𝐖𝐈𝐋𝐋 𝐎𝐅 𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐄

𝙱𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝙸𝚜 𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚗𝚎𝚛 𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝙻𝚘𝚟𝚎 : 𝙿𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝙾𝚗𝚎

A mother's worry will always run deep for their children, even if the children don't want it. Such is the heart of the Seventh Hokage's wife, Hinata Uzumaki, who's heart is always in turmoil over her only son.

It was his final year at The Academy and he only seemed to become grouchy and distant as soon as the new year began. She knew that being the Hokage's son took a toll on him. Naruto hardly had any time to come home to play around and talk to him like he used to. The occasional shadow clone would pop by from time to time, but even then, her husband would be too exhausted to even maintain its form. It's been two years since he had been inaugurated and a lot has changed since then but it never meant they were any less than a normal family. Their daughter, Himawari, seemed to take it well, maybe it was due to how cheerful and considerate she was, but Boruto on the other hand just all of a sudden became so resistive.

Hanabi, Hinata's younger sister, insisted that he was just entering his scrappy brat phase but Hinata always felt like it was something more. Boruto never seemed to have to say anything about how he felt, those unspoken feelings would descend upon his mother nearly every single day with his strange behavior.

"What's wrong?" She asked, only to be shrugged off as the young boy removed his shoes at their home entrance.

She furrows her brows and calls out to him once more as he heads up the stairs.

"Boruto," his mother said more firmly, making the young teen whip his body around and face his mother with a disgruntled face.

"You were out late today and you didn't eat breakfast this morning. I'm worried about you," she said sadly as she held a clenched fist over her chest. "Is something wrong?"

Boruto sighed.

"It's nothing."

"Are your friends bothering you or is it school?"

"I'm fine mom, really."

Hinata looked at him with anxious eyes. He hated how his mother would worry over him so much, he felt like a burden to her too.

"Then come down and have dinner then," she said as she entered the kitchen.

The boy sighed. He really wanted to be left alone but he can't just ignore his mother's wishes. Besides the fresh beef she was grilling for the stir-fry was mouthwatering, a thousand times better than the lackluster burger he ate in the afternoon.

Himawari was livelier than usual as she tried to explain how she and her friends ran into a few ducklings at the local pond near the playground.

"They were fluffy and yellow too and we spent the whole day running and walking in lines behind them," the little girl beamed as she began waddling towards her older brother. "Then tried to teach them how to fly," she said as she flapped her arms about as she ran across the room.

Their mother chuckled as she attended to the frying pan as Himawari began imitating the cute duckling's quacks. Boruto couldn't help but smile to himself too.

"Then it must be nice being a duckling," he said before towering over his sister with his hands held high in the air. "But I better it's even better to be fox instead!" The teen growled as he chased her around the room.

The children's playful screams and tickle attacks make Hinata's heart settle. They weren't a normal family but they were a fun one.

Just as they began to set the table, the front door opened. Himawari stuck her head out from behind the wall that separated the kitchen from the front entrance and beam upon laying her blue eyes on the familiar figure.

"Papa!" she cried; arms wide open as she ran into his arms.

Naruto gave a little spinning hug and his gummiest grin.

Boruto felt his stomach sink as he nervously produced a smile when his father approached him to raffle his hair.

"Don't worry about getting an airlift kid, you're too heavy for that now."

"Welcome home," Hinata smiled gently as she removed her apron. "You're just in time for dinner too."

"Great! Coz I'm starving," he chuckled as he rubbed his hands together.

As they sat down at the table, one seat was noticeably empty. Naruto furrowed his brows as he watched his son head up the stairs.

"Where ya going?" He asked intently.

Boruto raised both of his arms and waved them in the air.

"I'm not feeling hungry, that's all. Besides I gotta study anyways," he lied.

Naruto gave him a stern look before relaxing his face and rubbing his neck.

"More dessert for then me, then!" he yelled out to his son, earning him a pout from his daughter.

As the laughter became muffled when Boruto closed the door to his room. He let out a sigh and flopped into his bed. The young teen's heart couldn't settle down from the shock of his father's unexpected visit. His tummy grumbled a little and he started contemplating whether or not he would open his mouth to eat if he ever made it down stairs without hunching over from anxiety.

It was hard enough making it through the day at the training center too. He felt the pressure mount on him at the thought of showing off any of his skills, skills that he was lacking in. Learning his father's forbidden shadow clone jutsu was already hard enough but the simpler stuff like shuriken throwing and substitution jutsu felt like an S-Rank mission in front of a camera. This might be how Metal Lee feels like every time he tries to engage in social activities. He chuckled to himself and looked out the window to a moonless night sky.

In his mind it was hopeless. He was too far in to give up on everyone's dream for him. God knows that Sarada would probably be happy if he dropped out. At the end of the day, his one-man tough guy had to end eventually, preferably away from his father's prideful eyes.