Child of the Leaf
Chapter Seven
by operadeglace
"Come on, Sakura. He's a good kid."
Salada pressed her ear to the door so hard that it was throbbing.
Whatever her mom and Aunt Ino were talking about, it sounded interesting. She was alerted from her studies and to the imminent drama by her mother's yelling.
"You've only known him for an hour!"
"Who are they talking about?" The dark haired girl whispers thoughtfully to herself.
"He's trying to find his birth parents… he came all the way from Sunagakure."
There was a long moment of silence between the two women.
Salada opened her door ever so slightly to see what was wrong.
Sakura looked as if all the life was sucked out of her body. She stood, frozen to the spot, pale as a sheet.
"This boy… what is his name?" She says, looking at her wrist. The charm that Salada had given as a present glinted in the fading sunlight.
Ino's head tilts to the side, noting her friend's drastic change in disposition.
"Shinachiku."
Salada gasps, looking to her mother's pale wrist encircled by the red cord.
Shina…chiku!?
Then the young girl watches in horror as her mother collapses as if she were suddenly struck dead by some invisible force.
"Sakura!?"
Ino immediately drops to her knees beside her fallen friend in fear, checking her pulse.
"M-mama!" Salada sprints to the two older women's side and Ino raises her hand calmly.
"Salada… she's fine. She's just fainted." She cushions her unconscious comrade's head in her lap.
"Can you go get a glass of water for your mother, please?"
The young ninja in training nods and hurries into the kitchen to fetch what was asked of her.
Ino stares at the unconscious Uchiha matriarch.
"What just happened..?"
—
"What are you doing with my hitai ate?"
Naruto's hands gripped on the young man's collar.
In his mind he imagined the boy on the roof, spying on Sakura through her windows.
Watching her eat.
Watching her dust her high shelves.
Watching her sleep.
Watching her take a bath.
This.
Was.
Not.
Okay.
His stealing of Sakura's prized possessions (such as his hitai ate, probably) was a step closer to the punk actually making a move on her!
He shook the blonde teen threateningly.
"Give me a good reason not to throw you prison, kid."
The boy's eyes grew wide with fear.
"Please, s-sir! It's all just a big understanding!"
This mysterious young ninja needed to be taught a lesson. A stint in jail would help him to see that his Sakura-chan needed to be left alone.
"I'm your son."
Yes, jail time.
Jail time and maybe a punch in the di—
…
… …
… … …
What did he just say?
"What did you… just say?"
Naruto's words mirror his thoughts.
Impossible.
He couldn't have said—
"I think… I'm your son."
The shichidaime pauses, his eyes quickly assessing the boy's appearance to deduce some answers.
Blonde hair.
About fifteen.
Green eyes.
Abnormally beautiful forehead…
After viewing these features, his heart immediately skipped a beat.
It was impossible that such a child could exist…
Naruto was half way between the real world, and an alternate universe created from his old hopes and dreams.
The universe that he had shared with his Sakura-chan.
I… I can't believe this. He must be lying.
Placing the boy on the ground, he drew his hands shakily on his hitai ate which the kid must have mistaken for a sign of affection.
The boy grinned, then Naruto knew he wasn't lying.
That was his smile.
"Naruto… I can't see you anymore." He remembered Sakura's face peeking through her door.
"What!? Why!?" He said frantically.
"I… I need some space. I have to think…"
"You've been thinking for NINE MONTHS now! Please! Just tell me what I've done wrong!"
His voice became desperate and pleading as he yelled through the opening of her door.
"Just… give up on me, Naruto."
He could tell she was crying. Before leaving, he speaks firmly through the crack in the door, making sure she knew that he was serious.
"I will never give up on you, Sakura-chan. It's my ninja way."
She had avoided him for nine months.
Nine months.
In Naruto's mind, so many mysteries that plagued him for the past fifteen years were being solved.
And then, his heart exploded.
"Son… what is your name?"
"Shinachiku."
The whiskered man's whole body starts to shake as he moves toward the boy who seemingly stepped out of his dreams.
"Sakura-chan… if we get married, we should call our kid Shinachiku."
Sakura blushed.
"What makes you think I'd marry you!?"
She yells at him, shaking a fist in the air.
Naruto scratched his head in confusion.
"Aren't we in love?"
Naruto quickly reaches for Shinachiku and wraps his arms around his shoulders. He tenderly begins to cry joy into the top of the boy's head.
"Shinachiku…"
Shina lets his new found father hold him for as long as possible, basking in the feelings of acceptance and acknowledgement held in the warmth of his orange sleeves.
As he returned the embrace he closed his eyes.
He could hear the rushing of the leaves in the wind all around him.
Never before had he heard such a beautiful and peaceful sound.
-The End of Chapter 7.
—Story by ODG
Narusaku lives on. Believe it!
