"What do you mean he is going to the Land of Water!" Naruto yelled.

A visibly shaking clone of Konohamaru chuckled nervously, scratching the back of his head. "Well, like I said—we found that village you sent us to help, and when we got there, their problem was already solved. Bolt wasn't very careful about hiding his tracks, and from questioning the village leader we discovered it was him that had helped them," Konohamaru explained, trying to calm down his older surrogate brother. "The village leader said that Bolt had mentioned he wanted to travel the world, and mentioned he wanted to go to the Land of Water."

Naruto stood suddenly and began to pace the Hokage's rather small office. In the process, he spilled a small cup of instant ramen had had been eating. To Konohamaru, that spoke volumes as to the Hokage's worry. Naruto never wasted ramen. It was sacrilege. Blasphemy.

"The original and his team are currently en route to the Land of Water as we speak," Konohamaru's clone said, trying to reassure him. They would find Bolt. He was their friend. Their teammate. Sarada, especially, since she and Bolt had been close friends since childhood, Konohamaru thought.

Naruto still paced, a deep frown on his lips. "Sarada has her Sharingan, and Mitsuki has his… snake… things… I'm sure they will find him! No problem!" Konohamaru declared, a confident smile adorning his features. He held his fist aloft with his thumb up. It didn't appear to have any effect on the Hokage's mood.

"Cat," Naruto demanded. Before Konohamaru could question Naruto's sanity, a figure emerged from a shadowy corner of the room, causing his heart to flutter in surprise. He was a tall man, with spiky brown hair that hung loose outside of his animal mask—a cat, with two red crescent moons and four green claw marks; two above the eye, and two below. He wore the standard issue wardrobe of the Anbu; black slacks, shirt, gloves, and boots, with a dull gray jacket and vambraces.

"Hokage, sir," the Anbu said, standing at attention, awaiting his orders.

"Remove your mask. Konohamaru, memorize his features. He will rendezvous with you in the Land of Water," Naruto instructed.

The Anbu nodded once before reaching up and removing his mask, revealing pale skin and bland features with dull black eyes. "This is Yamato," Naruto introduced. "Continue searching for Bolt in the Land of Water. He will find you."

Konohamaru nodded, lifting his arms to form the hand seal that would release the clone. "Wait!" Naruto said. "The Land of Water has had some… unrest, these past few years. Mercenaries taking advantage of the peace to do jobs that the Hidden Villages have refused to take. Be careful, and make sure Bolt is safe."

"Don't worry, we'll find him," Konohamaru reassured. Nodding to Yamato, the clone released itself, transferring its memories to the original, who was currently arguing with a ship's captain about passage to the Land of Water.

Turning his attention to his former team captain, Naruto sighed. "You're the only one I trust for this, Yamato. Good luck," he said.

Yamato smirked knowingly. His former may put up a strong front, but inside he was as soft as any father was for their child's safety. "I'll find Bolt, don't worry. He can't be much worse than you as a kid, right?" Yamato said with a laugh, placing a reassuring hand on Naruto's shoulder. The two shared a nod before Yamato left the office, using the door since he was no longer an Anbu. Outside, he nearly stumbled as he turned and met, face-to-face, a very thunderous looking wife of the Hokage. Trailing behind her was a small girl with a trembling chin and wide, teary eyes.

Nodding in respect, Yamato shuffled out of the Hokage's office with haste. No one wanted to be present when a wife chewed up and spat back out her husband, doubly more so when it was the Hokage and his wife.

Naruto looked up, a smile forming as he saw it was Hinata and Himawari who had come to see him. One look at his wife and daughter's faces wiped the smirk off his face. Clearly they had heard the last discussion he had with Konohamaru and Yamato.

Hinata crossed her arms. "I thought you said you had everything under control," she said firmly. Naruto could tell she was upset. Sometimes he really, really missed the nervous, shy girl she was when they first fell in love. That Hinata was never this… scary.

"I did—I do," Naruto corrected himself. "Yamato is the one of the best Anbu agents we have. One of the most powerful, too. If he can handle me and Kurama, he can handle Bolt." Kurama scoffed inwardly at his vessel's comment. No puny human could handle the Nine Tails.

"You said he would be found within the week. You said there was no way he would get outside the Hidden Leaf's borders, let alone the Land of Fire's," Hinata continued on.

"Are you sure I said that?" Naruto asked with a nervous laugh. From Hinata's narrowed brows and tight frown, she didn't think it was that funny.

"Daddy," Himawari called with a sniff. She looked up at Naruto and Hinata, unshed tears in her green eyes. She was wearing one of Bolt's black and red jackets, clutching it tightly. Of all the people affected by Bolt's disappearance, she was the most affected. "Where did brother go? Why did he run away?"

Naruto practically leapt over his desk. He picked up his daughter and held her close, like he did when she was younger. Though Himawari was only ten, she was old enough to understand what had happened to her brother. "Don't worry, Hima," Naruto cooed. "Bolt will come back, you can count on it! Kurama and I will go ourselves if we have to! I never go back on my word, remember!"

Himawari sniffled and wiped away her tears on her brother's jacket's sleeve. Hinata smiled. She couldn't stay mad at Naruto. "Hey," Naruto whispered, his voice low and quiet so Hinata couldn't hear him. "How about I teach you a few things? That way, when he does get back, you can beat him up—teach him a lesson, I mean."

Himawari beamed. Ever since she awakened her Byakugan, she had become the pride and joy of the Hyūga clan, and one of the best students the Academy had ever seen. She was quickly becoming as much a prodigy as her brother. With a few eager nods, she agreed.

Satisfied that his daughter would be okay, Naruto let her down. Turning his attention back to Hinata, he mulled over a few options in his head. Though he could tell that she was placated—for now—it was best to please her. "I'll assign an Anbu watch in every town on the coast, and ask if the Land of Hot Water would keep a watch on their coast as well. I'm sure B and Gyūki would be willing to watch out for Bolt in the Land of Lightning for us, as well," Naruto said.

"What about sending a message to the Hidden Mist?" Hinata asked, though she had a small, pleased smile on her lips. She always got her way when she really wanted it.

Naruto's frowned in thought. "The Hidden Mist has their hands full with the civil unrest they've been facing lately, but I'll send a personal message to Chōjūrō and ask him to be on the lookout. I need to inform him of Konohamaru and Yamato's presence in his country, anyway," he said.

Hinata nodded, pleased with the outcome. "Come on, Himawari. Let's go get a cinnamon roll. Your dad needs to work," she said, holding out her hand.

Naruto waved goodbye to his wife and daughter, before returning to the mountains of paperwork looming over his desk on all sides. He groaned as he realized several scrolls were stained with ramen.


The harsh whip of a brush came down the sensitive flesh of the back of Bolt's hand. "No, no, no!" the Uzukage yelled. "This character is all wrong!"

Bolt sighed. He had decided that sealing jutsu was simply not his favorite discipline. Long sessions of reading over archaic characters and messy paintings on scrolls left him drained, physically and mentally, after each lesson. And yet, he couldn't deny that the lessons were, for once, useful. The first day, he had learned how to seal items into scrolls. It was elementary. So easy even he could pick it up after a single day of instruction. He went home that night, unpacked his belongings, and sealed them all in a scroll he had been given by one of his classmates.

Now he had significantly less things to carry on his journey. And, the best part, was that even if the scroll got wet, the chakra enhanced ink wouldn't smudge—meaning the seal would remain intact.

His third lesson had been making explosive tags. That was fun. If he ever went back to the Hidden Leaf, he was going to plaster his dad's face on the Hokage monument with the tags. His current lesson, on the other hand, was a pain. It was a "simple" seal, according to the Uzukage. He and his classmates thought otherwise. It revolved around preparing a scroll that would seal an incoming attack of a specific element. Useful for defending oneself, or, in Bolt's case, attacking. He favored the Water Style, and the main weakness of the element was that if there wasn't a natural source of water nearby, the user was forced to generate their own with chakra. That was taxing. Having a seal that carried a large amount of water would be invaluable.

The only problem was it was tedious. Layer upon layer of ink that was enchanted with his own chakra. The slightest mistake, and boom! His scroll would explode into scraps of paper and pulp.

With a shaky hand, Bolt carefully corrected the character he had just drawn. It was his thirty-eighth attempt at this particular seal. Thankfully, nothing seemed to go wrong. Channeling his chakra into it, the seal glowed blue for a moment before fading back to black.

"Excellent!" Akame exclaimed. "Now, all you need to do is inscribe the character for the element you want to seal in the middle."

Bolt sighed in relief, his shoulders visibly relaxing. He didn't know how much more he could take. The Uzukage had taken a "liking" to him, as the others called it. She was determined to teach the errant son of the Hokage his birthright that his father never received. Carefully drawing the character for "water," Bolt pressed his index finger to the ink and channeled chakra into the entire seal. "Sealing Jutsu: Water Seal," he whispered. The entire scroll visibly glowed blue before fading to black.

"Well done," the Uzukage praised, patting his back reassuringly. Some of the other students had stopped to watch him and gave him nods of encouragement and acknowledgement.

"If you don't mind, Uzukage, I'd like to take a break," Bolt asked respectfully.

"Certainly, dear. You've earned it. I'll just have to crack down on these slackers!" Akame declared, looking around the room for her next victim—student.

Rolling up his scroll and stashing it in one of his pouches on his belt, Bolt hastily retreated outside the small academy before the Uzukage could change her mind. Outside, the villagers went about the same routine they did every day: find food and water, clear out the ruins, recover their culture and lost sealing techniques.

Seeing several burly, crimson haired men struggling to lift a large stone pillar off of a crumbled house, Bolt weaved a few hand seals. A cloud of smoke surrounded him, and when it cleared, where once there was only one, now there were seven. Bolt smiled, quite pleased with himself. Before, he had only been able to make, at most, four shadow clones. Now, he could make six. He chalked his improved chakra reserves up to his nightly practice of forming, dispelling, and reforming the Rasengan. "Alright, guys! Help them out," Bolt declared, pointing at the struggling men. The clones nodded and took off, rushing to their aid. With Bolt's help, they managed to remove the pillar and clear the house for searching. Deciding he could do more good, Bolt sent his clones out to help with anything in the village. The villagers welcomed the help with open arms and warm smiles.

Sighing wearily, Bolt made his way to what he had dubbed his corner of the village. His temporary residence was on the outskirts of the village, clearly one of the new houses that had been constructed on top of the old dilapidated ruins. It was nice, really. No neighbors, no one to bother him. The river bent just before his house, creating a tiny inlet of calm water, which proved to be invaluable for his planned journey.

The idea had come to him as he pondered his situation. The Uzumaki clan had precious few boats—not ships, boats—that they could spare. While he hadn't asked the Uzukage, he was certain that they wouldn't part with one. Not that it was a problem, really. He didn't know how to sail. The boats, dinghies really, weren't even fit to sail on the open ocean. One rogue wave and they'd sink. They were made for travelling to and from the Land of Fire, across the calm waters of the bay.

So, he was stuck until he could develop the chakra reserves necessary to the run the entire distance to the Land of Water. Therefore, his morning routine of going through the Gentle Fist stances and forms had changed. Instead of performing them on land, he performed them on water. It had the added benefit of honing his chakra control. He had to focus on keeping afloat, and at the same time, focus on pushing chakra into his Gentle Fist forms. Two birds with one stone.

By some unknown sixth sense, Bolt felt an object fall behind him and plunge into the water. He still yelped like a girl when a tendril of cold water splashed onto his foot. He turned and glared at Kohaku, who had a few small pebbles in his hand. "Not bad, kid. Forms can only get you so far, though. How about a real spar?" Kohaku said haughtily. It was an arrogance born of confidence in one's abilities.

"Sure," Bolt said with a smile. Hand-to-hand combat was one area where he knew he excelled in. Kohaku didn't stand a chance.

The redhead raised a brow when Bolt didn't move from his spot. Bolt just smiled and held up his hand, gesturing with two fingers for him to join him on the water. Kohaku jumped down, his feet causing ripples to explode across the water's surface. He sunk down, lowering his center of gravity, and adopting a foreign stance which Bolt didn't recognize.

Bolt smirked, inched forward, and took the first strike. A guarded open palm strike that Kohaku deflected with his forearm. He went with the flow, like his grandfather taught him, bringing up his other arm gracefully to caress Kohaku's exposed shoulder. He saw it coming, and leaned back out of the way, careful to not let himself be touched. Clearly he knew that Bolt was a Gentle Fist practitioner. Even the smallest of touches was dangerous.

Kohaku twirled, bringing the back of his fist up in a backhanded slap that left Bolt's cheek smarting. Bolt was a dervish of palm strikes and pointed fingers, pressing forward against his opponent. Each time his strikes would close in on Kohaku, and each time Kohaku spun away in a whirling, circular motion that seemed to always place him inside Bolt's guard. After a few exchanges, Bolt could feel fresh bruises forming on his ribs, forearms, and thighs. And he had nothing to show for it. Kohaku was surprisingly slippery.

Growling in thinly veiled frustration, Bolt took a few steps backwards to orient himself. Bending at the knees and waist, Bolt raised his right arm behind his back, and lowered his left arm below his waist. It resembled a mock bow. Kohaku inched forward, a cautious brow raised.

Bolt took in a deep breath, his body tensing and his muscles coiling. "Eight Trigrams," Bolt declared through grit teeth, chakra surging through his arms and legs. Kohaku backpedalled wildly, trying to get out of range.

"Two palms!" Bolt surged forward, both his left and right palms thundering towards Kohaku. They struck him dead in the chest, heavy as rocks.

"Four palms!" Bolt whirled, striking with pointed fingers that struck Kohaku's shoulders and waist, two each. Kohaku hissed in pain as the blows continued to rain down.

"... Eight palms!" Bolt hissed, feeling the strain in his shoulders and back. Without the Byakugan, his mastery of the Gentle Fist was incomplete. His blows were little more than chakra-enhanced strikes that rattled bones and tore muscle. He was incapable of blocking a person's chakra points, and that meant his form was off. Since his form was off, it strained his body.

Kohaku weaved a series of hand seals. Water erupted from his feet, cascading outwards in large waves. Bolt yelped in surprise as his form was shattered, ending the chain of attacks that the Hyūga clan was famous for. Bolt struggled to channel his chakra into his feet to prevent him from sinking under the waves.

"Hey!" Bolt yelled indignantly, after the water cleared. "You said this was a spar! No ninjutsu!"

Kohaku smirked. "I said it was a spar. I never said we couldn't use jutsu," he said.

Bolt growled, a sound very much fitting the source of the chakra scars on his cheeks. "Water Style: Water Bullet Jutsu!"

Spears of water hissed through the air as they left Bolt's lips. Kohaku dodged, his taijutsu was the same infuriating swirling pattern that evaded his Gentle Fist. Bolt channeled more chakra into the jutsu. Spears of water turned into long pillars that caused wakes to erupt across the surface of the water they stood on.

Bolt changed his pattern of attack, weaving hand seals even as he continued to spit bullets of water. "Water Style: Great Waterfall Jutsu!"

Kohaku's eyes widened as Bolt performed the A-rank jutsu, something that should have been far beyond the kid's capabilities. A torrential blast of water erupted from the river, almost as if the whole body of water was at Bolt's command. The river thundered towards Kohaku like a great sinuous serpent. Kohaku weaved seals, calling forth the riverbed. An earthen dome erupted and encased him, shielding him from the blunt force of the attack.

When the water died down, he released his shield. Bolt charged forward, swinging open palmed strikes at his opponent. Kohaku could tell that Bolt's strength was waning. He went on the offensive, whirling across the surface of the water like the whirlpools of his home. He struck Bolt cleanly in the chest, knocking him to the water's surface. Kohaku watched as Bolt shuddered and then turned into a pool of water. A hand shot out of the river and grasped his ankle tightly.

Bolt smiled through the water as a sphere of liquid erupted and encased his opponent. He was running low on chakra. This attack would be his last. He watched as Kohaku visibly struggled against the watery prison that now held him fast. He was glaring at Bolt furiously, though Bolt knew he had taken a deep breath of air before being imprisoned. Bolt smirked arrogantly, and tipped his head in a direction further down the river.

Kohaku looked up. Bolt was charging him, and there, in the palm of his hand, was a glowing orb of pure chakra and emitted a high pitched whir. Kohaku's eyes widened. "Rasengan!" Bolt yelled victoriously as he threw his arm forward, intending to shatter his Water Prison and deal the finishing blow.

Kohaku's brows narrowed and his lips were drawn into a tight, thin line. He held his right arm out, palm displayed, and braced it with his left arm. His palm glowed with chakra, and before Bolt could even blink, a single chain of pure chakra had erupted and pierced him through the chest. Instantly, the Water Prison and Rasengan dissipated to nothing, and his chakra control failed. Bolt fell into the river helplessly.

Bolt flailed in the water, and the knowledge needed to make his body swim seemed to evade his mind's grasp. He gasped, breathing in water, as a hand grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and hauled him out of the water. Sputtering and gasping for breath, Bolt spat back out the water he had inhaled, coughing harshly.

"You alright, kid?" Kohaku asked. He didn't seem mad. In fact, he seemed almost… pleased?

"Yeah," Bolt gasped, still sputtering and coughing.

"Good," Kohaku said with a decisive nod, hauling Bolt to the riverbank. "I, uh, should apologize. I didn't come over here to fight you because you were practicing. I wanted to test you, make sure my grandmother wasn't wasting her time with you," he said sheepishly.

"Your… your grandmother?" Bolt asked, not understanding, as he padded his chest and checked for wounds. He winced a few times as he touched the bruises Kohaku had given him.

"Yeah, the Uzukage," he clarified.

Bolt's eyes got big as he looked up at Kohaku in awe. The older man was suddenly reminded why he didn't tell the kid his relation to the Uzukage yesterday after seeing his reaction to learning the Uzukage's relation to the First Hokage's wife. He was all wide eyed childish innocence and awe at the mention of any of the Kage.

Bolt couldn't hold it in. "That's so cool!" he screamed. "What was that chain jutsu you used? Was it a secret technique only the Uzukage and her family know? Will you teach it to me?"

Kohaku snorted. "A kid like you won't ever be able to master our clan's greatest sealing technique," he commented. "Unless… you actually take your lessons with the Uzukage seriously, instead," he added at seeing Bolt's look of thunderous determination in the face of adversity.

"Hah," Bolt scoffed. "I'll become the greatest master of sealing jutsu you've ever seen! It'll be you begging me for training when I'm done!"

Kohaku watched as Bolt scampered off and returned to his room. He heard the distinct pop of an ink jar being opened, following by a long stream of curses as Bolt apparently spilled the ink. "Good luck, kid," Kohaku uttered under his breath before turning and going about his duties in the village.


A/N:

Some notes:

1 — We will see almost everymajor character from the original series, at some point. This includes, but is not limited to: Sasuke, Yamato, Kakashi, Hanabi Hyūga, Orochimaru, Kabuto, Shin's clones, Jugo, Suigetsu, Karin, all current and former Kage, Mifune, all of the Tailed Beasts, and most of the original cast (mainly the Konoha 11). Of course, the newer cast will be featured more prominently, including Teams Konohamaru, Ino-Shika-Cho, Yurui (Hidden Cloud), and Shinki (Hidden Sand). There will also be a handful of original characters, each one playing a significant role in the current story arc, of which I have currently designed FIVE. If you have any requests for characters you would like to see, either from the manga or anime, let me know in a review or direct message. I consider both canon. Additionally, I am still creating an additional three characters as antagonists, which ideally would be two women and one man. If you have suggestions, please let me know.

2 — Bolt will not become as powerful as Naruto or Sasuke, though he will become quite famous in his own right for his strength and achievements. He fights smarter, not harder. I don't really want to spoil or make comparisons, but like I said in my first A/N, there will be no more god tier people born. There will be some people (not necessarily Bolt) that are comparable in power to Madara and Hashirama, prior to their deaths. Strong, but not godlike. Naruto and Sasuke are the last of their kind: Indra and Asura will no longer reincarnate, as they've made peace with each other. The Tailed Beasts will not be hunted nor sealed by the Hidden Villages, meaning no more Jinchūriki. Hagoromo and Hamura have no need to reincarnate. Kaguya is sealed within the moon forevermore. That's it. Done deal.

3 — I always imagined that, after bagging Naruto and having two kids, Hinata would emerge from her shell and be more assertive and firm. So, yeah, she is a little out of character here, but I like to think of it more as development.

4 — Name change: "A New Dawn" → "The New Dawn." I originally intended the story to be titled "The New Dawn," literally everything in my design documents is all titled correctly. Even every chapter is titled "The" and not "A." I don't know what possessed me to name it the way I did, but it is fixed now. This has no bearing on the story, but will come up in dialogue sometime in the halfway point. You'll know it when you see it.

5 — Bolt's immaturity/childishness is intentional. He's young, and out in the world for the first time. He is also more like his father than he realizes, and it shows. He's determined to be the best, just like Naruto was as a kid. And when someone challenges him, he doesn't wither, he thrives. Kohaku unintentionally sparked Bolt from otherwise not caring about his heritage to being determined to master it, just to spite him. I know the whole "fuinjutsu!Naruto" thing is a bit cliche, but Bolt is not going to be a master of it for quite some time, nor is it going to be the main weapon in his arsenal. A lot of people seem to have sealing jutsu become some end-all-be-all combat jutsu, whereas in my headcanon, it is more of a fight smarter, not fight harder jutsu. It takes time and preparation to use a seal against someone. You lure them into a trap, and then spring the seal on them to weaken them before striking the mortal blow. It's also more of a support skill than a combat skill, with many of its disciplines rooted in things like storage, healing, and defense.

Special thanks to guest reviewer Cheese8 for reminding me to include Naruto in this chapter. I almost forgot. Thanks!

Next chapter finishes up the Land of Whirlpools, and then we'll be moving on to the Land of Water and meeting our first recurrent major original character. That, of course, includes some more character development for Bolt, and the inevitable clash between Team Konohamaru and Bolt.

As always, thanks for reading, and I hope you guys enjoyed. Please leave a review.

- Musica