went out today," he paused again and bit his lip.
She had never seen him so nervous before. She could feel her own heart pounding as if it wanted to burst forth from her chest, as she waited for him to continue. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small white box, she could already feel the tears welling up in her eyes, as she cursed her hormones for the umpteenth time.
He opened it to reveal a beautiful opal ring, "Hikari, will you marry me?"
"Yes Neji, a million times yes," she turned to draw him into a deep kiss.
He pulled back to place the ring on her finger, "I love you Hikari," he kissed her again as tears of happiness streamed down her face, feeling as if nothing could make her life more perfect right now.
Christmas came quickly, and with it a deluge of cravings for strange foods, the toast, rice, and applesauce concoction was just the tip of the iceberg, Hikari had developed a liking for anything and everything deep fried, particularly deep fried pickles with ice cream. She was glad that Tsunade and Jiraiya had arrived early, just in case Orochimaru did not take the news well, they would be there to stop him from killing Neji.
It was now, on Christmas eve, that she happily chomped on a deep fried pickle dipped in chocolate ice cream as she made her way to the village gates to meet Orochimaru and Kabuto.
"Good afternoon Hikari-san," the men on gate duty greeted her, "what brings you out this way?"
"Just waiting for my guests to arrive," she told them with a smile. It wasn't long before their arrival.
"Orochimaru-sama," the two guards bowed to him respectfully.
"Orochimaru-sama, Kabuto, I trust your journey was well?"
Orochimaru pulled her into a tight embrace, "yes my dear."
Once they were out of sight of the gates Hikari stopped to turn to them, "Uncle Orochi, I have something I wanted to give you before we get back." She pulled out a gift wrapped box and held it out to him, making sure to hold it so her left hand was on top of the box.
He noticed the ring immediately, and chuckled softly, "I see congratulations are in order."
Hikari beamed, "that's not all, open it," she urged him. She watched with bated breath as he opened the box to reveal two sets of pristine white baby booties. He looked from her, to the tiny little shoes, and finally down at her belly, the small bump hidden by the winter cloak she wore, he closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. She felt like she was going to cry and she took a shuddering breath, "Uncle Orochimaru, are you mad?" her voice cracked as she spoke.
He opened his eyes and his face softened as he handed the box to Kabuto so that he could rest his hands on her shoulders. "No Hikari, I'm not mad, just surprised is all, just tell me are you happy?"
"Yes Uncle Orochi, I couldn't be happier," she gave him a watery smile.
Kabuto's reaction came quicker, "are you sure about this? Did Tsunade-sama confirm it?"
Hikari nodded, leaving Orochimaru slightly confused. She recognized the look and quickly explained, "I was told I would never be able to have children, a-after what happened. Even now I'm terrified something will go wrong," she admitted.
Orochimaru gave her a comforting hug, "I'm sure Tsunade will do everything in her power to make sure all goes according to plan. As long as you are happy that's what matters."
"Thank you, Uncle Orochi."
"How far along are you?" Kabuto asked her.
"Aunt Tsunade figures somewhere between ten and eleven weeks. We got to hear the heartbeats for the first time a few days ago." She spent the rest of the walk answering any questions they had.
"Will Sasuke-kun be there again this year?" Kabuto inquired, Orochimaru must have mentioned his presence from last year.
"Yes we will have quite a few more guests this year, there's everyone from last year and then Itachi and Kira, Iruka, that I work with at the academy, and the Kazekage and his siblings. Oh yes and Naruto."
"The Kazekage will be there?" Orochimaru asked. "I didn't realize you two were friends."
"We're not, that is to say I don't really know him that well, but he is currently in a relationship with Neji's cousin Hinata," Hikari explained. "I'm not sure who has all arrived so far, when I left it was just Uncle Jiraiya and Aunt Tsunade. We've set up downstairs in the dojo this year, just so we have room for everyone."
Neji was waiting for them when they got there, having just been kicked out of the kitchen by the ladies. "Orochimaru-sama, Kabuto-san," he greeted them. Hikari came to stand at his side and took his hand as he waited to see what their reactions would be to him.
Orochimaru glared at him for a moment before breaking out in a grin and clapping him on the shoulder so hard his legs almost buckled. "Congratulations Hyuuga, take good care of her," or else, he added silently.
Neji visibly relaxed, "thank you Orochimaru-sama. Everyone else is here now," he told them and led the way to where the group was gathered.
Hikari left them to see if any help was needed in the kitchen. She poked her head in to see all of the women gathered around working on various dishes. Even Temari was in there only she sat at the table looking slightly out of place, she was the first one to notice her.
"Hikari, good to see you again, I hear you and bright eyes are going to have some brats of your own soon. Congratulations."
"Thanks Temari, it's good to see you again too. Do you guys need any help in here?"
Tsunade looked over at her, "not from you, go relax downstairs with everyone else."
"Lighten up Hokage-sama, she can come sit with me, I'm sure she doesn't want to spend all evening with the sausage-fest downstairs," Temari motioned for her to join her.
"Alright, but the minute you start trying to help I drag you down there myself."
They spent the next little while talking about the goings on in Konoha and Suna. Temari had just wrapped up the most recent Chuunin exam in Suna and the newly promoted shinobi had been assigned to their new duties. Hikari told her a little bit about the work she was doing at the academy. Hinata had come to join them, using the table as her work surface.
"Okay I have to admit that I'm curious," Hikari started, "you and Gaara, how the hell did that happen? Sorry to be blunt but you guys are just so...." She searched for the right word.
"Polar opposites?" Temari offered.
Hinata blushed brightly, "I'm not really sure what made him notice me."
"It was your kindness," Temari explained, "that first time you came to Suna with your sister, when you helped that little girl."
That piqued Hikari's curiosity, "what happened?"
Hinata spoke softly, "well there was this little girl that was being picked on by, who were supposed to be her teammates, they were making fun of her because of her glasses and because she was so small. I just had to do something."
"One of the kids pushed the little girl over and broke her glasses, and Hinata just snapped, sent the little brat flying at least thirty feet, the little shit deserved it though, I heard afterwards from his instructors that he had always been a bully. Pushing his weight around because his dad is a Jounin.
"The little girl on the other hand, she's going to be amazing, if she can just get over her shyness," they both shot a look at Hinata making her blush deeper. "She's a brilliant child very smart, graduated from the academy at the age of eight, and she's extremely fast when she wants to be."
"So you've taken an interest in her?" Hikari asked.
"A little hard not to, she comes around every time Hinata comes to town, what is it you call her again, your little desert rose?"
Hinata nodded, "she says that I remind her of her friend Yanagi, that disappeared a couple of years ago, Hanami really is a sweet little thing."
Kira dropped the knife, she had been using to chop vegetables, with a loud clang. She had a sad look on her face, "sorry," she mumbled.
"What's wrong Kira?"
"It's nothing. Just a slip."
Hikari's stomach let out a rather large growl drawing the attention of all in the room, "when was the last time you ate?" Tsunade asked her.
"Just a couple of hours ago, I can wait."
"No you won't, eat something."
Hikari grabbed some of the onigiri and a bottle of ketchup out of the fridge and sat down to eat, ignoring the looks of disgust on her friends' faces.
"That looks nasty," Temari tried not to gag.
"But it's so good," Hikari told her, "you want to try some?" Temari just shook her head in horror.
No one noticed Kankuro enter the room until he reached out to grab a piece of sushi SMACK!!! "Hands off, you can wait like everyone else!" his sister yelled at him.
"But she's eating," he pointed out.
"She's pregnant, she can eat whenever she wants to. Go back downstairs."
"It should be ready in a few minutes Kankuro-san," Hinata told him quietly, as he sulked off.
"I hear from Hinata that congratulations are in order," Gaara said coming up to Neji.
"Thank you Kazekage-sama," Neji replied.
"There is something I wish to speak with you about in private."
Neji nodded, "please follow me, we can speak in the study."
They got upstairs just as the girls were exiting the kitchen with a variety of serving trays. "Where are you two going?" Temari asked them, "dinner's ready."
"Neji and I have some business to discuss."
"Just start without us."
Hikari placed a hand on Neji's arm as he passed, "everything okay?" Neji just nodded and continued to lead Gaara in the direction of the study.
When they got to the study Neji took his seat behind the desk, and Gaara sat across from him, it was quite the role reversal. "What is this business you wish to speak of?"
Gaara was quiet for a moment, trying to figure out the best way to broach the subject. Hinata had often told him that he came off as detached and intimidating, it was something he was trying to work on but it didn't come easily. "It's not business exactly, after speaking with my advisors they have suggested that you would be the one to approach in regards to your cousin."
"Hinata-sama?" Neji did his best to suppress his shock, what could he want to talk to him about, when it came to Hinata, that he couldn't speak to her about.
Gaara nodded, his posture was more rigid than usual, "yes, as the eldest member of her immediate family I was advised that you would be the best choice."
Neji remained silent as he waited for Gaara to continue, he was beginning to suspect that this would turn into an awkward conversation. By the way Gaara was speaking it was almost as if the young Kage was nervous.
"As you know she has spent a great deal of time in Suna, and she will be traveling back with my siblings and I at the end of this month." Neji nodded, "I would like to ask for your blessing so that I may ask for her hand in marriage."
Internally his jaw dropped, but outwardly his eyes only widened slightly in surprise, this was the last thing he had expected to hear, of course he wasn't really sure what he had expected, but it wasn't this.
"I care deeply for Hinata and would like for her to be my wife, of course my advisors have also said that a union between myself and a highly respected clan such as Hyuugas would serve to strengthen the accords between our two villages."
Neji had to keep himself from scowling at Gaara, he couldn't help from feeling overprotective of his cousin. "Strengthen the accords? Tell me Gaara, if such a union did not provide such a political asset, would you still wish for Hinata-sama to be your wife?" He was unable to keep a tinge of bitterness from entering his voice.
"I would," Gaara answered honestly.
Neji wanted to ask what Gaara what he had planned for the future of the Hyuuga clan should he marry Hinata. Where did he think they should live? But he refrained from doing so, Hinata was quite capable of making her own decisions, and Hikari would think he was being overbearing. "While it is Hinata-sama's choice to make, I personally would support your marriage to my cousin, if that is her wish."
Gaara let out an audible sigh of relief, "thank you Neji, I look forward to us becoming..." he paused, searching for the right word, "family."
Neji offered him a small smile, "shall we return to the festivities then? I'm sure both Hikari and Hinata are wondering what is taking us so long."
"Yes, if we take much longer they may think we've run off together," Gaara said with a smirk.
Neji let out a faint laugh before he realized what had just happened, Gaara had just made a joke, he cast a sidelong glance at Gaara as they walked down the hall and noticed the man's smirk had evolved into an actual smile.
After dinner everyone broke off into smaller groups to converse. Gaara sat with his siblings as well as Hinata and Hanabi. Sasuke and Naruto were with Itachi and Kira where Naruto was carrying on a rather loud conversation about the time Jiraiya taught him how to use the rasengan. Hikari stayed close to Neji, her Aunt and Uncles and Kabuto, while they did a small gift exchange.
Hikari received a stack of blank sheet music from Orochimaru, and a couple of cute little baby outfits in neutral colors from Jiraiya. She was a little confused when she opened the gift from her Aunt and it contained a old leather bound book, she gave Tsunade a questioning look.
"Open it," Tsunade urged her. Hikari did so and found a picture of four young boys on the first page, as she flipped through the pages the boys gradually got older until Hikari could recognize them. "It's the family photo album, starting with your great grandfather and his brothers."
Hikari continued to look at the photos and soon the Uchiha brothers and Naruto were looking over her shoulder along with Neji.
"Hey that's the first and second Hokages!" Naruto observed.
"Yes Naruto, Hashirama was my grandfather and Tobirama was my great uncle," Tsunade informed him.
"Who's that woman with the first Hokage?"
"That's Mito Uzumaki, his wife."
"The first Hokage was married to someone from the Uzumaki clan," he whispered more to himself than anyone else.
Hikari flipped to the next page. "That's Madara Uchiha," Itachi pointed out darkly, "I seem to recall father telling me that they were very close prior to the battle at the valley of the end."
As they continued, Tsunade would occasionally provide information or stories of the people in the photos. But her mood grew sombre when they reached the first picture showing a younger Tsunade next to her siblings, Hikari's mother and her deceased brother, Hikari reached out to gently touch the photo. "I wish I had the chance to know him," Hikari said quietly.
Tsunade nodded, "yes I think you would have liked your Uncle Nawaki, he was one of a kind," she said sadly.
Hikari's eyes brimmed with tears when she came across a photo of herself as a baby with her parents. Her mother looked a lot like her sister but with much shorter hair and her eyes were a shade lighter. Her father held his baby daughter in his arms, his copper hair took on the look of fire as the sunset blazed across the horizon, his cobalt blue eyes sparkled with mirth as he gazed at the precious bundle he carried. Hikari, no more than a year old, her mouth open, mid-giggle, showed off her less than toothy smile and chubby cheeks, amber eyes shone with laughter and a shock of light brown hair with a single line of copper was tied with a ribbon on top of her head.
"Your father?" Neji asked quietly, and she nodded, he knew better than to ask about her mother.
In the next photo she flew through the air, Jiraiya below her, arms out to catch her, she was about two, her hair had grown just past her ears and was fixed in twin tails on either side of her head, she wore a flowered sundress and was barefoot. Her parents watched from the sidelines small smiles played on their lips.
A three year old Hikari with shoulder length hair that fell in soft waves around her face, she wore a green dress embroidered with cherry blossoms as she stood at the head of a child sized table. Her face was smudged with chocolate as she hosted a pretend tea party for her father and uncles, each wore a crude crown of pink and yellow flowers that she had undoubtedly made herself.
Her fourth birthday showed the happy family sharing a birthday cake, a table in the background loaded down with presents. The that was the last picture that featured them all together, there were a few others showing her growing up, mostly alone, pictures her mother had taken, usually dressed in form fitting long sleeved shirts and baggy pants, she wore a dress in one or two but didn't look happy about it, a couple with her aunt and uncles. One with her sandwiched between Orochimaru and an nineteen year old Kabuto it was one of the few photos after her father died that her smile truly reached her eyes.
There were dozens of blank pages, "I thought you might want to add your own." Tsunade watched as Hikari turned back to the first picture of her with her parents. "Hiro was a good man."
"And a great father," Orochimaru added, Jiraiya nodded in agreement.
"I wonder what he would think of me now?" Hikari pondered aloud.
"He would be proud of you," Orochimaru assured her, he reached across the table to cover her hand with his own, "I know we all are."
She gave him a watery smile, as a few tears escaped her eyes. "Damn these stupid hormones," she struggled to wipe the tears away before more fell.
"I know, why don't you guys take a picture right now," Naruto suggested.
There was a general mumble of agreement before it was decided that Temari would take the picture. Hikari followed the three sannin to stand in front of one wall that was decorated for the occasion, she dragged Neji behind her and motioned for Hinata and Hanabi to join them. After a slight nudge from Neji she insisted Gaara be in the picture too.
"You're not getting out of this either Kabuto, you're the closest thing I've ever had to a brother, get in here."
Tsunade, Orochimaru and Jiraiya stood in the back, the men flanking their former teammate. Neji stood at one end next to Hikari, his arm snaked around her waist, his hand resting on the slightly rounded belly, her hand came up to join his, their fingers interlaced. Kabuto stood on Hikari's other side looking slightly uncomfortable but smiling none the less. Hanabi came next, on one side of her sister. Gaara stood straight and tall at the end of the line, to an outsider he would appear stiff, but those that knew him could see he wasn't as tense as he usually was and he wore a serene look on his face as he allowed his hand to rest on the small of Hinata's back.
"Okay everyone smile!" Temari shouted over before the flash of the camera almost blinded them. Hikari couldn't be happier right now, with those she considered family.
As the night began to wind down, the crowd slowly dispersed, The sand siblings left first along with the Hyuuga sisters, as they were staying with them while in town and Hanabi was starting to look tired. Sasuke and Naruto were next to leave though Naruto clearly wanted to stay longer. After several stifled yawns, on Hikari's part, Itachi and Kira decided to call it a night when Jiraiya announced he was leaving.
While Hikari was showing Orochimaru and Kabuto where the guest room was Tsunade held Neji back so she could speak with him.
"I haven't really had a chance to speak with you privately yet about how you feel about becoming a father."
"Tsunade-sama, I love Hikari more than anything, and I would do anything to make her happy, I am looking forward to having a family with her. Though not born yet I would give my life for those children."
Tsunade nodded, she had expected nothing less from the man in front of her. She removed a scroll from her pocket and handed it to him, "after careful consideration I wanted to offer you this opportunity. The choice is ultimately yours and I imagine you would want to discuss it with Hikari as well, so I don't expect an answer tonight, you have time to consider your options as the appointment would not take effect for several months anyway."
Neji slowly opened the scroll and read over the contents, his eyes widened in surprise, "thank you Tsunade-sama, it is an honor for this opportunity, I shall talk to Hikari about it," though in truth he was sure he would take the job. It would not only benefit him when his children were born, but it would also make it easier for him to stay close to Hikari during her final months of pregnancy, which they already knew would not be easy.
"Well then, have a good night Neji, I will see you two in a few days for your next appointment."
He walked the Hokage to the door before going to join Hikari in bed. She was already beneath the covers but she turned to look at him when he came in. "So what did she want?"
Neji sat beside her on the bed and handed her the scroll, "see for yourself."
Hikari reached over to turn on the bedside lamp so she would be able to make out what was written, as she took in the words before her, Neji went into the bathroom to brush his teeth before bed. She waited for him to come back, "did you accept?"
"She told me to take sometime to consider it first, I wanted to talk to you first. See what you think about it?"
"I think it's great, if that's what you want to do, it might be good practice," she joked.
He leaned in to kiss her deeply, soon leaving her breathless, "I think I'll accept, I might speak with Kakashi first, find out his perspective."
"Not Gai?"
Neji let out a low chuckle, "I can already imagine what he would say, he would be very enthusiastic, but I doubt I would take the same approach as him."
Hikari couldn't help but laugh at that, "Kakashi doesn't exactly have a orthodox way of doing things either though, you could always talk to Uncle Jiraiya too, he might have some pointers."
Neji nodded, "I'll try and catch him before he leaves town again." He lay down and pulled her close to him, nuzzling her neck before settling into sleep.
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New Beginnings