Bridging the Gap

Little Sunflower

Naruto thought Himwarai's birth would make things twice as chaotic. But when they first showed Boruto his new baby sister, he was nothing less than enthralled. And Hinata brilliantly used Himawari as a tool to calm down Boruto's rampaging.

When he would try to run through the house like a maniac, Hinata would gently pick him up. "We have to be quiet, remember? Or your little sister will wake up."

Boruto's eyes would drift over to the crib, and he'd stare at Himawari sleeping, and tuck his head into his mom's chest. "Okay."

When he splashed around in the bathtub, Hinata would shield Himawari's eyes and gently take his hands. "You know how much it hurts to get soap in your eyes... You don't want to get soap in your little sister's eyes, do you? Here. I brought a new toy for you to play with."

And instead of splashing, Boruto carefully played with his new toy, watching it bob back and forth in the water. And glancing over at his little sister every once and a while.

"Do you want to help me dry her hair? You have to promise to be gentle."

Boruto would nod and take the towel, carefully patting his little sister's head. And that put an end to the reign of his obsession with yanking on everyone's hair.

When it was time to eat and Boruto didn't want to touch anything that was green, Hinata would look at Naruto, who was then made to eat the same vegetables and do some sort of ninjutsu. "Ah! Look how much stronger I feel after eating this broccoli! I feel like I could make a house full of clones!" And then the clones would appear, and reach for his food. "If you don't want it, I'll take it and make myself even stronger!"

Boruto hid his plate away and quickly ate his broccoli, a look of disgust on his face, but swallowing it down anyways. And then he tried to make a clone. And he got frustrated when nothing happened.

But Naruto would pat his head, and tell him that as long as he kept eating vegetables, he'd store up a bunch of power and be able to make clones just like his dad. And that seemed to make Boruto ask Hinata for more vegetables instead of rejecting them.

But what Naruto and Hinata failed to notice was Boruto's forlorn looks when they both gathered around Himawari, playing with her fingers and making her laugh. When he asked to sleep in their bed at night and he wasn't put in-between them like Himawari was, but rather on one side or the other. When her birthday happened and it seemed like there was a festival, but his was just celebrated with family and friends.

The one who did happen to take notice of this, was Konohamaru.

On one of their many walks around walks around the village, shortly after Himawari turned one year old, he noticed Boruto pouting. And decided to ask what was wrong.

"Konohamaru-nii-chan..." He said, pulling on his pants leg. It was rare for Boruto to hold onto him. Boruto had been pretty independent lately, boasting about being a big brother and taking care of his little sister. But right now, he seemed like he was about to cry.

"Boruto? What's the matter?"

Tears dripped over his eyes, suddenly leaning his head onto Konohamaru's leg. And then he started bawling.

Flinching at the sudden glares from the onlookers, Konohamaru lifted three-year-old Boruto into his arms and patted his back. But rather than it being a some sort of prank like Boruto was known for pulling in public on purpose to make him look bad, his crying turned to sniffles. He wrapped his little arms tight around Konohamaru's neck and burred his head in his scarf.

"...Boruto?"

"Mommy and Daddy," he suddenly whimpered, his fingers getting just a little tighter. "Mommy and Daddy don't love me."