Disclaimer: Naruto is not mine.

Spoiler Alert: Go finish reading the manga! In honor of the end of the Naruto manga, I decided to write something (quickly) while I was inspired to. I feel like my childhood is officially over now, haha.

Of Parents, Teachers, and Students

by Evane H. L.

One pleasant weekday afternoon in Konoha saw the Hokage rushing over rooftops toward the village's Academy. As the blonde young man of twenty-six jumped into the Academy grounds' clearing, he checked his watch for the time. He was definitely late, but not terribly late for the parent-teacher meeting he had been summoned for. Sighing, he hoped Shino would be understanding of his position, but he was very likely to give him a hard time due to past grudges that Naruto couldn't be bothered to recall.

Entering the building, he was suddenly doused with a wave of nostalgia as he walked through the empty halls. It was an odd feeling – to feel as though so much time had passed since the formation of Team 7, yet to remember the day as vividly as this morning. An idea struck Naruto suddenly.

Deciding that Aburame-sensei could probably hold off on waiting just a bit longer, Naruto decided to take a detour and head toward his old classroom. Just as he approached the door to the classroom now marked as 1-C, the door slid open and two familiar figures paused at the sight of him.

"Naruto!" Sakura exclaimed. Sasuke silently nodded his greeting, discretely adjusting the back of his wife's collar.

"Sakura-chan… Sasuke," Naruto slowly greeted, giving them a suspicious look. "What are you two doing?"

"We're here for the parent-teacher meeting," Sakura honestly replied. "We had time to spare before our turn, so we decided to check out the old classroom where our genin cell was first formed."

Naruto instantly shot Sasuke an irritated look. "Dude. There are children here! Our kids are still here!" Sakura's cheeks burned red, despite her objecting glare. "I'm the Hokage now, and I can't just overlook everything because it's you two!"

As the rank-card was pulled on them, Sasuke sneered condescendingly at The Seventh over his wife's head. Dread plunged into Naruto's stomach, who was unsure of what his friend may be thinking. Without any preamble, the Uchiha quietly said, "As if the Hokage is so innocent, getting caught in his own office…"

Naruto blanched.

"What!" Sakura turned, looking between the two. "When?"

"Not in front of Sakura-chan, you bastard!" the blonde groaned, putting a stop to the spilling of any more secrets.

"Hokage-sama," a quiet yet irate voice sounded from down the hall. Naruto jumped in spite of himself. He could basically feel the anger roiling off the other man's body.

"Y-yo, Shino," the blonde greeted. "I was just heading over to see you now."

"I should hope so, as you are over an hour late. I have other parents I need to see."

"Right, I know that!" Naruto hastily explained. It seemed as though no matter how old he got, Shino still had a way of unnerving him when he was upset. "It's just that Shikamaru was nagging at me all day to get things done, and Hinata couldn't make it because of the baby, and then–" Naruto felt a small squeeze on his arm which silently ordered him to stop talking. Probably for the best, as Aburame-sensei's mood was now rapidly souring for other reasons.

"What the Hokage means to say," Sakura intervened, "is that his newfound duties have made him late. And his lateness is in no way a reflection of his lack of respect for you or your time." Naruto immediately saw a change in Shino's disposition as he took in his former classmate's words. "Isn't that right, Hokage-sama?"

"Yeah! That's exactly right!" Naruto exclaimed. Seeing Shino's mood return to its usual neutrality, he cautiously approached him, with Sakura and Sasuke trailing behind. "So can you let it slide for old times' sake?"

After a short sigh, Shino nodded, and indicated for the trio to follow him toward his classroom. Hanging back for the other couple, Naruto grinned at his former teammates. "Consider my memory of your sexual exploit erased." He hastened his pace again when Sasuke just barely caught Sakura's fist from contacting with his face. "Yo, Shino – wait up!"

Placing two files onto his desk, Shino faced the three parents. "It is actually a good thing that the three of you are here together. I believe your children can learn a lot from each other."

Naruto laughed, "Hohoho, you're telling me little Sara-chan can learn from my Boruto?" He sent an arrogant look at Sasuke, who simply ignored him.

"Quite the opposite, actually," Shino replied, deflating Naruto's ego. "Uchiha-san is actually top of her class, and she is very well-mannered for her age." Out of the corner of his eye, Naruto saw his former teammates nonchalantly high-five. He groaned.

"Then? What about Boruto?" he asked, dreading the worst.

"Uzumaki-kun is excelling rapidly at taijutsu, although his basic ninjutsu could use some work," Shino stated, looking at the notes. "However, I think that the biggest problem would be his grades and excessive misbehavior in class."

"Sounds just like Naruto," Sasuke replied casually, as he leaned back on the edge of a table.

"Wait, what do you mean 'excessive misbehavior'?" Naruto asked, raising his brows.

"Since I was in his father's graduating class, I would not have been too surprised to see some of his old mannerisms reflect yours, but…" Shino trailed off, and looked down at his notes.

"But what, Shino?" Sakura asked, looking concerned. Boruto was a sweet kid in her eyes, Naruto noted. She was probably finding it hard to believe that he could do anything that their friends would consider 'excessive.'

Sighing, Shino looked at Naruto through his visors. "Lately, Uzumaki-kun has started spreading the ideology that the Hokage position is unnecessary. His exact words to describe the Hokage in an essay were, 'useless, idiotic,' and so on. And during each history lesson in the past month, he has led a charge of students out the classroom and onto the training grounds, refusing to come back no matter how many punishments are threatened."

"Pfft."

"Ha!"

Naruto glared at his friends who were suddenly wearing disinterested looks. "You two are really getting on my nerves, y'know."

"Of course, there are always students – such as Nara-kun and Uchiha-san – who refuse to follow him, but Uzumaki-kun is influential; and he seems to enjoy disrupting class all the more when the other children follow his lead. The other teachers are having a tough time, Hokage-sama," Shino concluded.

"So you want me to talk to him?" Naruto concluded, upset that it wasn't just good news he could take home to Hinata.

"Yes," Shino stated. "And if I may suggest something else..." Naruto nodded. "It may help to make some time for Uzumaki-kun amidst your busy schedule, as he appears to hold an abhorrence for the Hokage position, not necessarily the Hokage himself."

"Aa," Naruto replied, looking down at the polished wooden floors. It was tough to hear criticism come in a way that he couldn't defend it directly. He wondered if Boruto's behavior really was due to his busy schedule and a lack of father-son bonding. Quality time came so easily to them before his Hokage duties had kicked in, and before Boruto started going to the Academy full-time.

Sighing as he made his way out the classroom, he figured life was definitely easier when his biggest worry was changing his son's diaper by himself when Hinata wasn't at home. Before walking too far down the hall, Naruto felt a pair of hands grab at his arm and shoulder. He turned back to see Sakura and Sasuke flanking him. "What are you guys…?"

"Shino said we can pick up the kids once we're done with the meeting," Sakura said, looping an arm through his and forcing him around. "You're heading the wrong way."

"Oh, right," Naruto mumbled, a bit embarrassed at being so openly out of it.

Sasuke exchanged quiet glances with his wife over the Hokage's head, and she nodded once understandingly.

"Ah, crap!" Sakura exclaimed as realization hit her. "I don't think I prepared anything for dinner yet. Sasuke-kun do you mind picking up Sarada-chan yourself?"

"Go. I've got her," he affirmed, smirking as she fixed his bangs before heading off.

The remaining pair walked through the halls toward the Academy's training ground courtyard for quite a while in silence. As they passed a set of windows overlooking the courtyard, Sasuke halted Naruto.

"Look," he said, indicating an occupied tree swing. "That's a familiar sight." Naruto's eyes widened a fraction in surprise at the nostalgic scene. Watching Boruto, who quite resembled his younger self, sitting alone on the old tree swing was like having an out-of-body experience. His head was hanging low on his shoulders so Naruto couldn't quite see his face, only guess at it.

Sasuke observed his friend for a moment before saying, "You know, neither you nor I had the best fatherly role models as a kid." Naruto looked at him, surprised. "I realized it soon after Sarada was born that even despite knowing my father, I had no idea how to be one."

"I met the Fourth," Naruto stated a bit defensively, although he couldn't justify why he was feeling that way.

"Yeah. Once or twice… for a day or two," Sasuke returned. He and Naruto resumed their walk down the hall toward the back exit. "In that time, did you feel angry at him for prioritizing things over you? Or get upset at broken promises?"

Startled by the sudden question, Naruto was left confused, "Wha- I… No. What does that have to do with anything?"

Sasuke looked at him, bangs hiding his Rinnegan from view. "Then you aren't aware of why Boruto has been acting out in class." Naruto squinted, trying to read into what Sasuke was saying, but came up short.

"I'm still not getting it," he said bluntly.

Sasuke sighed, and pushed open the door for the back exit. A welcome breeze ruffled through their village cloaks. "Naruto, it can be hard for kids to realize that their fathers, despite how strong or important they may be, are fallible humans and likely to disappoint."

"So what – is your advice 'just be a perfect dad and don't ever disappoint them', or something?" Naruto asked. In his peripheral, he could see Sara-chan heading toward the tree swing as well.

"No," he said. "I'm saying that when you consider your Hokage duties, don't assume that your kid will understand your priorities the same way you do. And when you say you're going to do something, like pick him up after class, make sure you follow through on your promise and be on time." Naruto's eyes lit up with understanding.

"Ah!" Smiling embarrassedly, Naruto rubbed the back of his neck. It was funny, to be reminded of his nindo in such a manner. "Thanks."

Sasuke nodded, turning his attention to observe his daughter in the distance as she approached Naruto's son. She tapped him on the shoulder, causing Boruto to look up at her. To the surprise of both fathers, he was smiling gleefully without a trace of sadness on his face.

"What are you doing?" they heard Sarada ask him.

"Ehehehe," he snickered, holding something in his fist. Naruto panicked, thinking he knew almost exactly what was to follow. It wouldn't be good to have Boruto tease Sara-chan right in plain view of her father!

The Hokage was about to jump to his son, but it was too late – Boruto tossed a particularly large cicada at Sarada, and it clung to her clothes. To Naruto's surprise, Sarada didn't show much of a reaction at all. She simply stared at Boruto as she slowly pried the insect off her sweater. Naruto's son looked rather disappointed at the result of his prank.

"Not cute at all," they heard Boruto say.

Naruto and Sasuke couldn't see Sarada's face in reaction to that comment; but in the following moment, Boruto was flat on the ground, and the only thing perched on top of the swing now was the cicada. Sarada turned around, caught sight of her father, and smiled widely.

"Otou-san!" she yelled as she ran over.

Naruto gulped as he recalled another nostalgic moment from his childhood, "Another Sakura-chan in the making, that one…"

Naruto left the father-daughter pair behind, to tend to his own son. Walking over to the boy who was now staring up at the leaves in the tree from his position on the ground, Naruto smiled. "Boruto."

Recognizing his dad, Boruto sat up. "Dad!" Taking a moment to remember that he had been waiting for over an hour, he stopped himself from jumping toward his father.

Naruto noticed the change in his behavior, and he reached down to ruffle his blonde hair. "Sorry for making you wait. As a way of apologizing, how about we go get some ice cream on the way home?"

Despite his best efforts to avoid looking eager, Boruto's eyes lit up. "Really? Just you and me?"

"Yeah," Naruto affirmed. "And Boruto," his son paused in dusting himself off to look at his dad. "Just know that the next time I make you a promise I'll follow through on it no matter what. Because that's my Ninja Way." He held out a fist to his son, who bumped his tinier fist in exchange.

Omake/Extra bit

"Now Boruto, get over there and apologize to Sara-chan," Naruto encouraged, nudging his son toward the girl who was clinging to her father, much like the cicada she had left behind.

"Dad, whyyy?" Boruto whined. "She's the one that can't take a joke."

Naruto raised a brow. "Really? Because I'm pretty sure you're the one who got upset when she didn't like your joke."

When his son began to pout and cross his arms, Naruto's left eye twitched. He easily grabbed his son and placed him in front of Sasuke and Sarada in a flash. "Dad!"

"Apologize. Now."

Boruto looked at Sarada abashedly. "I'm sorry for trying to scare you with a bug."

"And," His dad pressed.

"Andforsayinyernotcute…" Boruto grudgingly bit out. He looked up at her father who was watching the exchange with a blank look on his face. He immediately dropped his gaze. Uchiha-san had always seemed so intimidating.

Naruto turned to Sarada, "What do you say, Sara-chan? Can you forgive this brat?"

Sarada stared at the Hokage, and then turned to Boruto. The latter made an indignant face when their eyes met. "Sure," she easily replied. Turning to her father, she motioned wanting to be pulled up. Boruto was surprised to see how easily Uchiha-san obliged to his daughter's request, as he placed her on his shoulders. As the two started to make their way off the Academy grounds, Sarada glanced back at Boruto. "See you in class tomorrow," she said simply.

"Yeah, whatever," Boruto replied, shoving his hands in his pockets. When he felt a tap on his head, he looked up to see his father's open hand.

"Let's go home," his father said, earning a grin from Boruto. "We'll have to eat that ice cream before your mother finds out."

Minor notes: This takes place in a reality slightly different from the one shown in the Epilogue. Here, Sasuke is home with his family just a bit more than was implied in the manga, and has a slightly closer relationship with his daughter. Although, you can imagine that this just takes place a couple of years before then – I imagine the kids to be anywhere from 4-6 years old here.

Also, I made it a point to have the kids address their parents in different manners – more formal for Sarada, more casual for Boruto – simply a reflection of the difference in how they relate to their fathers.

Use your creative energy to determine why the Hokage didn't just flash-jump to the Academy grounds at the beginning. Maybe he likes the villagers' attention?

My first published fanfic in 5 years! Please leave a review!