In a different world

CHAPTER 13

Boruto held Naruto by his arm, holding the older blonde from falling onto his knees. Naruto literally let his weight bring him down causing Boruto to drop down as well. "Pull yourself together, Dad!" He looks worried at his father. Boruto can't tell if he is smiling or just hiding his true feelings with a smirk, nevertheless, his facial expression was unpredictable.

"I saw her again. I-Its been so long..." Naruto whispered, his eyes burning again from the tears forming. He touched his lips, grazing them with his fingers, remember every detail he felt just moments ago.

Boruto frowned. It's making him slightly frustrated how Naruto was ignoring him. How was it possible that Naruto could see what he saw and not him? If Naruto said his deceased mother was standing right in front of the older blonde, couldn't he have seen her too? Boruto pushed back his spiky blonde hair as he stared back at his father. He ran to the kitchen, picking up a glass of water, mixing it with sugar before running back to Naruto.

Naruto heard his son's footsteps banging on the wooden floor. He was still crouching, fingers pinching his lower lip.

Boruto stood before his father, "Dad..." Naruto slowly brought his head upwards to face him, "Drink this. You look delusional right now, it's freaking me out." His hands trembled but Boruto helped him grip the glass. He gulped down his drink, clearing his throat and calming the numbness in his muscles.

~~~

Sitting on the sofa, Boruto stared in disbelief after Naruto told everything. It was surreal. "You mean to tell me that mom called you? And she d-disappeared when the m-morning sunlight is gone?" Naruto nodded his head vigorously. In his hand, he held his wooden picture frame, inside it, a phot of Hinata in her early twenties after they bought their house together. 

"This!" Naruto shoved his picture frame to an unsuspecting Boruto, startling him a little by the sudden force. "She looks exactly like this. Her hair long, this purple dress. Her cheeks were full unlike her last few days. I know I sound c-crazy! But she was there, right there...preparing breakfast." Naruto pointed out to where he stood before.

"I saw her on our bed, then near the bathroom. She called me everywhere she went. Downstairs with my cape in her hands, like she used to do. I-It was j-just.... I really miss...her." He started to tear up again, his throat tightened.

Boruto felt the same sympathy he felt the first time Naruto told him about his mother's death, and how tired he looked afterwards. Maybe today would be the same like last time. Furthermore, he didn't think Naruto was acting crazy, after coming into this reality, meeting people with the same faces but different memories is kind of bizarre. Hearing this happen is supernatural but possible. Heck, bringing the dead alive is possible in the shinobi world they live in so a ghost visiting would be just the same.

Being a son, he is no good at comforting another. That was his mother's, back home, his actual home, and his sister's specialty. His way? Man up!... But not now. He can't tell this Naruto to 'man up' and just let what he experienced be a memory. This Naruto is much fragile than his dad. This man standing in the same room right now is a Naruto who had to live independently with no special someone to go home to after a long day at work. No someone to cook him a good wholesome food to fill his hunger and no one to hug, sharing their warmth.

Boruto literally stood there, contemplating on what he should do next. Should he hug the older man? Or let him cry it all out? Boruto regretted those times he said his father never cared about his family especially during his early teenage years. This scene in front of him tells him all he needed to know about how his father would feel if he lost them. Boruto sucked in his gut, what he was about to do is something he commonly hears his mother sings before he entered the academy. A song she sings whenever she's in her bedroom with his dad,