Past's Reality
It was a nice spring day in Konoha. The morning rays that the sun so generously gives us, start to emerge from the high trees, lighting up the beautiful village.
In a specific house that all the villagers known as the 'Uzumaki residence', we find the entire family still sleeping soundly in their beds.
The youngest of the children 'Himawari' let out soft breaths as she was clutching a little fox toy in her arms.
She is the sweetheart of the family, always listening and never naughty.
Talking about naughty, let us move on to the eldest of the Uzumaki children.
Better known as 'Boruto'. We find him lying on his bed with his arms and legs spread, snoring that could rival his own father.
Unlike Himawari, Boruto is very energetic and brash. Always finding a way to give his father a headache. Or making a mess for his mother to clean up.
But his parents love him none the less. Because they believed he would grow up to be a wonderful boy.
Because hey, if he was every bit like his dad was before. They didn't have anything to worry about.
Moving on to the parents of said house.
We find them together in their bed, holding each other like lovers do. The mother of the house 'Hinata Uzumaki' was every man's dream. A beautiful woman, strong in her own right. Armed with the gentle fist style that could knock out people in seconds. A mother who cooks and cleans for her family. And finally a wife who will do anything for her husband, even if it meant giving up her own life.
And finally we have the father. A great man who's power is only rivalled but the famed, and also to some, notorious Sasuke Uchiha. A father who would protect his family no matter what. A ninja who will go to any lengths to protect his village. A leader, for he has achieved his dream of being Hokage. And a husband who would, just like his wife, give his life for Hinata or his children.
As the sunrays slowly rise up through the window and kiss the skin of the blond man. The snoring stops. A soft grunt was uttered, indicating the displeasure of the light disturbing the peaceful slumber. Eyelids open slowly as ocean blue irises are seen. Naruto slowly rises up, much to his displeasure. Stretching his arms and straightening his back he lets out a grunt as his bones emit a popping sound. A yawn is released as he wipes his eyes.
Looking at the clock next to him he sees the time.
'6:30'.
He knew it was time to get ready, it might be weekend to most people, but to the Hokage weekends meant extra hard work days.
He let out a grunt again.
"Well better get ready or Shikamaru won't stop nagging about me being 'troublesome'."
Turning around he sees his loving wife still asleep even after his sound awakening. Stretching out his hand, he softly caresses her face.
"Hey, wakey wakey sleepyhead."
"Hmmm 5 more minutes Naruto…" Naruto let out a laugh, this was normally how he acted in the mornings.
"I know Hina-hime but u promised Boruto and Himawari to go to the park today." It didn't take long for her to slowly rise up and mirror what Naruto did moments ago.
"Ah, was that today? Better get some food ready for breakfast, what would u like Naruto-kun?"
"Hmmm how abouuuuut U!" He jumps, she lets out a pitched laugh. He warps his hands around her body not letting her escape, burrowing his head in her neck.
"Haha Naruto-kun, now's not the time, we need to get ready!" she replied playfully.
"But Himeeeeee it's been so long! When will we have some alone time again?"
"That depends on u Naruto-kun, Shikamaru said if u work well this week u might have the next weekend off. And… on that weekend Sakura will take Boruto and Himawari for us. So that leaves the house for us, 'allone'."
She emphasised that last word. Naruto lit up, his face getting a little blush already thinking of what he would do with his wife next week.
"Naruto-kun, stop daydreaming and get ready for work." She stood up and gave him a kiss. Leaving to make breakfast.
"Don't take the bathroom for too long okay?"
"I won't hime." He stood up and went to the bathroom to get ready.
"Aaah that was a good bath!"
" DAAAAAAAAD common the food's ready and mom won't let me eat if u're not here!"
Boruto spoke loudly indicating his impatience.
But Naruto understood him quite well, everyone loved Hinata's cooking.
Him being no exception.
"I'm coming, I'm coming! Hold your horses!"
He approached the dining room and stopped for a second, admiring the scene before him. He sees his children next to each other anxiously looking at the food and his wife patiently waiting for him.
Sometimes he wonders how lucky he is to have a family. He sees Boruto slowly reaching out to a piece of bread. Only to see his hands slapped away by Hinata.
"Ouch! Mom why did u do that!" he asked while rubbing his hand.
"I told u to wait Boruto, it's not polite to eat before everyone's here." She scolded her son.
"Don't worry Hina-hime I'm here, let him eat." Naruto said with a smile. Boruto didn't hesitate and snatched whatever he could get on his plate.
"Thanks Dad!" Was a happy reply from his son. To which Hinata only could shake her head.
Naruto approached his little princes first, giving her a kiss. Her reaction was as always a cute giggle and a " G'morning dada" as the vocabulary of a 4-year old could allow.
Going to his 8 year old son he ruffled his hair giving him a big smile. Boruto turned around saying that he should stop doing that. But still giving his father a hug and saying good morning.
Finally he sat down and he started to eat. Yeah he was indeed the luckiest man alive right now. Because he wouldn't trade this for anything in the world.
"Alright kids, be nice to your mom and don't give her trouble. Especially u Boruto. Don't think we forgot that glue accident last week."
Boruto looked away trying not to show his red face. It was just a little prank he played on Kakashi-jiji. He just asked what those books he was reading were. But he only got a "When you're older" reply. So he decided to glued the books together as a prank making them unreadable.
"I won't dad, I promise!"
"That's my boy, and u know, we Uzumaki never break a promise –tebbayo!" He ruffeled his hair again showing him a big smile.
"I Know dad, cus one day that's going to be my ninja way. Just like u –tebassa!"
Naruto turned to Hinata and Himawari giving them both a kiss.
"Have a nice day at work Naruto-kun"
"Bye bye dada!"
"Alright I'm off!"
And with that Naruto went to fight his enemy…. Paperwork.
Economics, politics, exchanges, offers, advice, and many more things that Naruto has to go through. He was so thankful that he had the Kagebunshin to make his work a little less, as Shikamaru would say, 'troublesome'. But he was still glad with the work he has.
He shouldn't be someone to complain. After all he has a perfect office with all the newest electronics and devises to make his work faster. Not to mention
air-conditioning.
He knew that it's only a matter of time until paper will never be used again and only digital versions will be utilised. That would make Udon and Moegi very happy. They shouldn't have to carry all those stacks of paper all the time.
Looking over the next set of papers he sees it's an offer to expand the village again.
He lets out a 'sigh'
"How many more times do I have to explain them we won't expand anymore?"
The village in, Naruto's opinion, was big enough. And to top it off it was TOO big for the current population amount. But some people just think about money and their own gains.
"We've cut down enough trees! Kami , we're called the village hidden in the leaves! Not 'the village hidden in the Iron'!"
He didn't waver taking out a stamp and slamming it onto the paper, clearly showing a big red 'Denied'.
He took in a long breath and let the cold air of the air-conditioning hit his back. Releasing said breath he put his hand under the desk and pushed a lone blue button.
No sound was heard but after a few seconds the door opened.
The man entering was his personal advisor and friend Shikamaru.
"U called Hokage-sama?" He asked his face showing no emotion, showing how serious he took this job.
"Yes Shikamaru. Take this pile of paper to the owners and tell them if I see one more request of this nature I will personally come to them. And it WON'T be pleasant."
Shikamaru took the pile and glanced at it briefly. Seeing the subject, he sighed.
"Very well Hokage-sama, it will be done." Saying no more he left the office.
A while has passed. Looking at his watch he saw that the time was 16:30.
He has been working for about 7 hours straight. He puts his pen down. And lays back a bit.
"Damn today was uneventful, so boring. I almost wish Boruto would do something." He laughed inwardly at that statement. Because he knew that it would bite him in the ass one day.
Hearing a soft knock on the door he stood up. He wasn't expecting anyone today.
"Enter." It was short and direct. Whoever it was, coming here uninvited or without notice isn't the best idea.
The door opens to reveal Tenten.
Naruto smiles, well except his friends of course. They were the exception.
"Heya Tenten how're doing?" Turning from full Hokage mode to plain and simple Naruto in a second.
Tenten smiled as well. Out of everyone she, Naruto and Hinata took the loss of Neji the hardest. Seeing him once in a while made her happy. Because he's the reason that Neji gave his life. And she would not accept it if something happened to Naruto. It would make Neji's sacrifice hollow and meaningless.
"I'm fine Naruto. I just came to report on the mission to the land of Spring."
"What u and bushy-brow are back already? Weren't u supposed to be here tomorrow?" It would explain her unnoticed arrival.
"We finished early. But I also have to report something other than the mission." She sounded serious. And Naruto knew that if Tenten was serious it meant, DEAD serious.
"Report and explain." Once again brining up his Hokage spirit.
"The mission went smoothly, the bandits were dealt with and given to the Tsitsukage. She thanks u for the help. After brining in the bandits we cleared their hideout. That was supposed to be our last assignment before leaving. When something happened."
"Something?" It wasn't a question, it was a request to elaborate.
"Lee… 'accidently' hit the wall of the bandit cave. At first I thought the entire cave would implode. But I was wrong. Instead it revealed a hidden section of the cave. We thought that it was purposely hidden by the bandits so we decided to investigate further."
"U decided to investigate an un-known section of a cave without informing me or the Tsitsukage?" lifting his eyebrow.
"Lee was… energetic that day."
"I see, tell him next time to not do that again."
"I will."
"Continue."
"The section itself was small, about a diameter of 25 meters. At first we thought it empty. But then we saw… some sort of altar."
"Altar? As in a worshipping altar?"
"We thought so too. We went to the altar only to see that there was a scroll on top of it.
It was completely red and sealed off. The language was unreadable so we couldn't understand it. So opening a scroll we didn't know anything about wasn't something I wanted to do."
"Then why didn't u seal the cave again and left the item there? For all we know it could be property of the Village hidden in the Rocks."
"U do know that I hold the weapons that Kinkaku and Ginkaku once had right? The ones that belonged to the Sage of Six Paths?"
"Well yes, but what does that have to do with this scroll?"
"When I touched the scroll Hokage-sama, it had the same feelings as the weapons… it's a scroll from the sage of six paths. Of that I'm certain."
Naruto was actually surprised. Another artefact of the sage just lying about in a cave, for god who know to pick it up. U'd figure a great warrior as the sage of six paths who defeated the ten tales would hide his dangerous items better.
If this scroll had any devastating powers like the weapons Tenten possessed….
Well let's just not go there.
Naruto cleared his throat.
"I take it u have the scroll with u?"
"Yes Hokage-sama." Tenten opened her pouch to bring out the scroll. She placed it on Naruto's desk.
Naruto looked at it carefully. Just as Tenten explained the scroll looked like any simple scroll. But the marking around it were… alien indeed. The more he looked at it the more he was drawn to it. A familiar feeling building up in his gut. A sense of foreboding creeping under his skin. Or was it just the air-conditioning hitting his back? Whatever it was it didn't spell anything good.
Shaking his head to break from his trance, he looked at Tenten again.
"From now on, only u, Lee and me may know of this scroll's existence. I will inform Sasuke of this as well. He'll have to keep an eye out for anymore artefacts that might lay about. Tell Lee to be silent about this as well. There may be peace now, but there are still people who would want to misuse these kind of powers. Understood?"
"Yes Hokage-sama!"
"Dismissed. And take a well-deserved break Tenten." He smiled relieving them both of the professional tension.
She smiled back "I will Naruto. Tell Hinata I said hi. And that she should pass by for some tea if she wants."
"Will do Tenten." He nodded his head. And then waved her goodbye.
Seeing her leave the office he took a long breath again before releasing it again.
Looking outside the window he looked at the sky.
"Old man Of six Paths what is it that you left here now?"
The feeling of foreboding still not having left his body. He shuddered.
"Hmm, better turn off that air-conditioning, don't want to get a cold."
He yawned after closing said machine. "Well I'll talk to Kurama about this scroll after a quick nap. It won't hurt won't it?"
He had no idea how wrong he was.
Today was supposed to be an 'awesome' day, playing all day, running around. And best of all eating mom's cooking. Yes those were the thoughts of Boruto Uzumaki. That was until he, his sister and his mom ran into auntie Hanabi.
He really loves his mom. And Hanabi too. That's because they're family.
But when those two meet on the road. They talk for hours, it's sooooo boring.
And his mom won't let him leave. Himawari always listens to mom, so she won't go anywhere.
Was it so much to ask?
"A fun day at the park. "
That's all he asked. Nothing more. And now auntie Hanabi had to ruin it all. Standing still for over 45 minutes was his limit. All the good spots were probably taken by now. And all the other kids will also be at his favourite playground attractions, leaving him unable to play with those.
He was fed up. But what is there to do? He had to think about it for a while. Looking around the village he could see the various market stands. Some were selling food, others were selling clothes. There was even a fortune-teller a bit further. He let out a disappointed breath. Looking up his eyes fell upon the Hokage monument. He looked at them starting from the first Hokage, Hashirama Senju. He didn't know allot about the old geezer. His dad told him he was one heck of a ninja. So strong that he could stop uncle Kurama with just one 'wood jutsu'. But then again dad could do so too with his Jutsu's. Because face it. No one's better than his dad. He looked over to his father's face, when suddenly an idea popped in. He smiles with a wide grin that was equaly as infectious as his father's.
" I'm gonna go and play with dad! Best idea ever!"
Little did he know what chain of events he would let loose.
It wasn't that hard to get away from mom. A simple glance to make sure she wasn't looking. And he would be off.
But Himawari did notice him. She shot him a questionable look, showing her interest in what he would do. Himawari always likes what Boruto does, it always makes her laugh, and she likes laughing. He looked back at her. Putting his finger vertically in front of his mouth indicating her to be silent. Himawari though this to be a game. So she decided to play along. She mirrored her older brother's action of silence and gave him a smile. He smiled back and moved his lips into a silent 'thank you'. He gave one last glance, just to be sure. And he was off to find his dad.
Allot of people say that Boruto has many similarities to his father. Blond hair, blue eyes. Even the 'adorable' whisker marks. What many people 'also' know is that Boruto, just like his father, does things without a plan.
It started off good. He evaded his mom, who by now, probably doesn't even knows that he's gone yet. Then he rushed over to his dad. But that was the problem. In which way was his office? He had no clue. His face took on a frown. Looking left and right to, hopefully, find a familiar route. He hated this.
"How hard was it find a GIANT building in the middle of the village!" he voiced out. Shifting his head to the right, he stood still.
"Oh, there it is." A big smile adored his face and he rushed off.
He paid the people around him no mind. The only thing that he wanted to do was to see his dad, and play a game with him. It was a long time ago that he played with his father. The workers of the building chuckled when they saw the yellow dot run through the halls straight to the main office. They didn't have the heart to stop him.
Who would've thought that they made a bad decision?
The door slowly opened up. Boruto wanted to surprise his father. That is IF he could do that. Naruto always knew where he was. There was no hiding from the seventh Hokage. Nu-uh no one. And Boruto blamed it all on Uncle Kurama. The fox gave his father a great sensing ability. Witch Boruto thinks is awesome. But also cheating. What's the point of being a ninja if u can't hide? Oh well.
When he closed the door behind him he saw the greatest blackmail of his life.
His dad sleeping on the job.
"Oh man, this is awesome. I can get endless ramen whenever I want!" to say he was ecstatic would be an understatement.
He stepped slowly so he wouldn't wake his dad up. Witch he found strange. His dad, a fully trained ninja couldn't sense him in his sleep.
"Wow, dad must be really tired if he can't sense me."
He pressed on getting closer to Naruto. When suddenly his attention was caught on a lone red scroll in the middle of his desk. The scroll looked weird. Normal scrolls don't have black markings around them. At least the scrolls he gets from the academy don't. He couldn't get his eyes off it though. He got a strange feeling. Should he look what's in it? Would his dad get mad? Probably. Would he still do it?
Heck yes he would!
"Mabey it has a super cool jutsu! That way I can certainly beat dad!" he pulled his arm out to the scroll. Slowly approaching it. When suddenly a hand stopped him in his tracks. Boruto almost screamed out.
'Oh no, dad caught me!' he thought not daring to look at him. But after waiting a few seconds to hear his scolding, he heard nothing. Opening his eyes slowly he looked at his father who was still lying on his desk sleeping with a wide smile.
"Hmmmm Hinata-chan, thank you for the ramen, now how about I give u a desert." He was dreaming about mom and… desert? And what about that strange smile on his face? But of course an eight-year old boy would never understand that.
Letting out the breath he held in he pressed on. Wringing himself out of his father's grasp. Picking up said scroll. It fascinated him, if he knew that word. The strange feeling not leaving his belly. He was honestly a bit afraid of what he'll see. But he HAD to get that awesome justsu, no matter what.
He looked to try and find the opening only to find it had none.
"What kind of stupid scroll doesn't have an opening?" Pushing his left brow up whilst the right one frowned.
"I mean how can u read it if u can't open it. Seems stupid to me." So he decided to leave it back on the desk. When he looked at the scroll again. The strange markings were drawn so pretty and looked bad-ass. When suddenly it klicked.
"They're seals! I remember dad saying something about it. Seals need chakra to work!" Of course how stupid could he be. He should've noticed this earlier.
Remembering the teachings Shino-sensei taught him about chakra he began to build up. Thinking the exact words that were told to him.
'Take a deep breath, feel your body. That's your physical energy. Calm your mind and let your spirit sooth the body. That's your spiritual energy. Merge them together slowly. And breathe out.'
Doing everything step by step he followed it up by pushing the formed chakra to his hands. He touched the scroll again.
And hell broke loose.
He just wanted to have a nice quiet sleep before continuing his work. The dream he had was wonderful. What more could a man like Naruto in his prime ask for? Well certenly not waking up so a raging wind INSIDE his office.
Opening his eyes he saw the scroll in the air giving off pulses of energy that was pushing him back. A little further he saw his son sitting on the ground with fear in his eyes.
"Boruto! What did u do?!" Boruto looked at his dad.
"Dad I – I – I just wanted to see what was in it!" His voice hitched and horse, ready to cry.
"Leave the office now, while I deal wi-" another blast came out but more powerful this time. The scroll was beginning to glow. Naruto narrowed his eyes. That couldn't be a good sign. He had to stop it. Right now.
Pushing himself closer to the scroll proved a bit harder than he anticipated. But he was Uzumaki Naruto and nothing would stop him if it mean protecting this village and his family.
The scroll glowed more. A thin horizontal line forming, indicating that is was…Opening?
"Oh shit…"
The scroll opened. And a blast of white engulfed the office. He rushed to his son shielding him from whatever came out of that scroll.
Little did he know, nothing would come 'out'.
The blast ended. He was sure. The wind wasn't raging anymore. He stood up leaving his father's embrace. The office was a mess. And it was all his fault. He felt guilty for what he did… he just wanted to make his dad proud one way or another. He turned around to apologies as much as he could, only to see his father still unconscious.
"Dad? Dad hey wake up. Dad?" he moved to him shaking him harder and harder. He did not notice the people entering the office, neither did he care. He kept screaming at his dad to wake up. But he just wouldn't he let out one final scream.
"DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAD!"
He felt a bit weird. Heavy but at the same time very light. Hmmm maybe cut off a bit from ramen like Sakura-chan said…
Naaaaaaah, that's stupid.
He thought about the weird dream he had. It was fuzzy. He was in his office if he remembered correctly. But then suddenly Boruto had touched it. And it was like the entire office exploded. Well lucky for him it was just a dream.
"NARUTO STOP SLEEPING IN CLASS!" the outburst startled him. He heard a wheezing sound coming at him. A weapon? He acted immediately. Opening his eyes standing straight and caching whatever was thrown at him. He looked at said 'deadly' object only to see it was…
"A chalk piece? Who uses a chalk piece as a weapon?" He murmured to himself looking more closely at his hand he saw that it was… smaller? What is going on?
"Well then Naruto would u prefer that I use a kunai next time?" He looked at the source of the voice to see…
"Iruka-sensei?" He looked at the man. He was wearing his shinobi attire. Which was impossible, he's retired. And, and where are his WRINKELS?!
He's supposed to be OLD. Yet again he asked himself, what's going on?
"Yes Naruto, I'm your SENSEI, which means I TEATCH u things, and for me to be able to do that, U HAVE TO BE AWAKE!"
He winced at the volume. Man he hasn't heard that in a long while. The last time he did was when he was panicking around when Boruto was being born.
He looked around him to see allot of… children looking at him. And on top of it all they were the younger versions of his friends. And he could see himself on the window. He was…. SHORT AGAIN?! NOOOOOOOOOO!
That's IT!
He didn't have time for jokes. He had a village to run, not play genjutsu games with old teachers. Maybe this was another joke to get back at him for all the pranks he did in the past?
He stood straight up. Looked him right in the eyes. A fierce look came on to him. This had to stop. The joke went on long enough. Releasing a little chakra, which was supprisingly hard at the moment. He spoke up.
"Umino Iruka, as your seventh Hokage is command you to stop this fooling attempt of a prank and release me from this illusion. I have a village to run. I don't have time to play games!" His voice and stare didn't weaver.
If Naruto wasn't in his small body, his attempt at intimidation would've certainly succeeded on Iruka. But instead of being intimidated, Iruka was baffeled. Was this Naruto? This boy was serious, could use chakra like a jonin. And WHERE in the hell did his vocabulary go up this much?
Going out of his thoughts he continued.
" This is NOT a joke Uzumaki-san." He hated to use Naruto's last name, but this time he was taking too much time from his lessons.
"If u don't stop with this stupid attempt at being funny I'll be forced to put you outside of class." And also did he say seventh Hokage? We're only at four known. Why seventh?
Now it was Naruto's turn to be baffeled. His attempt failed not only that but the persone before him, which DEFENETLY is Iruka (he had the same signatrure), wasn't joking. In normal circumstances he wouldn't ask for 'HIS' help but this time he had to.
'Kurama? Kurama help me please, they're playing a stupid joke on me…'
Silence
'Kurama? OI! Kurama answer me!'
Silence again.
Now Naruto truly began to feel nervous, Kurama wasn't answering.
If this was a genjutsu then maybe a burst of chakra would fix this.
"I've got no time for this!" He put together his hands in a 'Tiger-seal' and expelled a burst of chakra. For normal people the burst wouldn't even be feelable. But not in Naruto's case. The burst was large, the children next, behind and infront of him were blown away, the windows chattered and Iruka fell down on the ground.
"NARUTO WHAT ARE U DOING?!" Iruka was genualy concerned now. What WAS that burst just now?
Naruto opened his eyes to see nothing changed. Nervous changed into anxiety.
'Ok, plan B'
He took his middle finger from his left hand and pulled far behind. A sickening crack following it.
Iruka widened his eyes. 'Is he realy thinking this is a genjustu?'
He saw Naruto going to break another finger. This had to stop. He wouldn't let one of his precious people hurt themselves.
He rushed foreward and took Naruto's hand. "STOP it Naruto, this isn't a genjutsu!"
Naruto looked at Iruka with wide eyes. Breaking his fingers didn't work aswell.
Anxiety became panic. And as any person who was in panic, Naruto ran away. Iruka following him as fast as he could.
"Mizuki! Keep an eye out on the class I'm going after him!"
Mizuki answered him with a nod. And Iruka was off.
Run.
That was the only word that was going through his mind, he had to get away from here and fast. He needed to figure out what was going on, but him being in a panicked state wasn't helping at all.
Least of all Kurama not responding.
So he had to run and hide.
TBC...
Author's note: Well, there you go guys, the challenge that solvdrage gave on his profile has been accepted by me .
The link to his profile and challenge can be found on a link in my profile.
He's one of my most favourite NaruHina Writers. The ideas he has are awesome! Please check out his story's you won't be disappointed!
I by no means update frequently, so expect it ether in a month, or maybe 3 months, who knows
If there are any questions, feel free to ask!
Any tips for someone who started writing? Go ahead!
Anyone who wants to be my beta? Ask in a PM and we can talk