Vagaries

Fatherhood was a strange thing, Naruto was quickly realizing as he stared aghast at his three-year-old son. God was most definitely punishing him for his childhood sins in the form of Boruto, who seemed determined to prove that mischievousness was hereditary.

"What did you just say?" he asked, making sure to keep his voice low because he couldn't believe what his son had just said.

"Dif!" Boruto happily responded, his cheerful voice was loud and carried over to where the other parents stood waiting to pick up their children.

Naruto heard a suspicious cough, but he pretended he didn't hear it. He felt the tips of his ears start to burn.

"Yeah, okay, never mind. Forget I asked."

But Boruto was frowning at him. "Tou-chan, dif?"

"No!" Naruto shook his head, cheeks flushed. "Shh! Don't say that so loud!"

But Boruto was insistent, eager to convey to his father the new knowledge he'd learned yesterday. To make sure his father really understood what he was trying to say, Boruto made sure to add: "Naruto-kun, dif!"

He smiled brightly at his father because that's what Kaa-chan always called Tou-chan. Boruto was proud he knew his father's name.

But Boruto didn't get the reaction he expected from his parent.

In fact, Naruto was looking wildly at Shino while ignoring the smothered laughter coming from where the other parents were standing. A quick glance at them showed that despite some of their smiles, they were just as studiously pretending they hadn't heard what Boruto was saying.

Moments like these Naruto wished he'd learned his father's Flying Thunder God technique so that he could disappear quickly. He was hot underneath his uniform and he had to make sure that Shino understood this was not his fault. He was just here to pick up his son at the Konoha Daycare.

To make matters worse, for some reason, Shino's aura, normally so weak and barely felt, was suddenly clearly palpable. Shino was coolly burning as he faced father and son, his stance rigid, arms folded tensely. He was bristling with annoyance and disapproval.

"Yo, Shino. Chill, man."

Nothing.

"Fine! Come with me for a sec."

Naruto picked up Boruto and ushered Shino away from everyone so that he could explain this very simple misunderstanding.

Thankfully, Shino complied and allowed himself to be escorted away from the rest of his students and their parents.

Naruto noted that his wife's former teammate had forgone his usual mission clothes in favor of this daycare's standard uniform: yellow polo shirt, dark pants, and the peach-colored apron decorated with a large, cute, panda face. But all that was still underneath the normal khaki coat Shino wore.

As part of his training for the teacher position at the Ninja Academy, Shino was required to spend time at the local daycare dealing with younger children. At first, both Naruto and Hinata had been glad to see him whenever they dropped off Boruto at the school on the days they both had missions.

However, Naruto was now wishing he didn't know anybody at the school, embarrassed that he was having this conversation with Shino. He glanced at Boruto accusingly. Where the hell did he learn that word? But his son only smiled at him cheerfully and clutched more tightly at Naruto's black jacket.

"Tou-chan, big dif!"

Naruto blushed some more and looked at Shino with panic and desperation. "Erm, I don't think Boruto's saying what you think he's saying."