Act Your Age

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, Boruto or its characters. This is a fan fiction written by me for fun. No profit is being made. Naruto, Boruto and its characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto and Mikio Ikemoto.

Chapter 1:

It was a mission unlike any they had faced before. For one thing, it required both Naruto and Shikamaru to leave the village. Shikamaru calculated and determined that there was no other option that wouldn't make things more difficult. Their mission was a complicated one, so he decided to come along with Naruto to assist. He knew the situation could change at any time, so it was better to be with Naruto in case he ran into trouble.

They had received a message from Shikadai's group requesting assistance. They were unharmed but could not return to the village. Because they needed to be located, Kiba was asked to come along. Having to leave behind Akamaru and all the dogs wouldn't hinder them because Kiba's nose was just as sharp. It wasn't the first time he had to travel without them, but he didn't enjoy it.

Boruto wasn't directly asked to come along, but, seeing his father leaving the village to help his friends, he took it upon himself to join. Mitsuki followed because Boruto led the way and Sarada followed to stop them. Kiba knew they were being followed and didn't bother to alert the others, thinking they could play a vital role in this mission. By the time the others realized Boruto and his friends were behind them, it was too late to turn back.

"Just stay close and do as you're told," Shikamaru told them.

Things didn't get interesting until they found Shikadai's group. They stood at the mouth of a cave, waving them over. They explained that their mission was at a standstill until the Hokage showed up. It seemed their mission was a bit more complicated than they realized.

"Long story short," explained Shikadai, leading them into the cave. "We came here to collect an artifact that's been protected by a seal in this cave. Problem is, it can only be broken by someone with really powerful chakra and a lot of it. Otherwise, you get this."

The group stopped short, seeing Shino stuck in what appeared to be fossilized amber. It was completely solidified around his lower half and his hands were trapped as well. Chocho had offered to try breaking it by enlarging her fists but he begged her not to, because he could be seriously injured.

Inojin held up his left hand, which was encased in the very same substance. "I managed to get away before more could cover me and since it was my left hand, I could help send you that message."

"We couldn't leave Shino-sensei here in this cave and it would have taken too long to run back to the village to get you. Plus, we can't leave until the mission is finished and this is the mission."

Naruto looked at the trapped Shino and asked, "What are you doing here, anyway? Your mission was somewhere else."

"I came here because of a rumor I heard about a rare species of beetle. We happened to cross paths. Turns out the beetles weren't rare. This amber merely stained their bodies to take on a different color."

"And how'd you get stuck in there?"

Shino growled. "I got careless," he told them. Unbeknownst to them, he was glaring at Chocho who had tried to take the artifact from its perch while the boys were looking elsewhere for clues and he grabbed her in time but ended up getting trapped instead. It was noble on his part to protect one of his students, but didn't want to share the details. He had yelled a warning to Inojin in time so only his hand got encased. After that, no one dared to try taking the artifact and called for help instead.

Boruto and his friends stood back as the adults spoke with Shikadai and his team.

"We might as well not even be here," Boruto complained, seeing they were being ignored.

"We shouldn't be here," Sarada pointed out. "You decided to tag along. I told you this would happen."

Finally, the adults decided on what to do after all the details were given to them. Shikamaru took charge and told the kids to stay back.

"Naruto, you take the artifact because you've got the right chakra. Kiba, you get ready to catch it in that sack, ok? We don't know if the artifact has anything weird on it in addition to this protective seal. Better to be safe. If Anything starts to happen to Naruto. I'll pull him away before he ends up like Shino."

"And what about me?" Shino asked, looking down at his amber prison. No one bothered to try cutting him out of it.

"If I understand this right, that amber should just fall apart once the artifact is removed." Shikamaru stood at the ready behind Naruto. "Ready? Now, Naruto!"

Naruto reached into the opening in the cave wall to take the item. The Nine-Tail's red chakra engulfed his hand, protecting him from the amber trap. He had to push his way into the wall, the air within the seal thick like jello. Once his fingers were around the item, he pulled his hand out as quickly as he could. The amber around Inojin's hand and Shino's body cracked and broke apart as soon as the artifact tasted fresh air. Kiba moved in with the sack and Naruto dropped it inside.

"I think it's harmless now," said Naruto. "There doesn't seem to be anything funny about it."

Shino dusted bits of amber off his clothes and told him, "I'm still siding with Shikamaru on this one. Let's have the kids handle the rest of this mission with us. You go back to the village."

"It's alright," said Naruto. "I left a clone in my place. I'm good for a bit. I can help you guys with this."

"Really, we got this," said Shikadai, but the adults continued to talk.

"You guys don't have to be here now that you got that thing," said Boruto, siding with his friend. "We can help them out if you're that concerned."

"I agree, some supervision might be best for this type of mission," said Shikamaru, talking to the other adults. "This mission turned out to be different than we thought. I'll stay with them just in case. Naruto, you can go back with Kiba and Shino."

"I'm the one who got the thing. How do you know you won't need me again if something happens?"

"Good point. But I should be here to think of a solution."

"I can come up with plans, too, you know," Shikadai muttered, feeling ignored.

"Fine. We'll stay and Kiba and Shino can head back. Bring Boruto and his team with you."

"Come on!" Boruto shouted to get their attention. "This is their mission. Why are you trying to take over? You got the thing for them. Now let them handle the rest."

"We might as well stay since we're here," said Shikamaru. "I don't want to get halfway back to the village before another distress signal comes our way asking for help."

"They called for help, Boruto. We might as well help."

"There's a difference between helping and taking over," Boruto lectured his father. "Give them the thing and leave them alone."

"If it's dangerous, we can't let them have it," said Naruto. "I should be here since I can stand it. If something else should happen, I should be here to help."

Someone came running down the length of the cave and stopped. The arguing stopped when Sai came into view. "What are you doing here?" they asked each other.

Sai looked at the empty space where the artifact used to be and the sack Kiba was holding. "I think our missions are related. At the very least, crossed into one another."

"How?"

Sai pointed back the way he came. "I'm here to intercept these people from taking the artifact from this cave. They're trying to steal it from the people you're getting it for." He was looking at Shikadai's team.

"Seriously?"

"I thought I got here first when I heard your voices. I'm ahead of the enemy but they were right behind me. We have to leave now before they show up."

"New plan," said Shikamaru.

Everyone fled the cave and broke into two groups. One would lead the enemy away while the other carried out the mission by delivering the artifact. Kiba went with Shikadai's team and everyone else went deeper into the forest.

The enemy chose the larger group to follow. Naruto smiled, sack in his fist.

"Spread out," Shikamaru ordered and everyone moved away from each other to create a harder target.

An arrow shot the sack from Naruto's hand and into a tree. A man ripped open the sack but found chunks of amber instead. Naruto stopped to face them in combat.

Knowing they were not alone, Shikamaru and Shino kept running to lure the enemy away. Sai had warned them about a very muddy area up ahead and that was where they planned on taking them.

Meanwhile, Kiba followed the smaller group to where they were told to take the artifact once they found it. They climbed to a peak beside a waterfall and drove it into a perfectly shaped hole in its surface. The rocks hummed and glowed blue, illuminating the water. The humming soon stopped and the glowing dimmed until all was as it was before.

"Is that it?" Kiba asked. "That's all you had to do? Take it from one place to another and get a light show?"

"That was what the mission said to do." Shikadai started to climb back down. "They said not to return after the work was done. They'd know if we were successful by the lights because they could see it from their outpost. That's what they told us, anyway."

"And once it's in the wall, those other guys won't be able to get it," said Chocho. "Not that it matters, since that's not our mission. But I guess it helps Uncle a bunch."

Kiba sniffed around. "The enemy isn't in this area, so they must have all gone after the others."

"Should we help them?"

"Nah, they got it."

Naruto's battle was over quickly and left to find the others. Along the way, he noticed a strange light in the distance.

Boruto noticed his friends were being followed by one man on the ground. He spun around to face him, his heels digging up dirt as he slid to a stop. He got ready to create some clones when Sai dropped down from above and confronted the enemy himself. He easily disarmed him and kicked him aside.

"I had him!" Boruto complained, stomping his foot.

"This is my mission, Boruto," Sai told him. "I was assigned to stop them from getting the artifact. Our missions might be related, but these ones I have to face."

Boruto didn't argue with him even though he wanted to.

Further ahead, Shikamaru and Shino both faced off against two men. The fight stalled when they saw the light shine above the trees. The men stopped the fight, sheathing their weapons. "Too late," said one of the men. "Mission's done. We're not getting paid. Let's go."

Shikamaru understood. "That light was the signal that you lost, wasn't it?"

"Yeah. In this game of capture the flag, you guys won. Nothing more we can do now." He motioned for his partner to come and the two left.

Most of the men left, but one stayed behind to take revenge on the one he felt was responsible for their failure.

The group reunited only to branch off again, realizing they weren't done. One enemy remained and he was hunting them. Sai pointed up a steep hill, planning to lure him to the top where it was most slick. Having been through this area before, he knew that the hill was covered in mud. Shino took Boruto and Sarada with him to keep watch from below.

The hill was more like a cliff, stopping right above a spring nestled between the trees. Boruto wrinkled his nose at the strange color. "What's in this water? It's green."

Shino looked at the mossy green water and told him it could have been a number of things, most of which weren't dangerous.

Mitsuki had stayed behind to keep watch near a natural path in the trees. He saw the enemy heading their way but stayed where he was, instructed by Shikamaru not to move until they returned. If they didn't within half an hour, he was to find Kiba for help. He understood why Shikamaru wanted him to do this, just in case something happened to them, they wouldn't all be trapped, but he would have preferred to be with Boruto.

Shikamaru and Sai climbed the hill towards the cliff. As they went, their feet slid in the mud. They planned to use the terrain against the enemy. The closer Sai got to the cliff's edge, the more the land broke under his feet. He stopped where he was and waited, making himself the target.

A dagger flew by his head and he sent a kunai in the direction it came. He heard it enter something followed by a loud groan. He believed he had hit the enemy. Just to be sure, he stayed quiet and waited.

Shikamaru did the same but no one attacked. "I think we're good," he said but didn't drop his guard, just in case the enemy was waiting for him to say that.

Sai started to come away from the cliff but slipped and slid towards its edge. He grabbed onto the trunk of a tree to keep himself steady but his muddy hand slipped from its bark.

This was what the enemy was waiting for. He launched himself from one of the branches at Sai. He collided in his chest and the two slid further towards the cliff. Clumps of soil fell from the moist earth to the green spring below.

Sai deflected one of the man's daggers with a second kunai and both weapons were tossed aside, slippery from the mud. Sai tried to punch him but lost his balance. The man drew another blade and aimed for Sai's neck.

"Rasengan!" Naruto flew past Shikamaru's head and into the man, getting him away from Sai and sending him flying far into the distance.

Naruto landed in the mud and the ground shifted under his feet. Chunks of earth crumbled under their weight. Shikamaru didn't dare come closer than he was, shouting a warning instead.

Everything happened so quickly, they only had a fraction of a second to react.

Sai started to slip on the fragile soil which broke underfoot and began to fall. Naruto reached out and grabbed his arm before he could go over the edge but ended up falling with him, the momentum and weight too strong. Shikamaru stood nearby and used his shadows to grab both of them but it wasn't enough. He ended up being pulled off his feet with their combined weight on the slippery soil and all three tumbled down the steep but short incline over the cliff and down to the frothy green water below.

Shino ran to the spring's edge and waited for his friends to resurface. Sarada and Boruto stood on either side of their teacher, staring at the water.

"They're not coming up," Sarada said with alarm.

Boruto gritted his teeth. "I'll go in after them with my clones."

Shino thrust out his hand to stop him. "No, Boruto. You need to stay here. I'll go in. I can use my summoning to bring all of them to the surface. There's no need to put yourself in danger. Sarada, make sure he stays put."

Without another word, Shino ran and dove into the spring.

The Genin waited but no summoning took place. Shino must have been having a hard time finding them under water. Boruto moved to jump in but Sarada held him back, reminding him of what Shino told them. She didn't want them to drown any more than Boruto did, but there was no point throwing themselves in only to suffer the same fate.

"I can make a chain of clones," he offered. "Don't know why my stupid old man didn't think of that."

"We can't all go jumping in there. What about the others? I'm sure if Shino-sensei hadn't been in such a hurry he would have told us to stay so the others will know what happened."

Boruto gritted his teeth, waiting anxiously by the water's edge. His legs shook, preparing to jump in.

"Look!" Sarada pointed to the water as a head emerged.

Shikamaru surfaced and swam the short distance to the edge, pulling himself out of the green spring. More heads bobbed to the top and paddled to shore.

Sarada and Boruto ran to check on him. "Shikamaru, are you ok?"

He coughed and lay on his stomach in the wet dirt quickly turning to mud under his body. He lifted his head, looking at their ankles. "I think so." His voice sounded higher than usual.

He pulled himself into a sitting position and looked around.

"I'm all wet," he complained with a pout.

"Way to state the obvious," said Boruto.

Sarada was concerned. "Boruto, doesn't he seem a little…?"

Able to stand, the other three adults emerged from the water but something was wrong. In waist-deep water, Naruto began to splash Sai and Shino, mischievous grin on his face. Sai covered his head with his arms and whined, "Don't!" Shino kept his back to them both, frowning. Naruto laughed and splashed them more. Sai splashed him back. Then they both splashed Shino, realizing it was fun.

Shino tensed up as water struck his back and tucked his head between his shoulder as if to hide like a turtle in its shell. "Stop it, you two," he told them in a higher-pitched voice. "You'll drown my bugs."

"They're inside you, you big baby," Naruto told him, his voice also higher than normal. He kicked the water towards him and Sai. Sai lost his balance and fell backwards into the water. He emerged again, spitting water out of his mouth. Naruto kept splashing.

Covering his face with his arms again, Sai twisted away in discomfort. "Stop, Naruto. I got water up my nose."

"It's not still water so you should be ok," said Shikamaru. "The water in this spring's moving so there's no algae or moss. But the color's all weird and makes me scared a little."

"I heard there's dangerous green moss that rests on top of water which can kill you."

Naruto and Sai screamed and fled the water as quickly as they could. Naruto squatted down and hid behind Boruto, dripping wet and frightened. "That's not funny, Shino!"

"I was being serious," he said coolly. He walked slowly out of the spring. "But this isn't moss so we should be safe."

"Don't scare me like that, stupid!"

"I'm not stupid if I know stuff you don't."

Naruto stuck his tongue out at him.

Boruto moved in a circle to get his father away from him. "What's wrong with you, old man?"

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked, confused.

"You're acting like a child," he scolded.

"I am?"

Shikamaru looked from one to the other and down at his hands. "We look like grownups but I think Boruto's right. Something's off."

"Seriously, you should be the first to notice this stuff," Boruto told him. "Did you hit your head on your way into that spring?"

"Boruto, it's the spring!" Sarada grabbed Shikamaru by the arm and pulled him away from it. "They only started acting this way after they left the water. I think the spring's a fountain of youth but it only changes you mentally. That's why it looks so strange and no animals will drink from it. It's not poison, it's magic!"

"Magic water?" Naruto hurried to the spring's edge to look at it. Sarada pulled on the back of his shirt with both hands, begging him to get away from it. Naruto stuck his hand in the spring and took it out again. "Doesn't seem like magic."

"Get away from there!"

"You listen real well, Naruto," Shino muttered dryly.

"She just said to stay away from it, dummy," said Shikamaru, staying put where he was.

Naruto pouted and stomped his foot. "I wanted to see the magic."

Sarada pushed both hands against the small of the Hokage's back to move him away from the water. "I misspoke. It's not magic, but it is dangerous. Stay away from it, Lord Seventh!"

"It can't be that dangerous if we were just playing in it," he reasoned. "We're fine."

"You are not fine!"

Sai looked at his hands, puzzled. "We look the same but something is different…"

"I just said that the water changes you mentally," she repeated. "Your bodies are fine but your head's all messed up."

Shikamaru stood up, looking from himself to the others. "It's weird. It's like I know but I don't… It's hard to explain, I guess."

"Do you know you're an adult or not?" Boruto asked him. "You know who we are, right?"

"Yeah, I do. You're Boruto and she's Sarada and you're the Hokage's son and Naruto is the Hokage. My mind is fine in that sense, but something's not clicking. It's like I don't know how to be a grownup anymore."

"Their memories seem undamaged but they have the brains of toddlers," Sarada deduced.

"This doesn't make any sense!" Boruto stomped his foot angrily. "How does this type of thing happen? Shikamaru's smart so he should know how to act and think like an adult."

"Intelligence has little to do with maturity," commented Shino quietly. "Just because he's smart doesn't mean he understands…"

"I know, I know!" Naruto waved his hand in the air, drowning out Shino. "If going in the water made us like this, then going back in will change us back."

"Based on what?" asked Shikamaru. "It might make us worse."

"Worse than this?" Boruto asked.

Naruto ran and jumped into the water, emerging shortly after and looking from side to side. "I don't feel no different," he mumbled sadly. He climbed out of the water and stood among the others. "I thought it was a good idea."

"We better not do anything until we know it's ok," reasoned Shikamaru.

Boruto punched Naruto in the stomach. "You idiot! What if you made it worse? Don't do that."

Naruto whimpered and tears formed in the corners of his eyes. He sniffled and started to cry. "I didn't know… And… And that really hurt...!" Naruto wailed shrilly, sitting down where he was to cry it out.

Boruto recoiled at the sight of his father crying like a baby. He didn't know what to do but tried to make it better anyway. "I… Come on, I didn't hit you that hard."

"Yeah, you did! It hurt!" Naruto bawled louder.

Sai whimpered, his eyes also filling with tears. Seeing Naruto cry made him want to…

"Come on, you guys," said Shikamaru. "Don't cry. There's no reason to… You're gonna make me...!" Shikamaru's face scrunched up and tears started to run down his face. "I told you not to cry, you dummies...!"

Shino's eyes were hidden behind his visor but tears were rolling down his cheeks as well. He wiped them away but couldn't stop feeling upset. He didn't like it. He wanted everyone to calm down so he could cheer up. He didn't want to feel this way.

Looking to the only source of comfort he could find, Shino went over to Sarada and sat down by her legs. He didn't do anything other than sit there but when she moved away from him, he crawled after her and sat down again by her feet.

She looked from Shino to the other adults wailing uncontrollably. "Boruto…" She urged him to do something, unsure of how to handle this.

He didn't know what to do either. This was just too strange. Grown men acting like toddlers was weird enough on its own, but it was even stranger when they happened to be their parents and teacher.

"Um… There, there?" Boruto tried to pat Naruto on the back but he whined loudly and crawled away from him, upset at Boruto for making him cry. "I'm sorry I hit you, ok? Just calm down."

Naruto kept crying.

Boruto looked over at Sai who was quietly sobbing by a tree. "Why are you upset?"

"I don't know," he admitted. "Seeing Naruto upset makes me upset and… And if we really are like this and I don't wanna be like this and… Wah!" Toddlers felt such strong emotions and having the mind of a toddler was no different than being a toddler, so he cried just from being upset, no matter how minor it was.

Not that he didn't have a reason to cry. He didn't want to be like this. He had no idea if he could change back. He was scared and worried and confused and let it out the only way he knew how.

Seeing that Boruto was useless, Sarada held out her hand to Sai. "Sai, come here."

Sai walked numbly over to her, still crying. His tears made it difficult to see where he was going, so he moved slowly until he saw her blurry outline. He fell to his knees before her, not bothering to wipe them away. Sarada put her hand behind his head and guided him to her stomach where she held him under her arm.

Sai sniffled, calming down. This felt nice. Having her arm pressed lightly to his head was oddly comforting and her heartbeat was soothing. He sat, resting his head against her stomach.

Seeing the treatment Sai was getting, Naruto scrambled over to Sarada and threw himself around her waist, wanting the same. She drew her arm over his head and he held the hem of her dress in his fists, sobbing into her stomach. Sai didn't move, despite having Naruto so close to him.

"It's ok," she told the Hokage. "It's ok. Shh… Shh…"

Naruto blew his nose on her dress.

She stiffened, reminding herself that it wasn't his fault, and went back to shushing him. Eventually, Naruto calmed down completely and just sat there.

No one was crying anymore. Shikamaru calmed down once everyone else was pacified and Shino was able to find comfort just having Sarada close to him.

"Better?" she asked them and they all nodded. "Good."

Sai slipped his hand into hers and held it. He looked dazed but content. Clearly, he was a comfort child who needed this kind of interaction. He made an immediate connection with Sarada and looked to her for comfort and love.

"Ok," she addressed the group. "First things first. We need to find the others and make our way back to the village. With any luck, the hospital will have a cure. If not there, somewhere in the village. Or information leading to one."

"Sounds good," said Shikamaru. "We should go home."

"Yeah, my old man can't run the village with the brain of a toddler."

Naruto didn't respond to Boruto's comment.

Shikamaru actually wasn't thinking about the good of the village, selfishly and childishly wanting to return to the village only because he wanted to. He wanted to go home and relax in a familiar place.

They started walking, Sai holding Sarada's hand the entire time. Full of energy, Naruto zipped ahead, trying to slap low branches and jumping from one rock to the next. Shino followed without a word, but got distracted by a butterfly and started to wander off until Sarada called him and he quickly scurried back to the group. After a while, Shikamaru presented Boruto with a bizarre request, wanting to be carried. He seemed to be overlooking the fact that Boruto was half his size and could not carry an adult body as if their forms were reversed.

"I'm tired," he whined. "Someone carry me."

"No one's carrying you unless the Hokage wants to do it."

"Naruto, carry me."

Naruto went over to Shikamaru and bent down to give him a piggyback. Shikamaru climbed on and went limp as soon as Naruto stood up. Naruto trudged ahead with the listless Shikamaru on his back, finding this to be a fun game. He was showing off how strong he was. Then Naruto got tired and dropped Shikamaru on the ground. He didn't complain about being dropped and just laid where he was.

"Shikamaru, get up," Sarada urged him. "We need to keep moving until we reach the others."

He stayed where he was and whined. "I'm too tired to walk more."

"Please, Shikamaru."

"Don't wanna."

Sarada again looked to Boruto for help. "Do something." She couldn't handle all of them herself.

Boruto tried to motivate them the only way he knew how. "If we get there quickly, we'll have snacks."

Shikamaru stood up and walked without a word. Naruto ran ahead of the group, wanting to eat.

"The food better be yummy," mumbled Shikamaru.

It was another twenty minutes until they found Mitsuki with their bags. Naruto dove upon them, unzipping compartments until he found the packaged foods they brought along for the mission and tore into them, gobbling up as much as he could before the others arrived.

Sai let go of Sarada's hand to grab some food and Shino complained about how Naruto wasn't eating them right. Shikamaru fell on his face beside the pile of bags, too tired to try getting something to eat.

Mitsuki gave his friends a questioning look the more he witnessed the adults' childish behavior.

"I see," he said after it was explained to him. "A spring that alters the minds of those who enter it. I heard of that."

"Wait, you have?"

He nodded. "Yes. My parent did research on such a thing but gave up upon realizing it would only alter the mind and not the body. Apparently, it wasn't what they were looking for."

Naruto snatched a bag of dehydrated fruit from Shino, complaining about how he was going to eat it the way he wanted to and not follow his advice.

"I can see why they gave up." Mitsuki couldn't see his parent acting this way, even in the pursuit of longevity. Clearly, it wasn't worth the effort in their eyes.

"Did it mention anything about how to change back?" Boruto asked, not wanting to deal with the adults acting this way anymore than he had to, especially his father.

"It never mentioned a way to reverse the effects."

Boruto dropped his head with a groan.

"Sarada, he took that from me," Naruto whined, pointing at Shino.

"Share, you guys," she told them. "Be nice."

"He's not eating it right," said Shino, opening the bag in his hand. "You're s'pposed to add water to make the meal more filling so you don't eat too much."

"It's good like crunchies," Naruto said, pouring half a bag of dehydrated rations into his mouth and chewing. He was referring to the feeling of the food on his teeth when water wasn't added.

"He's not doing it right!" Shino said, his quiet voice getting louder in order for his complaints to be heard.

"Calm down," Sarada said and went over to intervene before they got worked up again.

Boruto asked Mitsuki, "Any sign of Shikadai and the others?"

He shook his head. "They should be back soon."

"I hope so. These guys are getting on my nerves."

Mitsuki looked over at the gathering of adults fighting over food like children. Naruto stubbornly insisted on eating the food the way he wanted and whined when Sarada seemed to take Shino's side. Shino's pokerfaced expression did nothing to hide his satisfaction. Everyone could sense it emitting from him. Sai ate quietly where he was but seemed to take Naruto's side, eating some of the rations his way and commenting how it could work. Shikamaru kicked Naruto when he accidently stomped on his leg while trying to plead his case through failing limbs. This, of course, resulted in Naruto jumping on Shikamaru's back as revenge and the two ended up rolling over the bags and spreading the contents over the ground like squeezing a tube of toothpaste. Shino lectured Naruto for being an idiot and Sai just stood there, watching.

It was a good ten minutes before everyone calmed down.

Left alone under a tree with no stimulation, Naruto succumbed to sleep quickly and his head dropped onto his chest, dozing off in a sitting position. It wasn't just his toddler mind telling him to do this. His adult body was tired most of the time from all the work he did and, if ever left alone for more than a few minutes, nodded off within seconds. It often annoyed his son on their days off because he couldn't stay awake longer than a few minutes, cutting their family bonding time short.

Shikamaru, being naturally lazy and also tired from helping the Hokage so often, fell asleep, too.

Shino managed to stay awake and, though Sai tried, ended up nodding off after seeing the other two look so comfortable. His head rested against Shino's back and was out like a light, using his friend as a pillow.

"Don't you want to nap, too, Shino-sensei?"

He refused. "I'm not tired."

"If you don't nap, you'll get cranky."

"No, I won't."

Boruto tried to trick him using a technique he picked up during his early childhood. "In that case, how about we play a game? But it has to be quiet so we don't wake the others."

"What kind of game?" he asked, moving away from Sai who slumped over onto the grass, not even stirring.

Boruto believed Shino would be easy to trick with his mind being that of a small child. "It's called 'Fluttering Butterflies'. You wanna play?"

He nodded, interested because it was a game involving bugs.

"Ok, all you have to do is lay on your back and look up at the trees. Alright?"

Shino laid on his back in the grass. He looked straight ahead at the canopy of leaves, the sunlight making their veins stand out. "What next?" he asked.

"Ok, now you look up at the sky…"

"Uh-huh."

"And you shut your eyes quickly. Hurry, shut your eyes."

Shino threw his hands over his visor.

"Do you still see the image of the tree branch's outline on the inside of your eyelids?"

Shino nodded with a smile. "Uh-huh."

"Good. Now concentrate. Imagine a butterfly landing one on of those branches. Do you see the butterfly?"

It took Shino a moment but he answered with a smile and a soft giggle. "Yeah."

"Good. Now take a deep breath in and blow out slowly. Help the butterfly flutter in the air."

Shino exhaled slowly and smiled happily, watching an imaginary butterfly flutter off as he blew a gentle puff of air under its wings.

"Keep doing that. There are other butterflies that want to fly. Be gentle. Their wings are delicate. Breath slowly but deeply. See how many butterflies you can help take flight."

This was a fun game and Shino enjoyed watching imaginary butterflies fly around using his imagination. He breathed slowly and counted how many butterflies he saw take flight. There were so many of them. One, then two, then three, and four and twenty and thirty…

Shino kept breathing deeply, hands over his eyes as he lay in the grass. His arms started to get tired so he rested them on his forehead, breathing slowly. Then Shino's arms slid from his head and lay beside him as he breathed rhythmically, sound asleep.

Sarada smirked. "Nice trick. How'd you come up with that?"

Boruto grinned, feeling proud of himself. "Whenever Himawari and I couldn't sleep, Mom would tuck us into bed and have us do the Fluttering Butterfly game to calm us down. Back when we got too big to hold but were still really young. Hima liked it because it had butterflies and they didn't scare her."

Sarada smiled. "Sounds cute."

None of them knew if Hinata came up with the game on her own after drawing inspiration from her teammate or if it was something she was taught. If it was the first, then it was ironic to be used on the very person who inspired it.