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On a very deep level, Kawaki was more than relieved that he got out of his old life, which he always thought had been a living hell or worse for him. He didn’t show it all that often, but the gratitude he felt that he was staying in Konoha was immeasurable to some degree. Even though he was still a vessel for that cursed Jigen, he could find some solace in the stronghold that was the Hidden Leaf Village, and the people in it.
The people that he was surrounded by were certainly different than what he had been used to. They were...kinder, not like the harsh he encountered which had abused and scared him for most of his life. They talked nicely and offered to help him, and Kawaki would be confused sometimes at why they would treat him like this when he was such a monster. Most of the time he’d be annoyed with how nice everybody was, but at other times, especially when he really needed it, he appreciated that tenderness, more from some than others. His favorite was from Naruto, who not too long ago became his new caretaker. Kawaki hadn’t asked to be taken into custody. After all, that was one of the very things that he’d found so horribly grueling, with one caretaker after another taking him in, and then proceeding to mistreat him to a violent degree.
But Naruto was different. He could seem like a knuckleheaded idiot, sure, but those warm blue eyes, bright smile and big heart made a place into Kawaki’s soul, and for once, he was able to identify that somebody really cared about him. It was such a weird, unfamiliar feeling. He hadn’t felt cared for before, but now that he was, it felt so strange and conflicting. Part of him wants to return those feelings, but the other part of him wants to stay away from it. But it felt so nice... It was all so confusing, so he tried not to think about it too much when it wasn’t necessary.
And now he was accepted as part of the Uzumaki household, another surprising thing for the boy. But not only did it mean he was now another son to Naruto, but he’d have siblings as well. He was the oldest out of the two, Boruto and Himawari, and the way they acted as siblings was one of the things Kawaki didn’t get. He still had a lot more to learn about how to be cared for or care for others, but seeing those two around each other... did he have to act like that ? Supportive, happy and loving? These concepts were still so new to him, so the burden of having to just think about behaving that way was displeasing.
Kawaki thought he could just be himself. After all, not just him but even everybody else would be shocked to see a very violent Kawaki become as soft as a kitten, and he DEFINETLY didn’t want to be seen that way. He already looked like an oblivious child every time he experienced things that were so every-day to the rest of the village, despite how much he secretly enjoyed them.
He had lived with Boruto and Himawari enough to know what each of them were like. Hima was a child, sweet and innocent, and she held that same caring energy as her mother, and a bit of the warmth that Naruto had as well. Kawaki didn’t mind her all that much, and he avoided being cold to her. But even so, she still treated him with respect and kindness, welcoming him into her family with open arms.
Boruto was interesting, of course. He a was dumb, stubborn little boy, but as time passed, Kawaki felt that he took a little liking to the younger blond, partially because he was a good fighting partner and when Boruto got Karma, he found him to be a lot like him, to the point where he felt that similar feeling that he had with Naruto, but in a very different way.
Kawaki scoffed. The confusing feelings again. It was frustrating him a lot these days.
He hadn’t realized how much he’d been thinking about all this until he almost tripped over a tree root. The tan boy had been walking in the forest for a while, since he didn’t have any missions and he had already finished training with Naruto earlier in the morning. The sun was just setting in the sky, turning it to a nice blur of red, orange and pink, almost like a beautiful watercolor painting. As an enjoyer of simple sight-seeing, he felt his heart lift a little at the view.
Kawaki made his way to the Uzumaki household, where he knocked on the door and was greeted by a very happy Himawari.
“Welcome home!” she exclaimed, smiling.
Kawaki nodded in return and entered the house, where he saw Boruto lying down on his back on the couch in a pink shirt and dark gray pants, playing one of his video games.
“Hey, Kawaki-kun.” Boruto greeted, without looking away from his console.
Kawaki sighed. “Like always, you’re still absorbed in your dumb games.” he muttered.
Boruto didn’t pay him any attention though, and instead continued to focus on what he was doing.
Kawaki went upstairs and changed into different clothes; just a white t-shirt and black boxers, and made his way downstairs once again to wait for dinner.
He sat on the couch next to Boruto who was still clicking away at his gadget, when the blond spoke.
“By the way, dad said that we don’t have any missions for the weekend. Said something about taking it easy.” he informed.
Kawaki scoffed. “What the hell am I going to do then?”
“Well, relax of course!” Boruto replied, and for once he took his eyes off his game, sat up and looked at the other boy, probably because he lost on his current level.
“Tch,” Kawaki sounded. “Relax with what, then? I’ll just train.”
“You really have a lot to learn about normal life, dattebasa.” Boruto said, raising an eyebrow.
Himawari had entered the living room and was listening curiously to their conversation. The girl agreed with her older brother. How can Kawaki not know what fun was? If he was free, then he had to do something other than training. The poor boy had done a lot of it already. Himawari thought hard until an idea struck her mind.
“Onii-chan! Why don’t we have a movie night tomorrow?” she suggested.
Boruto widened his eyes and grinned, putting his console aside. “That’s a great idea, Hime!” he exclaimed. “Since all of us don’t have much to do this weekend, dattebasa!”
Himawari chuckled and ran up to Kawaki. “What about you, Kawaki-kun? You like the idea?”
The teen frowned in confusion. “Movie night? What even is that?”
Both the siblings gasped.
“You’ve gotta be kidding me!” Boruto exclaimed, shocked at Kawaki’s response. “You don’t know what a movie night is?!”
“No.” Kawaki simply replied, then grumbled. He looked like an oblivious child again.
But Himawari didn’t mind and instead smiled. She was sweet like that. “It’s okay! It’ll be your first movie night then! I had my first one with Sarada nii-chan and her team!”
Kawaki sighed and leaned back on the sofa as the two started discussing what they’d need for this movie night thing, whatever it was.
“We’ll need snacks, onii-chan.”
“I can go buy them with Kawaki-kun at the store tomorrow. I’ll make a list of them. We definitely need popcorn. Oh, and M&M’s!”
“And an interesting movie!”
“Oh, I’m pretty sure the jerk will like anything, Hime!”
From the sound of it, it looked pretty serious to Kawaki, and he couldn’t help but wonder how on earth it was supposed to work. He was about to ask Boruto why the hell it had to be more important than training, when Hinata had called the three of them for dinner. As they made their way to the kitchen, Kawaki could only wait and see what they had planned for him. Would it help ease his stresses of being part of a family now? Could he get some answers on how to work with it? He could only ponder.
…........................................................................................................................
The next day, Saturday, he and Boruto went to the corner store to buy some snacks. Surprisingly, the whiskered boy had offered to use his money instead of using Kawaki’s change like he always did, which made the teen a little wary.
Once they entered the store, Boruto pulled out his huge list of snacks they had to buy. Kawaki was baffled at how many things were scrawled on the big piece of paper. He and Hima were clearly doing a lot of talking that night.
“Do we have to get this much food?” Kawaki asked while groaning in annoyance as he read the names of the products, many of which were unrecognizable to him.
Boruto crossed his arms and let out a huffy chuckle. “Hey, you haven’t even been part of a movie night before! Getting this many snacks is important, dattebasa!”
Kawaki just rolled his eyes while muttering, “I can’t believe I’m missing training for this.” He honestly had no idea why this had to be so important.
He followed Boruto into the snacks aisle and widened his eyes at all the choices there were, but he then grouched at how long his younger companion would have to be here for.
Boruto started going down his list and selecting the snacks he needed. “Chips. M&M’S. Cookies. More chips.”
He turned to Kawaki and held up two bags. “What flavor of chips do you want?” he asked.
The teen frowned again. He was starting to wonder how long this whole ‘Kawaki- doesn’t- know- about- any- normal- things’ game was going to go on for.
He read the labels on each bag. ‘ Barbecue ’ and ‘ Salt and Vinegar ’.
Crap , he thought. I haven’t tried any of these .
To cover up the fact that he didn’t know what it tasted like and adding to the pile of things he didn’t know about that were supposed to be known, he just shrugged and said, “Just get both of them.”
Boruto happily placed both bags in his shopping basket and hunted for a couple more items, including juice, soda and a frozen pizza. Many of the things he wanted to buy Kawaki hadn’t tasted, which frankly made him very embarrassed.
Kawaki was about to exasperatedly tell Boruto that they had to leave after 10 full minutes of shopping, when the blond perked up.
“Oh, I almost forgot, dattebasa!”
He ran back into the snack's aisle again. Kawaki didn’t follow him, still irritated that Boruto was taking too long.
“Kawaki-kun!!”
The teen growled. “You’re taking too long idiot! I’m going to leave!”
“But Kawaki-kun! You need to pick out the taiyaki flavors!”
That stopped the boy dead in his tracks. As soon as he heard Boruto mention his favorite food, he bolted to the aisle, snatched five different flavored taiyaki and dumped them into the now full shopping basket.
Boruto smirked as he saw Kawaki’s lighting fast reaction that he’d only ever seen in fights with ruthless enemies and ninja. When the other boy met his eye, he snickered.
“You really went for that one, did you?” he teased.
Kawaki just punched Boruto in the shoulder. “Let’s just buy the damn snacks.”
The whiskered boy just chuckled cheekily as they made their purchases and headed back home, leaving Kawaki wondering just how many of those snacks he missed out on.
…..........................................................................................................
That evening, mainly Boruto and Himawari set everything up, wanting this first movie night to be a pleasant surprise for Kawaki. They had informed Hinata of what they were going to do and said that they may stay up a little while. Hinata agreed to it, but she told the kids that if it didn’t get too out of hand later, they could continue. The three of them had agreed to her words, and when Hinata had retired to bed, they stayed setting everything up.
Kawaki observed how they were doing everything. Boruto had already told him to put the popcorn in the microwave to pop it, and the teen was mesmerized at how it was being cooked.
Pop! Pop! Pop!
The snack smelled wonderful too. Steamy, buttery and hot, the smell was basically enchanting his nose. In fact, everything smelled really good, and Kawaki knew he was in for something all right.
He saw the two carrying comfortable blankets and pillows and spread them neatly on the couches in front of the T.V, which they had moved and adjusted in order to see the screen better. They then brought the snacks: bowls of chips, various candies (including the M&M’S that Boruto so infamously mentioned), and the popcorn Kawaki prepared in another huge bowl, as well as the now steaming pizza they’d warmed up. A bin filled with stacks of DVD cases for various movies was placed a little away from the food. Even some of Hima’s stuffed animals had come to join.
Once they were done, Himawari happily took Kawaki’s arm and led him to the living room.
“TA-DA!!” Boruto exclaimed, opening his arms wide and gesturing to the made up, cozy environment. All of them were in their sleeping clothes and completely ready for this thing. Kawaki tipped his head to one side as he saw how much commitment they put into this.
Before he could say anything though, Himawari pulled him to the soft ground and handed him a blanket and her brown teddy bear which he placed in his lap.
“Get comfy, Kawaki-kun! A movie night is no fun if you’re not, dattebasa!” Boruto told him, smiling. He got the bin of movies and started sifting through them.
“What movie should we watch?” Himawari asked. She turned to Kawaki while holding her stuffed purple panda. “Kawaki-kun? What types of movies do you like?”
Kawaki only shrugged, once again not really knowing what the little girl had meant. “I suppose anything that won’t make me want to tear my eyes out.”
Boruto laughed at the older genin’s response. “Oh, it won’t be anything that vulgar!” he stated cheekily.
“Hey, onii-chan!” Himawari suddenly said. “Why don’t we watch something animated? Those are always good!” she suggested.
Boruto thought for a moment, and then nodded. He started sorting the non-animated movies from the animated ones.
Kawaki frowned. “Animated?”
“It’s like a regular movie, but it was drawn instead of filmed.” Boruto informed. He handed Kawaki a couple of DVD cases. Big Hero 6 , Wall.E , and Encanto read some of them.
The boy stared at the covers. He’d seen stuff like this advertised around Konoha often, but he hadn’t considered watching them. He felt like they were a waste of his time. After all, training was really the only thing he wanted to focus on. But since he was part of this movie night thing which he was dragged into, he figured perhaps he could give it a try. There wasn’t any point attempting to get out of the situation now.
The blond took out a couple others and laid them out for the other two to see. A particular cover caught his eye of a blond-haired man with a dark-haired woman in a braid and straw hat. The background behind them was a field, with a seemingly huge tornado-looking structure with various mechanisms coming out of them: a house, steam engines and others. It looked bizarre to Kawaki and almost hilarious, but in an ominous sort of way.
Boruto noticed that the tan boy was staring intently at the DVD case and chuckled.
“ Howl’s Moving Castle , eh?” he said, crossing his arms. “Mom just bought this one a couple of days ago, dattebasa. Maybe we should try it?”
Himawari nodded. “It looks pretty good! Let’s watch it, Kawaki-kun!”
Kawaki gave a tiny sigh. He couldn’t say no to her.
“All right, fine.” he agreed. The younger girl cheered and got comfortable in her place beside the boy as Boruto placed the DVD in the player. The movie started and the Uzumaki retreated to Kawaki’s right side and tucked himself in the blankets. He got the bowl of M&M’s while Hima took the bowl of popcorn. Boruto handed Kawaki his taiyaki, at which the teen quickly took and started to narf one down with custard filling, his personal favourite.
After he’d finished two of them, he stared at the bowl of popcorn Himwari had with her.
“Kawaki-kun, you want some?” she asked, noticing him gazing at it.
“Uh...yeah.” he replied hesitantly. He reached in and took a handful of the stuff and put it in his mouth, slightly concerned about how it would taste. After chewing on it for a while, he himself felt like his eyes were sparkling.
How is this so damn good?!
Suddenly filled with possibility and appetite, he started to sample all of the different snacks he and Boruto got. He tried some of the chips and realized he didn’t like salt and vinegar, but barbeque was alright. The pizza was pretty good as well, although he liked Hinata’s a lot better.
But his favorite snacks were M&M’s, and much to Boruto’s displeasure, he kept eating from the bowl, probably even more than the blond boy had, especially considering that the bowl wasn’t all that large.
“Hey!” Boruto exclaimed. “You finished all of them!”
“There’s still some left moron,” Kawaki said as he gestured to the bowl. The whiskered boy pouted at the almost empty bowl and kept it away from his older teammate. As Kawaki relished the sweet taste in his mouth, he decided that he really liked sweet things.
As the three watched the movie and ate the snacks, a weird feeling suddenly struck the raven, and once again, it was unfamiliar. His mind wasn’t... burdened. He stared at the screen playing out the remarkable story with beautiful visuals and colors. He’d seen art before, but never like this, and he never came to appreciate it as much as he does now. The genin was sitting on a comfortable floor with blankets and pillows, with two people who weren’t his enemies, just... relaxing.
Kawaki was always on the lookout for things and never let his guard down, but right here and now, it felt comfortable and, dare he say, it felt so damn safe . In a way, Kawaki felt uncomfortable in his own skin when he thought like this, because he was never used to any of it. Constant fear and vigilance were what made up most of his life, but for the first time, he didn’t have to deal with any enemies, or starvation, or suddenly getting pounded for not buying any sake or talking to strangers. For now, he could just sit and breathe for a while.
Was this what it was like to be happy? Or experience a casual, joy-filled thing in life? Boruto and Himawari sounded like they had done movie nights before, and it sounded so normal . Was this what being normal felt like? Kawaki couldn’t be quite sure, because he knew he could never be normal like the others. He was simply too different.
But maybe experiencing normal occasionally would be fine. Maybe that’s how it would be like if he lived with the Uzumakis. It could be more relaxed than the life he was supposed to lead.
Kawaki sighed as he continued to watch the movie with his comrades. He couldn’t think more now. He decided to let himself relax, while not totally, at least for a little while.
............................................................................................................
It was now 12:30 pm and the movie was over. Himawari had yawned and instantly fell asleep after Boruto shut off the T.V screen and turned the lights off, leaving nothing but the bright glow of the full moon that shined outside.
“Get some sleep, Hime.” he whispered as he approached her and pet the top of her head.
“Good night, onii-chan...” she mumbled before closing her eyes and entering her dreamland.
Boruto made his way to his original place beside Kawaki and wrapped his blanket around him. The other teen rubbed his eyes, feeling pretty tired too, but he wasn’t as quick of a sleeper as the other two were. At night, his mind would wander, and then race like a beehive about everything that worried him. He could probably leave the two here on their own. After all, the movie was over, and he recalled that he could be particularly jumpy when it came to his corrupted thinking.
He was about to get up and go to his room, when he felt a weight suddenly fall on him. Surprised, he looked down, and he realized that Himawari was lying down against his lap, her head propped against his thigh, sleeping soundly and comfortably.
Kawaki widened his eyes and stiffened. He wasn’t used to being touched this way.
Great. Now I can’t get up.
Although, despite how much he wasn’t used to somebody sleeping against him, Kawaki would rather eat his hands than wake up Hima. She looked too sweet and innocent in her sleep for him to dare stir her awake. But while he would think, he knew he’d wake her up because of all his bottled-up fear coming up.
That’s it. He was stuck here forever.
He grumbled quietly, when he heard a quiet snicker beside him. He knew exactly who it was as he turned to glare at Boruto.
“Shut up!” he whispered sharply, irritated at the boy’s tease.
The blond quieted down but still smiled. “Looks like you’re staying here.” he jeered, bringing up the fact that Kawaki was going to retreat from the living room.
The teenager only scoffed and rolled his eyes.
How is it your business, anyway? he thought.
But as if Boruto hadn’t already sensed his frustration, the whiskered child’s face brightened as an idea struck him. He moved closer to Kawaki and wrapped his arms around his shoulders and leaned his head against the boy’s chest in a hug.
Instantly surprised, Kawaki tried shoving him away. “What the hell?!” he whispered sharply again, agitated with the stupid genin’s behavior. He definitely didn’t want to be touched any more than he already was.
But Boruto only stayed, cuddling closer to him and grinned, sleepily murmuring, “Don’t be a party pooper, ‘ttebasa...”
The raven griped as he unsuccessfully tried to pry the boy off him. “I’m not a hugger, you loser.”
Boruto moaned, “Aw, but you’ll leave... be a good big bro...” he persisted, not letting go of the ninja. Even after a lot of wrestling, he soon fell into a deep slumber, perfectly nestled into the soft clothing of his comrade.
Kawaki frowned. He was a lot of things, but a ‘good big bro’ definitely wasn’t one of them. Growling for the umpteenth time, he leaned against the sofa bedrest, giving up the fact that Boruto wasn’t letting go of him.
Kawaki wanted to tear himself up when he sat there, but the more the time passed, the less annoying it got, which ironically annoyed him even more. It was still irritating to have two bodies practically sleeping on top of him. It felt awkward too. The only person who gave him hugs was Naruto, but he only ever gave them when Kawaki wasn’t feeling well, mainly if he had a traumatic flashback. But he was relaxed now, so he didn’t need to be part of this- oh God help him- this cuddle pile.
He sighed and stared at the two faces snuggling with him, really because he had nothing else to do. If he started to think too hard, he could wake them up, and he didn’t want that.
Himawari was hugging her stuffy and smiling in her sleep. She did look quite comfortable resting against him like that, and to this day Kawaki still wondered where on earth Hima had found the guts to trust him.
But as he gazed at her, he just started noticing how... cute she looked. She was a ten-year-old girl, so according to everyone else, she was cute. But that innocence on her face or the smile she gave him all the time had what it took to create a soft spot in Kawaki’s lost heart, (although he would never admit it to anyone, not in his entire life).
A quiet snore from Boruto had Kawaki suddenly whip his head to the boy to shush him, but the blond was in too deep of a sleep to hear Kawaki’s hushing.
That dumb boy... unlike Hima, Kawaki thought, Boruto looked pretty dumb when he was asleep, probably dafter than when he was awake. His mouth was slightly open, allowing snores to escape him. Kawaki was thankful Boruto wasn’t the type of person to drool in his sleep, unlike his father, who could probably snore louder if he was really tired.
Boruto was unlike his father in a lot of ways than he expected. For one, he didn’t have that same big heart as the hokage had, although he tended to trust people a bit too early before analyzing their real motives. Naruto was more wary, while also being kind to those around him, and especially close to him. Kawaki wondered if he was as precious to Naruto as Boruto and Himawari were, but he wouldn’t ask. They were his biological children, so they had they advantage.
Boruto did look like Naruto in terms of physical features. The face, the eyes, the hair. He recalled at one point seeing a photo of Naruto when he had wild hair in his youthful days, but to be honest he liked it short better. Boruto’s hair resembled it in that way, but maybe it’s because he’d lived with the boy enough that he got used to it. It still looked like a stupid haircut to him though, sometimes just wanting to ruffle up those locks if he was frustrated with him. They looked like bananas and hell, now that he was up close to the genin, it smelled like bananas too. Kawaki wondered what kind of shampoo he used to make it purposefully be that way.
All the while as Kawaki thought, he realized that he hadn’t fidgeted while doing it. Maybe it was because of the two Uzumaki siblings grounding him, or because of what he thought of. And it felt... nice. Just to be sitting here, for once not scared of the dark, or his nightmares coming alive once again to steal him and hold him hostage. In that damn cuddle pile that he hated and wanted to get out of initially, that same feeling rose again that made his heart beat restfully in his chest and his eyes want to smile. He tried to find the words, to pinpoint it, and although he wasn’t sure if this was really the feeling at all, he felt...
He felt safe.
He felt sheltered.
He felt loved .
Loved ...
Was this what it was like to be part of a family? Sweetness littering all around the house and its people? Was this the feeling he felt when he was around Naruto, or anyone else that had paid him kindness? Was this how he was supposed to feel, as a ‘good big bro’? Or, as Boruto put it before, his kyoudai ?
Because if it was, then Kawaki would admit, at least to himself, that he liked it, that he wanted it.
Maybe I can get used to this...
And as he thought about it some more, he realized, maybe he could.
As the moon shone brightly in the night sky, Kawaki smiled and looked down at the two people sleeping against him, the ones whom he didn’t particularly hate, just being there.
Tiredness started to overwhelm him as he yawned. As he drifted off to sleep, he subconsciously wrapped an arm around Hima’s small body, to which she accepted the hold and smiled, and his head drifted down, being caught by Boruto’s fluffy hair as the blond nestled in the crook of Kawaki’s neck. And as the warm night wrapped around the three of them, Kawaki sighed, relaxed.
.......................................................................................................................
When Hinata woke up early and entered the living room to make breakfast, she bore witness to the cutest sight that had ever been seen in the entire history of the shinobi world.
Her two children snuggling with her now adopted son, with Himawari’s whole body sitting curled up in Kawaki’s lap and her head against his chest, with one arm wrapped around the girl. Boruto was sleeping against the teen’s right side, holding him in a nice tight side hug, with Kawaki’s other arm embracing him as well, all while the raven’s face was serene and relaxed. The Hyūga quickly but quietly got her camera and snapped the picture, excited to deliver the news to her husband that Kawaki was indeed getting along in their household.
The End