A/N: Alright, so I know that I have so much work to do on my other fics; it would be a blatant lie to everyone involved for me to be thinking otherwise. Ahh, I'm cringing right now as I am hoping my accent isn't going to accidentally make its way into my drabble here. So this is one of those I'm just doing a pretty short drabble to ease the pain of not writing for a while. *bow* Sorry about that, guys. T.T This one is kinda out of my usual range, but its a change for the better, perhaps.

Summary: Naruto is anything but impressed with how things have gone with the Scientific Ninja Weapons Team lately, especially since they have done nothing but make his life harder lately. However, that doesn't mean things have ended well for them after the Momoshiki Otsutsuki incident...for him or for Boruto.

Now, before anyone gets out of shape and corrects me on the minuscule details, I'm not going off of the manga for the most part. However, I'm trying to stick as close to it as I can. So, if I step on any toes, well...you were warned. I am also probably going to be jumping back and forth between the English dub and the original, while also depending on some research. Also, it isn't entirely clear that the scientist made it back, but I'm writing under the assumption that they did. Besides, Naruto wouldn't leave people behind (no matter how annoying they were or how much trouble they caused).

Consequences

Getting back from the other dimension was exhausting for just about everyone; as no one really had any energy, let alone chakra. Sasuke was barely able to make it back to Konoha, but he could see Naruto giving him an admonishing look out of the corner of his eye. As nice as it was for his friend to be so concerned, he was hardly one to talk. Boruto looked between the two of them, confused as to why his sensei was getting looks that were usually reserved for him. He knew that he was not alone in his confusion, as Sarada had just started walking next to him and giving him a somewhat perplexed expression after looking at her father. She had picked up on what had seemed like a major change in the atmosphere, and it confused her quite a bit. She wanted to wait until she could drag her friend away, but she wasn't sure how long that would take.

Sakura and Hinata were back at Naruto's place; waiting patiently for everyone to return, having just put Himawari to bed a little while ago. As the early morning hours started to approach, they both leaped out of their seats as they heard some voices approaching; having been on the verge of falling asleep at the table. Naruto and Sasuke stumbled through the door, with the kids following behind them. Sakura glared at Sarada, knowing that she had snuck out when she was with Hinata to go wait for them at the tower. Seeing her mother's withering glare, Sarada winced slightly, hoping that she wasn't in too much trouble. Of course, everyone was too exhausted to care at the moment, but there would be repercussions, no doubt about that. At first, everyone looked around, thinking about sleeping arrangements, or just sitting down period. Naruto and Sasuke merely looked at each other and collapsed in the nearest chairs they could find. Sarada and Boruto looked at each other and then everyone else, dumbfounded. What was with the silent conversations? And how could they possibly fall asleep in such an uncomfortable position?

Hinata sighed, both exhausted and extremely relieved that her family made it back safely. It seemed that everyone involved made it back, otherwise she probably would've heard about it...somehow. Sakura didn't seem to think that there was any urgent medical treatment needed that couldn't wait until they all got some sleep, so it seemed that everybody could use some good rest. Hopefully, Sasuke and especially Naruto, would use common sense and try to get more than just a few hours sleep. She knew better than anyone that he was pushing himself way too hard these days, even if Shikamaru had been telling him to delegate more often. She gently shoved Boruto towards his room to get some sleep, before getting a few blankets for the guys. Shaking her head and sighing, somewhat disheartened at the sight of how drained they must be. Looking over at Sakura, she smiled and dragged her up to the spare room, expecting Sarada to follow. Sakura merely gave a silent 'disobey-and-pay-the-consequences' look, making the girl widen her eyes and follow mere inches behind her. Too tired to genuinely care about manners or formalities of any kind, everyone just silently went to their rooms and slept where they were. As Hinata got into bed, she realized that while she might get some less sleep than the others, she wasn't in any battles or recovering from chakra depletion. Tomorrow...or today would be interesting indeed.

Naruto woke up to a high pitched noise, which he struggled to recognize for a few moments. He realized that he was in a chair, having fallen asleep just a few hours earlier. Even barely awake as he was, he could sense his friend's foul mood. He wasn't sure what was funny, really, but he had trouble containing his laughter nonetheless.

"Your kid is just as loud as you ever were, dobe." Sasuke muttered, obviously trying to go back to sleep. Apparently, he either didn't care that they were resting on a table, or he just couldn't find it in him to care.

Naruto finally gave in and laughed, before hearing Himawari's voice get closer. He echoed his friend's groan, muttering words that he was lucky Hinata was unable to hear. Speaking of which, was she even awake? He knew Boruto wasn't going to be up and around anytime soon, and he didn't think any of the Uchihas really wanted to be awake for anything short of a full-scale invasion or emergency. Of course, he knew he should just take the day off and recuperate before rushing back at full speed. If he knew Shikamaru at all, he was going to be looking at him and muttering "troublesome" the moment he stepped in his office, even if it was only for a moment. Tired, no exhausted as he was, he felt like that was probably the most he could accomplish. He was sure that he would be seriously backlogged with all that paperwork if he didn't try and split the task amongst some shadow clones or try and beg someone to let him have just one day before he passes out from an inability to merely stay awake. He had a list of things to do, but he wasn't getting them done today...probably.

"Sasuke, the spare room-" Naruto mumbled, rubbing his eyes harder than he probably should.

He was more than likely going to be up at least a few more hours, if not longer. At least his friend would be able to sleep, though. Sasuke gave him an incredulous glance and stood a bit slower than usual, making Naruto glance at the table. He knew how prideful of a person his friend had always been, and so he had to force himself to remain where he was. He knew that he wouldn't want the help unless it was absolutely necessary. They'd both changed a lot over the years, but their core personalities hadn't changed after all. He'd never tell Sasuke how guilty he had been feeling over this past battle. They were after him, and there were so many casualties. He'd have to ask Sakura at some point, but he needed the numbers of fatalities as well. He protected everyone in the village, yes, but at what cost? This felt like the Akatsuki all over again, as they were only ever after the tailed beast and their jinchuriki. He shook his head, trying to rid himself of such negative thoughts as he watched Sasuke go to where the rest of his family was hopefully still sleeping. He wasn't so naive as to think that his friend didn't at least pick up that something was wrong. They knew each other inside and out, as brothers and as friends. They had been through a lot and come through the other side for the better, just not as scar-free as they'd hoped.

Naruto sighed and tried not to cringe as he heard the loud noises from the next room. He knew that the whole house was probably just as tired as he was, if not more. He needed to somehow get Himawari and then convince her to quiet down. Then again, leaving a note for Hinata and leaving the house altogether was an easier option. Writing a quick note, he made sure to read it twice just in case. You missed things when you're tired, after all. Checking the room that was undoubtedly a mess, he saw the tornado that was his girl. Sasuke wasn't wrong, he supposed.

"Himawari, would you come here for a minute?" he asked quietly, hoping she'd notice how much he wanted to just let things be quiet for a little while. The girl in question was indeed smart, but she could, unfortunately, count the times she'd seen her father this week on one hand. So, Naruto couldn't exactly blame her for her excitement, he just wished it was a little more...controlled.

"Daddy!" she squealed, making him look around in a slight bit of paranoia. He really hoped no one heard that. He noticed she was fully ready for the day, so he cast all of his not-so-carefully-laid plans aside and covered her mouth.

"How about we play a game together?" he asked, making sure to look really excited.

Himawari gasped and started to jump up and down, obviously about to let loose another squeal of excitement. Naruto gently covered her mouth and shushed her, like it was all a part of their game.

"We're going to be sneaky ninjas today, alright?"

She nodded, covering her mouth, in what Naruto would never admit that he thought was absolutely cute. She looked absolutely confused as they both made their way to the door and left. He knew that he shouldn't take her too far, maybe to Shikamaru or Ino. Either way, they still had breakfast to eat. It wasn't the healthiest, but it Ichiraku's was the only place he knew of that would be perfectly fine. Hinata probably wouldn't like that she wasn't eating a balanced breakfast, but he couldn't exactly cook at home. They were still in a complete blessed silence two blocks away from the house, when she yanked on his shirt. Swallowing a yawn, he nodded to Himawari, signaling that she was free to talk now. Dancing around in circles, she started celebrating, making Naruto wary of all the energy she possessed. It must be something she got from Hinata, because he definitely was not a morning person. Shaking his head in what was likely a mix of shock and slight amusement, he leads her into the shop to "congratulate her on a mission completed".

Hinata gasped at the time and dashed around her room getting ready as fast as she was able to. She couldn't find Himawari anywhere and Naruto was gone too, probably at work already. Sakura wouldn't be happy about that when she woke up, and it seemed that Sasuke had either gone to the spare room as well or back to their house. Initially, she had been rather surprised by the lack of noise in the house, as she had become so accustomed to it. However, this morning is was eerily quiet and it disturbed her. After checking on Boruto and checking the house once more, the note that Naruto catches her eyes.

A goodbye note is fairly rare these days, but he probably didn't want to wake anyone else up.

"You should read it." a voice said from behind her, making her almost drop the note. She wasn't exactly sure when, but Sasuke had managed to not only get behind her but freeze up as she did in their academy days. Perfect. "Why do you look so guilty? He left it for you to read and its not that often he leaves one before going to work these days."

"Where is he, Sasuke? He's not at work, is he?"

"I don't know, exactly. But I do know that his handwriting is really bad when he's tired, especially when there's a kid who is just about as loud as he used to be."

Quelling the desire to roll her eyes, she wasn't sure whether to be skeptical or maybe just a little defensive in this situation. She felt kind of embarrassed, being cornered like this. Opening the note slowly, she saw Naruto's very messy handwriting and squinted. She could only make out every other…

Sasuke raised his visible eyebrow and sighed; unfortunately knowing her predicament all too well. He had had to suffer the headaches of trying to decipher the idiot's deplorable handwriting (if it could even be called that at times) when he was in a hurry. Hinata blinked a few times as he held out his hand, demanding the note. He sincerely doubted that the dobe put anything in there that he shouldn't read; in fact, he probably knew that this exact situation was happening and was laughing about it. That dobe.

Hinata was sure that Sasuke had probably read plenty of Naruto's notes before and knew that letting him read it would be the best choice. Afterward, she would admit that she didn't even remember handing over the note and that it just seemed more...automatic. Sasuke glanced at it and then turned it a few degrees as the letters seemed to slant, as Naruto's handwriting gave away just how exhausted he really was.

"He's taken Himawari out with him because she was being exceptionally loud," he told her, without preamble.

Hinata sighed audibly in relief, feeling a great deal of weight fall off of her shoulders at those words.

"Did he take her to work with him?"

"No, not yet at least. They went out to eat, or at least that's what they were doing when he wrote this note. But that was probably an hour or so ago by now."

"Where would they have-"

"Do you really have to ask?" Sasuke mumbled, going towards the door.

"Sasuke, where are you going?" she asked, surprised at his sudden movement.

"I'm going to get Himawari, now that you're awake to keep her quiet. Keep an eye on the kid," he said, opening the door. Hinata walked after him, barely able to catch up before he left.

"What about Naruto, though?"

"What about him?" he said, trying to appear aloof and indifferent. He was tired and just wanted to drag the dobe back to his house more than anything. "He'll be stubborn about things and there's nothing to be done about that." he finished saying, before taking off.

-Currently-

Naruto was barely managing to stay awake, knowing that Himawari wanted him up to play. He knew that he had more or less told Boruto that he'd try to be around more. He had been ignoring everyone for a good while now, and he wasn't sure how intentional it had actually been. He had been trying his best all day to be around Himawari and give her his full attention, as he hadn't been around, let alone that birthday disaster…

"Daddy!" Himawari yelled, trying to get his attention.

He had gotten lost in his thoughts again, he knew. Normally that could've been really dangerous, but he knew that there were ANBU scattered around the area. They were undoubtedly aware of their Hokage's state and were keeping a closer eye on both of them and their surroundings as a result. Naruto was really quite thankful for this, even if it was just a precautionary measure. Smiling wanly, he wearingly made his way over to the swings. He wasn't sure if she could even sense how much he wanted to sleep, but he would persevere regardless.

"Push me on the swings!" she demanded, puffing her cheeks out cutely. It reminded him of Hinata when she was trying not to be irritated about something. He very adamantly had decided not to laugh. That would be outright dangerous.

As he started to push her on the swings, he felt a chakra approaching with a subtle feeling that he couldn't describe. He subtly looked at where he knew a few of the ANBU were and saw that they had barely moved. Mere moments later, he saw his best friend out of the corner of his eye, looking vaguely irritated. To anyone else, he just looked indifferent and maybe a little annoyed. But he knew his friend like no one else, and so he was "forced" to stop pushing Himawari for the moment. The moment he stopped, she started pouting; until she saw Sasuke, which made Naruto cough. His friend didn't even bother trying to hide his irritation at that point.

"Stop laughing, dobe. Your wife couldn't find Himawari and figured you went to work. She could hardly make out that horrible scribbling that you call writing."

Naruto dropped all traces of amusement upon hearing what had happened. Of course, he had thought she could read it. It couldn't have been that bad, could it?

"I had to read it for her, idiot. Of course, it was bad!"

Naruto scowled at him while trying not to blush in embarrassment. He hated how well they knew each other sometimes. It got seriously irritating.

"Why are you even here?"

"Sometimes I wonder if you listen to anything I say. I know that you're probably already planning to go into work for at least a couple of hours, so I'm not going to bother. But I'm taking her back to the house, at the very least." Sasuke told him, sounding both bored and unamused simultaneously. Yeah, knowing each other so well could be a real pain in the-

"Fine, but just so you know I was so not planning to-"

"You were too, you moron. You were probably thinking about what my idiot apprentice should have as a punishment, let alone those two idiots that kept interfering the other day."

Naruto opened his mouth to retort when he noticed that Himawari seemed disappointed by the news. He outright glared at his friend for being so blunt in front of her. He knew it was just his friend's personality, but seriously. He was feeling the beginning of a headache starting to form as the mere thought of everything he needed to be done seemed absolutely unnerving to even think about. Looking down at her, he inwardly flinched at the hopeful look she had. He knew that all she wanted was his attention, and it was a look that he knew all too well. He sensed Sasuke make a visible effort not to react in any way. He didn't want to send her home with Sasuke, but he had things to get done. Mentally preparing himself for the worst, he tried not to be too incredibly harsh or blunt. Of course, he hadn't been called the number one hyperactive knucklehead ninja for nothing.

"I need to get some things done before I come back home, but I have another mission for you."

He could practically hear Sasuke's what do you mean "another"?

"I want you to tell Boruto as soon as he wakes up that he is supposed to come to the tower immediately." he continued and then grabbed her small hand to walk her towards the entrance of the park. He'd take her that far, and then say his goodbyes. Leaning down, he said his farewells and nodded silently to his friend. He took off at a slightly slower pace, dreading his arrival and everything that had to be done. He could practically hear Shikamaru already.

~Two hours later~

Naruto had been doing some work at a more sedate pace than normal and had seen a few people in his office. It had thankfully been a slow day thus far, but he wasn't looking forward to what was coming in the future. He had been doing his work with one clone for a while, so that he could be free to think on his own about a few predicaments. He wanted to get things done, but he knew that he needed to figure these things out.

He heard Boruto knock and then basically invite himself in, and Naruto found himself too tired to care. Plus, he had told him that he was not going to lecture him as much...basically. The tension wasn't nearly as bad as it used to be, but it wasn't gone entirely either. He obviously knew that there was going to be consequences for what he had done, and helping in that battle with the five kage was just the beginning. Naruto struggled to hold down a smirk when looking at Boruto, who was looking uncomfortable. Oh, he had no idea.

"So, I assume that you know why you're here," Naruto told him, switching into Hokage mode without warning.

"Yeah, I guess it has to do with the other day and me cheating. But I don't get why you're doing this! I helped in that battle! Isn't that enough?!" Boruto asked, his voice rising in volume. Naruto raised his eyebrows in warning, letting him know he needed to tone it down. This was his office, not the house.

"Yes, it is about the cheating. And while I do appreciate you helping in the battle, that does not negate the damage done or the fact that you broke the rules in the first place," he stated in a flat and slightly unforgiving tone. It shocked Boruto to his core because he had never heard it before, but he hadn't forgotten the guilt that he felt when he had thought his father was gone. However, Naruto wasn't done. "Also, should I let everyone who breaks the rules or the law like that get away with it because they helped me? You need to learn that things in life don't come with cheat codes."

He watched as his son looked down and almost rushed around the desk to hug him, but he knew that he had to stay firm. He had decided that D missions were the best way for him to get his hands dirty. He was admittedly surprised when Boruto abruptly raised his head with a very familiar determined look in his eyes. While his eyes were obviously damp, they hadn't lost their sharpness. This time, Naruto didn't bother trying to hide his smirk. Boruto would not even think about cheating or breaking rules after he was done. He saw Sasuke stroll in, casual as you please and rolled his eyes in a very informal manner.

"You sure took your time, didn't you? Sometimes I think you're worse than Kakashi!" he yelled, standing and pointing his finger at his former teammate. Boruto felt shocked at the sudden change in atmosphere but could see that his teacher was looking back at him in an unresponsive manner. If anything, he almost looked...amused?

"I don't think anyone can be that bad. Kakashi makes more excuses than anyone I've ever known," he responded, barely bothered by the fact that there was a finger mere inches from his face. For the two of them, it was more about releasing tension than an actual fight, which had actually never gotten farther than an odd spar or two these days. Anyone who didn't know them probably thought they were trying not to kill each other daily, though, present company included.

"Fine, then," Naruto muttered, feeling his energy hit an all-time low. "What is it? Why are you so late? You were sleeping or something?"

"I just felt like making you do it."

Naruto glared with a baleful edge, making Boruto start to slowly creep towards the door. Taking a deep breath, Naruto mumbled several words Tsunade would've undoubtedly put him through the wall for saying.

"We're not done. Sasuke is here for you, not me. As your sensei, he chooses your punishment. Of course, as the Hokage, I have my own separate one assigned for you. Your welcome. He's all yours, Sasuke. I'm sure you already know his punishment from me."

As he saw Boruto's jaw slacken, he shook his head. Sasuke was outright vindictive when it came to the people close to him being hurt. It was undoubtedly a good part of the reason for him being in such a mood. That and the serious lack of sleep and recovery time they'd both been needing. All he could do was watch as his friend grabbed his son's ear and dragged him a few feet before shoving him out the door. Naruto winced, glad he wasn't on the other side of that temper before a shiver went down his spine. Sakura. Oh. Crap. Neither one of them had gotten checked out. The door was left open as Shikamaru watched them leave and then went in the office himself, looking at Naruto with an almost impressed look.

"What's the look for?" Naruto asked, looking at him with a peculiar expression. Shikamaru was so strange sometimes.

"What did you do to make him so mad?"

Oh.

"He's tired and doesn't feel like dealing with his student's nonsense. I'm sure that his punishment isn't going to be particularly...painless."

Shikamaru raised his eyebrows in understanding and winced in sympathy for the kid, although he knew that he needed to learn his lesson. He wasn't going to enjoy the next few weeks...or even a month if his sensei was feeling really cruel. Looking at the Hokage, who was usually fairly intense and passionate; the Nara couldn't help but notice how glazed over and dull his eyes seemed to be. It was outright disconcerting and it made him shiver because it made him remember some days in the past that he'd rather just forget. It had been a long time coming, but Naruto was bound to crash one of these days. Of course, he'd have to be the one to face Sakura when it eventually happened. What a drag. He knew that the only way the idiot would go home was if those morons from the Scientific Ninja Weapons Team. He wasn't really sure how it would turn out, but it didn't look good at the moment.

Naruto looked curious, as his friend and advisor had been looking at him silently for a few moments longer than necessary but shook it off. He couldn't do anything about it, he supposed.

"So, I guess you won't be going home until you deal with Katasuke?" Shikamaru asked, trying to come off as indifferent and casual as possible.

In reality, he knew that they were both dreading the whole affair. It was a mess, and they knew it. The whole affair had been a disaster.* Not only had he coerced Boruto into cheating, but he had followed Sasuke and the others on the retrieval squad; this had, of course, led to all of the kage being trapped after they had all but defeated him. And the results were staring him right in his face, looking like he was barely standing. A knock on the still opened door startled the two out of their thoughts. Looking at each other, Shikamaru took the silent signal for what it was and went to stand by the desk. It wasn't that he expected a violent reaction, as much as he was just lost as to what he should do about all of this. Here he had someone who was highly intelligent, if not a little eccentric at times. It was just like with Boruto, it seems.

And yet...will any of them truly learn if I keep being so lenient like this? Sasuke's right. I'm too soft.

Standing up, he faced the window and felt more tired than ever. He could only wonder what was taking Kurama so long, and how much had really been drained before that fight. Ah, well. Looking at Shikamaru, he could tell how much he was giving away, just by his expression and turned to look at Katasuke. He couldn't tell if he even felt sorry about the whole incident, but he was leaning towards no. Schooling his expression, he took the inevitable dive.

"Before we talk about what's going to happen, I need to know why did you do this? You could have caused-"

"It was all for the sake of discovering if it would work, of course!" Katasuke rudely interrupted. "We were trying to get it on film, of course."

"The Kote, you mean?" Shikamaru asked although he was pretty sure he already knew. "And I suppose that the one that collected the data for you was Kosuke?"

Naruto wasn't all that surprised either, as the both of them had had a front seat as Katasuke had tried to document everything in the arena and in the other dimension. The man merely smiled proudly, obviously hoping that everything had been carefully and correctly documented. Naruto was just silently hoping the thing had been destroyed.

"Yes, of course, all of the data that wasn't destroyed has been put-"

"We'll need both the originals and the copies that you were thinking of giving us. Everything involving the Kote and it's disastrous debut are going to be sent here or else an ANBU can be sent there to collect it. Your choice. And don't think about making copies to keep, either, because Intelligence will be sweeping by there for random people. That includes you, of course." Shikamaru said in a monotone voice, glancing subtly at his friend to make sure he agreed. With no reaction in sight, he decided that unless Naruto disagreed with something he said, he'd continue.

"Surely there's no reason for something so drastic, right? My inventions have always benefited-"

Shikamaru bit back a scathing reply and unconsciously backed up a foot or so when he felt the killing intent radiating off of Naruto in waves. He did try his best not to sweat at the intensity, even if it had only lasted for a moment or two. It rarely happened, but he always knew it was better to just get out of the way when it did.

"People got hurt and I have no idea if any were killed yet!" Shikamaru winced at the proximity, knowing that he was just getting started. Starting a fight with him was something he never wanted to bother with, that's for sure. "You and that stupid invention could have gotten everyone at the arena killed. To make things worse, you followed everyone to the other dimension and when we had the upper hand, you went and got us cornered by Momoshiki!" Naruto yelled, breathing hard. Shikamaru narrowed his eyes, not liking this particular development. This was not good at all. If Naruto kept going like this, he was going to end up collapsing right in front of this idiot. It wasn't as if he wanted to step into Naruto's "line of fire" at the moment, but he had to stop this before things got much worse. Such a drag.

"Naruto, that's enough for now. Let ANBU take him until it's his turn to see Inoichi." He knew that stepping in like this could possibly be considered something dangerously close to either siding with Katasuke at best; or insubordination at the very worst. He hoped it wouldn't come to that, but Naruto wasn't in the greatest of moods at the moment. He looked at him straight in the eyes unflinchingly, regardless of the consequences. Naruto glared at him for a minute, before conceding and letting Katasuke be taken away.

Naruto knew that his friend was right, as he usually was; it was why he was an advisor, but it still annoyed him. Honestly, it had been the initial reason for him making him stay behind instead of leaving like he usually would. Man, he felt tired; almost like he could sleep for-

"Naruto? Are you okay? You should be heading home, right?"

"Yeah...I told Himawari I'd go home and see her." Naruto said, going around the desk and walking unsteadily. Shikamaru tried not to jump forward and help but instead prepared to catch him when he needed to. "Yeah."

"Naruto, maybe you should talk to Sakura first. I saw her this afternoon and she wanted to check on you." A small lie, but one that would hopefully get his oh-so-stubborn friend to see reason before he inevitably passed out on the office floor. Of course, it seemed that life always did like to rudely smack people upside the head. He could only watch as Naruto started to collapse towards the floor and barely had the time to rush forward to catch him and put him on the ground. "Idiot." he mumbled, before getting one of the ANBU to get Sakura. He was sure that Sakura would at least wait until her friend was awake before she hit him. He probably wouldn't be as fortunate. This was such a drag.

*I'm not going for the 'encounter with Kara' in this, as it's really not made obvious in the movie as much af the manga.

A/N: Well, that was a lot longer than I'd initially anticipated. o_O I was thinking maybe 1k or so, but not anywhere near 5.5k! This is undoubtedly my longest one shot ever, let alone the longest I've ever done at once. I'm going to try and probably attack my NCIS one next...or maybe my HTTYD. Meh.