Small amount of tears gathered at t

Small amount of tears gathered at the corner of Rock Lee's eyes, as he stifled a yawn with the back of his hand. He blinked a few times and winced, biting the inside of his cheeks too hard as he tried not to fall asleep. Focusing his eyes on the computer screen, he frowned, seeing that he accidentally cropped the head of a famous celebrity out of a photo he was editing. He snorted, suppressing a laughter, when the thought of "this asshole looks way better without a head" ran through his head.

"Or I could just change your hair to something curly... and orange. Maybe this way your crappy movies would actually become funny." Lee mumbled to himself as he continuously clicked icons on the computer screen. "There. Just a red nose and I could hire you for my son's first birthday. Naomi said she wanted clowns. Why are clowns so expensive? Tch."

He tried his best to concentrate, but thick eyebrows twitched the moment a catchy tune reached his ears. Lee easily recognized the sound. It was the cartoon version of a nineteen-sixties song about the bird being the word and how everyone must have heard about it. But despite the modern remake, Lee still found it equally appalling, and its repetitive lyrics made it even more painful to endure.

He covered his ears, in an attempt to block out the sound that would surely be stuck in his head for weeks. He squinted at the monitor, trying his best to concentrate on the photo he was editing, but even so, that familiar cartoon song still reverberated inside his head.

"Pa-pa-pa-oom-ma-mow-mow, pa-pa-oom-ma-ma-mao..."

"Oh for fuck's sake, Naruto!" Lee suddenly blurted.

"W-What?" Blue eyes hesitantly left the computer screen, and Naruto turned his head to look at Lee.

"Would you please answer your goddamn phone?" Lee shook his head.

"Oh! Sorry!" Naruto's hands searched his pockets, realizing that the sound was actually his phone ringing.

Lee rolled his eyes at him, after watching Naruto scratched the back of his head and smiled as he took the call. There was a loud 'Hey dad! It's me!' even before Naruto could say hello. The cheerful sound of the child's voice made Naruto's smile grew wider.

"Hey there, Menma-kun. Is everything alright?" Naruto asked as he moved away the phone from his hurting ear.

"No." The boy answered in a sulky tone.

Naruto straightened his back and asked worriedly. "Why? What's wrong, honey?"

"It's already three. Mom said you're going to pick me up at twelve. That means you're three hours late. I can tell time now, you know?"

Quickly looking at his watch, Naruto rubbed his face with his hand, realizing that he had just lost track of time. "Oh shoot. I'm so sorry. Something came up at work, and I have piles of things to finish right now. I'll pick you up as soon as I'm done here, alright?"

"How long is soon? I want to see you now, dad. You promised we'd play video games today." Menma said, whispering the last few words.

Naruto let out a sigh and smiled, his chair making a low squeaking sound as he leaned back and rest his tired eyes. "Alright. You said you can tell time, right? Give me... an hour. No, make that forty-five minutes."

"Okay! Wait, what's forty-five minutes?"

Naruto softly chuckled. "Go ask your mom."

"Not fair! You teach me, dad! Mom's busy. She's taking a bath right now."

"I see." Naruto's eyes opened and stared at the white ceiling, the small dots on the textured tiles once again appearing interesting.

He would look and count those dots during those times when he just couldn't help but think about Hinata. He would sit back and stare at the small black circles and wonder to himself how long it had been since the time he last saw her. How long had it been since he pressed his lips into hers and told her to forget about him. Had it been four weeks? Two months? Three? Several weeks had already passed, but he could still remember how stupid he was for kissing her and how the sweet smile on Hinata's face slowly died down, gentle eyes that were fixed on him gradually turning into a glare. He saw her raised her hand at him, and he waited for the slap he so rightfully deserved, but that never came. That slap would have stung, considering how angry she had seemed, but even so, he would still prefer it, for her silence as she stormed off and left felt even more painful than being slapped on the same scraped cheek the second time. Memories from that night seemed so clear like they all just happened yesterday. He had never seen Hinata nor spoke to her ever since that night he told her to forget about him, but as weeks passed, he began to realize that it was actually him who couldn't forget.

"Dad? You still there?" Menma's voice brought him out of his thoughts.

Naruto closed his eyes again, pressing his fingers onto his temples. "Uh, yeah, I'm still here. Sorry."

"Oh! I know! Tell me a good story." Menma asked excitedly. "Tell me about how you and mom met."

Naruto swallowed audibly. "W-Why do you want to know that? You know I can't stay on the line with you that long, Menma-kun. Why don't we just hang up the phone now so I can finish what I'm doing?"

"Oka- Wait, mom's out of the bathroom. Hold on."

"Hang on, Menma-kun-" Naruto protested, but Menma already dropped the phone. "Jesus..."

Naruto placed his phone away from his ear once more as the phone on the other line made a loud noise after hitting the floor. He could hear the faint sound of Menma's voice, asking someone to teach him how to read minutes on a clock. Hearing another muffled, yet familiar voice, Naruto then pressed the phone more closely against his ear. A woman was speaking in the background, and she was speaking so softly that it was almost inaudible. Nevertheless, Naruto could definitely recognize who it was.

He would do anything just to hear her voice again.

Hearing someone picked the phone up from the floor, Naruto spoke. "Hey sweetie, I'm hanging up now, alright? I'll finish this as soon as possible, and I promise I'll see you later. Is that okay, Menma-kun?"

"It's me."

His eyes shot open in surprise the moment he heard the voice call his name. It didn't have the same warmth that it used to have before, but it was enough to make his heartbeat stop for a second. He could feel his palm sweat as he gripped the phone tighter.

"It's me, Naruto-kun." The voice was barely a whisper.

"H-Hey." Naruto swallowed hard, anxiously running a hand through his hair. "Y-Yeah.. S-Sorry. I-I.. umm.. I thought you were Menma-kun. H-How are you, Hinata? You seem pretty busy lately, I-"

"I'm okay." Hinata replied coldly.

"T-That's good to hear. How's-"

Hinata spoke, cutting him off again. "I just want to know when you're going to pick him up. You're late."

"I-I'll be there around four."

"Okay. That's all I need to know. Thanks. Bye."

"Wait, I want to tell you something-" There was a click followed by a low repeating sound of a busy tone, but Naruto only sat there, with his phone pressed against his ear. "I miss you." He rubbed his face with his hand, and whispered to himself. "Ugh, damn it!" He tossed the phone at his desk, not even caring that it crashed against his computer screen. Resting his back on the chair just like before, he let out another sigh, and his fingers began moving across the keyboard again. Soon after, He glanced out of the right corner of his eyes, sensing that someone had been staring at him the entire time. "What?" Naruto asked indifferently.

Rock Lee flinched when Naruto suddenly spoke. "N-Nothing."

"Yeah, right."

"What? I couldn't help it. You talked really loud! And really? Surfin' Bird?" Still having his eyes fixed on Naruto's back, Rock Lee knitted his thick brows when his friend suddenly started laughing.

"Sorry. It's probably Menma-kun. He likes the song. He must've changed my ringtone without telling me."

"You let your five-year old watch Family Guy?!" Lee asked, surprised.

"Of course not." Naruto hovered his mouse pointer on the Save button and turned around to face Lee. "He just saw it once in a TV commercial, and he instantly fell in love with it."

"Really?"

"Yup.