A/N: Agh! I'm still busy with college, but I had this chapter mostly done, so as a break and for my fellow readers, I uploaded this chapter. The time for this chapter takes place between Boruto lost his father on the way to the Hokage Tower to before Naruto meeting Sasuke. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: In any time period or dimension, I do not own Naruto franchise of any shape or form, only write this for entertainment and unpaid purposes.

.

.

Special
What does the fox say?

One minute Naruto laid down to go to sleep and the next he felt the faint sense of falling. It was disturbing by the lack of rushing air around him while seeing the small dot of light above his head fade to nothing.

After the whisper of falling disappeared, he quickly scrambles to his feet. His eyes quickly adjusts at the low lighting before he blinked at the familiar and not familiar mindscape. Something felt off as he walks, where his steps made slight dry thumps.

What felt like he walked an infinity, Naruto looks up to see the demon fox napping before him.

As if sensing someone staring, the fox yawns and stretches, yet he didn't open his eyes to ask lazily, "What brings you here, brat?"

"What makes you think I wanted to come here, dattebayo?!" Naruto growls out, hands fingering at his weaponless pouch, unsure to react the lack of something in the demon's voice.

The fox froze for a moment and opens one eye to stare at Naruto. Both his eyes open, wide with shock. The nine-tails quickly sits up.

"What happened to you?!" he growls outraged for some reason.

"What does that supposed to mean, stupid fox?!" Naruto bristled, while feeling something was definitely off about the fox.

"Stupid f—Why you…! You're not Naruto at all," the fox's eyes glows red.

That is when Naruto realized: while he felt the anger, there was no suffocating hate. It was strange, but Naruto didn't want to deal what that meant at the moment.

"Of course, I am me! Don't think just because I am younger than the one you are used to, means it would be any easier to possess me!"

"Possess you?" The fox asks confused, which was quickly replaced with dark amusement.

The nine tailed fox lazily stands up to his full height and leans forward, "Sometimes I forget how stupid you were."

Naruto distantly wonders at the lack of splash of sewage like water as he stomped, "Shut up! I am not stupid!"

The fox smirks turn malicious, his tails lazily shifting behind him, "You do realize I am not behind bars? No seal to hold me back? Nothing stopping me from devouring you?"

Naruto froze and looked around stiffly.

Usually he would be wading through some questionable substance water. There was no jail cell, and the place didn't look much like a sewer for that matter. And what is that faint green stuff on the ground?

…is that green, healthy grass?!

Those thoughts were quickly overshadowed by the implications of a free fox. The village and his precious people are in big trouble!

His body shook in fear, but he was no less determined, shouting at the large chakra demon, "I might be smaller, but I will not make it easy for you to eat me!"

The fox lowered his snout and gave his Jinchuuriki a smile, showing all his canine teeth. Naruto's body shook harder, but didn't once look away from the demon fox's eyes (well at least one of them since the fox was rather huge). Then the fox opens his mouth as Naruto prepared to summon his clones.

A slimy, wet pink thing took over his vision and his other senses.

Naruto froze as he slowly processed the slob on him.

Did the fox just licked him?!

Once he processed this out of character evil, freeloader, demon fox, Naruto hissed like a wet cat and shouted with slight hysteria, "What was that for?!"

"You really are an idiot," the fox goes back to his spot and curls up, "Wake me up when you turn back or almost dying again."

Naruto gasps and rolls off his back. He quickly stood up and blinks at the bright light, blinding him.

"Gwaaah! My poor innocent eyes!" He rubs them and carefully open one eye again to see again.

He found himself standing in a dark alley surrounded by many spray cans with the sun's rays shining directly where he stood. He looked around to follow the trail of the cans that ended at the nearest wall.

"Oh yeah," Naruto mutters to himself, punching his fist into his palm, "I was hidi—playing ditch the brat clone that isn't a shadow clone to do awesome stuff."

The blond haired boy nods to himself, but frowns as he tried to remember how he lost consciousness to meet…that weird version of the fox.

"Ah, so it was my old Naruto-chaos-senses that was tingling," a familiar, but a softer voice spoke behind Naruto.

He turns to face with an older man with a scar running across one cheek, over his nose to the other cheek.

"Iruka-sensei!" Naruto quickly runs to hug his first surviving mentor since the Third Hokage would have been the first, but gone for weeks now.

Then again for everyone here, old man Hokage has been dead for decades…

"Are you alright?" Iruka looks at him worried.

Naruto blinks off the melancholy and grins, "Of course, dattebayo!"

The older man chuckles and shakes his head, "Shouldn't you be somewhere right now?"

"Pshaw! And leave this poor deprived village of my awesomeness?!"

Iruka shakes his head in amusement and picks up a couple of cans.

The blond haired de-aged boy absentmindedly rubs his forehead and takes the cans from his old teacher's arms to drop them off to the nearest trash bin before quickly picking up more of the empty cans littered around the alley.

After a couple of minutes of silence, Naruto asks, "So I heard you're the new principal. How is it being the boss?"

"It was odd at first, but I felt this was one way for me to make a difference for any student not to be let down because they were different," Naruto looks up at sees the soft look and a hint of regret aimed at him.

"Sensei! You were great! You were the only one who cared about me in the Academy!" Naruto beams at him, "Although I bet now more awesome shinobi are graduating."

"It is a little difficult with peace spread more among all the hidden villages. The war...changes people. Hopefully this time the peace not only lasts longer, but stays."

Naruto stops, catching on something he hoped he heard wrong, "War?"

"I don't know exactly what happened for not being there," Iruka sighs and looks at the distance, "It was brutal and so much death. Then I hear how you and Kurama as you call the nine tale fox, came into the battlefield."

Iruka stops as if trying to remember, then smiled when he caught Naruto holding the last can with a frown, "No one could exactly explain it other than you both gave every shinobi hope saving the world from an everlasting empty illusion. Together you were powerful and since then you always made an effort to give the other tailed beasts the respect they deserved."

"Respect?" Naruto stares confused at his navel where the seal located.

"I bet Kurama would understand your doubts. You two have been through too much for something like this to break your bond. You have a way of making long lasting bonds with everyone you meet."

"Iruka-sensei?" an older familiar voice interrupted.

"Hello Sai," Iruka looks up and gave a nod at the young man who eerily resembles with Sasuke, but less of his scowl, instead wore a strange smile.

"Greetings," Sai nods, "I've came to greet a fellow artist, but unsure if the rumors are true from what I've heard."

Iruka chuckles, "You're right, it is Naruto."

Naruto in the other hand frowns and stares at the older man, "I'm guessing you know older me since I saw you at the Hokage Tower yesterday."

"Of course, I become your third member for you and Ugly's team after," for a split second he twitched, probably sensing the disapproval from Iruka, "from your previous teammate took a leave of finding himself."

"Oh," Naruto blinks, "Wait you said fellow artist. What kind of art you do?"

For some reason Sai stares at him almost surprised before smiling that weird smile again, "I can draw animals and infused them with chakra to attack."

"WHAT?! You can do that?!" Iruka coughs interrupting Naruto's attack toward Sai, who started to be not quite uncomfortable, but almost embarrassed.

"Any other reason you were looking for me, Sai?"

"Ah, yes," Sai's face turned serious, "I was told you were the best in finding Naruto after Boruto came to the Hokage Tower hoping Naruto arrived first. It seems it was true."

"He's the best, not even the ANBU can handle me!" Naruto beams, still proud over that fact. Oh the damages and chaos he sowed, especially before the old man made him promise to stop if he wanted to start the Academy early.

"Well, by the sound of it, you're needed at the Hokage tower, Naruto," Naruto snaps out of his walk in memory lane and chuckles nervously.

"Yeah…" Naruto looks away from Iruka's Look, "Fine! I'm going, I'm going. And I know, no trouble or no ramen."

"See you in a bit, you'll probably see me there if you're not busy with whatever they make you," Iruka shakes his head with a fond smile.

"As long as it's not school work, I don't mind," Naruto turns bashful when Iruka ruffles his hair in front of Sai, who started to take notes for some reason.

Naruto quickly jumped on the roof with Sai following after putting away a small notebook, leaving Iruka at the alley.

"A race to the Hokage tower, Seventh? Or you prefer to be called something else?" Sai asks.

"Seventh is older me and feels like cheating, so use The Awesome Naruto," Sai gave him the weird smile again, making Naruto sigh, "Fine, call me whatever."

Before Sai opens his mouth, Iruka shouts from below, "Don't you dare Sai!"

Now Naruto was curious what Sai could possible call him or older him, but best not push when his old teacher was nearby.

"Can we fly on one of your drawings?" Naruto asks after see how far off they were from the Hokage Tower.

In response, Sai takes out his scroll and in a fluid motion, a caricature of a bird flew out of the scroll and waited for them to climb on.

When Naruto stood there gapping in amazement, Sai chuckles, not quite the weird smile, but with warmth, sst on the inked bird, "Climb on, Naruto."

Excited, Naruto jumps behind and shouts in joy when they took off.

"I am proud to be call your partner, Naruto."

Naruto looks around and hears nothing more than the wind rushing around him and met Sai's confused look. The blond haired boy shook his head and enjoyed the rest of the trip to the Hokage Tower.

.

.

.

A/N: Upcoming next will be a bitter pill to swallow of the reality behind Naruto's dream and despite being used to hearing those words toward him from the villagers, it stings when its from the very people he hoped he wouldn't hear it from.
Warning! I'm not sure when the next chapter would be posted since again college work and work itself is eating me alive. Nevertheless, thank you everyone for your silent and loud support, until next time, LaniAhava out!