A/N: Again, thanks for commenting and following! That's my biggest motivation.


Chapter 2


When Himawari and Boruto arrived home from school, they were greeted neither by their mother's habitual greeting, nor by the warm glow from their house.

Boruto stepped into their dark living room first, only to find their absentee father on the couch, smoking heavily, cigarette butts everywhere around his feet. The subdued light of dusk that found its way through the window exposed his ashen face.

Their mother stood on the other side of the room, with her head held low and face shadowed by her long locks. Looking up, she smiled at them:"You two are back. Dinner is on the second floor. Take your sister there, Boruto."

An unsettling silence penetrated the air. Boruto frowned, unwilling to move, and somehow glowered at his father. As far as he remembered, his father was the one to blame for all those awkward moments between their parents.

It was Himawari who reacted, nudging him in her halfhearted attempt to get him out as she admonishingly whispered:"What are you doing!..."

"Boruto, Himawari, no." Naruto stopped them, his voice hoarse from smoking."You two, stay there. -Hinata, Even if your are going to leave, before you do, listen to what our kids have to say."

Seeing how their confusing faces turn several shades into a simple shock, Hinta stiffened, yet her expression remained calm. She came up to her kids, and softly explained: "Boruto, Himawari, you have grown up. So, I will honestly tell you this. I have some of my own business to deal with. That means I will have to leave, but not Konoha. I will settle near its border. Find me anytime if you need me. Is that Ok?"

Now the distance was short enough for Himawari - still digesting everything - to suddenly notice her mother's swollen cheek. She yelped:"Mother...your face..."

Naruto's fingers shuddered, almost slipping the cigarette. Hinata paled a bit, then admitted: "Yes, it was him."

They'd been rowing all day long.

To be more specific, only Naruto was rowing while Hinata was somewhat unconcerned. She even left at a time to make dinner for their kids.

Despite his articulate remarks that could convert an enermy, Naruto found his words annoyingly weak and futile in shaking her resolve. Hinata, the woman who once loved him with all her heart and soul, was stiff-necked. She sacrificed herself for Naruto when threatened by death; Now, even death could not change her mind.

There was a moment Naruto thought by leaving his wife meant moving back to Hyuga's home, but proved wrong. He apologized, placated, committed, and even mentioned Neji.

His eyes went red. "I need to take care of you even for Neji's sake. How could I let you go?"Lowering her eyes, she promised: "I will tell Neji that you've been good to me."

He was so mad in the end that he screamed at her: "What do you want? Ruin my life?"

A smile graced her lips: "Guess again?"

It was destructive, as if she had been training that soft smile and soft tone all her life just for a moment's mockery.

Engulfed by wrath, Naruto couldn't think straight and the slap landed on her face was so hard that she stumbled backwards with a pang.

He regretted instantly, trembling. This was the first time he hit her in their twenty years' marriage. Nothing could justify what he had done.

Hinata said nothing nonetheless. She steadied herself and stepped aside, ignoring him in a gesture more of dignity and pride other than grievance.

-Where was that weeping little girl who once was an easy prey? She truly was Hiashi's daughter now.

When everything registered, Boruto was enraged, too: "Father! How could you hit our mother?"

Himawari stared at Naruto, then had her eyes on Hinata.

"I..."Naruto stammered, a mixed feeling of guilt, anger, confusion and grief churned his stomach. The sudden realization that he had skipped his work today, and that half-eaten loaf of bread on his desk - all muddled in a mess.

Their vast house echoed with a long, long silence.

Then, Himawari stepped forward, reaching out for Hinata's damp hands:

"I see, mother. Do what you want. I will take care of Boruto and father."

Before Hinata packed up and took her leave, Naruto remembered his wife's sides throbbed on freezing days. "Is the house you are moving in cold?"

His ragged voice registered a tinge of both exhaustion and...relief.

A hand on the wooden knob, Hinata paused, "It's alright."

The reassurance she used to give him every time he apologized for leaving her behind, in the end, was all she had to offer.