Nindō: Dominion

The two of them continued talking, setting some essential ground rules to make sure that their fight wouldn't affect the people around them, especially their kids.

By the time the kids came back with Hanabi, Naruto had already told Hinata how he had sent some clones back to Konoha via Flying Raijin and how one of them would be dealing with logistics regarding Karin and her integration into the Konoha Hospital and the Research Center. She was already briefly aware of many of his political plans, which made it easier for him to explain Karin's role in the budding Research Center to her.

In front of Hanabi and the kids, the duo pretended that everything was normal, with Hinata smiling gently as Hanabi flirtily bantered with Naruto while the kids played around. At some point, Hinata slipped away to take a shower.

Talking to Hanabi, now that Naruto had some context, he realized that she was indeed much more flirty with him than usual. That also told him that Hinata hadn't told Hanabi anything about their fight, making her think that things were as normal as they should be. He didn't specifically distance himself from her and instead maintained the status quo, believing that Hinata would rectify the situation when she felt that the time was right.

Once everyone was ready, they went out to their first sightseeing destination for the day.

…

By the time they returned, everyone had decided to take a soak in their private hot spring.

"God, this is the life ..." Hanabi said, looking positively relaxed as she leaned back. This time, unlike the previous night when she came under Hinata's directions, she was wearing a swimsuit. It was the same with everyone as they comfortably relaxed in the large bath.

"Hey, Dad," Boruto called out to his relaxed father, who opened one eye and looked at him questioningly. "When are you going to teach me that jutsu?"

"I'll send you out with a shadow clone tomorrow morning," Naruto said.

"A clone?" Boruto's face looked unpleasant.

"What? I'm on vacation, Boruto. I want to spend my time relaxing in this resort. Tell you what, if you can dispel my clone, I'll teach you myself."

"You're on." Boruto smiled excitedly.

"Meanwhile, your mother, aunt, and sister will be out with me, enjoying the scenery and relaxing."

"No problem."

Hinata shook her head. "You boys and your obsession with new jutsu …"

"Right, mom?" Himawari spoke up. "He always goes on about learning new jutsu. I still haven't completely learned gentle fist …"

"I don't have the Byakugan …" Boruto said poutily. "I used to be the strongest member of Team 7, but Sarada has already caught up. It won't be long before Mitsuki does the same. I don't want to be left behind. Seriously, what kind of training are you putting her through, Dad? Her progress is downright monstrous."

"Confidential. Even she doesn't know the purpose behind a chunk of her training for the time being." Naruto said. "Village secrets. As my chosen successor, I am training her to be the best of the best. Of course … if my son asked me to give him similar training, I wouldn't refuse."

"You would train me as well?" Boruto asked, surprised.

"Naturally, Boruto. You're my son," Naruto said.

"Humph," Hanabi snorted and looked at Boruto. "In your dream to follow your father's footsteps, you've never bothered to avail for yourself the real privileges of having him as your father. All you had to do was ask. If he refused, I would've beat some sense into my brother-in-law."

"Yeah, well …" Boruto didn't have a suitable retort.

"When we get back to the Land of Fire, I will set up a regimen for you. If you want to train with Sarada, you will have to wake up at four-thirty in the morning and get ready before meeting her at her training ground at five. The training will go on for three hours and conclude at eight, at which point you can do whatever you want."

"Five?!" Boruto's eyes shot open in panic. "I can't wake up at five. I can barely get up in time to rendezvous with Konohamaru-sensei at eight. Are you going to be there as well?"

"My clone, I have other duties."

"No wonder she always woke up at five in the morning when we were on the mission in the Land of Rivers. That's crazy. How does she even recover with so little resting time?"

"It's confidential," Naruto said. "If you don't want to wake up early, you can meet my clone at the training ground in the evening. I will keep you occupied until dinner."

"Getting strong is hard, Dad," Boruto sighed.

"Naturally."

"Can I tell you my decision later? After thinking about it?"

"Sure. You have the entire trip to think about it," Naruto said.

"All right, stop talking about training," Hanabi interjected. "We're on vacation. I don't want to hear about any more ninja stuff, Brother-in-law."

"I'm more than happy to do that." Naruto smiled freely and extended his arm to wrap it around Hinata's shoulder. Only to have his wrist get smacked by an invisible chakra thread.

Naruto's wife gave him a subtle look that made him smile wryly as he lowered his hand to rest it behind Hinata, not touching her.

The exchange was subtle enough that only Hanabi noticed it, narrowing her eyes curiously in response. She understood that the fight was a bigger deal than she had initially thought it to be.

"Daddy!" Himawari suddenly called out. "Can you train me, too? If you're training only big brother, then that means you'll spend more time with him than me."

Naruto couldn't help but laugh out loud at Himawari's blatant display of jealousy. "I thought you weren't that interested in training, Hima," he said.

"I'm not … but I want to feel important," she said.

Boruto gave her a judgemental look before crossing his arms and leaning back uncaringly.

"I'm going to let you in on a secret," Naruto said. "I can't actually teach you anything related to Gentle Fist."

"Oh?" Himawari looked equal parts disappointed and sad. "Is it because you don't have the Byakugan?"

"Nah, I don't need the Byakugan to use the basic taijutsu. What holds me back is that the technique is a closely guarded secret of the Hyūga clan. They don't let anyone outside their bloodline learn it. That includes the Hokage."

"You don't know the Gentle Fist?" Boruto was surprised.

"It's a whole thing …" Naruto shook his head. "As one of the founding clans of Konoha, just below the Uchiha and the Senju, the Hyūga have very significant pull. Of course, I could force it out of them if I really wanted, but that would make these two really angry."

Hinata didn't even bother to respond, only giving him a brief look and closing her eyes.

"You won't have to, Brother-in-law. I'll just give you the technique when Father retires."

"So… never?" Naruto asked. "Because I don't see him abdicating his seat anytime in the near future."

Hanabi was left speechless by Naruto's words. She was the one who had said those words to him yesterday, and now, he attacked her with them.

"So you won't train me?" Himawari asked poutily.

"Of course, I'll train my beautiful little girl. I could never say no to you. But that doesn't mean you get to skip out on training with Hanabi. Gentle Fist is a very compatible taijutsu technique with the Byakugan."

"Yay!" Himawari jumped excitedly and tackled Naruto.

"Easy, easy, easy …" Naruto instinctively grabbed her and placed her on his lap, but the damage had already been done. Her excited movements splashed the hot water on everyone around them.

"Hima …" Hinata's menacing voice terrified the little girl.

"Daddy, save me!" Himawari shoved her face into the crook of Naruto's neck, hiding from her mother.

Naruto sighed, not saying anything as he calmly caressed the back of her head, running his fingers through her slightly damp hair.

"Since everyone is asking you things …" Hanabi's words made Naruto smile wryly.

"Go on, what do you want?" Naruto said helplessly.

"Do you mind giving me a pay raise?" Hanabi asked innocently. "My current allowance mixed with the money I get from missions is really not enough for my expenses."

Naruto looked at her dryly, not saying a word.

"It's just a suggestion."

"If you want more money, you can always apply to join my personal guard," Naruto said with a playful smile.

"Y–you...you're teasing me," Hanabi huffed and pouted before looking away.

***

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