AN: I'm not even sure what I'm doing any more…Cheers?

You've got to admit, the epilogues of both these series tied up a bit too cleanly. They also have a weirdly high amount of parallels between them.

Also, the reason I wrote this fic? Was the line where Naruto says the full name of his second son (Bolt). That's it. That's the entire reason this exists.

You're welcome.

Nineteen Years Later

April seemed to arrive suddenly that year.

The morning of the first of April was as crisp as an apple. The family bobbed through the rumbled road towards the gates of the Academy, a building right next to the tall Hokage Tower.

The walk was not very long. After all, the Uzumaki family didn't live very far from the Hokage Tower, in their compound. Also, everyone and their ninja grandma knew that Naruto Uzumaki was going to be Hokage very soon, so the proximity of their home to the tower and Hokage Monument made perfect sense.

That didn't stop the blonde legendary ninja from making his family walk to the Academy. Or take the long, scenic route, just so they could have a nice few minutes together.

Walking along the streets built character. The family always had to be ready in mind, body, and soul whenever they walked through the streets of Konohahagakure, since their family was essentially a celebrity one. They literally could not go a few steps, without someone going over to greet them in some way, shape, or form.

The mother and father were very polite, and taught their children to be polite as well. They greeted all well-wishers, and did so with smiles on their faces. The family held enough skill in multitasking, that they could both be polite and have their own conversations amongst one another.

The dark haired girl trailed behind her elder brothers, clutching at her father's arm. Specifically, his orange jacket sleeve. She pouted up adorably at the tall man, looking like a cross between a kitten and an angel.

"It won't be long, and you'll be going too, Kuna," Naruto told her with a smile, amused.

"Three years," sniffed little Kushina Tsunade Uzumaki. "I want to go now!"

The other commuters heading to the Academy stared curiously at the family, and Naruto shot them a general sunny smile and wave.

Today, the second son of Naruto and Hinata Uzumaki would be old enough to start learning how to kill people and be a ninja, at the tender age of six. In three years, when Kushina herself turned six, she would start on her six year educational journey to earn her hitai-ate, and become a kunoichi of the Village Hidden in the Leaves.

Nihon-Zaiho's voice drifted back to Naruto over the surrounding clamor; his sons had resumed the argument they had started since they left home.

"I won't! I won't be a dead last!"

"Minato Jiraiya Uzumaki, please give it a rest," Hinata sighed, at her eldest teasing her second child.

The longhaired blonde was two years older than his brother. One would think he'd be a bit more mature, but that was often not the case. He was as brilliant as he was mischievous, like an ungodly fusion of his two names.

"I only said he might be," said Minato, grinning at the shorter boy, ruffling the pouting boy's leaf-shaped hair. "There's nothing wrong with that. Dad was one back in school, so it's possible."

But Minato Jiraiya caught his mother's eye and fell silent. Greater men have quailed before the mighty eyes of the Hyuuga Clan, with their all-seeing Byakugan.

Just because he had the same kekkei genkai eyes, didn't mean he wasn't wary and properly cowed of his mother. A soft woman Hinata Uzumaki nee Hyuuga may be, but she was scary when she showed her will of steel.

The five Uzumakis slowly approached the entrance of the Academy. With a slightly cocky look over his shoulder at his younger brother, Minato broke into a run. A moment later, he vanished off into the throng of young ninja hopefuls, as swift as his namesake.

"You'll pick me up later today, won't you?" Nihon-Zaiho asked his parents immediately, capitalizing on the momentary absence of his brother.

"Of course," Hinata said softly, giving her second child a calming smile. "Every day, my little Bolt."

"Er, not every day," the Naruto mini-me interjected quickly. "Minato says most of the kids walk home half the time."

"I pick up Minato five days out of the six-day school week," said the woman, eyebrows rising slowly. The boy gave an awkward mutter, fiddling with the bolt necklace slung around his neck.

"And you don't want to believe everything he tells you about the Academy," Naruto put in, foxy grin in place. "He likes to laugh, your brother…"

"Tch. Yeah, sure," the boy pouted, feeling overshadowed by the older Uzumaki son. Minato Jiraiya was taller than him, better with pranks, had longer hair, and just seemed all around 'cooler' than he could ever be.

Plus, that stupid butt didn't have annoying whisker marks on his cheeks, or an ahoge that sprung out from his head, like him and Kushina.

Essentially, the eldest child got the best damn genes in the family, in Nihon-Zaiho's opinion. Byakugan, no stupid whiskers, and with an ungodly large amount of chakra.

So unfair.

Side by side, the Uzumaki family carefully made their way through the throngs of fellow families, that were there to see off their children for their first days of school.

"Where are they?" asked the boy with the leaf-shaped hair anxiously, peering around the various figures they passed, as they weaved their way to a semi-empty area of the Academy's entrance grounds.

Which, honestly, wasn't very hard to do. Many people shuffled out of the way, to make way for the future Hokage and his family. Of course, there were a lot of greetings thrown their way. Many of Naruto and Hinata's peers had children that went to the Academy, some that were starting their education today, with their second son.

"We'll find them. Don't you worry," Hinata hummed reassuringly. The young boy side-eyed his mother, seeing that she casually activated her bloodline limit.

Okay. That did, in fact, make him feel a bit better.

Naruto peered around, managing to look over the sea of heads, from his ridiculously tall height. He saw that the Akimichis were with the Naras and the Yamanakas. Which was typical.

He quirked an amused grin. Chouji seemed to be discussing potato chips quite passionately with his daughter Chouchou. The burly, bearded man was holding up two different bags and shaking them lightly, to emphasis his points.

Karui Akimichi and Ino Yamanaka were eying each other in mild distaste as they bickered over something loudly. Shikamaru and Sai's two sons, Shikadai and Inojin, were huddled together over a handheld game system; probably talking to one another about video games. Temari Nara was explaining something that involved hand gestures, while Sai Yamanaka politely listened, nodding and smiling.

Shikamaru Nara was in his customary lazy slouch. He looked like he really, really wanted a smoke. And a drink. Maybe a nap, on top of that.

Sucks to be a genius. Ever since the Fourth Shinobi World War, the Nara had been quickly snapped up to help run logistics, and hasn't stopped since.

Through the din, Naruto thought he heard Rock Lee discoursing loudly on The Power Of Youth with his son, Metal Lee. The blonde felt quite glad of the excuse to not stop and say hello, considering Bushy Brows was on the complete opposite side of the courtyard, doing handstands with his mini-me.

Lee mellowed out slightly over the years. Slightly. But not even fatherhood slowed him down, or dampened his spirits.

Tenten was a woman with a will of steel and patience of a saint, for marrying Bushy Brows and bearing him a son. She probably used running her weapons shop as a sort of break from parenting or running damage control.

"Ah, that's them up ahead, Bolt," said Hinata suddenly, voice serene.

A group of four emerged from the hubbub, standing awkwardly separated from most of the crowd. It probably had something to do with the father of the family of four having such a potent glare.

It was the Uchihas—a family very close to the Uzumakis. Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Uchiha nee Haruno, and Naruto Uzumaki were all but joined at the hip, being old Genin teammates. And having saved the world together against an insane, reincarnated Uchiha legend, magical plant men created by a literal god, and a Bunny Goddess who'd been sealed in the Moon.

No, really. It sounded like a plot for a book series of some sort, but those three adults did, in fact, go through something as ridiculous as that. And saved the entire world.

The only thing that would have made it more ridiculously tedious, was if they had to hunt down and destroy seven soul fragments of the villain, rode a dragon through a marble underground bank run by magical creatures, were captured in the villain's lair and escaped with fellow hostages, buried a dead comrade by a seaside cottage, broke into a secured government building to save a marginalized group of civilians, and had a final battle at the grounds of a castle.

But, the story of the past generation was already incredibly convoluted and confusing. Adding any more plot twists or elements would have just been overkill, honestly. Historians were already crying tears of blood over piecing together a complete, detailed timeline of events for the past four decades in the Elemental Nations.

Seriously, it was like the work of a lone Japanese man who was writing and drawing a long winding, seven hundred chapter manga series. Very little made sense. There wasn't an official guide on the who, what, where, when, why, or how. Those that existed only had bits and pieces of the picture.

The general populace pretty much just gave up, at this point in time, and took Naruto Uzumaki's word as truth. The man would probably convince everyone about his version of events, anyways, through the power of friendship alone. Might as well not fight it.

"Hi!" Nihon-Zaiho called out, sounding immensely relieved at the sight of the familiar family.

Sarada Uchiha beamed at him. She was already wearing her brand-new school clothes—consisting of a pink cardigan over a high-collared white shirt, yellow jumper, and red skirt.

"Hey, Teme," Naruto smirked, fist bumping the longhaired Uchiha patriarch. "You park all right?"

"I did, Dobe," the man drawled, a smirk on his face. "Sakura didn't believe I could pass the stupid driving test for those damned confusing cars the daimyo introduced. She thought I'd have to use my Sharingan on the examiner."

"No, I didn't," the pink haired woman huffed in amusement. "I had complete faith in you, dear husband of mine."

"Better you than me," the blonde man shrugged, slinging an arm over his soul-brother's back. "I still don't see a use for cars. Laptops, I can totally get behind. Less paperwork."

The Uchiha man gave a grunt, slowly moving the two away from the pink haired woman, covering the action by making it seem like he was trying to throw his blonde friend off of him.

"As a matter of fact, I did use the Sharingan to get my license," Sasuke whispered to Naruto carefully, in an undertone. "I only forgot to look in one of those stupid mirrors. And, let's face it. My reflexes are good enough to not need them."

Kushina Tsunade and Itachi, Sarada's younger brother, were having an animated discussion about which classes they'd like to take, when they finally went to the Academy themselves. Evidentially, the two three-year-olds were excited for taijutsu sparring.

"If you're not at the top of your classes, we'll disinherit you," said Sasuke to his bespectacled daughter, voice and face completely blank, and seemingly serious. "But, no pressure," he tacked on, rather tactlessly.

"Sasuke!" Sakura exclaimed, reprimanding him with a punch to the shoulder. The man gave a small wince, and Naruto smirked at the retribution.

Kushina and Itachi laughed at the spectacle, but Nihon-Zaiho and Sarada looked solemn.

"He doesn't mean it," said Sakura and Hinata soothingly to their nervous children. However, Sasuke was no longer paying attention to them.

Catching Naruto's eye, the Uchiha nodded covertly to a point some fifty yards away. "Look who it is."

Orochimaru was standing there with Suigetsu, Juugo, and Karin. The Snake Sannin looked ridiculously youthful, with a smooth, oval face, softer golden eyes, and a friendly grin on his face. No doubt, the man had transferred over to a young body, because he looked as young as Tsunade with her genjutsu…About around his mid twenties or so.

Suigetsu and Juugo both didn't change much, over the years. Naruto's distant cousin only seemed to update her wardrobe to something more professional, contrasting with her trendy undercut hairdo. The three old test subjects and members of Sasuke's Team Taka, were easy to identify.

The only newcomer to the odd group of freaks was a young boy in their midst, who was looking around curiously at his surroundings. The boy held messy, white-blue hair, a smooth and serene face, and sharp, golden eyes similar to the Snake Sannin.

Naruto felt his mouth drop. Orochimaru…Has a son?!

The Snake Sannin caught sight of Naruto and Sasuke blatantly staring at him—Hinata and Sakura joining in not long after, when they noted the attentions of their husbands. They held the man's golden gaze for an awkward ten seconds, before the man grinned in amusement and gave a sly little wave of his fingers at them.

The four younger adults gave the (somewhat) reformed Sannin curt nods in-synch, and turned away. Sasuke and Naruto suppressed a violent shiver.

Why the hell was Orochimaru making his spawn come to Konoha's Academy…? Kami knows, he could teach his son a thousand more ways to kill a man than the Leaf ever could. The Snake was very…creative.

"So, that's Orochimaru's spawn. Mitsuki," murmured Sasuke under his breath to his teammates. In a louder voice, he told his daughter, "Make sure you beat that golden-eyed boy in every subject and test, Sara-chan. Kami blessed you with both your mother and I's brains, and the Uchiha name."

"Sasuke, for heaven's sake," Sakura huffed, half stern, half amused. "Don't try to turn them against each other before they've even set foot into the school!"

Sasuke gave his wife a deadpan stare, one eyebrow raised. "Right. Sorry."

Unable to help himself—because of course, he was still a bit of a vindictive little shit, and never truly forgave Orochimaru for wanting to take his teen body—the man went on. "Don't get too friendly with him, though, Sara-chan. Tsunade-sama and I would never forgive you, if you end up marrying him. But Aoda would gladly have him as a snack…"

"Damn it, Sasuke," Sakura groaned, rubbing a hand over her face. From the determined sparkle in her eye, and ominous flash from her glasses as they did the 'Kabuto Glasses Thing' (penned by Naruto and Sasuke), Sarada was taking her father's words to heart.

Kami knows, they didn't need Sarada making enemies, and becoming another vengeful Uchiha. That family tradition needed to stop.

Minato Jiraiya took that time to reappear, giving out an excited call of "Hey!". He looked to be bursting with news, white eyes twinkling, despite how blank they looked from being pupil-less.

"Konohamaru-nii's back there," he said breathlessly, pointing back over his shoulder into the general crowd. "Just seen him! And guess what he's doing?"

"Knowing him…Probably the Sexy Jutsu," Naruto said aloud, looking amused. Sakura took that time to whack him in the head. "Oi!"

"You're a horrible influence on him, Naruto. You shouldn't be proud of it," the medic-nin deadpanned.

"No, he wasn't doing that weird pervy jutsu!" Minato Jiraiya huffed, waving his arms around, as if to make a point and catch their attentions once more. "He was kissing Aunt Hanabi!"

He gazed up at the adults, evidently disappointed by the lack of reaction his groundbreaking news brought.

"Our Konohamaru-nii! Konohamaru Sarutobi! Kissing our Aunt Hanabi!" he went on. "And I asked Konohamaru-nii what he was doing—"

"You interrupted them?" Sakura pressed, sighing and rubbing at her temple. "You're so like your father, Minato. No sense of privacy, or tact."

Minato Jiraiya kept speaking over his father's blustering. "—and then he told me to go away! He's kissing her!" he stressed, as though worried he had not made himself clear.

"Yes, Minato. I think we understand what you've just told us," Hinata replied softly, giving a small smile of bemusement, as she smoothed down the longhaired boy's wayward hair. Her eldest child pouted up at her.

"I'd thought your younger sister had more class, Hinata," Sasuke said in an undertone. "Did they even meet each other before you and the Dobe began to copulate…?"

The Uzumaki Lady gave the Uchiha a smile that was much too icy to be genuine. "Is that a slight against my imouto, Uchiha-san…?" The softness of her voice was much more dangerous than if it was raised in anger.

The man gave a jerk of his head, shaking it no. "More like I think Konohamaru is too dumb for wooing a Hyuuga, since he considers the Dobe his 'boss'."

"Dear, stop digging yourself in a deeper hole," Sakura told her husband with a roll of her eyes, as she smacked his chest with the back of her hand.

"Oh, it would be great if they got married!" said Kushina Tsunade ecstatically, jumping up and down on her feet. "Konohamaru-nii would really be part of the family, then!"

"Well…He already comes 'round for dinner about four times a week," mused Naruto, exchanging looks with his wife, as an impish smile spread on his face. "Why don't we just invite him to live with us and have the issue over with?"

"Yeah!" said Minato enthusiastically. "I don't mind sharing with my little ototou—" he ruffled the younger boy's hair, much to Nihon-Zaiho's disgruntlement, "Konohamaru-nii could have my room!"

"No," said Naruto firmly, eyebrow raised pointedly, "you and Nihon-Zaiho will share a room, only when I want the house demolished from your prank wars."

He sensed the chakra signatures of the teachers near the front doors, before they opened with a flourish. The Jinchuriki quirked a grin. "You better get going. They'll start the beginning ceremonies soon."

"Don't forget to give Shino our love!" Hinata told Minato Jiraiya, as she hugged him.

"Mom! I can't give a teacher love!" the boy rebuked in a whine, face pink.

The dark-haired woman tilted her head, amusement in her eyes. "But you know Shino, Minato—"

Her eldest rolled his eyes dramatically, a small, fond smile on his face.

"I do, Mom. But at school, he's Shino-sensei, isn't he? I can't walk into class and 'give him love'."

"Well, someone should," Naruto spoke up idly, ruffling his eldest's hair. "Shino's still the only one of our friends that hasn't gotten married, yet. I honestly thought it'd be the Teme that'd be stag forever—"

The Uchiha patriarch gave the blonde man a (somewhat) friendly shove. Naruto merely gave a cheeky grin in return.

Shaking his head at his parents' foolishness, Minato Jiraiya vented his feelings by flicking his younger brother in the forehead.

"H-Hey!"

"See you later, ototou. Watch out for fangirls," he teased the whisker-cheeked boy.

Nihon-Zaiho paled dramatically, his naturally tanned skin tone turning near bone-white. "I-I thought you said I wouldn't have any, my first year…" the boy trailed off, in a hysterical plea. "Y-You said I wouldn't have any, Minato-nii!"

But Minato Jiraiya merely laughed, patting the disturbed boy on the head in sympathy. "Fangirls will always be there, foolish little brother. It's one of the plagues of the world. Be strong, hey?"

Sasuke Uchiha nodded sagely. He plonked a hand on both Uzumaki boys' heads. "May the Gods bless you with luck," he told them, voice grave and dead serious. His wife huffed out a laugh in the background, sounding somewhat embarrassed and exasperated.

"Fangirls aren't a plague—" the pink-haired woman started, only to have Sasuke, Naruto, and Minato Jiraiya whip around to stare at her in affronted, gaping disbelief.

"Wife mine…" the Uchiha patriarch started slowly, giving her a scrutinizing look. "Must I have to remind you of your younger days?"

The woman spluttered, crossing her arms and glaring at her husband. "What 'younger days', husband dear…?" she groused in a low voice, a dangerous glint in her pretty green eyes.

"Dude, just drop it," Naruto hissed to Sasuke, looking a bit pale at his former teammate's building temper. "And maybe she won't throttle you, and throw you out on the couch."

"Noted," the Uchiha said, out of the corner of his mouth. His soul-brother clapped him grimly on the shoulder, and they both exchanged a look, hoping that they wouldn't have to go through Sakura's hellish fury.

"You shouldn't have brought up her fangirl days, man. That was a totally bad move," Naruto said through his eyes.

"What was I supposed to do? She used to be one, and then she goes off pretending that fangirls aren't horrid, horrid creatures. The hypocrisy was worse than Danzo's excuses of doing things for the 'betterment' of Konoha, when he was only a power-hungry, micromanaging, psychopathic asshole," Sasuke thought back, projecting his views through his gaze.

"Dude. That's a fucked up comparison…Sakura as Danzo?" Naruto's gaze mused, as the inner depths of his baby blues gave the soul equivalent of a shudder. "What would you even call that…? Danzakura? Sakuranzo?"

"Stop. Stop your thoughts right there, Dobe," Sasuke interjected quickly. "That is my Kami-damned wife. I don't want you to make up names for a Danzo-Sakura love-child fusion from Hell. That is by far the worst libido killer…"

"Oh, and having sleepovers with Orochimaru when you went through puberty wasn't?" Naruto scoffed internally, rolling his eyes. Metaphorically. Because his gaze was still locked with Sasuke's.

"You had a similar time training with Jiraiya. Shut up," Sasuke's eyes scoffed. (Even though eyes can't scoff, but, of course, this is all in a non-physical way. It was done through their spiritual bond of friendship. Or something.)

"Alright, alright, fine," Naruto pouted, through his gaze. (Which is a disturbing mental image.) "Anyways, Sakura-chan's still sore about those days, where she wasn't a strong, independent woman that didn't need no man, but kind of actually really did."

"Hn," Sasuke grunted internally. "Those early years of hers are a downright embarrassment. However…She did, in fact, get much stronger, and grew out of her accursed fangirl ways. It's…Impressive."

"Awwwww— You care for her, and you think she's strong! I knew you loved her in your dark, angsty, emo, duck-butt heart, Teme!" Naruto cooed, the edges of his eyes crinkling to show his amusement.

"Sh-Shut up, Dobe," Sasuke refuted, through a slight wavering in the depths of the onyx abysses he called eyes. "She's my wife. Of course I care…Tch."

"Heh. Geeze, you're such a tsun-tsun," Naruto thought through his eyes, the tone somehow coming out as foxy. "You've… come a long way, Sasuke. I'm actually kinda proud."

"Hn," Sasuke thought, gaze one of fond exasperation. "…You have too, Naruto."

"…Wow, this is really sappy and long," mused Naruto, after a long moment. "We've been staring into each other's eyes, speaking through our gazes without words, for a while. Like some sort of weird lovers or something."

Sasuke's gaze wrinkled its nose in disgust. Metaphorically. "Ew. That's near incestuous, dumbass. We're literal soul-brothers. What the fuck?!"

"No homo, Sasuke," Naruto's eyes drawled. "There, happy? I'm protecting your little angsty, fuckboy sensibilities. Don't flip your shit on me."

"Tch. Could've said that sooner, moron," Sasuke thought, literally rolling his eyes, cutting off the weird connection and non-verbal talk the two held.

"Did they just do The Thing again?" Nihon-Zaiho asked Minato Jiraiya, whispering behind his hand as he stared at his and Sarada's dad.

"Yes. Yes, they did," his elder brother confirmed.

"Weird…"

"You're very strong and beautiful, dear," Sasuke said aloud, to his wife, putting an arm around her waist and pecking the top of her head. "I just wanted to see you angry. You wear it well."

The woman preened, beaming. She gave her husband a playful whack on the chest. "Well then, if that's it, then I suppose I won't throw you to the couch," she said impishly. "I could show you other things I wear well, later, though…"

The Uchiha patriarch nuzzled the skin just under his wife's ear. "I'm looking forwards to it."

Sarada wrinkled her nose at her parent's odd, gooey public affections. Her longtime friend and soon-to-be-classmate made exaggerated gagging noises. "Ewwwww, old people flirting."

"Hey, Itachi-chan," Minato Jiraiya started, eyes twinkling, a smirk on his face. "Maybe you should tell your parents what you'd want, if you had a younger sibling. I mean, they still need to rebuild the Uchiha Clan…"

Sarada turned scarlet, whacking the eldest Uzumaki's shoulder multiple times, each pause punctuated by a spoken word. "Don't give them ideas…! You, you…!"

"Who? Your ototou, or your parents?" her sempai asked innocently, ducking out of the way of a punch to the head.

Minato merely gave a laugh, dancing out of the way of Sarada's hits. He permitted his mother to kiss him, gave his father a fleeting hug, and then zipped off. They saw him wave, then sprint away to find his classmates and friends.

"Fangirls are nothing serious to worry about, son," Naruto told Nihon-Zaiho, ruffling his messy head of hair, making it messier. "They come in packs, but as long as you stick by your friends, you'll be fine."

Hinata sweetly pecked Nihon-Zaiho goodbye. "See you after school, Bolt."

Naruto wrapped an arm around his second-eldest's shoulder, giving him a side-hug and a noogie. "Don't forget Iruka-sensei's invited you for lunch. Don't get caught pulling pranks. Don't pick fights, until you get to sparring class, and can beat their butts without getting in trouble. And don't let Minato wind you up, alright?"

"But…But what if I'm a dead last?"

The whisper was for his father alone, and Naruto knew that the moment—this beginning of his first day of school—all but forced Nihon-Zaiho to reveal how great and sincere that fear was.

Naruto moved his son aside a few paces, just to give them a bit of an air of privacy, despite their cramped surroundings.

Naruto crouched down, so that his son's face was slightly above his own. Out of the three of Naruto's children, his second son was the one who inherited his eyes.

Naruto took a breath, letting it out slowly. Then, he started to speak, his voice pitched low so that only perhaps his wife could hear. The woman was tactful enough to have her attention fussing over Sarada with Sakura, and Sasuke altogether tuned the Uzumaki pair out, knowing that they needed this father-son talk.

"Neji Ichiraku Hiruzen Obito Nagato Zabuza Ashura Indra Haku Otsutsuki—"

His son gave a groan. Naruto paused, frowning.

"What? What is it?" he asked, feeling concerned and just a bit nettled.

"Dad, your naming skills suck," the boy whined. "I'm going to get bullied because of you!"

"No, you're not!" the man rebuked, offended, brow creased in concern. "And if they are, well…I'm going to be Hokage soon, and—"

"Yeah yeah yeah, you'll be Hokage, Believe It. We know, Dad, dattebasa," Nihon-Zaiho deadpanned, as if he's heard something similar dozens of times…Which, considering his father is Naruto Uzumaki, is probably very accurate an assumption. "Besides, you having to swoop in to rescue me is only gonna get me teased even worse."

"…My naming skills are great, dattebayo!" Naruto insisted to his son, who only snorted and rolled his eyes in response. "Hey, it's true! Your Mom thinks so!"

"Yeah, sure…The only reason you got away with naming me was 'cuz Mom was super doped up on pain meds when she had me," Nihon-Zaiho said bluntly, eyes half-lidded, unimpressed. "It's a miracle that she managed to think up of an anagram, so that I could have an actual name."

Naruto spluttered, feeling ridiculously offended. He would have given his son a retort, if Kurama didn't decide to give his own two ryo on the debate.

The chakra-demon fox popped out of the seal on Naruto's stomach, materializing into a human-sized figure in a small puff of smoke and flash of light. The humanoid, orange-furred fox crouched idly next to his friend.

Not one person nary gave a twitch at the Nine Tailed Biju being outside of its seal, out in the open. Before, it would have no doubt caused a widespread panic. But these days, it was a now familiar sight. Kurama often popped out of Naruto in order to spread his legs and get some fresh air, running around the village and the Land of Fire.

He did this especially whenever Naruto and his wife were getting…frisky, like rabbits. Kurama often took the time to get out of the brat's seal, and book it, so he wouldn't be stuck having to watch them go at it.

"I tried telling your stupid father, kit," the fox said in his low baritone, languidly stretching. "I managed to knock down his list by half, by the time you were born. There were easily twenty names."

The whisker-cheeked boy gaped and paled. "Oh, dear Kami…"

"Oi! I'm still here!" Naruto whined, waving his hand around frantically, as if to catch his son and friend's attention.

"I'm in your debt, Kurama-sama," Nihon-Zaiho stated, bowing a perfect ninety-degree angle to the Nine Tails.

"It's my job, to try and do damage control for your idiot of a father," the fox huffed, lazily waving a clawed hand in the air.

Naruto gave an acidic glare to his Biju friend. "Do you mind? I'm trying to do this 'parenting' thing, over here."

"Fine. You may proceed," the fox said imperiously, regally straightening from his seated position. His partner gave an exasperated huff.

"Neji Ichiraku Hiruzen Obito Nagato Zabuza Ashura Indra Haku Otsutsuki," Naruto began once more, pausing, in case there were any more interruptions. In the resounding silence of his second son, and his foxy friend, he went on. "You were named after some of the bravest men I ever knew…"

"Naruto," Kurama started, huffing out a chuckle. "That has absolutely nothing to do with your kit's worries over doing well in this Academy of your village's."

The blonde man threw his arms up in exasperation. "Fine! You try to parent him then, if you know how to do it better!" he exclaimed, standing up from his previously crouched position.

One of Kurama's tails idly wrapped itself around the man's waist, pulling the future Hokage down onto the ground, making the man's ass smack onto the dirt. "Sit back down, and keep trying, brat. I can't do everything for you, now can I?"

The last part was scathing, but the fox had a fond, sharp-fanged smile on his face. He unwrapped his tail from his partner's waist, and returned it back to sway with his eight other ones.

Naruto sighed, passing a hand through his short hair. He looked deep into his son's worried, blue eyes. "Look, son. I was the dead last in my year, and I managed to work through that. Today, I'm still considered a great ninja, despite the rocky start to my ninja career."

"But, just say…" the whisker-cheeked boy started, scratching the back of his head.

"It doesn't matter to us, Bolt, what class rank you are," the father insisted, hands on his son's shoulders. "Just as long as you try your best, and be the best that you can be, alright…?"

After a few moments, the boy nodded, a face set in determination. "Alright." Then, he added with a slight smirk. "So…That means it won't matter if I get detentions for pranks, right?"

"In your dreams, brat!" Naruto crowed, putting his son in a headlock and giving him a noogie, causing the boy to protest and laugh loudly. "If I got detentions for my pranks, then you'll get 'em too! No getting out of them, ya hear?!"

Naruto let his son go, who held a flushed face, and was still giggling. He grinned widely at the boy that reminded him so much of himself, glad that he could be there to comfort Nihon-Zaiho. The man wished he had had a father that was there for him when he had worries, in his own childhood. And it felt pretty good to be that father, that sturdy presence, for his own children.

"You will do fine, kit," Kurama stated idly, gently patting the boy on the cheek with one of his tails. "You are already much more intelligent than your father, so you have that advantage."

Nihon-Zaiho snickered, and Naruto whacked the fox on his shoulder. Kurama let out a rough laugh, and Naruto tried to glare, but couldn't stop the smile that twitched on his face.

"First year students! Please be ready for the entrance ceremony, presided by the Godaime Hokage, Lady Tsunade!" Shino Aburame—a long-time friend, and one of Hinata's old Genin teammates—called out to the crowd. "All other students, please go inside the building, to find your classes!"

There was a flurry of movement, all across the courtyard. Parents swarmed their children for final kisses, well wishes, and last-minute reminders.

Naruto put a hand on Nihon-Zaiho's shoulder steering him towards the stage, where Tsunade Senju stood. Hinata held Kushina's hand as she followed her husband. Besides him, Sasuke and Sakura were moving forwards with Sarada, while Itachi clutched onto Sakura's unoccupied hand.

A great number of faces, both in the courtyard and going into the Academy building, seemed to turn to stare at Naruto.

"Why are they all staring?" demanded Nihon-Zaiho in an undertone, full of exasperation, as he and Sarada craned around to look at the other students. "They should be going to their classes…"

"Don't let it worry you," Sakura sighed, shaking her head in exasperation to the scrutiny.

"It's me. I'm extremely famous," Sasuke stated. He said this with utter seriousness and a blank face. It just made Naruto laugh harder. The children giggled along.

As Naruto gently pushed Nihon-Zaiho to take a seat in the crowd of ninja hopefuls, he waved. His second son's rounded face was ablaze with excitement, as he sat next to Sarada, chatting animatedly. Chouchou, Shikadai, Inojin, and Metal Lee sat around the duo, as they started to catch up with one another.

The adults retreated, leaving their children to the ceremony, as Tsunade grinned knowingly down at them all, from her perch up on the stage.

"He'll be fine," murmured Hinata, taking her husband's elbow.

As Naruto looked down at her with a bright, loving smile, he lowered his hand absentmindedly and touched the seal on his stomach. Kurama rumbled from behind him, going back with little fuss or preamble, making Naruto feel…complete.

"I know he will."

They've all come a long way. They created a peaceful future, for their children. For everyone to be happy.

…All was well.