Chapter 14:
When they finally returned home after a long journey, the first thing his mother did was throw her arms around him.
"Where have you been? You had me worried sick! If anything had happened to you..." Hinata held him at arm's length. "Look at you. You're hurt!"
Boruto looked down at his tattered, dirty clothes, scraped and bruised legs, cuts on his flesh and bandage around his right hand.
"Yeah, sorry, Mom. But I'm not really hurt. It's worse than it looks. I'm ok. Honest."
Hinata sighed, looking at her son.
"I'm ok, Mom."
"Let me see your hand." Hinata unwrapped her son's bandage and looked at his wound. "You're lucky this didn't get infected. Does it sting? Throbbing? Let me treat this for you. We have to keep it clean."
Boruto watched his mother clean and re-bandage his hand, all the while looking very concerned. Her child was hurt. Her beloved son.
He left without telling her a thing. He didn't even say good-bye. Or that he loved her.
If he had died on this mission... If he never came home...
What would that do to her? If this was how she was now...
What was he thinking? How could he make her worry like this? She didn't deserve this kind of stress. He was angry at his father, not her. He should have been more considerate. He didn't stop to think what his actions would do to her. How they would effect her.
"I'm sorry, Mom."
Hinata finished dressing his wound and looked up.
"I'm sorry," he said again, a little softer.
She brushed her hand against his cheek and kissed his forehead. "It's ok. You're home now. That's what's important."
He really thought she would shout or scream at him for this. She was surprisingly calm and understanding about all of this. Did she think he had been through enough? Was his emotional pain his punishment?
Boruto thought he got off easy.
"But from now on when your father tells you not to go on a mission, you listen to him," Hinata said firmly. "If not for him than for me. I was so worried. I didn't know where you were or what happened to you. If you were lost or hurt or dead. I didn't know what to think. Don't ever scare me like that again."
Boruto nodded. "Ok."
"I mean it, Boruto."
"Ok. I got it. I'm sorry."
Hinata looked up at her husband.
Naruto was looked exhausted himself. There were bags under his eyes and his face was looking pale. After running and searching for the past couple of nights, he was about ready to collapse. He hadn't slept at all.
"Did either of you rest on the way back here?" she asked.
"No," answered Naruto. "Came straight back here so you wouldn't worry. Carried Boruto part of the way on my back so he could rest a little."
"You look awful."
Naruto's body started to sway slightly. "I'm alright." He forced a grin onto his face. "Sitting behind a desk all the time... It's good to get up and move every once in a while."
He could have stayed at home and sent a clone out to find his son, but he didn't do that. He went to find Boruto himself. It wasn't because he didn't think of it. He knew he had to do it himself. The Nine-Tailed beast might argue with him about it and call him foolish, but Naruto would argue back that he wouldn't understand. He wasn't a father, but Naruto was. He would do anything for his family. Now that he finally had one, he wanted to protect it with his own hands. Just as he did the village.
Hinata strengthened up. "I wasn't sure when you'd be back, but I made breakfast for us anyway. You must be hungry."
Boruto looked up at his dad. "It's almost sunrise. Don't you have to go back to your office or something?"
Boruto was too tired for his bitterness to show through, so his question was surprisingly calm.
Naruto shook his head. "The sun hasn't come up yet. I can sit here and have breakfast with you."
Boruto smiled.
Hinata set two plates in front of her men. "I was so restless, I started cooking early today. Just eggs and toast. I can make other things if you like. Oh, tea! I forgot to make tea. Just give me a second."
"It's fine," said Naruto. "This is good, Hinata. Thank you."
Hinata set the teapot on the bookcase as she moved around the first-aid kit she had set on the floor. She had to pick this up first before someone tripped over it.
She put the first-aid kit back where it belonged, then returned to the kitchen to cater to her husband and child.
"I can make you some pancakes if you like. It'll just take a..."
When she returned, she found both her husband and son asleep at the table, their half-eaten plates beside their heads. They had fallen asleep in the same position.
"Like father, like son." Hinata smiled. "They must be so tired after all that."
She could only imagine what they had been through. What Boruto had been through.
She decided not to tell her daughter about what Boruto had really done. Or anyone else for that matter. It would be their secret. If Boruto wanted to tell everyone, that was his business. She wouldn't be the one to do it. She had a feeling Naruto felt the same way. He wouldn't mention it to anyone.
Seeing how tired they both were, Hinata also decided not to tell anyone Naruto was here unless they came looking for him. If Shikamaru showed up like he had the day before asking questions pertaining to Naruto's empty chair, she would have to tell him that Naruto was taking the morning off. She wouldn't tell him why, just that he was in need of some rest.
"I think I'll have some tea, even if it is by myself." Hinata went back into the kitchen, looking for the teapot. "Now where did I put that?"
She looked all over the kitchen but couldn't find it. She knew she had it in her hands a few moments ago. Where had she left it?
Then she got a strange sensation. Something was telling her to turn around.
She turned and saw the teapot on the bookcase. "Oh. Of course."
She was in such a rush, she had forgotten where she put it.
As she crossed the room and reached to pick up the teapot, she spotted something out of the corner of her eye.
Her hand froze just before her fingers could touch the handle.
She turned her head.
As dawn's first light flowed in through the window, she thought she saw someone standing in its glow.
For a brief moment, illuminated by the sun, she thought she saw the face of someone she knew from long ago. The one who saved her life and that of her husband's. Someone who was never gone from her memories.
Just as quickly, the long-haired figure was gone from her sight.
Hinata stood quietly, staring in the direction he had been standing a moment ago.
He was just there, standing beside the bookcase.
Hinata looked but couldn't find him.
She stood with her hand lightly touching her chest.
She knew what she saw.
She saw his smile.
Hinata felt a tear roll down her cheek and gently wiped it away.
Without knowing how, she sensed him. How he felt in that moment.
He was at peace.
Hinata smiled.
Though Neji was dead, he wasn't gone. Not from her thoughts and not from her heart.
Had he been part of the reason for Boruto's safe return? Had Neji become her family's guardian angel? Was he watching over her children when she could not?
Perhaps Neji heard her.
Taking in a deep breath, Hinata smiled again and watched the sunrise.
When she saw a flock of birds fly off from their porch, she turned back to the bookcase and carried the teapot back into the kitchen.
The end!
I hope you enjoyed it. I didn't intend for this fiction to be very long.
Even if the kitsune didn't have a massive roll in this, that was kind of intentional as they were really more of Naruto's story.
But, hey, they could be in a future fiction. After all, Himawari never got to meet them. ;)
Thanks for reading and please review! ^-^