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Is Bolt really as "stupid" as Sarada would like to think?

"Okay boys and girls, class is over for today" Shino turned to face the class "Be sure to practice for your target test tomorrow, it's the first part of your Graduation Exam"

Bolt got up from his seat and made his way over to the door. The young blonde decided he would kill time walking around the village while he waited for his father to return home, hell... He might even actually do his homework.

Naruto sat at his desk, flipping a kunai knife in his hand out of boredom. All the paperwork he had been required to finish was already completed by Udon and Moegi while he was on his lunch break. The Hokage thought about what he would tell Bolt, his son's inquiry had surprised him, and he wasn't sure exactly how to answer it. Was Bolt really ready to hear about that? Probably not. He couldn't just shoot him down though, he had to tell him something.

"Lord Seventh" Udon had entered the room.

"Hm?" Naruto dropped the Kunai by accident, it lodged itself 2 inches into his desk. Dammit He cursed to himself

"You have a visitor" Udon stepped out of the doorway, bowing in the process.

The Chief Academy Instructor, Shino Aburame, entered the room with nine scrolls in his hands. He approached Naruto's desk to drop off the documents.

"These are my recommendations for the rookie Genin teams, provided they pass all the exams" Shino placed the scrolls down on the desk.

"Which one is...?" Naruto waived his hand over the scrolls

"Team 5" Shino pointed to the scroll with the number 5 painted on the side.

Naruto opened the scroll, he was curious to see who had been recommended as his son's teammates.

Team Five

Jonin Instructor: Sarutobi, Konohamaru

Uzumaki, Bolt

Uchiha, Sarada

Rock, Guy

"Bushy-brows the third?" Naruto chuckled to himself, he knew Lee respected Guy-Sensei highly, but he had never expected him to name his own kid after him. He reached over to the next team.

Team Six

Jonin Instructor: Sarutobi, Mirai

Nara, Shikadai

Yamanaka, Inojin

Akamichi, Chocho

"That's to be expected" Naruto looked up to Shino, who nodded in response. The Hokage looked over the rest of the teams one by one.

"Of course, the last say rests with you" The instructor informed Naruto after he had finished his inspection.

"No, these seem good" Naruto pulled a stamp out from his desk drawer and used it to approve the nine team's formations, he then resealed the scrolls and returned them to Shino. "So, do you think they'll all pass?"

"Most likely" Shino smiled slightly, not that anyone could see under his face mask.

"Thanks" Naruto pulled he Kunai out of his desk, and continued to flip it.

Sarada had been following Bolt for over two hours, he had been all over the village, and it was becoming exhausting to keep track of him. Not that she had to, of course, but it wasn't like she had anything better to be doing. Now, he was standing in the 3rd Training Ground, and she was hiding in a tree close by. There were ten targets set up, so academy students could practice for the first exam. A group of girls was currently trying to bullseye at least 6 of them, which was the minimum required to pass. They stopped when Bolt approached them.

"Bolt-kun!" one of the more annoying girls yelled in his direction "Do you wanna practice with us?"

The young blonde was standing in front of the group with his hands resting in his pockets, and a relatively sad look on his face. Sarada wondered to herself how he could be so depressed when he was receiving so much attention. Granted, those girls were stupid, but so wasn't he.

Bolt shrugged his shoulders and picked up ten kunai, he then made his way to the center of the ten targets, which were set up in a circle. Sarada watched keenly, she had never seen Bolt practice at anything before and she almost wondered if he even knew how to throw a kunai. However, there was something odd, he didn't seem nervous... he seemed bored and apathetic to the whole situation. One second later, he had hit all the targets dead center and was making his way out of the target area.

"Bolt-kun!" one of the girls was waving "that was awesome... do you think you could help me next?"

Sarada was getting intensely annoyed. It wasn't even that hard! He couldn't be so stupid as to actually help them, could he?

"I guess" Bolt shrugged his shoulders "But it's not somethin-"

The girl had grabbed his hand and was currently dragging him back to the center of the practice ring. Sarada for her part, was currently infuriated. Why were boys so stupid!? Without noticing it, she was already making her way down from the tree and onto the practice field.

"Mind if I try?" She looked over the group while subconsciously pushing her glasses up.

One of the girls in the group gave her a dirty look as if she was some sort of intruder to their stupidity festival.

"Sure" Bolt exited the circle, allowing Sarada to enter.

The young Uchiha was sure she could hit every target, but she almost felt the urge not to, before realizing that would mean she would lose to Bolt... which was absolutely not going to happen. She was sure to hit every last target. As she was walking away, she caught the young-blonde say something.

"Betcha can't do it twice" He was grinning from ear to ear, as he reentered the target range and hit every bullseye again.

You're on She thought to herself, she wasn't about to lose to some stupid boy.

The two continued to switch off, each hitting every bullseye ten times, and then fifteen. It had become a competition to see who would mess up first. Much to the young brunette's pleasure, the other girls had gotten bored and left a long time ago. Not that she cared or wanted it, but all of Bolt's attention was focused on her now.

They continued their competition until Bolt had finally missed one target, during the 22nd round. It was about 6:00 by then.

"I lost" Bolt returned his hands to his pockets, and the excited demeanor he had during the tournament had subsided back to his sadder one from earlier. He began to walk home. Sarada of course followed him, but this time she remained in sight. They didn't talk the entire time, but the young-Uchiha noticed that Bolt had taken a route that lead by her house, even though he could've taken a much shorter route home. Was he walking her home? Or was he just too stupid to realize? She found out soon enough when they got to her house.

"Bye Sarada" the young blonde paused for a moment before turning around "We should do that again sometime, it was fun" he was smiling.

"Ye... Yea" The brunette was internally chastising herself for becoming so flustered. She walked inside her house.

Once the door was closed and Bolt effectively out of earshot, she looked towards her mother, who was currently cooking dinner. "Boys are... really stupid"

Sakura simply shook her head "Let me guess..."

Bolt walked through the doorway to a very concerned mother, who was worried as towards why he was so late coming home.

"Bolt, why are you home so late?" Hinata sounded concerned and annoyed at the same time

"I was practicing for my first exam tomorrow" This was kind of a lie, he wouldn't have been out so late if he hadn't gotten himself caught up in the competition with Sarada. He wasn't sure why he felt the urge to challenge her all of a sudden. Although, he had to admit, it was much more fun that the last prank he pulled.

"Oh... well, dinner's on the table, hurry up before it gets cold" His mother pointed to the bowl of rice on the table.

"Do you know when dad will be home?" Bolt questioned as he took his seat at the table.

"Maybe soon" His mother stopped "He was busy today."

The young Uzumaki thought about telling his mother about how his dad had pulled him out of class for lunch, but he liked the idea of it being between the two of them. Plus, if she found out, it would probably never happen again. Once he had finished his dinner, Bolt went up to his room. He laid down on his bed, and tossed Shuriken at the target board hanging on the wall. He wasn't supposed to practice in the house, but it wasn't like he was going to miss or anything. He thought about the competition from earlier, he had missed that last target on purpose and let Sarada win, not because he wanted her to win, but because it could've gone on all night with no winner. Bolt eventually ran out of Shuriken to throw at the wall, so he just laid there until he heard his father walking up the stairs.

Naruto always checked in on his kids before going to bed, no matter how late he managed to come home. Knowing this, Bolt didn't bother to get out of bed, he just waited for his door to open.

"Bolt, why are you still up?" his dad had poked his head through the door "It's almost 11:00 and you-"

"You said you tell me about when you saved the village" Bolt was looking directly at his father now, who seemed extremely tired.

Naruto sighed "I have to tell you something else first" He smiled at his son.

"What?" Bolt didn't like the sound of this, it already felt like he was going to get some dumb kids' story. He watched his father enter his room and sit down at the end of his bed.

"We have to start to the story at the beginning" Naruto looked down at his son "You're about to be a Genin right? How about I tell you about my first real mission?"

"Okay" It wasn't what Bolt had wanted, but it was something.

For the next hour, Naruto recounted to his son, his entire adventure to the Land of Waves. Bolt listened intently to the story of Tazuna, Inari, Zabuza and Haku. It was the first time his father had actually shared anything about his own past with him.

"Wait? Uncle Kakashi actually got captured?" Bolt was beyond surprised.

"Heh... yea" Naruto was looking up to the ceiling, he had moved onto the floor and was using Bolt's bed as a backrest. "and Sasuke and I saved em'"

"Whoa" Bolt was in awe "So, what happened after the bridge was finished?"

"Our job was done, they were all safe, so we returned home and got ready for the Chunnin Exams"

"Can you tell me about that?" Bolt was overly eager by now, he wanted to know more.

"Maybe some other time" His father's voice was trailing off "Is it alright if I... sleep right here, I'm a little beat" Naruto was falling asleep on the floor next to his son's bed, it was about 12:30 AM.

Bolt smirked "Sure dad" He reached over and shut off the lights.

"Thanks" They were both asleep in a matter of minutes.

Naruto was awoken at around 5:30 to his beautiful wife kicking him in the side. He had fallen asleep on Bolt's floor, and it hadn't been the most restful sleep in the world.

"What's up?" He looked up to a slightly upset Hinata, she didn't like to sleep alone, and he knew that.

She giggled a little "We made our son's floor our new bed?" she whispered softly, attempting not to wake Bolt.

"It was story time" the Hokage paused to kiss his wife "I got a little tired"

"I didn't want to wake you, but Shikamaru sent a messenger over, He needs you at the office" She had developed a more empathetic tone.

The Hokage breathed in deeply and exhaled "At least I'm still dressed for it" He began to make his way out the door, before his wife came up behind him and whispered in his ear.

"If you can get home a little earlier tonight" She paused for the effect "I might be able to make it worth it"

Naruto was grinning widely "That could be dangerous"

"I know" She winked at him

"We'll have to find out" Naruto quipped before he finally teleported to his office.

Shikamaru was sitting in one of the chairs, across from the Hokage's desk. On the chair beside him, in a scroll, there was a message marked "URGENT: TOP SECRET" from the Village Hidden in the Mist. The dark-haired advisor wasn't sure what it contained, but it was covered with a strong sealing jutsu, and only Naruto knew the key to it.

"What's wrong?" The Hokage had appeared in his chair, seeming half-asleep at best.

"Here" Shikamaru tossed the scroll over to Naruto

"Hm... This is" Naruto placed the scroll down on the desk, and began to preform hand seals, reciting them outloud as he went. "Mi Ne Saru Ushi Ne I Inu Mi Tora Hitsuji U Tori Tora"He placed both his hands over the scroll, carefully releasing the exact amount of chakra required. The scroll folded open and Naruto read it outload.

"Immediate Response Required

While on route to the Land of Fire, it is believed that
The Feudal Lord of the Land of Water was captured while his
ship was traversing the waters surrounding the Land of Waves.
I request any assistance possible in this matter. It is of the utmost
Importance, we must locate him.

Chojuro: Rokudaime Mizukage"

The Hokage was shaking his head as he finished.

"Could it be the same..." Shikamaru was hoping it didn't have anything to do with the S-Class report from the other day. Unfortunately, he had a sneaking suspicion that it did. This wasn't good.

"Most likely" Naruto turned to face out his office window. "Send Squad 12 to assist the Mizukage" He paused for a moment "and, send an ANBU Unit to tail the Fire Daimyo... just in case."

"Which ANBU Unit?"

"Three" the Hokage turned back to his advisor "They should be able to hide their presence from the 12 Gaurdians... also, give them a teleporting knife" Naruto reached into his draw and pulled out a Kunai with the Flying Rajin mark embossed on the side. He tossed it to Shikamaru.

"Are you sure?" if the knife was thrown, Naruto would be automatically be teleported to the team. "What if...?"

"That knife is set to send a clone, unlike the others." The Hokage was pointing to a marking on the back on the knife. "If it gets knocked out, I'll know what's happening"

"Right" Shikimaru was still unsure, currently only a few people in the entire village had one of the knives he was holding. Himself, Hinata, Sakura, Konohamaru, a few guard captains, Kakashi, and Shino. Granted, their Knives wouldn't teleport just a clone, they'd teleport Naruto himself.

"Anything else I should be worried about?" Naruto had sat back down at his chair, and was looking over the stack of new mission requests.

"Not at the moment..." The advisor sighed. "It doesn't get much worse than this.

"Let's just hope the Mizukage can find him" Naruto's hands were buried in his face while he spoke.

"What a drag this all is" Shikamaru collected the documents he needed, and exited the office to deliver the assignments to the teams.

Bolt was sitting in the classroom, watching the clock. His father had been gone by the time he had gotten up for school. Currently, he was waiting to be called into the testing room for the 1st Exam. Being at the end of the alphabet, kinda sucked. Chocho had just been called in, so it was going to take a while for it to be his turn. I wonder what kind of prank I can pull in here, the young Uzumaki thought to himself as he looked around the room.

"Hey Shikadai!" Bolt looked towards the young Nara in the corner of the room "We should flip all the chairs-"

"That's troublesome, do you really wanna get in trouble the day of an exam Bolt?" Shikadai was shaking his head.

"Inojin?" Bolt turned his attention to the pale blonde, who was reading from a scroll

"Nope"

"You're all no fun" Bolt slumped down into his chair and kept focusing on the clock.

An interesting conversation was beginning in the front of the room however.

"What do you think our first real ninja mission could be!?" Rock Guy was asking, rather loudly and excitedly, to the girl sitting next to him.

"I'm sure it will be something easy, we're only going to be Genin" The girl stated, matter of factly, nearly killing young-Guy's mood.

"My dad said his first real mission was to protect some merchant from a bunch of thieves" Guy proclaimed. He then turned to the back of the room as to question everyone else. Bushy-brows III set his eyes on Shikadai first.

"Delivering a trading document to a small village" The young Nara shrugged, it wasn't all that interesting.

Guy then set his eyes on Sarada, who currently had her eyes buried in a book. "Sarada?" The brunette looked up for a moment.

"I don't know" There was a trail of sadness in her voice, before she returned to reading.

Guy seemed a bit shocked, he turned towards Bolt next.

"Wait" Bolt looked over to the girl in glasses "you don't know?"

"You do?" She asked incredulously.

Bolt smiled and laughed a bit as he responded, thinking about the story his father had shared with him the night before. "Yep!" He moved over towards the girl he had been competing with yesterday. "Wanna know?"

"Yea" She was smiling, Bolt almost never saw that, it was really a rarity. Sarada normally kept to herself, and rarely talked to anyone. It had actually surprised him that she even bothered to practice with him last night, although she might just have hated the idea of losing to him. Usually she would have just called him stupid.

A small circle had formed around the two of them, all of their classmates eager to hear the story of the Hokage's first mission. Bolt began to recount the story slowly, careful to recount every last detail just as his father had done for him. By the time he had gotten to the end, everyone but him and Sarada had already left to take their exam.

"That can't be true!" The brunette was laughing, actually laughing! Bolt, for some reason, was quite pleased with himself.

"It is!" Bolt was laughing too at this point "My dad told me it himself!"

"Your dad really ran headfirst into an enemy jutsu?" She asked, referring to Naruto's attempt to help Sasuke by sneaking into Haku's Ice Mirrors.

"I guess so" Bolt scratched his head, a little embarrassed.

"What did my mom do?"

"I guess she guarded that Tazuna guy"

Sarada had lost all her restraint. She was actually having a conversation with Bolt! A stupid, annoying Boy! The young Uchiha was trying to hide it, but she was actually enjoying herself. Neither of her parents had ever told her about their pasts, especially not her father, even when he was around. She had a hard time imagining that her mother hadn't been the hero of the mission, the woman nearly broke the kitchen counter with a meat mallet once. Sarada was fighting the urge to ask more, however, she refused to let her curiosity get the better of her. Bolt was stupid, and it was stupid to be talking to him. No matter how much she felt the urge to.

Aburame-Sensei stuck his head through the door. "Uzumaki Bolt, next" The blonde boy rose from his seat and walked out of the classroom, he waved to her as he exited.

The young-Uchiha was lost in her thoughts for the next couple of minutes. She thought about the story Bolt had just told her, and how he had been smiling the whole time. It was the same kind of smile he had the night before, when she had stupidly competed with him for over three hours. She hated to admit it, but that had been a little fun.

"Uchiha Sarada" Aburame-Sensei was back for the last time.

Sarada walked outside onto the training field, and into the center of the ten targets. She noticed that targets 1-6 were mostly destroyed due to heavy usage, while there was only one mark on target 10. She figured Bolt had been the only one to hit it. The brunette faced towards her first target and hit the bullseye perfectly, she immediately pivoted and hit the second, then the third and fourth in the same manner. She made it all the way to target number 10, but she had misjudged the wind slightly and hit off center. Bolt was snickering from the bleachers, he really was stupid, did he not realize he had done the same exact thing yesterday?

Sarada walked over, and took her seat on the stands where all the other students who had passed were seated, she did notice a few missing however.

"Congratulations, on passing the 1st Exam." Aburame-Sensei announced to the entire class "Your Ninjutsu and Sparring Exams will take place tomorrow, all who pass will officially become Genin."

"What happens after that?" Guy asked from the front row.

"You'll be paired with two other classmates and assigned a Jonin Instructor"

Sarada hoped, or rather prayed she wouldn't be stuck on a team with Bolt. He could just be so stupid sometimes, and she wasn't sure she could handle it.