Author's Note: I apologize for not updating sooner. To be honest, I didn't expect this story to be that popular. I promise that I won't drop it though. I had a little bit of writer's block for this chapter, too. Enjoy!

Boruto bounced a rubber ball against the wall opposite of his bedroom door. It was very early on Saturday morning. In fact, it was so early that the sun hadn't risen. The boy had woken up minutes ago and couldn't go back to sleep. Instead he sat on the floor, throwing and catching the small ball. He imagined how horrible his weekend of confinement was going to be and scowled. The young Uzumaki remembered that his mother was going to make him apologize to his good for nothing father later on in the day.

"Crap," Boruto angrily muttered as another realization came to mind. He had overheard his parents say that Sasuke returned to the village yesterday. With him being grounded, there was no chance of getting any training over the weekend. Catching the ball and thinking longer, he smiled as he thought of his best friend. "Well, maybe Sarada can spend some time with him. I don't want her to think that her old man is crappy like mine. She doesn't deserve a dad like 'Uzumaki Naruto, the war hero' who doesn't even want to hang out with his kid." He threw the ball harder and frowned. "What the heck did he do to deserve that title anyway?! The only stories I've been told are the simple tales for children! If my old man is so great, then I want to know everything!"

A noise came from down the hall. Boruto held the ball and stood up, opening his door a crack. Naruto closed his and Hinata's bedroom door quietly, throwing his Hokage uniform on. Boruto shut the door entirely and walked to a window. A few moments later, Naruto was seen making his way towards the Hokage's office. "Oh yeah, he said something about having an important meeting this morning. Hmph! He always has something 'important' to do!"

The boy jumped onto his bed and stared at the ceiling, wondering how to cure his boredom.

Sarada rubbed her eyes and glanced outside, then at the clock. The sun had just risen and it was about time for her mother to leave for work. Jumping up and grabbing her glasses, she hurriedly ran to the kitchen. The young Uchiha stopped in the doorway to find her mother finishing up with her breakfast. "Morning," Sarada greeted.

"Hey sweetie, sleep well?"

She shifted her glasses and nodded. Sitting at the table, the girl noticed a lack of another person's presence. "Where's Tou-chan?"

Sakura gestured towards their bedroom. "Still asleep."

Sarada sighed and put her hands under her chin, elbows digging into the table.

"What's wrong?"

She took a short glance at her mother. "Do you really have to go? Can't you take the day off?"

"You know that I can't. Why?"

"Hmph!" she snorted as she crossed her arms.

"You're still upset, huh? Well, I'm sure that he had a good reason for not coming. Just remember that he loves you no matter what."

No response.

"I have to get going," Sakura announced. She kissed her daughter's cheek before opening the door. "Have a good day!"

"You too!" Sarada called after her mother.

Sighing again, the young kunoichi shuffled out of her seat and began to travel back to her room. On the way, she noticed the door to her parents' study was open. "They must have forgotten to close it," she thought. Grabbing the doorknob, she started to pull it shut, but stopped when her gaze caught something surprising. "Tou-chan always puts his books away." Sasuke would write in notebooks every time he came home. He had also written down some of his past memories, before Sarada was born. She walked into the room and reached for the notebook. Her hand halted halfway from it, hesitating because her father had warned her never to read from any of his notebooks. "I won't actually be reading anything. I'm just putting it away for him," she silently reassured herself. Swallowing, Sarada quickly picked it up and walked to the chest he stored them in. She had never looked inside the box, afraid that Sasuke would be upset. Sure enough, it was unlocked and the young Uchiha tossed the item into the chest, slamming the top down louder than intended.

A bang from somewhere else in the house followed by a blatant curse word made a pang of fear rush through the dark-haired girl. Sarada gulped and crawled out of the room as fast as she possibly could, shutting the door behind her. Scrambling to her parents' bedroom, she peeped through the crack to see her father with his eyes tightly shut and his teeth grinding, rubbing the back of his head. Apparently, Sasuke had accidentally hit it on the headboard and pretty hard, judging by how clear his cursing had been. Getting out of the bed, the man sauntered to the door, unknowingly causing his daughter to make a mad dash for her room.

"This is just my luck!" Sarada thought urgently while closing her door and jumping onto the bed while grabbing a book. Seconds later, Sasuke entered the room still with a hand placed on his head. She looked up, acting surprised by the sudden interruption.

"What are you doing up so early?" Sasuke asked groggily.

Sarada smirked. "I heard you all the way from in here."

He returned the smirk. "Hn, sorry about that. I hit my head pretty hard." Sasuke enjoyed seeing his daughter smile. However, he was still furious with himself for missing the Genin ceremony. He knew that Sarada was also upset with him still. "Do you want to get breakfast and go on a walk?" he questioned.

She was clearly shocked by his offer, but nodded a few moments later.

"Nii-chan, do you want to play with me?" Himawari asked her big brother in an attempt to cheer him up.

He peered at his little sister from the corner of his eye. "No thanks. I'm not really in a good mood."

"Okay," she voiced sadly and hopped off the couch.

"Boruto honey, come clean up your mess," Hinata called from the kitchen.

He lazily stood up and yawned, walking towards his mother. "Sorry, I forgot," he explained.

"It's okay," she replied as he handed his plate to her. "When your father comes home I want you to apologize."

He growled but immediately shut himself up when he saw his mother give him a warning look. "Fine," the Uzumaki muttered under his breath. He envisioned that upcoming moment and how much he would hate it. Apologizing to his father was always a pain to Boruto, especially since it happened all the time. That was the worst part about annoying his father, saying sorry. It was worth it though because the old man deserved it. Speaking of which, Boruto needed to work out when his next prank would be. An evil smile crossed the boy's face as he ran upstairs, ready to write on his list.

"Where do you want to go?" Sasuke questioned as he closed the front door.

Sarada shrugged. "I didn't have any plans for today."

"Hn, we'll figure something out."

The pair began to walk at a slow pace down the road that led towards the middle of town. Sarada averted her eyes away from her father, frowning. She was still upset with him and thought he was only doing this because Boruto was confined to his house.

Sasuke frequently glanced at his daughter, trying to get an idea of how she was feeling. Suddenly, the girl excitedly twisted her head towards him with a smile. "Can we go to the training grounds?! You can teach me some stuff!"

He scratched his head nervously. "I don't know..."

"Okay then you only have to watch! Please! Please! Please! Pl-!" She froze as two fingers tapped her forehead. Looking up, she saw her father with a gigantic smirk plastered on his face.

"You're as annoying as your mother."

Her expression didn't change. "So is that a yes or a no?"

Chuckling quietly, Sasuke removed his fingers. "Yes."

It didn't take long for Sarada to wrap her arms around him in a giant bear hug, forgetting that she should be mad at the elder Uchiha. He put an arm around her, the corners of his mouth twitching upward to form a small smile.

They were in the middle of the village not long after, Sarada attempting to drag Sasuke along and force him to move faster. Finally she gave up and ran down the road, gaining a large distance. She waited there as he shook his head and continued to walk at his own pace. Crossing her arms and pouting, she noticed other people were staring. They weren't looking at her, but at her father. It wasn't the good kind of stare either. Most of them looked like they were terrified or despised the male Uchiha. Sasuke appeared as if he hadn't noticed. Either that or he was ignoring them.

Sasuke peered at Sarada from the corner of his eye as he passed her. The girl didn't move. Turning his head to the side, he called over his shoulder, "Now who's not keeping up?"

Sarada snapped out of her trance, grinning as she jogged to catch up.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Hm? Oh, I thought I saw something weird. It was nothing."

Minutes later, the training grounds came in sight and Sarada took out her forehead protector and wrapped it around her head, running the last stretch. She halted and turned her attention downward, curiously gazing under a nearby tree. Sasuke raised an eyebrow, wondering what the disturbance was. His fatherly instincts kicked in as he sped up.

"What are you doing here Mitsuki?" Sarada inquired.

"Mitsuki?! Who the heck-?!" He frowned as he caught sight of this Mitsuki character. "A boy..."

The light-haired male looked up from his book and smiled. "Hello Uchiha-san. I'm here because I thought it was a nice day to read outside."

The young kunoichi smiled back. "You're right. It is nice out here today. And I keep telling you that you can call me Sarada you know."

"Okay, whatever you prefer. Mitsuki began to study the other man. "You must be Sarada's father. Sasuke-san, is it?"

He crossed his arms. "Hn, yes. It's Uchiha-san to you."

To his dismay, the pale boy nodded agreeably and held out his hand. "Pleasure to meet you Uchiha-san."

Sasuke reluctantly shook the other male's hand with an iron grip. Once again, he looked to be unfazed.

"I'm gonna go work on some stuff Kaa-chan taught me," Sarada stated as she sped off into the field.

Sasuke crossed his arms again while narrowing his eyes, staring at the boy. "Mind if I sit?"

Mitsuki moved aside. "Of course not!" The disgruntled man sat and glared at him from the corner of his eye.

Mitsuki chuckled quietly. "Uchiha-san, I assure you that there's no need to worry about me. I have no sort of romantic attachment to your daughter in any way."

Sasuke gasped. "How did you-?"

Another chuckle. "All fathers act protective of their daughters around males, especially in their teenage years. Anyway, as I just said, I'm not the one you should be concerned with."

Sasuke was still bewildered by the boy's boldness. He said his thoughts aloud. "Then who should I be concerned with?"

Mitsuki slowly closed his book and began to watch Sarada. "In my opinion, I would say Uzumaki-san, well, Boruto. I sometimes study their interactions with each other. They're definitely best friends and rivals, but I think it could eventually become something more intimate. It's just speculation though."

Sasuke shuddered at the thought of being related to Naruto. He was also fuming at the possible future of Sarada being with Boruto. Heck, he hated imagining her with any boy at all. "That little dobe. If he even lays a finger on her... Wait, why am I so willing to listen to this kid? Well, he has been around the both of them more often lately and he seems very trustworthy. Mitsuki has a lot of nerve though, just speaking his mind without hesitation." Sasuke was brought back to reality as a loud cracking sound filled the air.

Sarada panted as she put a hand on the boulder she had just cracked. "At least it's bigger than last time. I still can't break it completely though."

Sasuke's jaw had dropped slightly out of shock. He smirked and thought to himself, "Now I've got two women in my life that can beat me up."

"Don't exhaust yourself," Sasuke warned.

She waved him off when she walked back, gaining distance for another try. "Yeah, yeah. Whatever."

Shaking his head, Sasuke continued to watch his daughter with pride. Mitsuki was also paying close attention to the young Uchiha. As she charged with an eager smile present on her face, Sasuke thought to himself, "She looks just like Sakura when she smiles. Sarada acts like her most of the time, too. I'm just glad she inherited her mother's forehead. Now she's even working on obtaining her skills." He frowned. "As long as she doesn't end up like me, then everything will be fine. I'll never let her turn into what I became back then."

Crack!

Sarada huffed in annoyance at the larger crack. "Of course... I can't wait to smash this thing to bits." Sitting down and attempting to control her breathing, she stared at her father and friend, who stared back.

"You'll get it," Sasuke encouraged.

"From what I've heard," Mitsuki began, "this type of training is quite advanced for people of our age and skill level."

"Is that supposed to cheer me up?" Sarada breathed.

The boy rolled his eyes and his attention returned back to the book. He jumped in surprise as a shuriken buried itself into the bark of the tree right beside his head. Sasuke also flinched at the sudden attack. He tilted his head to see that Sarada, with a gigantic smirk, was bent over from the force she had used to throw the weapon.

Mitsuki returned the smirk and crossed his arms. "You didn't even throw it straight," he said, gesturing towards the weapon.

"Who said I was trying to hit you?" she replied, shifting her glasses.

"Then what was that for?"

"For showing me up in class a few days ago. If Boruto wouldn't have distracted me then I would have won the contest."

Sasuke sneered. "Hmph! Uzumakis are always trouble. First, that little dobe gets grounded because of his immature pranks. Now, he's distracting Sarada. Wait... He's distracting her?!" The male Uchiha was obviously taking this the wrong way. After hearing Mitsuki's opinion on the situation, he had tried to momentarily keep Boruto out of his mind. "I dare him to make a move. I'll rip that little dobe's-"

Thwack!

"That's what I intended to do a few days ago," Sarada mocked. She was pointing to a kunai she had chucked into a tree further away.

The light-haired boy stepped up beside her and studied the kunai. "Impressive. You might have beaten me with a throw like that. May I have a turn?"

Sarada nodded and paid close attention.

Mitsuki rolled up his very long sleeves, then proceeded to wrap his Genin forehead protector around his head. Pulling out a kunai from a small pouch on his side, he turned to a tree directly beside the one Sarada had recently used. "I'm going to hit it right where that little notch is," he explained, indicating the spot.

Sarada frowned as she continued to watch.

Finally, the boy changed his position, ready to fire. After a few seconds of complete silence, the male flung the kunai, sending it sailing through the air. All three of them anticipated the landing, waiting to see if Mitsuki could keep his word.

Smack!

Sasuke's eyes widened slightly, him being the first to notice that he'd hit his mark. He didn't just graze it either, it was perfect. Sarada stared in awe, her jaw dropping to the ground.

"How was that?" Mitsuki asked knowingly, a smile making its way to his features.

It took the female Uchiha a moment to reply, still shocked. "That was pretty good. I'll challenge you to a real contest when I'm not worn out."

The male smirked and grabbed his book before walking towards the road. "I'll see you later Sarada. It was a pleasure meeting you Uchiha-san."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. Since when can teenage boys be so, polite? "That kid... I'm probably never going to get over how bold he was. Hn, no romantic feelings for my daughter, huh? I like him already..."

"Hmph!" Sarada pouted as she stomped to her father.

"What's wrong now?" he questioned.

"I don't like losing," she complained.

Sasuke stood up. "You shouldn't throw dangerous weapons at your friends."

"Oh please, it was just a shuriken."

They began to travel down the road. Sasuke was becoming overly concerned about how she felt towards Mitsuki. "How close are you two?"

She shrugged. "We're friends. He moved here recently." She stopped mid-step and became flustered, turning a light shade of red. "Tou-chan! I said there were no boys! What did you say to him?!"

He smirked as she caught up. "The standard intimidation. I think I've come up with a motto for when you get a boyfriend. You break my daughter's heart, I break your neck."

She kicked his shin lightly. "Like I'll ever get a boyfriend with you saying something like that! Did you really say that to him?!"

"No, I'll save that for other boys." He was mainly referring to Boruto, that is, if Mitsuki's suspicions were correct. The Uchiha wanted to question his daughter of her feelings for the Uzumaki, but at the same time he wanted to keep that thought in the very back of her mind, so he kept his silence.

When they entered the middle of the village, Sarada fell behind her father by a couple of steps. She noticed the villagers' stares once again. They were exactly the same as earlier. "Why do they look at Tou-chan like that? How long has it been like this? I've never really paid any attention to them before, but now..." She thought of the notebooks he had written in. Why did he tell her to never look inside them? Did they contain information on why he always left? If so, did they also give an answer as to why people gazed at him like this? Sarada constantly thought about the possibilities for the rest of the day.

There it was. The dreaded sound of the front door opening and closing filled the house. It meant that Uzumaki Naruto, the Nanadaime Hokage, was home. It also meant that Boruto would have to apologize very soon. The boy was currently in his room upstairs, playing with a rubber ball again. He jumped when he heard the noise downstairs, sighing out of frustration. He'd been waiting for this moment all day and now he could finally get it over with. The thing is, he really did not want to do it right now.

"Boruto!" Hinata called.

"Ugh, right now?! He just came home!" the young Uzumaki thought urgently. Swallowing, he opened his bedroom door and slowly walked down the hall. When he got to the railing of the stairs, he peered down to see everyone in the living room, looking as if they were all waiting for him. "I have to do this in front of Tou-chan, Kaa-chan, and Hima?!"

"Do you have something to say?" Hinata questioned softly.

The boy sighed and shoved his hands into his pockets, walking down the stairs. Naruto sat up with a frown set on is face. Himawari was between her parents on the couch, curiously watching her older brother. Hinata patiently waited for Boruto to answer.

Yet another sigh as he stared at the floor. "Tou-chan, I'm sorry I threw paint balloons in your office. I'm also sorry for breaking your laptop."

Naruto crossed his arms and was silent for a few seconds. "I accept your apology. Do you understand why I grounded you?"

Boruto nodded multiple times.

A small smile crept its way onto Naruto's lips. "Okay." He stood up and traveled upstairs, heading towards his and Hinata's bedroom.

"Just as I thought," Boruto began in his mind, "he's going to bed as soon as he gets home. It's not even ten yet! Hmph! All he wanted to do was hear me apologize!"

"You can go now," Hinata excused her son. "Thank you for doing that."

He didn't say a word as he ran up to his room, angrily muttering to himself. His infuriated expression switched to one of sorrow and curiosity. "I wonder how Sarada is doing... Sasuke-oji is probably furious with me at the moment. I don't care though. If it means they get to spend time with each other, then I'll get grounded for life. Heck, if it means that Sarada will be happy, I'll gladly do it..."

Author's Note: Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Once again, I apologize for the long wait and I promise I will not drop this story. It's definitely possible for BoruSara later on. I hope that I had an accurate portrayal of Mitsuki's character. Thanks for the follows, favorites, and reviews! Hope you enjoyed! Please review!