Author's Note - (Tries to sneak in quietly, dodges two chairs and a desk!) Hi guys! Please don't kill me!... Ok, it's safe. Well, I owe you guys a huge apology. I'm so sorry, guys! Life happens and writing needed to take a backseat. But I'm back and man, do I have a fantastic chapter for you guys! With three POV's (I wanted to make up for last chapter). This chapter picks up right where we left off and yes, there's, you guessed it, action! I hope you guys like it! On to the story!
Chapter 14: The Hag, The Fox, and The Psycho
Boruto
They say that curiosity killed the cat. So, it was probably a good thing that Boruto's a shinobi. And yeah, a lot of his questions were stupid but can you blame him? Dad had a girl version of himself! Who was apparently very happily (wink, wink, nudge, nudge) married to Uncle Shikamaru. Thus, questions needed to be answered.
Questions like, Dad Mom, can you make that tempura again that you made for lunch? Or, Dad Mom, where did you learn sealing and can you teach me?! Or, Dad, does this mean you and Uncle Shikamaru after actually having an affair? (Naturally, that got Boruto a smack on the head and a deadpanned look from his father but it was so worth it.) Dad Mom didn't mind his blabbering though, given how she was probably used to Beni doing it. She happily answered his questions before being dragged away with Boruto's mom by Hima and Beni for 'important girly stuff that needs both Mommies!'
Final verdict, Dad Mom was cool and could stay. Especially if she continued making that tempura. Umm, tempura…
Right, sorry, got off track again. Boruto shook his head before glancing over at Mira and Taka, who he had to admit, were way more relaxed since the arrival of their parents.
Also, how the hell did no one notice how much they look alike?! A shiver went down Boruto's spine when he thought back to when he checked Mira out. No wonder Taka looked ready to smash him to pieces… Also, ewww… Sorry, Mira…
"I'm telling you, we should make it a message-based test. You know, have one teammate be given the message but they can't tell their team by talking. That'll cut the teams down by three quarters." Mira stated, extracting the attention of, well, everyone, since they were still having their picnic lunch. Taka rolled his eyes at her.
"Been there, done that. Got idea that Iwa won't sue us over?" Taka said back sarcastically, causing his twin to glare at him. Sarada locked eyes with Boruto through her lenses before leaning over to face the twins.
"Are you talking about the Chunin Exams?" The Uchiha girl guessed, pushing her glasses up.
"Yeah." Mira groaned. "It's such a drag. The next one's not for five months but for some reason we have to have the tests prepared already."
She threw herself back in frustration, her left arm looping itself around Shikadai's neck. She leaned heavily against his side before snatching a piece of food off of his plate. Shikadai gave her an unimpressed stare.
"Ever heard of personal space, Mira?"
"Please!" Mira snorted. "Clearly, you've never been around Uzumaki women enough. We require hugs, shoulders to lean on and piggy back rides on a daily basis." Huh, you know, that's actually explains so much. "Don't worry, Dai, we'll teach you." Shikadai rolled his eyes but had a soft smile as Mira turned back to Sarada.
"Anyway, yeah, Taka and I have to help set up the Chunin Exams this year because we passed them last time. And we have to work with the guys from Suna, who fu- fudge, I said fudge, Mom! Who fudges up everything they touch!"
"Oh, is that so?" Oh damn, they just got Temari's undivided attention. Mira gulped, feeling the Suna woman's displeasure from hearing the girl's blunt opinions of her people.
"Oi, you can't blame us." Taka defended from his spot under the shade, his eyes closed like he was trying to get some shut-eye. "You're the one who allowed Kankuro to procreate with the chick from cryptography. Stupidity is hereditary, who knew?" Silence fell over the group before a loud smack was heard. Boruto glanced over at Dad Mom, who had face-palmed, side-glaring at her husband.
"That is your son, Shikamaru. I hope you're proud." She said sarcastically.
"Immensely."
"Ugh, don't encourage him. Takashi, Shikamira, enough. You two need to stop insulting Krow. He's not that bad." Her twins gave her deadpanned looks.
"Mom, you haven't read any of his ideas. They're awful." Mira whined. "Do you know how pissed off Kumo would be if we had the second test be capture-the-flag? They'll demand to host the Chunin Exams for the next five years to 'ensure that the level of shinobi excellence doesn't fall to the level of leaf pansies'." She finished in a funny, stuffy voice that made Boruto and his friends snicker.
"Even still-"
"Woah!" Aunt Ino said, holding her hands to make a 'T'. "Time out! Confused people here who need explanations!" Taka and Mira turned back to her, confusion in their eyes. Their parents looked over at the group, shifting towards them.
"Ask away." Not Uncle said, adjusting Motoko so that she was situated on his lap for another nap.
"Kankuro has a kid? Gaara let Kankuro have a kid?!" The horror in Shikadai's mom's voice was palpable. Uncle Shikamaru and Shikadai glanced at each other as disturbed looks entered their faces.
"Yes…Well… Kind of." Dad Mom commented slowly, glancing back at Hima and Beni. "I'll tell you all about that mess later." Oh, not suitable for little, non-shinobi ears.
"I'll hold you to it."
"And you two," Dad said next, pointing to the twins, "are creating the next Chunin Exams?"
"Yep. It's a drag and troublesome." Taka groaned, throwing his arms behind his head. "Do you know how hard it is to create a new exam every six month that has to be different and gain the approval of all of the Kages? Not to mention the Forest of Death is a no-go since one team decided to set it on fire again."
"Oi, Sarada and I were doing survival training and the tiger dodged! It's not our fault that those cats have good reflexes!"
"Who uses fire jutsus in a forest?!"
"Shinobi from the fire country, that's who!" Damn, Boruto was getting a nick in his neck from watching the twins argue back in and forth. Even if it was hilarious to watch.
"Alright, break it up." Not Uncle drawled with the steel of an order. "Unless you two want to show everyone how to do the obstacle course." Instantly, the pair paled before Mira laughed shakenly.
"No, we're good! Right, Taka?"
"Yep, no more arguing. Got it."
"Obstacle course?" Old Man Kakashi asked, getting a wicked smile from Dad Mom.
"Oh, just a little something for the twins. You'll see later. The twins have just volunteered to do a show for you all."
"What?! Mom?!"
"Troublesome…"
"This is your fault!"
"How is it my fault?!"
"You-"
"And to think, you guys thought that they were well-behaved." Not Uncle stated over the arguing. That's when a light bulb flashed in Boruto's brain as he remembered something that Mira said.
"Hey, wait!" Boruto shouted, gaining everyone's attention. "What do you mean you guys aren't doing capture-the-flag?"
"Oh, that!" Mira said, coughing dramatically before continuing. "The second stage of the exams has to be a survival mission. The equivalent of a B-Rank, boarder line A-Rank mission. On top of keeping your team alive, you have to do the objective of mission. Projecting an item, person, money, etc. Capture the flag is too easy, quite frankly."
"Easy?!" The genin exclaimed. Well, Boruto had thought that the exam was easy but he was a prodigy so that had to be it. Right?
"Think of it this way. You have to hide your flag while trying to find another team's flag. It's straightforward. What's going to stop you from keeping the flag with you and setting up a deco with a bunch of traps surrounding it? Nothing. Not to mention other teams would do the same thing. It becomes a waiting game, teams waiting to see which team is willing to advance first. And there's hardly any survival in it. Capture-the-flag only takes a few hours. A day at most. Most B-Ranks take a week, on average. Thus, defeating the purpose of the second exam." Taka explained.
Cricket, cricket. A leaf blew in the wind.
"Dickless, does this mean we shouldn't do capture-the-flag again for the next exam?"
"Yes, Sai." Dad said, rubbing his temples. Mira clocked her head to the side.
"I'm guessing you guys had capture-the-flag for your second exam. At least you guys didn't have to trek through the desert with only one water bottle and goldfish that you had to keep alive for four days." Mira said, trying to lighten the mood.
"May Goldie rest in peace." Taka joked. "He made for some great sushi."
"What? You ate your goldfish?!" Chocho asked in horror. Taka raised an eyebrow at her.
"It was your idea." Taka stated back before stretching, his back popping. "Then we had to do the tournament. Now, that was easy." Mira nodded in agreement.
"The tournament, easy?" Inojin parroted. The twins nodded.
"Yeah, my first match was some girl from Kiri who had a major obsession on the Mizukage. A real creepy yandere. Sorry excuse for a kunoichi focused too much on showing off her sword waving than on our match. The look on her face when I stole her blade, man, that was good." Mira chirped, a wicked grin spreading on her lips. Now, with that smile on her face, Mira looked a lot like her mother and a true Uzumaki.
"My match had me facing an Iwa shinobi who thought that since I was the Shika in Ino-Shika-Cho, if he trapped me in an earth dome, my shadows couldn't get him. Idiot, really. I'm more known for my taijutsu than my shadows." Taka stated, his face matching his twin's perfectly. "Then again, we planned for that to happen so brilliant planning on our part." The twins high-fived each other.
Boruto placed his chin in his hand as he thought over what the twins just told everyone. And one word stuck out more than any other one. Planning. The twins planned their matches out and from the sound of it, Taka deliberately made it so the guy he faced would think that Taka's attacks would be more shadow based versus taijutsu based. They used deception and trickier to win their matches. Like Boruto did against his match with Shikadai. I wonder…
"Taka, Mira, did you guys plan out your matches?" Boruto tried to keep his voice as calm and light-hearted as usual but if the look from Old Man Kakashi was anything to go by, he didn't do a good job at it.
"Well, kind of." Mira started. "The matches' line-up was available for everyone to see. We didn't have that long to get ready for them but we had a week to train and recoup after the preliminary matches. So, we did the natural thing."
"We spied on the competition."
"Yep!"
"And you allowed this?" Dad questioned Dad Mom, who shrugged.
"Gaara was running the exam that time around and didn't saying anything against it."
"If anything, it was good strategy on their parts." Not Uncle picked up. "The way the matches end up ensured that Shikamira and Takashi could be the final match if they played their cards right. By knowing their opponents and their abilities beforehand, they could create multiple different strategies to win against any opponent."
"For example, I had at least 83 different ways to beat Krow in my second match and I choose way #21 because I noticed that he didn't have time to fix his puppet from his first match. Granted, I had to modify it after he brought out the second puppet but I still won." Who creates 83 different strategies to beat someone… Mira, apparently….
"You don't think that's cheating?" Dad pressed. Puzzled, his counterpart turned fully to Dad, her sapphire eyes blinking.
"Cheating? No, I don't think it's cheating. Now, during our," Dad Mom waved between her and her husband, "Chunin Exams, the entire first exam was to cheat off of each other and not get caught. To be able to collect information off of each other for your own gain."
"What?!"
Deep down, Boruto knew that shouting was a bad idea. But can you blame him? He was pissed off now. The moment Dad Mom said what her Chunin Exams were like, Dad's face shifted. It was in that moment that Boruto realized that Dad had the same type of Chunin Exam as she did. Which meant-
"Boruto, stop. What you did was against the rules. I made it clear that the Kote wasn't allowed in the exams and I stand by my decision."
"But Dad-"
"A Kote? What's that?" The father and son stopped their glaring contest to turn back to Not Uncle. The man's eyes shown with curiosity as his wife leaned forward in confusion.
"This thing." Oi, how the hell did Taka get that?! "It's a cheap cope out of fuinjutsu, Mom."
"Did you-"
"Chill dude, I bought my own. Here." Taka tossed the tool over to his dad. "I wanted to see if actual fuinjutsu could make the jutsus in the mini-seals repeatable."
Boruto watched as Not Uncle explained the tool. His wife leaned over his shoulder, watching as the man fiddled with it. Then-
"Oi, did you just break it?" Dad Mom asked as Not Uncle removed the gear covering. He shook his head.
"No, I wanted to see something. You're going to hate this thing." Great, like Dad Mom, like Dad. Just what he needed…
"What does it do?"
"The Kote-" Mom started only to get cut off by Not Uncle.
"Look at the chamber. See, it works as a chakra reactor. Once the scroll is in place, the user needs to focus his chakra into his forearm. That hits the reader in the armband, which triggers the chamber to activate the scroll, releasing whatever jutsu you had sorted in it." The Lady Hokage straightened, the disbelief etched on her face.
"Are you telling me that absolutely anyone, even a civilian, could have the potential to perform ninjutsu with this thing? Even if they have no training?"
"From what I can tell, looks like it. Am I right?"
"Exactly." Old Man Kakashi confirmed. Dad Mom nodded to him, picking up the Kote. She fiddled with it, returning the gear back in place before attaching it to her wrist.
"Hm…" Boruto wasn't going to lie, his heart was racing as he watched Dad Mom stand abruptly and jumped away from the group before she tossed a scroll she got from somewhere. Where the hell did she get that? She tossed a scroll away from her and the group.
Poof!
Where the scroll landed stood a dummy that look suspiciously like Old Man Kakashi.
"Nice target, eh Sir?" Mirai ribbed, elbowing her charge. Boruto snickered at the 'I'm too old for this bullshit' face that the sixth Hokage made before his focus returned to Dad Mom as she unraveled the mini scroll. Her nose scrunched up.
"Who wrote this thing? Their penmanship is terrible!"
"I believe the scrolls are massed produced by a machine." Mom supplied.
"A machine? No wonder the brush strokes are awful! And the seal itself…" And Dad Mom started to ramble, listing off how one stroke was too far to the right. Or how another was too wide. Or how another stroke should have been added here.
"If you guys were wondering where Beni gets her rambling." Mira joked as her dad called out in a bored groan,
"Naruto, you've lost everybody. Just test the thing."
"What? I thought you liked it when-"
"Naruto…"
"Fine. Be that way. Alright!" The woman made hand signs so quick that Boruto couldn't catch the jutsu before it got sealed away, slamming her hand against the scroll. She placed the mini scroll into its chamber before pointing the Kote at the dummy.
WOOSH!
Crackle, crackle, crackle.
There goes the dummy…
"Well shit."
"Daddy, Inojin said a bad word."
"Not now, Motoko. What did you use? That had to be at least a B-Rank." Not Uncle questioned, getting a smirk from his wife.
"Fire Dragon Flame Bullet to be exact!" She raised the Kote to eye-level. A moment passed. Then two. He felt like he had ants in his pants when-
"I can see why you don't like it, Me but I don't see a problem with it."
"YES!"
"However, your Chunin Exams, your rules." Boruto felt like he had been stabbed in the heart with a kunai… Fine, so he was being dramatic. But seriously, Dad Mom, whose side are you on?
"And Takaski's right, using actual fuinjutsu should improve this thing tremendously and make it a reliable tool." Dad Mom finished, tossing the tool back to her son.
Boruto didn't know how to feel. On one hand, he had someone else who thought that the Kote was a useful tool. On the other hand, she agreed with Dad's decision at the Chunin Exams. But still, so what if he used the Kote in the Chunin Exams? It still didn't give Dad the right to embarrass him like he did!
"Embarrass you? How?" Boruto's ears warmed as everyone turned to him. Fuck, was thinking out loud again! Boruto ignored the disappointed looks on his parents' face to stare at Dad Mom. The way she was standing, her left hand clocked on her hip and leaning on her left leg. The way her eyes seemed to glow with hidden wisdom. Yes, Boruto was weirded out by Dad Mom, how could he not be? But he had to admit, meeting Dad Mom was actually kinda cool. Even if it looked like she was about to scold him.
"Boruto got disqualified in our match for using the Kote." Thanks for telling the world, Shikadai.
"Look, I've said I was sorry already-"
"Were you now?" Dad Mom's question made him pause and glance back at her. She crossed her arms under her bust, then shrugged.
"If you were actually sorry, you wouldn't have asked the twins about their planning for their exams. You're sorry that you got caught, not that you planned to go against your father's rules."
"But-"
"Did you ever wonder your father's reasoning behind banning the Kote? Or asked, for that matter?" The woman continued to question. Her tone was changing slightly. Dad Mom was talking to him like he wasn't one of her kids but her student, similar to how Sarada's dad does. Boruto didn't trust his words so he just shook his head. The woman bobbed her head in Taka's direction.
"Tools like that have great potential. They also have a great risk. Shinobi can become dependent on them." She pulled an emerald necklace out of her collar, fiddling with it as her eyes bore into his. "A dependent shinobi is a dead shinobi."
"Shinobi that become dependent on anything, be it ninjutsu, weapons, techniques, the news spreads. It becomes a moniker, well known and easily exploitable by those who wish harm on the dependent shinobi. It's better to be underestimated and alive than overestimated and dead."
On that happy note, lunch was over.
The reality of Dad Mom's words stung the rest of the afternoon. Now Boruto understood what Dad was afraid of, why he hated the Kote. Dad was afraid that he would become dependent of the Kote at a young age. That he wouldn't be able to learn without it. That he could die because of it. Fuck, now he had to apologize to Dad. And he will, after he meets Team 7 and 10 NexGen, as Mira calls them.
"Alright, ready, Mira?" Taka asked as his twin rest her hand against the seal covered wall. The genin, plus Beni, Hima and Motoko, filled the living room. Everyone looked excited to actually meet Team 7 and 10 NexGen. Yet, Boruto's eyes drifted to Sarada, who looked uneased still. Like she was afraid to learn more about her other self. Hey, he may be a bit of an idiot but at least he cared about his teammates! Most of the time.
Anyway, lunch ended with most of the adults having to go back to their offices for a bit. Dad Mom had 'Gone off to explore the village!' and dragged her groaning husband along with her (and Motoko). That left Mom, Dad and Shikadai's Mom to 'watch' (cough babysit cough) the genin. The ladies were doing the dishes in the kitchen while Dad was leaning against the back wall, watching as Mira's chakra activated the seals and turned them silvery-black.
The wait was killing him as he watched Taka stand at attention in front of the screen when suddenly Taka glanced back at Boruto, a glim in his blue eyes.
Damn, Taka had a strong grip as he pulled Boruto so that they stood shoulder to shoulder before the screen.
"Taka, what-"
"You heard Mira. You're are a part of the fam now. That goes for you too, Dai, Hima." The other blonde shrugged, as if those words explained everything. And, in a twisted way, it kinda did. Taka and Beni, and Mira and Motoko, were family now.
More questions roared through Boruto's mind as the screen cleared up. Questions like, would Chocho be as annoying there as she was here? Or, would Inojin be just as blunt? Or did this Kenji kid look like yours truly? Clearly, the last question was the most important.
"Eternal Rival!" Boruto winced as the Other Metal cried out to them, his mini sunset genjutsu starting to leak out. Luckily, the genjutsu went away as quickly as it came.
"Hey Lee, what's up?" Taka waved lazily before slouching back. "Is our house still standing?"
"Of course, it is!" Other Chocho huffed, crossing her arms. "Now, where's the other us?! Just imagine it, another sexy Chocho!" Well, that answered the first question…
"Oh the horror." Taka smirked before Boruto felt pain. Ow! Shit!
"Ow, bro, that's my spleen!" Boruto whined as Taka's elbow dug into him from their dogpile.
"Sorry, man. Freaking Chocho and her strength. Troublesome." Taka muttered as he helped Boruto up as the two Akimichi girls blinked at each other.
"I'M SO PRETTY!"
"Tell me your secret!"
"No, tell me yours!"
"You first!
"No, you!" Thankfully, Taka reentered the screen, glaring down Chocho.
"Troublesome teammates." Taka groaned as he shoved Chocho back off screen. "Wait your turn. Ok, guys, step forward." Taka waved Boruto back before the screen as Shikadai and Hima followed quietly.
The genin on the screen looked odd. Not in a bad way but they dressed a lot like those old photos of Mom and Dad. Well, Metal and Chocho were actually dressed pretty much the same but Other Inojin had black pants and dark purple crop top on. And Glasses-Less Sarada dressed a lot like she was member of ANBU or something like that. Then there was the boy with a dog.
The kid looked like Hima. A lot like Hima. The same round face and big, Hyuga eyes. And he had Mom's light skin and blue hair. The hair was wild though, like he rolled out of bed and broke a comb trying to brush it. The red triangles on the boy's cheeks looked so wrong to Boruto.
Storytime! So, Mom's teammate, Kiba, had a super-duper big crush on her when they were younger. And Boruto was 85.76% certain that he still did (Hima did the math). There had been times when Kiba glared at Dad when he thought nobody was looking. Or that time when Mom got upset about Dad not being home on their anniversary and told Kiba, who then preceded to get Shino-Sensei so that they could drag Dad out of the office. The point is, Dad may not be Boruto's favorite person in the world, obviously, but that didn't mean he wanted his Mom with anyone else.
So, this Kenji kid? Yeah, didn't like him. Even if his tiny, snow-white nin-dog was adorable.
"Alright, guys, this is Boruto Uzumaki." Taka pointed to the whiskered boy. Naturally, Boruto puffed out his chest. "His little sister, Himawari Uzumaki." The blue-haired girl waved happily that other genin. "And Shikadai Nara." Taka pointed next at Shikadai, rounding out the group.
"They've official been adopted into the Nara Uzumaki fam!" Mira's called out from her position but she stayed out of sight. Her chakra was giving them the connection with the other world, afterall. "Guys, this is Team 7 and 10 NexGen! You've already met Sarada and you can figure out who Chocho and Bastard are so the guy with the tattoos is Kenji and his nin-dog, Hyorinmaru! Says hi, Kenji!"
"Um, why does the girl look like Mom?" Kenji asked shakily, pointing a nervous finger at Hima. Then, someone stumped on his toe as they pushed him to the side. Ow! Really, Beni?! What is with people and hitting him all of the time? Boruto glared at the little redhead as she hopped forward.
"Kenji!" Beni pulled Himawari into a hug as she exclaimed. "Hima's mommy is Aunt Hinata! That makes us sisters! Isn't that cool?!"
"What?!" Kenji looked from the girls to Boruto, then back at the girls. "No, that isn't cool! That means I'm more related to Mira than ever! Help me, Sarada! I'm dying!" Geeze, dramatic much. Though, the scene felt oddly familiar. Weird…
"Get off!" Glasses-Less Sarada pushed him off of her lap before looking back at the screen. "Ignore him. It's nice to meet you guys, I guess." She seemed tense as Shikadai turned away to face Mira with a raised eyebrow.
"Oi, Mira, didn't you have something important to tell them?"
"Oh, yeah! Guys, is Uncle Kakashi there? Mom's got a message!" Mira called. Old Man Kakashi walked until he was in view. But before the masked man could speak, Beni started to ramble.
"Uncle Kakashi! I met the other you and Mirai! And they got me ramen and ice cream! And you actually paid! And I got to ride on your shoulder! And-"
"Hello, Beni. Tell me all about it when you get home."
"Kay!"
"Now, the message?"
"Right." Taka shifted to shinobi professionalism. Boruto blinked in confusion at the change.
"The Lady Hokage will be staying here with the Jonin Commander in order to take down a rogue Otsutsuki whose mission is to capture an awakened Nara child and Boruto Uzumaki. This Otsutsuki is looking for new chakra and new Kekkei Genkai. It shouldn't take more than a week but she wanted us to inform you of the situation." So formal. Weird.
"I see. And she couldn't tell me this because?"
"Well-"
A hand came down on Taka's shoulder as a man stepped between the Uzumaki boys. Boruto doesn't know why anyone would want to be Hokage and often wondered why anyone would think that his goofball and scatter-brained dad was a good person to be the Hokage. Yet, seeing Dad stand before another dimension in his cape, with no fear in his eyes, reminded Boruto that his dad was the Hokage.
"Fuck, it's true. You two fell into a world where your mother's a man." Old Man Kakashi stated slowly, the shock and horror over taking his features. Takashi gave him a smirk.
"Surprise!"
"I swear, you two will be the death of me." Kakashi grumbled as Dad waved happily to Old Man Kakashi.
"I guess we know one thing for certain. Kakashi-Sensei never changes." He joked before becoming serious. "Your Hokage and her family will be returned back to you safe and sound. I promise."
An understanding passed between the men, before Dad nodded and left as quickly as he came. He headed back towards the kitchen.
"Anyway, Uncle Kakashi, Mom's getting ready-" Taka started. Before Boruto caught a glimpse of a teenager entering into view. He looked oddly familiar when-
CRASH!
A plate shattered. Everyone jumped as a Mom's wobbly voice called out,
"Neji?"
In a span of two seconds, Mira ripped her hand off of the wall, cutting the connection while the genin swiveled around. Mom was shaking. Taka hissed under his breath as her gaze locked onto him and his siblings.
"Goddammit, Mira. Now how do we explain this?"
Choji
"So, do you want talk or are you going to do your Sasuke impersonation all day?"
"I don't have a Sasuke impersonation."
"Yeah, you do."
Choji rolled his eyes as he watched his teammates argue. Granted, this was a common occurrence but Ino's voice could get grating after a while. The gentle giant let her continue her intervention because quite frankly, it needed to happen. The moment Shikamaru made the bullshit excuse of checking on the account reports to escape his own house, Naruto and the dimension hoppers, Choji and Ino followed.
Shikamaru didn't do emotions. Or more correctly, he didn't understand his own emotions and thought it too troublesome to deal with them. Choji learned this early on in their friendship and made it his duty as Shikamaru's best friend to help him when those emotions overpowered Shikamaru's logic. Naturally, this was a difficult task but Choji was more than ready to handle this. Oh, and Ino was too but her methods were more 'yell until the person caves' than Choji's 'wait until the person bursts from the pressure.'
"There's nothing to talk about." Shikamaru insisted only to receive deadpan looks from the pair. "I'm fine."
Yeah, right. Shikamaru was not fine. He was jumpy and fidgety. His fingers tapping, his knee bouncing, his unfocused eyes. The shadow user didn't look as bad as he did when he took Temari out for their first date but it was pretty damn close. Shikamaru avoided Choji's 'You know we're here for you so start talking' stare by looking at the report in his hand but Choji could tell that Shikamaru's brain wasn't processing the numbers on the page.
This went on, and on, and on until-
"Hey!"
"You've been staring at the same page for five minutes." Ino said, the report firmly in her hand. "What's going on in that mind, Shikamaru?"
"I told you-"
"You are not fine and if you say that you are, I'm going to hit you." Ino threated. Shikamaru met her glare head on before Choji stepped between them. It so wouldn't help the situation if they trashed Shikamaru's office again and were sober this time around.
"Woah, calm down you two!" Choji placated before locking eyes with Shikamaru, patting his shoulder. "Just talk to us."
"Fine." Huh, that was easier than usual. "I'm embarrassed. There, happy?" I stand corrected.
"You're a therapist's nightmare, you know?" Ino grumbled. "Why are you embarrassed?"
"You know why." Choji almost groaned as Shikamaru's smartassness caused Ino to finally snap. Not snap like psycho bitch snap but more 'aggressive methods need to be taken' snap.
"And you need to actually admit it so that you and Naruto can stop tip-toeing around each other!" Ino yelled, slapping her hands against his desk so that she could lean into his personal space. "So, you married your work wife in a different dimension? Congratulations, but what happens in that dimension is different than what happens here! Now bulk up and talk to Naruto before the village goes to hell!"
"He's not my work wife."
"Gah!" Throwing her hands up in defeat, Ino turned her glare to Choji. "You deal with him. I'll be back when someone stops acting like a five-year-old!" With that, she stomped out of the office, slamming the door behind her.
"She's just trying to help, Shikamaru." Choji scolded half-heartedly. Shikamaru raised an eyebrow.
"She's being troublesome." He countered before lounging back into his chair.
Choji sighed in defeat at the advisor's stubbornness. He sympathized with his best friend's predicament, really, he did. It's just- Shikamaru needs to stop running from his emotions. Naras normally have a 'I'm not awake enough for your bullshit' persona which was pretty accurate when it came to most of the drama in the village. But their own drama, forget it! It was one of the main reasons they banded together with the Akimichi and Yamanaka, after all.
In fairness to Shikamaru, though, Choji could understand the brunet's stress and embarrassment over the entire situation. Naruto's girl self checked of every box when it came to Shikamaru's dream woman. Blonde, curvy and troublesome. It also didn't help that Girl Naruto acted so much like their Hokage and how similar the two worlds were. Knowing Shikamaru, it was the similarities between everything that was stopping him from seeing all of the differences in this fucked up situation.
"How's Temari with all of this?" The question wasn't going to get any reaction out of Shikamaru, Choji knew this. Yet, he had to try.
"Better than me." Choji blinked in surprise at Shikamaru's confession before smirking. They should have sent Ino away sooner if it got Shikamaru talking.
"And why is that?"
"Wipe that smirk off your face. Fine. Naruto's like my brother. You know that. How can I not be embarrassed that this other me married a girl version of my brother?"
"True-"
"And their kids. How could I not see it?! Takashi looks just like Shikadai and Benihime has my eyes, Choji. How did I miss it?" Aw, it's the kids! And his hurt ego. Choji realized as he watched the distressed advisor.
"Everyone missed it-"
"And the girls. It felt like they were my own daughters and I- I wanted-" Shikamaru trailed off, leaning his head against his hands. The room fell silent as the burden resurfaced.
Temari didn't know just how badly Shikamaru wanted and loved that baby. She didn't know because Shikamaru hid it from her so that she wouldn't be reminded of their loss. She didn't know how Shikamaru arrived at Choji's house with those pained, longing eyes. She didn't know how Shikamaru stupidly blamed himself for leaving for that trip, as if he could have saved the baby he had stayed. She didn't know how Shikamaru was jealous of Naruto for having multiple children, especially the little girl he had always wanted but could never say out loud. Which was ironic now, given the situation.
The moment Shikamaru arrived at Ino's house carrying Motoko with Shikamira teasing Shikadai at the man's side, Choji knew that those girls had him in the palms of their hands. Admittedly, Choji had been worried by the scene because of how calm and attached the girls were to the Nara men. Now, it made sense but Shikamaru's heart and sanity was shattering in the process.
"You make some good points." Choji confessed. "But you're missing something in all of this." Shikamaru looked up at his best friend.
"Like what?"
"Does it really matter what another you does? You're still you, Shikamaru. You don't have to compare yourself to this other you. Temari still loves you and you still love her. That hasn't changed." Slowly, Shikamaru nodded. Yet, he still looked down trotted.
"And I think the girls love you too, by the way." Golden brown eyes shot up in surprise as Choji continued. "They wouldn't be calling you 'Not Dad' or 'Other Daddy' if they didn't."
Ino returned a half an hour later, scaring the living crap out of them as she slammed the door open.
WHAM!
"Ino, be careful with the door!" Shikamaru ordered before yelping as the blonde woman leaped over the desk to grab ahold of the dark man's jacket. Choji stood up in confusion as Ino started to shake Shikamaru like a rag doll.
"NEJI HAD A SON!"
What?! Impossible!
"Get off of me, woman!" Shikamaru shrugged her off before giving her a calculating look. "What do you mean, Neji had a son?"
"Yeah, that's impossible." Choji parroted before throwing his hands up in a 'Don't Kill Me!' way as Ino's glare was redirected towards him.
"The other world, you morons! Neji had a kid in the other world! Do you know what that means?! There's a chance that he has one here!" Ino shouted, before she pushed the window open and perched on herself on the ledge. "Come on! Other You is waiting for us for the explanation!"
"This is so your fault!"
"My fault?! How the-"
"You should have given the signal when Ichiro entered the room!"
"I barely saw him-"
The twins, Choji has now learned, like to argue a lot. Choji could also see the resemblance between the twins and their counterparts. Internally, he was grateful that Chocho was an only child. The horror of her chatter doubled was, God, nope, to horrifying to think of. Though it was impressive how the twins were arguing with Shikadai and Boruto on their backs as they continued to do push-ups.
"Less talking, you two." Other Shika ordered from the seal-ridden wall as he paced before the group.
"His name is Ichiro?" Choji's gazed softened as they locked on Hinata's paler than normal features. Naruto's arm was slung over her shoulders in comfort. Then there was a tense cough from Ino. She nodded her head over to Lee and Choji felt bad for the taijutsu user.
Then a sense of relief over took Ino-Shika-Cho when the team realized that Ten-Ten wasn't here. She was away on a mission for Seduction. Which meant she wouldn't have to hear about Neji's son, even if he was from a different dimension.
"Yes, Ichiro. He's a jonin now and has a genin team. Neji would be very proud of him." Commander Nara confessed, stopping his pacing to finally face the group. The sight of the man's grim face made Choji gulp. He feared for what the Konoha 12 were about to learn.
"How?" Surprisingly, it was Shikamaru who spoke up, addressing his counterpart. Of course, he was still purposely ignoring Naruto but Choji would worry about that later.
"Neji had no lovers." Lee added firmly, his posture stiff. Other Shika's snort.
"Trust me, we thought so too." Commander Nara drawled before groaning. "Of all of the times Naruto had to leave, of course it would be now." His eyes drifted towards the ceiling, giving off the impression of 'of course, this would happen to me.'
"Where is she now?" Choji asked. From what Choji had learned about the couple, they appeared inseparable.
"Visiting the toad summons. News travels quickly and they wanted to meet her."
"What? How come I wasn't summoned too?!"
"Well-"
"ENOUGH!"
The room turned to face Hinata as she ripped herself out of Naruto's arms to start pacing. Her hands crimpled her bob as she turned to look at the eldest dimension hopper. She was shaking with pain and regret.
"Please, who is he? Please. I need to know." Hinata's voice cracked. The twins stopped their push-ups to look at their father with curiosity, like they didn't know the whole situation either. Not Shika sighed before stating,
"Fine. Just don't be disappointed if Ichiro doesn't exist here, Hinata." He paused again.
"Ichiro Hyuga, your adopted son and heir. He's Neji's only child." If anything, Hinata became paler as the man continued. "Nine months after the war ended, Naruto and I were summoned by the Kazekage because a newborn was abandoned after birth. All the mother left was a birth certificate with the last name filled out. None of the nurses could remember what the woman looked like or how she left. It was deduced that the mother was a Suna kunoichi who was a master of genjutsu."
"Suna?" Temari asked as her eyes narrowed dramatically as she crossed her arms. "This brat was born in Suna?"
"Yep."
"To a Suna Kunoichi?"
"Don't make me repeat myself, it's very troublesome."
"Impossible!" Lee yelled. The cheery man was gone, replaced by a distraught best friend and teammate. "Neji would never- He's youthful heart was with- should have been with…" As Lee trailed off, bracing himself against the wall in defeat. Tension grew before Hinata shook her head sadly.
"Neji never loved Ten-Ten that way." She confessed. "You and I both know that, Lee. Do you know the mother?"
She was addressing the Commander with her question. Choji's mind was racing, trying to list all of the Suna women that he knew. The list was a small as he expected it to be and most of the women on the list were already married or old ladies. Nothing, he got nothing. Commander Nara remained silent before he leveled his gaze at Hinata.
"I know who she is. Naruto knows who she is. That information is classified to you, Hinata."
"Fine, so the other me doesn't know who she is. I need to know. Please, Shikamaru." Hinata was begging now, the tears welling up in her eyes.
"I can't tell you. Even if I wanted to." Not Shika shook his head. "Orders from the Hokage."
"Well, I'm ordering you to tell us." Naruto tried but Not Shika just sent him a 'Really?' look.
"Nope, doesn't work like that. Look, I'm sorry, Hinata. I really am. But I-"
"Wait just a God damn minute! Shikadai, get me your cellphone!"
"What?! Mom-"
"Now!"
"Yes, ma'am."
"Huh. It seems like Temari's onto something." Ino smirked from the Ino-Shika-Cho corner. Temari now had the room's attention as she impatiently tapped her foot. The phone was on speaker.
"Come on, pick up you little shits." Temari grumbled before the phone finally picked up.
"Hello, you've reached the voicemail of the Kazekage's handsome bodyguard-"
"Kankuro, where is Gaara? I don't have time for your shit right now."
"Geeze, what died and crawled up your ass? Hi, Kankuro. How are you? I'm great-"
"Now, Kankuro!"
"Kankuro, give me the phone. Hello, Temari. What did Kankuro do now?"
"Me?! What the fuck did I do?! I haven't done jack-shit today!"
"Oh, really now? So all of the paperwork that you were supposed to be doing-"
"Paperwork, what paper-"
"Will you two shut up?!" And that is why Shikamaru complains about being deaf before he's forty.
"Now, Gaara, I need information and I needed it yesterday. Sen's kid. How old is he and who is the father because it sure as hell isn't Shira."
"Temari, you no longer have access to that informa-"
"Now, Garaa."
"Yes, ma'am. Kankuro will send it over to momentarily."
"On it."
"Perfect, see you two at the exams." Temari ended the call, smugly. Naturally, the entire room sweat-dropped. "Sen, that's who the mother is. I knew that kid wasn't Shira's."
"Ding, ding, ding. We have a winner." The Commander drawled.
"Sen, who's Sen?" Kiba asked.
"Sen of Suna. Jonin. Genjutsu Mistress. Lee probable remembers her teammate. Does the name Shira ring any bells, Lee?" Temari asked. Lee face was blank until-
"THE FAIR MAIDEN WITH THE FLUFFY FANS AND FLOWER GENJUTSU FROM THE SAND CHUNIN EXAMS!"
"Sand Chunin Exams?" Choji asked his team. "The one you and Temari had to supervise?"
"Apparently. The name's not ringing a bell… Hold on." Shikamaru stood before he walked over to a shelf on the other side of the room. He took out an album and flipped through a few pages. When he landed on the desired page, he removed a picture and handed it to his wife. "Is she in this picture?" Temari inspected it for a brief moment before nodding.
"Yep, here she is." Temari stated as she faced the picture towards the group.
Temari stood in the center of the picture with her arms wrapped around two girls. The girl on the right was painfully short. Her big, brown hair and eyes nearly swallowed her features. She had a pretty smile though and her blushing cheeks gave her a cute appearance. It was the girl on the left that Temari was point at though.
The girl on the left was tall, thin, and delicate to look at. Her pale skin made her darker features stand out, to her light brown and spiky high pony tail to her deep caramel eyes. She was skinny, so skinny that Choji was demand that she eat second and thirds just so that she wouldn't blow away in the wind. Her mesh body suit and red dress combo fit her prefectly. Attached to the belt on her waist was a stick with a ball of fluff. She was pretty, very pretty actually. The girls in the pictures did look familiar though.
"They were are your wedding." Choji remembered finally. "And she had a little boy with her."
"Yep, and that little boy is 'blind'." Temari put air quotes around the word blind. "Sen and I have been friends for years. After the war ended, she showed up with a blind baby. Her team didn't even know that she was pregnant until her labor broke the genjutsu she had on herself. She made up some bullshit about how it was a 'the world is ending' one-night stand with some random nin. The rumor going around Suna was that Shira, her ex-teammate, was the father. They both denied it, of course. Kid's got to be what, fifteen now?"
"Well, the timelines are matching up." The Commander agreed before turning to Hinata. "Yes, Sen of Suna is Ichiro's birth mother. Now, as to how Ichiro was conceived-"
CRACK, SMASH, BOOM.
In all of the drama, Choji and the rest of the adults for that matter, had forgotten about the kids. They were no longer in the house.
Shikadai
This day had gone from absolute crap, to better, to soap-opera drama, to pure shit show and it wasn't even sunset yet. Mira, Boruto and the Lady Hok-Auntie had been kidnapped by aliens, the Jonin Commander was suffering from chakra depletion, and just about everything that could have gone, went wrong. Did he mention that he had his dead ancestor on speed dial now? Man, what a fucking drag.
Oh, are you confused? Well, it all started when the kids decided to go outside while Shikadai's mom and uncles where distracting the other adults. Why did they go outside? It's Boruto's fault, obviously. The knucklehead was the one who suggested that they bail. Granted, not even Boruto could be blamed for the shit show that followed.
"You know, I still don't get it." Mira started as everyone got ready for a spar. "How would the Otsutsuki from your world know about me?" That earned her some looks.
"What do you mean?" Sarada asked, shifting her weight to one side. Mira scratched the back of her head, her nose wrinkling in thought.
"It's not common knowledge back at home that I'm 'Fertile with Yin.'" She air-quoted the title with annoyance. "Maybe the Otsutsuki back home would know about my chakra but how does the Otsutsuki here know about me? And what do they want with Boruto? Nothing is adding up."
At that moment, Shikadai's brain went into overdrive. Four days. It had been four days since Mira and Taka arrived in their world. The Otsutsuki had attacked them yesterday and specifically singled out Mira. The only reason that everyone knew that the Otsutsuki were also after Boruto was because No Name told them that he was a target. Nothing was adding up. The only way that the Otsutsuki here would know about Mira was if-
"Didn't anyone ever tell you, brat? Curiosity kills the cat."
CRACK, SMASH, BOOM.
Everyone scattered as the ground below them collapsed. The kicked-up dust made him choke as Shikadai tried to jump out of the way of the racing yellow beam of light. He barely dodged, hissing as the light burned his left forearm.
"Dai, you ok?" Taka asked as he landed next to him. His blonde stunt double was gripping his kunai so tight that his knuckles were turning whiter than his bandages. Shikadai grunted back an affirmative. The pair had jumped away from the garden so that they were facing towards the house instead of the forest. And more specifically, facing the enemy.
"You know, you look so much like your mother. It's sickening." The voice cooed. It was a feminine and familiar voice. And yet, it was colder than ice and sent a shiver down his spine. As the dust begin to settle, he could make out the yellow barrier that eclipsed his home. Trapped with the barrier was his team, Lee, Sarada, Mitsuki, Beni, Hima and Motoko. Outside of the barrier was Boruto and Mira, cautiously waiting from the rest of the dust to die down.
The wind blew, revealing a woman. Shikadai could feel his eyes widen as Taka growled in fury. She was thin and robbed with in blood red. It clashed with her long and loose pink hair.
"No fucking way." Boruto murmured in disbelief while Mira hissed in disgust.
"My, how you've grown, Shikamira." Sakuro Haruno drawled. "Your body will make the perfect host for Kaguya."
"No, TAKA!" Shikadai screamed as the enraged blonde rushed towards the pinkette, leg raised to drop-kick her. The woman dodged with ease, the area that she once stood caving under Taka's strength. She maneuvered herself so that she was looking at all of them now, her back to the forest.
This Sakura Haruno had longer and wilder hair. Her blood red kimono top was open, revealing her chest wrappings. Her lower half was cladded in white leggings with a black stripe down the seam. Black shinobi sandals covered her feet. The diamond on her forehead was venom green and matched the tattoo of what looked like a compass on the right side of her bellybutton. Around her neck was her Konoha headband, a scratch straight through the leaf. Her eyes were crazed and deadly. She made Anko-Sensei look sane.
"Tsk, tsk, Takashi. Is that anyway to greet your favorite aunt?" She crossed her arms and faked a pout. "And here I thought Naruto taught you some manners."
"Go to hell, you bitch." Taka snarled, about to lunge forward again when Mira's shadow stopped him. Behind them, Shikadai could hear gasp of horror and a snarl of disgust. Oh, would you look at that, the adults finally arrived… Great timing, guys. Not!
"Tell me, Takashi, Shikamira. How is Sarada doing?" She was chuckling.
"Let go of me, Mira! I'm going to rip her head off!" If anything, Taka's declaration amused the pyshco even more. She was laughing now, her cackle ripping through the air before her gaze locked onto something behind the eldest Nara Uzumaki kids. Shikadai followed her gaze. Mira and Taka's dad was glaring daggers through the barrier at Psycho Sakura, the rest of the adults flanking him, completely powerless like last time.
"Oh, isn't that cute, Shikamaru. Your son is just like you. Always protecting the unwanted little whore, huh?"
"Benihime, start messing with this barrier." The Commander's eyes never left the enemy as Beni and Hima started to work on their cage.
"Come on, Shika." She was purring now. "Aren't you happy to see me? Aren't you so glad that you didn't kill me when you had the chance? Have you told your other self about how much you've hated me because I didn't like your poor Naruto?" Her eyes slid into an icy glare. "How I love to see you caged and unable to protect anyone, especially your spawns."
"You have no right to talk to him." Mira sneered. The woman shrugged.
"Perhaps." She took a set closer to the four, causing Mira to use her shadow to pull Taka and Shikadai back to stand with her and Boruto. "Not that I care. Now." She snapped her fingers. Instantly, they were surrounded by an infinite amount of shinobi puppets.
"Shikamira and Blonde Brat with the Whiskers-"
"Boruto!"
"Dude, so not the time for that." Shikadai hissed at his friend only for Psycho Sakura to nod in agreement.
"Shikamira and Boruto, come with me willingly. If not, well, I'll let you imagine the outcome."
"You jealous bitch." Shikadai glanced back to see this world's Sakura Haruno glaring at her copycat. The next moment, the two women were face to face, only the barrier separating them. Again, Shikadai felt a tug on his shadow as Mira maneuvered them away, creating as much space as she could away from the woman and her army.
"Oh would you look at that? Hello, me. Enjoying the show?" Sarada's mother flinched at her doppelganger's question before snarling,
"You're not me."
"Oh, I wouldn't say that. After all, who else has this hair color?" Then Psycho turned her sights on Aunt Ino. "You should take notes, Ino. This," She pointed to herself. "is what it looks like to break a mind. Actually, you did me a favor. Inner was getting rather annoying, trying to make me feel guilty and all." She turned to look at Sasuke, lust entering her gaze.
"While she's distracted, take out as many puppets as you can. Hurry." Mira hissed out before her katanas appeared.
As they leaped into action, Shikadai realized just how painfully slow he and Boruto were compared to the twins when it came to hand-to-hand combat and teamwork (something Shikadai was solely blaming of Boruto, the dumbass). Granted, his taijutsu style was purely defensive. Naras don't directly engage the enemy. Their style was to dodge or divert any attacks sent their way and only strike when there was an opening. Luckily for them, Boruto actually had some half-ass taijutsu skills and Shikadai's kunai skills weren't too shabby. However, the damaged that they caused to the army was nowhere near the level the twins were causing. They were demolishing any puppet in their path.
Surprisingly, Mira took point, her katanas glinting in the sun as she leaped over puppets. Her shadow projected out before her, trapping her prey before she sliced through. She didn't stop to look back, plowing her way through the army. Any puppet she skipped, Taka was right behind her, pulverizing the remainders in speeds that made Lee look slow. The quartet were doing great and soon the army was nothing. Shikadai didn't bother celebrating.
She's letting us fight. Shikadai bit back the words as the woman turned to face them. There was no doubt about it. Shikadai could almost taste her chakra, it was so strong. She was Kage level and she knew it. There was no way they could defeat her, two chunin and two genin. That wasn't going to stop them. They were going to go down swinging.
Her pale eyebrow was raised before she started to clap slowly, facing them completely. Over her shoulder, Shikadai flinched as his mother was sent flying back against their house, her giant fan lying beside her. Mom, in her fury and worry, had tried to break through the cage with pure strength and paid the price for her stupidity. He could make out Dad's worried cries to Mom, Aunt Ino's efforts to revive his mother, Uncle Naruto's outraged eyes.
"This can't be happening." Shikadai whispered under his breath. The twins, who were crouched in front of him and Boruto, flinched in unison before glancing back at them. Their eyes rippled with guilt.
"Don't even think about it!" Shikadai whipped his head towards Boruto as the blonde continued his declaration. "None of this is your guys fault! We're in this together and we'll get out of this!" Shikadai smiled at his friend (and brother, now, he guessed) before adding for the cheesiness of it all,
"Believe it!" At got a snort from Taka and a blinding smile from Mira.
"Just what I needed, two more troublesome brothers." Mira teased before Taka added,
"Man, what a drag but I guess we'll keep you around."
"How cute. If you four are quite done with your lovefest, I'm on a tight schedule." Psycho complained, a hand on her hip. "I'll admit though, you finished off the puppets sooner than I expected."
"How are you even here?" Mira asked. You could practically hear her brain turning. "You should be in our dimension, running from hunter-nin." A wicked grin ripped across Psycho's face.
"Oh, about that, my husband found me and brought me to this world." Crazy woman say what now? And who would be stupid enough to sleep with her? "Might as well tell you everything. I've got nothing to lose."
"Great, evil villain monologue time." Taka grumbled as the woman continued.
"My husband's wants to revive Kaguya in this world. Poor Zetsu" The adults behind her paled at the name. "was sealed with his mother and only got out just recently. Wouldn't you know it, he escaped the seal just in time to save me from Kumo's assassins. Not that I needed saving but it's the thought that counts."
"Zetsu, didn't Dad kill him?" Mira questioned. Taka opened his mouth to answer her but Shikadai beat him to it.
"Your dad killed the one in your world. Ours was sealed away with Kaguya." Jump! Everyone dodged, Taka and Shikadai on one side of the new valley and Boruto and Mira on the other.
"It's rude to interrupt your elder, brats." Psycho pulled her heel out of the ground, patting the dust off of her pants. "My Zetsu misses his mother, who needs a new body. Shikamira's body has been volunteered as tribute." A growl built up in Shikadai. "As for you, Whiskered Spawn, that eye of yours is going to tell us where Kaguya is sealed away."
"Like hell I am!"
"Funny, you seem to think you have a choice." Before they could react, Psycho bit her thumb and started signing. "Summoning Jutsu!"
Psycho had squatted, her bloody hand on either side of the valley. The ground trembled as smoke overcame her. It was thick, so thick that Shikadai lost sight of his house behind her. The smoke started to barrel towards them.
Boy, don't breathe in the smoke!Luckily, he didn't have to because Mira sent a gale force wind, dissipating the smoke before it could reach them.
Pay attention, child. You are far from ready for this. I'll lend you my strength for now but when this is over, boy, I expect you great things from you. Do the Naras proud, Shikadai. Only we are Fertile with Yin.Shikadai could picture the Hag in the back of mind, Shika Nara standing in her robe of shadows, her golden eyes blazing. His chakra was roaring and he felt more awake than he ever had.
"Slugs?" Boruto questioned, earning a nod from Taka.
"Don't let them touch you and watch out for acid attacks." The dirty blonde explained, analyzing the beasts. "They're probably poisonous."
The two slugs were huge and easily towered over the low house. The slug on the right was a pale lavender with wicked venom green markings. The slug on the left was pearly white with sky blue markings. Movement to Shikadai's left drew his eyesight towards Mira's hand. What looked like a finger tapping impatiently on the gild of her blade was actually code. R-A-T. Time to make the hag proud.
Mira's shadow launched forward, latching onto the slugs as Shikadai leaped over Taka.
Rat - Bird; Shikadai signed in the air before landing right before where Mira's shadow split. Shadow Stitching Jutsu! His chakra felt open, in a way, like a dam releasing for the first time.
His shadow chased towards Psycho far faster than it ever had and clearly, he wasn't the only one who was surprised. Alarmed, Psycho back flipped, before sprinting. She raced up the yellow cage as Mira's shadow completely overtook the summons, smothering them into oblivion.
Psycho was growing angrier when she pivoted from the top from the cage. Just when he was about to grab her shadow, she pushed off the cage into the air.
"Oh no you don't!" Mira yelled as she signed some more, her shadow joining chase in the air. Their shadows linked together, weaving a big net to catch Psycho. The woman raced through her own hand signs before spewing acid. The brunettes retreated as their net took the brunt of the attack. Psycho landed, the earth cracking beneath her.
"Oi, Other Shika Brat, when did you wake up?" She cracked her neck before sneering. "You've Naras have been a pain in my ass for too damn long. I'm going to love killing you."
She raised her fist over her head, ready to slam it back onto the ground when the wind started shrieking. Above her, the sun glaring his form, Boruto appeared. He crossed his fingers. A trio of clones flanked him as they started their descent. Shuriken and kunai flew towards her. They missed her on purpose as the main Boruto yanked his fist back. The ninja wire shined as it wrapped itself around the woman and tightened. It dug into her skin, but she didn't cry out in pain.
"You think that this can hold me back?" She looked bored. That's when the main Boruto smirked and Psycho froze completely.
"Shadow possession jutsu." Boruto poofed away, revealing Taka in his place. "Complete."
"Why you little-"
"RASENGAN!" The actual Boruto yelled, throwing his rasengan at her like a discus. It turned invisible before slamming into her right side.
"UGH!" She was sent flying into the forest, taking down some trees as she flew.
"Aw hell yeah!" Boruto cheered, causing Shikadai to look at his friend only to do a double take.
"Boruto, your eye!" The whites of Boruto's right eye was pitch black. The pupil was clear but pale blue, looking extremely similar to his mother's byakugan without the popping veins.
"Yeah, I know. It decided to show up this time." Boruto explained before yelling, "Mira, two o'clock!"
Mira barely dodged as Psycho dug up beneath her. The woman pulled herself up and Shikadai nearly threw up at the sight of her. Boruto's rasengan had torn up her entire right side. It had ripped off her right arm below the elbow while spiraling into her abdomen so deep that he could almost see bone. And yet-
"Fuck, she can regenerate." Taka cursed as they watched her grow back the skin and arm. She raised her new arm, flexing it. Mira took her chance while the woman was distracted, one blade crackling with black lightening while the other burned charcoal flames. Green eyes blazing, Psycho raised her palms, grabbing ahold of the blades with her bare hands. Her skin seared but she didn't care.
"NO!" Shikadai couldn't tell you which of the boys roared the cry first. It happened like it was in slow motion. Taka started to run towards the scene, Shikadai let his shadow loose, Boruto tried to form another rasengan. They were too slow. They were too slow.
Using her grip on the blades as Mira freefell, Psycho pulled Mira closer before driving her heel straight into chest. The Nara heiress coughed blood as she was launched airborne, the consciousness leaving her eyes as she flew. Mira crumbled at least 50 yards away from where she once was and didn't move.
"Mira!" Taka called as he sprinted towards his fallen twin before an earth wall stalled his attempt to rescue his sister. Shikadai heard the sound of another summoning before Taka's fury caused him to turn the wall to dust. As the wall crumble, Shikadai caught sight of the summons. This slug was pale white with mint green accents. The slug was so pale that you could see through it. In the belly of the slug was Mira, green chakra surrounding her floating body.
"ROARING RIPTIDE!" Taka roared, his leg raised to Psycho's head only for her to grab his leg with blue hands. She threw Taka to the side like he was a rag doll. Psycho wasn't using her full strength, Shikadai could tell but all that changed in the following seconds.
With Taka down for a few second, Psycho used the speed she had been saving. Faster than he could blink, she was on Boruto and Shikadai was too slow. He was too fucking slow to save his best friend.
Her right hand punched him right underneath the blonde's ribcage. As Boruto keeled over, his activate eye got covered by her left palm, a purple glow covering the hand. For a horrifying millisecond, Shikadai though that she was going to rip out the eye but she didn't. As Boruto lost consciousness in her arms, she grabbed the back of his jacket and through the Uzumaki back at her slug. The slug swallowed the boy whole and Boruto joined Mira, unconscious and in green chakra. That's when the summons returned back to its own world, taking Mira and Boruto with it.
"No…"
He felt like the world was crumbling at his feet as his heart crawled into his throat. His eyes burned with tears and fury. This can't be happening, this can't be happening, this can't-
"Well, that was easy." At her words, Shikadai snapped.
"AH!" His shadow pierced into her, right through her tattoo, up and across into her heart and out her back. It should have killed her and for a split second, he thought he had. She hung from his shadow, her pink hair curtaining her face.
"Not bad, Other Shika Brat." She raised her head to him. He could clearly make out her bloody smile, her crazed eyes, her releasing green seal. "You'll have to do better than that." She gripped his shadow as leverage before heaving herself out.
Shikadai didn't know that Psycho was going to do next when he was grabbed. He suffered whiplash before his head rested against something soft, warm and safe. His vision became orange and yellow as he was moved faster than lightening, stopping once before moving again. Finally, he stopped moving. He was seated next to Taka, his back leaning against the yellowy cage. Another woman stood before them. She was blinding.
"Well, well, well. I see you finally made it." Psycho called out as woman in flames turned to face her. Nine-tails sprouted from her lower back, her once blue-eyes ruby red. "Naruto."
Author's Note - Damn, peeps. That chapter was long and tough to write. I needed to (kind of) clean up the Ichiro story, add some action and I always wanted to have the Kote scene so I decided, screw it, it's going in this chapter. Honestly guys, I'm probably going to make a second story just for the 2.0 timeline because my ideas for 2.0 are overwhelming. However, this story takes main priority. I hope you guys still like this story and where this is headed. Also, let me know if you guys think I threw too much into this chapter. Anyway, please review, favorite and follow! I love you guys so much! See you guys next time!
-V.I. Winthrop