Oscura Forest 

Hinata

Surprise, shock, happiness, anger, every single emotion flowed every discovered flowed through my body. It shook, then collapsed on my knees since I lost complete power over everything attached to me.

Within milliseconds, I felt fingers catching my arms; steadying me a bit. 

My eyes traveled upwards slowly registering a face.

The same face I came to love carcassing, kissing, hugging.

The face that I came to love in general. 

The same face that disappeared a year ago, when I first discovered I might never see it again.

"Hinata," his mouth murmured, his eyes leaking more and more tears.

Then roughly, I pushed against his chest throwing him off balance as he fell back bringing us both down. My entire head was hugged tightly, and his chin resting against my hair.

"I'm so sorry I was gone for so long," he continued. "There were days I rather have been dead when I knew I couldn't see you again."

I closed my eyes, shutting my mouth; just listening and hearing him talk. Simply not wanting to wake up from this damned dream. 

This is a dream, right?

I reached up, grabbing a handful of his shirt pulling gently. 

No freaken hell -

I pulled backwards as fast as I could to make sure that what I felt, I could see as well. 

My mouth gaped, my entire body nearly collapsed once again.

My hand slowly made it ways towards his whiskers.

When it finally touched, I gasped.

He's real.

H-he's not a dream.

T-that means he's a-

"Oui Hina," the man suddenly chuckled, lightheartedly. "I know you must be completely lost here but is it really necessary to be jabbing my cheek with your finger?"

He suddenly took my entire hand pulling it towards his lips and gently kissing them as if they'll break if he was rough to it.

"N-Na-"

He reached up and pushed my body against his once more, my face landing in the same exact location it was only a few seconds ago. 

"I'm home," he sighed heavily, his hands rubbing my back.

I can't believe this.

I came to this spring to let him go.

Yet right when I was about to, he holds me back.

I guess it just means I can never let him go.

My arms encircled his entire body as tightly as I could. 

"W-welcome home," I smiled so widely that I could taste the saltiness of the thousands of tears streaming down my cheeks and staining his amazing shirt. 

"Naruto-kun."

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Oscura Medical Camp

"Ow!" Naruto clicked his tongue. "Ow! Hina, a little more gentle please!"

I scoffed, holding the cotton ball drenched with hydrogen peroxide inches above the cut he stupidly got from walking through the damn forest. Naruto looked at me with his blue eyes, probably wondering if I'll continue to jab him with the cotton ball of pain, as he called it himself.

"How did you ever survive an explosion in the first place?" the same explosion that cost him and Sasuke their arms apparently. 

"I didn't," Naruto sighed, before looking at the cut on his arm that was still there.

"That's not -" I stopped, looking at my boyfriend sitting a few inches away from me on the bed.

He looked up at me, "What is it, Hina?"

N-no way...

Without warning, I left the cotton ball and bottle of alcohol on my desk before rushing two tents down. 

"Dr. Hastings?" I called as calmly as I could from the entrance. 

No sooner did I call, the said doctor appeared at the tent entrance still dressed in the button up dark blue shirt and slacks he was wearing from earlier.

"You're back, Dr. Hyuga," he beamed. 

"Yeah, I need your help," grabbing his arm, I yanked him back to my tent until we were in the lit doorway.

Naruto was sitting with one of his legs crossed, staring at the screen of my phone. When we arrived, he looked up confused.

"Uh, what is it?" the American doctor looked at me.

"C-can you see him?" I pointed straight at Naruto.

Hastings moved his eyes Naruto for a few moments before turning a bright smile back at me.

"Yeah, he's quite handsome," he laughed. "He your boyfriend?"

The relief that hit me was beyond explanation, "Oh good. I thought I was seeing things."

"You're not that crazy yet, Dr. Hyuga," Hastings smiled. "Well, good night."

I nodded my farewell before entering the tent.

Naruto had a scowl on his face.

"S-sorry," I giggled.

"I'm alive. I'm real, believe it," my boyfriend scoffed before laying down on my bed. "Geez what's it gonna take to get you to believe me."

I sat down beside him, "My excuse is going to be that i thought you were dead for a year."

The captain looked at me for a few seconds before turning on his side towards me, "Fine. Fine."

I stroked his short blonde hair once, "It just still feels like a dream, you know?"

"Hey, you got any food?" he sat up suddenly, his face inches from mines. 

"F-food?" 

Naruto nodded once, "I haven't eaten anything since I boarded the four hour plane ride to see you."

"There," I inclined my head towards the table filled with fruits. "Dead or not, it's your food."

"..Fruits?"

"Yes, for your memorial ceremony," I got up and dragged the table over to where he was sitting. "So eat up."

Naruto looked at me, the disbelief in his eyes only making me laugh lightly, "Go on. Dinner was hours ago and there's no midnight snacks."

His eyes never left mines as he took a large apple nearby and bit into it loudly.

I watched him devour two apples in complete hunger. Damn, I guess when he said he was hungry, he was hungry. I forgot how much he can eat...

My phone buzzed a few times indicating that I had a...video call?

Leaving Naruto to his fruits and orange juice, I went over to the corner and answered the call.

"Hina-senpai!" Kazuki's face filled the screen before he backed up, just enough for me to make out -

"Why is the entire Eskon Support Base at Hinode?" I asked immediately. "And my boys?"

Hajime shouted at the top of his lungs in Kiba's arms with the goofiest smile he could usher, "Hi Mommy!"

Boruto only shrieked in Sakura's.

Sasuke, Shikamaru, Kiba, Sai, Sakura, Ino etc. etc. were all there alongside my team in the video call. Judging by the angle of the sun, it must be lunchtime for them. 

"Why are you all there?" I asked.

"We had to get our wounds checked out," Shikamaru answered with a smile. "What better place then the great Hinode General Hospital."

"And these guys," Kiba bounced Hajime once, "wanted to come see Mommy's work place."

"Did you guys feed them yet?" I asked the babysitters.

Ino and Sakura exchanged a look of surprise.

Ino was the one that laughed nervously and replied, "We're getting there."

I rolled my eyes.

"Hey Hinata," Hanako-senpai, seated a few seats behind Kazuki piped up. "Move to a brighter place! I can barely see your face."

"Careful your eyesight might already be failing you, Hanako," Sai laughed.

That laughter was cut short with a pretty nice backhand smack.

I moved the chair so my side was towards the lamp hanging over my bed and also trying my best to ignore Naruto's annoying, dramatic chewing in the background.

"Like here?"

"Perfect," Hanako's smiling face suddenly morphed into a look of absolute terror.

Hm?

Crunch. Crunch. Bite. 

She grabbed into her husband's arm next to her, "D-do you see that?"

"Yeah," Hisao-senpai's voice is shaking...

Bite. Crunch.

"Oh my -" Sakura started.

"Jesus, God, Buddha!" Ino shifted completely.

Even Sasuke looked rather terrified, "H-hey, uh, Hinata?"

"Hm?"

Crunch. "I need some juice."

"C-can you see what's going on in the background?" Minako, too?

Bite. Slurp.

I looked around my shoulder, "What am I looking for?"

"Y-you mean...y-you can't-" Shikamaru gulped.

"But you all can see it, though?" Sai said frantically.

I moved my face off camera to hide the smile I had on my face. My friends are such dorks.

"How can I not?!" Kiba suddenly snapped. "That bastard is sitting right there eating apples and drinking flipping juice like it's nobody's business!"

Then Naruto looked up.

Several frantic screams echoed through my phone before it turned off completely. I swear, I have never laughed so hard in my life.

"Okay that's so damn cruel, Hinata," Naruto swallowed. "First you poke my face, second you get one of your doctor friends to make sure you weren't seeing things, and now you convinced every one of our friends that I'm a ghost."

That only made me laugh louder, "Sorry. It was joke I just couldn't past up."

My phone buzzed again. I shushed Naruto and put on the most confused face I could usher.

I answered, "Are you guys okay?"

I nearly died when I saw Kazuki was on his knees, as well as everybody that's over the age of twenty. Hajime and Boruto were sitting on the table; looking around at their supposed to be role-models looking rather glum. 

"Hina-senpai," Kazuki started, his voice cracking. "Senpai you have to listen to us, okay?"

"Um, o-okay," how do I screenshot this anyway?

"Say you love um," the doctor continued. 

"Huh?"

"Oh and when you say um," Kiba suddenly piped in. "You have to say his actual name otherwise he's not going to understand."

Crunch.

"Wha?"

"Just listen to us, okay Hinata?" Shikamaru added. "Just say you love him to you can let him go."

Crunch. 

Crunch. 

Snicker.

"You guys make no sense. What's going on?"

"He's there, alright?" Hisao-senpai snapped. "Just don't ask us how we know but he's there! Captain whatever-his-codename-was Naruto Uzumaki is there and if you want to let him go, you have gotta tell him you love him and that he has to move on."

He sounded more terrified than mad.

Alright, alright I'm done.

Without saying anything else, I stood up walking over to Naruto with the camera and screen at him.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait Hinata don't sit there!" Kazuki suddenly exclaimed through my phone. "He's right there! Don't sit there! You might sit on his head! Don't sit on his head otherwise he can never leave you!"

I looked at Naruto, who raised an eyebrow at our friends.

"You heard that, Naruto-kun," I smirked. "They want you to disappear already."

"Wahhh, isn't that a little too much?" Naruto spoke through a mouthful of apples. 

There was literally dead silence coming from the other line. I sat down beside Naruto with the phone still facing us to see if I accidentally hit the hung up button or something.

No, they're all there.

"Eh..."

What the only response we got.

Until Minako shook her head, "No way..."

Naruto finally cracked a smile, "Surprise!"

Right when he said that, their faces morphed into the happiest faces I have seen in a while. 

Random screams filled the entire hallway and echoed towards our ears.

"Hey! Idiot!" Sasuke shouted loudest. "You should've let us know you were alive before you flew off to some random country again!"

My boyfriend swallowed, "Sorry. I got on the first plane after I let the commander know I was alive."

Then it was his turn for his face to become very confused before looking at me.

"The b-boys..." he pointed at my screen, I could see his bandage finger shaking. "Is that Hajime?!"

Kazuki moved around so our son's face is the only face on the screen. The boy looked at Naruto with his own wide eyes.

"Mommy, that man loowk familyiar..."

He's one. Give him some slack. 

"Hajime," I replied. "Remember Daddy? He's in the pictures around our house."

He was only a month old so it must be impossible for him to remember. The fact that Naruto looked 'familyiar' is the best we can probably get.

"He Daddy?" Hajime's face opened in shock. "My daddy?"

I nodded, "Yep. And he'll be home in a few days with me."

Naruto gave his son a toothy smile, "You have better not given Mommy a hard time while I was away."

The boy shook his head frantically, "I don't ewer give Mommy a hard time. Bolty does."

"Bolty?" 

"My little buzza," Hajime smiled before gesturing Kazuki to move the camera. 

The doctor changed the picture until our three month son came into view. He was barely stable so I could see Sasuke's hand steadying him from behind.

For the first time in Boruto's entire life, his similar blue eyes met his father's.

Boruto and Naruto.

Son and Father meet for the first time.

"Naruto-kun," I said softly beside him. "This is Boruto Uzumaki."

My boyfriend looked at me, his eyes still completely shocked with the appearance of the sudden child. 

"O-our son, Naruto-kun."

Naruto looked at the boy again as if scanning every single feature to be download into his own Memory drive.

It didn't take long until Boruto tried to touch his father's face through the phone and nearly fell forward. Thank the lord for the four ninja soldiers surrounding the table that were able to save him before he completely face planted the metal lunchroom table.

"Hey we gotta get back to work," Kazuki moved the camera back to his face. "We'll see the both of you when you get back, okay?"

"For sure," I smiled, waving at them. "Bye guys. Bye Boruto, Hajime, I love you."

"I luv you, too, Mommy and Daddy!"

"Gahhhhh!"

Then the phone clicked off.

It was quiet for a few seconds. Naruto was quiet because he was probably trying to figure out the entire Boruto deal. I was letting him.

I thought it'd be best to give him space so I started standing up but his hand grabbed my wrist.

"Wait," his voice was barely audible.

"Hm?"

"I," he was looking forward, completely dazed still. 

"What is it?"

My boyfriend finally looked at me, "I nearly left you to take care of Hajime and Boruto alone, didn't I?"

"I didn't mind," I sighed. "I mean, you're a soldier so I was already prepared that you one day would pa-"

"That's still unacceptable!" he suddenly shouted.

I looked at him with wide eyes as he calmed himself.

"That's still unacceptable on my part."

Within a few heartbeats, I was enclosed once again in his arms. His face hidden in the crook of my neck.

"It won't happen again," Naruto said as softly as humanly possible for him. "I promise."