*has this chapter finished for about a week and a half and has no idea why she let it sat around in her computer for so long* XD
Well, welcome to another chapter of this story people! I hope you enjoy it! ^^
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Boruto ^^
...
Boruto felt a wave of inexplicable peace and content as he slowly opened his eyes to the soft sunlight seeping in from the window. He blinked a few times to keep sleep at bay. Was it a good dream he had? He couldn't be sure...
Slowly, he raised his arms above his head in a stretch. Lying down against the hospital bed had worked its way into his muscles as cramps. Listening to the usual beeping sound that filled the room, his gaze wandered to the occupant of the said bed.
His movements came to a stop and the blond just stood like that, frozen into shock, as his eyes met a pair of golden eyes.
Was... he... still dreaming...? Did he dare hope this was real...?
Boruto's eyes grew big and his hands, now balled into fists, soon found their way to them. He rubbed his sight hard and fast but even when he reopened his blue orbs, a bit blurry from the rubbing, he still saw it...
Mitsuki... was awake.
And... the Uzumaki couldn't explain why his next reaction was to scream.
"MITSUKI!"
Sarada didn't expect to be so suddenly waken up by a scream so early in the morning. She jumped from her seat, almost losing her balance, and rammed her glasses back on her nose.
She had half the mind to chastise Boruto for this wake-up call, but... the blond's attention wasn't on her...
"You're awake... You finally woke up..." the joy was clear in her friend's voice, and finally able to decipher the words through her grogginess... Sarada turned her head slowly.
"Mitsuki!" the girl's scream was as loud as Boruto's, and tears filled into her eyes.
And before they both realized, they were pretty much squeezing the blue haired boy in a hug, laying on the bed on top of the boy, tears of happiness running down their faces... this was a bliss!
But Mitsuki strangely wasn't returning their hugs, their happiness... he was... his eyes were almost widened, he was feeling almost suffocated with these two squeezing him with their arms, dumping the sheets of the bed with their tears.
What... what was going on...?
Who were they...?
Who...
Was he...?
"M-Mitsuki..." the girl finally pulled back, only a little, looking closely at her friend, and her brows furrowed a little at the... confused, no, slightly... panicked, she would say, look in his face... but she didn't know why. Was he merely disoriented because of where he woke up? Was he in pain? "Hey... it's gonna be okay..."
Boruto tightened his arms a little bit, and Sarada saw the... panic in her blue haired friend's eyes increase a little. "Of course it is... You are awake... We're here..."
"Boruto-" she started to say, but she had no way to foresee what happened next.
Mitsuki, still with the panicked look in his face, pretty much pushed the two younglings away and off of him before attempting to escape the bed; however he got tangled in the sheets and the wires that connected him to the machines.
Boruto, who was the closest to the side Mitsuki had tried to escape, tried to help the boy but the blue haired boy just continued pushing him away, trying to stay away from both of them.
"Mitsuki? Mitsuki what's wrong?" The blonde tried to reach him with his words. "It's okay, it's alright...! You're safe!"
And while the young boy didn't say anything, the sounds from the machine began to get more frequent as he pulled himself as far away on the bed as possible from the two, his breath hitching. Sarada didn't know what was going on and frankly she was worrying out of her mind to think clearly about the situation, or to say anything - they needed help! She pushed the call button as Boruto once again tried to approach their friend.
"Hey, M-Mitsuki, there's nothing to worry..." The blond was keeping his distance, but it was apparent that it wasn't easy for him. "There is no one to hurt you here, we are your friends...!"
But Mitsuki still didn't talk, at some point he was so frightened that he curled up in a ball against the wall of the room, trying to keep his distance from the blond even though Boruto wasn't even touching or approaching him.
They heard steps fast approaching the room and the door slid open, revealing Sakura and Tsunade.
The pink haired medic didn't ask what was going on, she just needed a few seconds to analyze the situation. Her daughter staring worried at her, Boruto with his back to her, crouching down in front of something... actually someone, and Sakura didn't need much time either to figure out who it was once she saw the empty bed.
"Guys..."
Just as soon as the word left her mouth, she saw the bed's occupant immediately snap his head up, and she had a second to see a pair of terrified golden eyes before, in the blink of an eye, Mitsuki disappeared and something collided with her mid-section - fast, so much so that she had the wind knocked out of her for a moment.
The blue haired boy tightened his hug around her, face buried in her outfit.
What was going on here...? Was it that...?
Securing the boy's safety now was more important though. Snapping out of her momentary surprise, the medic put a hand on Mitsuki's shoulder in a reassuring way as she looked at the remaining children. "Boruto, Sarada, I need you to wait outside for now."
"But aunt Sakura..." Boruto tried to protest but Sakura gave him a pleading look.
"I promise you two that it won't take long, I just need to check him out first."
Before the children could protest any further, Tsunade was already between them, putting each hand on their shoulders and guiding them out the room. However they never stopped looking at Mitsuki, who still had his face buried in Sakura's clothes, until Tsunade closed the door behind them.
Once alone, Sakura managed to lead Mitsuki back to bed, making him sit back on the mattress before pulling a chair to sit down in front of him.
And for the one moment in her life, Sakura was unsure how to proceed. Normally she would just do her checkup, utter a few encouraging words to the patient, no matter what their situation is... but now, seeing this boy, a child first of all... afraid of his own teammates... she just couldn't rush into things.
"Mitsuki?" she called out softly, trying to get his attention. She frowned slightly when the boy didn't even look at her. "Umm... sweetie?"
And finally, slowly, the golden eyes turned to meet hers. Sakura tried to return to her poker face. "Okay... I'll have to check up on you, alright? You've been through some... a lot, actually... and I have to make sure you're all good. Can you trust me?"
There was no hesitation in the boy's eyes as he nodded, which took the pink haired medic by surprise. He trusted her...? She didn't know how, but it made her sigh inaudibly. This would make things easier. She started her check-up, taking things at a leisurely pace.
He allowed her to do everything she needed to make sure there were no other consequences during the healing process, besides this one where he seemed to be afraid of his teammates. Mitsuki responded well to every single thing she asked him to do, including moving the arm he had broken during the attack. His heart rate, the part she was mostly worried about, seemed to be doing well, too.
The pink haired medic then proceeded to remove the bandages around his head, Mitsuki never took his eyes off her, they would follow her everywhere and Sakura noted that if she were to go to the medicine cupboard, closer to the door, his eyes would widen... it was like... he was afraid of her leaving?
Despite physically looking good, Sakura was sure that she still needed to run some other kind of tests to make sure Mitsuki was alright... he had always been a very quiet child but not this much.
Well... until she figured out what was wrong, she could at least tell Naruto that the boy had finally woken up.
She put her hands gently on the boy's hand. "Look... I will have to step outside for a-"
She couldn't even finish her word before Mitsuki suddenly held her arm with both hands, the look in his eyes suddenly terrified, the message in them pretty clear: don't leave me...
"Mitsuki... there are a lot of people who've been waiting for you to wake up, sweetie, so I better go inform them on the good news, okay?" That didn't do much to ease the panic in the golden eyes. Sakura tried once again. "Would you... like someone else to stay? So that you won't be alone...?"
The boy shook his head vigorously. Everything aside, his muteness had started to worry Sakura... a lot.
"Do you... remember your friends?" she asked hesitantly, maybe it would be better if she tried to figure something out before she called for some professional help.
There was still the confusion in his eyes as the amber orbs moved slowly to the door, the same door that Boruto and Sarada had left through, but he quickly returned to look back at Sakura and shook his head. This caused Sakura to worry more... she needed to run the tests and maybe call Ino to talk about this situation... but she suspected what was possibly going on.
"Do you know who I am?" She still tried one last question, if Mitsuki was so attached to her then it could mean something.
And for the first time in those long minutes that had gone by since Sakura had entered the room... Mitsuki spoke... but it really wasn't the answer she was expecting. "...Angel."
And that one word... it completely rendered the woman speechless. She literally had no reply to that... She had had many patients before, many who she had brought back from death but never before had a patient had such an effect on her...
"Umm... alright..." she let out a nervous chuckle as she ran a hand through her hair. Then she noticed something... and took one of her bracelets out. "I'll tell you what Mitsuki... I'm leaving with you a special charm, okay? It will keep you safe whenever I'm not around. I can take it back when I come again. Will you keep it for me?"
Looking at the bracelet for a moment, the boy held out a slightly shaky hand. As she got up, Sakura had a moment of hesitation before she leaned in and kissed the boy on the forehead.
"I will be back." she promised before walking out of the room.
And as soon as she was out... she had to lean against the wall, trying to take it all in...
"Mama?"
The voice of her child made her snap back to reality and Sakura's bright green eyes moved towards the two young genin who had clearly been waiting outside impatiently for any sort of news about their recently awakened friend.
Sakura sighed inaudibly again, she needed to be strong for them, she needed to be a doctor above all. Carefully she approached Boruto and Sarada before sitting down next to them in one of the waiting room's chairs.
"How is he, aunt Sakura...?" It was like Boruto was almost afraid of asking about the status of his best friend.
"He..." How was she going to explain this to them if she herself wasn't sure yet? "He seems to be fully healed, regarding his physical wounds. However, he still seems to be frightened, it is natural for some people that were this long or even longer in a coma to not remember certain things. I cannot be sure yet, I need to speak with Ino first before we announce anything else. For now... I know it's hard for you but I need you to not enter that room, not without me at least."
And it was so clear in their eyes that it was gonna be hard... but the children were trying their best to cope with it. "B-but... how long is this gonna take?" Sarada asked, her voice a little shaky. "I mean is he just confused or...?"
"I don't know... but yes, we can only hope this is temporary." She wished she could say something more... to reassure them... but there was simply nothing else, and she couldn't give them false hope.
"Look... I have to make a few calls, but when it's over... I will see if Mitsuki feels better, so we can visit him. How does that sound?"
Well... there was nothing that could be done about it, which the kids were obviously aware of. They nodded, although they looked a little crestfallen.
Sakura pulled them both into a heartfelt hug before standing up from the chair and quickly passing towards her office. The first call she made was to Naruto.
...
It wasn't long, about two hours at most when Sasuke went to Mitsuki's apartment, where his family had spent the last month hidden. He really didn't know why it had to be him the bearer of the news, Naruto sounded quite excited when he told him the news of the blue haired boy's awakening but he could only guess that the Hokage had a lot of paperwork to fill and couldn't spare a few minutes to come and tell the child's family the actually good news, no sarcasm intended.
Sighing, the former missing ninja of the Uchiha Clan raised his arm and knocked loud but paused about three times at the wooden door. It had been decided that would be the code of when it was safe to open the door. Despite taking a few moments, the door finally opened, revealing a tired and heavily pregnant Karin.
"Sasuke-kun..." the woman said, slightly frowning, putting a hand on her belly and using the other to lean slightly on the door frame. "What brought you here?"
"Let's take it inside." the Uchiha said and took a step forward, making the woman back into the house as well. "Is everyone awake? I have some news."
"Yeah, just..." Karin came to a stop as her gaze lost focus, concentrating on something else... Knowing her abilities, it was easy for the black haired man to guess what was going on.
Karin didn't get to utter anything other than a surprised "Oh!" before more doors opened, and the rest of the house's current inhabitants stepped in, the sannin in the lead.
"Sasuke-kun... for what do we owe the occasion?" he asked in an impassive tone as he crossed his arms.
Sasuke figured the best way to go with it... was to be direct. "It's about Mitsuki. He's woken up."
Karin put her hand on her mouth as momentary tears of joy escaped her eyes, though she quickly recovered. She had felt it... that big and lively amount of chakra that couldn't ever escape anyone that was a sensor type ninja...
"It's true... his... his chakra has returned a-and it's big... big as before. He is alive...!" she breathed of happiness.
Orochimaru didn't share the joy from the outside, which Sasuke wondered why, those were news that should have made even someone as cold as Orochimaru to jump from joy. "How is the child?"
"I haven't seen him personally but my wife is the one in charge of his care, according to her he is physically fine but she still needs to run some tests for his mentality." Maybe those weren't the correct words to use, he almost made it sound like Mitsuki had gone crazy or something.
It was the... older Mitsuki, for lack of a better word, who took on his words though. Sasuke still wasn't sure what to think of this young man... For what little he had seen of him, he was like a ticking time bomb, ready to set off anytime.
His next words and tone merely justified his image of him. "And what do you mean by that? You mean to say that my brother is mentally unstable?"
The black haired man raised an eyebrow at the use of the word... how he didn't refer to the sannin as his father but to Mitsuki as his brother... but that wasn't his concern now. "It isn't something I can determine. Professionals will evaluate how... he is affected by what he had gone through."
"Can we see him...?" Behind him Karin asked carefully, god she was so overjoyed with this news that she hadn't really thought until now how her little one could be mentally affected due to what he went through.
Sasuke didn't turn to face her but still answered her question. "According to my wife you can, however at first only at her presence, since Mitsuki has so far only reacted positively to her."
Log's brows frowned deeper, almost in a scowl that Sasuke almost returned. "Well I sure as hell am going." Before they even knew it, the older Mitsuki was already grabbing his cloak and hiding himself under it; it didn't take long for Juugo to join his side without the need of words.
"W-Wait are you sure we should all go?"
"We will decide who goes first after we get to the hospital." Suigetsu was pretty much pushing his girlfriend towards the door, luckily she was too tired to punch him. Sasuke didn't take long to turn around to follow them until he noticed only one person hadn't moved at all...
The Uchiha turned his face slightly to look at his old master. "...Are you not going?"
Orochimaru finally moved... but not towards the door that led outside, instead he was walking to retire himself back into Mitsuki's room. "You said yourself he is not well to see us all, did you not?"
"That's true." The obsidian eyes were following the sannin's every move. "I just thought you would be more... enthusiastic about the news."
"I have no intention to explain my actions to you." With that, the door closed behind him. Standing there for a moment, Sasuke shrugged and walked out behind the other members of the hideout.
...
"Honestly, Izumi, you just came back from Konoha... what's the rush?"
Terumi Mei always prided herself in knowing the basics of a person just by spending a couple of hours with them - and some by merely a glance in their eyes. It was part of what she had to become after all, being a previous Mizukage. However, the thoughts of her foster daughter will almost always remain a mystery to her.
"I know, I know mom and I would've loved to stay longer, but... there is a child who needs my help."
"Uh-huh." the older woman raised an eyebrow. "Any particular reason why you have to get involved?"
Izumi frowned a little, thinking back to the last time she saw the sannin. She sighed and held up the medicine component she had taken from the hospital. "Because I have the means to get him to heal faster and I'm not gonna let the poor boy suffer unnecessarily because of his idiotic father."
"Idiotic?" A devious smile formed on Mei's lips. "Well, is he good-looking at least?"
"Mom!" Izumi protested, her voice a little high-pitched.
"What? Just because I didn't get married I'm not gonna let you turn your back on your chances."
"Trust me - he's off my chart. Way off." With that, the younger woman gave a quick kiss on the older's cheek. "Don't worry, okay? I'll wrap things quick and be back in no time."
And just like that, she was off.
...
Sometimes, Ichiro wished that there were more advanced tracking devices invented. He had no idea where Konohamaru was, and he could find him nowhere in Konoha!
He thought he would know if he was out of the village on a mission, for one thing he was his student. For another, he had just been to the Hokage's office for reporting, and Naruto-san didn't inform him on such a thing. Although the teenager remembered an almost... mischievous glint in those blue eyes when lord seventh asked him to go find Konohamaru about the good news.
Well, he thought to himself with a small smirk. Apparently goofiness was infective.
He came to a stop on top of a tree and looked around. It was getting annoying. At this rate...
Wait - that was it! There was no mistaking, he would know that blue scarf anywhere!
"Finally!" he mumbled to himself before jumping down and landing right into the scene.
Well, in his defense, he didn't know Konohamaru wasn't alone. Still... he couldn't help a mischievous smirk on his face when he saw who his company was.
"I'm sorry," he said, although he didn't sound sorry at all. "Did I interrupt something?"
Konohamaru was glaring, hard, at him, and if only looks could kill he would be long gone now. Behind him, Hanabi-san was trying to suppress a giggle as it seemed, and Ichiro honestly didn't feel any different.
"Well?" the jounin snapped at last, clearly thin on patience. The younger Sarutobi, on the other hand, was savoring every moment.
"Oh well. I thought you would like to know that there's word from the hospital. Mitsuki is awake."
And just like that, Konohamaru's eyes widened in surprise, even more life filling his blue orbs. Despite himself, Ichiro felt content that he got to deliver the happy news, but of course he wouldn't admit it to anyone.
Apparently not knowing what to do for a moment, the jounin turned to his lover. "Hana, I-"
"Just go." the Hyuuga said with a huge smile.
"Oh, umm... about that." Okay, though, this was awkward. "You can take your time, honestly. There seems to be a delicate situation."
"What?" his sensei rounded on him again. "What situation?"
"Look, I don't know all the details, okay? Anyway, I gotta go, we have a training session." Just as he was about to go, he turned to the couple again, this time directly addressing Hanabi. "Say yes!"
Leaving them flabbergasted behind, he took off with the grin still in place.
...
Waiting for Ino to arrive and having finished most of her important work for the day, Sakura had some time to reflect on the events of today.
Hearing that the boy was awake, and despite all the warnings... there had been many people who wanted to drop in for a visit, most of them, of course, being his academy mates. It had come to the point that Sakura had to ask for a couple of jounin guards at the entrance of the room, and even with that... well, the assertiveness of the new generation never ceased to amaze her.
She had to admit, however, that well... there was one little child she just didn't have the heart to say no to. Himawari had been eagerly awaiting news about Mitsuki after all, and now that the boy woke up days before the girl's birthday... there was no stopping her. She spent the good half of the afternoon standing just out of the room, looking inside wondrously.
Sasuke had also announced not too long ago that the Taka was gonna drop in for a visit - although she didn't know exactly when...
Hearing the slam of the window behind her, the pink haired medic was startled out of her thoughts. She slowly turned her gaze towards where the glass panel stood wide open in its wooden panel.
"What the...?"
Thankfully, she hadn't come too close to the window.
In less than a minute, four figures jumped through the window, causing Sakura to gasp and take a few steps back. She was even more surprised to see who the intruders were.
"Sorry," the large, orange haired man said in a light tone. "I notice our entrance was a little... unorthodox."
"A little?!" the woman's replying voice was a little shrill.
"Well, we had no choice." Suigetsu said as he helped Karin gain her balance, although for a woman in her condition the Uzumaki was doing... scarily well. "We couldn't just walk through the main door, could we?"
"Or you could've just informed me? Really...?"
"How is my brother? Can we see him now?"
At the demanding voice, the Uchiha looked at the younger man in the group... and although he had seen him before, it was still awkward, how he was an exact lookalike to Mitsuki. Not that she would put it past Orochimaru obviously, but still...
She sighed. "Come with me."
...
The rest of the medic's explanation became lost to Log as they came in front of the room, and he got a good look at Mitsuki.
He... had no words with which he could accurately describe how he felt just then. When he last saw his brother... well, there was this painful hollow inside of him, like he had lost something, irreversibly. Now... it was like hope and light was filling that hole, filling it to the brim... if nothing, this child deserved to live, to have a second chance to live his life to the fullest...
It was then that the young man completely understood that he couldn't lose another important person in his life... not again.
"I can only allow two person inside at a time." Sakura's voice finally reached him. "That way's easier for Mitsuki to adjust."
"You and Log should go in first." Juugo was telling Karin. "We can wait."
The young man gathered his thoughts before nodding and making a move to the door.
"Let me." Sakura was leading the way in a second, and then they were inside the room.
"Mitsuki? You have some visitors, sweetie."
What happened next was something Log wasn't expecting.
When the boy looked up and their eyes met, he could see the younger's eyes widening. Did that mean that he was remembering him...?
Mitsuki edged closer to the end of the bed, his eyes still shining with wonder, still with his gaze fully on Log. "Dad?"
The older clone froze at that moment, much like the other two, his mind going completely blank. "I, uh... I'm n-"
Sakura put a hand on his arm to stop him. "For now, just play along with it." she said in an undertone. "He's confused, contradicting him might... worsen the situation."
"But-"
"At least until my friend comes." the medic gave him a slight push forward. "It won't take long."
The young man gulped inconspicuously, not knowing exactly why he was feeling so nervous. Maybe it was because he didn't really have a father figure, he didn't know how he should approach this! He had never felt so awkward in his life - never felt awkward, period.
But Mitsuki was looking at him expectantly, and what he knew for certain was that he couldn't let his brother down. "Err... y-yeah son, I'm here."
The boy's face immediately broke into a huge grin and he put up his arms as the young man scooted closer. Still feeling a little... weird about the whole situation, Log sat on the edge of the bed, and his brother immediately huggled into him.
"Maybe I should..." Karin also looked helpless.
"Stay..." Log said almost in a plea, and he was glad there really wasn't any person here right now. Then he looked at the child. "Mitsuki, uh... this is your aunt Karin."
"Hi aunt Karin." the boy greeted, sounding sleepy.
Sakura sighed again, but this time feeling more hopeful. It was just gonna make things easier for her that Mitsuki could trust another person. "Alright... I'll leave you for the time being and go check with Ino."
Karin gave her a small nod, and the pink haired medic was out.
...
And indeed, it didn't take long until the Yamanaka came. By that time Mitsuki was fast asleep in his brother's arms and thankfully, since Ino only had to deal with his mind, he was left at peace while the woman made her examination.
She had a serious look in her features as she sighed silently and the glow around her hands dimmed out.
"What is it?" Log asked, concern filling his lowered voice, as if he was afraid to wake his kid brother.
Ino fixed her gaze to his. "Sakura was right. He has memory loss... one we could only hope as temporary."
...
Since... nothing was released about the actual birthdates of Boruto and Himawari, for these two we will go with our own dates for now. There is a month between their birthdates ^^
Any ideas what Konohamaru was up to with Hanabi? Although I guess Ichiro already gave the biggest clue xD
Comments and faves are, like always, highly appreciated =)