Boruto's Decision
Early Monday morning…
Naruto was sneaking around Hinata's house while doing his absolute best to suppress his presence and be stealthy so that Hinata would not be able to sense or see him. Although this was very risky and he could potentially end up getting caught, he just had to do this in order to check up on Boruto and have a word with him. He was still confused by how Boruto behaved yesterday and ran away so haphazardly and needed to know what was going on.
After surveying the house from afar he found an open window to a bedroom and wanted to check out if it was Boruto's. After tiptoeing to the window and finding no one inside the room, Naruto decided to jump in to get a better look. Once inside it didn't take long for him to realise that this was actually Hinata's room.
Naruto looked around in awe and was reminded of how their bedroom once looked like many years ago. There was this distinct serene influence that Hinata had on the things that she touched. He walked around for a bit until his eyes fell upon a stacked laundry basket and instantly like a massive pervert he fished around until his grubby hands fell upon what he could only describe as the jackpot – a pair of used panties.
"WHOA!" Naruto held the pure white panties high up above his head as though he were holding kind of invaluable treasure. "It's still warm. She must have changed out of them not too long ago."
The lecherous Uzumaki looked left and right before quickly shoving the panties into his pocket.
"I'll hold on to this for…..reference! Yes reference!" He convinced himself, having a clear idea what sort of "reference" he was thinking of.
His eyes then fell upon Hinata's bed that was yet to be made after Hinata woke up this morning. Naruto couldn't resist the urge and jumped on to the bed and rolled around like a little kid while wrapped up in the blanket.
"This familiar smell, I've missed it so much! This is Hinata's scent! I just can't get enough of it!" Naruto was borderline losing himself being in a room full of his wife's essence after so many years, but he forced himself to come back to his senses once he remembered the real reason why he was here. "No, no, I mustn't do this! I'm here for a very important purpose and at this rate I'll end up getting discovered by Hinata, which would ruin all my plans. I need to do what I came here to do."
Thus he regrettably jumped out of bed and out of the room and made his way to the window on the other room of the house, the one that presumably belonged to Boruto. He knocked on the window ever so gently hoping that he would be able to wake Boruto up without getting Hinata's attention in the kitchen.
Inside Boruto was anything but asleep. In fact he barely managed to get much sleep all night, thinking about the very person that was knocking on his window and how that person happened to be his father. The young boy didn't know who would be outside his window this early in the morning and as such moved the curtains to see for himself. But as soon as he saw his master's, or more accurately as he found out yesterday, his father's face, he quickly shut the curtains once again. He simply didn't know how to face that man any longer. There had been just too many emotions surging within him ever since he found out the truth.
"Boruto what the heck man? Why did you run away from your birthday party yesterday? I was very worried and so were your aunt and grandfather. What happened? Come on, talk to me already." Naruto demanded, but to his dismay there was no reply. "Seriously Boruto, tell me what's going on. Are you mad at me for something? Did I do something wrong? If so you need to let me know and I'll try to rectify it. Come on little friend, I'm your master aren't I? Open up so we can talk face to face."
Despite the pleading Boruto simply refused to see eye to eye with his father. He just didn't know how to respond to him anymore.
"Okay I got it. You're mad at me. I must have done something wrong. But hear me out because this is extremely, and I mean EXTREMELY important. I'm heading back to Konoha for now but I'll be back again during the weekend as usual. This time however, I have something I need to tell you that I've never told you before. I have a confession to make to you Boruto, a heart to heart confession. So please, come meet me at my mansion this coming weekend. This is something that has taken me a lot of courage to prepare and you absolutely must know about it. I'm begging you Boruto; you have to give me this one chance to speak what is within my mind." Naruto pleaded to his son with all his heart in the hopes that he would respond, if not now but in a week's time.
Boruto thought for a second about what this important confession could entail and his eyes widened at the possibility. Could it be!?
He was about to turn around and remove the curtains when the door to his room opened and his mother walked in. "Boruto, you're up already. Is there something outside your window? I thought I heard some noise."
"O-Oh no, it's nothing." Boruto replied, not knowing how to cover up his master's presence any longer.
"Well let me check it out just in case." His mother replied and was making her way over to the window when they both heard the same noise.
"Meaow! Meaaaaaaooooooow!" The voice of a person very poorly imitating a cat drifted through the room.
"Oh he's busted now." Boruto thought within his mind.
"So it was a cat. You should have told mama about it Boruto. I don't mind us having a cat." Hinata replied happily given her love for felines and convinced at the existence of a cat outside the window.
"She actually bought it! In what world is that the sound of a real cat!?" The young boy thought to himself once more, shocked at how naïve or perhaps tone deaf his normally very intelligent mother could be sometimes.
Regardless, the momentary distraction was all Naruto needed to make a run for it, so by the time Hinata made it to the window and opened the curtains he was already long gone. This led to Hinata and Boruto to go about their usual routine and eventually head out to work and school respectively. Yet even when at school Boruto just couldn't get the thoughts of his father out of his mind.
He remembered all the times his master had told him about his wife and how she had left him with their child before he was even born.
"You know, this bakery reminds me a lot of my wife. She used to be an amazing baker herself. The cakes she made were incomparably better than any other."
"I have a seven year old son, but unfortunately my wife took him with her and left me before he was even born."
Boruto always felt sympathetic towards his master from the very beginning, but now knowing that he was actually his father gave everything he ever said to the boy a new meaning. Yet at the same time Boruto just couldn't get over the fact that his father kept that fact secret from him for so long. He felt lied to after finding out that his father knew all along that they were related yet pretended not to. It was as though he was cheated and that made him angry. But there was something about his father that made it difficult for Boruto to remain mad at him for long.
"-ruto…Boruto!" Boruto was suddenly jolted back to reality from his teacher's voice at the front of the classroom calling to him.
"YES MA'AM!" Boruto replied as he stood upright like a soldier standing at attention.
"Young man, you should be paying attention in class. It would be a bother if our honour student started slacking." The teacher said somewhat sympathetically given that Boruto was normally a model student. "In any case, start reading from your textbook as I instructed."
Boruto scrambled to grab the open textbook in front of him and was about to read, but found that he didn't know how to. "Ummm sorry teacher but the words don't seem to look right."
"That would be because you're holding your book upside down."
The entire class burst out into laughter and Boruto felt a bit embarrassed at the blunder but laughed it away as well. The incident helped take his mind off of the more pressing matters at hand, at least for the time being.
The next day…
It was nearly evening and Boruto was helping out his mother in her bakery after school. Hinata was at the front of the store dealing with customers while Boruto watched the oven until the cookies were baked to perfection. Yet his mind was deep in thought regarding his father.
This time he remembered what his grandfather had said to him about his parents.
"If he could your father would come rushing here right now to meet you. But he can't. Because he doesn't simply wish to meet you, he wants to take both you and your mother back with him. That has been his one true goal for the past 8 years ever since Hinata left him. He has searched relentlessly for the two of you without ever giving up and waited patiently for the day to come where the three of you could live together once more. That being said if he were to appear in front of your mother right now, it would be difficult to solve matters. That is the reason why he is willing to wait just a bit longer if that would allow him to fix everything. As your master told you Boruto – have faith in your father. He will most certainly come for you before long."
His grandfather supported his son-in-law despite his daughter running away. It showed a level of faith that his father had earned from his mother's family that was probably unheard of for anyone else. That meant his father truly must have wanted both him and his mother back and despite not knowing why his father kept that fact a secret for all this time, a part of Boruto wanted to put his faith in his father as well.
"BORUTO, THERE'S SMOKE COMING OUT OF THE OVEN!" Hinata yelled from the front of the shop before running in to shut off the oven. She then opened the backdoor to fan the smoke out of the shop before the entire place smelled like burnt cookies. "What's the matter Boruto? How did you not smell the smoke while sitting next to the oven?"
"I…I'm sorry Kaa-chan." Boruto was shocked at his own carelessness and didn't have anything else to say other than to apologise.
"It's okay. We all make mistakes and you're normally a big help around the shop. But you should be careful son. I don't want you to get hurt."
Thus the incident ended without any big issues.
The next day…
It was late in the evening and Hinata and Boruto were having dinner together. Or at least that as supposed to be the case given that Boruto was once again lost in thought about his father.
This time being in his mother's presence, he remembered what his mother had told him about his father.
"You should know this Boruto that there is only one man that I have ever loved in my life, whom I married. And I can never love anyone else like that ever again. "
"You see Boruto, Naruto-kun and I loved each other from the bottom of our hearts. He was my childhood friend and my best friend at the same time. He was my classmate and also my squadmate at work. But above all, he was my husband and the father of my child – you Boruto. He meant the world to me, just as you do too. Contrary to what you may have believed, your father was not a bad person. I don't want you to ever feel that way. We didn't separate because he treated me badly or anything like that. It was quite the opposite. Your father was a really good person. Perhaps a bit too good. He wanted to protect everyone and make everything right. But unfortunately this world isn't as nice as your father, and because of that sacrifices needed to be made. I'm sure none of this makes sense to you, but I just want you to know that despite everything that happened between us, these facts will never change – I loved your father, and he loved me as well. And you Boruto are the manifestation of our love."
In the past Boruto had wondered what sort of person his father was and perhaps the reason why his mother separated from him was due to him being a terrible person. But from his mother's own admission and having spent an extended period of time with him, Boruto knew that couldn't be further from the truth. Even if his father never told him about their relationship, that wouldn't change the fact that he was a truly kind individual who supported him when his mother needed help and that he was someone Boruto truly enjoyed being in the company of. On hand sight it seems obvious now that Boruto knew his father's identity, but that didn't take away from how much he loved being around his father and appreciated him for who he was as a person. Above all Boruto now understood quite clearly that his father wasn't just the one who wanted his mother back, but his mother also felt the same way.
"What's the matter Boruto? You aren't eating. Does the food not taste good?" Hinata asked, snapping Boruto back to reality.
"Oh no, the food's great as always."
"Boruto, dear, are you okay? You've been acting a bit off lately. You're always lost in thought. If there's something bothering you, you can tell your Mama."
"No, it's nothing. I'm good." Boruto shrugged his mother's inquiry off and went back to eating like normal.
Yet Hinata knew all too well that something was most certainly wrong and she intended to get to the bottom of it all.
The next day…
It was afternoon and school was out. Boruto had come to the park along with his friends as usual, but today he decided to sit in a secluded corner by himself as opposed to joining them in their games. He needed to spend some time alone to put all of his thoughts together that had been plaguing his mind the whole week thus far.
Even though he understood that both of his parents loved one another deeply, the ultimate question still remained – who was correct? Who would Boruto side with? After all, the reason his parents broke apart was due to their differing viewpoints. Thus Boruto reminisced the story of his parents' separation that his grandmother had told him the first time they met – a confrontation between his father's idealistic viewpoint and his mother's realistic viewpoint.
"And so your parents separated despite the love they shared for one another. Even though the masked man had failed in his plan to bring about an end to your parents, he did manage to drive a deep wrench between the two of them, one that has persisted even to this day. I understand this is a lot of information for you to digest Boruto. It would be for anyone, especially someone of your age, but I ask you to think everything through carefully before judging either one of you parents. I know it is difficult to face the truth, but only by confronting it can a person truly grow. You must do the same in order to eventually decide whose actions you support most. Is it your mother who for your sake was willing to sacrifice all that she ever had? Or is it your father who believed he could overcome all the odds in order to secure a better future for his family and everyone else? Or perhaps there is a path that can reconcile them both."
The last questions his grandmother left him with were tough and at the time Boruto simply did not know how to answer them. It would be simple for him to side with his mother, the one who sacrificed everything she once had for him, even the person that she loved most. Yet at the same time learning about his father's great exploits as a heroic individual and getting to know him personally, Boruto had gained a great appreciation of him. But more importantly, Boruto felt that this wasn't just all about him, or at least it shouldn't be despite the primary reason for his parents' separation being him. He felt that somewhere along the line his parents were overwhelmed by the clash between their own idealistic and realistic views and had overlooked the most precious thing that they shared – their deep rooted love for one another. All of these thoughts were a tad bit too overwhelming for the young boy and he visibly wracked his head for answers, yet he had this wish deep down that he wanted his parents to remember that love clearly, the very love that joined them together to begin with and brought him into this world. He just didn't know how.
At that moment of confusion and contemplation, Boruto felt someone place a hand on his shoulder. As he turned around he found the familiar face of his grandmother whose words he was just mulling over.
"BABA!" He shouted out in shock and received a prompt whack to the top of his head in return. "Ouch what was that for?"
"Who the heck are you calling BABA!? I'm not some old lady you know. I'm still in my forties."
"Well you are my grandmother aren't you? What else am I supposed to call you other than Baba?"
Kushina clicked her tongue in frustration. "Ah darn it you do have a point. Well at least refer to me a bit more respect, like Obaa-san, or even better Obaa-sama. Anything but Baba. That just seems pickles me for whatever reason. Maybe I'm not used to the idea of having a grandson already. That just makes me feel old."
"Okay okay I get it, whatever you want. But where the heck have you been all this time? I haven't seen you in months, especially after you told me that you'd come to see me again soon. I had so many things I wanted to talk to you about after you left."
"Yeah I wanted to say sorry for disappearing for a while Boruto. It's just that I was busy with quite a few things, and I also wanted to give you some time to think about what I had told you." Kushina replied as she took a seat on the park bench next to her grandson. "So let's cut to the chase. Have you figured out who your father is yet?"
Boruto gave his grandmother a surprised look. "Wait, don't tell me…you knew all along that my dad was the one training me!"
"So it seems you've finally found out. That makes my job that much easier. To answer your question, of course I knew who your father was to begin with. He's my son after all. I've been keeping an eye on him ever since your grandfather allegedly died when he was 7 years old. I know what your father has been up to for the past few months."
"If you knew why didn't you tell me when we first met?"
"Think about it Boruto. If I had told you back then that your master was in reality your father, do you think you would have gotten to know him the way you did over the past few months. I'm sure you already had a negative stigma towards your father to begin with since you were raised by your mother alone. You did not have any idea what kind of person he was aside from the fact that he was never around. Yet after having spent time with your father and getting to know him personally, can you say you still feel the same way?"
Boruto was taken aback by his grandmother's questioning. She was right. Had she told him who his father was from the start, he may not have been able to get to know him and spend all the fun times together as they had done.
"I can guess that you're probably not very happy with him for not telling you who he truly was, but you have to think of it from his perspective as well. He wanted to get close to you, the son he never got to see ever since your birth. He wanted you to give him a chance to prove how much you truly meant to him. Yet at the same time this would have been difficult or borderline impossible if you and by proxy your mother found out about his presence from the get to. He couldn't risk your mother running away with you once again after it took so many years of searching for him to find you two. However the story now may very well be quite different concerning you and your father, don't you think Boruto?"
The young boy looked down and thought hard about his father's actions and they started to make some sense. It's not that Boruto had completely accepted them but at the very least he understood his father's point of view and what he was trying to accomplish; most importantly the fact that he meant well.
"In any case Boruto, the reason why I'm here is to continue once more from where we left of. Before I left I told you about your parents' stories and the choices they made that led to their separation. I asked you to think about whose side you would take when it finally came down to it. At the time the question was too hard for you to answer, but now that you've had the chance to get to know your father and think about what both of your parents mean to you, I want to ask that same question again. I know this is difficult but we really are pressed for time at this point. I want to know your decision Boruto. Who will you side with – your father or your mother, knowing the idealistic and realistic viewpoints that they each represent?" Kushina asked to her grandson with the utmost seriousness in her voice.
Boruto had thought hard about this and the answer was already clear as day to him. Thus he shook his head side to side in response. "I don't know who was right, my mother or my father. Honestly I don't really understand most of this stuff because it's too complicated, but I do know one thing for sure – I can't and I won't choose between my parents. I love them both, but more importantly they love each other more than anything else. They belong with one another. That much I know for sure. And so my decision is that I want to reunite the two of them so that we can all be a happy family together."
Kushina simply smiled at her grandson's response. "I was hoping you'd say that Boruto. That was the answer I was looking for."
"W-What?" Boruto was shocked by her admission as he was sure she would hound him to make a choice between his parents.
"You're absolutely right. Your parents do belong together. Even after so many years their feelings for each other have not diminished as you probably found out first hand; they simply remain dormant. The two of them need each other now more so than ever before to face their common enemy. That is why I've been busy planning for this very moment, the moment of their reconciliation. But for this to work I need your help. A long time ago your parents separated because of the difference in viewpoints they had regarding you. But now you Boruto will be the key that will link them back together once more." Kushina stated with the utmost confidence and extended her hand towards her grandson. "So what do you say my dear grandson? Will you join me in reuniting your parents once more? If we join forces, together we will most certainly succeed."
Boruto didn't hesitate for a second. He wanted nothing more than to see his parents back together like in the stories he had heard of them as a team, and most importantly as a couple. As such he placed his hand on top of his grandmother's in order to team up with her to achieve their one ultimate goal…
The reunion of Naruto and Hinata.
And so Boruto finally makes his decision regarding his parents. Next chapter will be "Naruto's Confession" and it will be big in its own way. What do you guys think this confession will be? I'd love to know your thoughts and see who hits the nail on the head as always.
Response to the last chapter was very interesting in that most of you were very split whether you liked the idea of a yandere Hinata or not, probably just as much as I was when I first came up with it. There is a reason why I never did end up writing it. In any case it was a fun little diversion before we head into the final stretch here.
That is all I have for today and I will see you all next time.
