Hinata took deep, eager breaths in hopes of recovering from her flustered composure thanks to the abrupt and unceremonious arrival of a child, and for also wrongly mistaking said child for a certain hyperactive ninja who too possessed blond spiky hair, whiskers and bright blue eyes. Similar eyes that were now staring at hers, and had raised eyebrows above them.

Then, a single word escaped his mouth. This word sending her entire body completely stiff, as if paralyzed and her muscles refused to respond to any of the signals being sent to them from her brain. This word even managing to keep her companions fixed in their positions and stare with jaws dropped and eyes wide open. This word being…

"Uh, kid, my hearing isn't exactly as good as my sense of smell, but I'm pretty sure I heard you call her Mom just now, right?"

Boruto turned his head to the familiar voice. He had short brown hair, two crimson triangular markings on his cheeks and fangs just noticeable if you squint long enough.

"You!" Boruto yelled, firing his hand out and pointing directly at his face. "You're Uncle Kiba!"

Now his composure had been disturbed. "U-Uncle?!"

Boruto maneuvered his arm so that his finger now targeted the giant, white-furred beast beside him. "And you're that mutt Akamaru!"

"Hey, watch your mouth! He's no mutt; that's my hound you're talking about!"

Akamaru also voiced his displeasure by letting out a menacing growl. Kiba stroked his head and reassured him that he hadn't meant it.

Boruto then aimed his finger at the person just to the right of the two. He wore a large sea-green jacket, of which the hood of was over his head. This, along with the dark sunglasses and high upturned collar all practically obscured most of his face.

"And you!" Boruto paused for a moment. "I… I don't know who you are."

Though he hadn't recognized the blond either, he still felt a little disappointed.

He turned back around to study the first face that had initially sparked his confusion. The haircut was noticeably different, or at least a lot longer, but her hair still maintained that same inky violet color. Her pale pupils immediately gave away her last name; they were unique to her clan, and were even eventually inherited by his younger sister. After seeing her face nearly everyday for most of his life, it was difficult to mistake it for anyone else's but his mom's.

Though, this… this complete lack of... confidence, this was very new to Boruto. She never really did exhibit an aura of confidence, like say, Aunt Sakura or Aunt Ino did, but she'd still have no problem putting her foot down and speaking her mind whenever she deemed necessary, nor would she be afraid to activate her Byakugan and position herself into the famous Hyūga stance if ever felt threatened. But struggling to maintain eye contact for an extended period of time, then immediately having to adjust her gaze elsewhere? The oversized clothing to better stand out less? The comfort found in hiding behind a tree? That was an unfamiliar sight. Very new, indeed.

Seeing as they all possessed the same names was all the necessary validation Boruto needed, and it hadn't taken him very long to recognize the reality of the situation. The guy at the train, huh…

"This may take a little while to sink in for you guys," Boruto began following a lengthy inhalation, before exhaling and finishing off, "but I… am from the future."

Boruto stood as still as he could. His face appeared expressionless as he allowed the group to adjust to this new piece of information.

"Good lord kid, how hard did you land on your head?"

Sunglasses man took a few slow steps forward. "Mm. This could be a potentially fatal, life-ending head injury requiring immediate medical attention. So immediate that perhaps it is already too late, and the boy is far beyond the point of help, with just minutes left in this world. It's best to listen carefully to his final words an—"

"He's not dying, Shino," Kiba interrupted. "He's just got brain damage."

Boruto's neutral face slowly transitioned into one that conveyed disappointment and pure exasperation.

"There's nothing wrong with me! I'm telling you, I'm from the future! My name is Boruto, and she's my mom," he pleaded, pointing directly at Hinata's intensely red face. "I-I have a sister, Himawari, and… and… my—my dad! My dad's the seventh Hokage!"

At this, everyone had regained interest. Though they still had their doubts, their curiosity had at least spiked.

"Your dad's the seventh Hokage?" Kiba asked with evident amusement on his face, still supposedly oblivious to the uncanny similarities. "So, tell me kid, who exactly is the Hokage in your little future?"

Boruto turned to face Kiba once more, quirking the corner of his mouth into a smirk.

"Naruto U-zu-ma-ki!"

And with that, Hinata's body was now the one that had crashed hard onto the ground.

"Wh-what did you just call me?!"

Shikadai winced a little. He maintained a bewildered stare, both at how the word had escaped his mouth so easily, and at the sight of the woman in front of him.

This woman… she was Mom. But, she looked… so young. Well, so much younger, anyway. So much so that no amount of face-softening cream that advertisers insisted would "remove years from your age" could possibly be the reason as to why she looked like she'd taken not just a year or two or five or even ten years off of her life, but at least fifteen years!

Perhaps she was related to Mom? No, that didn't seem all that likely. He was sure he would've seen her at least once by now. Maybe her long-lost sister? No, that's absurd. She would never neglect her siblings like that, ever, and if they were separated at birth, she certainly would've found out about it by now. Mayb—

"Nara clan?"

"Huh?" Shikadai responded unintelligibly.

"You're from the Nara clan, aren't you?" she asked, extending her finger out. "That's the Nara clan's symbol, isn't it? I mean, the fact that you're practically a clone of a certain Nara that I know was a dead give-away itself. Honestly, you guys all look so much alike it's almost a little concerning."

He was speechless. She looked like her. Sounded like her. Same dry and sarcastic tone laced into her words. Same little quirks and mannerisms. And yet Shikadai still couldn't grasp what was going on—though, this only fueled his determination in wanting to solve this intricate puzzle.

"What's your name?" he asked.

"Excuse me?"

"Your name. You have one, don't you?"

"Of course I have a name!" She stared with curiosity, wondering what his intentions were, before settling with telling him, "Temari."

Now he was at a complete loss, and if anything, this introduced even more questions. Though, judging from the look on her face, she probably had zero intention of answering them anyway. Troublesome, troublesome, troublesome! What on earth was going on?! Suddenly, a thought flooded over him.

Boruto, mysterious hooded man, scroll.

Of course.

"Hokage!" Shikadai yelled out, almost causing Temari to jolt where she stood. "Who's the current Hokage?!"

Her stoic demeanor was finally broken with a condescending laugh and she crossed her arms. "What… you're serious? You really don't know? You might look like him, but you certainly don't have his brains, kiddo. That or you've been living under a rock for three years." Her expression dimmed a bit, rather disappointed by his lack of response. "Lady Tsunade. Fifth Hokage, I believe."

And just like that, every unanswered question that he had was answered in that moment. Every uncertainty was made certain. The past. He was sent back into the past. Boruto, Inojin, nobody had been born yet. He hadn't even been born yet. No seventh Hokage. No sixth Hokage. No—

"You heading to Konoha?"

"Huh?"

"You need to stop doing that. You. Konoha. Yes or no," Temari said impatiently. Her arms were still crossed, but she was now tapping her right index finger against her left bicep.

"U-uh y-yeah—"

"Good, then get up. You'll be my escort until I see my actual escort at the gate. Though, in your condition, I'll probably be the one escorting you."

She made her little desire to wait for him clear by setting off to complete the rest of her journey. Shikadai abruptly stood and dusted off his outfit, then pressed both hands against his nape, leaning back his head to stare up at the sky.

How? How was he going to get out of here? He knew he had to tell someone, but what if that just brought about negative consequences? What if that messes up the future? He'd never see his mom and dad again. He'd never see Boruto again, or Inojin and the others, he might not even end up not being born, an—

"Oh, and for the record," she began, her voice once again pulling him from his reverie, "I'll let that Mom comment slide just this once. Better not let it happen again," she continued, turning her eyes just enough to see him, allowing a playful smile to settle on her face.

Shikadai instinctively rubbed the back of his neck. "Sorry about that… you, uh… remind me so much of someone." Best to keep this whole thing a secret for now, he thought.

"Funny, because I was actually thinking the same about you," she said. Shikadai already had a bold idea of who she had in mind; he'd received one too many "Oh, you're so much like your father!" comments in his lifetime.

"Shikamaru," she said, not too surprisingly. "He's also from your clan. You know him?"

"I think I've heard of him. Never met, though."

"Ah, I see. Well, you'll see him soon enough. He'll be leaning against the gates, looking down and with his arms crossed, like always. He'll look like death, probably because he just woke up a couple minutes before he'd arrived there, the lazy bum. He'll look up and that stupid grin on his face will slowly form, and then he'll probably make some dumb comment about something. Actually, scratch that, he'll definitely make a dumb comment about something."

Probably not on good terms yet, then. Shikadai looked up to get a read on her expression, and was very surprised at what he saw, to put it simply. He was expecting her signature scowl, one that he was all too familiar with, like when he wouldn't do his homework and would instead be playing on his gaming device, or when he'd be slacking off during training and would take a nap behind a tree somewhere, or when his dad wasn't responding to her when she called his name repeatedly during that incident. But... she wasn't scowling this time. She didn't even look upset, either. Not at all. Instead, she was staring ahead in front of her and was… smiling. It was a real, genuine smile. A smile Shikadai also recognized, and was one she'd only ever display to a small, select number of individuals, one that Shikadai himself had reservations for. She looked as if the excitement within her was growing by the second. Like she was anticipating something.

"I haven't been to Konoha in a little while…"

And something told Shikadai she couldn't wait any longer.

A/N: Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed, favorite'd, alerted, etc.! It's my first fic, so it really means a lot that you've taken an interest to the story and wish to continue following it. Hope you enjoy chapter 2!

To the one review asking if I'm following the Boruto movie or anime, I'm still not quite sure myself, hah. The exams in the manga, movie and anime all differ from one another, so I'm really not sure which one to consider canon. But if it helps, it's unlikely that I'll acknowledge any tension between Shikadai and Boruto in my story; at least relating to the exams, anyway. Still bitter that Boruto did my boy Shikadai dirty like that.