~ Authors Note ~

Part IV

Here we go again, part four of this story, sorry it took a bit longer for me to make a new chapter, but there's a lot more going on. Also some Naruto/Sakura moments in this because yeah. This stories gone on longer than I intended... oh well. I'm still to far from a conclusion to end it yet so I'll just keep moving forward until it's finished. Anyways, this is where really shit is gonna take place because last chapter was kind of boring and was only needed for Bolt and Sarada to make their decision, this is the next part where the real story starts. Hope you all enjoy and be sure to favorite this and comment below!

Konohamaru-Sensei waits for Mitsuki, Sarada , and me at the front gates of Konoha with the guy we're transporting to the Land of Fire. While I'm not known for being the nicest guy around, this guy is honestly a tragedy case. So bad that I almost feel sorry for the internal urge I have to burst into laughter at the mere sight of him. He's a short guy in the late thirties with big wide eyes behind thick glasses.

His back is hunched like he's spent to much time bent over, and he's dressed in long white robes that drag the ground. Their are dirt stains on the robes that drag the earth, telling that they're not new by any means. In his right hand, he holds a lion head walking cane.

"Took you long enough," Konohamaru-Sensei says, lightheartedly. "I expected this of Boruto, but the rest of you. Honestly, I feel like I should be a little disappointed in you two." He directed his attention towards Mitsuki and Sarada.

Sarada rests a hand on her hip. "Mitsuki and I went to retrieve Bolt personally. It just... it took longer than we expected."

Nodding, their sensei turns to face the man they're transporting. "I would like you three to meet Kimura Saburo-san, he's who we will be transporting to the Land of Fire. Now, introduce yourselves."

"Uchiha Sarada, daughter of Haruno Sakura and Uchiha Sasuke."

"Mitsuki. I do not have a last name to give. And my parent is not around."

I snort. He's more around than you'd think Mitsuki...

All eyes shift to me, that's when I realize that they're waiting on me to introduce myself. Biting back the bitterness in the pit of my stomach, I straightness up and keep a determined and confident lilt to my tone.

"Uzumaki Boruto, son of Hyuga Hinata and Uzumaki Naruto!"

The man, Saburo, taps his finger against his cheek. "Uzumaki you say... Wait, that it. The Seventh Hokage, your his son aren't you?" He presses on, not waiting for my response. "It make a lot of sense, you look just like him after all. Bet you're just like him."

Annoyance and irritation flare. How dare he say that! Maybe I do look like Lord Seventh, but I can't control genetics and neither can anyone else... well except Orochimaru and based on Lord Seventh and Mom's reaction, I highly doubt they'd let him pick my genetic make up. Then there's this asshole saying that I'm just like my old man! why I outta...

Sarada, as if sensing my rage, steps in to diffuse the situation.

"No, not really. Bolt's actually a lot different from his father, he just looks like him more than Boruto care's to admit," she says waving both hands in front of her and gives a uncomfortable laugh.

Before Saburo can say anything else to make the situation worse, Konohamaru-Sensei speaks.

"Alright, now that we're all acquainted, we need to get to the Land of Fire in three days time, Kimura Saburo needs to be there for the current head is to marry. The bride is his daughter and since bandits have been causing trouble for travelers, he's requested us to take him. All good?" we all nod. "Good, then let's be on our way then and don't stray to far behind."

Unknown Location:

"Boruto Uzumaki, Sarada Uchiha, and your son Mitsuki have departed from the gates of Konoha," came a male voice from the computer screen in front of Orochimaru. The man in question waited for a response from his longtime ally. Orochimaru's lip curls in amusement. Kabuto, still as loyal as ever, even after all these years spent apart and his helping at the Konoha Orphanage, yet he's still providing information.

Being a special person such as himself, Orochimaru had to gain information in the villages through many sources, he had at least one informant in every village to help in his never ending quest for knowledge. Now that he had his sights set on the son of the great Seventh Hokage, Naruto Uzumaki, and the daughter and only offspring of Sasuke Uchiha, it's important to be in the know.

"Ah, excellent! Thank you for that good news Kabuto, I was beginning to worry that the children weren't granted leave from the village. Especially considering the complications with Boruto's little sister."

"Yes well, it seems that they've managed to keep them off their trail for now. Just be careful, you're dealing with some very dangerous enemies here," Kabuto says, slightly concerned for his old mentor's sake.

"I am well aware of that Kabuto. This would not be something I would attempt rashly, those two have the most powerful father's on the face of this planet, with nearly no one that can rival them. Imagine what their offspring could do, with the right teacher of course. Boruto, due to his Uzumaki lineage, has massive chakra reserves and his body can store more chakra than any child his age. Through his mother's Hyuga line, he could awaken they Byakygan and that would make him a more dangerous opponent."

Kabuto nods. He's seen and heard much about the oldest child and only son of the Seventh Hokage. Boruto was destined to be a powerhouse, if he's anything like his father that is. And while Boruto may not be a Jinchūriki like his father, the child had more than enough potential through his Hyuga and Uzumaki heritage. That make's him a good ally to have when the fire starts.

"As for Sarada Uchiha, she's already unlocked the standard Sharingan and with my guidance, she could become a truly powerful kunochi. She has her mother's strength, much like Tsunade and with her mother being a medical-ninja it would be wise to teach Sarada how to heal as well, for the mission she and Boruto will be sent on. There are a few things they need to retrieve for me."

Kabuto sighs. "Of course Orochimaru, I will try to keep you informed in the aftermath of Team Konohamaru's loss of three genin in a simple transport mission. I may not be able to contact you for awhile due to suspicion of traitors of the village. "

Nodding his head at his former traveling companion, Orochimaru smiles. "That's fine, so long as you do not endanger yourself whilst among the Konoha ninja. I won't be able to rescue you at the moment, with everything going on and when Boruto and Sarada are extracted... Things will get very messing there."

"Understood, good luck Orochimaru," and with that Kabuto signs off. As soon as the screen goes black, Orochimaru rises to his feet, preparing the hideout for the arrival of his new guests.

In Konoha

Sakura Haruno sat in her small little apartment that she was currently sharing with her current boyfriend Naruto Uzumaki. Now that she and Sasuke and he and Hinata were separating, they all decided not to live with their former partners. The finalization of their divorces would be through sometime tomorrow evening. After that, Hinata would move from the Hokage mansion.

Now to say that Sakura wasn't feeling at all guilty would be one big lie on her part. She wasn't guilty because she was in love with Naruto, the Seventh Hokage and took him from his wife, no, she felt guilty about what this would do to Boruto and Himawari. Naruto wasn't the hokage for the entire duration of his children's live, but he has been for awhile.

They've lived in that mansion for awhile and she felt as if she was evicting them from their family home. One that was associated with fond memories for the children and their mother. And what about her own daughter, Sarada? Sasuke was always away on mission and assignment from Naruto, there's no way she'd live with him. She'll have to live with her and Naruto.

How would Boruto take that? The boy was a spitfire by nature, taking after his father in that regard. He certainly won't be happy about this arrangement, hell, Hinata has hardly seen hide nor hair of Boruto since they informed the children. And after what Hinata told them, she wasn't surprised at the distance Boruto has placed between them.

The kid wouldn't be weak in front of others, not with a younger sister who looks to him for strength. No, he'd build walls to hide behind, bury his feeling so deep that it'd take a great force to pull them to the surface. Boruto, like his father, doesn't like to burden others with feelings that he thinks are his and his alone. He will keep up the facade of being alright until the moment that his lies crush him.

It's because Boruto is like his father that he would rather suffer alone and leave other at ease and bare the full burden and weight of the world on his shoulders. As long as it means that those he care about doesn't have to, it's the same trait that she loves about Naruto. The thing is that the child is still so young and he already feels like his world is falling down around him.

Especially from what Hinata told them back at Naruto's office and what Himawari thought. Her believing for even a moment that Naruto wasn't her dad anymore because Hinata and Naruto were separating. As though their relation by blood and history didn't matter because his relationship with her mother didn't last like he'd thought it would.

The door to the apartment opened as Sakura's index finger tap continuously, she's so lost in though that she didn't notice the sound of her nail meeting the wooden table top. Naruto steps into the apartment, his usually shining blue eyes are dulled from a long day of work and stress about his family. While he tried to get through his day like normal, all he could think about was what Hinata had told him after Sakura and Sasuke had left his office this afternoon.

After the children had gone, Hinata struggled to tell Sakura, Naruto, and Sasuke what Himawari had said just moments ago. Aftr she spoke about something her daughter said, she changed gears. That was a private matter for her and Naruto to discuss together, but she needed to tell Sakura and Sasuke to keep in touch with Sarada's feelings.

Instead, she went with a simple approach. "I mean, the children have bee acting strange lately and I think it would be wise of us to try to interpret how they're feeling. This is a big change for them and I think we should all try to make this as easy as possible for them."

Once the discussion that ensued came to a close, Hinata took a deep breath and decided to go for it. She requested a moment alone with her former husband. She was feeling a bit nervous, she hadn't been alone with him in awhile, not since he admitted to still having feelings for Sakura a couple months back. After Sakura, Sasuke, and Shikamaru departed, she look at Naruto in all his glory.

Even with their divorce almost finalized and their separation already shown by their no longer sharing accommodations, she had to admit the truth, she loved him. Enough to give her life for his in a heartbeat, to put herself in danger like when she'd faced Pein, but things changed. She wasn't in-love with Naruto Uzumaki anymore, something that she never thought possible at one time.

She loved him as a longtime friend who would give her a hand in a heartbeat, as the former lover and partner who'd stuck by her through the hardships, and as the father of her children who he'd give the world for if they asked. If anyone ever asked if she doubted Naruto's love for his children, she'd probably laugh in their faces at that accusation.

Her ex-husband didn't get an easy life, not like their children got. He was an orphan all his life, scorned by the villagers because he was the Jinchūriki that contained the nine-tailed fox, Kurama, he was hated by everyone and would do anything to be acknowledged, pulling pranks was how he did it, he was dead last in the academy, but he changed the lives of everyone he'd ever met and became a hero.

While he didn't have parents, Iruka-sensei was a father-figure for him, and because of his childhood being as bad as it was. He was lonely, he craved companionship and a family. When they were young, his family was made of his friends, when he got older, it was with her. In fact, after their wedding, he was the one who wanted to have children right away.

They were intimate before marriage, but they never dared cross the line of risking a result of pregnancy. Even when she knew how much Naruto desired to create a family of his own and his own wants of having one. He waited until they were married before begging her to agree for them to start trying to make a baby. She can recall how he told her it didn't matter if she only gave him one or over a hundred.

He wanted to have that relationship that he would see between other fathers and children, even if he didn't get to be the child part, he wanted to be the father to them, to have their love and to love them back just as much, if not even more. He'd told her how it didn't matter if they had a boy or a girl, that he'd love either and would cherish them like they were the world.

Of course she'd agreed, eventually. Hinata wasn't completely sure of being a mother so soon after they were unified as one. She worried after every session of love-making about what would the stress of a baby do to their very young relationship.

Nonetheless, it didn't take Naruto that long to get what he wanted. Two months, it only took that long because he was away a lot on high-ranking assignments from Kakashi, and it only took three tries to conceive Boruto. Not that they knew who he'd be at that time. She can still recall the way his face lit when she told him, his blue eyes sparkled like sapphires, with his biggest smile that could light the village.

That's how it started. He loved Boruto before he even knew his gender, before he was the size of a grapefruit, he loved just the idea of him, a child, long before he had one. Himawari wasn't conceived by Naruto's desire for a family, he had Boruto and he would've have been content with just him, but she was an accident. A wonderful surprise whom they both love, their little baby girl who so innocent and sweet.

Boruto was a handful on his own, still is. Naruto never lost his temper with either one of them, especially not with Boruto who could be an absolute terror when he wants to be. No, he smiles and laughs at the insults and sarcasm Boruto spews, the way he hides himself away, and the angry words sent his way because of his job as hokage.

To him, his children are the family he had to make since he didn't have one to call his own, they're a piece of him and he cherishes them like someone would cherish themselves. Their each pieces of him that are individuals with their own thoughts, dreams, desires, and emotions. Himawari is his sweet and innocent daughter and Boruto is his strong and sarcastic son and he couldn't love them any more if he tried. They are his everything.

"What's the matter Hinata?" Naruto tilts his head to the left, worried about his ex-wife's health She'd been zoned out for awhile now. Hinata, on the the hand, can't help but smile at the sight of it, even with their divorce, he still cares about her like he used to.

"H-Himawari s-said something before we a-a-arrived..." she scolds herself for stuttering, but that causes alarms to go off in Naruto's head. While his ex-wife used to stutter all the time, she's gotten over that in all the years they've been married. So if she's stuttering, it must be a big deal.

"What was it."

"S-she, when I told her her that we needed to tell her father about the situation with Boruto and Sarada, she'd said, "I thought he wasn't my daddy anymore." There, she said it. Naruto's eyes widen comically, his face transforming from a leader to that of a confused parent in an instant. Like he couldn't even believe that Himawari would think such a thing.

He shook his head from the thought, but the words his daughter spoke replayed in his head. There isn't anything he can do to escape the image of her saying that, her voice so sad and pitiful. Tearing his gaze from the floor, the Seventh Hokage looks into his kitchen to see Sakura sitting at one of the chairs, her finger tapping against it as though she didn't notice the noise of it.

"Sakura, sweetheart..." he says, taking a seat beside her. Nudging her gently a couple of times does the trick, she shakes her head and looks at him, her green eyes rather troubled.

"Naruto, when did you get here?" she asks in a quiet whisper.

"Just now, are you okay? You were thinking really hard about something, anything that I can help you with?" he asks, flashing his signature grin that took up his whole face, even if he wasn't feeling all that chipper at the moment.

Sakura shakes her head, burying her face against his bright orange shirt as he wraps both arms around her waist. He breathes in her cherry scent, trying to ease his troubled thoughts. Sudden clarity rings through his head as he shifts to look down at her bright pink head.

"Were you thinking about Sarada and what this new relationship will do to her?" he asks, almost hesitantly. He loved Sakura, always had since childhood, and he loved Hinata when they were together, but he loved Sarada like one of his own children as well. He didn't want to hurt her or Himawari, or Boruto who had basically because a missing person by this point.

"No, I am concerned for Sarada as well but... oh well." Sakura sighs.

Naruto narrows his eyes at her. "No, not oh well. Where were you going with that though Sakura-chan?"

"Naruto... What did you and Hinata talk about after Sasuke and I left you two alone?" Sakura asks. "I mean, I want to know if it was what I suspect. And don't think that I'm jealous or worried about you two being alone together. I know you wouldn't do something like that and neither would Hinata, I just want to make sure my worries aren't baseless."

So that's where this is going, Naruto thought before giving in. He too wanted to talk to someone about this and who better than the woman he loved, if anyone might be able to give him so insight, it would be Sakura.

"We talked about Himawari. Hinata told me that she thought I wasn't her dad anymore because she and I are divorcing. That because you and I are in love that that somehow means that I'm no longer her father."

"Yeah, that's what Hinata told me when I'd asked her earlier. I just wanted to see how you'd taken the news. As for Himawari, I wouldn't worry too much about her Naruto, Hinata already told her that you were her dad under any circumstance. She wasn't the one I was concerned about, your daughter is naive and innocent like you and Hinata were when you two were young."

Raising an eyebrow at her, he asks. "If Himawari isn't who you're thinking about, who is?"

"I may not be worried about Himawari because she's always been close to Hinata and believes just about everything she tells her, as for Sarada, well she likes you a lot Naruto and looks up to you so she won't be that much trouble to get her to understand... It's Bolt that I'm worried about."

That made Naruto stare questioningly at her. "Why? Boruto's a strong kid, I think he understands. Maybe he's a bit confused and lashed out at us when we told them, but he just needs time to process everything."

"I never said he wasn't, but Bolt likes to play face. He pretends that he's okay when he's not because Himawari looks to him for strength so he puts up walls to protect himself and a facade to hide behind. If Himawari thought you weren't her dad anymore, I wonder what Boruto's thinking about this. Probably something a lot worse and a lot less kid friendly. He's probably scared and confused, and mad, and just frustrated."

Naruto bites his lips, he'd never thought of it like that before.

"To him, this is like the end of everything he's known for his entire life. I may not be able to read his mind, but I do know that Boruto is hotheaded and would rather hide his real feelings than push them onto others. If you honestly think for one minute that he's perfectly okay with this, then you'd be wrong. What Boruto needs is reassurance from both his mother and father that things are gonna be okay.

That no matter what, your both still his parents and that daddy is still gonna be around. Not just there as the hokage and Boruto being a ninja of the village, but that you're still going to be there as his dad and that you separation from Hinata doesn't change that."

Arms around Sakura's waist tighten as Naruto clings to her for strength. Fresh tears streak down his whiskered cheeks. His body shakes from holding back tears and trying to stay strong.

"I know Boruto's on a mission for the next few days, but when he get back, you need to talk to him. I just hope that he doesn't do anything rash before you get the chance to tell him, he's like a son to me like Sarada is like a daughter to you. Their our kids and they're Hinta and Sasuke's too. We are a family and those three need to now it."