Sorry that this one took me awhile to update, which is why I made this chapter longer. I will also post the next chapter soon because I already finished it. I tried writing things from Naruto's side to help you see what life is like for him. Let me know what you think. Thank you for all those who left a comment.
Also, to clear one thing I saw in the comments last time. I think I wrote it in the second chapter but I'll write it here too. Naruto's daughter was born before Naruto and Hinata met. So no, Naruto didn't cheat on Hinata.
Enjoy!
Naruto stood in front of the stove trying to keep himself from getting distracted so the food didn't burn, but for the past hour he had been failing to do so. Every now and then he found himself thinking about a certain someone he saw only hours ago.
"Dad! How much longer for the food?" Natsumi asked from her place in front of the TV.
She was lying on the her stomach on the carpet with her head resting in her palms and feet swinging in the back. She was watching her favorite show about a knuckle head ninja who yelled a lot. She didn't really understand what the show was about but she liked it.
Naruto looked across the counter to the living room where Natsumi was, and cringed when the blonde ninja on the TV got hit in the head by his teammate. Jeez, this is too violent for Natusmi.
"Natsumi, why do you like this show?" he asked.
"Well, the main guy kinda looks like you dad," she said without removing her eyes from the TV. Naruto smiled at the thought that his daughter enjoyed watching something because it reminded her of him. "I like it when he gets hit for something stupid by the pink-head," she giggled while Naruto's eye twitched.
"So basically you like watching your dad get clobbered like that?" he asked in irritation.
In response, Natsumi turned around and poked her tongue out to him. She laughed as his expression turned even more sour.
"I'm so hungry, I'm gonna die! How much longer dad?" Natsumi splayed on the floor with her arms spread out.
"It's done. Come, help me set the table." Naruto took out the utensils and plates for just the two of them so she could set the table.
For the rest of the dinner, they just talked about random stuff while Natsumi tried to tease her father whenever she could. Naruto would pretend that her attempts affected him and would go along with her but in reality he was just happy that she was finally opening up to him. In the beginning, when he first met her, it had taken a while for him to get her to talk to him.
Natsumi was almost five years old when she first found out that Naruto was her father. From that point on she hated him. Every time he would come over to talk to her or spend time with her, she would run away. Ayame would always say that it was just her having a childish fit that would pass, but Naruto knew that it was more than that. For the first five years of her life, Natsumi didn't know who her father was. When she was old enough to understand, she would always ask about her father, but she had never seen the man. There were times when she would see other children playing with their fathers and she would envy them. So when she finally met Naruto, she felt anger for all the times he had missed in her life. Where was he when she asked about him? What about all the birthdays he missed? How could he just show up now and say he was her father and expect her to just accept it?
In the beginning, it had taken a few months, but slowly Natsumi was letting Naruto into to her life. She wasn't the nicest to him, but she liked knowing that she had her father who was trying hard to just be there for her. Just like any child, she wanted to have a complete and happy family. When Naruto constantly promised to never leave her and to always be there for her, she finally started listening to him because not only did he promise her but also show her how serious he was. Slowly she was accepting and getting used to having a father around just like how she always wanted it. From then on Natsumi and Naruto had been getting closer and the bond they created was something special to both of them.
In the morning the next day, Naruto took Natsumi to her school. This was his first time doing it because Ayame had been doing it since her school started. But now it was his turn. Now that he had finally settled into his apartment and his job, he was able to do these kinds of little things with his daughter that he enjoyed no matter what. He enjoyed having breakfast with her and watching her fuss in her school uniform about how stupid it was or something.
Naruto dropped her off and watched as she ran into the school to her class. He couldn't help but smile at his daughter's burst of energy this early in the morning. Like father like daughter.
Just a few seconds later, Hinata also walked up to the school. Naruto was standing outside of the school so she didn't see him, but he could see her as she walked into the same classroom as his daughter. He had been surprised to find that Hinata was teaching at his daughter's school and now it seemed that she was her teacher as well. He honestly didn't know how he would deal with this. He knew that she was a good teacher from how much Natsumi spoke about her. It was obvious that the girl liked her. But on the other hand Naruto couldn't figure out how they would interact, how he should act. Should he just pretend to act normal around her and ignore the history they shared. He had to be overthinking this, right? This was Hinata's work and she would be nothing less than professional, so why should he make it a big deal when obviously he couldn't change the reality just to suit his comfort.
After dropping Natsumi off, he went to his work spending the rest of his day as usual until she got out of school. It was always hard to find a shift early enough for him to be able to leave on time to pick up Natsumi from school which was why he was almost always late to pick her up. Even though she would complain every time, she didn't really mind getting picked up late because it was her dad who would pick her up.
This time when he went to pick up Natsumi, he decided to not barge in like last time. Instead he was going to wait and see if Hinata was there. He wanted to observe her and not in a creepy way. He just wanted to know how his daughter and her teacher interacted, that's all.
Naruto went to the main office where he knew Natsumi would be waiting for him. He walked up to the door and peeked inside to see who was in there. He looked around and saw that his daughter was sitting at the table, doing her homework with a boy her age sitting next to her. He couldn't find Hinata so he probably assumed she left.
"Hey Natsumi, ready to go?" She looked up as soon as she heard his voice as he walked towards her.
She nodded in response and started packing her stuff. Her pencil case slipped out of her hand and fell on the ground scattering its contents out. She blushed at her mistake and quickly started picking up her stuff. The brunette boy next to her got down from his seat and helped her collect her things. When she had gotten all of her things packed she turned to the boy with a faint blush on her cheeks.
"T-thank you," she stuttered as she averted her gaze from the boy because she was too shy to look at him.
All this time, Naruto just stood there gaping at his daughter's actions. She hadn't complained even once about him being late. She had barely said a word when she usually yells. And now she was blushing! In front of a boy! What was going on with his daughter?
"Ah, it's no big deal Natsumi." The boy waved his hand. "I'll see you tomorrow in Ms. Hinata's class!" He said as Natsumi waved back and walked up to her father.
Naruto kept staring at her without moving a muscle even when she was standing right next to him.
"Are you gonna stop staring and move, or are you too old for that," she whispered without turning to look towards the boy behind her. Her cheeks were still red but somehow that didn't stop her from talking to her dad like that. Now that was his daughter. He did a sigh of relief and began walking out of the school with his daughter.
"So who was that boy back there?" Naruto asked as he tucked his hands in his pockets.
"None of your concern," she snapped. Natsumi's grip tightened around her backpack's straps on her shoulder.
"You're my daughter. Everything is my concern." Naruto's eye twitched. She was always difficult, but she was especially more if she wanted to avoid or hide something.
"He's just a stupid boy," she said as she scrunched up her nose as if in disgust.
"So he's in your class?" Naruto asked, curious at his daughter's actions.
"Yes," she turned her head to the opposite side of him with force that her blonde pigtails bounced a bit. Naruto had tried making her hair in the morning but ended up with two lopsided pigtails which actually looked cute on her.
"Why are you blushing?"
"B-blushing?"
"Yeah. People blush when they get angry, or when they're embarrassed, or when... Oh my god, my daughter has a crush." Naruto stopped walking.
"W-what's that?" He didn't respond but only stared at her with curiosity. "Dad tell me!" She pulled on his shirt. "Am I gonna get sick?!"
"No," he chuckled, "it just means that you like someone." He crouched down to her level.
"Like?!" She shrieked. "I don't like Haru. Nuh uh." She shook her head furiously.
"I didn't say you liked him. So is that what his name is, Haru." He chuckled again as his daughter panicked for no reason.
When she saw that he kept laughing, Natsumi kicked Naruto in the shin and walked away with a "hmph!"
"Geez, Natsumi!" He rubbed his shin but then followed his daughter. He couldn't believe he just witnessed his daughter have her first crush. He just smiled and shook his head at his daughter's cute pout as they walked to the train station.
"Do you want to go to your mom's place for dinner tonight?" At that Narsumi beamed with a smile as she nodded her head several times.
"Yes! Can we go? Please!"
"Well, I have to drop you off to her place for this weekend anyway so I'll just take you early I guess," he smiled and ruffled her hair as they got on the train.
"Okay Class! Today we're going to do a writing assignment." All the students groaned and slouched in their chairs after Hinata's announcement on a Monday after the weekend. She knew none of her students liked to write and they would always complain, but it was important to their curriculum. However, it was cute seeing the young students pout whenever a writing assignment was given.
"I don't want to write. It's so boorrinngg and my hand always hurts in the end." Natsumi tried faking some tears and a pout as she innocently looked at her teacher for sympathy.
"That won't work on me, Natsumi. Everyone is doing this and I will be reading these so don't try to just scribble whatever you like or else I will make you write it again." She walked through the rows as she passed a piece of paper to the students. "Write about something you wish for," she said as she stood in front of the class. "I want you to write down something that you want in the future, and why. Don't just tell me your wish for candy, toys or Xbox. This isn't a wishlist for Santa Claus." The students giggled at that. "I want you to write about something you want that you wouldn't be able to get from a store or even from someone else. Fill up at least half a page and don't forget to write why you wish for this. When you're done, write your name and roll number on the top and bring the paper up to me. Any questions? Okay, then start writing."
Hinata went to sit on her desk in front of the classroom. She watched some students ponder as they tapped their pencils on the table, while others rigorously wrote down what they already knew. Since it was towards the end of the day, she gave them the rest of the time to work on this. When the bell was about to ring, she stood up and announced for them to finish up. Soon the students started placing their papers on her table in a pile as they left the classroom.
"Natsumi, are you finished?" Hinata looked towards the girl who was still sitting in her seat. she nodded in response but didn't move. "Here, I'll take your paper. Why don't you pack your stuff. The bell already rang." Hinata was about to walk to her but Natusmi jumped from her seat before she could.
Natsumi grabbed her backpack and walked to Hinata's desk with her paper still in hand.
"Are you going to read these?" she asked.
"Yes, I have to read them to grade them." Hinata smiled. She thought that Natsumi was cute when she was being shy.
Instead of handing her paper to Hinata, Natsumi picked up the pile and placed her paper in the middle somewhere and then ran off saying, "Goodbye, Miss Hinata!" Hinata only chuckled wondering what could she have written to make her so shy.
After collecting her materials and the students' work, Hinata decided to stay in the classroom to grade some papers. The cleaning crew wasn't going to come for another hour and the school was still open for a few more so it wouldn't be an issue. she started with the assignment that she gave out at the end of the day. It was always fun for her to read what her students were thinking. Through this assignment, she would get an idea of what was important to each of her students. Every one of her students was from a different background that she didn't much about and so to get to know them more she would do this assignment to find what they wanted.
After going through almost half of the pile, she came across Natsumi's paper. So far she had been reading about what her students wanted to be when they grew up or how they wanted summer to be longer and etc. Most were simple requests that you would expect children this age to have, but some had been thoughtful. One student had written about how they wanted their lost pet to come back and another had written about how they wanted to be friends with someone in their class. All of these were a good way for Hinata to know what her students were going through. She had placed the ones she found interesting in a separate pile. She was going to see into these students who might need extra guidance.
When she got to Natsumi's paper, she didn't know what to expect. She tried to keep from making any assumptions about her students so when she read her paper, she hadn't expected this. Natsumi wrote that what she wanted the most in the future was for her family to be like a normal family. She wanted her mother and father to be together and be happy. She wanted to be able to have dinner with both her mom and dad everyday. She wanted her parents to stay together.
Hinata didn't give much thought to what Natsumi wrote, only acknowledging what she might be going through. She placed her paper in the pile with the other students she wanted to talk with.
The next day, she began the day as usual. She didn't hand back their papers even though she had them all graded. She poignantly ignored yesterday's assignment until the end when school was about to be over.
"Natsumi, can I speak with you after school." Hinata said quietly as she passed by the girl in the classroom so that not everyone hears when she asked her. Natsumi only nodded in response and stayed in her seat when the bell rang and everyone was getting ready to leave.
When all the students were gone, Hinata took out Natusmi's paper and decided to sit across from her on the student's desk so she was facing her.
"Natsumi, can you tell me why you wrote this?"
"Well, it's pretty obvious," she placed her head on her folded arms on the table.
"No." Hinata shook her head. "Why did you write it here? You knew I was going to read this." she nodded in response, but did not turn to look at Hinata.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Hinata asked as Natsumi finally turned to look at her. She just stared at her for a while without responding so Hinata spoke again. "Are you not happy with your parents?"
"I am," she bit her lip, "but..." she shifted in her seat, "why can't they just be together?" she asked quietly to herself but Hinata heard.
"Do your parents not live together?" She nodded hesitantly. "Does that make you angry?"
Natsumi thought about that question before saying anything. She didn't think she was angry, but she didn't like the way things were between her parents.
"I-I...I'm not angry...I just don't like it when we can't be together all the time, you know?" she looked at her teacher as if pleading her to understand.
"I know what you mean," Hinata responded with a smile. "It's normal for children to want their parents to be together."
"Yeah, but then I don't understand why they can't be. They say they love me then why can't they stay together?"
"Sometimes, it's not as simple as that, Natsumi."
"But Ms. Hinata, what could be so important that you can't be together. If you love someone then you want to be with them, right? Why can't we be like all those other families where they do things together and - and have dinner together or go to the park together. Why do I have to be on a schedule to meet mom on the weekends or dad the next week." she was pouting and Hinata could see tears beginning to form in her eyes. She was about to get up to be right next to Natsumi but a knock on the door stopped her.
"Uh... the lady at the front desk said that Natsumi would be here." Naruto saw his daughter sitting across from Hinata on one of the desks when he walked into the classroom. "Is she in trouble?" he asked once he noted how Natsumi was avoiding looking at him.
"No!" Hinata jumped out of her seat. "I just w-wanted to talk to her."
"Oh... well we have to go now, Natsumi." she picked up her backpack and silently trudged out of the classroom without glancing at her father.
"She's a very good student. Really smart, too..." Hinata spoke before Naruto could leave.
"Yeah... she's pretty amazing." He smiled as he looked towards his daughter who was waiting in the hallway.
"Um, N-naruto," he turned to look at Hinata, a little surprised that she called him by his name. "You should talk to Natsumi." Hinata handed Natsumi's assignment from yesterday to Naruto, hoping that he would be able to make her feel better.
Hinata knew that she could only talk to Natsumi but she couldn't change her situation. It was her responsibility to let the parents know about anything related to their child, so she hoped that Naruto might see what Natsumi had been thinking about and help her.
"Thanks Hinata." he looked at her one more time before heading out the door. He realized that he had been saying that a lot recently.
He folded the paper Hinata had given to him and placed it in his pocket. He had read it quickly to see what Hinata had been talking about, but he was going to read it in detail later to see what exactly had his daughter written. He knew this situation was a bit of a struggle for her like for any other child, but he hadn't realized that it would have affected her this much. She never complained much about it when they first decided to separate.
Like any other parents, Ayame and Naruto thought that they owed it to their daughter to try and see if they could work things out to start a new relationship. They thought it would be easier to be together as a family, but in the end it didn't work out. At that time Natsumi hadn't said much. She had been upset but she was still happy whenever she went to stay with either of her parents. Now, seeing how much she resented it even after all this time, Naruto knew he had to do something. Maybe just talking with her might help her understand because it was impossible for them to go back to a family like they had tried.
I wanted to write this in a way to make it seem more real life than cliche with the struggles that you see in everyday life of regular people. I think I'll go back and forth between Naruto and Hinata's side of the story. Let me know your thoughts and I will keep them in mind when writing.
Thank you!