The author rapidly typed into the word document on the laptop. Reading the lines that signified Boruto's near death on the screen, they mumbled under their breath as they typed. "Don't you dare die on me before I finish…"

Repairing his internal organs took time and precision, but with the amount of practice the author had undergone to raise their typing speed, it was possible. After saving his life, the author put Boruto into a deep sleep, having him hold his breath for thirty seconds with a heartrate of 44 bpm to ensure that the troublemaker didn't get suspicious before Sasuke was dragged out of his line of work.

When Sasuke arrived, he couldn't have looked more confused. He saw his daughter crying, Boruto bleeding, Mitsuki passed out, and Kakashi down for the count. Amaterasu was burning up Kakashi's vest, and what was more, he saw a seemingly buff bald man in a hood laughing maniacally as if the world was his.

And finally, someone else had opened a space time portal under his feet and dragged him here with no explanation at all whatsoever.

Brandishing his sword, he stood in front of his daughter and asked the first question that came to mind. "Sarada… What is going on?"

"Papa," Sarada wailed through tears, "please… You have to stop this man!"

He frowned, but his eyes immediately widened as he saw the set of eyes on the boss.

"Sorry to say," the boss began, "but you and your dead brother aren't the only ones with this power."

"Who are you that you know of my brother," said Sasuke, dropping into a fighting stance.

"I know of everything. Your past. Your clan. Your parents. Your dealings with Orochimaru. The person you were. The person you became."

"I suppose if you know that much, then you also know how strong I've become…" Sasuke backed up and stood in front of his daughter. "I wouldn't advise making me angry."

"You and your lack of chakra. How did you know to come here? Do you have enough chakra left to fight?"

Sasuke coated his body in lightning, sword preparing to stab through the man's abdomen. "There's more than enough left to kill you."

With that, Sasuke traded places with Boruto.

From point blank range, he assumed the hit would have landed. But unfortunately, his attack was read.

The troublemaker pushed Sasuke back with the force of gravity, sending him hurtling towards a tree.

But Sasuke coated his body in lightning and rushed back in mere milliseconds, sustaining zero damage from the gravity attack.

Thinking he would get pushed back again, this time Sasuke pulled the boss towards him.

He tried to lock eyes with Sasuke. But Sasuke wasn't looking.

"You really think I would fall for that trick," Sasuke asked, swiping the air as the troublemaker dodged. "Or did you want me to do the same back to you?"

Rocks started to gather around the boss, but he put his arms up and activated a forcefield that pushed them away. Sasuke narrowed his eyes.

Putting his hand behind him, he opened a space time portal behind Sarada.

"Oh? Trying to save your daughter?"

Before the boss could even blink, Sasuke traded places with Boruto, pushed Sarada into the portal, switched places with the boss, threw Boruto into the portal, switched places with Kakashi, threw Mitsuki into the portal, and finally dashed over to Kakashi and threw him in as well. With that, the portal closed.

Sasuke smirked. "Well then. I suppose I have more chakra than I thought. But it seems like it belongs to someone else… I suppose I'll have to make this quick."

The boss smiled. "Ahh, to see your abilities up close and personal does give me a thrill. But remember, I can use every jutsu there is."

"Oh really," said Sasuke, attempting to stab him with a spear of lightning, "then why didn't you stop me just now?"

"I was actually looking forward to an all-out fight with you." The boss dodged, his own body becoming electrified. "Are you really as powerful as they say you are?"

Sasuke summoned Susanoo. "Hm. I suppose you'll have to find out. After all, being able to use every jutsu doesn't put you at an advantage over me."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," said the boss, a massive Rasengan appearing in his hands. "I could break through Susanoo's defenses easily. I'll have you know, I'm much stronger than those puny Otsutsuki you fought before."

"Is that so," said Sasuke, igniting Amaterasu and changing the shape of it into a spear that raced towards the boss's arm.

The boss threw the giant Rasengan at Susanoo. "And I also have unlimited chakra."

"Hmm. I wonder about that," he replied, activating a space time portal to swallow up the Rasengan. "Your imperfect Rasengan doesn't even begin to compare to Naruto's."

The boss smirked, putting up a forcefield to defend against the black flames.

"You have unlimited chakra. You can use any jutsu. But you still have a weakness."

"Oh? A weakness," asked the boss, a smile on his face as small rocks and pebbles began to fly through the air towards Sasuke. "What might that be?"

Sasuke smirked. "Your movements are strange. Almost as if you are mumbling every action you say into a microphone that is recording your voice and moving your body accordingly. While it is quite impressive of you to attempt to cover your mouth movements, I am in possession of a rinnegan as well."

The boss cursed under his breath.

"And it also seems like you're holding something underneath of that cloak that you don't want me to see. Which means," said Sasuke, disappearing. He reappeared underneath of the boss's arm, his own arm charged with lightning. He aimed straight for the man's throat. "Even if I can't see it, I can still trade places with it."

The man tried to push Sasuke away from him, but he mistakenly made eye contact. Mangekyo sharingan at the ready, Sasuke forced the boss into an alternate reality where he was made to relive his own death over and over again.

Stabbing a kunai into his throat for safety measures, Sasuke turned around.

"So? Who are you and why did you bring me here?"

The author was still chasing after Suzuno but creating a hologram under the guise of genjutsu was within their capability. Stepping out of the shadows, they noted Sasuke's no nonsense and quite terrifying mood. "I apologize for using such sudden methods. But as you can see, the situation was dire."

"…Too scared to come in person? Perhaps I should hunt you down as well."

"I wouldn't do that if I were you. I'm currently trying to save you, your disciple, your daughter, your teacher, Mitsuki, and the entire universe, at this point…"

"And why should I believe that," scoffed Sasuke, eyeing the lifeless body on the ground.

"Just like the man on the ground, I know the past, present, and future. But rather than trying to destroy it, I am trying to protect it. In each dimension, there are those who err on the side of good, and those who are more like villains. In our case, we show up often, but you forget about our existence when we leave. And most importantly, we want to cause changes profound enough in your lives to leave an emotional impact on our people. It is our job to record these changes and share them."

Sasuke looked back towards the hologram. "How do we forget every time? As someone with the rinnegan, I can't accept that."

"There is a power greater than the rinnegan that dwells within our devices. The only thing we are incapable of doing is manipulating your speech and emotions directly. But without the devices, we are mere, powerless mortals, walking around your world."

Sasuke looked down at the limp figure of the man on the ground. "I appreciate you bringing me here to save my daughter and her team… But I can't say I trust you."

"I wish to remove this man from your dimension at all costs… My current goal is speculating your people and stopping my own people from wreaking havoc. However, without this man's device, I cannot return him to our dimension. If you would allow me to, I shall erase his existence from your planet… But if he were to disappear, it would put an end to certain memories I wish for your disciple to retain."

Sasuke sighed. "And? All you have to do is separate this guy from his device?"

"…It isn't quite that simple, but yes. However, seeing as though it is invisible, it would be difficult to locate it."

"Materialize yourself and come here."

"…Excuse me?"

"Come here. Stand. Right in front of me."

Sasuke must have been planning to switch places with the device again, putting it directly in front of the author. Finding Suzuno and the dogs took precedence over getting the other man's device, especially if he was under the effects of the mangekyo sharingan. They needed to buy more time. "I cannot materialize myself at the mo—"

"You don't want him dead yet, right? Refuse to show yourself and I'll plunge this sword through the side of his head."

"…I didn't know you as someone who would readily kill others without much thought."

"I gave it plenty of thought… Now hurry. You have exactly 10 seconds."

"Wait!"

"Ten. Nine." Sasuke started counting down.

"There's another one! Another one of these guys! I'm trying to catch him since you have that one handled! I have to find him before Kakashi's dogs take him back to the village, or this could all turn into a huge mess. Ten minutes. That's all I need."

"Hmm. So I was just a diversion from the beginning…" Sasuke's eyes narrowed as he drew his sword.

"You weren't a diversion. I knew you and Naruto were the only ones who could handle an opponent of that level… I really didn't want to have to do this," said the author, walking forward, "but you leave me no choice."

"Oh? What do you think you're going to—"

The author walked up to Sasuke and extended the index and middle fingers of their right hand. With that, the author gently tapped his forehead, using genjutsu to give the illusion of being poked. "Forgive me Sasuke. Some other time."

Sasuke froze. "How…"

"This is important. But this time, I really will be back in ten minutes." The author took off their hood. Long blonde hair hung over the edge of the fabric; blue eyes sat behind red rimmed glasses. "If you realize who I am and how I know the past, present, and future, I think you would come to trust me a little bit more."

Sasuke's frozen figure began to blink. "…I don't understand."

The author froze. She thought her real-world appearance resembled Boruto and Sarada enough that she could pull of pretending to be their kid. But either Sasuke was dense, or she didn't look as much like a combination of the two of them as she thought.

"I… can time travel."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "Are you saying…"

Welp. I guess it's do or die. "I'm your granddaughter." The author sighed internally. The reality was entirely different. The glasses were ones that she had chosen before the manga for Naruto even ended. Having natural blue eyes and blonde hair helped her play the role… But at the same time… Why did saying it feel so… cringy?

"I don't believe you."

I wouldn't believe me either. "Whether you believe me or not, the fact of the matter is, I'm trying to save the past. So please. Leave that man be for just a little bit… Found them! Give me two more minutes."

"…If you trick me again, you will not be pleased with the results of your efforts."

"I'm not! I promise."

Sasuke sighed and put his sword away. "Two minutes. One second more, and his head goes flying."

"Got it."

The author worked as fast as possible, knowing Suzuno, or whatever his name actually was, didn't have his device with him. Typing into the laptop, the author ran up to the dogs. All people within five feet of me shall hereby be rendered capable of breathing in space until Thursday at 7:25pm, effective now. After pressing the enter key, she typed one more line, doing her best to keep up with Kakashi's dogs. All people within five feet of me shall hereby be teleported to the moon via time space portal, effective now.

With that, a portal opened, and Suzuno was gone.

"On my way back," said the hologram to Sasuke. The author opened a time space portal for herself and appeared in Sasuke's location seconds later.

"Not bad," replied Sasuke. "You still had 48 seconds left."

"Glad to hear it," replied the author. "Now please, swap yourself with the device so I can do the same thing to this guy."

"On one condition."

"… What is that?"

"After you're done, you'll hand your device to me."

The author narrowed her eyes. "I wish I could do that, but for safety purposes, I can't let you touch it. Your other hand will be vaporized."

"You can disable that, can't you?"

"Unfortunately," said the author, "I can't. It is decided by… management, if you will. Each device comes with a different protective power. Of course, we are free to add to them. But we cannot remove them. Giving your people one of our devices could prove to be disastrous to our nation, so there are various restrictions put in place by our… government."

"…If that's the case, I suppose it can't be helped," replied Sasuke. "I still don't trust you, but it seems as though I have no other choice. Get rid of this man."

"As you wish," replied the author, typing a few things into her laptop. Moments later, the man was gone.

"And? Where'd you put him?"

"The moon," replied the author. "But I made sure he could breathe. Now if you don't mind, I'd like to destroy his device as well. If I switch places with it, it will have no meaning. So if you wouldn't mind…"

Sasuke sighed.

The author walked forward. As soon as there was only one step left to reach Sasuke, he vanished.

Sure enough, the device was there. No protection other than that it was invisible. "…I suppose, if you'd like, I could give you this one. It will vanish tomorrow, and it might be useless to you since you can't see it… But the moderat—I mean, management, will likely come take it from you by force… As long as the other man doesn't come back from the moon, it should be fine."

"And how do you suppose he'd get back?"

"He could convince an Otsutsuki to bring him. And then we would have an entirely different problem to deal with… I'd much rather seal it. But earning your trust is more important."

"…I suppose sealing it would be better."

"As expected of Sasuke."

"…What?"

"Don't worry about it… More importantly, you should check on your daughter and the rest of the group. I'm sure they are all worried about your wellbeing."

"Either that or dead," said Sasuke, narrowing his eyes.

"You don't have to worry about that," the author replied. "They're only sleeping. Everyone except for Sarada that is. Mitsuki may have woken up by now, but it may take Boruto and Kakashi a bit longer."

"…Even Boruto?"

The author slowly nodded. "Even Boruto. It was difficult saving his life… but I somehow made it on time."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes in the author's direction. "I suppose I should thank you then, for both bringing me here and saving the lives of my people."

"You're welcome," was all the author had the chance to say before Sasuke vanished into a space time portal.