A/N: Before I start this story, I just want to give you some background on how it came about. Basically, I watched the Boruto movie and saw how Hinata just like... defended Naruto's actions on Himawari's birthday and it ticked me off. Because she was obviously so upset and it got completely downplayed. And I kept seeing that transferred over to stories on here. People write all these stories about Naruto being off doing busy Hokage things and then he comes home and Hinata just babies him and takes care of him because she loves him and blah blah blah. But guys. GUYS. Hinata is a ninja. She's been through war, for goodness sakes. She's been kidnapped, held hostage, trapped by the infinite tsukuyomi, lost loved ones in battle... And I adore Kishi but he basically simplified her to a doting stay-at-home mom. And while I have the utmost appreciation for stay-at-home mothers, I have a hard time believing Hinata would put up with all the shit Naruto put her through without breaking after a while. It just really irritated me that Kishi seemed almost afraid to make her too strong. Like, let's build her up, but make sure everyone knows that she's really not worth anything without Naruto. And yes, Naruto says she's strong several times in "The Last" but they don't show her being strong. They show her passing out and needing assistance. That drives me crazy... Respect the integrity of who she is without someone else. I know wanting Naruto is a central part of her character, but keep in mind she is so much more than a love-sick fangirl... Anyway, I'll get off my soapbox now. Besides, you'll see my frustrations expressed in the story.

Secondly, this story does contain mature content. I cut it out into 3 parts so if you choose to read the mature content, that's "Chapter 2." If you want to skip straight to the ending, Chapter 3.

Click.

The door unlatched and swung open. Himawari's head snapped to attention. "Papa!" cried the toddler, wobbling to her feet and rushing towards the door as fast as her little legs would carry her. She ran to her father, the handmade dolls she'd been playing with abandoned on the floor by her mother's feet.

Naruto scooped up his daughter and tossed her into the air, much to the little girl's delight. Both father and daughter smiled, matching whiskers stretching across their cheeks. Naruto caught Himawari as she fell through the air, her giggles flooding the room. Still holding her aloft, the seventh Hokage rubbed his nose against hers, causing the child to laugh even more.

Across the room Hinata glanced sideways towards her husband and daughter but quickly returned to her knitting, the needles clacking quietly between her fingers.

Naruto set the little girl on the floor, slipping off his shoes and making his way across their living room. His wife's usual warm smile was missing. He couldn't remember the last time she looked at him without smiling and his heart leapt into his throat.

Trying to ignore her cold shoulder, Naruto fashioned his own smile and approached the table where Hinata sat. "And how are my princesses today?" he asked, leaning down to kiss his wife. Hinata turned her head slightly as he ducked his head in, causing his lips to collide with her cheek instead of her lips. Naruto frowned and his stomach dropped even farther.

Himawari, childishly oblivious to the cold interaction occurring between her parents, gripped her father's bandaged hand in both of her smaller ones and tugged, pulling the man's attention away from Hinata's solemn welcome.

"Papa, look!" Himawari cried, sitting down on the ground and pulling Naruto down with her. "Look what Momma made me! It's us!"

Naruto squatted down next to his daughter as she crawled under the table and looked at the small, handmade dolls to which she was referring. There were three of them, each resembling one of his beloved family members. The little girl picked up the one that looked like her and pretended to make the doll walk. "See? This is me, and that's big brother, and that's Momma, and this is our house," she said, pointing to each in turn and then gesturing grandly to the space under
the tabletop.

Naruto smiled at his daughter but something about the scene didn't sit quite right. "And where am I?"

"You're over there," she said, pointing across the room. Naruto followed his daughter's finger and stared across the way to where a doll in his semblance sat perched under a small, paper tent on top of the table next to the door.

The man's eyebrows creased together. "Why am I all the way over there?" he asked, puzzled at his daughter's curious behavior.

Himawari held the Bolt and Hinata dolls, muttering to herself as if the two dolls were speaking to one another. "You're at work, Papa. Just like for real." The little girl smiled up at her father and
Naruto stared back, looking at her whisker marks and cerulean blue eyes. He glanced up at his wife from his crouched position to see Hinata staring down at him with an expression that made his heart skip a beat. She may have been his first real love, but he knew what heartbreak looked like. The woman returned to her knitting.

Naruto stood up and opened his mouth to speak but a knock at the door interrupted him. Hinata put down her needles and stood, brushing past him without meeting his eyes. She crossed the living room and opened the door.

"Onee-chan, I'm here for my niece and nephew. Where are the little boogers?" Hanabi crossed the threshold, followed closely behind by Konohamaru.

"Oba-chan! Kono-kun!" The little girl shouted, greeting the two with the same amount of enthusiasm she'd greeted her father. She ran across the room to her aunt who scooped her up and plopped her onto her hip. Naruto watched and took a seat in Hinata's abandoned chair.

"Hey, twerp," Hanabi said, poking the little girl on the nose and causing her niece to giggle. Konohamaru ruffled her dark blue locks affectionately.

"Hanabi-chan, why do you insist on calling the children names?" Hinata asked her sister.

"Oh, she doesn't mind, do ya munchkin?" She tickled the little girl in the side, causing her to laugh more. Hinata tried to maintain a stern appearance but giggled at her sister's antics. "Speaking of twerps and munchkins, where's Boruto?"

"He went to play at the river with some friends, but he knows he's staying with you and Otou-san tonight. He'll head that way when he's done, and I told him not to be later than sundown."

"Oh, the river sounds fun! It's hot out today - might be nice to cool down. What do you think, Hima? Want to go to the river?"

The girl threw her arms in the air. "Yeah!"

Hanabi laughed at her niece. "Alright then, it's all settled. To the river we go!"

"Be safe. Don't let father spoil them too much. Keep the candy to a minimum."

Hanabi waved her hand in her older sister's direction. "Yeah, yeah, Onee-chan, I got it. All the sugary sweets she asks for."

The trio turned to go. Himawari peered over Hanabi's shoulder and waved. "Bye, Momma! Bye, Papa!" The two teens froze and turned on the spot, peering beyond Hinata for the first time.

"Oh... Seventh. I didn't even see you there," Hanabi addressed her brother-in-law formally but with smile.

Naruto waved half-heartedly and forced a grin. "Hanabi-chan, we've been family for 15 years now. When you're not in the office, you can call me Naruto at the very least."

Hanabi smiled at the Hokage. "I know, it just feels better. More official, I guess. You're the big man around town, you know?"

Naruto scratched the back of his head with a bashful grin. "Yeah, I suppose I am."

Konohamaru stood behind Hanabi and stared at Naruto with knitted brows. "What's up, Konohamaru?"

"Well, it's just that I just left the Hokage tower not too long ago to deliver my team's mission report and I delivered it to you then came straight here, kore. Moegi's team was waiting to go after mine and I just didn't realize you were so... Fast..."

The boy's words faltered off. As he spoke Naruto made cutting motions with his hands over his throat, which turned to disappointingly dropping his face into his hands. Hinata's expression shifted from a warm smile to a scowl the younger boy had never seen on her before as she listened to his tale. Konohamaru and Hanabi shared a look as an uncomfortable chill washed over the room. "Uh, we should get going. We want to get to the river before the sun gets too low," Hanabi said, side stepping towards the exit. "Later, Onee-chan, Naruto-senpai."

"Later, Boss." The two teens left with the little girl in tow, laughing and already talking about what she wanted to do at the river.

As soon as the latch to the door clicked into place, Naruto stood up, the chair scraping across the wooden floor. "Hinata, don't be mad." Hinata stood stiff, facing the closed door, away from her husband. "I can explain."

She laughed once without humor. "Don't be mad..."

Naruto approached his wife cautiously and placed his non-bandaged hand on her shoulder. Keeping his voice as soft as possible he spoke her name. "Hinata..."

The woman spun in place, swatting his hand away from her. Naruto stumbled back a step, taken off guard by his wife's sudden outburst. When she spoke her voice was quiet but it held venom in it. "You aren't him. You don't get to tell me how to feel."

"Hina..."

"No!" Naruto stumbled back another step. He couldn't remember the last time Hinata raised her voice at anything in anger, but especially at him. The lump in his throat grew when he saw the tears welling at the corners of her eyes. "You tell my husband, my real husband, than I will speak with him, and only him, when he decides to come home." The clone opened his mouth to speak but found there was nothing left to be said and instead nodded solemnly and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Across town Naruto froze in the middle of signing an important paper. It was a Friday evening and the rest of his officers had already headed home for the night, but he had some documents on economic trading policy from Suna to review and approve before Shikamaru headed out the next day.

He put down his pen and leaned back in his chair, taking in the memories he was gaining from his recently dissipated clone. The man ran his fingers through his blonde hair and closed his eyes, sighing deeply.

Hinata was not happy.

He spun in his desk chair and stared out the window toward Konohagakure. It was his village. It was his family. And he needed to take care of his family.

He turned back to his papers and picked his pen back up but couldn't bring himself to sign another line.

He needed to take care of his family.

Naruto opened the door hesitantly and peered around the living room. "Hinata?" he called quietly. The Hokage slipped his shoes off and stepped into the house. Looking forward he saw Hinata's silhouette against the orange sky. His wife stood still as stone against the railing of their porch as the sun fell behind the horizon. A slight breeze brushed her hair across her shoulders. For a moment Naruto smiled. She looked like and angel, surrounded by the glow of dusk. His smile, however, was quickly replaced by a scowl as he remembered the look on her face as she sent his clone away.

Naruto approached his wife, coming to stand next to her on their balcony.

"Nice of you to come home as yourself. No more clones, I take it?"

Naruto shook his head, the disappointment in Hinata's voice weighing heavily on his shoulders. "No more clones, I promise. Want to check?"

Hinata shook her head. "No. The Naruto I know is a lot of things, but he isn't dense enough to show up here as anything but the real thing after this afternoon and then lie about it." Though he was much too old for the honorific, the lack of "kun" at the end of his name sounded unusually cold coming from Hinata. Naruto nodded, taking the hit from his wife's words as if they were a punch in the gut.
"Boruto told me that you sent a clone out to play hide and seek with him again today," Hinata said dryly. Naruto, seeing no reason to lie, grunted in acknowledgment.

Hinata hung her head and took a deep breath, steeling herself to face her husband as the anger and frustration that had been welling up in her boiled to the surface. After a moment of preparation, the woman looked up and turned to stare directly into Naruto's cerulean eyes.

"I know you're Hokage and that that title comes with a lot of responsibility. Trust me, I know. I can't count the number of times I've said that to the children, or to myself. And I know how hard you worked for that title and I am so proud of you. You know that," she began, her voice steady and understanding. Naruto looked down at his lovely wife and nodded. He did know how proud she was - she had been there for every step of the way, even when he didn't know it. Even so, the undercut of sadness permeated her voice quickly as she continued to speak.

"But under this roof you are so much more than that. You're a father and you're a husband. You are my husband. You are my Naruto-kun." His name on her lips made the Hokage smile, but the look on Hinata's face quickly wiped it away as she went on.

"I thought that after the war Hokage wouldn't be such a demanding job, but you seem to be the busiest Hokage of all time. I don't recall any of our other leaders resorting to clones to complete all their work, and yet you can never seem to be in enough places at once. There's peace now. All five nations have finally come to an understanding and are managing to maintain that peace, but I can't even manage to get you to come home." The woman's voice began to shake and she turned her white eyes back out towards the horizon. "I know you do the best you can with your clones, but under this roof, our roof, I shouldn't have to wonder if I'm talking to my husband or his clone. There's no substitute for you. The real you." Hinata sighed deeply, her knuckles turning white as she gripped balcony railing.

"I w-waited for you my entire life. I waited for you to see me. I waited for you to h-hear me. And once you did see me I waited even longer, waiting for the moment when you saw me as something m-more. And finally you did. I thought that once we were together, my waiting was over. I had you. You were m-mine. You were my N-naruto-kun."

Hinata was truly shaking by that point, the quiver of her body making its way into her voice. Her husband felt two inches tall, unable to recall the last time his wife stuttered for any reason. "I am still yours, Hina. I've never stopped being yours." Naruto reached over and placed his hand on his wife's shoulder but she shrugged it off, mimicking the motion she'd used toward the clone earlier and batting at his hand. The man's heart dropped into his stomach. Hinata had never been unreceptive to his touch, and here she was denying him even the smallest affection multiple times in one day.

"Then why is it that even now, after everything, all I do is wait? I'm still waiting, Naruto! I wait for you to come home from work. I wait for you to come back from missions. I wait for you to-to spend time with the kids. I wait for you to come to b-bed. I wait and I wait and I wait! Heaven forbid my husband, my real husband, be at the dinner table with us. Or that I would wake up and find you next to me. No. Instead I wake up alone every day, and every day I welcome you home with a smile on my face because I love you, and because I know you're doing your best for this village. But what about what's best for us, Naruto?" The woman was crying now, tears streaming from her white eyes and running down her porcelain cheeks. "You treat this family just like any one of your other obligations, but we are not a t-television show appearance or a ribbon cutting. We are your family!" The tears continued to overflow, pouring down her cheeks, but the woman paid no mind to them. Naruto longed to reach out and wipe them away but kept his hands to himself, fearing further rejection.

"I defend you when you don't make it to important events and I put on a strong front so our children understand how hard you're working and that you do it because you love them, not because you don't. I sit in this house, day after day, and act like I'm content to make lunches for you and the kids, act like it's nothing but honorable to be the Hokage's wife. I am so, so proud of you, and asking you to do more, to add more to your plate just for me when you already do so much for everyone else feels so selfish." The woman took a deep, shuttering breath in an attempt to steady herself. "But I'm lonely, Naruto. And bored. I'm a ninja, for kami's sake, reduced to a housewife with a husband who is too busy to even come home for meals more than once a week. And I don't say anything because I love our children, I love being their mother. And I love you. I love being your wife. 'Wife' and 'mother' are the two most important titles I've ever held – more so even than chunin or heir or princess. Loving you and our children makes me feel complete." Hinata's fingernails scratched across the wooden railing and she looked down, a shuttering breath raking through her body and tears dripping from her chin onto the ground.

"But I stayed respectfully quiet and out of the way for years of my life, and I can't do it anymore. Again, I know you're trying, but your clones don't make me feel less alone, Naruto. They make me feel like… Like a s-second choice. They make me feel like this family is your second choice. I got this small taste of what it's like to have you, to truly have your attention, only to have it taken from me again. First it was the apprenticeship with Kakashi-sama and now your Hokage duties. And I h-hate that it eats me up inside because I want you to chase your goals and I love that you worked so hard to achieve your dream. But even after everything that happened at the chunin exams you still struggle to communicate with your son. Boruto says he understands but I never see him happier than during the brief moments when he's with you. Hima is patient and good beyond her years but when I gave her those dolls…" Hinata's voice trailed off as she collected herself. "And I'm your wife, but I go to bed w-without you and I wake up without you and you have the audacity to send a clone in your place and tell me not to be mad?" She laughed once without any humor. "Of course I'm mad. I love you, Uzamaki Naruto, and nothing will ever change that. I will wait for you until the end of time if you ask me to, but I am begging you… P-please don't ask me to wait anymore."

"Hinata…" Naruto looked at his wife's profile as she looked out over the dark scene. Below them, streetlights came to life, illuminating the streets of the village he cared so much for. "I don't know what to say."

Hinata took a deep breath and turned to face her husband again. Looking up at him she saw the sadness her words had etched into his features. It pained her to see him like that, but she gripped one hand over her heart and allowed her own pain to wash through her. "Just… Just be honest with me. Is this f-family…" A sob escaped her throat but she choked it down, forcing out her question. "Am I your s-second ch-choice?" Hinata covered her mouth with her hand and sobbed, shoulders heaving.

Naruto couldn't stand it any longer – he scooped his wife into his arms and pulled her close to his chest, burying his face in her hair. Hinata's knees seemed to give out as she collapsed in a crying fit against him, her whole body heaving with every sob. The Hokage hugged her tighter and found he could only say the same thing over and over again, whispering it to the crown of her head like a broken record as he tried to hide his face away in her dark locks.

"I'm so sorry. I love you. I love you. I'm sorry."

Naruto wasn't sure how long he stood there, holding Hinata and apologizing until his voice sounded like it belonged to someone else. What he did know was that he'd royally screwed up perhaps the most perfect thing that had ever come into his life and no amount of "I'm sorry"s could ever bandage the wound he'd allowed to grow in his relationship.

When Hinata's crying finally quieted down, Naruto moved to sit on the ground, bringing his wife with him and continuing to hold tight to her, positioning her in his lap. The man brushed her hair back and tucked his face into the crook of her neck, feeling Hinata rest her forehead against his shoulder. "I'm such an idiot, Hina."

"Naruto…" Hinata's voice had lost its fire, returning to its typical calm cadence.

"No," the blonde interrupted, stopping the encouragement he knew was coming, the encouragement he knew he didn't deserve. Hinata's outburst was completely reasonable and it was time Naruto owned up to his actions, to the neglect he'd shown towards his family and especially towards the woman he loved. "I've been working so hard to make everyone in the village love me, to overcompensate for all the time I felt alone. And in my desire to gain the love of the village I've completely neglected the love I already had, the love I never had to work for." Hinata remained quiet as her husband spoke, his words muffled as his lips moved against her skin.

"I take on all these tasks by myself instead of delegating them to others because part of me is still a child – a child that wants others to see me doing good deeds and give me the recognition for them. But you recognized me all along, and still all this time I've taken you for granted. I never stopped to make sure you were okay because I knew that even if I didn't come home nine nights in a row, you would be waiting on that tenth night. But you're right, Hinata. I shouldn't ask you to wait anymore. You shouldn't be alone for those nine nights. You deserve to have a husband who is by your side every day."

Hinata felt dampness against her shoulder and realized that her husband was crying, too. Then, very quietly he whispered, "I understand if you want to leave me, Hina."

The woman turned her head and rested in the crook of Naruto's neck, her small arms snaking around his abdomen. "Oh, Naruto-kun, I don't want to leave you. I never want to leave you…" Her husband pulled her into an even tighter embrace, one hand on her back and the other tangling in her dark hair. His shoulders shook and Hinata felt tears running down her shoulder and collarbone as the two held each other in pained silence.

After a few moments Hinata voiced the question on both of their minds: "So what do we do now?"

Naruto pulled his face away from his wife's neck and leaned back. He used one hand to lift her chin so she was finally looking at him. He took in her tear-stained cheeks and white eyes. The pain he saw etched there made his chest clench and again Naruto found he couldn't believe he could be so dense as to cause the beautiful, resilient, compassionate women he was lucky enough to call his wife so much agony.

"Let me put you first, Hina."

Hinata stared back at her husband, observing the tear streaks that ran perpendicular to the whisker marks she loved so much. Even so, the expression on his face became very serious as he looked at her, an unyielding glint in his cerulean eyes. She knew that look and it both terrified and excited her, even after so many years of marriage.

"Naruto, I don't think that's the solution right now."

"C'mon, Hime," he said, his voice suddenly deeper, thicker somehow as he buried his face back into her neck. Hinata started to protest, pushing her delicate hands against his chest, but the boy bit her collarbone and ran his tongue along the side of her neck, his teeth barely grazing her earlobe. "Let me put you first."

And how could she say no?

Naruto lavished his wife's neck with kisses, lingering longer in the hollows of her neck. Slowly, his wife's hands turned from open palms to curled fists, clenching the fabric of his shirt in her strong but delicate fingers as his lips explored her flesh. He pulled the small string on her cardigan and let the article fall open, pushing it off her shoulders. "Naruto!" his wife protested weakly, a faint blush gracing her cheeks as she suddenly seemed to snap to her senses, jumping out of the lust-filled haze he'd led her into. "We – we're outside!" Even though she was still fully clothed, the woman crossed her arms over her chest as if she were exposed.

Naruto chuckled at his wife's modesty, even after so much time, and snuck a hand under her shirt, running his unbandaged fingers across her stomach. He leaned in close to her ear and pressed his lips against it, sending a shiver down her spine. "It's kind of hot, though, don't you think Hina?" His wife made hesitant stuttering sounds in response and he chuckled again, his fingers creeping higher up her shirt and exposing her midriff to the night air. Hinata shivered. "Being outside, exposing ourselves where we might get caught… The risk makes it more –" he licked her earlobe and bit it slightly – "exciting."

"Naruto…" his wife groaned, appreciative of his attention but clearly not enthused by the idea. He laughed and looked at his wife's face, quickly turning a darker red by the moment.

"I'm only teasing, Hina," he assured her, removing his hand from under her shirt and capturing her lips. "You're always beautiful, but you're particularly adorable when you blush. I love that I can still get a reaction out of you even after all this time." Keeping his forehead pressed to hers his voice dropped, becoming very serious. "But this is about you – I'm putting you first. So, inside we go." Without hesitation, Naruto scooped Hinata into his arms, wrapping her legs around his waist, and stood. The couple headed inside, leaving the woman's jacket behind. Naruto slid the door into place with his foot, his hands busy holding up his wife.

As he headed to their bedroom, Naruto's hands cupped Hinata's ass and squeezed. "Eep!" the raven-haired woman gasped in surprise, jumping at her husband's forward gesture. "Naruto!"

"What?" he asked earnestly. "You have such a nice butt, Hina. It would be a shame to leave it unattended." He squeezed again, gentler this time, causing the girl to jump again.

"Naruto…" Hinata's voice was more of quiet, half-hearted scold turned into a sigh as he continued to grip her upper thighs and ass. The woman turned her face away but her husband thought he saw her bite her bottom lip.

When they reached the bedroom, Naruto dropped Hinata on the bed unceremoniously. She began to protest but his lips were on hers and his hands were pushing her backwards before she got a word out. The couple kissed until their lips felt bruised, their tongues coming out to play and wrestle occasionally. Naruto, one hand on either side of Hinata's head, pulled back and peered down at his wife. Her chest rose and fell slightly with her quickened breathing. Her dark blue hair splayed around her angelic face, tinged pink with blush and heat. Her white eyes engulfed him, and he knew he had to do whatever it took to show her he loved her. Because kami, did he love her.

Before he knew it, words were spilling from his lips, the list of wrongs he had to apologize for bubbling up and pouring out of his mouth. "I know I'm a shit husband and I'm not good at communicating and I don't always make it home for dinner and –"

Hinata put a finger to her husband's lips to quiet him but the boy took her hand in his, lacing their fingers together and kissing his wife's knuckles. "No, Hina, I need to say this. The point is, if I had nothing but the knowledge that you loved me, it would be enough."

The woman stared up into Naruto's bright blue eyes and frowned despite his impassioned assertion. "I don't know that I believe you."

Naruto sighed. "If I've neglected you so much that you don't believe your love is enough for me, I don't deserve to call you mine. I'm sorry I haven't told you enough, but I love you, Hina, and even though my actions have spoken differently, you are enough. You alone are enough, Uzumaki Hinata. And if tomorrow the entire village turned against me but you remained by my side, I wouldn't need anything else to be happy. I promise." Intertwining their hands, Naruto raised Hinata's arms above her head and leaned down, kissing her jaw line, her neck. All the while he whispered to her: "You are enough. You are enough. You are enough." Quiet tears ran down Hinata's cheeks and Naruto kissed them away, one by one.

One of his hands released hers and travelled down her body, finding its way to the hem of her shirt. Fingers climbing underneath it, much to his disappointment he only found more fabric. "Why do you wear so many layers, Hina?" he mumbled, sitting up on his knees and grabbing the bottom of her shirts with both hands. Naruto slowly pushed the articles of clothing up his wife's body, exposing her stomach little by little and kissing it as he did so. Exposing her naval, Naruto's tongue flicked out from behind his lips and earned him a small, "Mm!" from his love.

A sly smirk came over his face as he continued to lavish attention on her abdomen and push her shirts ever farther north. Reaching the bottom of her bra, Naruto tugged in one smooth motion that left Hinata completely shirtless. She shivered and instinctively crossed her arms over her chest, turning her face away from her husband's wandering eyes. "Hina…" he crooned, gently grabbing her wrists and tugging them away from her chest. "Don't hide from me." He felt the little resistance she was asserting give way and her arms fell to the side, guided by his hands.

Hinata felt the heat rising in her chest as Naruto peered down at her. The glint in his eye set a fire ablaze in her stomach, terrifying and exciting her at the same time. "We have to be even." The woman was surprised to find her voice came out level. The man pulled back and looked into her eyes, a gentle smile pulling at the corners of his mouth. He sat back on his haunches and Hinata maneuvered her body until she was sitting up in front of him on the bed. Reaching forward, she pulled the zipper on his jacket down until it fell open. Her husband shrugged it off, tossing it haphazardly on the floor, then raised his arms above his head, gesturing for her to continue. Hinata gripped the hem of his white tank and pulled until it was over his head before dropping it onto the floor as well.

No matter how many time she saw him, Naruto's body never failed to amaze her. Years of training had left him sculpted. Every inch of his torso and arms was lean muscle. Hinata bit her bottom lip and hugged her arms around her body, suddenly self-conscious. She'd always been softer than the other girls, and though her body remained thin, years of housekeeping and being a mother hadn't left her curves any toner than when the two of them were younger.

Naruto's bandaged hand reached out and cupped his wife's face, turning it to face him. "What is it? What's wrong now?"

"I… It's just…" Hinata stared into his cerulean eyes and tried not to melt under his concerned expression. "I look at you, and…"

Naruto's face dropped and his heart plummeted. She was stopping him from being intimate. She couldn't stand to look at him. He'd royally fucked up. She did want to leave him. She was going to end it. "You're disgusted with me, aren't you?"

"What?" Hinata's eyes lit up with shock. Disgusted? She looked at his body again and wondered how he could think a thing like that. "No!"

"You don't need to lie, Hinata. I've failed you, and now you can't look at me without seeing all the ways I've let you down. I get it. You don't have to lie to spare my feelings."

"Naruto, no." Hinata's heart broke. "Failure" was a word so many people used throughout Naruto's life to describe him negatively, but she only ever saw him as a proud failure, shining brightly even when everyone else only saw loss. To hear him call himself such a thing… She couldn't bare it. "You're not a failure. That's not it at all."

"Then what is it?"

"I… Well, you're you. And I'm me."

Naruto raised a brow and tilted his head. "Hinata… I don't understand you."

The woman flushed and dropped her face, completely flustered by her current predicament. "Naruto-kun… There's a reason women still fawn over you, you know? You're active and built and it shows. But, my body…" She hugged herself tighter, arms wrapping as tightly as they could.

Naruto sighed. "Oh, Hina…" He grabbed her arms, forcing them away from her body once again and took her chin in his fingers, lifting her porcelain face. "Please hear me when I say this: you are beautiful, Uzamaki Hinata."

"Those other women-"

Naruto's temper flared. "Fuck those other women!" he yelled. Hinata flinched back at his sudden outburst and Naruto sighed. "Bad choice of words…" The man scratched the back of his head sheepishly, a habit from their childhood he'd carried with him as they aged. "But you know what I mean. Forget about them, Hina. I don't think about them for one moment. In a crowd of women, I would choose you every time. You are the most beautiful woman I have ever known. You're the mother of my children and the love of my life and nothing would ever make me think otherwise. Do you hear me?"

Hinata nodded meekly. Naruto ran his hands through his hair in desperation. "God, I've fucked up so badly." He looked up at his other half and frowned. "You deserve to know how beautiful you are, and how much I love you. I'm you're husband, for god's sake, and I haven't even managed to do that much for you."

Hinata remained quiet, not quite sure how to answer him. She didn't want to affirm his statements, but denying them would be untrue. Instead of answering at all she leaned forward and kissed him, taking a whiskered cheek in each hand and slowly leaning back until he was on top of her. "Hina…" Naruto began to protest, but his wife shushed him.

"Just kiss me, Naruto."