Chapter 1
Boruto or Bolt Uzumaki was excited and cautious. Today might be the day his father would train him personally! The Seventh had promised his son a father and son bonding training for the boy's birthday. Finally, Bolt would spend real quality time with Naruto. The two blonde's had an okay relationship, but it was still gliding on thin ice. Naruto's absences were affecting Bolt in more ways than the older blonde realized. The boy was now 14 and a full-fledged genin. But, Bolt didn't much care about that anymore. The hype of being a Shinobi left him a few months back after their first semi-dangerous mission. Bolt had killed for the first time. The young blonde suffered from nightmares and flashbacks sometimes. But, he managed to cover it up well from his parents and friends(except Sarada and Himawari). Since his Father worked so much it was easy to keep things bottled up.
Boruto's pace quickened as his heart pumped. The blonde and his team were finally done trash collecting around the village. He wanted to finish this quickly. Team Sarutobi was on main street, finishing up.
"You seem excited Bolt," said Konohamaru, his sensei.
"Sure," stated the teen with a shrug, "Tou-san promised to train me today dattebasa!"
Konohamaru grinned, "that's great,"
Sarada, his teammate glanced at him impassively. She along with Bolt had a shaky relationship with their Fathers. Not because they were abusive or bad, but because they were too caught up in their own little world sometimes, and neglected to see the need in their eyes. Not that they were as needy as when they were younger, but still, Sarada thought they were being a little selfish.
Sasuke wasn't always around. He traveled constantly and sent many things from his travels by reverse summoning a cat. Sarada wanted to send an angry letter at him sometimes and demand that he show up in person more often. Bolt had a similar situation with his Father. Only, Naruto was a workaholic.
At least he gets to see the Seventh once in a while, thought the Uchiha.
"That is most youthful!" said Lee Jr.
"Yeah well, I better get going. I have to pick up Himawari-chan from the Academy first. Honestly Kaa-san should let her walk on her own, she's twelve ttebasa,"
"Pleaseee Bolt-nii-san let me come with you!" Himawari pleaded, "I promise I won't bother you."
"No ttebasa!" snapped Bolt, "it will be dangerous and you could get hurt and-"
Himawari fixed him a half pout half glare. She crossed her arms.
"Come on!"
"Urgh fine just don't get yourself hurt okay?"
Himawari beamed and nodded as they rerouted their destination from their house toward the training grounds. Unknown to the Uzumakis, a certain Uchiha was stalking behind them, carefully as to not get caught. Once the two made it to the training grounds they sat down and waited. The only company Himawari and Bolt had-aside from Sarada-was the three lonely logs and the memorial stone. The kids waited. They waited the entire afternoon. Soon it was evening and the sky turned orange and purple. Bolt looked crestfallen.
"I'm sure Tou-chan has a good explanation nii-san," Himawari whispered.
Bolt clenched his fists, "Yeah of course he does," he murmured, " 'I'm Hokage and I have to take care of all the damn people in the stinky village dattebasa!' while ignoring your son and spending less and less time with him!"
Himawari said nothing. She couldn't deny her brother's claim since, she had seen Boruto being neglected many times(unintentionally). Sometimes, the neglect extended to Hinata and herself. Both children understood the importance their father played in Konoha, but, couldn't the man put someone else in charge so he could spend a night or two with his family? The wind blew, Bolt's hair waved in the breeze. This time it had really struck a chord, since it was Boruto's birthday.
"Wanna go talk to Uncle Neji?" Himawari asked.
Bolt stood and nodded. He followed his younger sister to the graveyard. His hands buried in his pockets. Sarada went home soon after the two left. She prepared for Sakura to chew her out about being so late.
Hinata never thought there would come a day she would be angry with her childhood crush. Today, however, was the day her patience ran dry. Naruto was supposed to train with Bolt after his missions, but he opted to go to a last minute meeting. Naruto claimed it was important, since disturbances had been felt all throughout the Elemental Nations lately. Shikamaru suspected that the war against Kaguya, Madara, and Obito may have caused a kind of ripple. The Chakra that was left over from the war was distorting the physical world. Reports from all the other Kage were pouring in, describing fluctuations in gravity and changes in weather patterns.
Hinata had her hands on her hips, her soft pearl eyes looked at Naruto disapprovingly. Bolt and Himawari had gotten home about 15 minutes before Naruto walked through the door. They had told her everything. The birthday cake was Hinata had made was forgotten, as Bolt was in no mood to sing or eat.
As a concerned mother, Hinata thought it was her right to see to her children's emotional needs or otherwise. Regardless of what was going on in the world.
"Naruto-kun, you can't keep doing this to Boruto-chan," she whispered sternly.
Naruto looked at his hands. He sat on the sofa like a scolded school boy in detention. He withered under Hinata's uncharacteristically cold gaze. For a second, she resembled the typical Hyuuga. The stoic and chilly one.
"I know Hinata-chan,"
"The world won't perish without you for a few days. This time you really hurt him Naruto-kun. You promised him. It was his birthday," Hinata lectured, "you always keep promises Naruto-kun. That's your nindo."
Naruto frowned, hanging his head. He loved his son dearly and the fact he broke a promise to him broke Naruto's heart. It didn't help that it was on one of the most important dates. It wasn't easy to balance work and family. Especially for the Hokage.
"Please talk to him," Hinata pleaded, her features softening, "make it up to him."
Naruto nodded, and stood. He headed toward Bolt's room. It was locked.
"Bolt!" Naruto called outside the door, "let's talk dattebayo."
There was no answer. Bolt huddled into his covers, ignoring him.
"Come on son," Naruto said, knocking, "I know I messed up, Bolt open the door!"
Still there was no answer. Naruto sighed and decided to pick the lock. The door opened with squeak, and Naruto made his way inside. Bolt's room was relatively messy, with clothes everywhere and an empty can of soda or two. The walls were a light blue color and his covers a soft peach. There was a laptop on the nightstand along with a few manga and a photo album. Naruto walked toward the bundle in the bed. He shook Boruto softly.
"Bolt, I'm sorry about today I-"
"Don't bother ttebasa," Bolt snapped, "I can deal with it, just like you told me to. I'm a ninja after all."
Bolt's words sounded bitter and slightly mocking. Naruto suppressed the urge to flinch at his son's biting words. They snapped at him like the bite of a cornered animal, piercing his flesh and filling his insides with guilt.
"How about I take the day tomorrow and we can-"
Bolt turned to face his father. His icy blue eyes dared Naruto to continue that sentence.
"No thanks, I'm going to hang out with Lee-kun, and Sarada."
Naruto still insisted. He told Bolt that if he didn't show up at Ichiraku's tomorrow evening he'd go look for him and drag the boy along.
Bolt scowled and said nothing.
The truth was, that Bolt hadn't planned on hanging out with his team tomorrow. Even if it was their day off. The blonde wanted some alone time tomorrow. Bolt looked at his Father's retreating form as he closed his eyes. Bolt let himself be engulfed in dreams.
The next day, Bolt's plans of spending a lazy morning by himself were ruined. Lee Jr had dragged him and Sarada to his morning run around the village. For a brief moment he understood how Shikadai felt. It was troublesome. But, as the day went on he resigned himself to the fact he wouldn't get a moment of peace with friends like his. When noon time came, Bolt and his friends went to eat some barbecue.
"So, Bolt-kun are you ready for the chunin exams?" asked Lee Jr.
"Huh?" said the blonde.
"The chunin exams baka," stated Sarada, "Sarutobi-sensei spoke to us about it a while back remember?"
"Of course I remember dattebasa!" exclaimed Bolt, though it was a lie.
"So are you ready?" asked Lee again.
"I don't know," shrugged Boruto, "honestly, I think I might just quit this whole ninja thing."
His teammates gaped at him. Even the cool and collected Sarada seemed flummoxed. Lee senior's son dropped the piece of pork he was holding with his chopsticks.
"You can't be serious Boruto-kun!" exclaimed the bushy browed boy, "who is gonna take your father's-"
Lee was cut off by a painful jab to his ribs from Sarada. She gave the other raven a look that said, 'don't go there.' But, it had been too late.
"I'm not gonna take anyone's place," snapped Bolt, "Especially not my Father's. Just because he's Hokage and a strong Shinobi doesn't mean I have to be just like him dattebasa!"
"I didn't mean it like that Bolt," whispered the other boy.
"Sorry, I know," replied the blonde, biting a piece of meet.
After that they went their separate ways. At least Lee did, Sarada stayed in the shadows, following Bolt. Bolt headed to the Academy and waited till Himawari finished her classes. He sat on an old swing, his face contemplative. The blonde looked at the tree behind him, slightly annoyed.
"Sarada, you seriously gotta stop following me ttebasa!"
The raven haired girl jumped down the branch she was on, but stayed away from the sun's rays. She adjusted her glasses and crossed her arms.
"Are you really planning on quitting?" asked the girl bluntly.
"Yes, maybe. I don't know," shrugged the boy, "it's not as if I haven't thought of it before. If I quit it might piss my dad off and I would love to see his reaction. But...it's not just that. I want to do something else with my life. Something different,"
"You're still upset about that mission," it wasn't a question. It was a fact. Sarada was good at understanding him. Even if sometimes they fought like cats and dogs.
"Who said I was upset ttebasa!"
"You didn't have to, it's obvious, idiot," Sarada replied.
"Hnph," huffed Bolt in return.
The bell rang soon after, letting the kids be free to go on home. Bolt and Sarada watched as Himawari ran outside happily. As soon as the preteen spotted them, she sprinted over to them.
"Bolt-nii Sara-nee!" she called.
Bolt grinned as he was tackled by his younger sister.
"Hey what's up?" Bolt greeted.
"Nothing, we just threw Kunai today," said the girl, "guess what? I'm taking the genin exams in few months…"
Bolt stiffened slightly while his sister went on about her day. A vivid image came to his head. Him holding a kunai down a man's throat. His hand stained crimson. the bandit coughed blood and gasped one more time before leaving the world behind.
"Is he dead?" Bolt heard the voice of Konohamaru ask in the distance.
"Bolt, let's go!" he heard sensei's voice call.
"Bolt," the boy heard Sarada's impassive voice,"Shannaro..."
The blonde felt a sharp pain in the back of his head. He found himself in the ground. Himawari stared at him with worried blue eyes. Bolt rubbed his head and glared at Sarada.
"What the hell was that for!"
"You were spacing out moron, we called your name for the past five minutes,"
"Oh,"
The trio left the Academy. Sarada's house was on the way to theirs, so they could walk together. The evening was slightly breezy. Himawari shivered as she walked. Everything was calm, but it didn't last. The three suddenly felt a pull. They stopped walking and looked at the source of the tugging. There, a few feet away was a swirl. Like the air itself was twisting.
"What is that?!" Himawari pointed.
"I don't know!" Boruto shouted.
"We need to get our parents!" Sarada said.
The pull became stronger until they couldn't hold their footing. The three kids were dragged into the rift, disappearing from sight.
Meanwhile Naruto was on his way to Ichiraku ramen. He was determined to bond with his boy, one way or the other. However, when Boruto didn't show up, he got antsy. Naruto excused himself and went to look for his son. His guess was, that he was probably with Sasuke's daughter or Himawari. He searched for Bolt's Chakra signature, and followed it. He grinned when he spotted his son from afar, along with Himawari and Sarada. He was about to call out to him but something odd happened. A rift in space opened, and pulled the three children into it. It resembled Obito's mode of transportation.
"Boruto!"
He landed on the spot in which the children had disappeared.
A/N: Hehe. I may have exaggerated Bolt's neglect a bit...probably. And he is 14 in this. I made Himawari about two years younger in this so I guess it could be considered a slight AU. I wasn't sure about the age difference. Sarada is about the same age as Bolt. I did my best to keep them in character, I hope. I also used Boruto and Bolt interchangeably. Hope that doesn't bother anyone.
Anyway, my thoughts on the ending of Naruto...it was a bit rushed. Kishimoto could have expanded a bit on what happened with Orochimaru and team Taka among other things. Things went by quick but both 699 and 700 were over all okay.
Now my opinion on the pairings: Neutral.
To be honest I shipped NaruSaku, but only because they had more time together during the series. However, when Sakura lied to him during the summit it was a huge setback and well, after that, I decided not to take sides on the stupid pairing war after that. I like both Naruthina and Narusaku.
I used to ship Sasusaku when I was younger, but it turned me off after Sasuke left Sakura on a bench and deserted Konoha. Also let's not forget the times he tried to kill her. Honestly, you would think a girl would learn after going through so much crap. But no, she throws herself over him again, even after he almost killed them all. After the Kage summit thing between them, I just couldn't picture Sakura and Sasuke together anymore. If it wasn't for Naruto, Sasuke would be the next threat.
I don't mind Sasusaku but the pairing has a weak foundation. I feel Kishimoto didn't build Sakura and Sasuke's bond very well. I mean, the bond is there, but it didn't grow. But, a lot could have happened between them during the huge time skip between 699 and 700, who knows At lot can happen. Maybe we'll see more on their relationship in the Last.
Anyway, the end was a bit too rushed and some pairings were thrown together sloppily. ChoujixKarui for example. InoxSai…that's okay. ShikaTema yay! And who did Lee end up with? I guess that will probably forever be a mystery. But over all, the chapters were very lighthearted and fluffy. I loved the kids. I especially liked Bolt and Sarada.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Kishimoto does. I have nothing against NaruSaku, SasuSaku, & Naruhina. I have my preferences, so do other people. I hold no animosity and I apologize for the long author's note. Hope to write soon.
PS: Congratulations to those of you who got your OTP! That's great. ^^