Bridging the Gap

Was Raising a Kid Supposed to be This Difficult?!

Despite Naruto's elated reaction to his first child, the first six months of having him around were nothing but a struggle. And he thought pregnancy was rough.

Naruto wasn't really sure what to do with a baby.

In fact, he had to be instructed on how to hold a baby. He didn't know that their necks were all wobbly and that they couldn't hold up their heads on their own, or that their diapers had to be changed multiple times every day, or that they smelled worse than his trashcan and unwashed clothes did when he was growing up. He didn't know they needed to be patted on the back after eating, and that they'd throw up all over your shoulder when they burped.

He suddenly wondered how the third hokage managed to deal with him.

Especially since now, he woke up every morning at 3:00am to crying. Screaming. Right next to his ear.

Hinata offered to sleep with Boruto in a different room so he could get some rest, but Naruto insisted they all sleep in the same bed together. They were a family. That was what families did, right?

It wasn't until he fell asleep standing up in the middle of a mission that Kakashi decided to give him a new mission. A mission to sleep. He locked Naruto inside his house and within the first ten minutes of protest, he fell asleep, as dead as a doornail, right on the hardwood floor.

After that, Hinata reported that Naruto tended to sleep through Boruto's screaming fits, and even took him in the morning so she could get some rest herself. But even then, Naruto wasn't sure if he was doing things right.

His friends noticed him feeling rather down on missions, when before he couldn't wait to get home.

But when Naruto was at home... He just felt like he was getting in the way. He watched Hinata fix his shoes at the door, pick up his clothes off the floor, tend to Boruto when he cried, make dinner... He didn't know that babies couldn't hold their heads up on their own, or that they couldn't eat normal food, or that if left unattended, they would roll onto their stomachs and try to suffocate themselves.

One day, he was sitting there, rocking Boruto in the rocking chair by the window, mouth drooling from the delicious smell of food coming from the kitchen, dozing off. And Hinata walked up to him to tell him dinner was ready, laughing.

"What? Am... Am I doing something wrong again?"

"No," she smiled. "It's just that you look like father and son."

Naruto looked down to see Boruto's mouth open just like his was, a bit of drool spilling from the corner. He couldn't help but smile. Reached out his finger. And when he put it under Boruto's hand, his tiny fingers curled around it.

"Hey, Hinata."

"Hm?"

"Am I a bad parent?"

Hinata tilted her head. "What makes you think that?"

He smiled softly. "It's just that... I can't cook. I don't really do a good job at cleaning... And you had to teach me everything about taking care of him. Even then, I feel like I can't get his diapers on right."

"Naruto-kun," she said gently, sliding her arm onto his shoulder and leaning her head against his as she looked at their son. "I don't think not knowing how to do something makes you a bad parent... You're his father. And that means you get to decide what type of father you are. No matter whether you're good at changing diapers or not. You go on important missions for the village and earn us money so we can buy food and have a house... Don't you think that's an important part of being a father?"

Naruto's smile widened. "I guess you're right." He stood up, holding Boruto in his arms. "Alright! Time to eat your mother's cooking. Although, I guess you can't eat it yet. Just you wait... You're gonna love it more than any other food on the planet, believe it! It's suuper good," he said, spinning a little bit on the super to earn a giggle from the baby in his arms.