What's The Point?✓

Chapter One

I've never seen my father cry.
Never. For all the seventeen years I've lived, my father was the person who would cheer someone up with his goofy grin. His dumb jokes. He was just generally a happy person.

So when I saw him Thursday evening on December 26th, in a graveyard that was four blocks away from our apartment, sobbing, I had no idea how to feel.

I didn't talk to him as much as I had used to. Ever since he became the director of social services in our town, he was gone a lot. It was left to me to take care of myself and my younger sister by two years, Himawari. I'd hated him because of that. Our mom left when I was four. I barely remember, nor do I want to. She was a horrible person for leaving us.

As I crept up towards my dad, I hid behind a nearby bush, watching him. I don't remember anyone friends or family that were close to us that died, so why was he here? Dad was holding his knees to his chest, tears streaming heavily down his cheeks. I looked into his eyes and my annoyance, hate, and anger were replaced by pity, sadness, and a compelling need to comfort him.

In his eyes I saw pain and loneliness blurred together with such sadness, such heartbreak. Dad looked so vulnerable. As I looked closely behind his tears I saw something else that left me stumped.

Love.

Why would such be in the eyes of someone who was crying in what seemed to be such agony? I leaned in closer to see the graves name, hoping for some sort of clue to help me know why my dad was crying. In the process I lost my balance; I tumbled out of the bush and landed with a thud on the hard, snowy ground before me.

"Ah, damn it!" I yelled as pain shot through my head. This was going to be miserable.

"Boruto? What are you doing here?" My dad called out. I sat up and looked away.

"Well I saw you, shitty old man, crying. I was confirming that's what you were doing and not laughing like a manic in a cemetery. It's not like I wanted to ask you or anything," I mumbled the last bit. Dad chuckled.

"Yeah, I was crying." Dad was looking at the sky, tears still wet on his face and smiling a sad smile. I left my ego and questioned further.

"Why?"

"Because I miss her. Still." Dad said, pointing to the gravestone. On it there was pretty picture of a woman in her mid-twenties, smiling and holding up a peace sign. She looked like Himawari, except for the whiskers and blue eyes. Instead she had pale, beautiful, lavender ones.

"Who is that? She looks a lot like Hima, -ttebasa." Dad looked at me with a faint smile on his face, tears clearly threatening to come out once again.

"Can you promise me that you won't blow up and yell at me? I had a good reason for not telling you." Dad said. I scrunched up my face. The cold wind blew harder over my hands, and I rubbed them together to keep warm.

"Yeah, yeah. So who is she?"

Dad looked hard, a few tears sliding off his cheeks, plopping onto the snow below.

"Well, Boruto... she's your mother."

I stared at my old man for a few minutes, then dropped my hands and screamed.