This started off as an idea for a Naruhina fic, and completely transformed into a next gen fic xD really hope you guy's enjoy it, I don't think it will be very long, but it should be worth the read, I hope ! Enjoy and please review to let me know :3
I do not own Naruto or any of its characters.
Today is the day.
Bright skies, warm spring air, birds singing in the distance, anyone would agree that it was the perfect day for something wonderful to happen. And that was exactly what Bolt Uzumaki was expecting for his graduation day from the academy. A wonderful day.
Today was his first day as Genin; he was no longer the young, amateur ninja-in-training who was bound to sit for long lectures, answer stupid questions, complete nightly homework and read boring text books. No, now it would be all action and training for the real world of ninja. Now he could finally go out on missions, kick serious butt, and show the world what he was made of. That is if his team was also as kickass as he was, and he honestly doubted that.
His sensei, Konohamaru Sarutobi was strict, and as far as Bolt was concerned, didn't know what the word fun actually meant. Then there was his bossy, man hating cousin, Sarada Uchiha. In fact the two weren't actually cousins, but their families were amazingly close, so they had been raised as family, unfortunately. And lastly was Han Lee, the village's goofball. All in all his team was a little…disadvantaged, but that wasn't going to bring down his mood, not today.
Bolt dashed out of his bedroom of the large Hyuuga estate house, pulling the zipper of his black sweater all the way up to his neck and running down the hallway quicker than he probably should. He reached the stairs in no time, stopping a few feet before hand so that his socked feet could slide across the hardwood until he reached the banister. Wrapping a hand around it and flew down the stairs, unfortunately too fast to stop himself before crashing into someone who had been walking past the bottom of them.
"OOF!" Bolt moaned, bouncing backwards from the crash and landing on his behind on one of the stairs, his eyes clenched tightly.
"How many times do I have to tell you not to run down the stairs Bolt," a deep voice sighed. "One of these day's you're going to hurt yourself, or someone else."
Bolt opened his eyes and looked up to see his father, Naruto Uzumaki standing there, arms thrown on his hips, one blonde eyebrow raised high.
"Sorry dad." He apologized with a smile before jumping to his feet. "I'm just way too excited!"
Naruto smiled, all anger seemed to be lost, and ruffled his sons hair with his bandaged right hand. Bolt laughed and pushed his hand away. "That's right! The ceremony is today isn't it?"
Naruto started to walk away down the hall, his son at his heels.
"Yup! At ten! You're going to come right?"
The two men strode into a large, open kitchen, only to find Naruto's wife and Bolt's mother, Hinata Uzumaki serving plates of pancakes onto the table, waiting for her family to come and eat, and Bolt's younger sister Himawari already digging into a plate of her own. They both looked up.
"Daddy!" Himawari chimed, her cheeks filled with food. Naruto walked over to her and gave her a large kiss on her forehead, which only made her jump and flail in her seat. Bolt took the seat beside her just in time for his mother put a plate down in front of him. He began to shovel the food into his mouth like a madman.
"Good morning boys," Hinata said with a smile before Naruto pulled her into a kiss which caused Bolt to make a gagging noise and Himawari to giggle uncontrollably.
"Morning ladies," Naruto pulled away from her, grabbing a file of papers from the table.
"Are you leaving…?" Hinata asked when he started back to the hallway. "You can't have breakfast?"
Naruto shook his head with a frown. "No, I'm sorry. I'm a little bit behind on paperwork, and Shikamaru's literally been down my throat to get it done by tonight."
"That's too bad."
Bolt quickly took hold of the glass of water that was sitting beside his plate and chugged it before wiping his mouth off with his sleeve. "But dad, you are going to make it today right?" he repeated, giving his father a forlorn look.
Naruto looked back at him and gave him a faint smile. "I promise I'll try my best to make it, Bolt. I really promise."
Bolt's mood faltered slightly, and his eyes narrowed as his father waved his goodbye and disappeared down the hallway, Himawari yelling "Bye bye daddy, have a good day at work!" behind him.
"He always says that…"Bolt mumbled, crossing his arms across his chest. Hinata sat down across from him with a cup of hot tea in her hands.
"Bolt-kun, try to understand, you're father is very busy with work. I know for sure he will try his very best to make it today."
Bolt looked up at his mother who gave him her usual light, loving smile. He could never stay mad when she did that and he sighed. Sure he did understand that his dad was busy with work, but this was a once in a lifetime thing, he was only going to graduate from the academy once, and everyone else's parents were going to be there.
"Beside's big brother," Himawari added, her bright blue eyes gleaming at Bolt. "Me and mommy are going to be there for sure! So we can cheer you on."
Lucky me… Bolt thought sarcastically as he looked back at his sister. But he knew she was right. He supposed he would have them; it just wasn't really the same without his father figure.
Hinata told Bolt to brush his teeth and hurry to school or else he would be late for his last day, so he did, making sure to grab his new, shiny headband off the cupboard before he left and tying it securely around his forehead. Hinata gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, much to his dismay, and Himawari gave him her usually goodbye hug, which always ended up more like a goodbye hang off your brother until your mother basically had to peel you off type of thing.
Luckily it only took ten minutes to run to the academy from the Hyuuga compound or else Bolt would have been late for his last day. Running into the classroom only seconds before Shino Aburame-sensei arrived was just pure luck, and he skidded to his seat in the back of the class room beside his two best friends, Inojin Yamanaka and Shikadai Nara.
"Cutting it a little close…" Shikadai said with a yawn, the side of his face resting in the palm of his hand whose arm was leaning on the table. Bolt puffed out a gust of air, blowing his bangs slightly off of his headband.
"I made it didn't I, so what does it matter?"
Shikadai shrugged his shoulders and his eyes drifted closed. Inojin who was sitting in between Shikadai and Bolt was neatly organizing his pens, erasers, and notebooks in front of him. Bolt frowned.
"Inojin…you do know it's our last day right? We probably won't be taking notes."
The blonde nodded his head in agreement before turning to look at the Uzumaki. "I know," he said with another nod. "But I want to play it safe, just in case."
"Alright class," Shino shouted over everyone in the class, who were all much too excited to be paying attention. "As you know-"
"LAST DAY OF SCHOOL!" someone in the front row yelled excitedly.
The reaction of the class was predictable. Every one of the students took off into a cheering frenzy. Papers were being crumpled and thrown across the room, children were running around like chickens with their heads cut off, it was pure chaos. Shino stood still in his place, sighing only once, ecstatic for the moment when they would no longer be his problem. Only one student sat at her desk, hands folded in front of her, eyes narrowing at the others around her. Sarada Uchiha. Child prodigy and heir to the Uchiha clan, daughter of Sakura Haruno and Sasuke Uchiha, of course this sort of behaviour was well out of class.
"Hey salad!"
A crumpled piece of paper flew from across the room and hit her in the side of the head, making her glasses fall askew on her nose. Finally moving from her droned placement Sarada fixed her glasses and whipped her head around to see Bolt and Shikadai smiling wide eyed at her. Inojin however was looking awkwardly down at his paper, a look of guilt washed over his pale face.
"Aren't you excited about this being our last day?" Shikadai questioned over to her. Bolt shook his head.
"Knowing her, she's probably disappointed. Book worm." He said without waiting for her to respond. The two boys laughed. Sarada merely closed her eyes and stuck her nose into the air, looking away from them. She didn't have time for stupid boys like them, not ever.
"Everyone…" Shino tried to yell above the screaming students, trying to bring them back down into a peaceful classroom setting. "I really think…"
But just then, the door opened and everyone went completely silent. Konohamaru Sarutobi, along with Bolt's aunt and Hinata's sister, Hanabi, and another sensei's that Bolt didn't recognize walked into the room. Konohamaru scowled.
"Shino, shouldn't you be preparing everyone for later?" he questioned, looking at the crumpled up pieces of paper that now decorated the room. Shino nodded.
"Yes, I was about to do that." he muttered. Konohamaru nodded then looked at all of the kids in front of him. It was Bolt's turn to scowl.
"I don't know why I got stuck with a stick in the mud like him…"he whispered to Inojin. Inojin shrugged.
"My mom said he used to be a pretty reckless guy." He whispered back.
"I wonder what happened…"
"Bolt Uzumaki!"
Bolt jumped at the sound of his name and his eyes widened. Had he heard him? There was no way. Every eye in the room was now on the blonde, scared for what the older nin had to say. Sarada however had a satisfied smile plastered to her face.
"Y-yes sir?"
Konohamaru's mouth pulled up into a small smirk and he side glanced Hanabi who was also smiling.
"Looking forward to seeing you at the ceremony. Try not to do anything stupid for once."
Snickers rang out through the room and Bolt released a breath he hadn't been aware he was holding. Why would he do that? That bastard.
The three sensei's talked to the newly appointed genin for a while, giving them the low down on exactly how the ceremony would go, what they were supposed to do, where they were supposed to be and when, that sort of thing. It sounded quite boring to Bolt to be honest, they had to wait while Aburame sensei, and the other academy teachers did their own speeches, then they had to walk up one at a time by alphabetical order and take a little measly certificate saying they graduated, then they had to stay for refreshments (which honestly was probably going to be the best part). But what he didn't understand was why they could just get the damn certificate and go. In and out, just as easy as that. It was going to be a long ceremony, a few hours at least, but at least he would be a fully fledged ninja by the end of it.
By the time they were finished explaining everything and took some questions, it was already 9:30. Shino decided to let the students take a free half an hour in the classroom to do whatever they wanted, which was probably what they were going to do regardless.
Bolt stayed with his two friends, and the three of them talked about going on missions, and fighting enemies and doing all kinds of cool ninja stuff that they would in fact soon be doing. Before any of them knew it, it was time to head outside to where the ceremony was being held.
A large stage had been set up where the students would walk up and receive their certificates, and in front of that rows and rows of seats where the kids would sit until their name was called. Parents were already starting to show up by the time Shino had brought the students out to the seats and arranged them in alphabetical order.
Of course Bolt was stuck in between this loud mouthed girl named Hana Ugaki who he had never really talked to or even acknowledged for that matter and Sarada. Once seated, he scanned the crowd of adults desperately trying to find his family. He saw Inojin's parents right away, and Shikadai's mother, and even Han Lee's dad, who strangely looked legitimately just like the older version of himself. After a few minutes however he did manage to find his mother and sister who were waving brightly to him, but sure enough, no Naruto.
"Big surprise…" he grumbled slumping back into his seat, ignoring his other family members and crossing his arms. Sarada looked at him over her glasses.
"You're dad's not here?" she asked.
"Nope." his answer was cold. She frowned.
"He will be, he's the Hokage, he has to show up to the ceremony to award the diplomas."
Bolt hadn't thought about this, but she sounded right. Naruto was the leader of the damn village. Who better to appoint people as ninja then the villages' Kage, the leader, the top ninja? He was probably just getting ready somewhere. Bolt scooted up in his chair, a little bit more hopeful now.
The ceremony began. Most of the sensei's speeches were long, dragged out and boring beyond words. Bolt could see a few rows ahead of him that Shikadai and fallen asleep a few times as his head would snap backwards on the neck of the chair, only for a few moments however before the boy beside him would nudge him with his elbow and wake him up again. Shino Aburame's speech was probably the only short one, and the only one Bolt had any slight bit of interest in. He basically told them that it had been a pleasure teaching them and that he was going to miss them but knew they would make fine ninjas and would make their mark on the Hidden Leaf Villages History. After the speeches were finished, it was time for the students to receive their certificates. Bolt sat up on the edge of his seat, waiting for his dad to come out at any second, holding the certificates in hand. But instead, disappointment struck him when Shikadai's father, Shikamaru, Naruto's right hand came out instead.
Bolt stared for a moment in shock. So his right hand could come but he couldn't? He's the goddamn Hokage! What is this?
Shikamaru began calling the names, and one by one the students went up to receive their papers. Bolt watched in annoyance as each of his fellow students jumped down from the stage and ran over to their families. Until it was Sarada's turn, because when she got off the stage she went over to Hinata and Himawari. Hinata gave her a large hug.
Hmph, I guess her parents didn't show either…
Bolt thought snidely, getting to his feet and sauntering as slow as he could to the stage, hands shoved into his jacket pockets.
When Shikamaru held out his certificate Bolt snatched it as quickly as he could without even giving him a second glance. Hinata and Himawari cheered loudly, clapping and wooing. Bolt slowly joined his family, or at least what was there of it.
"I am so proud of you sweetie!" Hinata cried, grabbing Bolt's cheeks between her hands and planting a soft kiss on his forehead. Bolt shook his head violently to get away from her.
"Mom, stop it!" he hissed, causing Hinata to back away with a small grin.
"Too old for that now, are you?"
"Good job big brother!" Himawari clapped her hands together. "Now you and Saranee-chan are ninja's! Just like daddy and mommy!"
Bolt's grey eyes shifted to the Uchiha who was standing with them, he wondered for a moment if he should ask where her mother was. Of course he knew that her dad was never really around, he worked out of the village and only got to come back once a month. He had thought her mother and her were pretty close though. But there was no time to be nosy. Once again his father hadn't shown up, hadn't give two fucks, and he was sick of it.
"Dad didn't come."
"Bolt-kun…he said he would try."
"Yeah, well…he didn't try hard enough."
Bolt tossed his certificate to the ground and turned on his heels, stalking off towards the food table.
He shouldn't have been that disappointed, and he shouldn't have been that surprised. His father always pulled stunts like this, it didn't matter that this was his graduation or not. And it didn't matter how many times he could say "I'll try" it never happened.
When he was younger, before his father had become the Hokage and before he was a total douchbag of a dad, Naruto and Hinata would tell Bolt and his sister stories of when they were younger, and how Naruto never went back on his promises because that was his ninja way. Bolt always believed him, thinking it was the coolest thing ever, but not anymore. Now he just thought that all of those stories were just that, stories, and Naruto was nothing like the gutsy ninja he would talk about.
Promises meant nothing to him.