"I wanna meet Kurama!"

The Hope | Chapter 9

Naruto sat in the grass, looking towards the clouds.
He saw his beloved wife's face in every cloud
"Naruto, is everything okay?" Sasuke planted himself next to his friend. He had never seen Naruto be this hopeless. He had never seen Naruto in this much despair before. He was worried for his friend.
"Tou-chan," Boruto walked up to him in tears, "This is all because of you. Kaa-chan is in this sorry state because of you!" He grabbed his dad's collar and yelled at him, "What happened to ' I'll protect the village and everyone in the village is my family'? Is my mother not your family? Is your wife not your family?" Boruto continued to yell at him but Naruto didn't respond. His eyes didn't have the blue shine they always did, his warmth was absent and bubbly personality had been replaced with a sad personality.
"I don't understand much about your adult stuff," Boruto continued, "But I do understand that family is when we stand up for each other and stand up with each other.
"You have done this to her!" Boruto yelled and dragged his fist back to punch his father.
"Boruto!" His attempt was blocked by Sasuke who slapped him. "What happened isn't Naruto's fault. Stop blaming him unnecessarily."
"Sasuke," Naruto spoke up, "I understand you're his master, but please refrain from doing that if you can, in the future."
Sasuke got up and walked up to his wife.
"What's wrong with that loser?!" He banged the desk.
"Anata, don't say that. Do you really want me to explain or do you know and are just expressing frustration over him being like this?"
" I just don't understand. Where's the idiot who always has energy? Where's that loser who always ends his sentences with 'dattebayo'? Why is he like this?" Sasuke was frustrated, his wife could tell.
"Anata, he's depressed. He feels like what you did. He doesn't want revenge, he just wants Hinata back. That's all. He's just sad. He will be back once Hinata regains consciousness. I'm working on it." She said looking into her notepad.
"Anata, it's okay." She gently tapped his forehead and smiled and left to tend to Hinata.
"Naruto, everything will be alright." He
"Naruto" a familiar voice echoed in Naruto's ears.
"Is that really you? I must be dreaming." Naruto said looking at a figure in the shadows in a monotonous tone.
"Naruto" the shadow said turning around, "What is the one thing you have that other people don't?"
"I don't know. I don't know. I never had anything over others." Naruto clutched his head, "All I ever did was not stop. All I ever did was not stop because I knew there was something pushing me through. But now, that something pushing me through is lying in bed in the hospital, and I'm here, helpless." Tears dropped from his eyes like pearls.
"Naruto, you have shown me that destiny can be changed. You told me I could be free of this curse of fate on me will. That's why I could protect you, and her. I wanted to start my own life, with my love, my friends and my family too." The shadow said in its sweet and deep voice.
"Neji, all I did was defeat you in the Chunin exams. I knew Hinata could change herself. I saw it in her. But what about now?" Naruto looked over.
"Naruto, don't lose hope. Are you giving up on her?" Neji asked him.
"Absolutely not. I will never give up. Not on my love for Hinata, not on MY Hinata." Naruto stood up and wiped his tears of.
"Thank-Neji? Neji? Oye! Neji?" Naruto looked around for the genius.
"Thank you, dattebayo, Neji." Naruto smiled to himself and went back to his wife.
He fed Himawari lunch while telling her stories about how amazing a Shinobi Hinata was. This made her smile.
"There were a lot of guys after Hinata, you know. She was very shy, but she was very popular and beautiful, heck, she still is." Naruto told his daughter.
Her father praising her mother like that made her feel happy.
"Mama was a really strong Shinobi?" She asked.
"Yes, Hima. Your mom helped me a lot in the Shinobi War. You know, Hima," Naruto held Himawari's shoulders, "Your Papa, is not a very smart guys, neither very good looking. Your Mama could've been with a much better guy than me. I don't understand why she chose me, but she did." He turned his gaze down from his daughter, "And now I feel, she should have chosen someone else."
"Hima" he held her, "Can you watch your Mama for a while? Papa has something to do."
"Papa, have you ever kissed Mama?" She asked blushing.
"I have, Hima." Naruto said blushing and laughing a little.
"Papa, kiss Mama." Himawari said.
"Hein? What?"
"Kiss Mama. You have done it before ne?"
"But Hima, I can't just." Naruto turned to Hinata. He wanted to kiss her. It had been such a long time that he spent some quality time with his wife. He looked at her once and then at Hima.
"I can't kiss her the way you want me to, Hima, because I think you are still too young to watch it, but what I can do is this." Naruto leaned in to Hinata's forehead.
He gently put her hair out of the way, and softly pecked her forehead.
" I love you, Hinata. I will always love you." Naruto smiled at her.
"Nanadaime" Sarada panted as she entered the room.
"Breathe first, Sarada. What happened?" Naruto asked her calmly.
"It's Kakashi Sensei. Shikamaru has immediately summoned you."
"Okay. I'll be there. Tell Shikamaru I'm coming."
Sarada went off, Naruto straightened his coat.
"Boruto, Hima. I'm leaving her in your care. If anything happens, call Sakura immediately." Naruto instructed as he put on his work face and Hokage Cape on and left the room.
"What's the matter, Shikamaru?"
"This All-Knowing Saint person, can apparently transform into people. People who might be dead as well." Shikamaru informed him.
"What? N-Neji!" Naruto thought.
"Neji?" Shikamaru questioned.
"I was sitting outside the hospital and I saw Neji. I thought I was dreaming but it might be her."
"She is the All-Knowing. We might be able to know how to improve Hinata's condition from her. We have to find her." Kakashi suggested.
"Can't we just ask her about the future?" Boruto looked confused, "I mean if she's the only hope and knows everything, she will know the future, right?"
"Hey! If you're here, who's with Hinata?!" Naruto yelled at him.
"Relax tou-chan. This is a shadow clone."
"We can't ask for the future Boruto. If we know our future we might change it which might lead to disastrous effects." Naruto said and sighed.
"Kakashi-sensei tteba, what do we have to do to find this woman? Or meet her?" Naruto asked his teacher.
"I don't really know. She just shows up." Kakashi shrugged.
"Well, if she knows everything, she will probably have an idea that we are thinking of this as well." Shikamaru thought aloud.
"So?" Boruto's clone questioned.
"So, she probably knows when to show up on her own." Shikamaru shrugged too.
"So, we just need to trust her?" Naruto furrowed his brow.
"I think that's the best thing to do for now. She will show up if she thinks it's necessary, otherwise it means we can handle this ourselves." Kakashi suggested.
"I'm going back to Hinata. This conversation isn't the best for me." Naruto sighed as he turned.