Priorities
now
The way to her childhood home felt especially heavy after the day she had. Exhaustion heavily weighed down on Nanami’s bones so that she dragged her feet all the way to the familiar wooden door. On it were still marks of her pencils when she had used them to decorate the door as a child, and the sight made her laugh. She shook her head with a small smile and opened the door, making sure to properly close it behind herself after entering.
“Dad, I’m home!” Nanami called out while hanging her keys onto their designated places and taking off her sandals. “Did you miss me yet?”
A loud laugh coming from the living room told the blonde exactly where her father was. “Welcome home, my favorite daughter.”
Nanami rolled her eyes at his antics. “I’m your only daughter.”
As soon as he saw his daughter enter the room, he offered her a wide grin. “You got it. That is why you also are my favorite.”
“And your least favorite too?”
The older man snickered. “ You bet .”
While his jokes were utterly atrocious, there was no man like her father. Fujiwara Kento was the best father in Nanami’s opinion, and not even in her wildest dreams could she think of a better parent than him. Not only did he offer her his support with everything she had decided to do, but was also her most trusted confidant, and the person who knew the most about her.
“Was your day alright?” Kento asked with a smile, following the ever-so-moving figure of his daughter.
For a moment, Nanami turned to face him and nodded before turning away again. “‘t was fine, dad. Just stressful, as always ,” She could barely remember a day when work wasn’t either stressful or hectic. “with you there too, it’s better.”
Kento barked out a laugh. “Oh, believe me, I know, Nami. But your dear old father is sick, so I can’t help you at the moment.”
Nanami frowned at her father. “Don’t call yourself old, dad. It’s not true.”
The elder man let out a loud cough. “I would like to think so too, but my youth is long behind me.”
It was no secret in Konoha that her father was elderly in comparison to the parents of the others in the graduating class. Of some, he was even twice their age, both in outward appearance and personality. Nanami had always perceived the man to be wiser than others, with his wild gray hair and sunken eyes. The wrinkles decorating his kind features only enhanced his wise appearance, or so she thought.
“I’m going to make you some soup, so you will feel better in no time. I don’t want you straining your throat as much,” Nanami said, while already bustling around the kitchen in search of pottery and all the ingredients she would require. “so you better eat up once I am done.”
Kento let out a loud laugh. “Always so demanding, Nami.”
She raised an eyebrow at that. “ You raised me . If it is anyone’s fault. It’s yours.”
Her father let out a loud snort. “ Touché .”
Nanami bent down in the kitchen to reach the pot placed in the lowest of shelves. “Has anyone ever told you that you talk too much, dad?” Admittedly, it was a trait she had inherited from him. “ Especially when you are sick. You should relax.”
“Only your mother has.”
In her action, Nanami stilled. She almost allowed for the pot in her hands to fall to the floor. “Right, ma probably has, huh?” A grim smile pulled at her lips.
“She always would. Just like you do now. It is why you are more like your mother than like myself, Nami. You practically mirror her personality, but at the same time also make it your own. I like to think that her passion flows through your veins,” At his own words, Kento let out a small laugh. It sounded both bitter and loving. ”As cheesy as that sounds.”
Nanami cleared her throat awkwardly. “I get what you mean, dad. But don’t talk as much, alright? I don’t want you roughening your throat up further.” It was a cheap excuse to avoid the topic of her mother, so she knew, yet she used it.
“You always know best, Nami. I trust you .”
The single tear stinging in her eye practically burned. It made it difficult for her to focus on chopping the ingredients for the soup she was preparing without also injuring herself. With the back of her hand, she wiped it away before she would start sniffling.
“I trust you too, dad.”
Nanami was pretty sure that without her father in her life, she wouldn’t know what to do.
***
Sometimes, Nanami got the sudden urge to whack her father straight over the head. The only thing that kept her from doing so at the moment was the fact that the man had caught the flu, and whacking him would be rather unfair to him. Yet, how he sat opposite of her with a smug smirk playing on his lips and his constant flow of jokes ( all on her expense), she was contemplating whether she should go for it or not.
On one hand, that made her an awful person to whack her poor father while he was sick, and she was supposed to be the one to care for him. On the other hand, he was not only getting on her nerves, but also scratching at her pride with each word pushing past his lips.
With a slight pout, Kento looked over at the blonde. “Don’t give me that sour look, Nami. You are my daughter, I love you and teasing you.”
Nanami crossed her arms over her chest and shot her father a heavy glare. “I have feelings too, you know? You don’t have to take a shot at them every time we eat dinner together.”
“Feelings for Minato? I know that very well, Nami,” Kento let out a small chuckle, winking at his daughter. “Which reminds me, didn’t you have a date with Renji today? How did it go? I hope he treated you right. Only the best for my darling daughter.”
Immediately, the glare dropped from her face and instead turned into a frown. Nanami couldn’t bring herself to fully face her father, so she averted her gaze to the soup placed in front of her. “Renji, he canceled the date.” The fact that she could feel tears stinging in her eyes made her feel idiotic.
Kento dropped his cutlery into the bowl. “He did what ?!” From his teasing tone, his voice rose, sounding both scratchy and angered. “This isn’t the first time, isn’t it, Nami? I know that you have told me several times that he canceled, and now he does it again . What was his reasoning this time? A mission? His siblings are sick?”
Half-heartedly, the blonde shrugged. “Couldn’t tell ya. He told Hana to tell me. He didn’t even come in himself to cancel.”
“What a coward.” Kento scoffed.
“You don’t have to tell me, dad. I’m aware and I-” Nanami let out a sigh, her eyes drooping downward. “I don’t know if I am disappointed, angry or just upset. I’m so confused .” She allowed herself to bury her face into her hands and to take a deep breath.
“I always preferred Minato over him.” Kento murmured under his breath, letting out an angry huff. Had he not already had gray hair, the boyfriend of his daughter would have brought it out through his mere actions.
“Dad,” Nanami snapped. “Not helping.”
Was her relationship a mistake ? She certainly felt like it was, and that scared her.
With a gentle look in his eyes, he demanded his daughter’s attention. “Listen, all I want is for my daughter to be happy. I don't care which man will make you happy, all I want is that one of them does.”
Nanami swallowed harshly. “Dad, what if I don’t know who that man is? What if it isn’t Renji?”
Speaking her thoughts aloud felt like a bad omen to her.
“When I first dated your mother, I honestly wasn’t sure either if she was the one for me,” Kento began, drawing a surprised look from his daughter. “Usually, when we are young, we aren’t sure about what we want. And we don’t have to, we have a whole life to live still, after all. We experiment, we date, and we fall in love. Sometimes, though, we also fall out of love. When you are young, you can’t always know the difference between love and infatuation. No one can tell you where the difference lies, you have to figure that out for yourself.”
“And how do I know that I love someone?”
“Well,” A smile tugged at his lips. “you just know, Nami. When you see them, you feel so many emotions, that you can’t exactly describe them. They make you feel good, they make you feel special in their presence. Around your love, you can be yourself freely. If you love someone, for you there will be no one like them.”
There were only two people who made her feel as special as her father described.
“I will be honest with you, Nami. I am not a fan of Renji, but if he is the one to make you happy, save for canceling dates with you, then I approve. I want you to be happy and be loved unconditionally. I won’t tell you who to choose, I can imagine how conflicted you feel. All I can tell you is that if you want to be happy, you will have to make a decision soon. Let one of them go, and by that, I don’t mean the one who is the one for you.”
Nanami was ready to slam her head against the table in confusion. “I just don’t know,” She blurted out. “Why is love so confusing again?”
Kento shrugged lazily. “I can’t tell ya. It just is. You need to think about it and then maybe you’ll know.”
“I’m doomed .” She whined dramatically.
“That is one way to put.”
Throughout her whole childhood, Nanami had always looked up to her father for advice and judgment. What he did, she was the one to follow. Whether it was in career, in specialization, or in ideals, he was the one to give her the answers she yearned for. A question and hindrance, not even her father could aid her with, stunned her completely. She yearned for the answer he could not supply, and instead confronted her with a riddle she knew she couldn’t solve. Confusing did not even put her current state of mind into words.
It did not spurn her thought process when the phone of the home began ringing obnoxiously.
With a sigh, Nanami pushed herself up from her seat. “I’ll get it.” She had to practically drag herself to the phone with a scowl tugging at her lips, her mood completely soured. Whoever it was on the other side of the line, she knew she would yell at most likely because their timing was horrible, and she felt bad-
“ Hello ?”
Minato.
She couldn’t yell at him, no matter the state of her current mood.
“ Kento-san, are you there ?”
The phone she held against her ear felt so heavy.
"Don't stand there shell-shocked, who is it?" Kento asked, leaning forward in his chair.
Nanami swallowed harshly before she began to speak, "Hel-Hello, Minato. What c-can we do for y-you?" She could already hear the incoming teasing that was to spew from her father’s mouth.
“ Nanami! Exactly who I was looking for! I hope you don’t mind me asking for you after work. I was wondering if you had time to help me out with Naruto again? If you don’t, it’s fine and-”
“No, no. I- uh , don’t have anything to do for the rest of the day.”
“ Oh, that’s great! Only if you have time- ”
“I’ll c-come over, no worries.”
“ Thank you. Until later then? ” Nanami could practically her Minato smile.
“Until later.”
The clicking noise indicating the end of the phone call left her shell-shocked. With the phone still in hand, Nanami stood completely still, not even moving a single muscle.
“What are you going to do now, Nami?”
“ I -” She cut herself off, unsure of what her answer would be. Then she swallowed to get rid of the bile crawling up her throat. “I will help him. Naruto deserves to be parented right, my feelings shouldn’t take away from that.”
“You look happier,” Kento pointed out. “You have this small smile on your face when Minato called. I don’t know what it is, but you just look happier.”
Nanami’s cheeks took on a flush. “I do?”
“You do,” Her father confirmed. “So you better not let lover boy waiting.”
“He’s not a lover boy.”
“I wouldn’t say so, Nami. You maybe didn’t notice, but when you two were teenagers, he looked at you in a special way, like you were his world. I always thought you two would end up dating, but maybe I was wrong.”
Nanami let out a sigh. “Yes, maybe you were.”
And it was probably better that way.
***
The way to Minato’s house felt unnecessarily long to Nanami. It was most likely because the distance between her own residence and his was not as great as the distance between her father’s home was. At the same time, she was also walking much slower than usual and dragging her steps instead of hurrying along the way as she usually did. Usually, she felt so happy when she was making her way over to the sunshine blond, but now the one thing primarily bothering Nanami was how heavy her heart felt, sinking to the deepest pits of her stomach.
As always, the late evenings of Konoha were cold and had Nanami regretting that she did not dress in warmer clothing. Today, her mind was just all over the place and the relaxation she had both planned and looked forward to had been canceled after all. It came as no surprise to her that her critical thinking skills also took a nose dive with the way she was yawning every other minute. Still, she continued her journey on until she stood outside his door.
Another yawn escaped Nanami’s lips as she went to raise her hand to knock and announce her presence. Instead of doing so, she closed her eyes for a mere moment and rested her forehead against the door, letting out a sigh as the exhaustion of her day of work and care caught up to her. What she did not notice however was how the door swung open moments after, making her fall right into the figure of Minato.
“Woah, woah! Careful there, Nana!” Minato said as he caught his best friend, her head practically slamming into his chest. From the way she slumped in his grasp, he could tell that she was tired.
For a moment, Nanami allowed herself to rest in his comforting hold. To not do anything but relaxing her muscles did her well and was the first time in days she even got to do so. Not even when her head hit the pillow did she feel as calm as she now did in Minato’s arms, the blond practically radiating tranquility as he had to drag her inside. That was exactly why she did not budge when he placed her down on his couch.
Next, Minato placed a gentle hand on her forehead to feel her temperature. Worry knitted his brows together. “If you are sick, Nana, you shouldn’t have forced yourself to come over. You could’ve denied.”
That woke the sleepy blonde, who immediately shot up from her position on the sofa and almost headbutted her best friend. “Sorry!” She screeched out, shuffling backward on the sofa to put as much space between them as she could while blurting out words, “I didn’t mean to worry you. I’m fine, alright, good even!”
“Are you sure …?” Minato asked hesitantly, his brows still drawn together in obvious concern.
“I’m sure, a hundred percent.”
He still looked unsure.
Nanami let out a sigh. “Trust me, Minato, I’m okay. Just a bit tired, work was exhausting, as always. But let’s forget that, I’m here to help you.”
“Nana-”
She just wanted to forget what had happened with Renji today. Doing things that took her mind off of things surely would help. “What did you call me for?”
A flush erupted on Minato’s cheeks, one he attempted to hide by turning his face away. This however did not work, as the other blonde could still see it, even in the dim light of the room.
“He wouldn’t stop asking for you,” He confessed. “I tried to put him to bet early, but Naruto kept insisting on seeing you.”
“Huh?” Nanami was as surprised as she sounded.
Naruto asked for her, specifically her. Someone appreciated her. Someone wanted her to be part of their live. Naruto adored her. A mere child could show her move love and appreciation than men could, and that fact alone had her upset. Of course, she was glad to have such a good connection with the delight that was her godson, but the comparison she drew seemed to draw themselves by now.
Little Naruto got her smiling, happiness tugging at her lips and washing away much of the exhaustion of the day. He was the remedy after a long week. Not only did he need her, but she also needed him.
“I told him you can’t always be here and that did not make Naruto happy,” Sheepishly, Minato rubbed the back of his neck. “Then he started throwing a tantrum. He calmed down a bit once he heard your voice through the phone. Now he says he doesn’t want to sleep until he saw you.”
The one thing Naruto had inherited from his late mother was her stubbornness.
“Well, I’m here now,” Nanami said, now smiling. Then, she searched all around the room hurriedly, trying to spot a certain little blond. “Where is Naruto anyway?”
“He’s in his room. Do you want to come along now, or do you need a moment?”
It was adorable to see how worried he was about her, with his gaze solely fixated on her and brows still knitted together.
Nanami stood up and joined his side, jokingly elbowing him. “I already told you, I’m fine . Don't you trust me?"
"I do!"
"So believe me if I tell you that I'm fine, okay?"
Hesitantly, Minato agreed and willed himself to smile. "Then let's not keep Naruto waiting."
The setting felt weirdly domestic to Nanami and a small part of her couldn't help but yearn for it to be more than platonic.