A Lullaby


Naruto walked home dragging his feet through the dust in the street with only the thoughts of taking a hot bath and sleeping for the next week on his mind.  He was exhausted and filthy from his mission and not even the smell of ramen dancing through the night air could invigorate him.  This was the first time he had ever taken on an S-ranked mission by his self since he made jounin and for once in his life he had no energy to speak of.

Naruto opened the door to his home and almost immediately he held his head up and began to make his way through the house.  He left his shoes at the door as he followed an enchanting melody with his ears.  He ascended the steps to the second floor and proceeded down the hall until he came to the source of the sound.
He slid open the door to the children’s room and discovered the origin of this siren like melody.  Sitting on the floor was Hinata and in her arms she held their infant daughter Hana while their sons Naruki and Kanaye rested their heads on her lap.  Naruto stood in utter admiration and awe at this site of his wife singing to their children.  The blond haired jounin silently listened to her lullaby and wondered if his mother had ever sung to him in such a way.

Hinata sang:
Nen nen kororiyo okororiyo
Boyawa yoikoda nenneshina

Boyano komoriwa dokoe it ta
Anoyama koete satoe it ta

Sato no miyage ni nani morata
Denden taikoni sho no fue
Sho no fue

Sleep, sleep,
little one, sleep.
You're a good baby,
now go to sleep.

Do you know
where your nurse has gone?
Gone to her village
she won't be long.

What will she bring baby
when she does come?
A flute so lovely
and a thunderous drum.
And a thunderous drum.

Naruto could feel warm, wet streaks flowing down his face as he watched her gently tuck in their sons in their beds.  He stepped back from the door when she walked out with their daughter in her arms.  Hinata froze when she saw her husband standing there with tears rolling down his cheeks and wondered what was wrong.  

“Hinata-chan,” spoke Naruto as he wiped away the tears and dust from his face with his sleeve, “Everywhere I turn, everywhere I go I find something new about you that only makes me love you more and more.  I feel like I’m lost in a maze with no escape, a place where I’ll spend the rest of my life and that maze is you.  Hinata-chan I never want to find my way out…I’m lost in you and that’s where I want to stay.  Dattebayo.”

“Oh Naruto-kun,” whimpered Hinata as she began to cry and her cheeks turned a deep shade of red.  Hinata leaned in to kiss him being careful not to wake the baby.  They kissed for what seemed like an eternity until she caught the smell of sweat drenched clothes causing her to pull back and say, “Naruto-kun you’re filthy.”

“I know,” he said as he blushed and scratched his head unleashing a small cloud of dust.

“I tell you what,” said Hinata as she took a step back, “I’ll put Hana to bed then I’ll meet you in the bathroom so I we can take a bath together…if you’re up to it.”

In that instant Naruto felt a sudden surge of energy and a large grin crawled across his face as he stared into those soft, loving violet eyes in that moonlit hallway.  He then watched as his wife walked down the hallway to their room to place Hana in her crib.  He stood there waiting for her as he heard her once again humming that soft lullaby and he knew at that moment he was the luckiest man in all of Konoha.