Long, dark hair, a glimmer of white, and the smallest, briefest ghost of a smile.
But then Himawari blinked and the only thing she saw was Neji oji-san's grave.
Maybe it was the white lilies they'd laid out for him? But Himawari glanced at Mama's face, her eyes fixed beyond the horizon and fogging up at memories from years and years ago, memories that Hima would have no way of knowing, and understood that she had seen nothing.
Still...
Sometimes, when Boruto stared hard at Neji oji-san's gravestone, at the spiral leaf denoting that he was a proud ninja of Konoha, he would see it.
The spiral would spin and spin and spin, and his left eye would ache a little, and he'd hear a rush of wind and see a whirl of blue.
But his dad couldn't.
That much was obvious, from his low, contented humming as he laid out sunflowers and water.
It had been almost two decades now, and his dad's voice would still at times quake with the smallest of tremors when he spoke fondly of Neji oji-san and how grumpy and uptight he used to be.
He definitely wouldn't have been humming if he'd really seen it.
"...And then, oji-san, onii-chan got so scared when Mama caught him staying up late. He told her that he was doing his homework from Shino-sensei..."
Himawari paused in her narration, looking up at the summer sky and counting all the birds she could see.
Seven.
She returned her gaze to her uncle's name. The warm breeze rustled her hair reassuringly.
"...But anyway, he'll get annoyed if I tell you the story when he isn't here. So wait for us next week, okay?"
She looked up at the sky again and saw an eigthth bird and heard the hum of an older man's voice.
The wind carried a fuzzy sunflower petal to her outstretched palms, and she took that as a sign.
After all, she and those flowers had the same name.
"Oji-san..." Boruto shuffled his feet. "Uh...my Chuunin Exams are next week and..."
He gulped. Talking to oji-san was just as tough as talking to tou-chan sometimes.
Still...
"I...I'll make you proud. So watch out for me, okay?"
He held out his fist, and even though oji-san wasn't there, he tapped the spiraling leaf that denoted him as a proud ninja of Konoha.
He turned and walked back home, a white flower petal tucked securely into his pocket. His bolt-shaped necklace swayed slightly with the breeze, and he was sure that it was a sign.
After all, he and his uncle had the same name.
A/N: For Day 5: Ghosts. Short, but I hope you like it! :)