Disclaimer: I own nothing.

.those who came before.

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"You should just leave, you know? Mother is away and he isn't going to come."

In response, the chuunin raised an eyebrow. He leaned just a bit forward, peering down from his perch on a tree branch to meet a withering look thrown his way. The young boy seated on the weathered wooden swing had been steadfastly ignoring his existence for the past hour or two – and that had been just fine with him. The sky was tinged with pinks and purples when the boy's resolve broke, and it wouldn't be long before the streetlamps would be switched on.

The young man smirked to himself; so there was a grain of truth in their words when people called him stubborn.

"You could have just left, you know," the chuunin, Konohamaru, retorted. "I would have let you leave."

Boruto snorted, crossing his arms across his chest and rolling his eyes. "Yeah, right."

"Come on. Have I ever interfered in your pranks?" asked Konohamaru in protest.

"No," the six-year-old replied, "but you're always giving me an earful after."

Konohamaru shook his head at the boy's naiveté. "It's to keep up appearances; I'd like to keep my teaching job, thanks. But you can just go home if you want to, seeing as it is late and the Academy's locked up."

Boruto's scowl only deepened, and his mouth was pulled into a petulant pout. He wasn't moving anytime soon, so it seemed. The sight made Konohamaru sigh. You better get your damned ass here soon and fix this, nii-chan.

Aburame-sensei had to leave for something urgent and had asked Konohamaru to watch the boy in his stead until Boruto's family came to get him. With no plans until the evening came, Konohamaru had accepted the request. He practically watched Boruto grow over the years and enjoyed spending time with the usually-lively kid. He was surprised, however, by the boy's foul mood but chalked it up to being punished (yet again) for misdemeanour. Having one's parent summoned was no joyful occasion, after all.

Yet, it was clear that something else was at play here – something that unsettled Konohamaru with its familiarity.

Dropping to the ground below, Konohamaru said, "He'll come. I'm sure of it."

"He's not. He's always busy with other stuff – more important stuff," huffed Boruto. "And how can you be sure, anyway?"

"Well, for one, I know your father enough to know he's not one to leave people hanging; and two – did I ever tell you what my childhood nickname was?"

With a perfectly straight face, Boruto tried, "'Butt Monkey'?"

"Haha, very funny. A pun on my surname – how original," said Konohamaru drily. "Actually, they called me 'Omago-sama'."

Here Konohamaru pulled a face. After all these years, that word still left a sour taste in his mouth that he can't quite get rid of. How disgusting.

"'Honourable Grandson'? What kind of a nickname is – no way; you're a Hokage's grandson?"

It was Konohamaru's turn to roll his eyes, saying:

"That's how I know you can afford to pay more attention in class. Does the name 'Sarutobi Hiruzen' ring any bells? 'The Professor'; 'The God of Shinobi'; 'The Third Hokage'."

He could see the cogs whirring in the boy's mind. He reckoned that the kid knew enough about him to figure out that he was raised by his grandfather. That, and because Boruto – allegedly – inherited some sensibility from his mother. He knew that Boruto had figured it out when the piece of paper in the boy's hand was crumpled as the kid repeatedly clenched and unclenched his fists though the boy's eyes were downcast.

Finally, Boruto said. "Must've been rough on you."

The simple sentence was said with so much empathy it put a bitter touch to Konohamaru's grin. He shrugged in return.

"I used to challenge him to a battle every day. Every single day."

Blue eyes brightened in excitement. "Did you really? Did he fight you? Did you win?"

"Well, no. I never really got that far. I usually trip before I got anywhere near the man."

"You tripped?" Boruto said, not even making an effort to hide the disappointed slump in his shoulders and the condescending look on his face.

"Hey now," protested Konohamaru, tugging at the end of his blue scarf, "this here scarf was relatively a whole lot longer when I was little. Anyway, what's the zaniest prank you've ever pulled?"

"Zaniest? What does that even mean?"

"You know, zaniest!" exclaimed Konohamaru, gesturing with his hands. Boruto only knitted his brow in confusion. "The wildest, craziest prank you've ever pulled – the one that you would call the prime of your genius! So come on; hit me with your best shot."

The boy thought deeply for a moment before a smacking his fist against his palm. Konohamaru sat up a little straighter.

"I placed a cooked cup of instant ramen above Aburame-sensei's door!"

Had Konohamaru not been leaning against a tree, he would have face-planted on the ground; he slipped a little against the bark as it was, tripping.

Instant ramen, huh? That really is nii-chan's kid.

He looked up towards the academy student. Boruto beamed, misreading Konohamaru's stagger for being amazed at the feat.

And he can't read the air for nuts.

"Are you kidding me? That's your absolute best?"

The grin slipped off Boruto's face in an instant. The boy folded his arms across his chest and tilted his head defiantly, muttering, "It's not like you could do any better, klutz."

"I placed an exploding tag in his office once."

"What?" The boy's mouth was left hanging. "Are you cracked? Did it work?"

Chuckling to himself, Konohamaru nodded.

"Singed my grandfather's beard right off. He had to shave the remnants of it. He went back to keeping it as a goatee ever since… And he had me seated in his office everyday till he hired Ebisu-sensei to keep an eye on me – just to make sure I'm not up to mischief."

Boruto leaned back a little, letting his defensive posture slip.

"Huh? You would've thought the Hokage would've detected such a cheap trick. Hey! Is that why you're always clean-shaven?"

Geez, this kid. At least he's sharp.

"You're right; there was no way a Hokage could not have detected an exploding tag under his chair."

The blond raised his eyebrows. "He fell for it on purpose? Weird."

Konohamaru hummed in agreement, nodding. "That's why I kept asking him to fight me; half because I wanted to be able to say I beat the old man to make a name for myself, and – well, he was the only one to use my name then, especially when he's telling me off."

"You know," the brunet said, quirking an eyebrow Boruto's way, "I think that was the last time I spent so much time with him – that week I was stuck in his office, I mean. I eventually stopped pestering my grandfather, though."

"Why?"

"Someone told me that there are no shortcuts to what you want." Here he shot a look Boruto's way to see if the boy caught the lesson. "Why don't you just ask your dad to spend time with you?"

The young Uzumaki was about to answer when the two males caught sight of a figure – a silhouette under the streetlight – headed towards the Academy. A female, they surmised from the way she walked, and a Hyuuga; they have an air of poise about them that cannot be emulated. Instantly, Boruto's face was pulled into a deep frown.

"Told you the old man wouldn't show."

To the lady, Boruto said, "Did dad send you to collect me?"

"Actually, no." She pointed towards Konohamaru instead, saying, "I'm here to collect him."

"You know my aunt? How do you know my aunt?"

Konohamaru held his hands up in surrender.

"Hey now, what's with that accusing tone? We used to be teammates for a little while. Hanabi joined our squad to take part in the Chuunin Exams after my friend, Udon, made the rank before Moegi and I did."

"If you took the chuunin exams together, why is she an ANBU member while you're still a chuunin."

"He's waiting for you to graduate so he could be your teacher. He has already been recommended for the promotion but had rejected it."

"Hanabi!" cried Konohamaru, pretending to be appalled. "Didn't they teach you not to lie?"

"I've been training – working on a new technique, actually," clarified Konohamaru to Boruto. "I have more time to train as a chuunin, but I'll tell you what: if you focus on graduating the academy, I'll work on making the promotion by the time you're a genin. How about that?"

While Boruto nodded, Hanabi mused, "So that's why you've been hanging out with Kiba-san and Lee-san…"

"Anyway," she said, " we were supposed to meet Moegi and Udon at Ichiraku's half an hour ago."

"Hey, I'm watching Boruto, aren't I? Besides, you aren't there, either."

"I just got back from a mission and I've already met them. How else would I know how long they've been waiting–?"

"Hey," Konohamaru suddenly said, looking Boruto's way. "Do you want to join us for dinner?"

"What?" replied Boruto, having been caught up in the back-and-forth. "I can't leave the Academy's premises unless my family picks me up."

Gesturing towards Hanabi, Konohamaru said, "And who is she – your neighbour? And besides, I've practically adopted your dad as my older brother. That would make me your almost-uncle."

"'Almost-uncle'? What in the world is an 'almost-uncle'?"

"Dad!"

In a blur of yellow, the kid had launched himself into his father's arm.

"About time you showed up, nii-chan. Geez, and I was just abou to ask Boruto to join us for dinner."

The Hokage exchanged greetings with his sister-in-law before asking his son, "He let you tag along on their date?"

"It's a date?"

"No, we invited Boruto to dinner because it's not a date. You could join us, too, if you want."

"Exactly what she said. It's a team get-together."

"Thanks," Naruto said, "but I'd rather have dinner with my son. What do you say, kiddo? Let's go have dinner and you can tell me all about the shit Konohmaru used to get up to."

Boruto nodded, head buried in the crook of his father's neck, while Hanabi warned, "Language, nii-sama."

"Hey!" came Konohamaru's indignant cry at Naruto's words. "You better watch out or I'll kick your ass and become Hokage – ouch!"

"Language," hissed the Hyuuga heiress, pinching the Sarutobi's side.

The boy chose then to pipe up, "Tell you what: if you become Hokage, I'll be there to talk to my cousins like you did for me, okay?"

"Hey! You teasing me, too, kid?"

"What?" asked Boruto innocently. "Since you're my 'almost-uncle', oji, wouldn't your children be my cousins?"

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.end.

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.extra.

"In my defence, this really wasn't what I had in mind when I told him to just ask to spend time with you."

The Hokage glared at the Sarutobi who was (re-)filing away the paperwork, saying, "He blew my desk up into bits and skipped class to plant the tag."

"What can I say? This is what people meant by 'progress'; each generation succeeding its predecessors."

"Yeah? Well, then. I can't wait to see what your brats would do to your office."

The brunet frowned. "You're still on about that? Geez, put that joke to rest, will you?"

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