Child Of The Leaf
Chapter Twelve
by operadeglace
(brace yourselves… this is fast and sad, like a hawk attacking a kitty… sorry…)
"I… really hate you, Dad."
Naruto's entire body felt as if it were being crushed under a boulder as the weight of his younger son's words pressed in on him.
"Bolt, what did you hear..?"
"Why should you care!? You don't care! You've never cared!" The young boy spouts, tearing his arm away from his father's grasp.
"That's not true at all, son… please, let's talk about this— " Naruto chokes out.
"OH. NOW you want to talk to ME!?"
His points accusingly to Sakura and Shinachiku.
"You magically have another kid with your old girlfriend and NOW you have time to talk to me!? That doesn't make sense, Dad! You don't make any sense!" Tears were forming in his eyes as his face reddened with anger.
"No, no, I'm sorry, Bolt. What I said in there… I was just a little overexcited… you know me and my—"
"NO! I DON'T KNOW YOU."
Naruto was silenced by the pure anger that emanated from his progeny. His heart that had beat so full of happiness just minutes before was now being suffocated and gasping for air.
Bolt was absolutely right.
Even after all he himself had experienced as a child, the frustration, loneliness, and hate… he had managed to give his own son the gift of a similar fatherless childhood.
He was no better than a dead father after all…
—
Salada was quickly ushered past the Hokage and his son by her Aunt Ino, who acted like she wanted to give them some room, but really wanted to eavesdrop from a safe vicinity at Sakura's bedside.
"Heads up, Sakura. Hinata accidentally heard me talking about Shinachiku…"
Ino whispers to her bed lain friend as Salada looked at the blonde boy with green eyes whom she had caught a glimpse of earlier at her apartment.
So, this is Shinachiku..?
From the first time she saw him, she knew she was related to him in some sort of way. The resemblance to her mother was uncanny.
For an eleven year old, she was quite observant. So observant, in fact, that the young Uchiha prodigy had known for quite some time now that she had a long lost sibling.
It all started with a pink book.
This was no ordinary pink book. It had the power to make her mother cry no matter how many times she had read it.
She never caught sight of the book when her dad was home, only when he was gone for long periods of time. In his absence, the pink book would be open on her mother's desk, its pages wrinkled and stained from tears both old and fresh. It seemed as if she were trying to wash the words away with her sorrow.
The mysteries of the little pink tome were calling to her…
One day, while her mother was cleaning the house, she slipped into her mother's study and excitedly started to read it.
To her surprise, the contents were handwritten. Apparently, it was her mother's old journal from her ninja days. She started her reading at the first pages of the text, which she found to be a recording of her mother's adolescent life…
'I love Sasuke. Uchiha Sakura has a beautiful ring to it!'
The pages were clean and smooth in the beginning with hearts strewn about the paper in harried shapes and varied sizes.
'I'm on his team! Team 7! He's so dreamy!'
As Salada continued, she realized that her mama was a little obsessed with her father when they were growing up…
'I wish it was just a two-man team with me and Sasuke. Naruto is so annoying.'
Salada adjusted her glasses and grinned evilly. Maybe she could get some dirt on Bolt's dad that she could use for a later time…
She skipped forward in the journal, the pages became grittier and dirtier in this section, as if carried and used on a journey.
'Naruto saved my life today. Maybe he isn't such an annoyance after all.'
Salada cocked her head to the side, curious as to why there was so much mention of the newly appointed Hokage in her mother's diary when the beginning of it was littered with 'Uchiha Sakura loves Uchiha Sasuke forever'. She flipped another couple pages.
'Sasuke is gone. I feel terrible I couldn't stop him. Naruto promised me that he would bring him back. I don't know what I would do without him—'
Flip. Flip. Flip.
'Naruto scared me today. He turned into a strange creature and had no control over himself. I need to find a way to help him—'
Flip. Flip.
'He saved me again. Saved all of us. He would gladly sacrifice his life for any one of his friends, but I will become stronger so he never has to make that choice— '
Flip.
'The war is over. Sasuke is gone. And Naruto has saved me from myself—'
The pages were becoming wavy, the ink smudged and enlarged into circular, water damaged patterns. These were the pages that her mother must have read and reread countless times.
'I think I am in love with Naruto—'
Salada's eyes widen in response.
She had always wondered why she acted strangely around that guy…
'—don't deserve him—'
Salada made slow, thoughtful turnings of the pages at this point as she connected several important dots.
'I am pregnant—'
'I named him Shinachiku. Never forget you have a son—'
'— hope he will be fine in Suna—'
'— one day, I hope to meet him—'
'I don't deserve such a beautiful gift—'
'— isolated myself with my lies—'
'— no one to turn to—'
The young kunoichi never outwardly showed many emotions; she was much like her father… however, reading her mother's most private thoughts made her pity her mother, whom she had considered the strongest, most stubborn woman in the village.
She also felt betrayed.
How could her mother not have told her about an event of such importance as this? An older brother is a HUGE deal, even if he had a different father…
In retaliation, she had given her mother the silver bracelet for her birthday, watching carefully to see her reaction.
Surely enough, her gift startled the older woman, and as soon as she left the room, her mom had started to cry. Her sobbing mother immediately went to her desk and flung open her pink journal.
Salada felt vindicated for a few moments as she watched her mother scribble a few words on the worn pages…
Sakura then went to answer the door, and while she was distracted, Salada slipped into her study, flipping open the pink book to see what was written.
What she read chilled her to the bone.
'I am a monster.'
'Nobody can help me.'
Then, she just felt like a terrible, spiteful person…
Salada's eyes narrowed at Shinachiku, still unsure as to how she felt about his presence.
Her eyes then fell upon her mother who was looking ashamed and guilty, her emerald eyes downcast and full of tears.
In the young girl's mind echoed the words of the journal:
'I am a monster.'
'Nobody can help me.'
—
"You're a scumbag, Dad. The worst kind of scumbag in the universe."
Naruto was so heart broken that his mouth moved to try to convey his love for his son, but no coherent sentences came out.
"Pl…ease… Bol…t… give me a chance t…o… explain…" He breathed out desperately, his emotions getting the best of him once more.
"F*ck off, Dad." Bolt replies simply, stuffing his hands in his pockets and turning to leave.
Naruto steps forward and grabs Bolt's arms angrily, ready to reprimand him, but he was stopped by a pair of arms that wrapped protectively around the whiskered boy.
Hinata suddenly steps in between the two Uzumaki males, and stares blankly at Naruto with her clear eyes.
"You lied to me." She says simply to Naruto, the air being stolen once more from his lungs in realization of her words.
"Honey, I can explain everything… I-I didn't know anything before— "
"Don't touch my son."
Hinata suddenly turned to look murderously at Sakura.
"And you… I thought you were my friend…"
With an agitated sneer, she growled and grabbed Bolt, pulling him behind her as she moved swiftly away from her flustered husband.
Naruto follows his angry wife out into the corridor, leaving the room silent.
—
This was the only time in his life that Shinachiku wished that he was back in Suna.
He didn't know exactly what was going on, but he did know that most of the problems and hurt were caused by him. He was saddened as he realized that if he stayed in Suna, no matter how miserable he would have been, these seemingly good people and their families would be living their lives free of the complications that his arrival in Konoha had brought.
"I'm so sorry. Maybe I shouldn't have come…"
The young sand-nin bows his head respectfully towards his birth mother and turns to leave.
"W-where are you going!?" Sakura says, her voice shaking with fear.
"I'm going back to Sunagakure. I don't belong here." Shina replies, checking the hallway to find that his father and his family were gone.
His mother's pale face sunk into her hands.
"I'm so sorry… everything is my fault…"
Before he could witness anymore heartbreak on his account, Shinachiku walks through the threshold of the door… and stops.
He looked down to see the little girl with the glasses hugging his midsection tightly.
"Don't go."
Shina's heart thumped in his chest and his body started to burn from the inside out as his little sister mustered all of the strength she had to keep him from disappearing from their sight.
—
Salada had to find some way to make him stay. She hugged his waist as tightly as she could to prevent him from leaving.
'I am a monster.'
The words from the journal haunted her.
'I am a monster.'
Sure, her mother embarrassed her most of the time with her loud mouth and crazy parenting antics, but she didn't deserve to think that she was a monster.
Salada believed that after all that her mother had been through, and was going through, the thing that she deserved most was to find peace.
The bespectacled girl was sure that if Shinachiku left, that wretched pink journal would open once more and be filled with horrible things. She didn't want those horrible things to drag her mom to a place where she could no longer be with her…
If she could somehow convince her new found elder brother to stay, she hoped that he could help heal her mother.
Their mother.
"Big brother… Shinachiku-niisan… please… please stay in Konoha."
-The End of Chapter Twelve.
-Story by ODG
Please keep reading! I promise that everything will turn out okay... just stick with it. :)
