Chapter 1

Authors Note:

Hello! This is my first fanfiction story (excluding one that was a one-shot) so I'm not really that experienced. The characters might be a bit OOC so watch out for that. It might contain some spoilers, so if you haven't watched the whole Naruto series I recommend you finish it and then come back! Not to mention some things about the characters might not be true. Anyway, I hope you like this story.

Please review. Flames are welcomed!

"You have a new mission. You are to go Orochimaru's hideout and retrieve a certain scroll about a forbidden jutsu. He's already expecting you, so he knows which it is. You are to leave tomorrow afternoon," Naruto said, careful not to reveal any information about the jutsu.

"also-"

"WHAT? That's it? You called me all the way just to retrieve a stupid scroll? I had to interrupt my game because of this!" Boruto exclaimed, furious at his father.

"Boruto! This is a very important. It has many secrets about the clan the jutsu is from," Shikamaru says, already tired from the days work. "And don't interrupt your father when he is speaking to you. He is the Hokage." He added.

"I don't care! At least tell me what the jutsu is. And can you tell me why the heck Sarada is here. It's just a scroll, I don't need her. I'm already a jounin for Kami's sake!" he blurted out loud.

Yes, Boruto was a jounin. He and his team passed the jounin exam 6 months ago. However, he is infuriated that his dad still treats him like a kid, and never gives him any solo missions. He was sixteen already. Sixteen! However, Sarada had already been on 2 solo missions, while Mistuki had 4.

"if you had let me finish Boruto, I would have told you that the reason I put you together was because this scroll is very special, being the only one of it's kind in the world. We might need your skills. There have already been people who snuck into his hideout to steal it, but not one of them had succeeded. However, we felt it was still safer to transfer it here to Konoha." Naruto finished.

"But why us? Why HER?"

"Because you two are the only ones available right now." Naruto said exasperatedly, "This is an A rank mission, so I will not tolerate any mistakes. Sarada, I put you in charge. Boruto, you will listen to her or I will tell Hinata." He added sternly, making sure to emphasize on the Hinata part.

At the mention, his mother, he immediately froze, then straightened up, a terrified look on his face.

"You wouldn't" He gasped.

"Yes, I would, and I will if you don't behave." He said, smirking.

"How dare you! Are you TRYING to get me killed?!" Boruto exclaimed.

"No, I'm simply going to tell her to punish you."

"But you know what that means!"

"Yes I do."

"You really trying to get me killed. Kami, what did I do to deserve to be treated like this?" He murmured. "Stupid old man." He added under his breath.

"I will pretend I didn't hear that. You are dismissed." Naruto said angrily.

Boruto left, muttering profanities under his breath. Sarada was about to leave when she was stopped by the Hokage.

"Wait Sarada."

"Yes, Lord Seventh?"

"Don't leave yet. I need to talk to you about something."

"Okay."

"Sarada. I need to tell you something about Orochimaru. Now, this is important, so listen carefully…."

0o0o0o

Boruto left muttering curses under breath, failing to realise that Sarada was not following him. After 10 minutes of this, he suddenly stopped, noticing that Sarada wasn't scolding him about his behaviour. He turned around, and saw no one there.

"Sarada?"

*silence*

"Sarada? Where are you?"

*silence*

"Stop playing games Sarada, you know I hate them."

*silence once again*

"Stupid old man must have kept her back then. How come he trusts HER more than he trusts ME, his own son! I mean, she's not even that good; her skills are average, and she's not even pretty! Even her sharingan is not that cool. The only thing that's special about her is that her dad is Uncle Sasuke, but-"

"Excuse me?!"

"Huh? Oh! H-hi Sarada… Um… So h-how did it go? Did the old man need anything?" Boruto asked nervously.

Sarada had just finished her talk with the Hokage when she opened the door and found Boruto speaking to himself. Wanting to know what he was talking about, she stealthily creeped behind without him noticing, so she can finally hear what he was saying. During all this, she forgot to close the door to the Hokage's office, letting them have a full view of what was happening and what they were saying due to their chakra-enhanced ears, which they did out of curiosity. Though for Naruto, he simply wanted to know whether his son had finally gone crazy.

"Nothing, he just wanted to add a few details. But that's besides the point. I couldn't help but overhear you speaking about me? Something about how my skills are average, how I'm not pretty, and the fact that my sharingan isn't even good? Oh! And can't forget how you said that I'm only special because Sasuke Uchiha is my dad? Did I hear correctly?"

"Um n-no… W-why would I say that?" He said, currently scared for his life.

"Hmm, I wonder. Why indeed? Its not like you're jealous of me, right?"

"Pffft, Of course not. Why would I be jealous of you of all people?" He said confidently, all traces of fear gone in an instant.

"That's true. Its not like I'm special or anything, other than the fact that I'm the only person in the village other than my dad that has the sharingan. Not to mention I always win against you in spars. But you wouldn't be jealous of that, now would you?" She said in a sweet voice. Too sweet, Boruto thought. She had an evil look in her eyes, paired with a huge disturbing smile that showed off her perfectly white and straight teeth and her sweet voice. If that wasn't scary enough, he didn't know what was (although Hinata would definitely be up there).

"of course not, why would I be jealous of that?"

"Hm, I thought so too." She said, still with that smile on. "Although, I would recommend you to stop talking about people behind their back, especially mine. Not that I'm accusing or anything. Just for future reference."

And with that, she stalked past him, going out of the building to go home.

"Wewh, I thought I had it there." Boruto mumbled, walking the same direction to go back home as well.

Meanwhile with Naruto….

Naruto chuckled after watching the interaction between his son and Sarada.

"Remind again not to get on Sakura's bad side. Sarada's as well. Kami knows what she can do to me now." Naruto said, remembering all the times Sakura had bashed his face in. Thinking about all these times made him happy, letting a smile grace his face.

"Looks like someone inherited Sakura's eeriness. I kinda expected that to happen, to be honest." Shikamaru said, letting out a chuckle. "after all, Sarada is her daughter. Good to know she at least didn't inherit Sasuke's stoicness. That would've been bad."

"That's true. Although I can't say I'm happy she got Sasuke's teasing side. But oh well, nothing we can do about it." Naruto said, feeling slightly bad for Boruto having to put up with Sarada's insults, which she inherited from both her parents. He should know, he experienced them firsthand.

"Who inherited my teasing side?"

"AHHH!" Naruto jumped and hit his head on the windowsill right behind him. Groaning and massaging the bump on his head, he looked up to find none other than Sasuke Uchiha, standing in front of him with an amused expression on his face. He was holding out a scroll with one hand while helping up Shikamaru with the other, who slipped due to being sneaked up on by Sasuke, who was right behind him at the time. Yes, he had both of his arms. He had got them around 2 years after the he saved earth from a meteorite, when he finished his journey with Sakura.

"Sasuke!? You teme, I told you not to do that!" Naruto said angrily, although he was happy that he came back after all this time.

"Do what dobe?" Sasuke asked innocently, feigning ignorance.

"You know what you did. Don't play dumb."

"Hn, whatever. I have to keep you in shape; just because there's peace, that doesn't mean you let your guard down."

"Yeah yeah, whatever. When did you come back?"

"Just now dobe. We are supposed to report to the Hokage after our mission, remember?"

"Oh yeah. Forgot about that."

"idiot." He mumbled, though not low enough so that Naruto couldn't hear him.

"HEY! I heard that, y'know!"

"I couldn't care less dobe. Now, are you gonna read the scroll or not?" He said, getting slightly impatient. He risked his life to get the scroll after all.

"Sure whatever, I'll read it later. I have more pressing matters to discuss with you." He said, suddenly turning serious.

"Like what?"

"Like what you're going to do now. You know you're going to have to visit Sakura and Sarada soon. When was the last you saw them?"

"That's none of your business Naruto." He said, not rudely, but not politely either.

In all honesty, he hadn't visited them because he didn't know what he was going to say or do when he sees them. I mean, what do you say to your daughter who doesn't even remember you? Or to your wife who you haven't seen in over 5 years? Because he sure didn't know.

"Yes, it is. This village is my family, that includes Sakura and Sarada. Sakura is my old teammate and my best friend, and Sarada is her daughter. I don't want to see them get hurt, especially if its because of you." Naruto said, not meaning to add the last part, it just slipped out.

At this, Sasuke tensed up and Naruto realised his mistake, his eyes wide. The last sentence had cause them both to remember his time away from the village, something they both wanted to forget.

"Listen, I didn't mean that– "

"No, its okay. I understand. You don't have to apologize. You wanna know why I haven't visited the yet?"

"….Yes..." He answered tentatively, wanting to know the answer but not wanting to anger Sasuke.

"Well, its simple really. I don't want to." He lied easily.

"…"

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DON'T WANT TO?! THEY'RE YOUR OWN WIFE AND DAUGHTER! SARADA IS OF YOUR FLESH AND BLOOD, AND YOU'RE TELLING ME YOU SIMPLY DON'T WANT TO!?" Naruto roared, outraged at how Sasuke was so calm when he said that. Even now, when Naruto was yelling at him, he didn't move an inch. He just had a bored expression on his face.

"How could say that? Don't you miss them? Don't you care? Why are you even standing here? You should be with your family, not here saying that you 'don't want to see them.' Sasuke, why are you like this? I honestly thought that- "

"Naruto." Sasuke said in a voice that was calm yet deadly enough to make Naruto stop talking. He had something in his eyes that sent shivers down Naruto's back. I haven't seen that look since… since the battle at the valley, he thought.

Sasuke's blood was boiling, his insides raging, wanting to lash out on something. However, he contained himself and kept a straight face, something that surprised even him. Because everything that Naruto said was true, and he knew it. Why was he here? Did he miss them? Care for them? Of coarse he did. He should be with his family, having dinner together and talking about irrelevant things. However, he didn't know if he would be able to do that. For almost all his life, he had been alone, with no friends and family, until he was put on Team 7. But even then, he was unable to reach out to them for help, which to lead to him being consumed by darkness and leaving the village. He had thought that maybe, just maybe, he didn't have his revenge. But that thought was squashed when Itachi came to capture Naruto.

Because of all this, it was always hard for him to say what was on his mind. Even after marrying Sakura, and having Sarada, he was still socially awkward, except when around Naruto and Sakura. But saying that he didn't care for them or even questioning it was crossing the line. He thought that Naruto at least would know that he would never let anything happen to them. Guess not.

"Yes Sasuke?" Naruto said, starting to get wary.

"You wanna know the real reason as to why I won't visit them?"

"Yes, I honestly really do." He said in a confident voice, despite still being caution.

"Its because I don't know what I'm going to say or do when I see them. What do you do when you meet your daughter who doesn't even remember you? What do you say when you see your wife who you haven't seen in over 5 years? Because I honestly have no clue" There. He had said it. Now he just had to wait and see what good that did.

Upon hearing his words, Naruto went from scowling to smiling so fast it was almost comical.

"THAT was what you were worrying about? Honestly teme, what is wrong with you?" Naruto said, trying hard not to laugh, but failing horribly at it, if the short bursts of chuckles were anything to go by.

"Shut up dobe." He said, secretly cursing himself for thinking that the dobe would actually know a solution to his problems.

"Sorry, sorry, I didn't mean to. Its just that, I thought that the reason something serious." Naruto said, after he calmed himself down.

"This is serious." He said, starting to get angry again.

"Sorry, I need rephrase that. I meant something more serious than that."

"Hn."

"Back to monosyllable answers now, huh? I'm sure Sakura wouldn't be happy."

Sasuke tensed for a second, then regained his composture. Naruto noticed this and smirked. He knew that mentioning Sakura would do something. The reason being that after 2 weeks of being married to him, Sakura got tired of his monosyllabic answers, which didn't stop even after she nicely asked him to stop, so she decided to take matters into her own hands. She stopped talking to him. She stopped buying tomatoes. She even went as far as to deny him something no man should be denied.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, she stopped making food for him. (A/N: you thought I was gonna write something else didn't you ;) )

After that incident, Sasuke had learned to never speak like that to her. Ever.

A few days later, people started noticing the sudden change in Sasuke's speech, and were mind blown to find out that Sakura had changed it. After finding out what she had done, they always brought it up whenever he would revert back to his old speech.

"Whatever. Back to what we were talking about. What do I do?" Sasike couldn't believe he was asking advice from the Naruto. Naruto. The dobe who didn't know that Hinata liked him even after she told him in the fight between Pein and him. but he desperate, not that he would ever admit that out loud.

"Teme, you don't need to worry about this. Sakura already understands so it shouldn't be hard to talk to her. However, for Sarada, you know that you can't tell her what you were doing all this time. But, what you can do is go home, tell her that your going to stay for a few months here, and that your going to spend it all with the family. She may want an explanation as to what you were doing all this time. Knowing her, she probably will. If she does, tell her that if she wanted to know, she would have to come and ask me directly, and that its not your place to tell her. I will have something ready. Don't worry, I wont lie to her, but I wont tell exactly what you were doing." Naruto said, already knowing what Sasuke was going to say about him staying here.

"Dobe, what do you mean 'a few months'? I can't stay here – " Sasuke started, but stopped when Naruto raised his hand for silence.

"Sasuke Uchiha, right now I'm speaking to you as the Hokage, and as a Hokage, I'm ordering you to stay home for at least 2 months. If you try to sneak out of the village without my consent, you will be suspended from missions for 4 months. If you try it again, it will be 6. If you try it again, it'll be a whole year. There will be no negotiation. However, as your best friend and comrade, I am advising you to spend this time with your family and friends, and to use this time wisely." Naruto finished.

"…"

"Are you serious?"

"Yes"

"And you're sure there's no way I can change your mind?"
"Positively sure."

"Damn.." he muttered and then sighed. Well, if Naruto said that there's nothing that can change his mind, there's nothing that change his mind. The stubborn brat.

Naruto smiled, glad that Sasuke hadn't argued, knowing that it would futile.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.

"Uh, sorry to interrupt but Naruto, you have a meeting with the Elders in 10 minutes." Shikamaru said, who seemed to have slipped out the door when they started talking about Sakura and Sarada, thinking it best to leave them alone. Though that didn't stop him hearing Naruto yelling. But they didn't need to know that.

"OH YEAH! I forgot about those old bats. Sorry Sasuke, but I'm gonna have to leave."

"its fine. I was leaving too anyways."

"I guess I'll see you later then. Lets go Shikamaru, I don't want to hear their rambling if we're late."

"Okay. i'll go check on somethings and catch up with you."

"Okay."

"Goodbye dobe."

"Goodbye teme. Remember what I said."

"I will." Sasuke said, going to the through the window he came in.

"Thanks by the way." Was the last thing he said before leaving, hoping that Naruto hadn't heard it. Unfortunately he did and smiled before leaving his office.

Sasuke pondered over Naruto's words as he made his way over to his house. To his family.

Authors Note:

Well that was nice. This was the longest story I've ever written so far, with around 3000 words (I know pretty short compared to other stories, but oh well).

However, I'm not done yet. This is definitely going to be longer (hopefully)

Hope you enjoyed this. Don't forget to review!

Have a good day/night,

~ animeNstuff