A/N: okay, so I knew the cliffhanger last chapter was so brutal, and then when NaruHina AU Week had a police x thief prompt I just had to continue this story. But then the chapter became like 10k+ words, so I'm breaking it up a bit. I really hope you enjoy it!
Naruto had been searching nonstop without any luck. It seemed he must have forgotten his phone charger at work last night.
With an annoyed sigh, he ran a hand through his hair, realizing he would have to go into work despite it being the first day off he had had in a while.
He decided he would just run in, grab his charger, and run out. He wouldn't linger and he definitely wouldn't pick up any case files to bring home. Chief Kakashi gave him this day off because he said he was overworked, and well, he was.
Naruto was looking forward to finally taking some time to just relax and run those errands he had been putting off. But first things first, his phone charger.
Dressed in casual clothes, Naruto strolled into the headquarters of Fire Country's Bureau of Investigation. He intentionally kept his head down, hoping no one would notice him so that he didn't get sucked into a conversation.
He grabbed his charger and he almost made it out without any fuss, too.
"Hey, Boss! I didn't think you were coming in today," Konohamaru commented with a furrow in his brow.
Naruto nearly cringed at being acknowledged. He supposed he wasn't as stealthy as he had hoped. "I wasn't supposed to, I just needed to grab something from my office."
He expected to just wave and breeze by Konohamaru's desk, but suddenly grew confused when he noticed his colleague playing with a small child, probably no more than two years old.
The smiley young boy was sitting on top of the desk, giggling as Konohamaru made silly faces at him.
Naruto didn't use to be the kind of guy who gravitated toward children, but since learning he fathered a child he would likely never meet, kids around his would-be son's age just seem to tug at his heart-strings.
So despite his plan to just quickly run into his office and grab his phone charger, Naruto found himself approaching Konohamaru's desk.
"Hey little man," he cooed. Bright blue eyes blinked up at him for a contemplative moment, but then a cheeky little smile spread across the boy's lips and he reached his chubby arms out in Naruto's direction.
"Oh c'mon," Konohamaru sighed. "I was just starting to get him to like me!"
Naruto smiled as he picked the boy up and settled him against his hip. The corner of his mouth curved up at the way the boy's little fist gripped the front of his shirt.
"Dang Boss, you should just go stand out on the street corner with that kid and call yourself a single dad, I guarantee all the ladies will come crawling!"
Naruto rolled his eyes and snorted a laugh. "Whose kid is he anyway?"
"A former associate of one of our recent arrests is giving a deposition in exchange for immunity," Konohamaru explained. "The Chief asked me to watch him."
Naruto nodded, not thinking much of it. He tickled the boy on his side and his heart warmed watching as he let out a cheerful little giggle. "He's a cute kid."
The sound of an approaching conversation drew his attention and Naruto's heart nearly stopped the moment his gaze locked with those familiar opal eyes.
It had been almost two years since the last time Naruto had seen her.
Two years since that fateful day in Kiri, where he was completely blindsided by her pregnancy and subsequent request.
Two years since he last explored her soft, creamy curves or tangled his fingers in her silky dark hair to guide her lips to his own.
"You cut your hair," Naruto commented dumbly. His voice came out much weaker than he would've liked, but he was in shock, he could hardly believe it was really her standing in front of him.
Hinata turned and fierce pale eyes glared at Kakashi. "You said he wouldn't be here."
"He wasn't supposed to be," he grimaced.
As his initial shock subsided, the dots slowly began to connect in his mind. If Hinata was the one that was with Kakashi, that meant Konohamaru was watching her baby… which meant…
His grip on the boy unconsciously tightened.
With an impatient scowl marring her features, Hinata took a few quick strides forward until she was standing right before him, staring up at him expectantly.
But Naruto just stared back. His lips parted, but he was so unsure of what to say. There was so much he needed to say.
Hinata exhaled an angry sigh, "Naruto. Give me my baby."
When he didn't move to hand her the boy, she reached her arms out to take him, but Naruto instinctively flinched away from her and her eyes widened in shock.
"Naruto!" Kakashi admonished.
He knew he was making a scene. He could feel the uncomfortable and disapproving stares from everyone in his office. He looked insane refusing to give a mother back her young baby.
"Wait... Hinata, please," Naruto muttered pitifully.
"Give him to me!" she practically screamed, her harsh tone upset the little guy, and his bottom lip began to quiver. Big tears pooled in his deep blue eyes and Naruto almost found his own doing the same.
Hinata snatched the child from his arms, shooting him an absolutely disgusted look that made his arms fall away and any protest die in his throat.
He just wanted to know his name.
She bounced and rubbed the little guy's back as he cried against her shoulder. "Oh honey, you're okay," Hinata whispered, her tone more soft and soothing than Naruto even knew she was capable of. "You're okay."
Hinata picked up her diaper bag off of Konohamaru's desk and shot Naruto another annoyed look before she marched toward the exit. He found his voice just in time to call, "Hinata, wait!"
He stepped forward to follow after her but froze when he heard Kakashi's commanding voice. "Naruto. My office, now."
"Chief, please I just—"
"Now." The finality in his tone left no room for arguments. So Naruto ruefully followed Kakashi into his office and watched as his boss fell into his chair with a tired sigh.
"Naruto…" He pinched the bridge of his nose as if to fight a headache.
Naruto stood anxiously before him, his restless hands fidgeting as he continued to glance back toward Hinata and his son disappearing into the elevator. He was too overwhelmed to come up with a believable excuse as to why he hesitated giving Hinata back her baby, but he really didn't have time for a lecture right now.
"Please, sir! Please, just let me go after her!" he begged.
"Do you remember last time I let you go after her?"
Naruto jerked his gaze back toward Kakashi, staring at him with wide blue eyes. His heart rate increased with each silent moment that lingered between them. His mouth opened but no words would come out.
There was really nothing he could say at that point when Kakashi had clearly figured out what he had done.
"You told me you couldn't find her," he said with a serious frown. "You told me Kiri had been a dead end. A false lead."
"Sir…" Naruto tried weakly. But Kakashi wasn't having any of it.
"Put your badge on my desk. You're suspended."
"Suspended?!" he gawked. Never in his entire career with The Bureau had Naruto even been formally reprimanded.
"This is me being generous! You're lucky I don't charge you as an accessory!" Kakashi stood, slamming a hand against his desk before pointing toward the elevator Hinata disappeared into. "You knowingly let her go! You helped her!"
"Kakashi, please!" His voice was growing embarrassingly desperate. "You have to understand!"
"Fuck, Naruto, you don't think I understand?! The kid looks just like you."
Naruto ran his hand over his face, trying and failing to push back the tears welling up in his ocean blue eyes. "That's the first time I've ever seen him," he said in a pathetic whisper.
Kakashi fell back into his chair with a sad sigh.
"Why didn't you tell me she was coming in?" Naruto muttered as he wiped his eyes.
"She asked for you to not be involved as a condition of her deal. I just figured it was because she had a grudge against you since you were the lead detective chasing her down after her last heist a couple of years ago."
He nodded. That was a logical assumption, being that Naruto concealed his relationship with Hinata from everyone (or at least tried to). It wasn't like Kakashi was intentionally trying to hurt him by not telling him about her. "Please, can I go after her?"
Kakashi tapped his desk. "Your badge."
Naruto reached into his jacket pocket before placing his badge on the desk. "For how long?"
"I'm sorry, but I'll have to think about it."
Hinata rested in a shady patch of grass in Senju Park, watching as Boruto sprawled out on his blanket and gleefully shook all his colorful little toys. She honestly didn't know why she bought him so many or why she carried a backpack full of them everywhere they went.
Her pale gaze wandered for a moment. This was the same shady tree Hinata used to sit under and stretch after her morning jog. She shook her head and sighed, back then felt like a lifetime ago.
Hinata hadn't realized how much she missed Konoha. After Naruto left her in Kiri, he vowed to keep her whereabouts secret. But she was never completely sure she could trust him — hell, she was never completely sure she could trust anyone — so she moved to Suna soon after he was gone, just in case.
Suna was nice, but Konoha was home. Maybe it was time to move back. With her deposition that afternoon, she was immune from being charged for many of her crimes, and the others she was confident would be too hard to prove anyway.
Now that she was inactive, she was sure The Bureau would slowly start to forget about her and focus on more pressing suspects.
Or at least most of the detectives there would.
Hinata had thought through a million scenarios of what it might be like when she saw Naruto again, but she never imagined she would walk in to find Boruto in his arms, the two of them with their matching blue eyes and cheeky grins, just smiling at each other.
It was like a knife through the heart. Like a cruel mirage of the happy family that she didn't get to have.
"What are you a nanny now or something?" Hinata was shaken from her musings by the familiar raspy voice. Her pale gaze flickered up to find her former colleagues, Kiba and Shino, standing before her.
She honestly should've expected them to show up. When a ghost like her appeared in Senju Park in the middle of the day, they were bound to be curious.
Hinata pursed her lips. "He's my kid."
"No shit?! Who's the father?" Kiba asked, amusement laced in his tone. Akamaru came even closer, nudging her hand and demanding a pet before he laid beside her.
"Who do you think?" She glanced down at Boruto to see his eyes growing heavy and she realized it was about that time of day. She scooped him up before tucking him against her chest.
"Damn, I can't believe you had that detective's bastard child after all the shit he put us through," Kiba barked out a laugh as he plopped down in the grass beside her. Hinata shot him a deadly glare and Kiba was quick to put his hands up in surrender. "Chill out, Mama Bear, it was a joke!"
"Is it true you testified against Kurenai?" Shino asked, changing the subject.
Maybe they were worried about themselves more than they were curious about her disappearance two years ago.
"She was going to prison for a long time anyway. I didn't mention either of you, what I said only solidified what the feds already knew," Hinata sighed. "But to be perfectly honest, the only person I care about anymore is Boruto."
Her pale gaze fell to the little boy. His eyes had already fallen closed, his breath steady with slumber. "I have to do what's best for him," she mumbled as she gently tucked a stray blonde hair behind Boruto's ear.
"Oh yeah, and what about your baby daddy?" Kiba grinned and Hinata rolled her eyes. "Because it looks like he's headed this way."
Hinata startled as she turned to follow Kiba's line of sight, only to find Naruto bounding toward them from across the park.
She still didn't know how she felt about Naruto.
He was the father of her child, but also the detective that spent years hunting her. She had missed him so much more than she ever anticipated, but she still cursed his name every time her life felt overwhelmingly difficult.
Leaving Konoha to raise a baby on her own had been so terribly lonely. It was easier to blame him for getting her pregnant, for forcing her to flee the country, than it was to take responsibility for her own situation.
But at the same time, Naruto gave her Boruto. All the little joys of motherhood she had been blessed with the last year and a half wouldn't have been possible without him.
If Hinata was being honest, she didn't want to see him because she didn't want to have to unpack the complex and contradictory feelings she felt for him.
"You'll have to excuse me, I can't be seen by him," Shino said with a curt nod before shoving his hands in his pockets and briskly walking away.
"Yeah, Akamaru and I are out of here, too," Kiba said as he stood up and dusted off his pants. "I mean unless you need us to stay?"
"No, you're fine," Hinata sighed as her gaze turned back to an approaching Naruto.
Kiba patted his leg and Akamaru stood up from where he was laying to follow. "I'll catch you later."
"Hinata," Naruto said as he stood before her, seemingly out of breath. Had he been running around looking for her since she left The Bureau's headquarters?
"What do you want, Naruto?" she asked, trying to keep her expression neutral despite the sudden increase in her heart rate.
"Why are you acting so cold?" he pleaded. He just didn't understand.
Never had she treated him like this, and now after all this time, after arguably the most significant personal sacrifice of his life, she would really look at him like he was such a bother?
"I did everything you asked! Do you know how much it hurt me to walk away that day!? So many times I thought I should just turn around and go back to you, that I should just quit my job and we would run away together!" Naruto could feel his face growing hot, two years of bottled-up emotions bubbling up to the surface.
"I convinced myself that that would be selfish, so I did everything exactly like you asked! I lied to my boss, to everyone I care about for you! I just got suspended from work, I'll be lucky if I don't get demoted — or worse, fired! Do you even care how much you've hurt me?!"
He was practically trembling as he stood there waiting for a response. But Hinata didn't say a word and instead just turned her head away from him, a curtain of indigo hair concealing her face.
"Do you ever even think about me?" Naruto asked, his voice was quiet and just as pathetic as he felt.
"You think a day goes by where I look at him and don't think about you?" Hinata jerked her head back towards him, her beautiful, opal eyes were drowning in unshed tears. "You thought about leaving everything?! Well, I actually did! I left my friends and my home, I had to take care of Boruto all by myself!"
"Boruto?" Naruto repeated softly. "His name is Boruto?"
Hinata exhaled a small sigh, her shoulders visibly relaxed before she nodded her head. He tentatively took a few steps closer and kneeled in the grass, dropping his phone and his bag beside him. His longing blue gaze was fixed on a slumbering little Boruto.
"I like it," Naruto whispered as a soft smile tugged at his lips. A few moments passed before he glanced up at Hinata. "Can I hold him… please?"
"Are you going to give him back?" she half-joked and Naruto winced.
"Yes, I'm sorry about earlier… I was just in shock, I didn't mean to scare you or anything."
"I know," Hinata sighed and finally held her arms out in offering. Naruto's heart warmed as he scooped Boruto in his own hold and smiled down at the boy.
That fluffy little tuft of blonde hair made the corner of his mouth curve up. Naruto genuinely believed he would never have this moment, that he'd never get to hold his son. He really just couldn't help it when he started tearing up again.
Sure, he held Boruto back in the office but he hadn't even realized who he was.
"He's so little," Naruto murmured.
"He's a good baby," Hinata said softly and Naruto's smile grew as his finger gingerly traced over Boruto's cheek. "He doesn't cry too much and he sleeps through the night now. He's actually pretty snuggly when he's tired too... it's so cute."
"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry you had to be alone."
"Naruto —" But Hinata was cut off by the ringing of his phone.
She reached for the device, so she could hand it to him, only to notice the caller ID photo was a redhead woman being kissed by Naruto. "It's Sara."
Naruto jerked his head up to look at her, his eyes wide and anxious. Hinata's expression suddenly lacked its previous warmth.
"Are you going to answer it?" Her voice was impatient.
"Um…" he hesitated.
"Should I answer it?"
"No! Just… just ignore it. It's fine," Naruto said with a shake of his head. His blue gaze analyzed her face, attempting to read her thoughts.
Hinata hung up the call, only for it to immediately start ringing again. "Seems important."
"Um, okay, give it here. Just one second!" He took his phone from her hand and pressed it to his ear.
"Sara," he answered, but before he could tell her it wasn't a good time, she immediately launched into a million questions.
"I heard you got suspended from work today! Is that true?! Baby, what happened?!"
Naruto cringed when Hinata furrowed her brow, knowing she overheard the pet name. But how was he supposed to tell his new girlfriend that his ex-lover called him that?
"I-I can't talk right now, I'll call you back later," Naruto said and quickly hung up. He tucked his phone into his pocket but when he looked back up, Hinata was packing Boruto's toys into his diaper bag.
"Wait, where are you going?!" His voice sounded desperate even to his own ears.
"I think it's about time we head home," Hinata hummed before reaching her arms out for Boruto.
"Wait, I'll come with you!"
"You probably shouldn't, I can't imagine your little girlfriend would like that, baby," Hinata grumbled the pet name like it suddenly disgusted her.
Naruto slumped. "You can't seriously be holding her against me. I thought you were never coming back. I can't imagine you haven't… ya know."
"When, huh?!" Hinata scoffed. "When would I have had the time to go sleeping around? When I had a newborn baby or when I was the size of a whale? You'd be surprised, Naruto, I haven't met many men besides you interested in fucking pregnant girls."
His face immediately flushed red as he averted his gaze. "Don't say stuff like that, you make me sound like a pervert."
Hinata rolled her eyes. "Alright, we're leaving."
"Can you at least give me your number? Please?" Naruto asked. "I want to see you both again. It looks like I won't be going into work for a while, so I can't meet you whenever and wherever you want."
She hesitated a moment, but finally said, "you can give me your number and I'll call you when I'm ready to see you again."
Naruto sat at his dinner table, slowly eating his meal, but his attention was consumed staring at his phone, desperately willing it to ring.
"You're not going to make Chief Kakashi call and change in his mind just by staring at it," Sara chuckled from where she sat across from him, eating her own dinner. His girlfriend of six months had so generously brought him some food in hopes of cheering him up, even after he had hung up on her that afternoon.
Naruto forced a smile on his lips, not bothering to correct her that it wasn't Kakashi he was hoping to hear from. "Yeah, you're right."
Sara reached across the table and touched his hand. "It'll be alright, I'm sure your suspension won't last too long, you said he understood the tough position you were in. And I, for one, really admire your big heart."
He knew she was trying to comfort him and yet her words somehow made him even more uncomfortable as a guilty knot twisted in his gut.
When Sara had shown up at his apartment, Naruto explained that the reason he got suspended was because while in the midst of solving the Konoha Gallery Heist, he found Hinata Hyuuga in Kiri, but ultimately he let her go after he discovered she was pregnant.
He just omitted the little detail that she was pregnant with his baby.
Sara was also an agent at the Fire Country Bureau of Investigation, she, however, worked in the financial crimes division. The news of his suspension must have spread throughout the Bureau like wildfire for how quickly she learned about it after he left the office that day.
That fact made Naruto wonder what people were speculating the reason for his suspension had been and any other possible rumors that may be spreading about him.
Naruto nodded and pulled his hand away from Sara's before running it through his hair and refocused on finishing his meal. His professional reputation was in the toilet and his personal life suddenly felt like an unsolvable puzzle.
He liked Sara, he really did. Things were going well in their relationship, he had even thought about asking her to move in.
But with Hinata and Boruto now in the picture, Naruto was suddenly asking himself if he liked Sara enough.
He felt awful for the way his brain immediately tried to compare them, especially since he had no clue if Hinata was even interested in a relationship with him or even planning to stay in Konoha long term.
After dinner, Naruto placed their dishes in the sink but stood there a moment staring absently in the distance, trying to figure out how he could convince Hinata to stay in Konoha so that he could be a consistent figure in Boruto's life.
He was torn from his thoughts when Sara kissed him on the cheek. Naruto turned his head and she placed another kiss against his lips as she wrapped her arms around his middle.
"I know it's been a tough day, but I could sleepover and try to make it better if you want," she said with a coquettish smile.
"Umm, actually I'm sorry. I think I just want to be alone tonight." He felt guilty at the way her face fell, but he knew he couldn't be intimate with his girlfriend while Hinata was so prominently on his mind.
He kissed her on the forehead and walked her to the door apologizing and promising to text her in the morning.
Naruto woke to the sound of his phone ringing on his bedside table. He rolled over and looked at the screen, his heart suddenly accelerating at the unknown number. "Go for Uzumaki."
"You seriously answer the phone like that?"
The sound of her voice made Naruto shoot upright in his bed as a bright smile spread across his lips. He knew she was making fun of him, but even that couldn't hinder his excitement. "Hey! Thanks so much for calling!"
"So, Boruto and I are going to go for a walk in Senju Park right now," Hinata told him with an uncharacteristic shyness in her voice. "You can come meet us if you'd like."
"Yeah, I'd love to! I'll be there soon!" Naruto jumped out of bed and quickly dressed as Hinata gave him the details of where they could meet.
He ended up getting to the fountain at the center of the park before them, but he lived pretty close by.
Well, that and he ran the whole way there.
He had expected to wait some time before Hinata reached out to him, so Naruto was pleasantly surprised that she had invited him to see them so soon.
His expression lit up as he spotted them approaching the fountain where he was waiting. Hinata pushed Boruto in a stroller and the happy little boy was smiling as he played with the half dozen toys and stuffed animals that surrounded him.
"Hey!" Naruto grinned and began walking beside Hinata. They continued down the path that meandered through Senju Park. "How have you guys been?"
"Since yesterday?" Hinata snorted a laugh. "We've been fine, thanks."
He mentally facepalmed at the question, but for some reason, he was so giddy and nervous to be around her. He tried a more conversational question next. "So, where are you staying? …if you don't mind me asking."
Naruto intended to find out if Hinata was planning on staying in Konoha, and if she wasn't, he needed to figure out how to convince her otherwise.
"We're staying at my father's place." His eyebrows rose, remembering how Hinata had previously mentioned her unfavorable upbringing.
"How does he feel about you... having a child out of wedlock?" Naruto asked nervously, realizing if he ever had the opportunity to meet the man, he would probably not be looked at too kindly for getting his daughter pregnant.
Hinata glanced at him from the corner of her eye, seemingly amused by the question. "Surprisingly, he hasn't expressed any opinions on that matter. He seems to be too enamored with Boruto to care where he came from."
She shook her head and exhaled a sardonic little laugh before adding, "It's ironic really, my father didn't give me a shred of affection growing up and now he dotes on Boruto like he's the greatest thing to have ever happened to this world."
Naruto chuckled awkwardly not quite knowing how to respond to that.
"Well if you ever want to get out of your dad's house, you guys can always stay at my place," he offered as they stopped near a pond to look at the little ducklings swimming by. "I have an extra bedroom that Boruto can sleep in."
"Oh yeah, and where were you thinking I could sleep?" Blue eyes widened and Naruto realized he probably should have phrased that differently. His breath hitched when Hinata's fingers gently skated over his arm. "Were you thinking I'd just sleep in your bed with you?"
"Well, not exactly. I…" he trailed off as a blush heated his cheeks. Hinata snickered to herself when she turned away, bending over to pick up Boruto from his stroller so he could get a better look at the ducks.
"That daddy of yours is being very naughty," Hinata sang.
When she turned back, something mischievous glittered in her opal eyes as she gazed up at him. Then she leaned in closer and whispered, "what kind of naughty things are you going to do to me once I'm in your bed, daddy?"
'Everything!' his dirty mind screamed.
Naruto swallowed the harsh lump that formed in his throat as he fought back the salacious images flooding his brain. That new pet name really wasn't helping.
He had expected Hinata to still be upset that he had a girlfriend now, but it was growing increasingly apparent that his relationship status wasn't enough to deter her bold flirtation.
Blue eyes glanced to the side as he shyly scratched the back of his head, "I, umm, I didn't mean it like that. There's a guest bed for you, of course."
Hinata smirked at his flustered expression. "Alright, I'll consider it."
A/N: thank you so much for all the requests to continue this story, I'm so glad that you all have been enjoying it! I can't wait to hear what you think about this new chapter, so please please leave me a comment!
also, for those who don't know Sara is a character from Naruto Shippuden the Movie: The Lost Tower.