Boruto: Sacrifices

Chapter 16. Saudade

...

It had been a long day in the lab, and he really, really lacked the energy or will to deal with anything else at the moment - which was saying something, seeing that he was an immortal. Ironic that right now, he felt like he could drop dead with fatigue.

And it was just his luck that the Taka and Log were all out on some errands.

He turned on the light as he entered his room, and was surprised to hear a small squeak. His eyes searching for the source of the voice, he noticed a fit of tousled blue hair poking out of the comforters and sighed. "Mitsuki?" he said in an exasperated tone.

Little by little, the toddler peeked out of the blankets, allowing his eyes and nose out only. "Daddy...?" his childish voice sounded in the room. His big, round golden eyes were shining, showing the sannin that the child had most likely been crying or at least whimpering.

The sannin sighed again. He could handle anything - be it a potentially dangerous lab experiment, a threat... He even got used to his son pulling - what was it that Suigetsu said - puppy eyes at him but when the toddler cried, which was not very often, he simply did not know what to do. Log, as a child, never gave him such troubles. "What is it?"

Mitsuki frowned, the sad look still there. "I had a nightmare..." he whispered before averting his eyes from his father, it had not been the first time he had a nightmare and each time his father had always told him he had to be tough... But this one had really, really scared him. He wished at least Log was there, he was stronger whenever onii-chan was nearby. "I couldn't go back to sleep..."

The look in the older man's eyes hardened slightly. In the years he had spent with the boy, five years to be exact, he was still not sure how he defined his parental role - something Karin always dropped in snarky remarks about, how by this rate, he will only get to learn it when Mitsuki was no longer there. In any case, intimate contact was off limits, and the toddler knew that perfectly. The sannin had never been the one who comforted the child out of a nightmare.

Just his luck...

"You cannot stay here." He said bluntly, not harshly but enough to get the meaning through. "I am tired, I need to sleep. We can talk about this tomorrow."

"But I can't go back to sleep..." the already childish voice sounded even more childish now. It would only be a matter of time before he pulled out the puppy eyes trick. He was even already pushing out his lower lip in a pout. "I promise I'll be quiet, I'll let you sleep..."

The man raised an eyebrow, not buying. "No." He said curtly, finding it only very slightly amusing that the child had already begun the usual drill which worked on his subordinates. Such interesting creatures indeed, children. "Come now, I will take you to your bed." Well, at least he could do that much. Without giving the little one a chance to reply, he strode over to the bed and picked him up, striding out of the room.

Mitsuki remained quiet the whole way back to his room. He had failed to have his father fall for his typical trick...

Orochimaru set him back on his bed and covered him with the warm blankets. Turning off the light, the Sannin closed his son's bedroom door... but as soon as he did it... Mitsuki threw the blankets and sheets away and made his way off his bed.

The sannin yawned as he entered the room. He didn't even notice the soft patter of footsteps.

When he opened his eyes... The boy was peeking at him from the bed once again, only his eyes visible, watching his father carefully.