This was already written, so I figured that I would just put it up. I'm genuinely surprised at the amount of interest people seem to have in this fic! Thanks so much for the reviews and favs/alerts! Okay, let's get this party started. FYI, for the most part, if whole sentences are italicized, it means that that is what's happening in the projection-in the future, not what's going on at Kiba's house. Let me know if that starts to be too confusing.
I don't own Naruto. If I did, the whole Tsunade/Jiraiya relationship would be gone into further. I thought that they were so cute!
Previously..."Enough with the sexual tension!" Kiba declared, putting the group's attention on him once again. "Who wants to go first?"
"Oooh, oooh, me me!" Naruto yelled, jumping up like a little kid. He grabbed the globe from Kiba's hand. "How does this work again?"
"I don't know, the lady said to put chakra into it," Kiba replied impatiently.
Everyone watched as the sphere began to glow. Then, it jumped out of Naruto's hands, hovering in midair.
"Well that's normal," Tenten snorted.
But before anyone could reply, the orb began to project something onto the nearby wall. Everyone turned eagerly.
Naruto, clearly older, slumped against his desk. He sighed.
The setting looked familiar, but no one could place it.
"Hey! That's me!" Naruto yelled excitedly.
"No duh, dumbass!" Sakura hissed. "Now shut up so we can hear!"
Naruto was too excited to be offended. He just grinned, placing his attention back to the projection.
Naruto sighed again.
"Naruto, are you even listening to me?" a familiar voice drawled. The projection panned out, and an older Shikamaru, in his twenties, could be seen standing next to the desk.
"Hey, that's Shikamaru!" Naruto exclaimed, making Sakura roll her eyes at his stating the obvious. Naruto's eyes got wide. "Aren't we in the Hokage's office?"
They were. And as older Naruto stood, smiling sheepishly, it could clearly be seen that he was wearing Hokage robes.
"YESSSSS!" Naruto yelled, threatening the eardrums of everyone in the room. The words spoken on the screen were drowned out. "I'M HOKAGE! I TOLD YOU ALL! I TOLD YOU!"
Hinata smiled softly, but everyone else looked at the screen in slight disbelief. Naruto ran around the room in victory.
Temari elbowed Shikamaru. "Looks like you're the Hokage's advisor, huh?" she grinned. "Who would have thought a lazy ass like you had it in him?"
"Che," he scoffed. But inside, he balked at his fate. What could possibly make him want to take such a troublesome job?
"I didn't even want this job," Shikamaru complained, looking at the ceiling.
Naruto grinned. "Why'd you take it then?"
Shikamaru sighed, reaching into his pocket and retrieving a cigarette. Putting it to his lips, he reached back into his pocket and found a lighter. "She made me," he answered sourly. "Now are we going to finish this report or not?"
Naruto grinned cheekily, leaning towards his advisor conspiratorially. "I thought that you had quit smoking."
Shikamaru's hand, on its way to light the cigarette, froze. He looked at Naruto. "You're not going to tell her, are you?"
Naruto waggled his eyebrows. "Not if you buy me ramen for lunch tomorrow."
Shikamaru groaned. "Mendokuse."
Then, the projection cut off abruptly, the orb levitating back to the floor.
Ino laughed, leaning on Choji for support. Shikamaru glared at her, not seeing what was so funny.
"I can't believe you'd still listen to your mother at that age!" Ino cackled, wiping her eyes.
"I can," Naruto piped up. "His mom is scary!"
Shikamaru nodded in agreement, but Choji stayed silent. For some reason, he got the impression that Yoshino wasn't the "she" the projection was talking about.
"Okay," Kiba interrupted cheerfully. "Now that we know that Konoha's going to burn to the ground, who's next?"
"I resent that," Naruto huffed.
No one answered. It seemed that they had realized just how real everything was.
"Oh come on," Kiba scoffed. "Are we suddenly scared now?"
"I'm not," Tenten stated, standing. "Give it here."
Kiba grinned, picking the orb up off the ground and handing it to her. Once again, it glowed, jumping out of her hands and hovering in front of her.
A woman sat on the grass in what appeared to be a backyard. She had a pile of weapons next to her, and she was taking care to sharpen each one.
"That's clearly you, Tenten," Ino declared.
"Huh. Don't look too bad," Tenten responded thoughtfully.
Her hair was no longer in its signature style. Instead, it cascaded down her back in a neat braid, streaks of grey running through it. Her outfit was still more Chinese than Japanese in nature, but it was more for sitting around than training—just a light cotton dress.
Tenten continued to sharpen her weapons, making sure to get all angles. Suddenly, her arm shot out, and the kunai she was working on was no longer in her hand.
Another woman stepped out of the trees, holding the kunai between two fingers. She looked around twenty. Her brown hair, in a bun on top of her head, was held in place by what looked like a chopstick, and her pale, pupiless eyes looked at Tenten in annoyance.
"Hey," Temari whispered around Shikamaru. "Does that look like a Hyuuga to you?"
"The eyes look the same," Ino responded, looking over Shikamaru as well.
"She is," Hinata informed the other girls quietly. "She even has the crest on her shoulder."
"Is it really necessary to do that every time you see me, kaa-chan?" the woman snapped.
The air seemed to be sucked out of the room. Everyone stared at the wall, some openmouthed. Tenten looked on incredulously, and Neji looked very, very confused.
"Yes," Tenten replied with a smirk. "How else are you supposed to stay on your toes? Now, what did that idiot Naruto want?"
"I resent that!" Naruto hollered.
It was the girl's time to smirk. Tenten stood, walking to meet her daughter. As she did, the Hyuuga clan symbol could be seen on the back of her dress.
"Holy shit," Tenten breathed. She avoided eye contact with Neji, who still looked like he had no idea what was going on.
Sakura had made her way over to Temari's side of the circle, and now she sat in front of Shikamaru, ignoring him completely. "Do you think it was Neji?" she whispered to Ino.
"It could be any Hyuuga," Temari argued.
"That's highly unlikely," Hinata murmured.
Shikamaru rolled his eyes. Why was it him that had to be surrounded by gossiping women?
The girl lifted the sleeve of her right arm, proudly showing the new ANBU tattoo that lay there.
Tenten grinned, hugging her daughter. "Good job, Mai-chan. Now you match your kaa-chan, eh?"
Mai grinned back. "Don't forget tou-chan."
Tenten rolled her eyes. "Yeah yeah, him too." She winked. "Did you tell him yet? What did he say?"
Mai nodded, sighing. "He just went on and on about how I was going to make ANBU sooner or later because it was my 'fate'," she mocked, her voice lowering a couple of octaves.
Tenten laughed. "Of course!" she said sarcastically. "Now, are you up for a little spar with your ma?"
"Um, yeah," Mai scoffed, pointing to her shoulder. "ANBU, remember?"
The projection cut out, and the globe fell to the floor.
Sakura snorted, trying not to burst out laughing, and both Ino and Temari grinned, Cheshire cat style. They looked at Neji and Tenten, who were both blushing furiously.
"Not one word," Tenten threatened her friends. The kunoichi didn't seem perturbed, however, and their mirth grew. Actual tears began to form in the corners of Sakura's eyes as she tried to control her laughter.
"Wait," Naruto interrupted. "Is Tenten going to marry a Hyuuga?"
"Not just any Hyuuga, you dimwit," Tenten snapped, embarrassed. "Neji. Not that I'm surprised. And if any of you make fun of me, you're dead!"
And with that, she retook her place next to Neji, her cheeks still flushed, and avoided looking at him.
Neji, obviously uncomfortable, looked away from her as well. Although, if he were honest with himself, he wasn't really that surprised either.
"Okay!" Naruto yelled, leaning slightly away from an agitated Tenten, lest she strike him. "Who's next?"
A/N: What's you think? Let me know! I appreciate the favs and alerts, but only reviews let me know what I'm doing right and what I should work on. ^_^