Disclaimer: it's Masashi Kishimoto's universe, I'm only playing in it.
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He suddenly appeared in front of her, making her drop the dishes in the sink. "I'm sorry I was gone so long, that debriefing took longer than I thought."
"Damn, you think I'd be used to that by now," she muttered to herself before turning to him, smiling, "Don't worry about it. She understands Daddy protects is all." She nodded at the table, "She said we couldn't touch the cake until Daddy comes back."
He couldn't hold back his soft smile at the pale purple and blue frosting, "Well, where is she? Asleep?"
She started to the living room, "Hardly. She took four naps today cause you promised to take her along tonight." She smiled as they stood in the doorway. "She's been watching for you."
This day always made him the happiest man in the village; he'd laugh, cheer and giggle with her from sunrise to sunset.
But watching her in the moonlight this night was always a shot to the heart.
She was kneeling at the window in her best kimono; it matched her lavender eyes and was covered with water lilies and tadpoles. Her little arms were folded on the sill with her chin resting on them; her eyes were glued to the road. Her soft black hair hung loose, just past her shoulders.
"This little girl is really gonna be something," Kaida whispered as he took a step into the room, "Daddy's pigheadedness and Mommy's patience; scary."
Turning to her, she barely caught the wistfulness in his eyes, "Sorry about this Aneki."
Kaida only shrugged, "Don't worry about it. Kakashi's still on his mission anyway; I'm happy to help." She smirked suddenly, gaze still locked with his as she spoke up, "Meitsuki."
The birthday girl jumped at the tone in Kaida's voice; her father flashing his father's smile, chuckling as he started rubbing the back of his head. "Surprise...?"
She hopped up, her mother's eyes half-glaring half-pouting at him. "You cheated!"
Kaida couldn't help laughing as Naruto's hand kept going lower, disappearing under the Hokage robe; Meitsuki suddenly crossing the room, hugging his legs tight.
He turned the smile down a few watts as he stroked her hair, making her turn her head up to him, "Are you ready to go Sweetheart?"
She nodded as she stepped back, holding her arms out. "Is it okay if I wear my kimono Daddy? Kaida helped me with it."
Naruto knelt down in front of her, "Of course you can, you look beautiful," he smiled softly as he took her hand, standing, "Just like Mommy." Her soft smile and slight blush only added to the resemblance.
"Can't forget," Kaida ducked back into the kitchen, coming back with a small bouquet of white mums. Naruto could only watch in mild surprise as Kaida showed Meitsuki the right way to carry them while still holding Daddy's hand. Kaida smiled at her, tapping her nose softly, "Remember to tell Mommy one of those is from me." She only nodded.
"Kaida..." Naruto started as she stood up.
"I'm ready now Daddy," Meitsuki said before Kaida could answer.
"She knows what this means... to her and to you." Kaida stated, nodding him towards to door, "She's got Mommy's eyes, she can read you just like she did."
Both of them turned to her, Meitsuki had her head down, staring at the flowers. She slowly turned to them, a soft smile quivering on her face, "Really?"
All they did was nod.
"Shall we go?" Naruto forced out past the lump in his throat. It only got bigger, the tears trying to make it out as Meitsuki nodded back, blinking hard and standing straight.
Those that were still out that night all stopped their actions, watching solemnly as the Gokudaime walked quietly down the street with his little daughter, bowing their heads as they caught sight of the flowers in her arms.
Just like the last four years, it took all he had to keep the tears out of his eyes.
He'd walked this path so many times he could do it in his sleep.
He'd promised almost a month ago... he tried to prepare himself...
"Daddy look," Meitsuki had to speak up to get him to stop.
Following her pointed finger, a few tears escaped as he smiled. 'You really are a hero.'
They turned together and crossed the little clearing. All around the Memorial Stone were piles of flowers, dozens of sticks of incense burning. "All for you," he whispered.
Turning to find her looking up at him, they barely nodded before he knelt down. She turned to him as he pulled a flower from the bouquet; he tickled her nose with it before he stood. Carefully stepping through the offerings, he brought the single mum to his lips for a ghost of a kiss before he laid it in front of the stone, her name.
Standing up, he couldn't help smiling as big as she was, even with the moonlight twinkling in the tear streaks down her face.
He took her hand again as they went back to the road, not at all ashamed of his tears now, knowing the village missed her almost as much as he did. Still nothing was said as they went to the edge of the village, walked through the gate and up the path, stopping in front of the slab.
She sniffed, letting go of his hand to wipe her face, "Hanabi-oba-chan was here," her little voice was soft and clear.
There were only two people in the whole village that would dare cross this sacred ground today. Naruto only smiled at the pair of white mums before pointing at the small pile of ash at the foot of the marker, "Neji-oji-chan too."
He had to bite his bottom lip as he watched her walk across the grass, on around the slab to place their flowers on the marker. He tried to smile as she turned around, coming back to the foot of the grave and kneeling down, her little hands coming together in prayer.
He tried to pull himself together, wiping away his tears before he crossed the grass and knelt with her. But as he closed his eyes he let them flow freely down his whiskered cheeks.
For the first time in five years, the love and the pride was a little stronger than the grief this night.
A few minutes passed in silence as he let her talk to Mommy. He couldn't think of a thing to say that he didn't tell her every day: how she is the only one he'll ever love, how much he wished she was there, how much their daughter looks like her, how she's the best of both of them, that he's doing all he can so she knows Mommy and that Mommy will love her forever.
"You know I could never tell when Mommy's eyes were on me," he said softly, slowly peeking from the corner of his eye to find she was blushing even with that confused look in her eyes. He gently put his arm around her, pulling together that boundless courage everyone claims he has just to get the words out. "What is it Meitsuki?"
She dropped her gaze before turning back to the marker. "Why did Mommy die on my birthday Daddy?"
She jumped at his shaky inhale. Gently squeezing her shoulder, he tried to remember how he'd thought it out, "Well Sweetheart... you know there's always bad men after Daddy because of the fox demon inside me."
Meitsuki nodded, "Kaida-oba-chan said Grandpa put him there to save the village."
He smiled, "Well, the bad guys thought if they took Mommy - and you since you were still in Mommy's tummy - away from me I'd do what they said." He pulled her closer, "The bad guys beat up Mommy's guards, but Kaida was there to fight them. Mommy helped fight the bad guys even... but there was just too many... I got there too late, Mommy got hurt bad protecting you."
Stroking her hair as she leaned against him, he continued, "Even Tsunade-obaa-sama couldn't heal Mommy, she had too many big hurts... but you know, Mommy turned to me and smiled and said... 'I wanna leave Meitsuki here with you.'" He jumped a bit as she turned into him. "She gave us both a kiss before she died."
'She gave me you.'
"So you see Sweetheart, Mommy died protecting you just like Grandpa did protecting me. Protecting us and the village." He gently pulled her back, took her chin so he could show her the tears on his face too, "I know it's not fair, and I know you miss her too. But always remember Mommy loves you, she wanted you to be safe and happy." He swallowed the lump, his lips quivering as he smiled, "Mommy's my hero."
Meitsuki gave a quick nod, "Mommy's my hero too."
Naruto's smile got stronger as he hugged his little girl, his eyes falling on the marker, "She's our hero," he whispered, just holding her as their tears slowly stopped.
Letting her go, he stood up and took her hand, heading back to the gateway, "We should probably get back; Kaida's probably eating your cake already?"
He couldn't help laughing as she vehemently shook her head, "Nuh-uh, she said it was too pretty to eat."
He chuckled again as she rushed ahead, only to turn around and walk backwards in front of him. "Hmm... a whole five years old," he jokingly rubbed his chin, "I wonder what we should do tomorrow..."
She instantly stopped, clapping her hands together, "Please can I start training Daddy? Please? I wanna make you and Mommy proud."
"First thing in the morning," he put a hand on her shoulder, leaning over and kissing her cheek, "and we already are."
He stood up straight again, "But you know, that cake's way too big for three people..."
He laughed as she gave him one of his big smiles, "Well Kakashi gets a piece too," she suddenly started jumping and clapping, "I wanna give Gamakichi some, and Gamatatsu too!"
He smirked, "Maybe tomorrow," he chuckled at her pout, "They're bigger than the house now Meitsuki. I'm not gonna summon both of them in the village."
He caught the little gleam in her eyes, "I don't think so young lady. We could give the entire cake to Gamabunta and he'd complain we're giving him crumbs."
She started doing the one thing he'd always give in to. She looked up at him with that same nervous look on her face, pressing the tips of her index fingers together, "Well... what about Gamazaki?"
He started rubbing his chin again, "Gamazaki, huh?" he started walking down the street again, making her rush after. "Well, he did finally loose his tail..."
Meitsuki giggled as she realized what he was doing, "And he rides on you head like Gamakichi used to." She cheered as he nodded, skipping down the street.
He couldn't help looking up at the full moon that reminded him of their eyes and smiled,
"Thank you Hina-chan."
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Chapter notes: Summary: it's been five years since he'd lost her; Naruto decides it's time to explain why Mommy's not there.
Author's Note: there's some beautiful takes on 'she's left behind with the kids'; I just wanted to try it the other way around. And I added Kaida and hints at her storyline in 'Kyoudai', but I wanna say that this is NOT meant as a sequel.