Here it is. *Sniffles* The last chapter. Ah, such a sweet pairing. I can never get enough of it. This should be short.
--
The party took three weeks to plan. By the time Natalyn had been born, Kazuya and Ryouchi had finished packing apparently and had started moving towards Konoha the very next day. It took them a little while to arrive, since they had to bring their things, plus Toki's. But soon enough they arrived. The first thing Kazuya wanted to do upon arriving was to go to Ichiraku's. Naruto was all too glad to humor his cousin, since during all the chaos surrounding his return he had completely forgotten Ichiraku's.
Ciera's husband packed up on his own and left to join his wife in Konoha as soon as he had gotten word of what had happened and her choice. Natalyn's birth had put all thoughts of what her brother had left her out of all their's mind for awhile. Natalyn held all of their hearts. Naruto seemed to be one of her favorites. Next to her mommy of course. No one could replace her mommy.
At the moment, all of Naruto's family were at his house. Toki and Ryouchi were putting the final touches on the food table. Kazuya and Hinata were arguing about what type of music to play, much to the blonde's amusement. Ciera and her husband Randolph, who lived just down the hill from her nephew, were sitting on the couch while Naruto held Natalyn in his arms, where she tried to grab the brightly colored gems hanging from around his necks. He enjoyed playing with her by taking off one of them and dangling it in front of her, where her little hands tried to grab it. She never tired of the game.
"You'll make a great father someday," Ciera said as she watched Natalyn coo at the reflected light shining out from the orange gem in his hands. Hinata fumbled with the CD's she held nearby them. Kazuya laughed at her, earning him a playful smack from Hinata.
"Maybe," Naruto agreed absentmindly. Natalyn was yanking on his shirt collar, obviously demanding her cousin's full attention. "Alright, you have my attention." Natalyn actually grinned, making her parents think that already their nephew was rubbing off on her.
"Naruto, you have some people coming up the hill," Kazuya reported. "A large crowd."
"That's my cue," Naruto said happily, handing Natalyn to Ciera. She cried for a moment, but her mother quickly put a pink pacifier in her mouth. "Don't worry. We have our whole lifes ahead of us." As he stood someone knocked at the front door. Hinata joined him, and holding hands, went to greet the guests. Playful banter and greetings were tossed around as they filed in.
The music started to play; a soft, quiet party tune composed to not overpower conversations. Hinata had won the argument over the music. "Naruto! You sly ol' dog!" Kiba yelled from across the room. "You were hiding such a heritage all this time." Kiba made his way through the living room.
"I didn't know myself," Naruto corrected with a sly grin. "Not until about a month and a half ago. Went from orphan to a big family. Who would have thought?"
Ciera came over, Natalyn in a sling on her chest. "Naruto, can you hold her a few minutes? I need to use the bathroom. It's much easier without her and she loves you." Naruto gladly took his younger cousin in her arms, where she tried to grab the necklaces right away. "Thank you. I'll be right back."
"Natalyn, this is Kiba, one of my friends," Naruto said, showing Kiba the young baby. Kiba smiled softly and offered her a finger. Natalyn grabbed onto it quickly, a stubborn expression on her face. "Isn't she a cutie?"
"Yeah, she is," he agreed. "Spunky too. Look at that facial expression. Defiant little one." Natalyn cooed.
"Oh, I didn't know you had a kid already," Ino teased as she came up. Naruto only laughed. Hinata turned bright red as she talked with Tenten nearby. "Is Naruto being nice to you? He'd better be." She held out her hands, offering in a way an infant could understand to pick her up. Natalyn responded by grabbing onto Naruto even tighter.
"Sorry. She's kinda latched herself onto me," Naruto said with an apologetic expression. Ino chuckled. "She luvs cousin Naruto. And cousin Naruto luvs her." Everyone around them was stymied to see Naruto using babytalk language." Natalyn's smile could have lit up the room. Ciera came back then and Natalyn went back to her mother.
"My, look at smile," Ciera wondered. "Cousin Naruto is being a good cousin, isn't he?" She lifted her daughter into the air and nuzzled their noses together. Natalyn then decided to yawn.
"We set a room for just this situation," Naruto informed her. "There's a cradle fully set up with a baby monitor upstairs if you would to lay her down there to sleep. That way you can still have fun at the party. I could even make a clone to sit with her."
"That would be lovely," Ciera said. "Can you show the way?"
"Follow me," Naruto said. He led the way upstairs. It was a lot quieter up here. He opened a door up right off the top of the stairs. As Ciera settled the dozing Natalyn in, Naruto made two clones and gave them their orders. If Natalyn needed something that Ciera didn't pick up on the monitor, one of them was to dispel itself. Naruto would know then what she needed and could get Ciera. Both of them quietly left the room. All was well with the family. All was well within Konoha. As they rejoined the party, Naruto couldn't help but say this to himself. Konoha would never be the same to him again.