What Could've Been

Chapter 1

"Boruto." Naruto's stern voice echoed across the room. Three figures were standing in the middle of the family living room. A young boy about the age of 14 stood in front of his parents, head hung down.

"Care to explain what's going on? This is the 10th prank you pulled this week."

Boruto opened his mouth to say something, but before he could, his mother cut him off. She had an exasperated look on her face as she scolded him.

"You're a Shinobi now Boruto. You can't go around acting like you did when you were an academy student."

"Plus," His father added, "You are now representing Konoha. You must be more aware of the consequences your actions bring."

Consequences my actions bring? That was the last straw. All of the stressful feelings that Boruto had bottled up came spilling out, overflowing his mind with anger.

"Me?" The boy chuckled. "I'm the one who should be aware of the consequences? Ha. Big talk coming from the man who doesn't give a shit about the consequences of his actions."

"Boruto," Hinata cautioned.

Before she could say anything else, the blonde continued. "And don't even think about telling me that you haven't noticed how our family is falling apart. Himawari is beating herself up because she thinks it's her fault that we are arguing."

"All my friends left me because I'm fucking depressed, and you two are so caught up in your own little world, you don't notice how much your own children are hurting." His voice got louder and louder as he continued.

"This family is broken! You're never home, and when you are, it's just to apologize for not being there when it really matters! And you know what? I've had enough! I hate the way you act as if everything is ok."

Hinata opened her mouth to say something, but before she could, Boruto drowned out her voice. "This family is BROKEN! And dad obviously doesn't care about us enough to help fix it."

Boruto huffed, out of breath. He looked up at his parents, taking in their shocked faces. The boy could already feel tears welling up in his eyes. Furiously wiping at his face, Boruto stomped up to his room and slammed the door.

The young man collapsed onto his bed, muffling a scream with his pillow. Finally he stood up to his parents. Yet he didn't feel half as satisfied as he thought he would. Just serves to prove how fucked up our family really is.

~°~

A couple of hours later, Boruto was sitting in a chair, reading a book to calm his nerves. Now that he had finally let out all that bottled up anger, he felt restless. There was no way his parents would let him go unpunished.

A knock sounded on the door, and a familiar voice seeped through the wood. "Hello? Boruto? Can I talk to you for a second?"

The younger blonde groaned before reluctantly getting up and throwing his book on the bed.

He walked over to the door, opening it with a frown. Standing in the doorway, was his dad, his eyes sheepishly staring down at the floorboards.

"What do you want." The blonde snapped. Flinching at his son's irritated voice, Naruto stuffed his hands into his pockets.

"Listen, Boruto. I. . .I know I haven't been the best father lately, but I-" Naruto groaned at his inability to produce a sentence. "I don't know what to say- I'm speechless."

Boruto glared at his father. "Ok, and? What's the real reason you came up here?"

Naruto opened his mouth before closing it again, throwing Boruto a sad gaze. The blonde scoffed. "You expect me to believe you came up here just to apologize?"