Nindō: Dominion

Naruto and his family left their home an hour before dawn since their train was scheduled for departure just after sunrise.

"Is Hanabi-nee-chan meeting us there?" Himawari asked as the four of them walked to the station, each dragging their respective suitcases behind them.

"Yes," Naruto nodded. "In fact, she should already be there. Knowing her, she has probably taken the second compartment with the bed for herself."

"A bed?" Boruto asked with a surprised expression.

"Our only options if we wanted to have an actual vacation trip were either to disguise ourselves or to take a private train," Naruto said. "I chose private. Not only that, but we will have an Anbu team coming with us to take care of logistics."

"Damn …" Boruto mumbled in astonishment. "And here I was thinking that this would be a normal vacation …"

"It will be," Naruto turned and looked at him. "I promise you that. The Anbu team's presence is necessary to make sure that the political leaders of the Land of Hot Water don't disrupt our stay there by coming to us with proposals and collaboration requests. Yugakure and the daimyo believe in a pacifist management system, yes, but that's not the case for all nobles. The Anbu's presence will, in no way, stop any of us from exploring the land of Hot Water. Instead, they will facilitate it."

Hinata silently hooked her free arm through Naruto's as he was speaking to Boruto. "Come on. We don't want to keep Hanabi waiting," she said.

A moment of heavy silence descended on the four after the slightly tense moment.

"Try putting yourself in your father's shoes, Boruto," Hinata addressed her son without looking at him. "He is trying so hard for us to be able to spend time together as a family despite all that he has on his plate. You're on active duty; I think that you should know more about the current political landscape than I do. Despite being so busy managing the village, your father is doing everything in his power to let us enjoy our time as a normal family. Think about that for a bit instead of nitpicking all of the little inconveniences that you have."

"Hey, Daddy," Himawari, the sensible one of the two kids, decided to break some of the tension once her mother finished speaking. "What are we going to do when we get there?" She asked Naruto while tugging the sleeve of his arm that was dragging the suitcase behind him. "I don't think there's much to see there other than hot springs. Konoha also has those …"

"That's because you haven't been to the Land of Hot Water. Boruto had a recent mission that had him move into the country for a bit. I'm sure he can tell you that the hot springs there are very different from the ones in Konoha," he said, directing the conversation to Boruto.

"Yeah," Boruto had a slightly distracted look on his face as he responded. "The one I went to was like a waterfall as it flowed down a hill. It was very beautiful." He didn't say anything after that, as if Hinata's previous words were still in his mind.

"The resort that we are going to is a bit of a trek, but it is one of the most beautiful spots in the country," Naruto continued. "It was Granny Tsunade who found this place after exploring the country for more than two months. The resort occupies the entire hot spring with amazing views all over. You guys will love it."

"Do they have a big swimming pool as well?" Himawari asked.

"Definitely," Naruto said. "Not only that, but it is a heated pool because they used the heat from the natural hot spring to control the temperature of the water there."

"What about Yugakure?" Himawari asked. "Shino-sensei taught us that it is a very beautiful place."

"Then we'll go there as well. I'll send someone to contact the Kage, and we will spend a day exploring Yugakure. We have a whole week there," Naruto said nonchalantly.

Soon, they reached the train station. Naruto and Himawari continued talking about what they would do there, keeping the atmosphere somewhat lively as Naruto occasionally pushed Hinata or Boruto to respond.

Entering the station, they moved through a VIP entrance to a separate platform where their train was docked with the engine already running.

"Damn, this really is the VIP treatment, huh …" Boruto mumbled as he looked at the train with four carts, including the engine.

"There are three passenger carts, does that mean all three of them have beds?" Himawari asked.

"We'll just have to get on and see, won't we?" Naruto said. "Bird, take care of our luggage, will you?"

A bird-masked Anbu appeared beside them and knelt before saying, "It shall be done, Hokage-sama."

"Come on, guys." Naruto led Hinata to the door as Himawari and Boruto followed.

As they got on, they were greeted by a common area with five individual booths with tables on one side of the cart, including a bar and other miscellaneous facilities.

"This is crazy …" Boruto mumbled, used to traveling in the passenger train that's usually crowded with simple seats.

"Right?!" A fifth voice came from the door that led to the next cart. "To think the Hokage gets so many privileges and has never shared them with us," Hanabi approached them. Instead of her usual yellow kimono shirt, she was wearing a full sky blue kimono today that went down to just above her knees with a deep blue belt and flat sandals.

"I see that you are all ready for the vacation," Naruto remarked after seeing her outfit.

"You're the only one in uniform, brother-in-law," she teased. "Try to relax now. We're on vacation." Turning to Hinata, she exclaimed coquettishly, "Nee-chan~" Hanabi jumped at her older sister and hugged her tightly.

Hinata had a gentle smile on her face as she hugged Hanabi back. "Good morning, Hanabi," she said as the two sisters separated. "Have you explored the carts? Hima was curious about what's in the two carts."

"It's better I show it to the kids," Hanabi smiled brightly and grabbed Himawari and Boruto's hands, pulling them toward the door that she'd just come from, leaving Hinata and Naruto alone.

"She's bubbly as always," Naruto chuckled as he and Hinata got into one of the booths and sat together.

"Hanabi has that quality to herself," she spoke while leaning on him. "I'm happy that you let her come with us."

"Naturally. I also enjoy the energy that she brings. As a plus point, she knows very well when to take the kids away to give the two of us some alone time," The suggestiveness in Naruto's tone wasn't lost on Hinata.

"Not right now, Naruto-kun …" She spoke as a tint of red appeared on her face. "The train hasn't even started moving yet."

As if on cue, the whistle of the steam engine sounded out, and the train started moving. Hinata yelped as her face got even redder with the movement of the train.

"What are you thinking in that horny head of yours, huh?" Naruto backpedaled and admonished her. "The kids are in the next cart over, along with your sister. We can't be doing anything during the journey."

The blush disappeared from Hinata's face as a dry annoyance was all that was left when she turned her head to look at him. "Hanabi isn't the one to be concerned about, it's the kids."

"Stop worrying. We can enjoy our time together."

"Daddy, Aunt Hanabi lied to us," Himawari came running into the cart. "That last cart doesn't have a luxurious bath for us. It's the compartment where the Anbu team is staying … She started teasing me the moment Nii-chan climbed out."

She grabbed Naruto's arm and shook him to get his attention. "She lied to me …" Her face was all teary.

"Oh dear," Naruto's face got serious as he scooped Himawari up and had her sit on his lap. "Hanabi made my Hima cry. That is an unforgivable crime. She will have to be punished. Don't worry, Hima."

"Naruto-kun …" Hinata mumbled from the side with a helpless expression as her hand made its way to her forehead. "You're supposed to be concerned about Boruto climbing out of the train."

"He'll be fine," Naruto shrugged it off before giving his full attention to Himawari, "Tell me, what punishment does my Hima want to give her aunt?" Naruto asked. "Do you want me to throw her off the train?"

"Brother-in-law, how could you?!" Hanabi gasped the moment she walked back in and scooted into the seat on the opposite side from Hinata and Naruto. "You would throw your beautiful sister-in-law out of the train just like that?" The look on her face displayed immense sorrow.

Himawari stuck her tongue out at Hanabi before burying her face in her father's neck.

"With your natural speed of travel, you'd probably reach the resort before us," Naruto pointed out.

"I know, but still. How could you just say that you would throw me out? My own brother-in-law has betrayed me," she had tears appearing in her eyes. "Onee-chan. Look~" She tugged on Hinata's sleeve. "I'm being bullied by your husband …"

Hinata sighed at her family's antics.

***

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