DISCLAIMER!
I do not own Naruto, Naruto Shippuden, or Boruto. All of those rights go to Masashi Kishimoto.
A pair of sullen eyes stared at the ground. With the intensity of the look, one could almost assume that they were glaring at the ground. Yet, this person did no such thing. They just continued staring at the ground.
After almost seven minutes of consecutively looking down, their head suddenly jerked up. Tears were attempting to slip out of the person's eyes, yet none could bring themselves to escape their face. A moment later, a small smile adorned the person's face, as they glanced back down towards the ground.
"Even now, you just can't stop, can you?" They question.
They jump into a standing position, being popping their neck. "I must admit, I hadn't thought that you'd do this." They admitted, before looking away.
Far away, another person watched them. When the person looking down decided to leave the area, the man who hid left his position. Leaving only a strand of white hair, where he was.
-_-Years earlier-_-
A child was startled to hear his front door opening. It was the day before his birthday, they shouldn't care enough to be here yet. Fearing the worse, the kid ducked inside of his closet, unaware that the 'visitor' could still sense him.
With each approaching footstep, the kids heart jumped. The footsteps stopped in front of his room, and the boy could only hope that the intruder wouldn't find out where he was.
The boy felt his heart nearly jump out of it's cage when he saw the foot of someone just outside the closet. His heart beat was pounding, the boy couldn't think straight through the continuous and never ending beat of his own heart. After what felt like hours, the closet door finally opened.
He looked up, expecting to see the face of one of those people. Yet, he didn't. The mask looking down on him almost displayed an emotion, yet he couldn't figure out what. "Naruto, is something wrong?" The anbu asks.
The recently named Naruto looked back up at him one last time, before jumping into them with their arms wide. "Inu. I t-thought y-you." Naruto tries, but through his crying, the anbu couldn't understand the rest.
"Shhhh don't worry. I'm here. Don't worry. I'm here, and as long I am, you're going to be okay." Inu whispers.
After blinking a few times, Naruto's azure blue eyes looked up to Inu in hope. Hopeful azure met melancholy grey. They sat silently, Naruto relaxing in the arms of one of his favorite people. Inu felt at home, even if only for a bit with the child in his arms, he felt he could do something in the future.
Inu hoped that this moment would last. He suddenly heard a hawk's call, and looking out the window, he saw the bird flying about. Sighing to himself, he grabbed the, now unconscious, Naruto and set him in the bed, before leaving.
-_-Omake-_-
A pair of thistle eyes stared at the ground. Her hair grown to her back, and appeared to be the color black. The woman had tears in her eyes, she couldn't believe it. Her eyes allowed tears to freely flow out of her eyes as she stared at the ground. Her eyes cared not for the grass and dirt that laid underneath her feat.
Rather, her eyes focused on the body of her most admired. Even if she couldn't see it, she knew where it was. An earlier peek with her Byakugan would tell her that. Six feet below her feet, the body of Uzumaki Naruto was motionless, quite unlike the man himself. "Naruto, I wish that I had your ability to forgive. But, even if you wished for us to be friends, I don't see myself forgiving Sasuke. You sacrificed your dream for him Naruto, and that's the only reason that I have not attacked him. Just know Naruto, we miss you up here, life doesn't feel worth living without you." Hinata whispered, before walking out of the grave area. The grave Uzumaki Naruto, the hero of this world, was surrounded by the grave of Namikaze Minato, Uzumaki Kushina, and an empty grave. The empty grave of Jiraiya of the Sannin.
-_-fin-_-
Hello guys. It's Citrus, this is the prologue of this story, and I would suggest staying with the story for a while. I have stuff planned, and I plan on doing my planned stuff to perfection. This is the first chapter that was ever uploaded, and it was the first to be completely edited under my new story plan. The older fans, or people who just started reading, will tell newer readers that this change is nothing like the original story. Originally, I thought about putting this in the Shining Hope book, and moving the original chapters elsewhere. But it's easier just to make another book, especially since the name "Shining Hope" name didn't really fit the story I made after a while. I realized that, and I hope this name's better. If you have any ideas for names, shoot me a dm, or join a discord chat I made.
A bit of backstory, I have edited this chapter alone, five times now. That's insane that I would spend that much time with just one chapter. Most other chapters have been updated either once, or zero times. So, this one having been edited five times is just crazy. But, I would like to thank you all on this crazy ride. As of the moment that I am typing this, Shining Hope has 49,010 reads. That's insane! That's 1k shy of 50k, and I can't believe that I've reached this level. It makes me giddy thinking of how much further we can grow, and I hope that we are able to make this story reach new heights.
Thank you all for the chance to do this. I am still in a state of disbelief at this entire thing. If you have enjoyed this story, share it with a few friends. And if you'd like to talk to me, whether it be about life or just me not updating in a while, and you're mad at me. Then contact me at our discord, though I will reply to any and all private messages that are sent towards me.
Discord chat - /5UfjMXy
First published October 8th, 2016.
First edit January 1st, 2017
Second edit March 3rd, 2017
Third edit July 1st, 2017
Fourth (and not final) edit December 6th, 2017
Fifth (and hopefully final) edit, July 25th, 2018
Published September 9th, 2018.