"What the hell is going on?"
Shinachiku felt his mind is about to melt from what he's seeing. At the doorway, was a man eerily similar to his father. Although, the male sported a short hairstyle, had a bandaged hand and wore the Hokage cloak. The young blonde immediately turned to Sakura looking for some answer, lips trembling. "Who..
Sakura quickly scurried to Naruto and shut the door. The hokage was still staring at the kid through the glass window of the door. Sakura pushed him out of Shinachiku's sight.
"W-why does that kid look like you? Why… why does he look like ME?" He stared at Sakura incredulously. Sakura sighed deeply, her head began to ache as she managed to piece things together.
"Wait Naruto, calm down." She massaged her temple before continuing "Do you remember when we were trapped in a genjutsu? Where you have a twin, I mean a version of yourself but different and your parents were there. Where everyone acted differently from who they are. Obito-san was the one-"
"Yeah… but what's that got to do with him?" Naruto asked. Confusion written all over his face.
"Well, he's apparently Uzumaki Menma and," She paused for a moment, trying to absorb what she'll say to Naruto as well, "the other Sakura's child."
Sakura thought about it for a moment. How can the kid exist when the genjutsu that Obito put them in is only an illusion. He shouldn't be alive in the first place. Is the boy posing to be someone he's not? But how could he know about the name Menma? The teenager seemed genuine when he was talking to her too. Both her and Naruto never saw the other Sakura when they were in the Tsukiyomi. Is it possible that there's another world, another universe that exists where this boy lives?
Naruto, on the other hand, was speechless. Hundreds of thoughts came running through his head. He can't believe what Sakura said. The boy that he rescued last night is possibly their son. It's not from the both of them but still, a child...with Sakura-chan? He felt his heart pound. However, he doesn't know what to feel. Should he feel worried that there was a stranger claiming to be their son? Should he feel scared that his family would find out about this? What does Sakura think about this?
His eyes traveled to Sakura. Her brows were knit and arms crossed. A soft smile unconsciously grazed his lips. She never changed on how she approached a difficult situation. She always thinks about it carefully. He found his way thinking about the past. If his teenage self heard that he and Sakura had a kid, he'd be jumping for joy. He did dream of being with her, and even having a family. But, of course, she unfortunately never returned his affection. They grew up and got married and had kids with other people.
I shouldn't be thinking like that anymore. He thought as his smile fell. "Sakura-chan, why don't we talk to him first to figure something out." Sakura nodded and followed his lead.
Shinachiku covered his face with his hands and pressed the end of his palms onto his eyes. Cold sweat broke out of his skin. Everything around him was confusing him. A woman who looks like his mother is saying she's not his mom. Then a guy that looks like his dad. Everything looks so familiar to him but at the same time it's not. He thought that his clone was able to warn his family on time and they were able to apprehend the people who attacked him. The last thing he remembers was a blinding light engulfing him and he ended up waking up in the hospital.
What happened to me? He felt really sluggish and there was a burning sensation on his back like he was pierced. His nose flared as he recalled that he was injected with something before everything went blank. He snapped his head so hard, it gave him whiplash.
"O-ouch." He murmured as he massaged his neck then reached for his pouch. He fished out the antidote pills his mom made. He was about to pop one in his mouth but the door suddenly slid open revealing his parents' look-a-like. This time it was his 'dad' who greeted him and sat across him.
Naruto examined the injured male in front of him. From afar, he looked a lot like him but once you get closer he looks more like Sakura but with some of his features, the blonde hair being the biggest give away. The more he stared, the more incredulous he became. The teenager resembled his own child as well but his striking green eyes would tell you otherwise.
'So if Sakura-chan and I had a child, he'd look like this . . .' A thought from the back of his mind whispered even though he vowed to suppress it.
"Is something wrong?" Bright emerald eyes look at him curiously which snapped him out of his reverie.
"Nothing's wrong." He smiled at the boy assuring him. "So, do you remember anything from last night?"
Shinachiku shook his head. "I don't even know how I ended up here. . . The last thing I remember is a bright light. After that, I woke up here. I thought my mom brought me here." His gaze moved to Sakura for a moment. "But apparently, she didn't."
"I saw you falling from the Hokage tower last night. You were in a pretty bad shape, looks like you got into a fight." Shinachiku just pursed his lips after hearing that and showed no signs of furthering any information about it. Naruto looked back at Sakura, the two of them shared a knowing glance.
"Sorry but I didn't get your name. I'm Uzumaki Naruto. Current Hokage of Konohagakure." He offered him a wide smile.
However, instead of answering back, Shinachiku just gave him a dumbfounded look. He just stared back at the young blonde as well. Naruto heard Sakura snicker behind him. He turned to Sakura with a questioning look.
"I'm sorry but he looks exactly like you with that face." She commented with her hand covering her lips.
"You," Their eyes went to Shinachiku, "Your name isn't Menma like dad's but mom's still Sakura." He muttered as he glanced at the pinkette. "I'm Uzumaki Shinachiku. . . son of Uzumaki Menma and Sakura."
No words were exchanged between the three of them when Shinachiku confirmed that he is indeed what they thought he was. Both Naruto and Sakura knew they had a bunch of questions they wanted to ask him. A lot of whys and hows. But they knew that this isn't the right place and time to ask a disoriented teen.
"Do you think I can return home?" Shinachiku broke the silence. Sakura approached him and put a hand on his shoulder.
"You will. If we were able to return, I'm sure you will too." She assured him. However, her answer further confused the blonde which showed on his face.
"We were able to meet Menma before. Both me and Sakura have been to your… world." Naruto wasn't sure if it was the right word to say but he continued. "It's difficult to explain it right now but we're gonna help you go back home, I promise that on my life."
"It's a promise of a lifetime." A memory flashed across Sakura's mind as soon as she heard those words. Her eyes went to Naruto, he still had the same smile he offered her when he said that he'll bring Sasuke back. She bit her lip and felt her heart ache. She remembered the pain and grief that Naruto went through because of it, to the point that they have to do extreme measures to stop him.
"We promise." Sakura clarified. "We'll make sure that you can return home. Right, Naruto?"
Naruto gave her a determined smile, "Yeah."
"Thank you." Shinachiku uttered, his eyes glanced to the two adults in front of him. Them being together truly looked like his parents. He felt assured just being in their presence. As if, there was no reason for him to panic that he suddenly landed into an unknown world. Being with them is enough to put him at ease.
"You look more like my dad when you smile." Naruto raised his brows with the unexpected remark. "I mean, you do look like him. Just a bit different."
"How different?" Naruto asked, his curiosity peaked. The last time he saw Menma was with glowing red eyes and dark hair.
"His hair is a bit longer than yours and I guess. . . younger?"
"What?! Menma and I are the same age!" Naruto sounded taken back. "I know I just had my birthday last week but I'm not older than him! Right, Sakura-chan?"
Sakura just sighed and rolled her eyes, "I think you're too old to pout."
"That's just mean." Naruto frowned even further.
The exchange between the two put a smile on Shinachiku's face. It was a familiar and comforting sight. However, he felt like there was something missing. A knock on the door disrupted his thoughts. All three of them turned their heads to see a familiar face. Shikamaru emerged from the door with an unamused expression. He was about to scold Naruto but paused momentarily. His eyes darted from Naruto then Sakura, and finally, to the other male in the room. He scrunched his brows and examined the scene in front of him once more. He sighed through his nose then said, "May I speak to the Hokage, please."
Naruto stood up then went after Shikamaru out of the room. Sakura followed suit after reassuring Shinachiku that he has nothing to worry about for now.
Outside, silence hung between Shikamaru and Naruto. Sakura went up to them knowing that she needed to explain the urgency of Naruto's visit in the hospital. Before she could even speak, Shikamaru spoke up. "Can you tell me why there's practically a clone of the two you in that room?"
"He's not a clone." Naruto argued. "He's . . . well, he's the son of someone who looks like me?"
"You have a twin?" Shikamaru asked nonchalantly.
"No, no." Naruto ran a hand through his head. "It's more complicated than that. He's not even supposed to be here." Shikamaru just raised a brow at his remark.
"In the past, Naruto and I got stuck in a Tsukuyomi made by Obito-san." Sakura started, both of the men's attention shifted to her. "Everyone in Konoha is there but opposite. There's this guy named Menma. You can say that he was Naruto in that world. The boy told us that he's his father."
"I'm guessing that you're the mom." Sakura lowered her eyes and nodded at Shikamaru's comment. He shook his head and put his hand inside his pockets. "How would you know that he's not fake or just pretending to be someone else?"
"I don't think we've ever mentioned that incident to anybody." Naruto replied with Sakura nodding in agreement. "And the boy doesn't seem to be lying either. But there's something I don't understand. . ."
"How can he exist if Menma was just a part of a genjutsu? We both knew that it's fake because of Obito-san's doing. We also didn't see my counterpart there. I only saw yours. I still have a lot of questions to ask Shinachiku." Sakura was a little taken aback. That's the first time she ever said the boy's name today. It felt foreign yet she said it so naturally. "However, I don't think that bombarding him with questions right now is the best idea."
"Well, he's here. Alive." Shikamaru blatantly added. "We can test his DNA. You said that his father is practically Naruto. We can see if it matches the two of you."
"I guess that would help." The Hokage agreed.
"People might think that you have an older son. The kid looks like he could be Boruto's brother." Shikamaru pointed out. "But I doubt that they'd think Hinata's his mother. He looks nothing like her."
A sudden awkwardness grew between Naruto and Sakura. They weren't thinking about what they should tell their own families about this situation earlier. Should they? The boy undoubtedly got both of their features. Anyone who sees him would think that he's the Hokage's child or even Sakura's. However, people might think that they have a love child between the two of them. Worst, if their families knew, they might abandon them.
"For now, let's keep this among ourselves. I think it's for Shinachiku's own safety as well." The other two nodded in understanding. "We should get going, I've been away from my desk for too long." He suggested and gestured to Shikamaru to lead the way.
"And, Sakura-chan."
"Hm?"
"Call me if you need anything. No matter what it is. Okay?" Naruto gave her a grin.
Sakura smiled back at him, knowing that she can always depend on him. "Of course."