Description
Uzumaki-Namikaze Naruto was not a hard person to understand. He was happy, optimistic, and a strong leader. He was enormously intelligent – something that couldn't be denied, no matter how many times he cocked his head to the side and asked "What does 'concession' mean?" for the nth time – and a powerful shinobi. He had an unconditional love for ramen and his precious people and would give his life to protect them both.
(Yes, this does include the ramen.)
Though the public knew him well, the Konoha 11 knew him better. Teams 7, 8, and 10 grew up with him, witnessing the enormous change from the "oblivious, loud, and foolish jokester" to the "strong, wise, but still kind of oblivious Hokage". Team Gai hadn't come along until their first ever Chuunin Exams but it didn't take them a long time to catch on. They had watched Naruto grow just as much as the Rookie 9 had, and in turn were just as close friends. All of them knew Naruto better than the blonde man, perhaps, knew himself.
However, there was only one person who knew and understood Naruto even better than the smartest and most perceptive Nara could ever hope to. That person was his wife, Hyuuga Hinata.
And if she was the person who knew him the most, than why was she so anxious? Hinata had absolutely no idea. She took a few deep breaths to help calm herself, but it did nothing to untangle the knot in her gut. She clenched her fists at her side, feeling her nails dig into her palms. She nodded at Shikamaru as she passed by the open door of his office. The Nara man, who was looking towards the door longingly at the time, waved lazily back before continuing to complete his paperwork.
Hinata turned the corner and faced the double doors of the Hokage's – her husband's – office. She took another minute to gain some sort of composure for herself before rapping her knuckles softly against the beautifully polished wood. On the other side, the sound of a pen scratching against paper paused and Hinata knew Naruto sensed her chakra.
"Enter." came the voice from the other side of the door, calm and professional.
Hinata took one last shaky breath before turning the handle and slipping inside gracefully. The door shut behind her and Hinata almost jumped in surprise from the sudden noise. She blinked and trained her eyes on the figure behind the large desk.
Upon seeing his wife, Naruto smiled largely, exclaiming a happy, "Hiya, Hina-chan!" He finished scribbling his signature on the bottom of the letter he was composing ("Hey Gaara! – Do I really have to be all professional and Hokage-like when I talk to you about politically important stuff? I mean, you're my friend I don't think it should be necessary…" etcetera, etcetera, "…you have to come down here soon, ya know? That would be awesome. Oh! Hina-chan is here! Gotta go, bye!") before setting it aside and shoving the tall stack of incomplete paperwork off the desk so it landed unceremoniously on the floor.
"Just the excuse I needed!" Naruto exclaimed, grinning at Hinata. "Tsunade-baachan bullied me into making me do all of the paperwork without Kage Bunshin." The blonde pouted. The Hyuuga head giggled at her husband.
"So what did'ja need, Hina-chan?" He asked after beamed at her again. Hinata's giggling subsided and she thought about Naruto's question. She bit her lip and her eyes focused on the ground. Naruto cocked his head to the side. "What's wrong?
Hinata wondered again why she was so scared. It was a simple fact, an everyday occurrence, and something she knew her husband has wanted for a very long time. She knew he would be happy. But there was this little niggling worry that wormed its way into the back of her mind, telling her that he would hate it, that he would hate her, that he would leave her and even if she knew the voice was wrong she still couldn't help but fear the worst.
So, with a deep breath, she decided she'd take this in steps. She forced her eyes away from the ground and up into those of her husband's and managed to smile at him nervously. Naruto frowned, realizing that something was most definitely bothering her, and moved around the desk to help ease her worries. He reached for her small, pale hand and tugged her gently forward to wrap his arms around her.
"Please tell me what's wrong, Hinata-chan." He said softly. The woman in his arms took a shuddering breath as she nodded. She forced herself to smile as she held back a dam full of tears.
"I'm sorry for interrupting you, Naruto-kun." Hinata said shakily, looking him in the eyes. "But I have some very important news that I needed to tell you."
Naruto furrowed his eyebrows and blinked. Important news? He hoped it wasn't bad news. But he couldn't be too sure because she still looked about to cry and her smile looked forced. "Is it…good news?" He asked slowly. He was glad to see Hinata laugh slightly.
"It's very good news, Naruto-kun." She said, a bit of her worry beginning to evaporate. Naruto smiled widely again.
"Then what is it?!" He said excitedly, bouncing a bit and making Hinata laugh more.
"Well…I don't think the apartment is big enough." She replied, hesitantly but with a bit more confidence than before. Naruto's face contorted into one of confusion.
"How is it too small, Hina-chan? It's got plenty of space for just us and you like it." He cocked his head to the side he narrowed his eyes at the ground in thought. "Is there something wrong with it? Is the kitchen too small? I know you love to cook and our kitchen is tiny…or is it the living room? It is kind of hard to maneuver around in there and I trip over the coffee table all the time but the couch is comfy and Kurama makes scraped knees feel like pokes in the cheek…"
Naruto continued to ramble and mutter as Hinata smiled softly and wonder again why she had been so scared. This happy, bouncy, childish, loving, and completely and utterly pure-hearted man was incapable of hating anything. Hinata blamed the old seed that she thought had long since died - the seed that had constantly told her how weak and worthless she was during her childhood. She hoped it was finally gone for good.
"No, no, Naruto-kun." Hinata laughed, smiling genuinely and resting a hand on his chest. "The apartment isn't big enough for three people."
"Three people? What?" Naruto said, happy that she was feeling better but also very confused.
Hinata rolled her eyes and smiled wider. "One plus one equals three." She said, pushing away the embarrassment she was beginning to feel from saying such a statement.
Naruto blinked and frowned again. "But I thought one plus one equaled two. See," He took her fingers and showed them to her. "One…" He had her extend her index finger as he looked her in the eyes. "…plus one…" Her middle finger extended as well. "…equals two! See, it doesn't equal three."
Hinata giggled and slipped her hand out of his. She bit her lip in thought as she tried to come up with a different way of explaining things. Then, suddenly, she remembered something Naruto had told her one time. "How about this, Naruto-kun." She stepped away from him and wandered behind his desk. She sat in the comfortable black office chair and reached for the pictures that were on display.
"Konoha's Red Hot Habanero…" Hinata said, pointing to the picture of Uzumaki Kushina. "Plus Konoha's Yellow Flash…" She then pointed to Namikaze Minato, who stood beside Kushina in the picture. "Equals Konoha's Orange Hokage." Hinata finished, glancing at Naruto to see if he understood.
"But what do Kaa-chan and Tou-chan have to do with the apartment being too small, Hina-chan?" Naruto asked. "I mean, now I understand the whole 'one plus one equals three' thing but what does it have to do with the apartment being too small for…three…" Naruto stopped talking and he blinked. His eyes snapped to Hinata and she smiled.
"You mean…?" He trailed off. Hinata nodded.
"Hai." She replied.
"You're…?"
"Mhmm."
"We're…?"
"Yes."
Naruto couldn't move. His knees felt like jelly and his heart beat excitedly in his chest. "I'm…I'm going to be father?"
Hinata smiled brightly at him. "Yes, Naruto-kun. You are."
The realization finally hit him full force – holy crap Hinata-chan's pregnant holy crap I'm going to be a father holy crap – and the Rokudaime Hokage fainted.