Rating: K+ Thematic elements

Beta: None.

Disclaimer: I only own this idea.

Notes: Chapter. 2. 2. 9. = Canon. Enough said. Inspired by Chapter 535.

There is more than one kind of love. So when someone says "I love you," it can mean more than one thing.

There is the heated passion of romance. The warm bonds of friendship. The close ties of nakamaship. A chafing rope of brotherhood. Joyful, blissful chains of parenthood.

But as different as love is, all types of love- and how you love- is a choice. A commitment. You choose to love whom ever you pick. It is never something you can't help, or something you can't control. But even if you can't understand why, you always choose who you love. When you stop loving someone, it's always a choice. You break your commitment, your promise, and a piece of your heart is gone forever.

That's the way it is with me and Naruto. I choose to love him. When I made that choice, ten years ago, our love began like warm bonds of friendship, healing the deep banks of frostbite in both our hearts. But love matures over time, if you let it. Which I did, for better or for worse.

I love Naruto. I've given up trying to fathom why. And when I called him my little brother, it was the phrase that best fit the situation.

But it isn't true.

This love I feel isn't the alluring glamour of romance or the warmth of closely tied nakamaship. My medical problems ensure I shall never know what it feels like to have kids of my own. But if I had to guess, my feelings towards Naruto would be closest to what I imagine it feels like to have a child. A piece of you- your flesh, your heart- running around in the sunlight.

Living.

Breathing.

Alive.

Ever watching you, mimicking you, intentionally annoying you just to see you get angry. Always looking to you for advice and guidance- often at the most inconvenient times, including the times when you have none to give.

Being a parent is more than convenience. It's a commitment. I made that commitment the day I looked into his eyes after the attacks from Kumogakure and saw myself.

Our pain. My confusion. His despair. Our loneliness.

It started so small, but as we matured, so did our relationship... until the day came when I had to let him go. Like every parent learns, I had to let him become a man. It was the hardest thing I have ever done to this day.

You understand, I could never tell him this. I am his academy sensei. I could never measure up to the Yondaime Hokage, one of the best shinobi this world has ever seen. I could never draw that same devotion from him that he gives his true father. His eyes shone like I have never before seen them when Naruto spoke of Yondaime-sama placing trust in him. Not even when he speaks of the title Hokage does he have such a light in his eyes.

How could I ruin that for him? How can I take that light out of his eyes as he tries to make me feel included?

I can't.

So when I said "little brother," it wasn't a blatant lie.

But it wasn't the entire truth.