Child of the Leaf
Chapter Ten
by operadeglace
"Stupid. Stupid. Stupid… PIECE OF CRAP!"
Bolt sighed heavily as he paced in an alley way, kicking pieces of trash against the wall.
The collision of the kicked objects reverberated loud sounds off the walls that clattered and echoed down the length of the narrow alley.
'Bolt… what am I gonna do with you?'
The tired, frustrated look in his father's eyes nagged at his thoughts.
When was he going to stop acting like an idiot?
'Bolt… now, for me, all the people in this village are my family.'
When was he going to stop feeling so angry?
When would there be pride in his father's eyes instead of disappointment?
He kicks an aluminum can so hard that it rebounds from the plaster wall and hits him square in the forehead.
"Ouch!" Bolt growls as he quickly nurses his aching forehead with massaging knuckles.
'Sometimes, I can't only be your father…'
His clear eyes narrowed as his father's words angered him further, rage burning in his chest.
"Sometimes…more like all the time…"
Was it so much to ask your father to act like a real father?
Even with him being Hokage, surely he could find the time to do proper father-son activities with his only son. Just yesterday Shikadai was huffing and puffing about all the time his mother was forcing him to spend with his father by flying kites.
They ended up taking a nap under a shady tree in the field rather than fly the kites, but, as hard as Bolt tried, he couldn't hide his jealousy and stormed out of the classroom.
At least his father was there with him doing something. Anything.
He felt like such a failure at everything.
School, chores, being a ninja, being a son…
Maybe his father didn't like spending time with him because he was… ashamed of him..?
The urge to cry started to prickle at the bridge of his nose as he wallowed in self pity. His fists punched against the same wall he had assaulted with garbage.
"No! I'm not gonna cry!"
As he was still a child, Bolt couldn't understand that his father had spoken truth. He simply couldn't spend time with Bolt because he was just too busy with his work. The whiskered boy was too young and inexperienced to see reason so plainly told to him, but old enough to be swept away in irrational thoughts and fears caused by the hurt that he had felt when he was dismissed by his dad.
"I'm gonna find that old man and beat a straight answer out of him if I have to!"
Over head, a flash of white caught the young genin's eye.
"Dad!" He exclaims as he immediately starts running in the direction which he saw his father's white coat flit amongst the rooftops.
Bolt was too weak of a shinobi to catch up with the Hokage, but he saw him headed toward the hospital.
"Hah, hah… almost… there..!"
He breathes heavily as he sprints as fast as his feet could carry him, darting around busy villagers and leaping over the stone walls in front of the large hospital courtyard.
This time, he would find his father, and make him fix what he had broken…
How could he deny his only son something so important, after all?
—
Shinachiku's chest burned once more as he recalled the events of the past hour from within his hard seat in the deserted hospital waiting room.
Although the current situation he found himself in was quite harrowing, Shinachiku couldn't help but continue to admire his new parents.
Naruto… a name he was highly enthused about.
'Best dad name… ever. I wonder if he likes ramen..?'
The older ninja had looked so heroic as they traveled on the tops of the Konoha high risers, his white coat whipping in the wind. Shina noticed how intense his new found father's gaze had been and how fiercely determined his expression was as he carried his mother close to his chest in such a protective embrace like he was protecting a delicate, precious flower.
And his mother, Sakura…
She was gorgeous, even when she was pale and wilted in Naruto's strong arms.
"Your father is talking to the head medic right now. You can wait for him if you like."
"Yeah, yeah. I got it."
A disgruntled looking boy with a black track suit walks into the room and throws himself casually into a seat beside Shinachiku, his legs dangling lazily on the side of the chair.
Shina scrunches his nose in disgust as the young boy promptly inserts his pinky into his own nostril and digs it. He turns his head quickly away as the crude kid looks in his direction, only to swing his gaze away again.
It was at that moment that Shinachiku noted that the new kid looked a lot like his father. He even had the same type of markings on the sides of his cheeks…
The young sand-nin's eyes trailed away from the blonde boy who was apparently clearing his sinuses with wiggling, invading digits. His focus locked onto a nearby magazine that had a picture of his father on the cover, standing next to a large stone head carved in his likeness.
'Hero of the War, Man of the Century', it read.
Shinachiku quickly and excitedly swiped the magazine into his hands and thumbed to the specified page on the which held a long in depth article on the former 'jinchuuriki' and current Hokage, Uzumaki Naruto.
'My father… IS THE HOKAGE!?'
Before Shina could catch himself, he outwardly squealed.
He was too wrapped up in the words written on the page to care about the sneer that he received from the younger boy seated near him. His emerald eyes widened significantly as he began to learn that he was the son of the most amazing man that he never knew existed.
He turned the page and found his father's article had suddenly been overtaken by a two page photo of a beautiful woman with dark hair and clear eyes.
"Konoha's sweetheart?" Shinachiku read with dismay. "What happened to my father's story? It just… stopped…"
He muttered to himself as he flipped another page with more interviews and photos of the dark-haired woman. The frustrated teen turned to the first appearance of the mysterious lady who had infiltrated his father's story, and scanned the text for more information.
There, in small, embellished letters, Shinachiku saw the explanatory words that broke his heart…
"Uzumaki Hinata… the dashing Seventh Hokage's wife, Konoha's sweetheart…"
-The End of Chapter 10.
—Story by ODG
I take my salty jabs when I can...