Thanks for the reviews everyone, your feedback really means a lot. I just wanted to remind everyone who reads this story that no review is a bad review. Anything you have to say regarding this story really does helps me, whether it's with my writing or motivation.

Sorry for running a bit late, but, as promised, here is the second chapter. I hope you enjoy it :D.

Some of you may notice that this chapter was re-posted. The reasoning behind this is that, for some reason, I couldn't see this story's second chapter. Apparently the story was updated, but only had one chapter. I have no idea if this is just a glitch on my end (although judging from the reviews I got on the second chapter it might be), but, regardless, I'm re-posting it just in case others couldn't see it as well (I added and fixed some minor stuff as well). Thanks for all the support :).

Meaning

Bolt's eyes widened. He turned around to see his sensei completely unharmed. "How di-"

"Come on kid. You didn't seriously think you were the only one who could use shadow clones right?" Konohamaru responded.

"But when?" Bolt asked.

"When you created that smoke, which was very clever by the way." Konohamaru explained. "Before you keep asking questions, lay down. You look like you're about to pass out." Konohamaru said with a chuckle.

Bolt didn't need to be told twice, but he was so exhausted that when he went to lay down he just fell. Luckily, Konohamaru was there to catch him and gently lay him on the ground.

"You're lucky I carry these around with me." Konohamaru said, taking out a soldier pill from his pouch. "Here eat this." Konohamaru put the pill to Bolt's mouth.

Bolt chewed on the pill and immediately felt some of his strength come back to him. He tried to move, but found himself in a bit of pain. His body felt heavy; even breathing was difficult. His muscles were ached every-time he even thought about moving.

"Just rest there for a little bit. You should be back on your feet in no time." Konohamaru said.

Several moments passed with nothing but unbridled silence. Konohamaru adopted a more comfortable position and sat next Bolt. The young blonde seemed to be lost the orange hues of the sky above him.

"So now you understand right?" Konohamaru asked cryptically.

"Understand what?" Bolt asked annoyed.

"Your father's position." Konohamaru answered as glanced at the boy next to him. "Before you hated Hokages and your father, yet what you said back there didn't seem match up." Konohamaru said.

Bolt stayed silent. He turned his face away from the older shinobi. "You wouldn't understand."

Konohamaru chuckled and looked up at the sky. "You know my grandfather used to be Hokage. He was the Third Hokage." Konohamaru glanced at Bolt to see that he had the boy's attention. "He was like a dad to me. You see my parents were out at work or on missions a lot, so they would leave me with him. I spent a lot of my time with the old man or Uncle Asuma. It wasn't long before everyone knew me as the honorable grandson and I hated it."

Bolt let out a small laugh and Konohamaru smiled.

"It was hard you know; everyone refused to see me as Konohamaru. Instead they saw me as the Hokage's grandson. At first, I didn't mind it that much because he would usually be with me, but that didn't last long. As I got older, he got busier. Before I knew it, I was spending more time training with Ebisu-sensei than with my grandfather. He was almost always too busy to spend time with me. I would always ditch training with Ebisu-sensei and go to the Hokage tower to challenge him for the title. It was my way of trying to get him to notice me again. It was my way of trying to get people to notice me, not his grandson." Konohamaru with a reminiscent sigh.

Bolt laid there in a daze staring blankly into the sky. "I...I just wish he had more time." Bolt said. With some effort, the blonde brought himself to a sitting position.

"Bolt you know he doesn't. As the Hokage, he-"

Bolt punched the ground. "Then he should make some!" He shouted. "I'm his son damn it!" Bolt shouted as he punched the ground again. "He's supposed to be there for me!" The young Uzumaki got to his feet only to see the world around him spin.

Konohamaru caught him before he fell. "Easy there, you're still pretty drained." Konohamaru said with a sympathetic smile. As he sat the younger boy down again, he felt a certain dampness on his pants.

Bolt quickly wiped his eyes dry. He wanted nothing more than to run away and deal with his frustrations somewhere else, but he couldn't summon the energy to get up. He pulled his knees close and rested his chin on his arms as he looked out into the trees.

"Bolt" Konohamaru called. "Do you really think he doesn't know that?"

"I don't know. He's just never there." Bolt grumbled.

"Your father grew up alone you know. The village shunned him for most of his childhood, including most of the children; they're parents told them to stay away. He had no friends; no one was there for him." Konohamaru explained.

This got Bolt's attention. Even though they studied the Hokage at the academy, the lessons usually focused around their achievements rather than their life story. Bolt had never really asked his father about his early life either. He knew a few things from he was on team 7, but nothing before that. He glanced at his sensei with a sudden burning curiosity.

"It wasn't until he entered the academy that he found someone he could call a friend." Konohamaru was growing uncomfortable with the conversation. He didn't think it was his place to tell Bolt about Naruto's early life, but, at the same time, he felt that it was necessary to let him know. He decided to shift the conversation. "That didn't deter your father. You see, Naruto was always quite...determined." Konohamaru said with a smile. "In fact, the original reason he wanted to become Hokage was so that the villagers would respect him." Konohamaru explained.

Bolt took a moment to reflect on what his sensei had just said. He looked at Konohamaru. "Could...Could you tell me more?" Bolt asked with hopeful eyes.

Konohamaru was a bit taken back. "I think you should ask your father. He can tell you more about it than I could." As soon as he said that, Konohamaru saw Bolt's eyes immediately droop down in defeat. "If there is anything you need to know about your father Bolt, it is that he knows what it's like to be alone. He would never want that for you. If you seriously asked him to stop being Hokage and be your dad, he would leave as soon as he could find a replacement. He would give up his dreams for his family Bolt." Konohamaru finished.

Bolt silently listened on.

"Would you really ask him to give up on his dreams to spend more time with you?" Konohamaru asked.

At that moment, something clicked in Bolt's head. He held a small smile on his face. "No." He took a deep breath and made an attempt to get on his feet.

"Easy." Konohamaru warned. He was ready to catch Bolt if necessary.

Despite some stumbling and swaying, Bolt got himself to stand up. "He's the best for the job sensei." Bolt said as he looked up at the rosy sky.

"Your dad knows you're strong enough Bolt." Konohamaru said as he put his hand on the blonde boy's head. "You know, he's counting on you to protect your mother and sister when he's not there." Konohamaru said. He noticed Bolt had that signature grin on his face again and that was enough for a grin to creep up on his own.

There was a moment of peaceful silence between the two, until...

"Shimata!" Bolt shouted as he jumped up in a hysterical fashion.

"What's wrong?!" Konohamaru responded.

"My mom!" Bolt said.

"What ab-"

"I told her I'd be on time for dinner!" Bolt shouted as he panicked. "I gotta go!." Bolt said as he tried to take off. Bolt forgot how tired he actually was thanks to the adrenaline rush he got from his mini panic attack. When he went to try and move like he wanted to, his body didn't respond accordingly. Luckily, his sensei was there catch him.

"How many times do I have to tell you to relax and rest? Your body is exhausted!" Konohamaru said with an exasperated tone.

"But-"

"Get on." Konohamaru said as he kneeled down.

"You don-"

"Do you want to get there on time or not?!" Konohamaru shouted.

Bolt was out of choices so he reluctantly nodded. He got on his sensei's back and they took off. Bolt was surprised at how fast Konohamaru actually was. Seeing it and feeling it were surely two different things. Before he knew it they were in front of his house.

"Wow that was fast sensei." Bolt said as he got off.

"Well I am a jonin after all." Konohamaru said proudly.

Before the two could say anything further, the door opened.

"Bolt. I thought you were gonna be here on time." Hinata said in a disappointed voice.

Bolt frowned. "I'm sorry mom. I got caught up again." Bolt explained. He then did something Konohamaru thought he would never see from Bolt; he bowed.

Hinata looked at her son in mild surprise. A smile graced her face.

"I'm sorry Hinata-san. Bolt wasn't tired after we ate, so we sparred for a while and I guess time got away from us. You know how he is, he never seems to run out of energy." Konohamaru said. He quickly bowed as an apology.

Hinata couldn't hold it in any longer and let out a small giggle. She sighed reminiscently. "I guess it can't be helped." Hinata responded.

Bolt immediately shot her a bright smile and hugged her. "Thanks mom! You're the best!" Bolt said.

"But you're taking a bath before dinner." Hinata finished.

"Aww!" Bolt complained.

Konohamaru smiled as he watched this little moment.

"Nii-chan!"

A little girl with dark purple hair sprinted out of the door to greet Bolt with a hug.

"H-Hima-chan!" Bolt uttered is surprise and pain. His body was still sore from the spar.

Himawari immediately pulled away and crossed her arms. "I'm mad at you Nii-chan!" She declared.

"Wait what?" Bolt said confused. "What did I do?"

"You said we were gonna play today." Himawari said with a pout.

"Well you see I-" Bolt stopped when he saw his sister's face. He hated when she did this to him, but he couldn't take seeing his sister upset. "I'm sorry Hima-chan, but I promise I'll make it up to you!"

Himawari still looked a little bit unsure. "Promise?"

"Promise." Bolt assured with his signature grin.

"Okay!" Himawari said as she reverted to her usual bubbly self. "Hi Uncle Konohamaru!"

"Hey Himawari-chan, how are you doing?" Konohamaru greeted as he crouched down to the smaller girl.

"I'm doing good. Mommy has been teaching me how to be ninja just like you." Himawari giddily responded.

"Really? Are you going to join the academy any time soon?" Konohamaru asked.

Himawari nodded. "Mommy said that I should wait until I'm 8 to join the academy, so that I can learn stuff from her and Ojii-san." Himawari responded.

"Well I'm sure you'll be a super strong ninja then." Konohamaru said as he gently patted the young child's head.

"Hey Hinata-chan, who's at the door?" A voice from within the house asked.

Bolt was surprised. He could pick that voice out anywhere and his house was the last place he would've expected him to be right now. A giddy feeling involuntarily rushed through Bolt.

"Come here and see for yourself." Hinata responded.

A tall blonde man in casual orange attire walked out of the door.

"Hey Bolt! Where have you been? We've been waiting for you." Naruto said as he ruffled his son's hair.

Bolt stared at the man for a bit and then snapped out of it. His father usually didn't make it to dinner, so it was quite the surprise to see him here. He slapped Naruto's hand away and crossed his arms. "Don't call me that old man! I was training with Konohamaru-sensei." Bolt responded.

Naruto sheepishly smiled. "Oh yeah? How did that go?" Naruto said as he crouched down to Bolt's level.

"It went fine." Bolt said as he looked away from Naruto.

"Aww come on. I wanna know if you used any cool techniques." Naruto responded.

Bolt had to smile at that. He did want to brag about his spar with Konohamaru, but he wasn't about to let his dad off the hook so easily. Suddenly, Bolt felt his body being lifted into the air and, before he knew it, he was sitting on his dad's shoulders. Despite feeling a bit annoyed, a childish laugh managed to escape Bolt's lips.

"What are you doing old man?! Put me down ttebasa!" Bolt protested in mock anger.

"You used to beg to carry you like this ttebayo!" Naruto retorted.

"I'm not a little kid!"

"You just turned ten Bolt."

Bolt huffed in frustration with a smile that betrayed his expression. He was too tired to continue their usual banter, so Bolt placed his arms on his father's head and rested his chin.

Naruto smiled. "Well since he doesn't want to talk about it...Konohamaru how was it?" Naruto asked.

Konohamaru took a look at Bolt; he seemed impassive as he waited for his answer. "His chakra control was excellent. He was able to effectively use Jyuuken with a good general knowledge of where tenketsus are in the chakra pathway system. He has large chakra reserves for his age; he was able to make two shadow clone, use henge, and use a good wind style jutsu. His strategic awareness was also very good. He's definitely got your attitude Naruto; the kid refused to go down without a fight."

Bolt smiled wide at the compliments.

"But, when he got in trouble, he was completely reckless and tried to muscle his way through. After using Jyuuken extensively, he decided it would be a good idea to use shadow clones. I warned him about the how dangerous it is to use that jutsu, especially when he's so young, but he did it anyway. He suffered from chakra exhaustion. The only reason he didn't pass out was because I had soldier pills on me."

Bolt looked down. Bolt was sure his mother would lecture him later after hearing about that.

"He's got guts though. He even managed to surprise me and take out my reinforced shadow clone." Konohamaru said with a smile.

"Really? Bolt did that?" Naruto asked in surprise.

"Yep."

Naruto glanced up at his son and put a hand on his head. "You've gotten strong Bolt." Naruto said with a proud grin.

He might not admit it, but Bolt felt happy. He was not only happy that his progress as a ninja was being recognized, but, moreover, he was happy that his dad acknowledged it. As elated as he was feeling, he wasn't about to show it. Bolt quickly buried his face into his arms. "Thanks...dad." Bolt muttered.

"Mommy I'm hungry." Himawari complained.

"I know sweetie." Hinata responded warmly. "Naruto-kun, we should eat dinner before it gets cold. You're welcome to stay Konohamaru." Hinata said.

Naruto scratched the back of his head. "Yeah you're right. Bolt looks pretty tired too."

"Thanks for the offer, but I gotta go do...something else." Konohamaru said sheepishly.

"Something else?" Naruto questioned.

Hinata gave the jonin a knowing smile. "You probably don't want to keep her waiting then. She hates waiting." Hinata teased.

"Eh? Am I missing something?" Naruto asked.

Hinata giggled. "Don't worry about it Naruto-kun."

"I should probably get going soon, but, before that, I have to talk to you about something Naruto." Konohamaru said.

Hinata nodded. She crouched down to her daughter's level. "Let's get ready for dinner." Hinata said with a smile.

"Okay!" Himawari said excitedly as she went back inside the house.

"You too Bolt." Hinata called.

"But I wanna know what they're gonna say!" Bolt protested.

"You have to take a bath before dinner, because you were late remember?" Hinata responded.

"But..." Bolt hung his head in defeat.

Naruto carefully put Bolt down. "I'll be there soon." Naruto said.

Those words did not sit well with Bolt. "That's what you always say." Bolt said as he walked into the house. The negative thoughts that were brewing in his head quickly dissipated when he smelled his mother's cooking. He made a b-line for the table.

"You smell funny nii-chan." Himawari said pinching her nose.

"Bath first Bolt." Hinata said.

"But mom! I'm really hungry." Bolt complained.

"We're waiting on your father. He'll be here by the time you're done bathing." Hinata responded in her usual calming voice.

"You don't know that. He might have to go work or something." Bolt said with a frown.

Hinata sighed. She was plenty aware of the growing rift between her husband and her son. She crouched and pulled him into a hug. "You gotta trust mommy on this one. He promised he would be here for dinner and your father never breaks promises." Hinata whispered.

Bolt held a small smile on his face.

"Come on nii-chan! I'll take a bath with you!" Himawari said as she started pulling along.

"W-what? No way!" Bolt protested. He broke out of her grip and started running upstairs. "I can do it myself!" Bolt shouted.

"Wait for me nii-chan!" Himawari shouted as she ran up the stairs to follow him.

- Break -

"Are you sure?" Naruto asked in an incredulous tone.

"Yeah he definitely did it." Konohamaru answered.

"Wow this is awesome! Hinata and I didn't really expect either of them to have that." Naruto said with glee.

"Bolt told me he's been training with Hiashi and Hinata. How'd you get him to do that?" Konohamaru said.

Naruto laughed. "He! You should see him now; Hiashi is a big softie when the kids are around." Naruto explained with a sly smile. "Plus he wanted to see if they inherited the Byakugan."

"Well it's good to know he's softened up over the years." Konohamaru commented. His face grew a bit more serious. "Are you going to tell him?"

Naruto's face grew serious as well and he shook his head. "No." He answered. "It's better if he figures it out on his own."

Konohamaru nodded. "Anyways I really gotta get going, but there's one more thing I have to tell you."

Naruto stood there impassively waiting for his friend to speak.

"Don't worry about Bolt too much. He'll come around." Konohamaru said with a smile. With that he took off into the rooftops.

- Break -

Bolt didn't have a choice; when it came to his sister, he would do just about anything. There was just no way around it; each time he would protest she would pull the eyes on him and he would end up caving. As nice and innocent as she was, Bolt swore that she knew more than she let on. But he was her big brother after all and there was no way he was gonna see the day where a smile would drop from her face.

"Wasn't that fun nii-chan!?" Himawari said with a smile.

Bolt had a grin of his own. Himawari always had a way to make him feel better. "Yeah it was Hima-chan."

"I'm glad you're feeling better nii-chan." Himawari said.

"Thanks Hima-chan." Bolt responded earnestly.

A loud growl interrupted the two siblings. Both Uzumakis laughed before toweling off; they quickly got dressed and headed downstairs for dinner. As two headed downstairs they saw their father talking to their mother in the kitchen.

"Mommy we're done!" Himawari announced.

Hinata shifted her attention her two children. "Dinner is already on the table sweetie." Hinata responded.

"Okay!' Himawari said as she ran to the table.

Bolt, on the other hand, stood there looking perplexed.

"You okay Bolt?" Naruto asked as he approached his son.

"You're not leaving?" Bolt asked.

"Of course not! Why would you ask that?" Naruto questioned.

"I mean..." Bolt was struggling with his words. He wanted to let him know exactly why he asked that; he wanted to lash out. At the same time, he was glad his father wasn't leaving and he didn't want to upset his mother or sister.

Naruto's expression softened. He put a hand on the boy's back. "We can talk about it later." Naruto said. "Now come on! I'm starving-ttebayo." Naruto said as he gave him a little push.

Bolt chuckled. "You're always hungry old man."

The two males walked to the dining table to find Hinata and Himawari waiting for them. They quickly took their seats and, with that, the family began eating their dinner. The dinner table was always quite lively for the Uzumaki family; it was full of old stories and other conversations that always brought smiles everyone at the table. Today, though, Bolt had something specific he wanted to talk about.

"What do you do as Hokage?" Bolt plainly asked.

"Huh?" Naruto uttered, having been caught off guard.

"I mean all I ever see you do is sit in your office and work through some papers or you're doing something on your computer." Bolt explained. "Is that all being Hokage is about?" He asked with a hint of annoyance.

"Daddy protects the whole village!" Himawari said.

"That's right sweetie." Hinata responded. "A Hokage makes sure that the village is running properly and that the villagers are happy." Hinata explained.

"Sounds boring. If all you do is sit behind a desk and do paperwork all day, why would anyone want to be Hokage?" Bolt said, crossing his arms and looking up indignantly.

Naruto watched his son with a somewhat bemused expression. "Bolt." He called.

"Hm?" Bolt relaxed his expression and looked at his father.

"Being Hokage" He started. "For me being Hokage means I can protect my precious people. Sure, it gets boring with all the meetings and the paperwork. And dealing with the council is always stressful, not to mention all the complaints I get everyday." Naruto stopped to chuckle. "But if that's what it takes to make sure you, Hima-hime, Hinata-chan, and everyone else have a reason to smile, then I want to be Hokage."

"Yay! Daddy!" Himawari shouted as she slid off of her seat and climbed up on her father's lap to give him a hug.

Naruto smiled at his young daughter and gently ruffled her hair. "Alright Hima-hime go finish your dinner."

"Okay!" Himawari responded as she sat back down in her seat.

The family resumed their dinner. There was a comfortable silence at the table. Hinata was smiling and Himawari was giggling a little bit as they finished their meal. Bolt, on the other hand, wasn't paying much attention to his food, instead he was just staring at his father. The young boy was unconsciously fiddling with his utensils, as thoughts raced through his head.

"Boruto-kun." Hinata called.

The blonde boy snapped out of his trance and looked at his mother.

"Did you lose your appetite?" Hinata asked.

Bolt looked down at his plate. "Sorry mom, I guess I was distracted." He said sheepishly.

Hinata giggled. "Well finish up. You gotta get up early for academy."

Bolt groaned.

The two parents chuckled.

"Come on. I'll tuck you guys in tonight." Naruto said.

"Yay! Can you read me a bed time story daddy?" Himawari asked.

"Of course Hima-hime." Naruto responded. There was no way he could resist his little girl's innocent face.

While Hinata cleaned the table, Bolt wolfed down the rest of his dinner. He was kind of disappointed that he didn't get to spend more time with his dad, but at least he got to see him before bed-time. Bolt heard Himawari giggle.

"Come on Daddy!" Himawari said as she dragged Naruto upstairs.

"Wait Hima we have to help mommy clean up." Naruto responded with a sweatdrop.

"It's okay Naruto-kun. I got it!" Hinata said.

"Yay! Come on daddy, let's play!" Himawari said as she slowly dragged him further upstairs.

"Hinata-cha~n." Naruto shouted in mock anguish.

Hinata giggled and turned her attention back to the dinner table. She looked back and saw that Bolt was about to run upstairs as well.

"Bolt-kun." She called. "Can you help me clean up?" Hinata asked in sweet voice.

Bolt seemed conflicted, but after a few moments he relented with a groan. "Yes mom." He responded.

Bolt picked up the rest of the plates and took them to the kitchen. While they were washing the plates, Hinata kept catching her son spacing off with a small frown. She was pretty sure she knew what was bothering him.

"You know your sister misses daddy a lot." Hinata said.

"Hm?" Bolt glanced at his mother.

"I know she usually doesn't show it, but she's always asking to visit the Hokage Tower." Hinata explained with a sad smile. "But we can't always visit his office, since your father has to work."

Bolt caught on to what his mother was trying to say and smiled a bit. "Yeah...She talks about it sometimes." Bolt responded.

Hinata pulled him into a hug and kissed his head. "Himawari is lucky to have a big brother like you."

Bolt laughed and gave her his signature grin. "Of course she is!" He said.

After they finished cleaning up the dishes and organizing, they headed upstairs. As they walked through the hall, they saw Naruto quietly closing the door to Himawari's room.

Naruto sighed and wiped his forehead before taking notice of Hinata and Bolt. "She's out for the night." He said with a smile.

Hinata smiled at her husband. "Thank you Naruto-kun." She said. Hinata shifted her attention to her son. "Okay Bolt-kun, it's time to get ready for bed."

Bolt scowled. "Aww can't I stay up a little longer with you guys?" Bot pleaded.

"Bolt you have academy tomorrow. Besides your father and I are going to bed too." Hinata responded.

"Yeah I gotta go to the tower earlier than usual." Naruto explained.

Bolt pouted. "Okay." He said in a dejected tone and headed to his room.

Bolt sat on his bed and looked out the window. Looking out into the village and up at the sky always helped him clear his head. It wasn't long, though, before he heard a click at his door. He turned to find his father standing at the doorway.

"I see you're not ready for bed yet." Naruto said with a chuckle.

Bolt gave his father an exasperated look and threw his head into the bed.

Naruto took a spot in his son's bed and sat down. "So do you want a bed-time story too?" Naruto teased.

Bolt sprang up and punched Naruto's arm. "No way old man! I'm not a little kid!" Bolt responded.

Both of them laughed a bit.

"There is something I want to ask you, but..." Bolt trailed off.

Naruto a put a hand on the boy's shoulder. "You can ask me anything Bolt." Naruto said with a comforting smile.

"It's about when you were a kid." Bolt explained.

As soon as he said that, Naruto stopped smiling. "Go on." He encouraged.

Bolt gripped his jacket. "Is...Is it true that you were alone?" Bolt asked.

There was a moment of silence. The atmosphere became heavy and Bolt refused to meet his father's gaze; he, instead, he focused on the floor.

"Yeah. I was." Naruto answered. "You probably know that Grandma Kushina and Grandpa Minato passed away protecting the village."

Bolt nodded.

"After that, I was put in a foster home for a while, but, eventually, the Third gave me my own apartment. That old man always looked out for me." Naruto said with a sad smile. "Not a lot of people were nice to me; I spent a lot of my time pranking them and the Hokage monument."

This caught Bolt's attention. "Why?" Bolt asked.

Despite the ambiguity in his son's question, Naruto knew what he meant. "I wanted them to recognize me." He answered. "I wanted them to acknowledge me as Naruto, not something else. I guess I thought being the best Hokage would do that."

Bolt frowned.

"But that all changed when I joined the academy. That's where I met Sakura-chan, Sasuke, Hinata-chan, and everyone else. I remember the first day I met Iruka-sensei and, even though he was a strict teacher, he was always looking out for me. After that I got put into Team 7 with Kakashi-sensei. Before I knew it, I had a bunch of friends that acknowledged me." Naruto explained.

Bolt felt hand resting on his head and, on reflex, looked up to his father.

"Now the whole village acknowledges me and they trust me to be Hokage. Even more importantly, I have a family now." Naruto said with smile. "You, Hinata-chan, and Hima-chan mean the world to me and..." He took a breath. "I want to protect that dattebayo!" Naruto vigorously declared.

At that moment, something snapped and the floodgates opened. Little by little, tears started to form in the young Uzumaki's eyes. His breaths became rapid and inconsistent. Bolt lunged at his father and buried his face into his jacket.

Naruto was startled at first; it wasn't normal for Bolt to act like this. He then relaxed and wrapped an arm around his son. "I'm sorry Bolt." He said.

This made Bolt lift his head to look up at his father.

"I guess I haven't been the best father." Naruto said with a sad smile. "I'm sorry for-"

"Dad stop." Bolt said. He pushed away from Naruto and sat upright. "I..." Bolt stopped to wipe the tears on his face. "I understand." Bolt almost laughed at the confused look on his father's face. "I'm glad you're my dad dattebasa!" Bolt said with a smile.

Naruto felt a blend of unique emotions surge through him; among them were pride, elation, confusion, and unadulterated bliss. Naruto brought his hands to his face and felt a strange dampness.

"Dad are you crying?" Bolt teased.

"Eh?!" Naruto immediately jumped out of the bed. "Weren't you just bawling a second ago?! Naruto said with an accusatory finger.

"No I wasn't!" Bolt retorted.

"Yes you were!"

"Well you cried way more than I did!"

"No way! You did!

"No you did!

"No you did!

After a few more moments of banter, the two looked at each other and fell over on the bed laughing. After a few seconds, Naruto suddenly sat upright with a look of horror.

"I have to go to the Hokage Tower in a few hours!" Naruto said.

"I have academy..." Bolt said.

They both slowly turned their heads and looked at the clock. Then they simultaneously groaned.

"Sorry." Naruto said sheepishly, while scratching the back of his head.

"Meh I'll be fine." Bolt responded. "Besides I did say I wanted to stay up right?" He said with a smile.

Naruto smiled back at him. "Right."

And with that, the Hokage got up from the bed and headed towards the door. He opened it, but...

"Dad?" Bolt called.

Naruto turned his head to look at his son. "Yeah?" He responded.

"Thanks and..." Bolt took a small breath "Could you keep this between us?" Bolt asked.

"Of course!" Naruto answered with a thumbs up. "Good night." He said as he turned off the lights.

"Good night...old man." Bolt said with a snicker.

With a chuckle or two, Naruto closed the door.

So tell me, what do you think about Naruto and Bolt's relationship? Do you think I portrayed it and/or them correctly? Which name do you prefer, Bolt or Boruto?

I look forward to reading what you thought.

Thank you for reading my story!

Until next time! :D.