Sequel to Rogue

Wheel of Time

The grandfather and grandson entered and standstill, one with tearful eyes and the other with hazy ones. Hiashi Hyuga was groggy; he squinted a little to see who came to his room, but he only saw a rather blurred image. His vision was no longer what it used to be; he saw a whole lot of red, but what caught his attention were the two pools of blue. Convinced of his guess of who came to visit him, he relaxed, gave a warm toothless smile, raised a shaking hand towards his visitor and warmly called out.

"Naruto"

Bolt froze for a second as he registered the call, and then the dam burst open. Pushing open the shogi door, he rushed into the room, falling to his knees beside his grandfather, taking his trembling hand in his grasp, he felt his heart squeeze uncomfortably as he felt the fragility of the hand's owner. There are times when a person can feel they can feel when someone isn't long for the world. The person doesn't necessarily have to be ill; the age can be felt, and the draining strength of the body as time goes on can be felt. And Boruto was feeling it, alright. His energetic grandpa, with whom he used to have cat and mouse chases just to escape his hugs, was now lying here absolutely drained of vitality. And he wasn't fighting, he was waiting, nature was taking its course, and he was drifting along with it. 

Bolt was biting his lip to avoid making any sounds, but his whole body was shaking with sobs; the thought that he would dare not say out loud had terrified him into a little child seeking comfort. He didn't want his grandpa to go; the hour wasn't now, but it was there, somewhere on the horizon, peering at them, drawing closer at its own leisurely pace; they didn't know when it would be here, only that it would be here. And all they could do was wait.

"Ora~ Naruto! What is all this bawling? You're a grown man and a father; blubbering like this isn't good." Hiashi playfully scolded as his other hand ran through "Naruto's" hair, the fog in his mind didn't let him see the glaringly different hair colour.

Boruto raised his head to come face-to-face with Hiashi; there was no mask in place this time. He didn't have the strength to put one on, and his didn't seem to recognise him either. Bolt wanted to ask questions about why he is lying here, what happened, but controlling his sobs and hiccups was proving to be more difficult. Luckily for him, Hiashi, still in his misunderstanding, gave him a bit more context.

"Now, I know the doctors said a whole lot of holcum after my last healthscare, but I am fine in all honesty. It's just old age problems, so don't go panicking about my every other dizzy-spill."

Well, the context didn't give much information. But Hiashi wasn't done yet,

"Besides, you know it, don't you? Even if I were to leave you all tomorrow in body, I'll always remain with you in spirit"

That broke Boruto; the tears returned as his lip wobbled without any warning, and he straight up dove into Hiashi's embrace. Face buried in his grandpa's shoulder, he sobbed again, shaking his head repeatedly as though to deny what his grandpa just said, to reject the very notion of his passing. Hiashi couldn't understand Naruto's sudden clinginess, but he didn't push him away. Returning the embrace, he gently rubbed circles on the boy's back.

Bolt left the room after a few more minutes; his grandpa had fallen asleep again, allowing him to slip away. Wiping his face, he walked towards the main courtyard's enagawa. Aunt Hanabi was absent, probably left to do some clan business. Mom, Dad and Sasuke-sensei were there waiting.

"What took you so long ?" Dad asked. But he felt too tired; he was emotionally spent for the day. Still, he somehow managed to reply in a drained voice, "I...got lost."

Hinata immediately caught his red-rimmed eyes. She was about to ask about it when Naruto caught her wrist. She looked at him with a questioning look, but he didn't look at her, just squeezed her hand once. She retracted her question and remained silent. Bolt missed the whole thing as his gaze was downcast.