A/N: Okay, so techincally this is a semi-continuation of 'What Might Have Been' in that it sort of expands on the epilogue. That being said, this can totally be read as a separate story, which is bolstered by the fact that I altered a few details mentioned in the epilogue.
Here's a brief, rough time line of things:
-Boruto and Sarada get married when they are both 21.
-Boruto and Sarada have their first kid, Itachi when they are 22.
-Their twins - Asami and Eriko - were born when they are 26.
-Their last child, Keisuke, was born when they are 29.
-Sarada becomes the Hachidaime Hokage when she is 31.
Being a house-husband was hard. Who could have known?
Granted, Boruto assured himself that it was only a temporary arrangement, that once Keisuke was off with own genin team, he would return to work as some jonin commander.
It wasn't always like this. Before Sarada became the Hachidaime Hokage, their parental duties used to be shared a little more evenly.
When their first son Itachi was born, in fact, it was Sarada who took a leave from work (albeit only for less than a year.) Even when their twins Asami and Eriko came into this world, they both took alternating leaves of absences, with Sarada being appointed as both a special jonin commander and an advisor to the Hokage and Boruto rising through the ranks of ANBU.
However, by the time little Keisuke opened his eyes, it had become clear that Sarada was going to become the next Hokage and Boruto would have to be the one to prioritize child-rearing. Hence, Boruto quit his job at the ANBU, started taking missions part-time, and delved into what would transpire to be a more-than-10-year lifestyle as a house-husband.
Nothing could have prepared him for it.
Kids were naughty and untamable. Eriko, in particular, got into troubles on a daily basis, fighting with her peers, making loud jokes in class and coming up with novel ways to piss Shino-sensei - who, bless him, was still working at the Academy - off. Consequently, visits to the Academy Principal's office became a routine journey. Itachi was always well-behaved and Asami too shy to do anything bad, yet Keisuke, in spite of his sweet and innocent demeanor, in spite of his goody two shoes facade and politeness in front of teachers, regularly initiated pranks and organised mischief amongst the ranks of his fellow students at the tender age of four. He was no better at home either, dying Boruto's hair purple and green once in the man's sleep. Sarada chuckled and found it funny, before heading straight to work, much to Boruto's chagrin. Indeed, things are much easier when you're not the one who has to deal with the kids all the time.
Looking after kids was exhausting. Changing nappies, something Boruto had to go through for Keisuke especially, was hell. Waking up three in the morning was hell. Dark circles, unfortunately, had become a permanent phenomenon on Boruto's facial features. Sarada, though, insisted that he still looked handsome as ever.
Did Boruto ever feel a little staid and left out of the shinobi life? At times, yes. Without a doubt.
Sometimes, Boruto tettered on the verge of giving up, vowing that he would ditch this life and jump straight back into the bloody and adventurous life of a ninja because facing off bandits and alien demigods was far, far easier than dealing with his devil-children - and then he'd immediately feel bad about thinking these thoughts. He loved his wife, he loved his children, he loved his family and he loved this life. More than that, he was proud of them too - his wife and his children. They were incredible people who did incredible things.
And he was fiercely protective of them, as evidenced by the fact that he insisted on accompanying Sarada to every single Gokage meeting (and temporarily handing his fatherly duties to Mitsuki.) When someone tried to assassinate Sarada at their home, Boruto made sure the said assassin received the most painful death in the world by slow, brutal electrocution, even though Sarada wasn't even at their home and he was sure she could have handled the assassin herself. When some anonymous person tried to target Eriko and Asami during a school trip, Boruto rushed to the scene and decapitated said person, much to the awe and fear of their instructor Shino and their fellow students. ("My dad is the coolest!" Eriko had bellowed to her classmates.)
He cared deeply about their well-being too. He ensured that all the meals he packed for the kids were well-balanced, containing an array of vegetables, much to Eriko's complaints that there was a dearth of Ramen, to which Boruto dismissed as irredeemable junk food. When Keisuke cheekily traded his bento - filled with cabbages, tomatoes and carrots - away for pokey sticks and chips, Boruto scolded the boy and grounded him for a week, which did not end there, given that Keisuke incessantly strove to find ways to escape the house and Boruto had to stop the boy all the time. When Asami nervously cried at the prospect of a class presentation, Boruto had to install confidence in her and coach her with his (limited) public speaking skills. When Sarada stubbornly insisted on pulling an all-nighter, Boruto stubbornly insisted that she go to bed. When she refused, he offered her back massage services instead, to which she would reluctantly agree. When she finally dozed off at four in the morning, Boruto dutifully carried her off to their bed and slept beside her. When Sarada snuggled up next to him and he kissed her on the neck, all his frustrations melted away. (Itachi, out of all of them, seemed to be the least troublesome one. The only time Boruto worried about the boy was before his first mission, as he seemed to have caught on a cold.)
Ask anyone in Konoha and they would respond that yes, Boruto Uzumaki was a deeply invested family man. He attended every single parents' evening at the Academy and often visited his wife at the Hokage tower during late dinner, delivering her food and then dining with her. He was also one of the four males of an otherwise all-female parenting network group twenty-something people, which dedicated itself to organizing family events and offer training courses to new parents. It included his sister Himawari, Sumire, his friend and fellow male Denki, Wasabi and Namida. Weirdly, being amongst gossiping housewives hadn't made his head explode. Yet.
Life wasn't easy, but Boruto sure felt like the luckiest man in the world.
Besides, given that Keisuke was now six, he only had six more years to go.
A/N: So, this will basically be a collection of related one-shots and drabbles related to Boruto and Sarada's family. It's basically my own wish fulfillment and main method of passing time/ procrastinating whilst I'm slowly dying on the inside from uni life.
I literally started this because I couldn't get overprotective!house-husband!Boruto out of my mind xD
