READ: This update took me awhile. Sorry it's been so rushed in the story line. It's my first actual story rather than some one-shots. I realize that the intentional direction I was taking has changed to create this beast of a story. Also, I tried to add some more Boruto and Naruto moments in this chapter so enjoy. FYI: Its kind of a cheesy chapter. Now you know.
I don't own Naruto or any of its characters. That honor obviously belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.
Bolt panted as he ran from his sister. "Himiwari, you are going to have to be faster than that to catch me. I just stole an important scroll that will harm your village." He waved around the book he was carrying, fully adorned with purple sparkles.
Himiwari focused on her favorite book and her legs pumped faster. "Nii-san, I will take you down." Her Byakugan flared and the veins around her eyes bulged. With a burst of power she grabbed one of the swings on the playset and swung into a nearby tree and started running along-side Bolt. Her shadow eventually enveloped him.
Bolt looked up in surprise at his little sister's display. His eyes widened when she leapt from a branch straight towards him. They fell to the ground in a heap.
Himiwari giggled sitting on her older brother's back. "That was fun, Nii-san." She snatched the book from his grip. "The enemy has been thwarted." She exclaimed, proudly waving around the stolen 'scroll'.
Bolt sat up and watched as Himiwari enjoyed her victory. She kept pumping her fist and shouting, "Victory! Victory to the Leaf." Once again, it was a well-played round of Ninja with her coming out on top.
Himiwari should meet Kurama too, he thought while cracking a smile. Bolt imagined she would have that fierce fox running for the hills with her boisterous personality.
His good attitude dimmed when he remembered why he was out in the yard in the first place. Bolt awoke this morning on the floor of his parent's room. A gentle shake of his shoulder and an order from his Dad to tell Mom that he needed his constipated advisor. It's what led to Bolt playing ninja outside with Himiwari. Some important people were coming and Dad said we needed to be out of the way.
Ridiculous. Bolt huffed indignantly. He was almost twelve years old. So close to becoming a full-fledged genin. He should be treated as an adult, not some annoying child.
"Nii-san…" Himiwari ran over to him and sat directly in front of him and tilted her head. "Why do you have that funny look on your face?"
"Just trying to imitate you." Bolt quipped. Himiwari clenched the book in her hands and stuck her tongue out at her brother making him laugh. "Just kidding Hime. I was just thinking."
"About what?"
"Did you see all of those shinobi enter our house while we were out here playing?" Himiwari nodded seriously, leaning in closer. "They are planning something to help Dad. I just know it."
"It makes you mad because you want to help too, right?" She said softly. "I want to help."
"There's nothing I can do to help." Bolt turned quickly hearing voices carry into the yard. He focused on the loudest voices and caught some of their murmurings. Something about chakra pipes and destroying them before it's too late. "Or maybe there is." Bolt ran up to the porch to hear the conversations better, with Himiwari on his tail.
"Baruto, maybe you should follow Uncle Sasuke." Himiwari whispered. Bolt looked questioningly at her. "Mommy is talking to him. All of the other old people that were here already left."
"Ah, a perfect target." Bolt listened further into the conversation from his position in the rose bushes, ignoring the stabs of pain on his arms and legs from its thorny caresses. He tried to make sense of what he was hearing. Apparently the Anbu were about to attack an enemy that has been causing Dad's exhaustion. The goal was to destroy the chakra pipes.
Taking his sister's hand, he hurriedly whispered, "Himiwari, quickly distract them." She mock saluted and ran towards Hinata. Bolt took the opportunity to slip out of the yard and wait for Sasuke. If this mission was to save Dad, there was no way he was being left behind.
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Bolt smiled from behind his hiding place, watching as Sasuke crouched in a clearing of the old forest. He hadn't been detected yet by his Dad's sorry Anbu. Stony Face seemed to be searching for something in the clearing. The rest of the Anbu were relaxed as they squatted or stood on branches. Bolt was thankful for the rest, his harsh breathing could have alerted the other members of their unwanted stowaway. They had been running nonstop for a half hour since leaving the village gates.
The young Uzumaki strengthened his resolve. He was on a mission to save his Dad. He carefully peaked between the green foliage, and tracked Sasuke's progress. The blonde tilted his head in confusion. Why was he just sitting there, time is ticking by?
"What are you doing?"
Bolt jumped and looked up at the dark haired man. He whipped around to stare incredulously at the man's duplicate, who stopped searching the ground and popped in a cloud of smoke.
"Admiring the scenery?"
Bolt fidgeted under Sasuke's hard scrutiny. Beads of sweat trickled down his neck. He crossed his arms and glared back. Two could play the silent game. No one beats Bolt Uzumaki in stubbornness.
Sasuke smirked before regaining his calm demeanor. "Work on being stealthier." Bolt was about to protest but was interrupted. "Follow me and don't leave my side."
Bolt smirked back. "Guess you guys knew all along."
Sasuke stared hard at the young blonde. "Of course. Now try to keep up."
They traveled faster than before. As they traveled farther away from the village Bolt felt more uneasy. The atmosphere was thick as the tension rose. Bolt was beginning to feel nauseous and his arms kept quivering. Is this the effects of the chakra siphons? The trees were green blurs. It took all of Bolt's concentration to focus on the next branch to use as a landing spot.
Bolt narrowed his eyes as he watched one Anbu ahead of him. His arm kept twitching at odd moments. Looking around he noticed several members of the team were behaving oddly. Even for Anbu.
Sasuke pulled ahead suddenly, activating his blood red Sharingan. He signaled for the company to stop with a wave of his hand. They all found perches as they surveyed the area for enemy ninja. Bolt noticed that Sasuke didn't appear to be experiencing any symptoms. Probably too expressive for such an expressionless ninja, he thought wryly.
"We are close." Sasuke calmly spoke, breaking the tension. "Teams A and B circle around and look for chakra pipes. Destroy any chakra siphons. You will know when they are all destroyed in this area when you no longer feel its affects. Leave some of the enemy alive for questioning."
The assigned Anbu sped off. One Anbu with a cat mask, followed by three others, landed by Sasuke. "Sir, there are multiple signatures ahead. All are weak."
"We go forward Team C. To draw as many enemy as we can we will go towards the center of this sector. The main goal is to destroy the Chakra siphons. We are going to make it easier for Teams A and B to do so. Let's go."
The Anbu team rushed ahead followed by Sasuke and Bolt. That's when everything went wrong. The team did their job and attacked the many enemy ninjas to lure them away from the pipes. However, Bolt got greedy and was determined to prove himself. So he ran ahead and got separated from his group.
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They were coming toward Bolt. Surrounding him. He didn't have much strength left. The first guy rushed the young Uzumaki surprising him with his speed. He concentrated and formed a spinning ball of chakra in his right hand. Just when he thought the kunai would make contact he heard a clang and thud. The sound of the kunai being blocked pierced his heightened senses.
The ninja that was coming at him seconds ago was laying against a tree.
He heard a terse, cold voice cut through the silence. "Don't touch my son." In the shadows nearby, holding a kunai, a crouched figure stood to full height, allowing the last bit of sunlight to illuminate his features.
"Dad!" Bolt cried out. He leaned heavily on a tree trying to catch his breath.
Naruto glanced at his son and smiled before regaining a fluid stance as a small group of ninja were making their way towards him. "So you guys like picking on kids. Let me teach you a lesson on bullying." The nearest guy met his end with a hard kick to the chest. Naruto swept low with his right leg and took down another. The blonde then engaged three more in hand to hand combat.
Meanwhile, two ninjas of the group who specialized in taijutsu merely eyed the blonde cautiously, watching for weaknesses. They let their comrades rush in like fools to gage their opponent's reflexes. So far he seemed impressive, but nothing they couldn't handle. They inched forward testing the blonde newcomer's patience. They had no idea that this blonde blur was the very Hokage of the Leaf Village they were trying to destroy. Thinking they had a chance when the older blonde shifted his focus to the young boy in the trees, the two ninjas attacked with blinding speed to the man's flank. They grew gleeful as they realized the blonde man had not noticed their presence. They had him.
The confident ninjas were shocked when their blonde target was suddenly gone in less than a second. Simultaneously they felt a sharp jabs pierce the back of their necks, effectively disabling them. They only caught a glimpse of the blonde man's eyes as they fell to the ground. Those azure eyes were burning with power and ruthlessness. They severely underestimated their opponent.
Bolt could scarcely believe what he was seeing. He was watching his Dad fight for the first time in his life. One by one, he watched the enemy fall at the hands of his father.
Naruto jumped in the air and threw kunai expertly at some trees where some hidden ninjas fell from the branches and landed in heaps on the ground.
Bolt noticed, every time his Dad leapt into battle a flicker of white light was left in his wake. He had read that his Grandpa had a similar technique. Damn! I hope he teaches it to me.
A kick aimed for his Dad's head was blocked and a loud crack was heard. Naruto didn't duck, but had actually grabbed the ninja's leg in a tight grip. That ninja flew through the air without warning, thrown into the nearest tree.
Bolt sensed the presence of more ninjas entering the clearing. They must have been drawn to the sound of their friend's butts getting kicked by an ill, old man. The young Uzumaki got in a basic taijutsu stance, ready to show off his moves. "I won't be shown up, get ready to eat it."
"Stay there Bolt. I don't want you to get hurt." The aforementioned old man commanded before addressing the approaching enemy. "I'm afraid it's only taijutsu I can use today. Still. This shouldn't take long."
Naruto jumped into action once again and started fighting the closest ninjas. A roundhouse kick followed by several punches, dodging a kunai, rushing a slow ninja, kicking another ninja in the temple into other fellow enemy ninjas. The small clearing in the forest soon became littered with unconscious bodies.
So fast, was all Bolt could think as he blinked away the vestiges of his Dad's fight. Flinching at the heavy hand placed atop his head, Bolt looked up into calm, azure eyes.
"Bolt, good job taking down those ninja. I was hurrying to get to you in time. Thankfully I made it before you were hurt."
"I just wanted to help." Bolt said glaring at the ground as he crossed his arms.
"I know. That's why I had Sasuke watch over you."
"You knew I would follow them."
"Of course you would follow them. You are the son of Naruto and Hinata Uzumaki. Our family doesn't idly stand by when there are people that need protecting." Naruto said beaming.
The grip on Bolt's head tightened as his Dad spoke lightly, "But there are some things you can't handle yet. A fight against more than 30 experienced ninja being one of them." Naruto spoke seriously to his son before releasing him and moving towards the chakra pipes.
Bolt walked next to his father barely keeping up with his long strides. Wasn't he loosing chakra constantly? Even with sheer will alone, his old man shouldn't be standing. How long would this strength last?
Bolt watched as Naruto studied the chakra pipes. His Dad did a quick spin kick, effectively decimating the metal cylinders. The blonde Hokage brushed his black shirt of any remaining dirt. "Dad, how are you even here? The pipes are still sucking your chakra…"
"Let's just say I am hanging on by not overthinking it too much." Naruto said flatly. He rubbed the back of his neck at his son's disbelieving look. "What? I needed to come help you. I sensed the ambush waiting for you when I was in my mindscape. I couldn't let you handle that by yourself. No matter how awesome you are. So I found my strength and teleported here as fast as I could."
"That's stupid. You can't overcome your exhaustion by not thinking about it. You shouldn't even be able to stand up on your own, stubborn old man."
A hand in the air signaled the end to their conversation. Naruto sniffed at the air. He twisted his head and sharply scanned the trees for movement, then took off running. Bolt trailed behind barely able to keep up. Clinks of kunai and grunts of pain were all Bolt heard as they slowed to a stop and hid in the dark green foliage.
Naruto pointed to the chakra pipes the enemy was defending. "Those are the last of the chakra pipes that need to be destroyed. Kurama cannot sense anymore."
"Hmmmm." Naruto brought his hand up to his chin in a pensive demeanor as he crouched on the branch.
"Um….Dad?"
Naruto glanced at Bolt and furrowed his brow, "Yes?"
"Shouldn't we help them. Those are your Anbu down there. Not to mention your ornery old advisor leading them." Bolt anxiously shifted his feet as he watched his Dad's face. He was surprised to see indecision in his features.
"Normally I would, but I sort of made a speech about how I trusted in my ninja's abilities to take care of the enemy without my help. It would be kind of demeaning to go down there now after saying that. It would be an insult to their honor."
"Dad, I think they would rather be alive than worry about their honor."
"They got this one."
"Dad."
"What? They are doing fine. If I noticed any of them in serious danger, I would of course…Oh that guy needs help." Naruto jumped off his branch and landed on top of the ninja threatening to kill one of his Anbu.
"Hokage-sama!" Several of the newer Anbu recruits stopped in their battles to gawk at their leader as he quickly dispatched the rest of the enemy. Bolt heard many similar exclamations from the surrounding Anbu at the appearance of their ill Hokage.
"Guess I better go join in on the fun." Bolt jumped down from his perch. He landed beside his Dad and grinned fiercely while he ran at the enemy. He helped take down one of the remaining enemy ninja with his new rasengan, before a loud clang rang through the quiet forest, announcing their victory of the battle. The broken siphon pieces were smoking with the fresh power they recently attained. The useless pieces then lost their glow and crumbled to ash. Almost immediately after destroying the last pipes, Bolt felt the weakness in his limbs recede. He felt refreshed.
"What the hell do you think you are doing?"
Bolt turned his head towards the angry voice and saw its perpetrator glaring at his Dad. The ornery advisor.
"Shikamaru I had to help out my son." Naruto held up his hands in defense, trying to explain as his friend and esteemed advisor continued to reprimand him.
Bolt ignored the interaction between the two older men. He watched as more Anbu arrived in the clearing. His eyes widened as a dark figure followed the squad of arriving Anbu. The ominous figure calmly trudged up behind Naruto, who was still arguing.
The figure crossed his arms and waited for his presence to be noticed. "What do you think you are doing here?" His voice cut through the loud exclamations coming from the blonde man, who became silent immediately.
"Sasuke, I had to help out…you see…"
"You, are not supposed to be out of bed. You entrusted. Commanded us. To fight for you." All eyes were on the two friends as the tension thickly covered the clearing.
"I can't let you die for me. Not if I can help it." The blonde said seriously with an edge, squaring his shoulders.
Sasuke roughly pointed to an Anbu. "He is willing to." Sasuke pointed to another Anbu. "She is too." Sasuke pointed his thumb to his own chest. "We all are willing to lay down our lives for this village and our Hokage. However, it is harder if the Hokage himself, willingly walks, sometimes limps, straight into the danger."
"Wait a minute…"
"It's a weird cycle isn't it. For once. When you say you will not get involved. Can you not. Get. Involved."
"Sasuke, Bolt was in trouble. Circumstances pushed my hand." Naruto squared his shoulders and continued. "Of course I trust all of you to protect the village. I was feeling better so I thought I would prevent any unnecessary casualties." The blonde man smiled widely and gestured to his stomach. "Besides I've been getting soft. I needed the work out."
Some of the stoic Anbu shifted. Hawk stifled his laughter with his hand and bent over slightly.
"Hawk." Sasuke turned towards the shifting Anbu and stared down at one of the laughing Anbu. "You are in uniform. Do not laugh. Anbu are composed and silent."
"I'm sorry commander. The sincerity of Naruto-kun's statement is full of youth. I cannot help but laugh at my friend's statements. Especially because he seems more well."
Naruto chuckled nervously. "There you have it I am well, if you discount the dizziness." He let out a long breath. "You know I still feel quite funny."
"Dad are you okay?" Bolt walked up to him and touched his bare arm. He felt burning hot.
Shikamaru darted forward when he saw Naruto's knees buckle and caught him just before he hit the ground. The blonde's eyes were tightly closed and he was breathing erratically. "Sasuke." Shikamaru called calmly, trying to still his own racing heartbeat.
Sasuke was already there by his friend's side and was checking his pulse. Bolt was terrified and confused. They destroyed all of the pipes. Everything was supposed to be okay now.
The two men locked eyes with each other, thinking the same thing. Naruto's pulse was getting weaker by the minute and he was unconscious. "Anbu, look alive. There are potentially more chakra sites. Scatter and search the area and alert us if you feel any chakra exhaustion symptoms. Go!" Sasuke ordered curtly.
Bolt watched the ninja disappear and joined the two men by his father's side. He crouched down on his knees. "Dad." He said softly. "Dad, wake up. This isn't funny, you were fine before. You were kicking ass. You were fine…Dad?"
Bolt clenched his fists to keep them from shaking. No. No no no no. This wasn't happening. He couldn't die, not when they were so close to winning. He growled low and wiped away the burning in his eyes. No. He couldn't let his Dad die. He was an Uzumaki. Uzumaki's don't sit idly by.
Checking to make sure Sasuke and Shikamaru were absorbed in their own hushed conversation, Bolt silently stood up. The young blonde, true to his namesake, bolted from the clearing like lightening and headed straight for the darkest part of the forest. Those ninjas were going to pay. He would find that last chakra source, even if it killed him.