So I've plotted out the fic, and it should come down to seven chapters. Expect the next update before October.

Naruto shivered in the chilled air of the room. He became intimately aware that all he was wearing as a hospital gown over a pair of boxers after Shizune had produced a set of children's patient scrubs (a pair he was sure he was supposed to have been wearing, but for Tsunade wanting to do one last check before he'd fallen asleep and woken up in... the future.

Because that was where he was, apparently. Hokage had greeted Naruto into the future before Shizune handed over the scrubs, and Naruto had tried to get both Hokage and Shizune to leave so he could change, but where Shizune had agreed, Hokage hadn't.

"I forgot how small I was back then," Hokage said with a smile, and got the gown thrown in his face. He grabbed at it, folding the fabric as he frowned. "And how short-tempered.

"So this is the future." Naruto said, mostly to keep the conversation away from his body as he slipped the shirt over his head.

"Yes." Hokage nodded.

"Not a genjutsu."

"Nope." Hokage shook his head.

"Then how did I get here?" He asked, pulling up the pants. Naruto stared at Hokage suspiciously. He still wasn't entirely convinced that it wasn't a genjutsu of some sort. Or at least some really, really strange dream. "Was it Orochimaru? Because I don't think this is what Sasuke's brother meant when he said those Akatsuki guys wanted to take me."

"Actually..." Hokage grinned, sheepish. "It was me."

Naruto paused, the drawstrings on his pants half-tied. He leveled a disbelieving stare at Hokage. "You?"

"Yeah." Hokage nodded, setting the folded gown on the bed, and sitting beside it. "I was digging through Dad's notes on the hiraishin, and since his version was based on the Nidaime's, there were old notes on the Nidaime's technique mixed in. So I was looking through Dad's notes on the Nidaime's notes, and–"

"Wait." Naruto interrupted. "D-dad? I– we have a– you know who, who he is?"

Hokage's gaze softened, the edges of his lips tilting in something Naruto almost called a smile. "Yeah. It'll be a couple years for you, but one day you'll find out."

"Why can't I find out now?" Naruto whined. "Wait, does this mean... do you know who M-mom is?"

Hokage nodded. "I can't tell you, for a lot of reasons, but Mom and Dad... they wanted us to know that they loved us so, so much."

Naruto leaned against the wall, arms dropping to his sides. He felt faint. He had parents. He had parents who loved him.

It almost made up for the fact that Hokage couldn't tell Naruto who they were.

Naruto let out a heavy breath. "Why can't I know about them?"

"Because," Hokage sighed. "When you come from is very... look, I don't even know the geopolitics of it all, but when you come from? The Hidden Villages aren't friends."

"Geopoli–" Naruto shook his head. He wished Sakura was there, because she would nod like she understood and ask for the details he didn't know; probably she didn't know either, but either way Naruto would learn and he wouldn't have to ask and feel dumb for having to ask. "Whatever. I'll just get strong and kick their asses. I mean, you did, if you know. You probably kicked the asses of all the other Kage, just because you could, right?"

"Actually, I'm pretty good friends with the other Kage." Hokage scratched his cheek with a bandaged hand. Now that Naruto noticed, Hokage's entire right arm seemed to be covered in bandages. If they were the same person, then Hokage would only bandage his arm if it was hurt.

He frowned at that statement. "So... you didn't kick ass?"

"I kicked butt," Hokage assured Naruto. "But not the other Kage. Except for, like, the Kazekage. But that was years ago and he needed it. We became great friends because of it, actually."

Naruto tilted his head. The Kazekage... that was Suna's version of the Hokage. What sort of person would need Naruto to kick their butt?

"I should call Sakura, get her to give you a once-over," Hokage mused, after opening the door and peering this way and that. Shizune and two other medics bustled past, leaving Hokage standing alone in the doorway. He turned back into the room, frowning. "She's usually on top of this kinda stuff."

Naruto peeked between the medics as they ran all sorts of diagnostic jutsu. One had produced a clipboard, filling it out with all the details that Shizune and the other medic listed off. "Sakura? Why would she be here?"

"Sakura's the director of the hospital, Naruto." Shizune gently explained, while Hokage reached into his pants pocket and pulled out...

"What is that?" Naruto watched as the orange block-like object, rectangular and thin, was put into Hokage's left hand. Hokage swiped his thumb across one side of it, then tapped at different spots. The thumb swiped again, twice to the left, tapped, swiped up (Naruto assumed, given how Hokage held the block), and tapped twice. Hokage held the block up to his ear. "Hey, answer me! What is that!"

"Sakura!" Hokage said, sounding like he was greeting someone. Hokage winced. "Yeah, I know it's early, but! There's kind of a situation here at the hospital– no no! Nobody's dead! Boruto's... well, he's Boruto. Himewari's alright. Hinata as well. ...really? You really think if this was about Sarada, I'd tell you over the phone?"

Naruto blinked, surprised, as Hokage's face fell. Who or whatever Sarada was, he could almost hear Sakura's deadpan yes directed at Hokage. He suspected that the block, whatever it really was, was some new kind of radio. He marveled at how portable it was, before frowning. The radios he remembered using for missions were just as good, so why would they mess with a good thing?

"Anyway," Hokage continued. "So you remember yesterday when I mentioned digging into Dad's hiraishin notes, because then the whole day could've gone differently? Yeah, I found this thing in the Nidaime's notes and may have activated a Seal– yes, I'm fine. And so is the me from twenty years ago. ...you did hear me right. I'm looking right at a little twelve year old me."

"I'm thirteen!" Naruto protested, but Hokage ignored the outburst. He humphed, crossing his arms and turning to Shizune. With a jerk of his head at Hokage, Naruto said, "So what's with the radio Hokage me is talking into? And why's he talking to Sakura? Shouldn't Granny be radioed?"

"Lady Tsunade is retired," Shizune answered. "Sakura replaced her as the head of the hospital shortly before Lord Rokudaime's retirement. Many were surprised it took Lady Tsunade so long, considering how quickly Sakura's skill improved in the wake of the Fourth World War."

"Fourth War?" Naruto knew that this was future stuff, since he was pretty sure the big invasion that stopped the Chunin Exams wasn't a war, and that Sakura definitely wasn't a medic the last he remembered. "When was this? Was this when Hokage me kicked the Kazekage's butt? Did we win? Wait. If he – I am the Nanadaime, and Granny's the Godaime..." Naruto ticked them off with his fingers, then looked up, horrified. "Granny died?!"

"No!" Shizune shook her head, giving Hokage a panicked look. "Lady Tsunade is very alive, and enjoying her retirement. As for the Fourth War... I really shouldn't be telling you any of this. We don't know how it might affect..."

"What?" Naruto whined, face dropping. "Why can't I be told these things? I could change stuff! If I kick the Kazekage's butt earlier, maybe the Fourth War wouldn't happen. I could change the future," Naruto whispered, eyes glazing over as he imagined all the future events he could stop, or change entirely.

"You're not changing a thing, kiddo," Hokage said, tapping at the radio and slipping it back into his pocket. Naruto silently promised to sneak it later, figure out just what made it so much better than the old radios. "Yeah, there was a lot of bad stuff that happened, but we can't change the past for a perfect future. The world isn't perfect, and if you say it should be, then I'd have to knock sense into you like I did O– uh, the guy behind the Fourth War. And no," Hokage held up the bandaged hand, stopping Naruto's question, "he wasn't the Kazekage."

"Oh," Naruto sighed, crestfallen. "So, how long have you been Hokage?" He figured that, at the very least, that Hokage had to have been Hokage for a long time, to be so awesome. Maybe Hokage had been promoted after the Fourth War! "And... Who was after Granny? The... Rokudaime?"

Hokage rolled his eyes, giving Naruto a dismissive pat on the head. "Nice try, but you're not getting anything outta me. You're gonna have to live through it all like I did."

"Naruto?" A woman's voice rang through the door, and Naruto turned at how familiar it sounded. He was certain he'd never heard that woman before, but maybe it was someone else...? A woman with pink hair entered the room, spotted Hokage, and let out a breath, relaxing. "You idiot," Sakura sighed. "I thought you outgrew pranks twenty years..."

She trailed off when she spotted Naruto, standing next to Shizune. He waved, smiling broadly. "Sakura? Whoa! You got big!" He spotted the diamond mark on her forehead. "Oh! You got Granny's chakra thingy! That's so awesome!"

Sakura groaned, giving Hokage a weary stare. "Really? You've been Hokage for three days, Naruto. Can't you go one day without a problem?"

Three days? Naruto tilted his head, running Sakura's words through his mind as he frowned. Would it really take him another twenty years before he made Hokage? "Aw, man. I gotta wait until I'm thirty before I get the hat?"

Hokage groaned, giving Sakura an exasperated glance. "Thanks for spoiling little me on that."

"Don't try to put any of this on me," Sakura replied, bending down. Her own hand glowed a bright green, and she tapped at the center of Naruto's forehead. "This is all you."

"Right." Hokage snorted, crossing his arms. "Just like yesterday's thing with Sarada wasn't on you."

"If Sasuke wasn't so against visiting his family, maybe Sarada wouldn't have run off." Sakura glibly replied as Naruto felt a faint tingly sensation. She nodded, and the sensation stopped as the hand pulled away. He blinked at the mention of Sasuke.

"Sasuke–" He made a face. "Sasuke has a family?"

His comment earned a cuff on the head, as Sakura snorted. "Yes. Me and Sarada, our child."

Wait.

What?

"You didn't marry Sakura?!" Naruto practically screeched at Hokage, who shared a look with Sakura, before the both of them burst out laughing. Naruto turned a beseeching look at Shizune, who shook her head, ushering the medics out of the room.

"No," Hokage said when the laughter died down. "Well, if I did, then things would get really awkward with Hinata."

There was Hinata again. Naruto squinted. Boruto was obviously his future kid, and so was that other one, Hima-something-or-other, which meant... "You married Hinata?!"

"Yep." A wistful smile grew on Hokage's face, to counter the growing horror on Naruto's. "We've been together almost fifteen years, now. Her birthday's coming up soon, actually. But that's beside the point, which is: sometimes, your first love won't be the one you marry."

Naruto made a face. "But, but! Sakura loves Sasuke, and he was her first love, so if they married, then–"

"I said sometimes," Hokage interrupted. "Not all the time. Sakura, is he healthy?"

"As healthy as someone his age should be," Sakura replied, standing up. "I healed him up just fine. Even healed that bite on his arm."

"You bit your arm?" Hokage raised a disapproving eyebrow, and Naruto picked at the gauze wrapped around his forearm, letting it fall to reveal healthy, unbitten skin.

"Whoa." He looked up, starry-eyed, at Sakura. "You're just as awesome as Granny! How could someone like you marry a jerk like Sasuke." He blinked, the wonder fading from his eyes. "Wait... did Sasuke... You brought him back?"

The question was directed at Hokage, who smiled. Naruto almost missed the sad look in his eyes. "It took a lot of talking, and a bit of butt kicking, but I did manage to knock some sense into his head."

Naruto whipped his head from the door to the window, and back again. "Well where is he? I wanna see how not awesome he looks next to you!"

In his fervor, Naruto missed the weighted glance Hokage and Sakura shared. Hokage chuckled, drawing Naruto's attention. "Later. For now, I'm gonna drop you off with Hinata, who should be at the academy picking up the kids with everyone else."

"Why don't I take him to the academy and pick up the kids, while you go back to those notes, see what you can find about that Seal you activated. Maybe also call up Kakashi-Sensei, while you're at it."

"Fine," Hokage sighed, waving Sakura off. "But I'll call Shikamaru before I call Kakashi-Sensei. I already called him yesterday. It'll set a bad rep if I have to call him every day."

Naruto tried to talk to Hokage, tried to get an answer as he realized that neither Hokage nor Sakura had told him if Sasuke had come back, or even where he was.

At least there's the walk to the academy to look forward to, Naruto thought. Somewhere along the way, he would get a straight answer out of Sakura about Sasuke.