Epilogue: Intergenerational Part 2

'Someone's coming.'

Fox ears twitch: A man's laugh.

Then again as another voice comes: A softer subdued giggle.

And their footsteps are approaching fast.

Boruto hurriedly leapt out of Naruto's seat, was he already back? Or was this someone else? It wouldn't look good if one of his many other assistants caught him in here, especially since Shikamaru had been nice enough to unlock the door to let him in.

Quickly, he moved behind a stack of files and boxes in the corner, crouching down as low as he could get to the ground as the door clicked open.

"I still say Ichiraku's is the best, though Chef Masa's does serve some good sushi I'll admit!" Naruto laughed, Hinata trailing after him inside.

"Well, I'm just glad you were willing to give it a fair chance."

'Mom and Dad! They're okay; so why haven't they been answering any of their messages?'

As if to answer his question then, Hinata pulled out her phone to check the time, sighing when she realized it was still off and instead glanced towards her wristwatch. "Oh, no! It's already past 3! I needed to be back at the office to close up at 2."

Naruto shrugged, poking at her cheeks affectionately. "Don't forget, you were the one who suggested we start turning off our phones when we went out for these lunch dates."

Hinata huffed, glancing away from his smirk. "Only because they would ring and buzz so much we could hardly get a proper conversation in! And you've been so busy lately, we've both been really…"

He expected his Dad to sigh or quietly nod in agreement, but his fingers instead reach back for her face and a shade of red lights her cheeks at seeing his serious expression.

"We have the time now." He murmurs.

Hinata laughed, shaking her head in disagreement. "Not really."

Boruto winced, stomach clenching. 'This can't be happening…'

Surely Mom isn't going to give into his Dad's horrible attempts at flirting, right? Because they both have work left to do and need to be responsible.

"We shouldn't." She whispers on, though a small grin etches up her lips as Naruto grabs her phone away out of reach.

"Just a few minutes together won't hurt. We're already late anyways."

Hinata hesitates for only the briefest of seconds, face darkening as she watches Naruto move to lock the door.

He smirks cheekily as he strides back to her, swerving her back into his arms.

"So nobody can interrupt us."

'No!'

"Well…as long as nobody can walk in us."

'No, please! I'm still in here!"

Naruto carries her then to the edge of his desk with practiced ease, sliding paperwork and files out of the way. He pushes her white coat off, ruffling with the top buttons of her shirt.

"All I can think about working on right now is you." He breathed into her neck.

And Boruto sickeningly realizes they've done this before.

The queasiness increases tenfold, Hinata leaning into Naruto as her arms come to wrap around his neck. He faintly sees the sight of fox ears and tails mirroring his own before the sound of their kissing makes him squeeze his eyes shut, accidentally slamming back into the boxes.

Crap.

Naruto's ears jerk, turning to the source of the noise. "What was that?"

Hinata frowns, following his gaze. "I'm not sure."

His eyes don't move from his direction and Boruto swallows, hoping and praying every bit of him is out of sight.

"Hinata, I don't think we're alone."

'Nothing is going my way today.'

All it takes is one shove of the boxes tossed aside like feathers and he's discovered.

And both is parents gasp, yes this really is his worst nightmare.

"Boruto!"

Hinata quickly shuffles to properly redress while Naruto only looks him over, cerulean eyes widening in surprise.

"Since when…did you get fox ears and a tail?"

Boruto slowly stood back up, frowning at Naruto's own features. Just minutes ago he hadn't had those burnt orange fox ears or tail either.

"I could ask you the same thing."

-X-

The room feels 10 times hotter.

Naruto drums his fingers slowly against his mahogany desk, sunlight making it shine an auburn glow. Hinata leans next to him, face still a rosy hue, though her lips are set in one of her firm lines that makes him far too nervous to speak.

Finally, Naruto sighs and he stiffens as lavender and blue fall upon him.

"Boruto, you could've come to me if you went to the hospital. I would've paused any case or patient I was working with for you." Hinata speaks first.

The knot in his chest twists tighter, reminding of everything he could've done better over the last few hours…

Days.

"I-I didn't want to worry you. I thought this might go away if I handled it on my own." He grumbled.

Naruto coughs, swirling in his chair uncomfortably. "We both admit it was wrong to keep our phones off, but you didn't need to convince Shikamaru to allow you to break into my office without my presence and…you should've said something if you were here."

Boruto squirmed, anger bubbling up. "I didn't break in! Besides, if we weren't on the third floor right now I would've gone out the window!"

The resulting pain from the fall would probably be less than having to experience listening and watching his parents fool around.

"When did this start?" Hinata questions to get them back on topic.

"This morning." Boruto replies, gazing at them once more with eagerness. At last, he was going to get the answers he needed, hopefully before he left this office he would be sans fox ears and tails.

Naruto sighs in relief at that, nodding towards Hinata who smiled as well. "Good, you were still home then."

"So…who was the trigger?" Hinata breathes out, eyes sparkling in interest as she leaned away from the desk.

Boruto only blinked, frown returning. 'Trigger?'

"We mean your crush, this usually comes on with the start of attraction in somebody. Puberty isn't the same exactly in our family as you've found out." Naruto explains.

Sarada bubbles up to the forefront of his thoughts and he feels his tails jerk.

No, there's no way it's her. No way can he tell them that Sarada might be the cause of all this…

"I-I it's no one. I woke up like this that's all." He asserts.

Naruto crosses his arms while Hinata arches a brow. It's impossible to even be convincing in his lies having them scrutinize him like this.

And instead of rambling up another excuse, his parents start coming up with their own.

"Oh, it's that one girl Hinata! You know, the one who keeps her hair in braided pigtails? With the purple hair."

Hinata tapped her chin in thought before snapping her fingers. "You mean the class representative?"

'Sumire?'

Why was that Dad's first conclusion?

Naruto beams, nodding his head. "Yeah, that's the one! I believe her name was Sumire. Her father was an extremist so much so that she nearly followed in his footsteps…"

"Hmm, I don't know Naruto. I always thought Bolt was beginning to like Sarada." Hinata mused, eyes gazing back toward him with a passing smirk.

She says it so casually, maybe Mom has noticed the way he bickers with her without trying to truly make her upset, the way he scoots himself closer whenever she stops by for lunch or dinner, and his horrible responses to her rare compliments.

"Sasuke's daughter? I wonder how his reaction would be to that." Naruto muttered.

Hinata simply shrugged, leaning her head against the palm of her hand. "Well, why do you think it's Sumire?"

He wanted to know too.

Because as friendly as he was with Sumire, he knew his heart didn't lurch, palms didn't sweat, and his body certainly didn't react like this in her presence.

Naruto sunk down in his chair, hint of scarlet warming his face. "Ah don't laugh, but she reminds me of you. Same shy personality behind that need to be up to her father's standards even though she's strong. I thought considering how much Bolt fought for her to stay at the school that he was developing feelings for her."

He laughed weakly as he finished his reasoning, Hinata hovering again back over him with a smile.

"Oh Naruto, you know I would never laugh at your explanations! Besides, you make a good point. If it weren't for the way I've seen Bolt and Sarada act around each other as of late, I would've guessed Sumire too."

She giggled, tussling up his spiky locks as he sat up and tugged at her to come into his lap. "I'm sure we can agree on some other things though."

"Excuse me I'm still here!" Boruto snaps, jolting his parents out of whatever 'game' they were about to start playing all over again.

Geez, they talked so easily about his love life in between their own teasing banter. It was time for some answers.

Now.

"Dad come on, I know I saw you with fox ears and tail just a few minutes ago and now they're gone. How do I get the cure too? Are there certain ingredients I need to go out and buy from the store to eat or drink?" He asked rapidly.

A look of puzzlement crosses Naruto's face and the coil in his chest returns as the blueness of his eyes darkens.

"What cure?"

-X-

The sky takes on a stream of fiery reds and oranges at dusk, bundle of grey clouds in the distance threatening for storms overnight.

The ground is cold beneath him, tails coming to wrap around him like a ball as he stays glued in place to his same earlier hiding spot.

Naruto's words can't stop repeating over and over, like a warped cracked disc in his head.

'Honestly Boruto, don't you think if there was a cure I would've used it on myself a long time ago?'

Yes. No. It hurts to keep thinking about this.

"How long are you going to stay like that?" His voice questions above him, Naruto's stare burning into his back.

Hinata has gone on ahead home when it became clear he wasn't going to get up, even knowing how he'll be punished for ignoring their demands for him to listen.

"This is embarrassing, how can there be no cure? You don't have them right now so you must've done something; this is your fault for passing onto me your terrible genes." He huffed.

Naruto crouched down beside him, shaking his head with a small laugh. "Why is it my fault when I never wanted it either? Anyways, I can assure you I used no tricks or elixirs. It took years of effort to learn to relax to make them go away faster. And usually they only pop out when I'm around your Mom in private so…"

Boruto made something of a gagging noise, finally sitting up so he could face him.

"Really, you're lucky you were at home when this all started. I happened to be in the locker rooms after seeing all the girls come in for practice, gym class was just beginning. But I freaked, absolutely had no idea how to react and most people screamed and ran off when I eventually had to join the rest of the class from being dragged out by the coach. I don't think I went to school for a whole month or so after that." He recalled.

"I'm used to the looks of hate and malice by now. Maybe for this year though, I'll make everyone's wishes come true and just…die."

His voice had been so somber, lost.

He scoots and presses his head against his chest, Naruto pauses, frozen at him showing such open affection before he wraps an arm loosely around him.

"You're going to be okay Bolt."

Fingers grip at the edges of his shirt, glancing up to see his Dad's soft smile and the pain twists again at him.

"I saw the tapes." He whispers.

Naruto blinks, grin falling apart. "Tapes?"

Boruto swallows, nodding. "In the attic."

And he watches as his blue irises slowly clear in realization. At knowing everything he's seen. When he grins again, he can see the familiar twitch of it being fake.

"I didn't realize the old clunker was still up there or that even worked." Naruto hummed, scratching a hand through his hair slowly.

His gaze slowly focuses back to him, sighing at seeing his frown. "Why were you even up there?"

"I had to hide from Sarada and Mitsuki."

A genuine snicker erupts at that. "Makes sense! Listen, it's true I was depressed during those early birthday videos. I had gotten tired of pretending to be happy, pretending I felt fine. What changed was that I stopped feeling sorry for myself and letting every cruel word said to me get under my skin."

'But I guess Bolt has never felt that way. He's always been popular as far as what I've seen, always surrounded by friends…'

"I-I'm sorry. I mean for everything, for cheating when I shouldn't have even if I wouldn't have gotten a perfect score. And if I had known about your past, I wouldn't have ever said all those cruel things either about you or have-"

"It's okay Bolt; really; I mean…I never told you or Hima because they weren't happy memories. I know you don't hate me." Naruto interrupted his jabbering, holding up a hand to stop him.

Boruto scowled, pushing back from him slightly. "You can't even let me apologize properly!"

Though anything he wants to say gets stuck again in his throat as Naruto tugs him back into a hug. And as much as he wants to resist, his body shifts and starts to crumple back into him.

"I know you're sorry about the cheating incident, we both know you're better than that and are going to move past it. I've never thought that you hated me since you can never say hate me with a straight face or actually looking at me I've noticed over time." He stated quietly.

"And the key to making these fox features go away is to stay calm, no matter the situation. For example, I know you tried to hack into my computer or at least looked at it when you came in here, but making my password anything ramen related would be too easy, even for me." Naruto mused.

Boruto stiffened, even with his messing around with Mom he had noticed little things were off about his desk.

"But it's okay! In the same way, you have to not let your emotions get to you Bolt. It's dangerous in our case when that happens." He continued.

'What does that mean? How can I find a place to relax when I'm at school or hanging out with everybody and these accidentally pop out?'

He pushes the thoughts away before they make him too antsy, switching his position in his arms.

'Dad's warm.'

His wall clock ticks by in the distance, the world beginning to blur as he shuts his eyes.

When he opens them again, the ground is moving beneath him.

"Where are we?" He slurs out, the sky has become a pitch black, streetlights flickering on casting white glows against fences and the pavement.

"Heading home." Naruto replies, adjusting him on his back.

Wait, he's carrying him?! No, this is horrible! What if one of his friends sees this?

"Don't worry, nobody is going to see your tails or ears. They disappeared as soon as you fell asleep!" He chirped.

Boruto shook his head, trying to kick him with his legs to no avail. "That's not the point; put me down! I look like a baby being carried like this you know!"

Naruto paused for a second, before re-tightening his hold on him. "Oh relax, it's not like you're heavy! You used to love having me give you piggyback rides! Besides, how else was I going to get you back to the house?"

Well, waking him up for starters…

"And if I really wanted to embarrass you in front of your friends I could bring up your frog dance and song from kindergarten that you did for show and tell. I still remember how it goes-"

"Okay, okay; I get your point!" He hissed, stopping him from breaking into singing terribly off-key.

They walk the rest of the way in silence, Naruto yawning and stretching out his legs when they reach the last block before the house.

Maybe he can get away with hiding in his room the rest of the weekend.

That is until Naruto just has to pressure him again.

"So, be honest. Is it Sarada or Sumire? I won't tell anyone, well except Hinata!"

The tails and ears return in an instant.

"Why do you need to know?!"

-X-

Moonlight falls over Boruto's sleeping figure, light snores echoing throughout the room as he turned once more in his sleep.

'He sleeps like me.'

Because he hasn't even noticed he's stepped back into his room to check on his fox status.

He had probably crashed shortly after he had set him down, throwing the blankets over his head until he decided to leave.

"Are they gone again?" Hinata whispers from the door, poking her head in to see.

Naruto gives a slight nod, tiptoeing back out to beside her. "It will be like that for a while. Coming and going, especially if you bring up Sarada's name."

A smile plays upon her lips. "I knew it."

They shut back the door carefully. Himawari already deep into slumber huddled among a sea of her most favorite stuffed animals, her prized fuchsia panda manning the space under her arms.

Their children were growing right before their eyes.

The wooden ends at the edge of their stairs are littered with the scratch marks from counting how tall their getting, old paintings and designs still in the keepsake boxes in their room…

"Will this happen to Himawari too?" Hinata suddenly asks, sighing at Naruto's scowl.

He never liked or broached the topic about their daughter growing up, somehow coming to hate or dislike him in the same way Boruto has.

"Naruto, they're only about 2 years apart. Himawari will be a preteen/teenager soon as well." She nudges him.

A low grunt escapes him, hands reaching and curving to wrap around her sides.

"Lilac, I prefer we change the topic. We never did get a chance to finish what we started in the office after all." He breathed softly against her neck, hairs prickle up and he smirks as her pale skin flushes a deep red.

"I haven't heard you call me that name in years. Not since Jewel After Hours…"

The nights where she first whispered sweet pleasures to him only through a cheap phone, hiding in the shadows of dark corners away from the moans and groans that usually littered the main rooms.

"Wanna change that?" He challenged, scarlet encompassing his eyes as he hoisted her up.

Nails scratch and dig into his shoulders, tiny crescents left in the wake of a falling high and soft moans. He kisses at the bruises forming along her neck, heaving himself up from her chest as his thrusts come to an end.

"I worry about him; Boruto I mean. We've finally sort of connected again, but I don't know how he'll handle the transforming." He murmurs as their eyes meet again.

Hinata smiles, brushing her fingers lightly up and down against his arms. "Well, I'm sure he'll follow your advice as best he can to relax, but you know how he can be. Looking cool and stylish is important to him more than I think such things ever mattered to you."

She squeezed at his hands at seeing his continued uncertainty.

"Bolt will mistakes, dear. Himawari too. Nobody was perfect with these fox features when they first started showing up."

A silly grin climbs up his face. "I was!"

Poking at his sides breaks him into a snicker though. "You liar; I clearly remember you growling at our friends!"

-X-

'Sunglasses? No, too obvious. Wool cap; would be weird to wear with all this heat…'

Ugh, it seems like it will be impossible to hide any potential fox ears or tails popping out with it being so hot.

He's somehow managed to avoid Sarada and Mitsuki the entire weekend, Mom and Dad giving various excuses when they stop by though Himawari took a bit too much pleasure in throwing out embarrassing stories each time they visited.

But today is the last day of school, the day awards and certificates are passed out and all lockers must be cleaned out.

Including his.

Any ideas of passing it onto Himawari to grab any prizes and give her his locker combination are shut down with a single glare from Mom.

"If I hear again from the faculty that you've skipped again, then you can be sure your friends will find out about more than just your fox ears and tails…"

The warning was enough for him to set his alarm an hour early.

And now he sits at the table with everyone finishing up breakfast, even Dad having adjusted his morning routine for him. Cerulean eyes brighten as he accepts his offer for green tea to soothe him.

"It's going to be an easy day Bolt, remember the point is to relax." Naruto repeated over.

He nodded, forcing on a small smile. He wished he could share in his confidence that the day would be smooth sailing.

"We'll see you when you two get home." Hinata calls out to them as he adjusts on his backpack, Himawari already at the door tying on her shoes.

"There you are!" A familiar voice rings out as soon as he creaks the door open, Sarada at the end of the entrance.

Goodbye, smooth sailing.

The wind shuffles up her ebony hair, of course she's wearing that same stupid striped skirt from that day only with a red floral top this time.

He gulps down the forming lump. 'This is going to be an easy day, I have to relax as Dad said.'

Before he can say anything she marches up to him, getting far too close to his personal space.

Mitsuki does nothing to stop her, smiling pleasantly with a wave. "Glad you're feeling better!"

"So just where have you been all weekend?! Too good for us now to answer any of our texts or calls, huh?"

He quickly shook his head, taking a step back as he felt now quickly familiar warm sensation rush across his body.

"Didn't Mom and Dad tell you I was sick in bed with the stomach flu?"

At least, he hopes that's the excuse they gave them.

Sarada shakes her head, jabbing a finger against his chest. "Hima said you had fever and a bad cough! So which was it? Or are you going to have trouble remembering which story you gave each person who stopped by?"

And luckily, Mitsuki finally decides to step in; situating himself between the pair.

"No need to be so harsh Sarada, after all; you were the one who kept asking me excessively if Boruto was hospitalized or dying and that we needed to go visit every hospital/clinic in Konoha to make sure."

Pink brims her cheeks as she stumbles back, fixing her glare from Boruto to him.

"W-What?! I-I never wanted to do that! Don't make things up!" She sputtered, sighing at his cheery grin before turning to go.

"Let's just get moving already! I'm not going to be late because of you." She scowled, walking on ahead.

He sends Mitsuki a grateful grin who only waves it off. The sparkle in his golden orbs makes him wonder how much he truly knows and simply isn't saying…

The day is quickly growing warmer, sunlight passing over the grasslands and forests creating bright patches along the riverbanks and flowers. Maybe this year he can convince Mom and Dad to go up to the mountains to explore the caves or to the beaches in neighboring countries.

'It's been so long since we've all gone on a vacation somewhere...'

"So, you'll need to partner up. When you've found your teammate, head up to me to get your assignment." Mr. Aburame breaks him from thoughts and his looks back into the room to see his fellow classmates scrambling around.

'Um, what's going on?'

And then he sees it written in neat white chalk at the front: End of the Year Scavenger Hunt.

Oh right, Mr. Aburame had mentioned it excitedly over the passing days he recalled, oddly excited and considering it the perfect 'bonding' moment for them to remember back on years from now.

He frowned, almost wanting to sink into his chair to remain without a partner as he watched his peers quickly break into pairs. It's too late to be invisible with all the antics he's done over the year though and he smells her presence without even having to turn.

Sarada.

"Don't have a partner yet? I guess it can't be helped then." She hummed, plopping down into the empty desk beside him.

Boruto blinked, glancing around. Indeed it looked like he had no choice, Mitsuki sending him a quick nod before turning back to Shikadai.

It seems he's betrayed him.

"We're going to explore the open field behind the school. You and your partner will have an hour to find all the items on the list. The top 3 teams that find the most items will get a prize. Good luck to all!" Shino announced as everyone started to break out of the classroom.

Sarada nudges him forward and he glances down at the list. It's based off of a variety of objects and topics they studied over the year: fossil, pinecone, two different types of leaves or flowers, sedimentary rock, etc.

"This shouldn't be hard. I already have an idea of where we can find the rock and fossil."

Boruto just follows along, keeping quiet. If he doesn't think about her, about the way she smells, the way she keeps brushing up on him…

He won't lose control.

"You're being so weird; you haven't said anything since we came out here. If it's because of how angry I was before that whole cheating scandal; I'm sorry." Sarada notes, arching a brow at his continued silence. They walk along a rocky path by a stream, the only sounds coming from the ripples in the water and the nearby laughs and shouts from their classmates.

The underlying concern makes his stomach toss, glancing away from her before it can affect him any deeper.

"It's fine; I want to move past that, besides what's there to say other than I was stupid for doing it?" He replies easily, though she's right. Normally he would suggest going off the beaten path into the woods or into the farther off fields to find more extravagant items not even on the list…

She brushed a hand against his forehead then making him nearly jump. Somehow she can't hear his frantically beating heart or see the canines of his teeth arise.

"Hmm, you don't have a fever from what I can feel."

He pushes her hand away a bit too roughly, the hair on his body prickles up faster and he quickly glances down as he tries to relax his breathing. "I'm not sick."

"Then why are you being so moody?!" She huffed, grabbing back his arm and forcing him to stare at her.

Her dark orbs are wide in worry, crimson beginning to seep into them and he struggles not to simply shove her off and run.

'Crap. I'm losing this…'

"You." He whispers.

It's too soft for her to hear and his gut rolls tighter when she steps back into his personal zone.

"What?" She breathes.

He bites his lip until the metallic taste of blood comes through, but still it isn't enough as he feels a sudden mass upon his head and back.

They're back.

"You. I like you and it makes this happen to me; happy now?" He blurts out in a rush before taking off for the tall grass. His name is shouted from a few passerby, but that only makes his pace quicken.

He doesn't wait to hear her response or see her probable horrified reaction.

And she doesn't stop him.

It's only when Sarada gets home hours later, surprised to see Mama back early talking with Papa over coffee can she utter out what she heard and freeze all conversation.

"Boruto likes me."

-X-

It's not like Sasuke to interrupt his morning processions.

He stands fixedly in his office in between co-workers giving him new files and forms to sign. In 30 minutes, he must precede over one of his most difficult cases as a judge so far regarding the murder of a well-liked officer and an equally well-liked banker who erupted in a moment of weakness at learning of the other's discretions involving his family…

The duo have some of the best lawyers working with them and the public is just as divided over the high-profile matter.

And yet, he still doesn't move.

"Sasuke, can you tell me what the heck you want already?! It's nice to have you back in the city, but you already gave me your reports yesterday." Naruto snapped.

"I don't care about your work. I've come here on family business, I guess you could call it an emergency." He responded flatly.

Naruto stood up at that. "Emergency?! Bastard, why didn't you say so earlier? What's going on, are Hinata and Sakura okay? Or are the kids-"

"Your son likes my daughter." He cuts him off plainly.

Naruto paused, unsure if he heard him correctly. "Huh?"

"Your son likes my daughter. When did this happen?" He repeats.

If it weren't for the seriousness of his tone, Naruto would've laughed. Being away on business trips meant he wasn't always in the know of Konoha gossip he shared with him. (Not that he ever cared about relatively anything he told him though…)

But he doesn't have a good answer for him this time.

Especially considering it involved Sarada.

"I don't know, maybe for a while now. What's wrong with that though?"

Onyx eyes narrowed. "He has your genes. And he's at the age when you started to first have those…features."

Naruto snorted, crossing his arms. "Yeah, he's started getting them. Bolt's not a bad person, you know this from having trained him yourself with some martial arts and business."

Not that he can understand why his son looks up to Sasuke, he's the cooler of the two!

"That was before I knew he had crush on Sarada."

Amusement pushed through as a grin edged up his lips. "Geez Sasuke, I never imagined you would be so overprotective! This is so cute, wait until Sakura hears about you barging into my office to demand your daughter not date my son!"

"Hn. I'm not 'demanding' anything moron. I'm just going to be watching him closely now. Sarada is smart enough to stay safe if he does or tries anything."

Naruto is still snickering even as he leaves his office.

"Whatever you say!" He answers in a sing-song manner.

Idiot still never takes anything important even years later.

-X-

His appetite is gone.

Whose idea was it to invite Sarada over for dinner?

Himawari excitedly waves her in from his corner view upstairs, guess he can't blame this on Mom or Dad.

Her presence instantly makes his tails and ears return just as he had gotten them to go away after two long showers.

And so he lies underneath the blankets of his bed, ignoring the knocks that come and go to his door.

"I never knew the books I had read on the Uzumaki family were true." A soft voice eventually makes him pause at his game and peek out from the fortress of sheets.

"How did you get in here? I locked the door."

Sarada grins, holding up a bobby bin to the light. "Honestly, are you going to stop looking at me forever now?"

Boruto turns away from her, scoffing into his pillows.

She settles down onto his bedspread, sighing. "I…I'm not scared. I was a little startled yes when I saw you suddenly had a tail and ears sprout out of you so I went to do some research at the library about it."

'Of course you did.'

"It's weird, the rest of the day went by in a haze after you ran off. Everyone asked what had happened to you, you moved so fast it was like you really were an animal. They mostly thought you were just joking around and you brought the tails and ears as a prop for an end of the year prank." She explained.

"But I just kept thinking about those 3 words you said..."

He tossed off his blankets to face her then, squirming when he saw her cheeks were growing hot as well.

"It wasn't a joke." He mutters.

Fingers twitch nervously and hesitate for a second, coming to rest at the edge of her hand.

"I didn't think it was a lie." She hums and fox ears twitch at seeing her sincere grin.

She giggles when he creates a cocoon again around himself.

"It's sweet, knowing I have this effect on you!" She teases, poking at said ears until he shoos her hands away.

When he works up the nerve to poke his head out again, Sarada is still lingering above him, strands of her black hair falling out to the sides as her glasses slip down a bit.

She slowly clears her throat, leaning closer. "Um, just for the record and don't let it get to your head or anything, but…I like you too."

And her lips heat the end of his cheek, teetering close to the beginnings of his own lips if he just turns his head a bit…

Almost.

"Hey Sarada, maybe you can convince Bolt to eat a little or some dessert! I don't want him to be hungry despite his grumpiness." Naruto's voice breaks through and they leap apart so fast his head slams against the wall.

Naruto studied their blushing expressions, choking on a laugh. "Oh sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt! Though you two are too young to be sneaking off for a rendezvous."

Boruto groaned, moving to stand and casually push his Dad back out.

Uncle Sasuke will know about this by morning and at worst, it will leak out to the rest of their friends and classmates before the week is over.

Sarada smiles nervously beside him though when he looks back over to her and the knots in chest finally loosen somewhat at not having to hide.

He wasn't alone in this.

-x-

Extra!

'This hurts!'

It's the fourth time she's awakened, stomach feeling like it's clawing at her again. The burning sensation runs from her lower belly down to the tips of her toes, no amount of pain relievers or heat packs seeming to help.

'I don't want to wake Mama or Papa up either. It seems like it's almost morning anyways; I'll ask them for help when they're awake.' Himawari noted, peering out her window to see a hint of orange dusting the sky.

It's 4:28 AM.

Blue eyes sleepily drift from her clock to the mirror and her head pounds when she does a double-take at her reflection before glancing down to her wet bedspread.

'No…No way.'

"Hima, it's time to get up or we'll be late! Didn't you set your alarm?" Boruto questioned, nudging at her blankets to no avail a few hours later.

She normally would be up first waking him, especially knowing how excited she had been for this trip to these beachside villas with Grandpa and the others even coming along.

"I told you I'm not going anymore!" She growled, reinforcing her hold at his tugging.

Their back and forth only lasts a minute before her sheets begin to tear, Boruto finally catching a glimpse of her.

The ripped blankets fall to the ground silently, eyes wide as he steps back. 'Since when did she…?'

"I told you not to look!" Cobalt orbs flashing a mix of white and red.

And she leaps in for the attack then.

"Where's Hima? We'll be late for the train if we don't get moving." Naruto questions as Boruto trudges downstairs minutes later looking worse for wear, Hinata looking him over in concern.

He only nods in the direction of upstairs, shaking his head. "She's refusing to come down; maybe Mom can persuade her."

Naruto frowned, pointing to himself. "What about me? She won't stay mad at seeing her sweet Papa's face!"

Boruto rolled his eyes. "Yeah well your 'sweet Hima' just bit me and attempted to scratch my arms off!" Rolling up his sleeves to show an array of growing red and teeth marks.

Hinata casted Naruto a look, Himawari's 11th birthday had been just a week ago…

"I'll get to the bottom of this." He noted, gesturing for the two to head to the car. Himawari sits bundled up in darkness when he approaches, blue eyes peeking out before she lets out a huff.

"I told Bolt to get Mama…"

Naruto smiles, stepping in closer and ignoring her hisses. "Aw, don't growl at me sweetie. It's just Papa."

"Papa can't help with this!" She snaps, twisting away from his touch despite it making her dark blue fox ears and tail briefly show.

But those didn't seem to be what was truly making her so upset…

Not that they were helping.

"I need Mom for this Dad, please go call her." Himawari attempted once more, scooting until she was back at the top of her bed.

"First tell me why I can't help and what you're hiding." He replies, pulling her blankets out of reach with ease and pausing at stain of red upon the bottom layer of sheets.

"I-I think I started my period overnight." She whispers, snatching back her blankets quickly as her face became a dark pink.

"…"

Hinata won't stop laughing over it during the train ride. "Naruto, it wasn't that much blood, you made it sound as if it was all over the bed and not just a tiny spot in the middle!"

"Well, it seemed like a lot with the way she kept trying to cover it, you know! No wonder she kept asking for you." He grumbled.

He turned back to their sleeping children then, relieved neither seemed to be antsy or in pain.

'Can we handle this?'

Boruto hadn't made it easy in the past year controlling his fox features after all and now Himawari was going to add to that.

"We're in this together." Hinata's soft voice gently brings him back and he nods, tugging her to rest her head against his shoulder.

They had handled so much over the years already from their first encounter through a call line…

And now dealing with their two hormonal kids?

It was easy in comparison.

-X-

Dear readers,

First and foremost, I want to thank all you of who have taken time out to read this story; especially those who have stuck with me all the way through in getting all of my thoughts out! I always appreciate hearing from you all and I never imagined this idea I got from being stuck inside due to flooding and storms would grow into this. I'm glad if I was able to bring a smile and laugh out of you as I had a lot of fun writing this. I'm going to get back to writing out Compounds and Tagged so look forward to those and any other ideas I may get, but for now I'm signing off on another completed story!

With much love,

Midnight Rain19

Enjoy. Review. Favorite. Follow!