Chapter 7:

After pouring out all the water from the canteens, the new generation sat down to figure out what to do next. Though Naruto insisted he only put water in two canteens, they didn't trust him and got rid of all their water, adding to their crankiness.

"We have to call for backup now," said Shikadai.

"You heard what Kiba said," answered Sarada. "And it does make sense. They wouldn't be any better off than we are."

"And taking them back to the village when there's no guarantee they'll be able to help them is a better plan?"

They sat on the ground in defeat. They didn't know what to do.

"Once they're back home, they can send people out to find a cure. They'll be safer there than on the road."

"Do you know how long it will take for us to get them back to the Leaf in this state? Kiba's head was about to explode."

"We can't stay here."

"Let's do a vote," said Sarada. "All in favor of continuing to the Leaf, raise your hand."

She raised her hand into the air along with Chocho and Mitsuki.

"All in favor of calling for help, raise your hand."

Shikadai, Inojin and Boruto raised their hands.

Sarada frowned. "We're evenly split."

"It makes more sense to call for help," argued Shikadai. "There's no way we'll be able to get these guys back to the Leaf in this state, I'm telling you."

"I'm with Shikadai. I can't stand this. We might as well call people to come and take them off our hands," said Boruto.

"You only want to call for help because you're annoyed," Sarada snapped. "Normally, you'd never want to call for help, but in this case, it's not that you can't handle it, it's that you don't want to."

"Mitsuki," Boruto began, ignoring Sarada's comment. "Why'd you vote for her way?"

"It's not that I voted her way," he answered. "It's that the option made the most sense. Sarada just happened to be on the same line."

"But why, Mitsuki?"

"Mainly for the same reasons we've been over. It will take more time to wait for backup, and you already admitted that you don't want to be around them for longer than you have to. Waiting will force you to spend more time with them. And once backup arrives, you'll be expected to stay with the group, thus, being in their company longer."

Boruto paused. He hadn't thought of that. His plan was to hand the adults off to the backup group and run. Thinking about it, it seemed unlikely for them to allow him to take off like that.

"I also doubt that the backup group will be any more productive," Mitsuki went on. "The adults will probably be skittish around the new group because they'll be strangers in their eyes. They trust us, so they're more likely to listen to us."

Sarada nodded up and down. "You see? It makes more sense for us to do it this way. Kiba even said so."

"You're just doing this because an adult said it was a good plan," remarked Shikadai.

"No," Sarada defended. "I was all for calling for help until he explained it in those words. I simply changed my mind."

"There's no way we can do this," argued Shikadai.

"Only because you won't try," said Chocho.

Before another argument could break out, Sarada tried to take charge. "Alright, everyone, calm down and listen. Everyone pair off. Each of us will look after one adult. The one who isn't paired up will keep track of the whole group from the back to make sure no one wanders off. Ok?"

At first no one moved, but not because they didn't agree. It was because the majority of the group didn't want to get paired off with an adult, thinking the one without a partner would have an easy job. Then, everyone went to find a partner, each going for the adults they felt would be the easiest.

Chocho and Sarada both wanted Sai because he was shy and quiet. They played rock-paper-scissors over who got to look after him and Sarada walked away in defeat. Shikadai paired off with his father and Inojin stood near Boruto, neither one wanting to partner up. Mitsuki went with Kiba and Sarada went over to Naruto who was happy to have her as a partner. He gave her a hug, very happy.

After a head-count, Sarada put her hands on her hips. "Someone go with Shino-sensei."

Inojin and Boruto pointed to each other, volunteering the other.

"Fine," she said, folding her arms. "Whoever doesn't go with Shino-sensei, switches with me."

Boruto ran to Shino, wanting to avoid being stuck with his father more than anything.

Inojin didn't care and didn't move, so he got to be in the back of the group, keeping track of everyone.

"Everyone got your buddies?" asked Sarada. "Ok, let's go to the Leaf."

Shino walked beside Boruto with a sad look on his face. Though he had a buddy, it was forced. Boruto didn't want to go with him. No one did. The knowledge of being picked last, and by force, was an awful feeling.

"Wanna see me do a cartwheel?" Kiba asked Mitsuki.

"Not really," Mitsuki answered honestly.

Shikamaru and his son walked beside each other without a word.

Sai held Chocho's hand the whole time looking happy. Both girls wanted to be his partner. They must have really liked him.

Naruto held Sarada's hand for a while, talking excitedly to her about all his many talents. Sarada listened politely, though she knew most of these were made-up.

Boruto glanced back at Inojin walking behind everyone else.

Taking notice of Boruto's eyes being elsewhere, Shino asked in a meek voice, "Can you hold my hand?"

"What? No. Just keep walking and don't bother anyone."

Shino wrung his hands sadly. Touching his own hand made him feel sort of like he had someone holding his hand as they walked.

Going with Sarada's plan actually worked surprisingly well. They managed to travel for quite a while before the adults asked for a rest. With everyone partnered up, no one ran off and no one instigated anyone. Sarada was feeling very proud of herself.

"I'm thirsty," complained Naruto.

With the canteens empty, the group would have to travel off road to find a water source. Sarada knew they couldn't last without water but didn't want to leave the road. Sending Inojin seemed like the best solution but feared him leaving would rile up the group.

"What's that?" Naruto asked, pointing.

Not as tall as Naruto, Sarada had to stand on her toes to see through the trees. "Looks like we've reached another village."

"Can we stop?" Naruto asked her.

It was getting late and it would be too risky to set up camp further down the road. It made sense to stay in a village and maybe get something to eat.

"Alright."

The group went to the village and suddenly found it harder to keep control over the adults. With so many things to see, they wanted to go exploring. Kiba saw a man walking his dog and tried to run over to it with Mitsuki wrapped around his arm. To stop him, Mitsuki coiled his arms around Kiba's legs to trip him and Kiba fell on his chin. He started to cry and Mitsuki quickly covered Kiba's mouth to prevent a chain reaction in the other adults like last time.

"There's an inn we can stay at," announced Chocho.

Mitsuki dragged Kiba after the group.

Sarada walked up to the front desk and asked for a room. The man at the front desk wondered why she was asking and not the adult standing nearby looking at a painting on the wall.

"We don't rent to children," said the man.

"We're shinobi on a mission." She flashed her ID card thinking that would be enough. "We'd like a room please."

The man looked at her card and back at the group. "Sorry, but it's policy. We don't rent to children, even if you are shinobi."

"What about adults with children?" she asked.

"That's fine, but the adult has to handle the booking."

"Just a second." Sarada went back to the group and expressed her hesitation.

"What's the problem?" asked Boruto. "The guy sees the adults, doesn't he? Just say you're doing it on their behalf."

"He won't let me," she explained. "He said the adult has to do the work."

"That's fine," said Mitsuki. "We can have Kiba do it like last time."

"You trust him to do that now?" She pointed to Kiba trying to be faster than his reflection in a mirror mounted beside the painting Naruto was still staring at. "I doubt he'll know what he's doing. Might even give us away."

"Are we supposed to be hiding this?" Mitsuki asked, unsure why they would want to.

"We can coach them," offered Boruto.

"And the guy at the front desk won't be suspicious of us whispering to one of the adults? What if he asks for a signature?"

Shikamaru overheard what they were talking about and understood. He just had to pretend to be a grownup. He already looked like one.

Shikamaru went over to the front desk. "I'd like a room please," he said, mimicking Sarada.

"What kind of room?" asked the man.

"Uh…" Shikamaru wasn't sure what that meant. Weren't rooms the same in a place like this? Did the man maybe mean a bedroom or a kitchen? That couldn't have been right. Who would sleep in a kitchen? "What kinds do you have?" he asked, thinking that was the fastest way to get his answer.

The men went down a list of ones they had available and Shikamaru couldn't tell the difference between most of them, so he just picked the biggest room they had with the best view, getting the room he liked best.

The man shoved the paperwork under his nose for him to fill out and sign. "Do I pay now?" he asked, a little confused.

"When you leave," he answered.

"That makes sense." Shikamaru picked up the pen and tried to sign his name. It wasn't how he normally signed it but it satisfied the clerk. The man handed him the room key and wished him a pleasant stay.

Shikamaru walked back to the group with the key in hand, feeling the bumpy numbers with his thumb. He didn't understand why it had numbers on it.

"Where were you? Where'd you get that?" Shikadai asked him.

"The man gave me a room. See? He gave me a key."

"He just let you have a room?"

Shikamaru shrugged. "I look like a grownup."

"And you didn't say anything weird?"

"How would I know if I did?" Shikamaru asked him.

Before they gave themselves away, the group went down the hall to their room. They had to walk for quite a while, turning this way and that.

Shikamaru looked at the numbers on the doors and back at the key Shikadai had in his hand. "The number of our room is on the key," he announced, figuring it out. "We have to find that number."

"That's what I'm doing," said Shikadai, a little annoyed. He knew this and didn't understand why his father would point out something so obvious. Of course, since Shikamaru had the mind of a toddler, this was a major discovery and some children that age wouldn't have figured it out so quickly.

Finding the correct number, Shikadai unlocked the door and let everyone inside a spacious room with large windows. The room they stood in now had a low table with two legless chairs stationed around it. The rice-paper walls were beautifully decorated with birds and cherry blossom trees. The sliding walls led to two separate rooms, both of them bedrooms. Behind another sliding wall was a private bath in a sunroom guarded by trees, pruned so there would be a perfect view of the sky framed by their leaves.

"This room's amazing," said Chocho, loving it.

"Did you rent a suite?" Shikadai asked his father.

"I just wanted a big room for everyone 'cause that's what you said you wanted," answered Shikamaru. Then he smiled. "But I liked that. I wanted it so he gave me this room." He was pointing to the private bath with a perfect view of the sky. Shikamaru couldn't wait to soak in that round tub while he gazed up at the clouds.

Shikadai moaned. "Mom's gonna kill you when she finds out how much you spent on this…"

"I didn't pay yet," said Shikamaru.

"But when you do… Oh, never mind." He didn't think his father would understand with his brain being what it was.

Although, he had to admit that Shikamaru managed to acquire this room with little hassle. He wondered what his father had done. Either it was something his father did or the concierge didn't care.

"I'm hungry and thirsty," Naruto whined.

Shino picked something up from the low table. "I found this."

Naruto snatched it from him and waved it to the young shinobi. "I found this!"

Shino sighed, shoulders slumping.

Naruto opened it and discovered what it was. "This has food in it. Not real food, but words of food."

"That's the room service menu," explained Sarada.

Naruto knew what that was. "Can we order food from here?" he asked loudly.

"We'll get you food. But you have to be quiet, ok?"

Naruto nodded. He looked over the menu then asked loudly, pointing, "Can I get this?"

Sarada put a finger to her lips. "Quiet."

Naruto lowered his voice. "Can I get this?" He held up the menu, showing Sarada.

"Ok, yes. We'll get some. We'll get food for all you guys as long as you stay…"

They immediately started calling out orders, whether they were on the menu or not. They shouted over each other to make their wants known.

"Quiet!"

Chocho was among the excited shinobi. "Do they have barbeque? Oh! I want something grilled or fried. Do they have anything like that on there?"

"You, too?" Sarada asked, eye twitching.

Since the group consisted of picky eaters and voting for items not on the menu, Sarada opted to go to a store for supplies with Chocho and bring back food. They told the boys to watch the adults and promptly left.

Naruto whined. "I'm hungry."

"Sarada's getting it."

"I'm hungry now."

Shikamaru crawled to the next room and peered into the bath. He looked back at the others. "Can I take a bath?" he asked, wanting to soak and enjoy the view.

"Not unless someone goes with you," said Boruto. "You might drown."

Shikamaru looked around. "Sai, wanna take a bath with me?"

Sai shook his head. "I don't wanna."

"Naruto, will you take a bath with me?"

"I don't like baths! Yuck!"

Shikamaru looked at Kiba. "Will you take a bath with me?"

Kiba rolled on the floor, going from one wall to the next. "No bath! No bath!" His chanting inspired Naruto to join in and the two drowned out Shikamaru's continuous asking.

"Sarada said to be quiet!" Boruto shouted.

"You're being way, way louder than we are!" Naruto told him.

"I am not!"

"Are too!"

"Stop shouting!" Boruto shouted.

Shikamaru sighed. He wanted to watch the clouds through the sunroof but the best view was from the tub. He checked.

The bathtub was currently empty but it was very uncomfortable to sit in an empty tub. He concluded that it had to be filled with water. He also concluded that in order to use the tub while it was filled with water was to take a bath. It was the most logical way.

Shikamaru crawled over to the tub while the others were distracted and observed the different knobs. There were three of them but he wasn't sure what all of them did. If there was ever more than one knob in a tub, one was usually for hot and the other for cold. A third knob threw him off. What were these for? The most logical way to discover that was to test them.

Shikamaru rotated one knob and waited for something to happen. Water began to pour into the tub but, since he hadn't plugged it, drained away. He held his hand under the running water and found it to be cold. He turned that one off and used the next knob which was hot. He turned that off after the discovery.

Then what did the third one do?

When he rotated that, nothing happened. "Must be broken," he thought aloud.

He started to fill the tub with water, knowing it would take a while. So far, no one had noticed.

He knew that he was supposed to wash before soaking in a tub, but, even though those were the rules, was too lazy to do a full bathing experience. He would just treat it like a swimming pool.

When the tub was full and to the temperature he liked, Shikamaru disrobed and climbed into the tub. The water felt really nice. He pretended he was an alligator and crawled slowly in the tub, keeping his mouth underwater but his nose and head above. He moved a little too fast and got water up his nose, making him cough.

He sat back and got a good view of the sky through the glass ceiling above. The clouds looked great resting above the trees. They weren't as puffy as he would have liked but the breeze made them move which he liked watching. Sometimes they changed shape. He sat back to watch them drift along in the sky. He looked at the windows lining the walls but couldn't see much with them packed to tightly together, making the room private.

Something was still bugging him. What did that other knob do?

There was no moveable faucet in the tub. That thing stayed where it was. There was no showerhead because that was over by the wall where the guests were supposed to clean off before entering the tub. What did it do?

He decided that it was broken, but he was no longer satisfied leaving it at that. He had to know.

He ran all the tests when the tub was empty. Perhaps it would do something now that it was full.

Shikamaru turned the knob, testing his experiment.

The tub began to vibrate and the surface of the water started to look like a bubbling pot. The water hadn't gotten any hotter. Shikamaru could feel the bubbles ticking his skin and looked around. He saw round vents previously overlooked before because of how well they blended it to the tub's design. Turning the knob must have opened the vents.

Shikamaru put his finger over one of the vents and felt the rush of air push against his hand. It felt really good on his palm and back of his hand. He turned around and let it pump air against his back. That felt really good, too.

He looked at the knob again, curious. He had only cranked it a little to see what it did. Would turning it higher make more bubbles come out? Would it make more air come out or just blow harder? He turned it all the way up to see what would happen.

Air shot out of the vents and bombarded him like a hose. Caught off-guard, Shikamaru yelled and thrashed around, splashing everywhere. It was too forceful. He wasn't in pain, exactly, but he didn't like it, either. He tried to reach the knob to turn it off but the jets on that side of the tub were too powerful and he didn't want to get any closer. He finally braved the jets to turn off the tub's hidden power.

Just as he did, the door opened and the others stood staring, wondering what all the yelling was about. Shikamaru just sat where he was and grinned sheepishly.

"Didn't I tell you not to?" Boruto snapped at him.

"You didn't say anything about turning knobs," Shikamaru informed him.

"I told you not to take a bath by yourself."

"It wasn't a bath," said Shikamaru. "I just filled it with water and got in."

"That's a bath!"

"Or a swimming pool."

"Then where's your trunks?"

Shikamaru looked around for an answer. "A shark ate them."

Boruto shot him a look. "A shark?"

"… Yes."

"Really?"

Shikamaru looked at the third knob and grinned. "Yeah. I turned this and out came a bunch of tiny invisible ones from the vents and one ate my trunks. That's why I yelled. Surprised me."

Boruto didn't know how to respond.

Shikadai sighed, rubbing his forehead. "Imaginative excuse but couldn't he have come up with a more plausible one? He's supposed to be a genius."

Naruto appeared beside the tub and started splashing around with his left hand. "Where are the sharks?"

Shino watched and muttered, "He said they were invisible."

"If there were any, they'd have bitten your arm off by now," snapped Boruto.

Naruto waved his hand in the air. "That's why I'm using my left hand!"