~ Authors Note ~
Chapter Twelve: Between a Mother and her Son
Seeing as how I always write these authors notes before the chapter starts, I sometimes have to rewrite them... Yeah so here's the chapter you've all been waiting for Hinata's reason for keeping Boruto's existence a secret from Naruto and some or Sakura's as well, I elaborate more on that in the next chaoter. It's only vaguely mentioned here as this was more about Hinata's reason and not Sakura's. Also as for the story about what happened that morning between them (you'll understand once you read the chapter) there's more to what happened, I decided to only write what Hinata knew from her perspective in the retelling of the past. That did happen, but it's only based of Hinata knowledge and not anyone else's plus something happened to Naruto too, it's just not what Hinata would know. Anyways be sure to comment below and favorite this story.
Mom shifts over, patting a place beside her for me to sit down. In the moment, I feel my stomach turning in knots. Knowing that this is the final conclusion, after this I'd know for sure. No assumptions, but the truth and it scares me. Nothing's ever really been this... permanent for me. There were the simple, undeniable facts like Mom, Grandfather, and Aunt Hanabi. Everything else was changing and could be changed.
The answers she's about to give are absolutes and nothing can change them. That much I can tell by the way that she's so tense and rigid. If my father is who I think, then there must be a reason for him not to know about me.
"I do not know where to start..." Mom confesses quietly, her lavender eyes shifting to take in my soaked form. "I guess I should ask what you do know."
"My father...! I mean, is he..." I can't say his name and Mom can tell.
She nods sadly, like she's thinking about what our lives would be like if he was here and she wasn't happy that we hadn't. "I see, so you must have ran into him during your outing. Yes, Naruto Uzumaki. He is your father."
I expected something mystic to happen, like the word to light up then word or something. None of it did and I didn't really feel that different, just more confused that I was before I knew his name. "Is he a terrible person, is that lightheartedness all an act?"
Mom sighed, shaking her head. "No, your father is an amazing person. He's never hit me or abused me or anything of the sort. He wasn't some terrible monster in the shadows. I'm sorry you thought that. I know you're confused, that you do not understand why I've kept you here. It was not my intention, there are other factors that prevented me from telling him."
"That's why he's not around," I try to keep the shock out of my voice. "He doesn't know about me, does he?"
Again she shakes her head.
"What could be so bad that you have to hide me from him?" I ask, my voice higher with, not quite outrage, but longing. A longing to understand and for my head to stop spinning with all my assumptions swirling about.
"Let me start from the beginning Boruto. Maybe that will clarify everything for you. It started after the end of the war, there was a party thrown to celebrate. Those aren't really my idea of fun, there was much drinking and your father was. Sasuke Uchiha, your father's best friend and rival was trying to take your Aunt Sakura back home. Seeing how he had her to help, I offered to escort your father back to his apartment."
There were many things Hinata Hyūga expected to happen today, friends drinking and a big blowout, yes, but escorting her drunk love back to his apartment in the early hours of the morning wasn't one of them. She was slightly tipsy herself, she could feel the way that the ground seemed to sway a bit beneath her feet, but then again, that could just be Naruto swaying against her as he tried not to lean his full weight on her.
Naruto's face was flushed from the affects of the sake, his eyes were glassy and unfocused. She doubted if he even knew who was helping him back home, maybe he thought he was still back at the festivities. He blinked a couple times, looking down at her.
"Ey 'Nata, what are you doing here?" he slurred, looking around. "Where is here exactly?" Naruto tilted his head in confusion.
"Parties over Naruto-kun, I told Sasuke-kun that I would make sure you got home safely."
"Even while under the influence of that much sake, he was still just as nice as when he sober. He just slurred his words and got confused a bit easier than usual though," Mom chuckled to herself.
"And what, that still doesn't explain anything Mom..." I say, trying not to sound whining or rude. Just pointing that out to her.
"I'm getting there Boruto. Alright, after I got your father back home, I'd helped him into bed and was about to leave when he stopped me—"
My skin crawled at the thought that flickered through my mind. "Really, so what? You guys slept together while he was under the influence, that doesn't really sound like something you'd do though."
I could hear the judgement in my voice, the last thing I want is to find our that I'm the product of a drunken one night stand.
Mom looks hurt, like she couldn't believe that I would assume that of her. "Of course not! Your father and I didn't do anything while we were both under the influence. I would never do something like that son, that's rape without consent. And you cannot give consent under the influence. Now, let me explain what actually happened. If you would stop interrupting, we'd be finished faster."
I could hear the teasing in her voice as she reached to pull the hood of my cloak down. Mom paused, stunned, as her eyes stayed on the scarf wrapped around my face. Gingerly she reached up and unwound the fabric around my head, clutched the wet scarf to her chest. A small smile on her lips.
"I knitted this scarf for your father..." she murmured. "I suppose it makes sense that you would be the only person to wear it. Now's not the time to tell you about this old thing though. So just as I was about to leave for the night, your father grabbed my wrist and asked me something."
"Nata, will you sleep with me?" Naruto asked, snuggling his face deeper into his pillow as he free arm clutched at the orange blanket wrapped snugly around him. Hinata's face flushed in deep red, like a tomato. 'He must not realize what he asked me,' Hinata though to herself.
"N-Naruto-kun, I-I don't think that that would be a-appropriate," she protested, tugging her wrist a bit, Failing to escape his grasp.
"Huh?" Naruto asked, even more confused that earlier. It took his sluggish, alcohol numbed, brain a few minutes to figure out why Hinata would think that. As soon as he did, his eyes flashed open as a sudden sense of clarity washed over him He fixed his wide eyes on her face. "No-no-no-no-no, no, not like—like sex. I mean would you sleep here, just for sleep?"
Hinata felt a bit easier now, at least he hadn't be insinuating what she'd thought. Though she had to admit she was a bit disappointed by that though. Not because she would have gone through with anything the intimate, especially while he was completely wasted and she was tipsy, but that he didn't consider her attractive enough to want to do 'that' with.
"W-why do you want me to Naruto-kun. I assumed that you would wish to be alone after drinking as much as you did." Hinata tried to keep her voice polite, she didn't want Naruto to think that she was degrading him and his drinking like it disgusted her or made him less of a person because he got drunk one time out of all the years he's lived through hell.
His eyelids start to droop, shielding the cerulean blue of his eyes. "I'm not feeling so good after all those drinks and I don't wanna be alone. To wake up an an empty apartment with no one who'll care while I'm puking my guts out tomorrow."
She looked down at his pale face sadly. Hinata couldn't find it in her heart to refuse him, this was the man she loved after all. "Alright, where should I sleep then?"
"With me of course, dattebayo!"
Her cheeks reddened at that and Naruto, thinking that she was worried about what he'd do to her, said: "Drunk or not Hinata, I won't do anything to you while we sleep. This is compleeeetly nonsexual, alright?" he flashed a signature grin to put her at ease.
Hinata just smiled, her cheeks still rosy as she moved back towards he bed. Naruto shifted so his back touched the wall, lying on his side to give Hinata enough room to get in the bed. As soon as she climbed in, Naruto shifted so the orange blanket covered her small frame, her back facing his front. Naruto wrapped his arms around her waist, keeping them high enough that it wasn't suggestive.
He closed the gap between them while still keeping a nice distance between his body and hers. Hinata sighed contently, leaning into him. After all, this may be her only chance to ever be this close to her love without it being weird and she wasn't going to be the one to ruin this. Closing her eyes, she let herself fall into a peaceful sleep while Naruto did the same, his arms still wrapped firmly around her.
"And that's what happened that night. We didn't do anything that couldn't be consented. We just slept together in the most literal sense of the word," Mom concluded, staring up at the stars in the cloudy sky. I don't even think she can see that stars, I know I can't.
What about me then? I thought as I recounted her story. If he's my father then they must have... I mean, at some point. As gross as it is. When she said he was drunk and she was tipsy, which I honestly can't picture Mom like that for the life of me, I assumed they did and that's what happened. If what she's saying is true then that means something else happened.
How could anything else have happened though? Why wouldn't my father remember that or even have an idea about me possibly existing. How the hell can I be here if they didn't do anything that night and why doesn't my father know he has a son? Mom, using what I guess is her mother-mind-reading abilities because she answer my question without me having to ask.
"The morning after." She paused. "He had a horrible hangover, that's what makes it strange. One minute he was saying how his skull was caving in on his brain, after he took a shower, he was acting strangely. Much more... how should I say this? Affectionate..."
Disgusting... I'd rather feel anything besides the nausea in my stomach.
Sunlight streamed through the window by the bed, Hinata, being the early riser that she is awoke to the streaming sun. Blushing when she saw the face of her love, Naruto beside her. 'That's right,' she reminded herself. 'He asked me to stay the night.'
A feeling of sadness for her friend and longtime love as she recalled what he'd said. That he didn't want to wake up all alone to throw up by himself, so Hinata decided to make him breakfast. Even if he wasn't feeling so well and he'd probably have a hangover. She carefully freed herself from his strong arms and slipped silently into the small make shift kitchen.
She rummaged around for something to cook. While she'd have to be a moron to be unaware of Naruto's love for ramen, she knew that he had to have other foods. As she did that, Naruto yawned, sitting up and immediately recoiled with pain. His head hurt and pounded like he'd been hit by one of Pein's gravitational pulls. He clutched his head and promised over and over in his head to never drink again.
Was this even natural? 'Granny should know. She's basically an alcoholic' Naruto thought, slowly climbing out of bed. He swayed dizzily on his feet as he stumbled through the room, only pausing when he saw Hinata looking through his fridge. He was confused, why was she here?
"Hey Hinata, why are you at my apartment?"
She went as straight as a ramrod and turned to face him. "Don't you remember?" she asked, innocently.
Panic was all Naruto felt as he wracked his brain for an answer. Sure he was drunk, but he wouldn't have done anything to her right. Why else would she be here though, in his apartment. Then the memory came to him
"Nata, will you sleep with me?"
"N-Naruto-kun, I-I don't think that that would be a-appropriate."
"Huh? No-no-no-no-no, no, not like—like sex. I mean would you sleep here, just for sleep?"
"W-why do you want me to Naruto-kun. I assumed that you would wish to be alone after drinking as much as you did."
"I'm not feeling so good after all those drinks and I don't wanna be alone. To wake up an an empty apartment with no one who'll care while I'm puking my guts out tomorrow."
That's right, Naruto sighed with relief. He'd asked her to spend the night in his drunken, insecure state. Hinata, being the nice person that she is, agreed to stay with him through the night and Naruto was grateful for that. "Oi, ah thanks Hinata, for you know... Staying here and whatnot." He laughed awkwardly as he rubbed the back of his neck. "I really appreciate it. Dattebayo!"
Hinata's form seem to close in on herself as her face went red. "Um, Naruto-kun. I was wondering what you'd like for breakfast."
He came to a halt at the bathroom door, Naruto didn't expect that Hinata would want to cook for him. After all, she really didn't have to do that and besides, he should be thanking her. "You don't have to do that."
"But I want to," she replied with the utmost confidence. Sakura-chan is always telling her to have more confidence and that Naruto might notice her more if she did, so she decided to give it a shot.
"Oh, anything you want to make Hinata. I'm not picky, I'm gonna take a shower and maybe that'll help my hangover. Feel free to make yourself at home in my apartment," he smiled, stepping through the doorway and into the bathroom. The sound of the shower starting caught her attention as butterflied erupted in her stomach. 'Naruto is naked in the other room.' Hinata tried to banish the vulgar thought.
It wasn't that she would peek or anything, even if she had the Byakugan and could very easily do so. That would be an invasion of his privacy and besides, she wasn't that kind of person. Trying to keep her mind off of Naruto, she began making pancake batter and searched around for a skillet like pan to cook the pancakes on. Just as she found the pan, the shower suddenly stopped.
Just as she heard the bathroom door open, she kept her eyes focused on her cooking. Naruto couldn't possibly have taken a shower in such a small amount of time, so Hinata decided that he must have forgotten something. What she didn't expect were the strong rough hands that circled around her waist from behind or for her to be back against Naruto's chest.
Her heart did little flutters in her chest.
"You know what..." Naruto whispered huskily in her ear, sending shivers down her spine. "I think I know what I want for breakfast."
"A-and what's t-t-that...?"
"You."
He rutted up against her, his breath warm against her cheek.
"N-Naruto-kun!?" she exclaimed, confused. She wiggled around so that she could see his face, he wasn't drunk anymore that much she could tell. His cerulean blue eyes were focused on her and they were as lively as always and sparkled with lust... for her. Something was missing from his eyes though, something she couldn't figure out with his hands roaming up and down her back.
Hinata was sure her face was burning by now, Naruto dipped his head and brushed his lips against hers before pulling away to ask.
"Is this okay?" he asked, pausing his movements and resting his hands on her hips.
'Yes, yes, yes, absolutely!' is what Hinata thought and knew she'd faint on the spot if she said. Actually the fact that she hadn't fainted before that question is a miracle on its own. Unable to answer with her voice, Hinata nods her head. He smiles down at her.
"Good," he hauls her up and carries her bridal style before setting her down on his bed as Hinata's heart starts pounding in her chest. Hinata was nervous and didn't know what she should do or say. As inexperience as she was, was it going to go that far? She was stirred from her thoughts when she felt the bed shifting with extra weight.
Naruto climbed over Hinata, situating his arms on either side of her head, her long hair splayed out across the pillow. He settled himself between her legs, both of them still fully clothed. She shifted a bit, slightly uncomfortable with the position, not because she was opposed to this but because she'd never been in a situation with a boy like this.
"N-Naruto-kun are, are you still drunk?" she asks timidly.
He glanced down at her flushed red face and beautiful lavender eyes with absolute clarity. "No way, Hinata. I wouldn't have asked you even if I was. I like you ya know, dattebayo!"
Hinata didn't fail to notice the way he said his verbal tick sounded forced. She didn't have long to think on it because Naruto rocked his hips gently against her to create some type of friction and all rational thought left her. He kissed her on the lips, a fiery passion swept through Hinata as she kissed him back. She was on cloud 9, her true love her with her and feeling something for her.
All clarity and rational thought went out the window as they were lost in the heat of their intimacy. Sweet lustful kisses, warm hands trailing everywhere, moans and gasps to fill the silence, clothes tossed aside, and lovemaking the only thing that was rational. Through the morning tangled in sheets as the bed rocked rhythmically with their motions, two hearts as one, at least for the moment.
"We made love. You have already had the talk with you grandfather so I will not deny what that tells you," Mom's faces was scarlet now and I'm sure mine was the same shade, only with a bothered blush rather than an embarrassed one. She's probably thinking about how comfortable she's feeling having to tell me, her son, about what happened between her and my father.
For me though, it's so much worse. I mean yeah, I wanted some answers but no kid wants to hear about their parents doing that and conceiving them, or in this case me, no less. Ugh, and that happened on that bed I sat on, gross! Cringe worthy. Trying to school my features and paint a picture of calm on my face which is nearly impossible now that I'm officially grossed out.
Nausea is rolling over me. Where is the nearest trashcan from here? I contemplate it a moment before deciding on the one that's in the kitchen. Just in case I have to throw up all that ramen I ate earlier, best to have a plan in mind before hand.
"Okay, so that's what happened. Yet you still haven't told me why he doesn't know about me, how could he not? It's not like most people just forget doing... well, you know what!" I bury my head in my hands. Mortified with this whole conversation and still not fully understanding anything.
She sighed, but it was like her broken heart was the one that released it. "The next day, after I'd returned home that evening he didn't remember what had happened, or he said he didn't remember anything."
The sun was out over Konoha the following morning after, Hinata Hyūga was giddy and excited. Butterflies in her stomach as she let her thoughts drift to her intimate day with Naruto. Yesterday was amazing, she hadn't expected things to turn out the way that it did, but that didn't matter much to the young Hyūga as she thought about her love.
Were things moving to fast between the two? 'Sure', Hinata shrugged as she mewled over her thoughts. 'But that must have meant something. Naruto-kun isn't the type to do that just because. And he chose to do that with me...'
She blushed, wincing when she shifted. Hinata was a bit sore from their lovemaking, she was a virgin before that night so it made sense to Hinata that she would feel a slight pain from it. All her life she was told that sex usually hurts the first time around and it did for her as well, but not the kind of intense pain that she's always had describe to her.
Other women always told her about how it felt like a battering ram in their insides. Now, Hinata muses, maybe the reason it hurt so much for them was because the person they were with didn't care enough to be gentle. Sex also wasn't as pleasurable as she'd heard either. Though that was probably because she'd never done it before and neither had Naruto, as far as she knew.
It was an odd feeling for Hinata after the pain faded, it wasn't bad, but it wasn't mind-blowing pleasure either. For Naruto it felt good, she could tell that much by the glint in his eye and the way he bit the bottom of his lip to keep from alerting the neighborhood. Hinata was just content to look into his amazing blue eyes that satisfied her in every way.
Her love, this amazing person who started at the bottom and become a hero. The man who saved her without even knowing it. The man who she'd always love was now with her, sharing the moment and she couldn't have been happier.
Now that was over and her heart was crying out to be in the presence of its love, Hinata climbed out of bed, ignoring the aching between her legs and the insecurity that she hadn't felt this strongly since she was a genin. Hinata knew it was because of what happened with Naruto, he'd seen her in a very personal condition and got to see all of her and now she was exposed like a nerve.
She's taken her walls down for him, allowing him entrance into her very soul and being, but now she was exposed to everyone else around her and it was something she needed to be comfortable with. She grabbed her old lavender jacket and pulled it on over her tank top. She's been more comfortable showing some of her skin since the war, but right now she needed it's cover.
Hinata weaved through the streets of the village in search of the Number 1 Knuckle-headed Ninja. She didn't want to do that again, just to bask in his presence with his arm wrapped securely around her. Him whispering his love for her. Finding Naruto wasn't always easy to do, but the best place to start would be Ichiraku Ramen as that is his favorite food.
Luckily he was there, already eating his sixth bowl as Hinata slipped in silently, wanting to surprise him.
"N-Naruto-kin! There you are... I-I was looking for you..." she admits, blushing furiously as her thoughts remind her of what the two of them did not even a full day ago yet. Naruto nearly fell out of his chair, not expecting any company.
"Hey Hinata, you were? Oh yeah, Sasuke told me that you're the one who got me home yesterday. It's only fair that I thank you somehow, hey! How about I buy you a bowl of ramen?"
Hinata's heart froze in her chest. 'W-what does he mean? D-does he not r-remember what happened, what we d-d-did?' She thought her heart was breaking in her chest at the possibility of it.
"N-Naruto-kun, y-you don't r-remember yesterday?" she asks timidly, her voice shaking. Her eyes blurring with fresh tears that she tried to hold back, she felt like there was a knot in her throat making is hard to breathe.
Naruto's eyes widen, as he tried to remember the day before and only came up with a black blur of nothing. He didn't remember anything, he did remember something though. "I had a horrible hangover. That much I'm sure, why, did something important happen? Was yesterday your birthday, did I forget!? I'm so so sorry Hinata, I'll make it up to ya."
"N-n-no, it wasn't my birthday," she tries to calm him, her bottom lip trembling with emotion.
"Hey," he catches her chin in his hand. "If I forgot something then tell me. I know when I normally forget something Sakura-chan makes sure that I'm reminded, usually by using her fists..."
Sakura-chan that name rings around her head like a curse. 'That's right, he likes her...' Hinata thought, pushing her broken heart down and steeled herself.
"Oh, d-don't worry about it Naruto-kun. I must have been mistaken. I-I'll see you later alright..." with her head down, Hinata leaves the scene, ignoring Naruto who shouted her name, and ran back to the compound to cry her heart out.
Anger pulsated through my very being as soon as Mom finished her last sentence. That's what happened huh? What an unbelievable asshole! How could he forget something like that and break Mom's heart like that. I know she's a fault to, she could have told him what happened between them, but I suppress that side of my feelings and stick to my mother's side.
She loved him, that man Naruto, my father. She loved him and from the way she sounded as she spoke about him, still loves him to this day. He never even knew what happened and she was to heartbroken to tell him. Star-crossed lovers with the only love extending from my mom's side of things. I doubt that son of a bitch even cared, hell he probably was faking it.
Lied and played dumb to avoid talking about it... Damn him!
"He's not like that," Mom said, lavender eyes on me. I'm stunned, how could she know what I was thinking and again she seems to read my thoughts. "It's your eyes. They're just like your fathers. I can read them, I can tell when your happy or sad, lonely or overjoyed. There's this sparkle you two get in your eyes that tells when your happy or excited."
A gust of wind blows past, my bangs whipping against my face before the wind dies and my hair falls back the way its supposed to. I almost forgot about that, I look just like my father. My eye color, hair color, and whiskers all passed down from him. I always knew that I resembled my father, I just never expected the situation to be so complicated.
"You never told him what happened that day right?" Mom nods. "Why?"
Mom pulls me into her, wrapping her arms around me as she rests her chin on the top of my head. Absentmindedly rubbing a hand up and down my arm. "I could see it in his eyes. He really couldn't remember it and I, I felt that he would be better off not knowing. Things could've changed for the worst and I would have rather had his friendship than nothing at all. So I had no intention of tell him, but I hadn't counted on..." I feel her shift.
Looking up, I see her looking down at me with some emotion in her eyes that I can't place.
"I hadn't counted on you. What happened between your father I was a spur of the moment and we didn't think about after, we hadn't used any protection when we... you know. That's how you came to be."
It was at this moment that I wanted the ground to open up and swallow me whole. I felt horrible and guilty, like some tainted vile thing that everyone would be better off without. It's ridiculous, I know it is, I didn't chose to be conceived or born. That was their decision to do it and Mom's decision to have me, but I still felt like the scum of the earth that shouldn't exist.
"Yeah," my voice sounded so quite and broken with emotion. "And that's how you got stuck with an unplanned bastard child..."
Before I could process what happened, the right side of my face stung.
A hand hovered a few inches away, red from the impact.
Mom slapped me.
She was trembling, tears fell over her cheeks and off her chin. I felt the drops against my forehead as I looked up at her crumpled form. Her hand, the one she used to slap me, wrapped itself firmly around my waist. She pulled me into her as her arms tightened around me. I rested my forehead against her shoulder, taking in her familiar sugar cookie scent.
"Don't you dare say that again Boruto. I am not 'stuck' with you, you're my baby and I love you more than anything on the face of this planet. Yes I love your father, but in a completely different way than the love I have for you and if I had to choose between the love I have for your father or you, I'd choose you a million times over. I'd do anything for you my child."
She pulls me closer and presses her cheek against the top of my head.
"No you weren't planned and for that I am sorry. You deserve so much better, to have a father who is around, who loves you and spends his time with you. A father that Naruto-kun could have been if I had been able to tell him. You weren't planned, but do not call yourself that word again. I do not regret you and if I knew what would happen between your father and me, I'd do it all over again just so I would have you. You are far from a mistake Boruto, you're a gift from the only man I've ever loved."
My body trembles, I feel the tears rolling down my cheeks. Through blurry eyes I cling to her like I'm five years old again and afraid of thunderstorms. I recall all the nights I spent with her as I craved for my father's love. Never knowing anything about him, not realizing how beautiful, kind, and compassionate my own mother was because I was blinded by the shadow my father's absence left.
"And there was a few other reasons I hadn't told him, one more important than the others," she says, pulling back slightly. Letting my rests my head against her. "I had a few selfish and self-conscious reasons that always make me incredibly guilty. He was liked by man adoring women after saving the world during the Fourth Shinobi War and many attractive women had taken an interest.
"I didn't think I could compete with those women, they were so confident and flirtatious. Bold like Naruto-kun was and I was so shy and meek in comparison. Why would he like me when women like that wanted him. The other was because Naruto-kun had always had a major crush on your Auntie Sakura when he was at the Academy and I figured hw still did."
Annoyance filtered through me. "You a thousand times better than any of those no-name faceless fangirls. A thousand times better and if that idiot couldn't see that then he's a moron. Dattebasa!" I clench my fist which shakes from my frustration.
"Boruto..." she lightly chastises me, I can tell by the amused lilt in her voice. Usually when she really scolds me, her voice gets a sharp edge to it, not to mention the wide smile on her face. "That's sweet of you to say. Thank you."
She kisses my cheek and I blush and rub my cheek absentmindedly.
Her smile fades and her eyes take on a much more serious glint in them. "I'm going to be completely honest with you now Boruto. The main reason I never told your father about your existence was to protect you. Initially when I discovered I was pregnant, I knew Naruto-kun was your father and I knew then that I would have to tell him. Only problem was that your grandfather and Aunt Hanabi figured that out, but the Hyūga Elders did too."
Mom's head drops as she looks at the dirt of the training grounds.
"They gave me a choice that would decide your fate, you weren't three months old. It wasn't until two months after that I found out I was pregnant with you. I knew I had been late for my... monthly visitor, but I figured it was just stress, but the morning sickness was a clue. After that I took a pregnancy test and found out. The Elders summoned me to an emergency meeting."
Fear rolled through her as she stared down at the stick in her hand, the one with the answer that is going to forever change her life. It was positive, that much she knew, but there was nothing else she could think about. All her thoughts were jumbled up and she didn't know how to feel about this. There was a baby growing inside of her and not just any baby, but Naruto Uzumaki's child.
She'd been late last month, brushing it off on stress as they were Kakashi, the Sixth Hokage, has been sending out shinobi of the Hidden Leaf to help repair damaged cities from the war. Hinata had graciously agreed so as to avoid Naruto for a while. Now though, as she stared down at the test, she could do nothing else but think about him and how he was the father of this child in her womb.
Her weight gain was noticeable and even she herself had questioned it, but now she knew that it was her body accommodating to the little life form that was developing in her body. As she sat on the closed lid of the toilet seat, her thoughts drifted to Naruto. Would he be happy about having a child so young? Probably, he spent his childhood completely alone and without a family.
Hinata hesitantly hovered a hand over over her protruding abdomen, a bit unsure about actually touching the bump. Deciding that she was being ridiculous, she rested her small hand against the firm mound of her stomach. It helped her feel a bit more connected to the tiny being growing inside of her. She'd often heard that pregnant mother's often spoke to their unborn children.
Doctors would say that children in the womb can actually hear a parents voice and learn to recognize it. Hinata wanted to speak to the child she had growing in her, even if they couldn't hear her just yet.
"H-hello baby... I'm your mommy. Funny thing is that I didn't even know you were growing in there, I hope you don't mind that Mommy's a little nervous. She's never done this before so it's new for the both of us..." Hinata felt embarrassed, talking to her stomach, but she wanted her baby to have a mother that cared and she did, she was just afraid and confused.
She was seventeen, how was she supposed to take care of a baby all on her own? Hinata knew fear, to be a shinobi meant that fear was a natural part of life, but this fear was something else entirely. It shook her very core. What about the father, what would Naruto say if he knew? Would he even believe that her unborn child was his as well?
Knocking on the bathroom door, pulled Hinata from the cataclysm in her mind.
"Sister, are you alright in there?" Hanabi already knew the result of the test. She didn't need to use her Byakugan to get a look at the test. Hinata's lack of response was answer enough. She also knew about what happened between Naruto and her sister and to be honest, it surprised her. Naruto wasn't to use others and he certainly wouldn't shirk away from a responsibility.
'He'd probably be thrilled at being a father...' Hanabi mused to herself. 'If Hinata decided to tell him, that is.'
The two girls were far to distracted by the news of the baby that they failed to notice their father Hiashi Hyūga walking down the hallway and heading straight for Hanabi who was standing by the bathroom door, talking to her older sister through the wood. He was aware of her pregnancy before she was, when his eldest daughter started gaining weight, he'd checked things out.
Using his Byakygan, he looked through her and saw her chakra network and down in her womb he saw it. A little flame of white chakra so thin and fragile with it's white tint. It splayed out like a cobweb as it attached on the inside. Yes, he knew and didn't tell her right away. How was he supposed to tell his daughter that she was pregnant. So instead he'd mentioned that she certainly was gaining a few pounds.
It was his own way of hinting to his daughter that she was bearing a child, with whom he wasn't sure, but he could make an accurate guess. That however wasn't the reason he'd come searching for his children. No, what he had to say was so much worse. It wold be a lie if he said he wasn't angry about her pregnancy at first, she was his daughter and wasn't married, but he'd pushed his feelings aside.
Through the years he'd done the wrong thing in regards to his eldest daughter and he had learned from his mistakes. She would need a shoulder to cry on and he would support her like a father should. He'd actually warmed up to the idea of being a grandfather. Now all that peace was about to be shattered and Hinata who just found out about her pregnancy, was going to face ridicule and accusation at the hands on their own.
She deserved time to process what she's just discovered, but the Elders aren't keen on waiting for Hinata to come to terms with her pregnancy. They were going to make his daughter choose. A choice to determine the fate of an unborn child that had no choice in the matter. He felt horrible, he was the one who would have to tell them and his daughters would believe that he agreed with the Elders.
Hiashi cleared his throat and Hanabi and Hinata both jumped.
"F-father, what are you doing here?" Hanabi said, trying to keep her voice steady. She didn't want her father to find out, he wouldn't take the news very well and it was Hinata's job to tell him.
"Hinata, I'm sorry to be the the one who has to tell you this..." he sighed.
"W-what's the m-matter Father?"
"The Hyūga Elders are... aware of your pregnancy and have called for an emergency meeting to be help immediately. You're required to be there for obvious reasons. The sent me to come retrieve you."
Hinata and Hanabi were shocked, not only did their father already know about Hinata's pregnancy, but so did the Clan Elders and they never had anything nice to say. This was going to be bad.
The bathroom door opened and Hinata stepped out, her long indigo hair was pulled back in a low ponytail with only her bangs to frame her face. Her face was a little puffy, but her eyes held a determination in them. "Lets go then, Father." With that she started in the direction of the Elders Quarters.
Stepping into a nearly empty room, Hinata sat down on my knees and looked down at the wood floor. She could feel the eyes of the Elders on her, they were seated on a elevated platform to loom over her menacingly. She knew that, but I didn't make her any less afraid of what they would do. Most who breed with others outside the clan are tormented. Their way of life stripped.
It hadn't been intentional, this baby, but she was the child's mother and she would protect the unborn offspring no matter what. She waited patiently for one of the Elders to speak.
"Hyūga Hinata. It has been brought to out attention that you are currently bearing child. As you know better than most, our job as the clan Elders is to protect the Byakugan at any cost. This... abomination that you are pregnant with would ruin the reputation of the entire clan if it's not dealt with efficiently and immediately. That is why we're giving you a choice."
Hinata's heart hammered in her chest, a feeling so uncommon in her that she almost didn't recognize it. Anger. Hatred. Negative emotions that she has never been known to carry pounded behind her ears like a tidal wave.
"We have a couple of choices to deal with your illegitimate child. The first being the simple and most rational choice, to abort the demon spawn and be done with it. It's not a difficult procedure and it could be dealt with in the privacy of the Compound. Besides, we have no guarantee that the fetus will even be human, seeing as who, the seed came from."
Her eyes widened, they knew Naruto was the father. How?
"I-I do not know what you r-refer to. The father of the child is not relevant..." Hinata said, trying to suppresses her rising temper at their insulting of her child. Naruto's child with her.
The Elder smirked and Hinata realized it was her Grandfather speaking, she hadn't noticed in her nervousness and rising anger. "It was not hard to decipher who the child's father is. There is only one man who you would spread your legs for, the host of the Nine-tails' you have affections for him. Everybody in the village knows of your love for him."
"I will not abort my child!"
The Elder shakes his head pitifully. He had expected that to be her response. "I assumed that would be so. As a member of the Main Family of the Hyūga Clan this accident will reflect badly on your father and your sister. It would be wise for the child, once born, to be marked with the Caged Bird Seal and deposited in the Branch Family. He or she would also be made infertile to not spread their tainted genes. Take your pick."
Her eyes widened in horror, stuck in a rock and a hard place. Either abort the child she created with the man she loved, or condemn the child to a life of servitude, marked with a seal, and unable to have children of their own. Both were horrible, the first less so. At least her child wouldn't have to suffer under the wrath of the Elders.
Tears fell from her eyes, there had to be another way. Hinata couldn't bear it if she was to get rid of her child, she would hate herself for doing something so vile to her own child and she would feel so guilty for doing so and never telling Naruto about his child. However, a life that they were offering was suffering and tragedy.
"W-what about a third option?" she asks, her voice rough from crying. Her eyes were puffy and swollen red, tears stains showed through the reflection of the light overhead. "I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I got rid of my child. But to condemn it to a live under you, look at what having the Branch Family sealed did to Neji. How he ended up before his mind was changed."
Hinata hated it, hated what she was about to suggest. It was the only way though, to keep her child from being separated from her and to keep the baby in general without being sealed like some monstrous creature. "Absolute isolation from the outside world."
"Explain."
"The child will not be allowed outside the Compound, to live a life behind the wall. No one but our Clan and one specially chosen medic may know about it. The child will be hidden from the rest of the village, birth certificate held by the chosen medic and not marked under the register of Konoha." She dropped her head in shame, wrapping her arms around her growing stomach.
She apologized to her unborn child over and over in her head, knowing the loneliness she'd condemned her child too.
"Very well... Seeing as it would be dangerous to deny you something as such, we shall oblige you. Let it be known Hinata, your child will not be allowed outside the walls of the Hyūga Compound through the duration of his or her life. Another condition we would like to add is that Naruto Uzumaki shall not be informed of the child's existance—"
"Wait, b-b-but it's his child as well he should be told about—"
"No! The bastard is an abomination, a black stain on the legacy of the clan and we will not allow further tainting of our people. The child may well serve useful, but only if it is kept far from its idiot father. He would ruin any potential the child has, if there's any to begin with. No one will be allowed to know of the child and seeing as I'm aware of who you will chose for the medic, she is forbidden from speaking of our personal affairs.
"We will consider it a violation of our independence that was sighed between Konoha and our Clan when the village formed and we will relocate to a new village that would be more than happy to have a Clan as powerful as ours. If she breaks the rule, the child with be branded with the Caged Bird Seal to be subject to our wills and if we deems so, put down. That will be all, Council Dismissed!"
She trembled as she stepped out from the room. She'd condemned her child to a life of solitary, without a father, and without friends. He would never become a great ninja like his father. He would never see the beauty of their home. He would never know a father's love, but he would be alive. She could have denied, could have fought, but she was vulnerable now.
As a shinobi of the hidden leaf, she was trained to fight numerous opponents, but the negative repercussions. All anyone would have to do was hit her stomach to terminate the pregnancy. To many opponents for her to face alone and she couldn't tear down her entire clan. They were her family, even if they weren't the best people all the time.
There's also drugs and poisons that could be slipped into drinks and foods to cause a miscarriage. If she didn't agree to some term, they would have found a way to kill the child. She couldn't always be on guard 24-hours a day. She would be exhausted, there would be times when she wasn't able to protect herself if the Elder's were trying to find a way to get rid of her baby.
She had to make a choice, and she did. Hinata would hate herself for it, she knew, she would feel so guilty every time she saw Naruto. She also knew that he more than likely wouldn't want his child killed though so this was what she had to do. Unless she could find loopholes. Maybe she could find a way to tell Naruto given time to figure out the conditions.
For now though, her baby was safe and that's what's important.
"That's what happened. The Clan Elders make me choose your fate, both would been horrible, one without you ever existing and one with you being a slave to the Hyūga Clan. Your grandfather may be the head, but he still is subject to the will of the Elders. He would not have been able to help you. So I made a last minute offer to save your life. Even knowing what would happen."
I was stunned. That wasn't what I expected, I didn't realize how big of deal my conception was. The reason I'm forced to stay inside the Compound is for my own safety, even if I didn't know it. Still, I was angry. Not at Mom, I understood why she did it, but at the Elders. How dare they make her choose something like that? It's none of their business, they're a bunch of old coots stuck up in the offices like they know anything.
"For the first six years of your life, I tried to find a way to tell him, your father I mean. He would have done whatever he could to fix the Clan's Hierarchy especially after what happened with Neji. The time was never right though, he was always to busy or off on missions. Training to be the next hokage. I tried to tell him when we went to rescue your Aunt Hanabi."
She paused, her brows creased like she was trying to figure out how to word what she's about to say
"I thought he would remember, what happened between us while we were on that mission. There was a few moments where I thought he felt something for me, he rescued me a few times and saved me from being forced into a marriage. After we returned from the Moon, nothing ever happened though. Please understand Boruto, that your father doesn't hate you, or have any negative feelings towards you he just—"
"Just doesn't know about you/me" we say in unison.
I shift so the I lay my head of her lap as she runs her fingers through my hair. "Mom..." I say hesitantly.
"What is it Boruto?"
"If-If he knew about me... do you think he'd love me?" I felt so small and insecure. Unlike me in the most real of sense. I wasn't known for lacking confidence or feeling unsure. I did about this though, I wanted to know.
She didn't hesitate. "Absolutely. You'd be the apple of his eye."
Was stayed like that for five minutes before Mom finally started shifting. "Time for you to go to bed, Sakura will be here tomorrow for your yearly examinations and you don't need to be exhausted."
She takes my head and leads me up to my bedroom. I throw my soaked cloak over the chair and climb under the covers and Mom sits down beside me on the bed and pulls the covers up to my neck. She places a kiss against my head. "Goodnight Boruto, never forget how much Mommy loves you."
Third Person POV:
After that, Hinata slips silently from her son's bedroom as she thinks back on everything that happened in her life. Remembering the scarf she knitted, Hinata heads back down the stairs and bends down to grab it from the ground. It'd been left behind during her heart-to-heart with Boruto. As she glanced down at the read fabric, she sighed.
Yes she had knitted this for Naruto, after their intimate day together she'd immediately started on a gift to give to her true love. She spent most of that evening working until even her hands were numb. After what happened between them and Naruto had told her that he didn't remember, she'd ripped the scarf apart it her sorrow. It was mocking her.
As the years passed and Boruto was just on the brink of turning one, she'd re-knitted the scarf for her son's father. Her love for her son, who reminded her so much of his father, made her remember why she loved Naruto so much. She felt that something else played a factor in their... situation. So she'd knitted a new scarf and was going to give it to him when she saw him surrounded by those girls.
She'd also planned on telling Naruto about that morning they spent together and more importantly, about the son they made together. She never got the chance, Hanabi was captured and that was most important. So she'd ditched the scarf back home, not bothering to bring it along. She remember the genjutsu with her memories and her love for Naruto.
Nothing happened though, he still didn't know of her love, or of their child.
Even during their time alone, she'd tried to tell him, but a cobweb and an injury or distraction always seemed right around the corner. She even hoped that Naruto felt something for her when he saved her from being in a forced marriage with Toneri, but all he'd said that she should choose who she wanted to marry. That he would protect her because she was a good friend.
How oblivious her love was. "Naruto-kun..." she sighed, holding the scarf tightly to her chest as the fully moon above lit the night.
A/N:
Usually I update this story about every couple of days or so, but after this one, I may not update until the weekend. Possibly, because I've got chapter thirteen done, but I need to rewrite fourteen because it's not how I want it, fifteen is nearly done and so is chapter sixteen. Hopefully it won't take that long for me to get chapter fourteen the way I want it, but I wanted to let you all know what's going on just in case.