Child of the Leaf

Chapter Three

by operadeglace


"Naruto? Where is your first hitai-ate?"

A beautiful woman with long black hair and clear eyes asks politely as she folds a small pair of pink pants and puts it in a neat pile on the bed she was sitting on.

"Um… why are you asking?"

A male voice echoes from the bathroom.

"Oh, nothing special. Bolt is just having a hard time fitting in… he just doesn't feel motivated to do well in school. I thought that maybe you could give him your old hitai-ate to inspire him to do better." She replies gently.

There was a moment where there was no response from the male in the shower, only the sound of water rushing and draining into the floor.

"The kid hates my guts. Why would he want my old relic?"

The man known as Naruto says finally, answering very carefully. His blue eyes were wide with fear.

In his mind he was transported to a starry night, leaves rustling in the winds with a sea of sound, and her.

How heavenly she looked in the pale light of the moon lying in his arms…

"I mean it."

"No, Naruto, I can't take this! Think about it… you told me it embodies all of your hopes and dreams! I can't just…"

"I wouldn't have any of those dreams without you. I wouldn't have any hope without you."

"Don't… don't say that…"

He didn't feel like telling his wife, Hinata, that he had given the hitai-ate meant for his firstborn son, to his first love.

"Oh! I, uh, I think I left it with a friend for safe keeping." Naruto turns the shower up, full blast, to try and drown out the subtle hints of his stretched truth.

"Please, try to get it back for me?" Hinata finishes folding her children's clothes and sighs.

Naruto knocks his forehead against the tiles of the shower and groans.

"Yeah! I'll get it back today!"

When he was a snot-nosed genin, Naruto imagined himself as Hokage with everyone bowing to his every whim, being admired by men and women alike for his manliness, endless days of goofing off and eating ramen…

Being the Seventh Hokage wasn't anything like he'd thought it'd be.

There was so much responsibility that came with his leadership, but there was no one better suited for the task of protecting and running the technologically booming city of Konohagakure than Uzumaki Naruto, valiant hero of the world.

Unfortunately, his job took him away from his family every day. Hinata was fine with it all, giving him his space and keeping the household in order and children maintained.

His young son, Bolt, and his tiny daughter, Himawari, however, were growing up without him.

This was a thought that ate at him every day when he returned home, late at night. The tired Seventh Hokage would sneak into their bedrooms to kiss their cheeks while they slept, saddened to find them growing older each time he did.

Naruto knew more than anyone in the village the pains of growing up without parents. He hated that his dream of being Hokage was now forcing his children to experience the same sort of pains that he had.

The morning light crested over the cityscape on Hokage Mountain as the Seventh moved swiftly above the rooftops to take a quick stop on his way to work.

The air was cool and crisp, and he could hear the familiar sounds of the leaves whistling in the forests surrounding his beautiful home.

One more leap and he was high above the awakening streets, touching his feet down softly in front a rooftop home. He lifted his hand to knock at the door but stops as he sees the person whom he was there to visit, sliding open a nearby door and stepping out onto the balcony.

It was a slim woman with pale pink hair and mint colored eyes. She held a mug in her hands that occasionally puffed out little tufts of steam into the cold morning air. The petite woman walked to the bannister of the balcony to lean her elbows onto the railing, looking at the sun rising in the distance.

Naruto took a moment to admire one of his most dearest friends in life as she sipped her coffee, waiting for her to notice him as he stood rooted to the spot. Although he thought she was as beautiful as she ever was, he noticed her eyes were red and swollen. She must have been crying again…

"Good morning, Sakura-chan!" Naruto says brightly, giving her a winning smile.

Sakura turns suddenly, her lovely eyes lighting up as she sees his smile.

"Naruto! Good morning! We haven't seen you for a while! What can I help you with?" She asks, forsaking her mug on the railing to walk to the side that was closer to her childhood friend.

"What? I can't be here just because I miss you, Sakura-chan?" He grins, his whiskered cheeks making him look like a mischievous fox.

Sakura raises an eyebrow and grins at him knowingly, folding her arms expectantly.

"Aw, you caught me. I actually, well…" He laughs, rubbing the back of his head nervously.

"I need my hitai-ate back."

Naruto thought he saw a flash of sadness and guilt in her expression as she looked away from him, her gaze drifting to the front gates.

"I'm sorry, Naruto. I lost it." She smiles weakly at him, not able to look him in the eyes. "Why did you need it?"

It was Naruto's turn to feel a little sadness.

So… she didn't really care about me after all…

He shook his blonde head and tried to smile without revealing his obvious hurt.

"I was supposed to give it to our son." Naruto says simply.

His words have an immediate impact on Sakura who nearly falls on her side of the balcony. In a flash, Naruto jumps to her side and catches her in his arms.

"Whoa, Sakura-chan. Are you getting enough sleep?" Her friend asks worriedly as he holds her protectively in the warmth of his arms.

Sakura's body starts to tremble.

"O-our son?" She repeats his earlier comment that had such an effect on her.

"Well, yeah. Hinata and I." Naruto's grin slipped as he set her back on her feet. " Hinata wanted it to see if it would help Bolt… you know how crazy that kid is getting nowadays."

Sakura takes a deep breath and sighs, holding her hand on her chest in relief.

"Oh, Bolt." She smiles at him warily, torn on the inside as she was not sure if she was relieved or saddened by the blonde man's response.

"He reminds me a lot of you, actually, Naruto. Sorry I don't have it anymore…"

Naruto pats her head affectionately and grins widely, something he did rarely in those days, but reserved it only to be used in her presence.

"Ah, well. I'll just tell her I lost it." He makes sure that she is stable before jumping onto the railing and saluting to her before leaping off. "Well, see you laters, Sakura-chan!"

After retrieving her mug, Uchiha Sakura walks slowly back into her kitchen where she stops in front of the sink, her body leaning over the basin as her tears began to fall once more.

"Gaara… please, take good care of him."

"…you're sure about this, Haruno-san?"

"I have to protect that impossible dream of his."

"What is his name?"

"Shinachiku."

"How fitting."

-End of Chapter Three.

—Story by ODG