Naruto walked into his bedroom, to find his wife reading in bed. He removed his white Hokage cloak and hat and kicked off his shoes before climbing into bed.
"Soo?" Naruto prompted as he kissed his wife on the cheek "am I early enough?"
Hinata smiled and closed her book, before turning towards the Hokage "possibly" she teased while kissing him and placing her hand on his chest.
Naruto was beyond tired, but he had really been looking forward to this all day, the thought of it had actually encouraged him to finish his paperwork. He moaned as Hintata began to rub his shoulders, erasing the weariness he felt. She placed her hands on his shoulders, pushing him down onto the bed as she began to kiss his neck. Unfortunately, a knock sounded from his bedroom door, and his daughter could be heard from the other side.
"Mama?" Himawari sounded upset
"Yes, sweetie?" Hinata answered immediately.
"I had a bad dream"
"Come on in, " Hinata invited their daughter in, before whispering to her husband "I'm sorry" and kissing him on the forehead.
"C-can I sleep in your room tonight?" Himawari was holding a teddy bear that Naruto had bought for her when she was just born.
"Of course" Naruto answered, he was a little bit disappointed at the turn of events, however.
Himawari climbed into bed between Naruto and Hinata and faced her father. Naruto patted her on the head, to assure her that she was safe from any nightmare monsters. Naruto looked across the bed to his wife, who was also facing him and he read her lips.
"Tomorrow night?" She mouthed while smiling at him
If I make it until then The Hokage thought to himself as he drifted to sleep.
Shikadai woke up to the troublesome buzz of an alarm clock on its sixth snooze cycle. He could hear his mother yelling from downstairs.
"Shikadai! Hurry Up!" The woman sounded enraged, then again, she always was.
The young-Nara climbed out of bed and threw on his clothes, with no real care as towards whether or not he had worn them yesterday or not, before heading downstairs. He was surprised to find his father sitting at the table, he usually was at work by now.
"Did you practice for your exams today?" His mother questioned, even though it was obvious he hadn't
"Nope, exams are too much trouble" Shikadai responded, while resting his hands behind his head.
"You get this from your father!" His mother exclaimed while giving Shikamaru a dirty look.
Shikamaru looked up at the clock before speaking "well, look at the time. Best get going" Shikadai watched as his father made a b-line for the door, in an attempt to avoid his mother's rage. "Good luck today!" His father waved as he walked out.
After eating a quick breakfast, Shikadai began his walk to school while thinking over what would happen if he became a Genin. He wasn't sure he actually wanted to be a ninja at all, what was the point? There hadn't been a war in over a decade. He couldn't see any reason why anyone would need him to be a ninja. It all just seemed too troublesome. He figured he would just go through the motions, and see what happened. What could really go wrong?
The young-Nara arrived at the academy to a sign posted on the front door. "All Students participating in the Graduation Exam, report to the practice field." So, he walked to the practice field to find a set of bleachers filled with his classmates... Meaning he was late. He took the only available seat next to Sarada.
"Okay, first we'll do the Ninjutsu Exams" Aburame-Sensei announced "Chocho Akamichi, step forward"
Shikadai watched as Chocho stepped in front of Aburame-Sensei and preformed the Transformation Jutsu and the Clone Justu. Once she had passed, Chocho stood behind Sensei, and a line formed behind the Sensei as more students passed the exam. Almost all of them used the same two jutsu they had been taught at the academy, making the whole process extremely boring to sit through. Shikadai was close to falling asleep, when he was called up.
"Shikadai Nara, step forward" Aburame-Sensei announced while checking names off his clipboard.
The young-Nara decided to preform both the Clone Jutsu and the Transformation Jutsu as well, he could've done a shadow possession or even one of his mom's wind style techniques. But, bringing attention to himself would just cause trouble. He continued to watch as more students were called up, nobody had failed yet.
"Bolt Uzum-"
"ya-ya" The blonde was waving his hand, seeming having grown tired of the routine.
Shikadai watched as Bolt first preformed the Shadow Clone jutsu, effectively showing up the entire class for no reason. Then, the blonde followed it up by transforming all of his clones into exact copies of Aburame-Sensei. This elicited some troublesome responses from the girls of the class.
"Bolt-Kun! That was amazing!" A girl, whose name Shikadai had never bothered to remember, shouted from the stands. What Shikadai hadn't expected to see, was the murderous glare that seemed to emanate from Sarada, who was sitting above the girl on the bleachers. That Uchiha was trouble, and Shikadai made a mental note to avoid her in the future. Then again, all women were trouble... Especially his mother.
Finally, the last student Sarada Uchiha, stepped up to the exam. She preformed a simple clone jutsu, but then followed it up with a Fire-Ball Jutsu that she shot right over Aburame-Sensei's head. This further solidified Shikadai's resolve to avoid her in the future... too much trouble.
After all the Ninjustu tests had been administered, the students were re-seated, so their sparring matches could be called. The first few matches were boring, nobody really won, once it had been proven that they could fight, they passed. Then, Bolt's match was called.
"Bolt Uzumaki vs. Midori Tsubaki" That loud girl from earlier. So that was her name Shikadai thought to himself. He watched as they both took to the center of the sparring circle.
"Bolt-Kun! Please go easy on me!" This was when Shikadai remembered that he had forgotten not to sit next to Sarada again, he looked over to find the Uchiha gripping her skirt in what seemed to be pure anger, with her eyes locked onto the sparring ring. Shikadai watched as the girl threw a punch towards the blonde in the ring, he dodged it without even removing his hands from his pockets. Midori followed up with a kick, which Bolt also dodged, before he stepped behind her and tripped her back leg. Midori fell straight onto her back, Shikadai almost felt bad for her... But she had asked him to go easy on her. The young-Nara noticed that Sarada had calmed down at bit after the conclusion of the match.
"Bolt, you pass" Aburame-Sensei paused "Midori, you'll have to spar in a second match"
"Yes, Sensei" The girl smiled, she blew a kiss at Bolt as he joined the line of those who had passed. Shikadai watched as Sarada gripped the bleacher seat in anger, causing the wood to splinter.
"Next, Shikadai Nara vs. Rock Guy" You've got to be kidding, out of all the people- the young-Nara groaned to himself as he made his way down to the field. He stood in the sparring ring and shook hands with his over eager opponent. When Aburame-Sensei signaled the start of the match, Guy send a kick flying towards Shikadai's head. He was able to duck in time and landed a kick in a Guy's rib cage, earning him a punch in the side of the head. The fight lasted for another two minutes before Aburame-Sensei called the match after Shikadai had taken a kick to the stomach.
"That's good" Aburame-Sensei held up his hand "you both pass"
Shikadai took his place in line with the others who had passed, and watched the rest of the matches. All of the matches ended in ties, and all of the were less than spectacular. Until the final match, when Sarada was pitted against Midori. Right before the match started, Midori had turned and winked at Bolt, the second after the match started, Sarada punched the other girl straight in the face sending her rolling backwards. Shikadai watched in fear, as Sarada knocked her opponent around. Midori, seemed to be unwilling to give up... Unlike her last match where she gave up after one hit. Women made absolutely no sense, what purpose could they really serve? Finally, Aburame-Sensei called another tie match, even though it was far from one, Midori's nose was as good as broken. The young-Nara realized at that moment, how thankful he was that there was no chance of him being on the same team as Sarada.
Bolt stood in line with the other students as Aburame-Sensei turned to address them. The blonde hadn't been paying attention to most of the matches, he was too busy wondering what kinds of mission he might be assigned or what new Jutsu he could learn. However, he did catch the last match between Sarada and Midori, and decided he would be careful not to upset the brunette from that point forward.
"Okay boys and girls, you have all passed!" Aburame-Sensei was holding headbands in his hands. "Congratulations on becoming Genin!"
Bolt watched as the Sensei put a headband on each student in line. When he got to Bolt, Shino did the same, and tied the headband to the blonds's forehead. When he had finally finished with the ceremony, he again stood in front of the class and read of their squad assignments.
"Squad 1" Aburame Sensei flipped a sheet on his clipboard "Midori Tsubaki-" Bolt had stopped listening at this point, he thought instead about what his father's reaction would be to his graduation. He hoped deep down, that he would get some actual recognition now that he was a real ninja. Bolt was dragged from his thoughts when he heard his own name announced.
"Squad 5; Bolt Uzumaki, Sarada Uchiha, Rock Guy" Aburame-Sensei then pointed to the main building "report to room 107". Bolt began to walk towards the building, his teammates following close behind.
"I wonder who our Sensei will be?" Guy asked excitedly to the group.
"Who cares?" Bolt really didn't care, but he had an idea of who it might be.
The three walked in silence the rest of the way, Guy never stopped smiling the entire way and Sarada kept looking down at the ground the entire time. Bolt wondered what she was thinking about, but after watching that fight, he wasn't going to try and bother her about it. The new team sat alone in the room, waiting for the Sensei to arrive. Just when Bolt was about to fall asleep from boredom, the door opened.
"Hi" Konohamaru-Sensei walked into the room, and stood behind the podium.
"It had to be you... Didn't it" Bolt was a little annoyed, why couldn't it have been someone cooler?
"Is there a problem... Bolt?" Konohamaru-Sensei was stressing his name in a very threatening manner, so Bolt decided it was best to lay off.
"No Sensei" The blonde slumped down into his seat in annoyance.
"So then" The Jonin clapped his hands together, "let's introduce ourselves"
"Introduce ourselves?" Sarada questioned from the front of the room, it was the first time she had spoken all day.
"Ya know... Likes and dislikes, strengths and weaknesses, stuff like that" Konohamaru-Sensei was looking around the room, he paused before speaking again. "Well... I'll go first, then... I like Ramen and Chocolate covered bananas, I dislike annoying students and onions, I'm strong at ninjutsu and weak at genjutsu" He then pointed at Bolt.
"Why me?" The young-Uzumaki really had no interest in sharing.
"Because!" Konohamaru-Sensei yelled.
"Fine!" Bolt took a deep breath, "I like Ramen, and I dislike Hokages! I'm really good at weapons throwing and ninjutsu, but I'm bad at Genjutsu too.
"Next" The Jonin switched his gaze to Guy
"I really like training and running laps, and I dislike people without the power of YOUTH! Also, I'm strong with Taijustu but have no Ninjutsu or Genjustu skills at all" The boy in the green suit stated while scratching the back of his head
"Last" Konohamaru was now looking at Sarada.
The brunette pushed up her glasses and lifted her head "I like reading and I really dislike stupid boys" She lowered her head again, Bolt could tell something was bothering her "and, I'm really good at Ninjutsu and Genjustu but bad at Taijutsu"
"Okay then!" Konohamaru-Sensei has stepped away from the podium "Meet me tomorrow at the Third Training Ground, for your Genin Test"
"But, we already passed the Exam, Sensei!" Guy protested
"Not my Exam! If you don't pass, you go right back to the Academy!" Konohamaru paused and then looked at Sarada, who had her hand raised "and no, you can't study for it and I'm not telling you what it is." Bolt watched as the brunette lowered her hand.
Sakura was standing outside the Academy waiting for Sarada to come out, when all of a sudden she felt a gust of wind, the next second Naruto was standing next to her.
"You actually managed to get out of the office?" The poor guy looked exhausted, and it was only 3:00 in the afternoon.
"I didn't want to miss this" Her old friend turned to her and smiled.
"Me either, they grow up so fast" The kunochi was shaking her head
"They're on the same squad" Naruto said, while passing her a scroll, with and Uchiha seal on it... Meaning it was a message from Sasuke. Sakura tucked it into her pocket and continued the conversation.
"With?" Sakura was more than pleased, this meant that her daughter would have to face her feelings sooner rather than later. She thought about her own reaction when Sasuke was placed with her on Team 7. She actually felt a little bad for Sarada, the poor girl had no way to express herself, and her crush was most likely as oblivious as his father was to Hinata.
Naruto was laughing "Rock Guy" The Hokage was using his fist to cover his mouth.
"Bushy Brows Jr.!" Sakura was amused, her poor daughter now had to deal not only with being on the same team as the boy she was surely infatuated with, nut also the offspring of the guy who ran around the village 500 times for fun.
"Konohamaru's gonna have his hands full" Naruto was still laughing.
"So... do you know when he's coming back?" Sakura asked, changing the subject to her husband.
"No clue, I was hoping the message would say" The Hokage was staring towards the sky, his hat casting a shadow on his face "I need to call a council meeting soon"
"You mean... One of those meetings?" She was surprised, the last time one was called was when a group of Hidden Rain ninja drifted too close to the border, almost igniting a war. What could it be this time?
"Ya..." Naruto was whispering now, and still looking up towards the sky.
"Don't they make... the Daimyo nervous?" Sakura was concerned about what could drive Naruto to risk provoking him.
"How nervous will he get if he finds out there's a bounty hunting troupe after his head?" The Hokage had turned towards her, and whispered into her ear.
"Did you... take precautions?"
"Two squads... no incidents yet" Naruto sighed.
"Right, well-" Sakura stopped as she saw her daughter walk out of the Academy door, with Bolt walking behind her.
She waved, and Naruto followed suit. The two kids were now running towards them, and Bolt had a little grin on his face that made Sakura understand her daughter's infatuation.
"Dad, what are you doing here?"
"Mama? Shouldn't you be at the Hospital?"
"It's okay, Ino covered for me" Sakura looked down at her daughter, and could sense her uneasiness.
"Well" Naruto had placed his hand on his son's head "How about we all go out for ramen to celebrate!" The Hokage turned and looked at Sakura and her daughter.
"Is it really okay for you to-" Could Naruto really just leave the office for this long, with everything that was going on?
"It'll be alright, Shikamaru always has that thing if it gets bad" He was of course referring to the teleporting knives he had given to Shikamaru and Sakura, along with some other people. In fact, Sakura realized, that was how he had teleported here in the first place... She was carrying it in her weapons pouch as usual.
So, the four went out for an early ramen dinner. Sakura noticed that Sarada would spend a lot of her time watching Bolt, and would look away quickly every time anyone caught her doing it. It was cute, annoying as all hell because she was just like her 'no feelings to be shared' father, but cute too. After they finished dinner, the two parent-child pairings parted ways. Sakura walked home with her daughter, and decided to dig a little deeper.
"So, you're on the same team as Bolt" She was sure to stress the blonde's name
"So?" Sarada was looking down at the ground
"And Guy?"
"Yes" The brunette was pushing up her glasses.
"How do you feel about that?" It wasn't like she could ask directly, how her daughter felt about having her crush as a teammate.
"It's fine" Sarada responded, quickly and quietly.
"Really?" Sakura was a bit surprised, she had expected the word 'stupid' to appear.
"Ya" Sarada had looked up for a second, and Sakura caught a smile, a mile wide, crossing her face.
"Or... Is it more than fine?" The kunochi teased.
"It's Fine" Sarada had started to walk faster, in an attempt to avoid her mother's promptings.
YOU LITTLE! Sakura yelled to herself as her daughter moved ahead of her. She wished Sarada would just open up and talk. Sakura wanted a relationship where Sarada would just tell her these things, where she would share what was happening in her life. She envied Naruto a bit in this sense, she knew that no matter how much his son might get annoyed with him... Bolt would still go to his father first when he needed help, Sakura could just tell by the way they interacted. Sarada, on the other hand, kept it all bottled up and wouldn't come to her mother for anything.
Bolt was elated that his father had come to pick him up after graduation. For the first time, he really felt like he was earning his father's recognition. His Dad had even taken him out to dinner! It was a little uncomfortable with Sarada staring at him for the whole meal, and he really hoped she wasn't mad at him, that could end badly. The blonde recounted the day's events, he had felt bad about knocking Midori down in their match, but it was the easiest way not to hurt her. Then, she got hurt anyway when Sarada fought her, Bolt couldn't understand why his teammate seemed so mad at Midori during their match. The young-Uzumaki laid in his bed as he thought about what he could do as a ninja, where he could go and what adventures he could have. The young-Uzumaki felt an intense feeling of pride emitting from his forehead, where his headband was strapped. So much so in fact, that he slept with it on that night.