nothing without you. { hinata x male reader }

treinta.

You didn't want Hinata to repeat herself. You heard what she said, not clearly, but you heard her nonetheless. Divorce. You weren't sure how to process it initially. You felt horrible. You weren't sure what else you could do for your best friend aside from continuing to hold her until she wanted you to let go.

It took a long time to get here, but Hinata told you everything. All the nights of having to put the kids to bed and them asking for their dad. The amount of times she would call him and he would either not return her calls or would return them hours later. The lonely nights when he told her he was able to make it home by tonight, maybe for dinner, maybe after dinner, and last minute, something would hold him back. She told you more things that happened on top of that. But, the nights when she was alone hit you more. You could have been there. It might not have been what she wanted, but it could have helped. Yes, he is the Hokage and they have to be there for the village at all times. But that does not mean his family takes a back seat to the village. His family is a part of the village he's protecting.

You never thought for a moment that Naruto doesn't love his family because, of course he does. But it just doesn't seem like he can balance it all. It's sad more than anything. You gave her more tissues, as many as she needed, until she was ready to let go. You wish it was different circumstances, but it felt good to be there for her. You wished you could give her more. You made her a clear promise and somehow didn't live up to it. You hope moving forward, that could change, and you could be there for her and take better initiative.

Rose arrived for lunch with the drinks, and Hinata brought her up to speed.

"What?! It's been that bad with him?"

"I barely see him. I understand that he has a big responsibility to be the protector of our village, the same village that once didn't believe in him. It was his dream to get everyone to see him, and he succeeded. But now, I feel like he doesn't see me. He usually gets home when everyone is asleep and leaves before we get up. He leaves notes saying he loves us, but it just isn't the same. I don't know what else to do. The kids do their best, but they need their dad."

Rose was eating her french toast with anger and frustration.

"We need to give him a piece of our minds! Have you at least left him a note saying how you feel about things?"

"I keep thinking I don't want to bother him while he's working."

"Well, it looks like we're gonna have to bother him! This isn't fair, Hinata. Your family is hurting. All he has to do is be here, and he can't even do that?"

"Hinata! I'm home! Sorry, I've been so busy the last few months. Things at the office have been overwhelming, to say the least. But, I took a few weeks off to go away with the kids." Everyone stopped in their tracks. He took a few weeks off to go away. Rose was in mid bite, you were in mid sip, and Hinata just looked in Naruto's direction. We all weren't sure what to say, given what we were just talking about.

"Naruto-kun, welcome home." Thank goodness she broke the silence. Naruto went to Hinata to give her a proper hello. He gave her a big hug, a big kiss and you watched as he gently held onto her hands while catching up with her. Afterwards, he greeted you and Rose.

"Hey, man, what's going on? Long time no see."

"Hey Naruto, how is everything?" He helped himself to some french toast and sat with the rest of us. Hinata definitely perked up a bit seeing that it wasn't a clone this time. It was really him. And he actually did take a few weeks off to go away with their family.

"I know the Hokage is technically supposed to always be in the village. But, I kept thinking of how to get away for a while. I've definitely been neglecting my family for far too long. I gotta make up for everything. Especially Boruto. I'm pretty sure he hates me by now." He let out a little laugh while taking a long sip from his drink. Having children has been on your mind for a long time now. But, hearing Naruto say that made you think if you had a child who hated you for not being around, you wouldn't blame your kid one bit. And your kids hating you for not doing the bare minimum is the last thing you would want.

Seeing everything unfold in front of your eyes made you feel a little uneasy. At least he's taking full responsibility for everything and is doing something about it. But what about moving forward after the trip? Is he gonna go back to basically deserting his family once he goes back to work?

You knew it wasn't your place, but you really wanted to ask Hinata how everything was making her feel. You had an idea. But, you wanted to hear it from her to be sure.

"Thank you so much for the food. It was great. Was it Rose who made this?"

"It was actually (y/n)." Rose said happily, turning towards you to smile, and you reciprocated it.

"Well, my compliments to the chef. You gotta come again for the kids to try. I'm sure they'll love it." The kids actually have had your cooking at this point, but you didn't have the heart to remind him.

"Hinata, I'll be back. I'm going to go say hi to the kids and bring them home. I hope they're not too mad at me. Rose, (y/n), I'll see you soon." You and Rose exchanged your goodbyes and watched as Naruto disappeared in what felt like milliseconds.

"Hinata, are you going to take his offer!?" Rose took the words right out of your mouth.

"I have to for the kids."

"But what about you?! That was crazy how he just walked in here like he hasn't been gone this whole time!"

"He does seem to be taking full responsibility, though." You chimed in.

"Yes, but is one trip really enough to reassure Hinata again of their marriage? What about after the trip? Is he going to make more of an effort to come home? To have more trips? Did you see how frikken fast he is? What's really his excuse not to come?!"

You and Hinata sat there in silence for a little bit. Rose felt like she might have pushed a little too hard and also sat in silence.

"I'm sorry, but despite everything Naruto-kun said, it did make me feel really happy to hear all of that. But, it doesn't exactly change how I feel deep down. I know life was going to be challenging with him being the Hokage. I thought being with the kids would help. But, I just want him here more often. And if he isn't going to be, I'm not sure for how long I can keep doing this . . . "