AN: OMG GUYS I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR THE POSITIVITY (┳Д┳) I've received a number of private messaging and also so many positive reviews! I felt a lot better knowing there's so many assurance and encouragement coming from you guysss! And I didn't know this story will be interesting to some of you hahah since it's sounded really rather scientific regarding DNAs etc etc. There's definitely going to be some actions in this story, as what i am planning to do because I do want to brush up on my action writing skills haha!

I hope you guys enjoy this easy chapter and do review!

.::.

"Why are you back, don't you have a lot of work to do?" Boruto folded his arms and quizzed sarcastically. "That's what you've been doing anyways."

"Boruto." Hinata sighed, placing her hand above his head and pressed it down slightly. "Your father made an effort to return so it will be nice for you to show some appreciation."

The blonde pushed his mother's hand away and continued sulking. "Isn't it like a normal thing for a father to be back for dinners anyways? Do you really need an effort for that?"

"Ah…" Noticing the tension in the air, Naruto chuckled loudly. "Right, I should return home more often for dinner! Gomen, Boruto."

A slight tint of redness dusted the kid's cheeks as he turned away. "I don't care anyways."

"Nii-san, stop being so mean to otou-san!" Himawari entered the conversation as she aided Hinata into settling the food on the dining table.

She had cooked a feast, knowing that her husband would be back. And it was all of Naruto's favourite dishes of hers. Hinata just really wanted to appreciate each and every single chance she had with her husband, and she wanted to make the most out of it. Her eyes glanced towards her son, who was still pretending to sulk.

She giggled. "Alright, shall we eat?"

"Yes!" Himawari and Naruto cheered in unison.

"So, are you going to come back more often from now on?" Boruto stuffed a morsel of rice into his mouth as he questioned, eyes never once met his dad's.

"I will try but I can't promise you that, Boruto."

Naruto really detested conversations regarding him and dinners. He knew how he had not been the greatest father ever since the day he took the position as the Hokage, as well as the slight neglection towards his wife. But as the Hokage, Konoha was his family too. Thousands of villagers were relying on him to manage the entire place. Such great responsibility poured onto him and he could never imagine being able to even request for a day off.

Everything required his permission, his approval and all of his planning for the genin teams and Anbus. As much as they said one could find a way make time for the people they truly wanted to see at the end of the day, it just did not work the same for him. He was the leader of the village.

"I don't expect you to do that anyways." Boruto muttered, brows knitted slightly as he chomped down another serving of meat.

Hinata's eyes softened at the sight of her upset son. She exhaled softly and brought different topics up to divert the conversations. Boruto had been a hard child to manage, mainly because he took most of his personality from his father. Stubborn, playful and rebellious. But on top of that, she knew deep down all he wanted was to regain back the relationship he once had with his father.

She knew how it felt like to grow up without the attention of a father, so she tried her best to be both of the parent role to Boruto. As much as she was burnt out of days, she still wanted to do her best for the family, and for her husband.

"How's your mission with Sasuke-kun anyways?" Hinata questioned.

"Orochimaru had a rogue creation. He possessed the sharingan himself and created multiple mini clones of his." Naruto explained, noticing the curiosity of his son. He smiled, deciding to continue with this topic. "You know, Sarada and Chocho actually followed us. To say we did not notice, they are pretty good."

"I heard about it too, Sakura-san told me she was rather mad at her daughter for putting herself at such a dangerous place." Hinata giggled. "She must be really curious about her dad."

"Ah… regarding that…" Naruto ruffled his hair. "Sarada thought Sakura wasn't her mother so she followed us to Sasuke to get the truth."

"Really?" Hinata raised her brows, slightly surprised. "How did she get that idea?"

Boruto decided to butt in, wishing to join in the conversation where his father was in. "I made a new friend with Chocho. He said he was there when you and the rest fought the bad guys."

"New friend?" Naruto cocked his brows a little, his chewing slowed down. Who would be present at such a dangerous place but none of them sensed his presence? "He was at the hideout? How did you meet him?"

"Near the training grounds. His name is Mitsuki, and he's the sibling of our Mitsuki."

"What?" Naruto had no intention of accepting more of Orochimaru's clone into the academy. His previous decision had caused some trouble that he would love not to relief it again. "He told you that?"

"Yea. Me and Chocho are going to meet him and bring him to meet Mitsuki today but he did not show up."

Naruot narrowed his eyes slightly. What was Orochimaru doing that he wasn't informed about? He knew about the existence of an older Mitsuki, but not more than that. "Boruto, how old is he?"

"Oh, now you're caring?" The younger Uzumaki grinned with a frown. "I'm not telling you. He's our friend!"

"No – "

"I'm done with dinner!" Slamming the empty glass on the table, he stood up and grabbed all his utensils to the sink. "Thank you kaa-chan for the dinner!"

"Nii-san, wait for me!" Himawari placed her chopsticks down gently and brought them to the sink, following her brother along.

"You two, remember to not fall asleep right after dinner!" Hinata shouted as she listened to her son's footsteps retreated to the second level.

"Ah, hai!"

Naruto frowned, leaning against the backrest of the chair as he stared towards the ceiling. Something did not sound right about the appearance of Mitsuki's sibling. Why was the sibling sneaking around everyone at the hideout, and why didn't Orochimaru told him about anything when they were there to confront him.

"Naruto-kun." Hinata smiled lightly. "You seemed stress, are you okay?" Clearing up the dishes, she made her way towards the bin and scraped off the access residues.

"Ah… Boruto mentioned something about Mitsuki's sibling." He muttered, deciding to help his wife with the dishes. "It's a little off that he snuck around us at the hideout. It was a dangerous place after all, you know?"

"It does sound odd. Did none of you guys notice the child?"

"We were probably too caught up with Shin." Naruto explained. "I will have to send someone to search up on the sibling."

"Hm… that sounds right." Hinata turned on the tap and gave the dishes a few rinse. "But Boruto seems to care about his new friend. Don't do anything too upsetting for him. Be careful around your work, okay?"

"Ah… right." He nodded, sneaking his arm around her waist. "So… do you think we are able to get back to where we left off?"

.::.

The summer's sun shone down brightly onto them, and Sasuke mentally thanked the trees for the shades. He could hear more than just his footsteps strolling towards the direction of Konoha after spending a day back in Orochimaru's hideout. He blamed himself for going too harsh on Mitsuki, causing him to sleep in the entire day and only managed to wake up by night.

He could simply leave him there and continued his journey, but he thought it would be best to bring him back to Konoha and do some explanation, especially how the kid did not once stop following him around the hideout and asking him over and over again, the same question through the entire night.

"Are you really my parent?"

Sasuke felt his eye's twitched.

"Yes. Sorta. I'm your father, actually. Parent is meant for mother and father."

In fact, he hated to admit that right now he had this newly found son he never even knew he had. What worst was the existence of the kid's mother to which he had no idea on how the hell was he going to explain the entire story.

Other than almost burning the entire hideout down, being incredibly mad to the point Sugietsu had to water him down twice to calm his raging activated eyes, he thought he could at least be nice to the kid who was currently walking beside him at the moment.

How was he even going to explain to everyone else, including his family and Naruto's? He secretly stole a few glances at the child next to him, walking in a way as if he was really glad to have finally found his parent. He must had been seeking for him, or at least for his parent… which was also him.

"Are you going to name me?" He quizzed, walking a little closer to him. "Is your name Sasuke? So am I going to be an... Uchiha too?"

Naming the kid wasn't his priority at the moment. He needed to get his mind sort out before he reached Konoha. "Didn't Orochimaru name you?"

"Mitsuki is a clone name." He explained. "He said my parent should name me instead."

Sasuke smiled along when he noticed the kid had his lips curved upwards for him. How could he strip the idea of giving his son, a family? "Mitsuki, who do you have to meet at Konoha? Sarada?"

"I was going to meet with Chocho and Boruto yesterday… but I think I'm a little late now." He muttered, lowering his head a little.

A sight Sasuke found rather familiar with the Hokage's wife. "Sorry about yesterday, I thought you were someone bad."

"It's okay!" This kid was such a forgiving one. "So is Sarada my sister?"

He shivered slightly at the question. That would be another round of explanation he had to do. The explanation honestly would not be that hard, but what worried him the most was the acceptance of his son. He did not want him to grow up alone, especially with Sasuke himself not being present most of the time.

He mind trailed towards the mother of this kid, the Hokage's wife and someone whom he could almost classified as a friend. She was a great wife, a great mother, a little too soft but it was true that she did possess a great bloodline. And not to forget how Hamura had his chakra transferred into her.

Now he could understand why Orochimaru was keen in this creation. For goodness, this kid had the blood of an Uchiha and a Hyuga, and both the chakra of Hamura and Hagoromo.

"Yea, she is." He replied softly. "Mitsuki, have you not been under any training?"

The younger male shook his head. "I practice my taijutsu with Sui-nii and Jugo nii-san mainly."

"Has Orochimaru taught you anything about chakra control and the activation of your bloodline limit?"

"Not really."

Sasuke felt a sense of relief, knowing the full intention of the sanin was not to destroy the shinobi world, but instead it was simply just to curb his scientist curiosity. "Do you train often?"

"Only when they are free." He chimed. "Do you train often… otou-san?"

Sasuke halted, staring at the kid next to him. The way he addressed him as his father was filled with so much uncertainty.

"Gomen, am I not supposed to call you that?" He stopped along with him, hands brought together to meddle with him. Sasuke remembered how Naruto's wife used to do that.

"No. I mean, yes. Yes you can call me that. I just… Yes you can." Sasuke horribly explained. He obviously had no idea on how to be a new father.

He smiled. "Anyways, is kaa-chan in Konoha too? Can I meet her? Or are you also my kaa-chan?"

Sasuke felt his head beginning to hurt. He knew the day was going to be long one with all the questions he was going to be receiving. Not just from his newly found son, but practically from everyone else in the village. He sighed internally as he made his way towards Konoha.

.::.

Hinata strolled down the market, eyes looking around for the ingredients she had in mind for the dinner she was intending to make. She exhaled a little, wondering should she be making an additional portion for her husband.

"Thinking about Naruto-kun, huh?" Sakura asked softly. "Must be hard deciding whether to cook his portion or not."

"A little, but it's alright!" She smiled, not wanting the kunoichi to see through her. "How's your day spent with Sasuke-kun, by the way? I heard he stayed for a night."

"Ah, it was really nice." She giggled. "Sarada is really happy for Sasuke-kun to be back too. He should return a little often."

"Missing dads…" Hinata chuckled softly as she reminiscence about the feeling of not having a proper father figure since young. "It's taking a toll on the kids sometime."

"Yea, sadly it is." Sakura admitted.

"They are the greatest heroes of Konoha, and Konoha is their family too." Hinata picked a fresh tomato up and stared at it for a few seconds. "They have too much things on hand."

"They do. What we can do best is to look after their home, right?" Sakura said, laughing a little to lighten up the mood.

Passing the tomato that was in Hinata's hand, she continued. "Sasuke-kun likes tomatoes right? You should get it. It's tomatoes season now." She smiled, returning her attention towards the freshly red object.

"Ah, doesn't matter for now. He's not going to return anytime soon." Her voice softened drastically as she placed the tomatoes back to the crates. "Maybe next time!"

The duo continued to pick their groceries as they chatted about their children, especially regarding the two who was currently enrolled in the academy to be a shinobi. Hinata mentally sighed to herself as she continued the conversations, wondering what was exactly the secret to parenting. It never was easy to parent and she had to go through so much trial and error with Boruto and Himawari previously.

Yet, she still felt like she did not parent them right enough. She admired Sakura for being able to take care of Sarada alone since the day of her birth, and Sarada seemed to have turn out well and understanding, despite not having a father figure constantly around her. Unlike Boruto. Was she doing something wrong?

"Ah!"

Hinata blinked as she watched a few of her fruits she had brought rolled out of her basket. She spun around to look at the person who had ran passed her, knocking her elbow.

"I'm sorry!" The kid bowed, long black locks falling freely passed his face.

"Ah… it's alright." Hinata smiled, watching as the kid hurriedly trying to grab onto all the fallen fruits. "You shouldn't run in the market, it's a really pack place."

The kid let out an embarrassed laugh as he made eye contact with her. "I requested for a race with my father across the village."

Sakura laughed along. "Well, your father must be fast too for you to be in such a rush."

"He's going from the roofs." Finishing his words, he dumped the last fruit into Hinata's basket. "Sorry for causing the trouble, I will be going off now." Waving, he sped off in the direction of the Hokage's tower.

"Nice kid." Sakura commented. "His eyes reminded me of Sasuke-kun's."

"I guess you are already missing him." Hinata teased.

Sakura did not deny and merely shook her head. "Let's get back home."

.::.

"Are you going to knock?"

Sasuke wanted to, as he stood outside the Hokage's room for almost a minute now staring just at the door. He still felt like the explanation he had prepared while leaping through the roofs, wasn't a good enough. He wasn't prepared for Naruto's reaction, nor his wife, or even this kid's mother.

He could see a possible chance of Mitsuki not being accepted in Konoha, especially with such a genetic background. If then, what was he supposed to do? He had to carry on his mission, so would the kid be returned back to Orochimaru without even having the chance to interact with his parents? He felt his heart ached a little at the idea. After all, he was his father.

"Yea, I am." Sasuke said and looked towards his son. "Mitsuki – "

"That's my clone name, tou-san." He pouted slightly. "Are you going to name me?"

"Soon." He promised. Maybe he should seek the mother's opinion. "If in an event, Konoha do not accept you. Are you okay with returning back to Orochimaru?"

"Hm…" The kid looked towards the ground as he tapped his foot against it. "It doesn't matter. So long you and kaa-chan visits me!"

The sight of a longing child reminded Sasuke of himself when he was young. He used to be a carefree, hate free and simple kid who simply just wanted to train with his brother, be a proud son to his father and helped his mother during dinner times.

He smiled and nodded, feeling a slight amount of confidence to knock on the door. He did not wait for permission, like how he would always do and opened the door, entering the room to greet the Hokage and his assistant.

"Sasuke?" Naruto placed his pen down on the table. "Why are you here again?" He questioned as his eyes fell onto the kid. Naruto observed the kid for a little longer, noticing the slight resemblance in the facial features with the Uchiha. He narrowed his eyes. "Is he someone you're supposed to escort to Konoha?"

"We don't have any visitors for today." Shikamaru added in, waiting for Sasuke to explain his arrival.

"No. He's from Orochimaru's hideout. Another clone creation, name's Mitsuki." Sasuke spoke offhandedly, and when he noticed the expression of Naruto's, he prepared himself for the worst outcome.

"Mitsuki?" Naruto furrowed his brows and stared at the boy, probing a question. "Orochimaru created another clone, huh? Are you Mitsuki's brother?"

"Hai." The kid meekly replied.

Naruto instantly knew that he must be the new friend Boruto had mentioned, without a doubt. Yet, despite being a clone of Orochimaru's, he looked completely different from the two that the sanin had created. He returned his gaze towards his best friend and it did not require him to be a mind reader to know that Sasuke had yet to tell him the full story.

He leaned backwards, eyes not once leaving his friend. "Sasuke, did Orochimaru ask you to bring him back to join Konoha's ninja academy?"

"No." Sasuke responded softly, feeling a little troubled. But he had nowhere to avoid either. "He's my son."

"What?" Naruto exclaimed, jaw dropped. The first thing that reached his mind was the fact that he had to watch Sakura's heartbreak regarding Sasuke's infidelity actions. But he shook it off immediately, trusting his pal and also leaning more towards the idea of Orochimaru culturing his DNA to create this particular kid.

Shikamaru widened his eyes and turned his attention towards the quiet child next to the Uchiha. "Your son? Did Orochimaru used your DNA in this cloning technique?"

Sasuke nodded, bring his hand up to rest on his son's shoulder when he saw him stiffened up a little. He was a great kid, from all the interactions he had with him. He tightened his grasp, providing him a sense of assurance.

"Does Sakura knows about this?" Naruto asked the first thing he could think of.

"Not yet. I came to you two first." Sasuke explained, almost ready to spill another piece of information he was dreading to say. "Orochimaru came up with a new cloning technique by trying to fuse two DNA together."

"Two DNA?" Shikamaru was already trying to piece the information together. "You mean that he used someone else's DNA too?"

The Uchiha felt a sense of relief that he did not need to explain too much around the genius. "Yes. Mitsuki was the only success one out of the ten clones he created."

"Who's DNA did Orochimaru used?" Naruto queried. "Karin's?"

Sasuke wished the sanin would have just used his own. He quickly stole a glance at the kid next to him, realizing that actually he did had features that resembled the Hokage's wife. Perhaps it was how pale his skin was, and how he had that messy bangs and long straight locks.

Deciding not to further drag the conversation, he revealed the last bit of detail about his son. "Hinata's."

A slam on the table and the sound of chair toppling to the ground was heard.