Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or any properties in this work that I did not make myself.

Harold of Konoha

Chapter forty-one: Harold and friends take Haru to learn about the past of his parents (AKA some Kumo jerk tries to Make Wrong What Once Went Right, so the lads try to stop him)

One day as he and Sophia were being visited by their grandnephew Haru, Harold was sitting in his recliner in his living room while Haru assisted Sophia in the kitchen with something. The Fisher patriarch was amused in a sincerely touched manner that the Uchiha boy wanted to spend so much time with his elders, to learn from them and get a picture of what they're like. Harold thought that Haru was a very good kid, indeed.

As Harold continued to read his newspaper, he was alerted when he heard a knock at the door. Setting his newspaper aside and getting up, Harold walked over to and answered the door, seeing his friends Inoichi and Tsume, plus Tsume's ninkin Kuromaru, standing there. "Harold, bro, dude," Inoichi began in an amused, mildly excited tone, "Ino and her family is getting a big-ass above ground pool later today, and we're going to help set it up and get to swim in it."

Clapping his hands together in a gesture to convey excitement, Harold remarked, "Well alright! It looks like we're going to show our beach bods!" Harold and Inoichi then proceeded to start flexing their arms. Tsume likewise joined the guys, and Kuromaru simply stood there, rolling his one visible eye in very mild exasperation. (1) It was as the seniors were flexing that Haru, having finished his part that Sophia gave him in helping in the kitchen, came walking over.

Looking up art his granduncle and said granduncle's friends, Haru asked, "What are you doing with your friends, Uncle Harold?"

"Oh, we're just a bit excited about how Inoichi's daughter's family is getting a big ass above ground pool is all," Harold explained.

Nodding in confirmation, Haru said, "Oh yeah, Shikaru told me about that."

"You know," Inoichi began as he spoke to the group there at the front door, "I bet that Ino would have loved having a pool like that back when she was the same age as Shikaru, Haru here and the lads. That daughter of mine was a bit on the vain side, and loved to show off where and when she could. It helped her that she had a lot of the traits that were considered by kids at the time to be conventionally attractive."

The seniors nodded in agreement, with Tsume even saying, "I bet that twelve-year-old Ino would be thrown for a loop if she knew that she'd marry Shikamaru in the future. Ino was one of the many girls at the time who was pining for the father of Haru here."

The young Uchiha boy, his interest piqued, asked as he looked up at the seniors, "Shikaru's mom used to have a crush on my dad?"

"Oh yeah," Harold replied as he and the others turned to regard Haru, "Back when your father was your age, he had a number of girls all crushing on him, with one of the girls in question being your mother." The Fisher patriarch crossed his arms over his chest as he nodded once in confirmation. "That father of yours was quite the lady-killer. Still is, if I'm to be honest." (2)

The next question that Haru asked took the three seniors and Kuromaru by surprise. "What was my dad like back when he was my age?" Haru questioned, a look of curiosity on his face as he regarded the seniors, "I've tried asking mom and dad a few times but they've always changed the subject before I got any answers. I even tried asking a few adults that might know something such as my friends' parents, but they've likewise didn't tell me anything." A hint of very strong determination entered Haru's face as he said, "I want to know more about what my dad was like back when he was my age."

The three seniors and Kuromaru all exchanged various looks. "…Umm, guys," Kuromaru began, "I will admit that I believe that Haru has a right to know about the pasts of his parents, but is it really our place to tell him what his dad was doing at the time he's asking about?"

Harold, Inoichi and Tsume all turned to regard Kuromaru. "…Refresh my memory about what Sasuke had done in that timeframe," Inoichi said.

"Refresh my memory about who Sasuke is," Tsume remarked.

The talking Ninkin merely sighed in a resigned tone before muttering something about how Inoichi and Tsume shouldn't have been drinking so early in the morning. Looking up at the three seniors, Kuromaru said, "As much as I will probably regret suggesting this, I think that we ought to oblige Haru in his request." Turning to regard Haru, Kuromaru said, "Now Haru, what I am about to share with you is to remain between us, alright? You may not like hearing some of what I have on your father back when he was-"

Clapping suddenly to cut Kuromaru off, Tsume said, "Instead of telling Haru what Sasuke was like when he was his age, I propose that we instead show him what his dad was like."

Scoffing incredulously, Kuromaru said, "Pfft, yeah right, like we can even show Haru what his dad was like back when-" The talking ninkin stopped midsentence, a wide-eyed look of shocked realization on his face, as he quickly turned to fully face his owner. "…Tsume, there is no way in hell that we're going to utilize that blasted well to give Haru an idea what Sasuke was like way back in the day!" Kuromaru snapped.

"Tsume, dude, you're a genius!" Harold proclaimed. Turning to face Haru, Harold said while gesturing to himself and the other seniors, "Haru, little man, get ready because the lads here and I are going to take you on something of a blast to the past!" The young Uchiha boy, despite having a confused look on his face because he didn't quite get what his granduncle was talking about, was nonetheless happy to hear that he was going to get the answers that he wanted. (3)

(TWENTY PLUS YEARS AGO, WOODED AREA OUTSIDE OF KONOHAGAKURE)

Harold, Inoichi, Tsume, Kuromaru and Haru all leapt out of the Well of Time twenty some odd years in the past, back when Sasuke and Naruto and all of those other guys were twelve to thirteen years of age. The three seniors all transformed into the disguises that they used back when they time-traveled to take part in the chunnin exams of the past (4), while Kuromaru used a combo transformation with Tsume so that she could disguise him as a border collie.

As for Haru, all he did to disguise himself with the transformation jitsu was make his hair yellow-blonde and turn his shirt a light but strong shade of forest green. "Now Haru, young man," Harold began, "It's very important that we keep an eye on what all we do while we're here in the past. Anything that we do here could affect the future, so don't do anything that's really outlandish, alright?"

Haru nodded briskly a few times in the affirmative. "I don't think I have to do anything too outlandish here anyway," Haru remarked, "I just want to learn about what my dad was like when he was my age."

"Well it's a good thing that we arrived at the time just after the Suna-Oto attack on Konoha," Tsume remarked as she crossed her arms over her chest, "In fact, I'm pretty sure that we arrived the day or so after Lady Tsunade was sworn in as the fifth Hokage. But don't quote me on that."

"It's okay, Tsume," Kuromaru said as he looked up at his disguised owner, "It's definitely the day after Lady Tsunade first assumed the role of Konoha's active Hokage."

Nodding in agreement with the others, Inoichi said, "Well what are we waiting for, folks? We got us a village to go check out and a future dad for his son from the future to learn about!" With the disguised Yamanaka patriarch leading the way, the group of five made their way over to the Konoha of twenty some odd years in the past.

Once inside the village proper for past Konoha, the disguised time travelers took in some of the sights but never truly lost their way. "Wow," Haru remarked as he looked about, "Konoha sure looks different than it does in our time." Looking up and around in an arc, the disguised Uchiha boy continued, "I still can't believe that we time traveled."

"Yeah, don't go telling anyone about this when we get back young man," Kuromaru advised in his usual dry tone.

Turning his attention to Kuromaru, Haru asked, "Why? Because we don't want others with bad intent to learn of it and use the time travel power to mess things up for us?"

"No, because no one will believe you and they will all think you're crazy, just like no one believes your uncle and his friends and think that they're crazy," the disguised ninkin replied, "Also, don't go using the Well ever, and don't bring anyone to it. The only saving grace about the Well of Time is that only your uncle, his friends and you know about it." Turning to face forward, Kuromaru remarked, "The fewer that know about it, the better."

Haru nodded in agreement, seeing the logic in the talking ninkin's words. As the disguised group from the future walked about, they heard a familiar female voice call out, "Hey, you guys are the surprise group of genin who took part in the chunnin exams a while ago!" Harold and company all turned their attention in the direction that the call came from, thus they saw the Sakura of this time, who was the one that called out to the group, come walking up to them.

Spotting both the disguised Haru and disguised Kuromaru, past Sakura remarked as she faced the other three, "The blonde guy and the dog are new."

"Oh, that," Harold said as he began to explain, "The cool dude with us is my foster brother Ignia, and the border collie is Tsukune's dog Schnitzel."

Past Sakura, with a look of curious amusement, replied, "I didn't know that you had a foster brother, Natsu." (5)

"So how are things shaking here?" Inoichi asked as he tried to move the conversation along, hoping to get to the point where past Sakura would tell him and the others enough to tell them if they were in the right time or not.

Luckily for the time travelers, past Sakura unknowingly gave them all that they needed when she said, "Oh, Naruto just got back with Lord Jiraiya after they had successfully found someone called Tsunade and her assistant Shizune." (6) With a happy look on her face, past Sakura said, "Tsunade is an amazing medic ninja. She completely healed Sasuke, and is currently looking up a method to properly heal Rock Lee."

Since the past version of his mother just mentioned the past version of Sasuke by name, Haru turned his attention over fully to her. "Can you tell me about this Sasuke guy?" Haru asked, "The way you speak happily about how he was healed tells me that he's something of an important person around here."

Past Sakura was at first surprised by Haru suddenly speaking up and asking her about Sasuke, but she soon realized that the boy who was her son from the future disguised (Sakura did not know that part) was honestly sincere. Perking up a bit, past Sakura proceeded to oblige Haru.

"Oh, Sasuke-kun is by far the coolest guy here in Konoha," past Sakura said as she began to gush about her crush on the brooding Uchiha boy, "There's not another genin in this village who can take on Sasuke in a fight and win." With a confident look on her face, past Sakura continued, "And I will stop at nothing until I get Sasuke-kun to-"

"I'm going to have to stop you right there, billboard brow," another familiar voice called out, cutting past Sakura off in the process and making everyone turn to see past Ino come walking up, with past Shikamaru and past Choji following behind her with unwilling expressions on both of their respective faces. Jerking a thumb at her chest, past Ino declared, "It will be me who secures Sasuke-kun's affections, not you!"

With an annoyed looking scowl on her face, past Sakura spat, "Like Sasuke-kun would like a pig like you, Ino."

Instantly flying into a rage, Ino snapped, "What was that, Sakura?" As the past versions of Sakura and Ino began to get into an arguing match, the time travelers from the future all turned their attention to past Shikamaru and past Choji.

Jerking a thumb over his shoulder at the arguing girls, Haru asked, "Is that normal?"

Shrugging indifferently, past Shikamaru replied, "Yeah, but pay them no mind. It's best to just let them run themselves ragged when this happens." Past Choji said nothing, although he was eating from a bag of potato chips. (7) After past Sakura and past Ino settled down enough, the disguised time travelers turned their attention to the girls.

"Do either of you know where we can find this Sasuke guy?" Haru asked, "He sounds like an interesting person, and I kind of want to meet him."

Both past Sakura and past Ino lit up when the topic switched to meeting up with the brooding Uchiha boy. "Oh!" past Sakura began, "Sasuke-kun should be by the one lake in that semi-wooded area here in the village." Crossing her arms over her chest, past Sakura continued, "He usually goes there when he wants to be alone. I'm not too sure if he'd want anyone to bother him right now unless something really big is going on, but since your three friends here made quite a big show during the chunnin exams, he may make an exception for you."

Giving past Sakura a thumbs up, Harold said, "Thanks! I know the lake in question, so it should be no problem for us to get there." Turning to the rest of the group that's from the future, Harold said, "Well come on, guys! Vámonos!" With the disguised Fisher patriarch leading the way, the group of time travelers went off in their search for past Sasuke, leaving past Shikamaru and past Choji to deal with past Ino and past Sakura, both of whom got back to arguing.

"So that was my mom, huh?" Haru said as he and the rest of the group walked along on their search for past Sasuke. Letting out a whistle, the Uchiha boy from the future said, "Wow, now I can see why mom was so hesitant to tell me about the time when she and dad were my age. She probably thinks that I would laugh at her if I knew how much of a school girl with a crush she used to act like." (8)

Nodding in agreement, Inoichi said, "Oh yeah. Your mom and Ino were petty girls way back in the day, always trying to one up one another in their efforts to secure your father's affections." With an amused smirk on his face, Inoichi added, "But it's clear which girl ended up winning."

Haru turned his attention to the disguised Yamanaka patriarch from the future and was about to say something, but he was cut off when he and the other time travelers overheard some boys over a ways talking about something. Looking over, the time travelers saw the past versions of Naruto, Kiba and Akamaru, Shino and Neji standing around. The guys were talking while the currently small (and still alive) Akamaru sat on the ground on Kiba's right.

"I'm just saying, it would be a real dick move on our part if we didn't bring Rock Lee a little get well soon basket of fruit or whatever while he's holed up in Konoha General," past Kiba said to the other guys. Facing past Neji specifically, the Inuzuka boy continued, "I don't see why you're so insistent that we don't do something nice for the dude."

Crossing his arms over his chest, past Neji replied, "I'm not saying that we can't do that for Rock Lee. What I'm saying is that we can't do it all willy-nilly like what you're suggesting, Kiba. We have to check a fruit basket like that in first at the front desk, and then if-"

"Hey, you're that Hyuga girl from the chunnin exams," Harold said as he and the other time travelers came walking over to the group, cutting past Neji off and making him and the others all turn to see Harold and his group.

Giving the disguised persons from the future a neutral look, past Neji said, "…I'm a boy, and I'm still upset with your taunting from the chunnin exams." Letting out a resigned sigh, the past version of the Hyuga clan's prodigy continued, "…However, I will admit that because of you guys sapping my focus with your idiotic comments from the peanut gallery, it kept me from doing too much harm when I faced off against Lady Hinata. My lack of focus affected my aim, thus I only struck one of Lady Hinata's lungs." Gently shaking his head, past Neji continued, "I shudder to think what would have happened if my aim was true."

"I also took a cue from you guys," past Naruto explained. With a chuckle, past Naruto remarked, "It made things a lot easier for me when I faced Neji." Noticing the disguised Haru, past Naruto said, "Hey, you're new."

"Oh, this is my foster brother Ignia," Harold explained to the past boys. Gesturing to the disguised Kuromaru, Harold continued, "And that's Tsukune's dog Schnitzel."

Sighing in a tone that was a mix of exasperated and embarrassed, Kuromaru said, "I still can't believe that I was named Schnitzel."

"Whoa! That dog just talked!" past Naruto exclaimed.

Past Neji, with a mildly surprised look on his face, remarked, "Yeah, I wasn't quite expecting that myself, either."

Shrugging, past Kiba said, "It don't surprise me none. I mean, my mom's ninkin Kuromaru can talk just like that." Gesturing to the disguised Kuromaru from the future, past Kiba said to the other past boys, "My guess is that this dog was bred from Inuzuka clan ninkin." (9)

"This is all good and all," Tsume began as she clapped her hands together, "But the lads here and I are looking for some guy named Sasuke Uchiha. We were heading in the direction of some semi-wooded area here in the village, as we were told this Sasuke fellow likes to relax by a lake in said area."

Chuckling a bit in amusement, past Naruto remarked, "Good luck in getting Sasuke to talk. He's kind of a brooding sort of guy who likes to act like he's hot s*** in a champagne glass, even though in reality he's just cold diarrhea in a sippy cup." Giving the disguised time travelers from the future a curious look, past Naruto asked, "Why are you guys looking for Sasuke, though?"

Gesturing to Haru, Harold explained, "My foster brother here heard a lot about Sasuke, and he wants to meet the guy."

"Good luck getting him to cooperate, dudes," past Kiba replied with a chuckle, right before he and the rest of his group turned around and left the scene.

After past Kiba and the rest of his group had left, the disguised time travelers looked to one another. "So I guess this means that we just continued on to that lake in the semi-wooded area of the village to find Sasuke?" Tsume asked.

"Yes, but first I believe we ought to address the person that I just caught spying on us," Kuromaru said as he turned his head to face a telephone pole. When the disguised ninkin from the future turned to face said telephone pole, the group of time travelers from the future all heard a female voice cry out an 'eep' of surprised mild fright. Rolling his eyes, Kuromaru said, "You might as well come out where we can see you."

After a few seconds, the past version of Hinata came out from hiding behind the telephone post. With an embarrassed look on her face, past Hinata said in something of a nervous stammer, "S-sorry if I did a-anything to creep you guys o-out. I didn't m-mean to cause any h-harm."

Haru, crossing his arms over his chest as he wore a look of curious consideration, remarked, "I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess that you were actually watching that group of boys who just left, and that you wanted to join them but were too scared to."

Past Hinata let out a resigned, troubled sigh. "…Yes," past Hinata confessed, looking to the ground on her left as she poked the tips of her index fingers together, "I actually really admire one of those boys, and I want to get closer to him." Sighing, past Hinata continued, "But I just get so nervous, and my nerves always get the best of me."

"Oh, I got it," Harold said as he turned around and gestured for Inoichi to come with him. The two disguised men from the future went over to a food stall, bought something (10), and came back over to where everyone was waiting. To the curiosity of Haru, Tsume and Kuromaru, Harold and Inoichi handed a pork bun over to Hinata.

Gesturing to himself and Inoichi, Harold explained, "Kirigaya and I both find that whenever we feel nervous, having a snack helps to settle our nerves. You ought to give it a try." The disguised time travelers watched as past Hinata took a bite out of the pork bun that Harold and Inoichi had gotten for her.

Looking at her pork bun, past Hinata chewed the bite she took before swallowing. "…I do feel a little better," past Hinata remarked as she looked at the area of the pork bun that she had taken a bite out of.

"There we go," Inoichi said as he clapped once, "You're getting back on track!" Gesturing to himself and his group, Inoichi said, "Anyway, the lads and I ought to get going. We're still trying to track down that Sasuke guy."

"Good luck," past Hinata replied before she turned to walk away, continuing to eat the pork bun that Harold and Inoichi had gotten for her.

When pat Hinata was out of sight after she turned a corner, Kuromaru looked up to Harold and Inoichi and said in a sincere tone, "That was really nice of you guys, trying to help her out the way that you did by trying to help calm her nerves."

"Well hey, we're nice dudes like that," Harold remarked, "But that's beside the point." Pointing in the direction his group was heading in, the disguised Fisher patriarch said, "We still got us a Sasuke that we have to find!"

A short while later, Harold and company came to the semi-wooded area in past Konoha that had a lake. It was Haru who first spotted someone who looked like him when not disguised with the transformation jitsu. However, this person, who was looking out at the lake, had a cooler and more brooding air about him, completely clashing with the friendly and warm aura that came off of the Uchiha boy from the future.

Looking over at the lakeside where that brooding boy stood, Harold nodded once before he said, "Yup, there's no doubt in my mind. That boy right there is Sasuke." Haru tried right away to walk over to the past version of his father, but was stopped when Tsume held her right arm up, causing her hand to smack lightly into Haru's chest.

Giving Haru a knowing look, Tsume said, "We can't just go up all willy-nilly. We need to call out to him first, announce out presence." She then gestured for the rest of the group to follow her as she called out to past Sasuke, "Oi, Sasuke!"

Past Sasuke, having heard someone call out to him and use his name, turned around and saw those three interesting genin from the chunnin exams, a new kid and a dog come walking over to him. The brooding Uchiha boy scoffed indifferently as he met the disguised time travelers, having no idea who they truly were. "And to what do I owe the pleasure of you guys all coming out here to see me?" past Sasuke asked, clearly annoyed to have been interrupted in his brooding.

Gesturing to himself, Haru said, "My foster brother Natsu and his friends here told me a lot about you, saying that you're some kind of super genin. I just wanted to meet you and see for myself if what I was told was true."

"And you are?" past Sasuke asked as he regarded the boy who was actually his son from the future using a transformation jitsu for disguise. (11)

"He's my foster brother Ignia," Harold explained to past Sasuke while gesturing to Haru, "He just wanted to meet you and see if you're as awesome as the lads here and I were saying."

The brooding Uchiha boy scoffed incredulously, clearly not seeing the disguised Haru from the future as someone of note. "…And why should I care that some supposed fan boy wanted to see me in person?" past Sasuke asked, viewing this whole mess as a waste of his time.

Haru, surprised that this version of his father would act and talk in such a manner, grew a bit offended. "Hey, I'm not a fan boy," Haru retorted, "I just wanted to see how good of a ninja you are." Crossing his arms over his chest, the disguised Uchiha boy from the future scoffed, "Unless everyone's just lying about how good you really are. Maybe you really aren't the best that this village has to offer."

Now past Sasuke was getting more and more mad. "…I'll have you know I can wipe the floor with any given genin in this village," past Sasuke stated, speaking as if he had all of the confidence in the world, "As well as a good number of the chunnin and even some jonin."

"But your potential is…limited, I would say," a mysterious voice called out, alarming everyone in that semi-wooded area as they all looked around to see who it was that had spoken, "And there is also the fact that you aren't as valuable an asset to your village as you may think, especially if one were to…take the long term…into consideration."

Right away, past Sasuke had his Chidori up and active. "Who the hell is that?!" past Sasuke snarled into the trees, "Show yourself right now!"

Obliging the brooding Uchiha boy, a man in his late twenties to early thirties came out from hiding behind some of the trees in that semi-wooded area. Right away the disguised seniors from the future, Kuromaru and Haru all recognized the man as a Kumo shinobi from their time, but the site of said man struck past Sasuke as odd. "…That looks sort of like the standard outfit for ninja from the Hidden Cloud, if I recall correctly," past Sasuke remarked as he was wincing his eyes suspiciously, "But it looks slightly different than what I've seen in recent pictures."

"Let's just say that I'm from…a different place, young man," the Kumo ninja replied curiously, "But more on that later." Gesturing to past Sasuke, the Kumo ninja said, "Like I had said, you hold nowhere near enough value to be of notability. But your teammate Naruto Uzumaki, on the other hand, well he's very much valuable, especially to my village." Pulling out a long dagger, the Kumo ninja said, "I came here specifically to kill him, in order to bring power and glory to my village, to gain for it what has been due to it ever since it was founded!"

As the Kumo ninja ranted on, too distracted to pay much attention, Harold whispered to the rest of his group from the future, "This is bad, dudes. It's clear that this shmuck is from the future, because why else would a Kumo ninja in this time want to kill Naruto?"

Nodding in agreement, Inoichi said, "I know. We've got to-"

"WHY THE HELL IS IT ALWAYS NARUTO?!" past Sasuke exclaimed, flying off the handle into a rage as he charged right at the Kumo ninja, impaling said Kumo ninja in the gut with Chidori and making said Kumo ninja cough up a lot of blood and bile. As the Kumo ninja stumbled back a bit, the now-enraged Uchiha boy charged right at him, refusing to let up. "How is it that someone as dumb and moronic as that blonde loser in orange always manages to outshine me?!" past Sasuke yelled, "Why is it that no matter what I do, I can never pull ahead of that idiot?!"

As past Sasuke ranted at the top of his lungs, he was wailing away on the Kumo ninja, who was getting more and more beaten, losing more and more blood. The group from the future was very much shocked to see the brooding Uchiha boy act in such a manner, Haru most of all. The kind and happy-go-lucky Uchiha boy shivered a bit in an involuntary manner as he watched this past version of his father act so brutally, so savagely, so mercilessly.

Now Haru knew why his parents were hesitant to tell him about how Sasuke was like back when he was the same age Haru is now. (12)

Eventually, past Sasuke had managed to, due to his blind fury, actually straight up kill the Kumo ninja. To the further shock of Haru, past Sasuke actually smirked. "…Heh, I actually took out a ninja that infiltrated our village," past Sasuke remarked, "I'd like to see that blonde idiot try to pull off the same thing."

Acting on suspicion, Harold went over to the deceased Kumo ninja, searched him, found a wallet, and took out and form if ID card he could find first. He ended up finding a nation ID card that identified the man as a resident of Kumogakure, also the ID card was dated for the time that Harold and all of the others came from. "…Hmph," past Sasuke scoffed, "That guy pisses me off, so one of you take care of cleaning this up for me."

Without another word, past Sasuke turned around and left, felling a little better over how he had scored something of a win against past Naruto. The disguised time travelers looked a bit unsure over what had transpired her. They also knew that, since the Kuma ninja was from the same time as them, they had to take his remains and all evidence he had with him to their time; it would rather dangerous to leave things from one future to the past. Tsume used a sealing scroll to suck up the remains of the Kumo ninja, then she and the rest of the group made it back to the Well of Time, jumped in, and returned to the future (which would be present for them).

(PRESENT)

In mid-morning in their present time, Harold and his party all jumped out of the Well of Time. "Well then Haru, mah boi," the Fisher patriarch remarked as he and the others all undid their respective transformation jitsus, "Now that you knew what you father was like when he was your age, what to you thing?"

"That I can see why mom and dad were hesitant to tell me what he was like back when he was my age," the Uchiha boy replied, still a little bit shell-shocked to have seen the past version of his father having acted in such a manner.

"Well now you know," Inoichi said as he and the rest of the group proceeded to head back for the Konoha that they all knew and love, "And knowing is half the battle." (13)

As Harold and the party walked through the village proper of Konoha, they came across Mikoto Uchiha, the mother of Sasuke who, due to Harold and his friends messing around in the past, is alive to this day thanks to missing the Uchiha massacre. "Oh, hello guys," Mikoto greeted in a friendly tone, "What brings all of you over here?"

"The dance workout studio that the lads here and I started up is along this street," Harold said as he gestured to the older Uchiha matriarch, "We got Tenten running it, and we just wanted to check in on her."

"Oh, that's fair," Mikoto replied in an understanding tone, "And you couldn't have asked for a better person to run it than Tenten, since her success story that you and your friends helped to write is rather inspirational to those who are looking to get in shape." Nodding a few time, Mikoto continued, "Hinata and Natsu in particular could really use such a place to work out, so it's a good thing they're both making use of it."

"The hell are you talking about, Mikoto?" Inoichi asked, a confused look on his face as well as the faces of Harold, Tsume, Kuromaru and Haru, "Why in the name of Zeus would Hinata and her daughter both need to make use of a workout place?"

This time, it was the older Uchiha matriarch that had a look of confusion on her face. "…The three of you haven't been drinking heavily again, have you?" Mikoto asked, a hint of concern in her gentle tone, "I mean, how else could it be explained how you three are forgetting what's up with Hinata and Natsu?"

"You're…going to have to fill me in on what you're talking about as well, Mikoto," Kuromaru said, "I honestly have no idea what you're on about."

"Yeah, I'm confused as well, Grandma Mikoto," Haru replied in a sincerely confused tone, his expression matching said tone.

The older Uchiha matriarch looked surprised that both her grandson and Kuromaru had no idea what she was talking about. "I'm surprised that the both of you have no idea what I'm talking about," Mikoto said to Kuromaru and Haru. Specifically addressing her grandson, Mikoto went on, "I'm especially surprised with you, Haru, given how much effort your mother told me you had put into getting Natsu to agree to go out with you." With a bit of an amused smirk, Mikoto added, "But then again, I was surprised when you first showed Natsu to me and introduced her as your girlfriend. I had no idea that you had a thing for girls with more of them to love."

"I…" Haru began, confused by what his grandmother had said, "…Beg your pardon?"

…

When Mikoto had led Harold and the rest of the group over to the dance based workout studio that Harold and his friends had set up, they looked in to see Tenten leading a dance routine in front of a group consisting of about twelve people. Pointing out to one specific area of the group of dancing people, Mikoto said to Harold and company, "That over there is Hinata and Natsu." When Harold, Inoichi, Tsume, Kuromaru and Haru all saw the two Uzumaki girls, all five of them were shocked with what they saw.

Hinata was very obese, looking like she weighed five-hundred pounds easy. As for Natsu, she looked like she weighed over three-hundred pounds, very clearly setting a record for how heavy a child in Konoha has ever weighed. Harold and his group were all slack-jawed with shock over how very well-fed both Hinata and Natsu were. After they all had gathered enough of themselves to focus, Harold and company all turned back around to look at Mikoto, who simply nodded in the affirmative when they all turned to face her.

Gesturing over to where Hinata and Natsu were going along with the dance routine that Tenten was leading, Harold asked, "How in the glorious name of Knuckles the Echidna did they both get so damn f***ing fat?!"

With a gentle sigh, Mikoto explained, "According to what Sakura told me, Hinata used to be about the same size as her. However, one day Hinata suddenly started going up in weight." With a look of consideration on her face, the older Uchiha matriarch remarked, "I believe Sakura said something about how she noticed that Hinata suddenly started snacking a lot back when the both of them were twelve. That may have something to do with it."

"Uh-oh," Kuromaru said in a worried knowing tone, his one good eye widening with shocked realization as the talking ninkin started to put the pieces together in his head.

"Well, I really ought to get going," Mikoto remarked, bowing her head respectfully to the group before she turned slightly to walk around the group to walk away.

After Mikoto was gone, Harold and company all turned to face one another. "…How does Hinata picking up a snacking habit a while ago result in the slender Hinata that we saw before we used the Well of Time becoming the total lardload Hinata that's trying to feel the burn in our dance workout studio after we got back from using the Well of Time?" Harold asked.

"Uhh, Harold," Kuromaru began, "Remember how, while we were in the past just now, you and Inoichi gave past Hinata a pork bun when she was nervous because you wanted to try and help her to calm down, and the two of you told her that you guys always had a snack when you were nervous in order to calm your nerves?" After both Harold and Inoichi nodded in the affirmative, the talking ninkin continued, "Now, don't get me wrong, I know you guys were acting in good faith, and your act of trying to help out Hinata, on paper, sounded nice. However, I just realized that there's one thing the both of you forgot to take into account."

Shrugging, Inoichi asked, "What's that?"

"The two of you gave that 'snacking to calm down' advice to past Hinata," Kuromaru clarified as he stressed the part about past Hinata, "A girl who was always nervous all the time!" Jerking his head in the direction of the dance workout studio where Hinata and her daughter were both struggling to lose their excess weight, Kuromaru went on, "It's no damn wonder that Hinata's now as fat as she is! She probably ended up snacking more in a day than most Akimichi clan members would do in a week because that well-meaning but poorly thought-out advice the two of you gave her was her only method of calming her nerves!"

Harold, as he held a hand to his chin said, "That…does make sense, now that you mention it." Gesturing back to where Hinata and Natsu were, the Fisher patriarch said, "But that still doesn't explain how Natsu got so fat."

"I'd guess that genetics she inherited from Hinata play a big role in that," Kuromaru said dryly.

Crossing his arms over his chest, Haru remarked, "Well, it's a good thing that we're here to help them with their weight loss needs." Nodding once, the Uchiha boy continued, "It's also good that I'm still dating Natsu in this alternate time where she and her mom are both really big." (14)

END, CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

Author's notes:

1. Eyepatch, remember?

2. Yeah, Sasuke still has to deal with women flirting with him, even though he's now a happily married man. Sasuke has even set a record for how many women he had to turn down gently.

3. …You can probably guess where this is going.

4. See chapter 33 of this story for more.

5. Natsu is actually the brother that was fostered, not Ignia.

6. It wasn't until I got to this point that I realized that I had actually forgotten that Shizune even existed until right then and there. Whoops.

7. At that moment, Choji was the wisest person in the scene.

8. That's not why Sakura didn't answer Haru's questions.

9. He has no idea how right he is.

10. Don't ask how Harold got ahold of currency dated to be correct for the time that he and the others were visiting.

11. Hoo boy, past Sasuke would friggin' flip if he not only know that Haru was his son from the future, but also knew who he had Haru with.

12. …Well, that and the fact Sasuke was a rogue ninja for a few years.

13. What's the other half again?

14. Haru still likes Natsu because she is Natsu.

The Kumo ninja that past Sasuke killed was indeed from the current time that Harold and company live in; Tsume used a sealing scroll to store the guy's remains, and they brought the sealing scroll back with them to their time and properly disposed of the guy's remains. With that, Harold and company have no need to worry about Kumo loyalists from their time going back to the past to try and gain an early advantage for their village in the ongoing fifth great ninja war.

However, we also cannot go forgetting the little faux pas that Harold and Inoichi are responsible for; Harold had the gall to tell Haru to be careful with what he does in the past, but it's Harold with Inoichi who ends up screwing something up. Granted, the advice they gave to past Hinata was well-meaning, and Harold and Inoichi were both trying to act in good faith, but their advice to past Hinata was poorly thought-out, all things considered. This will come up every now and then over the course of the next couple of chapters until I decide to resolve it.