Chapter Four -Time
Disclaimer - I do not own Naruto or Naruto Shippuden, Masashi Kishimoto does. Neither do I own Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, it belongs to Masashi Kishimoto, Ukyo Kodachi and Mikio Ikemoto.
AN - It's been a while, I know. That's why I made this chapter extra long. Enjoy!
"Ah, man. This sucks," Kotetsu complained as he sat down in his usual place by the far right of the village gates.
"Why are we always the ones that get handed the most boring jobs in the village?"
"What? You're already complaining? We just took over the shift," Izumo, his partner and best friend, chided.
"And thus begins another long, dull and uneventful twelve hours shift," he retorted, flippantly. "These days it's either guarding the village gates, running around doing errands for the Fifth or retrieving her office chair, which she accidentally throws out the window during one of her fits of rage. We've been reduced to nothing more than the Hokage's glorified errand boys. We're CHUNIN, for crying out loud, not some genin fresh out of the Academy. We could be out chasing bandits or being escorts for some important daimyo or daimyo' s relative or even hunting down that new terrorist organisation - the one we were briefed about in the last Chunin Meeting - 'Akatsuki', I think the name was."
Izumo gave a heavy sigh before speaking.
"Good grief. You just love complaining don'cha. I know the jobs we've been getting recently haven't really been much to write home about, but you should take pride in the fact that you're actually doing something for the village. I admit, I don't like any of these boring jobs either, but it's not like complaining is gonna be of any help. And besides, there are a lot of duller jobs we could've been assigned to."
"Yeah, yeah whatever," Kotetsu said as he rested his chin on the desk in front of him.
Just then two figures walked in through the gates.
"Huh, who are they?" Kotetsu asked, sitting up straight as he watched the two in the distance, gradually moving away from the gates and towards the village.
Izumo placed a hand on his chin.
"Let's see. It's that girl from Guy's team, one of the kids we messed with during the first stage of the Chunin Exams, ...Tenten, I think her name was. And the other one's that fox kid that beat the Hyuuga prodigy in the third stage - Naruto Uzumaki."
"Yeah you're right. But the boy looks different," Kotetsu said, as he flipped through the book - a register - which he had brought out from the locker underneath the desk.
"That's him alright. Even from here I can make out the whisker markings on his cheeks," Izumo told him before his face grew a little dark. "And I only know of one nine tailed fox."
Then his expression returned to normal.
"He's probably just trying out a new look. No doubt he's trying to look cooler after his recent accomplishment at the Exams. Kids, these days. One little victory and it quickly gets to their heads."
"Right here, I found them," Kotetsu announced.
Izumo glanced over at the book his friend was holding.
"'Tenten'," Kotetsu began, "She left the village yesterday at seventeen hundred hours."
He crossed out the name and then turned to the next page.
"And 'Naruto Uzumaki', he also went out yesterday, but at zero seven forty-five hours, that's in the morning. Why are these two returning together then?"
"Aren't 'Sakura Haruno' and 'Sasuke Uchiha' his teammates," Izumo enquired as he placed a finger on each of their names. "They're Kakashi's squad aren't they? All four of them were checked out at the same time, so why is he the only one from that team that's returning?"
"Perhaps, even though they went out at the same time, they each had seperate missions," Kotetsu speculated, as he watched the two genin disappear into the village. "That Tenten girl might have been sent to back up the Naruto kid on his mission. They finished their mission quicker than the others hence they've returned earlier. Whether the mission was a success or failure though, remains to be seen."
Izumo nodded.
"Well, it's not really any of our business what mission they went out for but still, we could ask Kakashi when he gets back."
続け
"However, we have found something you might find quite interesting."
"And what might that be?" Naruto asked eagerly. He tried to hide the impatient tone in his voice.
Both Naruto and Shikamaru stared at the tiger masked ANBU agent expectantly, hopes raised.
The Black Ops operative nodded, still kneeling.
"Well sir, as you know, there are five paths that lead to Tsuchi-ku one of which was taken by the victims. We of the ANBU were ordered to search two of those paths, as well the one that was actually taken by the victims. We were also charged with guarding the crime scene itself. The police force are handling investigation of the other two paths and are searching them for any clues on the victims' whereabouts."
Speaking of the police force, Sai's been called in to help Kiba and the others with the investigation. He should be along with a progress report any minute now, Shikamaru thought as he glanced at the time displayed on the Hokage's laptop.
"And? What did you find?" Naruto pressed.
"This, sir," the ANBU said, as he stood up and pulled something out of his weapons pouch. He then walked over to the Hokage's desk and placed the item - items actually - on top for the Hokage to see.
Shikamaru eyed the objects curiously. His then eyes widened in surprise.
"This is..."
The masked agent had dropped two photographs on the desk - coincidentally near the one he - Shikamaru - had handed Naruto earlier, which he had dropped there after he had examined it.
The ANBU agent nodded.
"It is just as you see, sir. We've found the exact same type of seal at specific locations on each of the other two paths we searched. That makes three seals."
"That's weird," said Shikamaru, while Naruto folded his arms and scrunched up his face, donning a contemplative expression.
Suddenly, a knock sounded at the door.
"That should be Sai," Shikamaru said, the same time Naruto said, "Come in."
The door opened and, sure enough, in walked Sai Yamanaka.
"Pardon my intrusion," he said, "I know there's still about fifteen minutes before it's time for my report on the search operation, but my men and I have found something that I thought you'd want to see."
As he reached the Hokage's desk he also pulled out two photographs and made to place them on the desk, when he noticed the three photographs that were already on the desk.
He blinked.
"Huh, looks like someone beat me to it," he commented. He then opted to hand Naruto the photos instead.
"What! No way! You found identical seals to the one on the crime scene too?" Naruto exclaimed. "Where were these taken?"
"Routes A and D. That's where the police force was assigned. Wait. Don't tell me the ANBU also found the same type of seal on both routes C and E," said Sai, pointing at the photographs on the table and turning to look at the Black Ops operative, who was still in the room, questioningly.
"Affirmative, sir," the man confirmed.
"Five identical seals, each on one of the five paths that lead to one location - Tsuchi-ku. This cannot be a coincidence. There has to some plausible explanation for this," Shikamaru pondered as he gently stroked his beard. "But what?"
"You're guess is as good as mine," Sai told him.
Meanwhile, Naruto placed the two pictures he was holding, on the desk. He then took the other three photographs and proceeded to line up all five in front of him.
Five identical seals, found on five different paths. It's gotta have some meaning.
Wait a second, Naruto thought as he noticed something. The seals. Some appear more faded than others. Why?
His eyes then widened as he realized something.
Hold on. Could this be...
"When were these pictures taken?" he asked, directing the question at the ANBU agent.
"Just about an hour ago," the man told him.
"I meant what time. Can you remember the exact time these two photographs were taken?" Naruto clarified, tapping the two photographs that had been brought in by the ANBU, one with his index and the other with his middle finger, simultaneously.
"Negative, sir," the man replied.
Naruto then turned to Sai.
"What about you Sai?" he inquired.
"Well I do know it was about thirty minutes ago - the exact time though, I can't say."
"I see... Alright then. There's something I'd like the both of you to do for me."
Naruto paused for a few seconds and the two men waited patiently for him to continue.
"It's now two thirty-eight pm," he then continued, glancing at his laptop. "It takes about twenty minutes to run all the way to the crime scene for an average ninja. I want both of you to get some of your men and go to the location of each seal on routes A to E and then retake a photo of all five seals, only this time you're all going to do it at the exact same time - say three pm on the dot, for example, You guys decide on the exact time between yourselves, but you better hurry before the seals fade completely."
"Right."
"Yes sir!"
The ANBU operative's body stiffened - arms by his sides - in a salute and then, he formed a seal and with a swirl of leaves, he disappeared.
"He could have just used the door. Tch, ANBU and their flashy exits," Shikamaru muttered to himself as he stared at the mess on the floor that was the foliage left behind by the ANBU agent. "I, certainly, am not gonna be the one to clean that up."
"So why exactly do you want us to retake the photos?" Sai asked the Hokage.
"Well, I just thought of something and I wanted to confirm it. Don't ask me what just yet, though. It's still just a speculation, ya know. I wanna get some concrete proof before I explain it to you guys."
"Okay then, that's fine."
Sai considered his two friends. He couldn't imagine the pain they were both going through right now. Sai knew that had it been him in their place, and Inojin was the one that was kidnapped, he would have been crushed. Simply devastated by the thought of never seeing him again. Then he would have been angry. Angry that anyone would dare to steal his son from him. He probably would have chased after him to the ends of the earth too.
Naruto and Shikamaru must be feeling that way too, he thought. But being the leaders of the village, they couldn't just act the way they wanted.
That's why, he would not rest until the three children were found. Sai cared about all the children of the Leaf but these three, they were special.
Boruto and Sarada were the children of the first people he had forged a bond with since his brother, and Shikadai? Well he was basically a nephew to him.
That's why..., no matter what I'm gonna...
He clenched his fists as he was filled with determination. Then he unclenched them.
"Although I'm a bit surprised," he said to Naruto, feigning astonishment. "You thought of something even Shikamaru couldn't? Wow, so you do have a brain up there after all. It seems you can be quite the capable adult sometimes."
This was all said in jest of course. Sai was perfectly away that despite the man's childlike mannerism and behaviour sometimes, the man had grown into a very responsible adult, capable of calmly analysing and assessing situations sometimes and very dependable when push came to shove - a far cry from the brash and touchy boy he'd been when they first met. He was just trying to put his leg a little. And, as expected, the man took the bait.
"Um, you do realise I'm your boss right?" Naruto let him know, facetiously. "You best put a sock in it or it's gonna be the cooler for you. Believe it!"
Sai smiled his signature fake smile.
"Did you get that line from one of those old Princess Gale movies you used to like back in the day?"
His smile then became a genuine one when Naruto flushed.
He then turned and started leaving. He stopped three steps later though and turned to address his friends.
"Naruto, Shikamaru. Don't you worry. I'll do everything in my power, we'll use any means necessary to find them," he said.
Then, sotto voce, he added, "I promise."
And with that, he left the office to complete his assignment.
続け
Okay, she's distracted. I better make a run for it now, Boruto thought as he considered the loud, ponytailed, blonde girl, clad in purple - who had her back to him as she talked to her mother. He was equal parts wary and weary.
He turned slowly and began to tiptoe away. He hadn't even moved two steps though, when a familiar sensation washed over him as his body stiffened and refused to move.
Boruto knew he had been caught by a technique he knew all too well. After all, his father's bearded adviser had used it a couple of times on him, when he was younger; he would use it to catch him whenever he decided to play a prank so as to force his dad to play 'tag' or 'hide and seek' with him. Not to mention, it was his best friend's favourite jutsu.
Not this freakin' pain-in-the-neck of a jutsu again.
"Look buddy, I've got nothing against you, but it's gonna be a major drag for us if she turns and finds you gone," his captor told him.
Boruto sighed.
Great. So much for bolting while she's distracted. And when exactly did he even get here anyway?
Earlier, when he and Tenten had entered the village and he had realised where - or rather, when - he was, after his mind had connected all the dots, ...he had gotten the shock of his life! And Boruto had thought that there was nothing that could shock him anymore. Not after he had found out that his mom was the 'Legendary Queen of Gluttony', at Ichiraku Ramen, who had a record of FORTY SIX bowls. Even the head of the Akimichi clan (or 'Akimunchi' clan as his old man so fittingly nicknamed them), his heir and his predecessor couldn't gulped down that many bowls (and those guys were nothing short of professional EATING MACHINES. Or so he thought). Boruto himself could barely manage three bowls of the stuff. So of course, it was quite natural for the poor boy, who had grown up thinking his mom was the most graceful and dignified person in the world, to believe he had become immune to surprises from then on.
But he HAD gotten a bigger shock today.
Tenten, who had noticed him fall behind, and had turned to find him gaping at the Hokage Mountain, had strided back to him and had then placed a hand on his shoulder.
"F-fine! I'm just great," he had answered, when she enquired whether he was okay.
Oh man, if this is where I think it is then..., then..., I really shouldn't be in contact with people I know.
"A-Actually, I gotta go find my sensei and fill him in on my mission and also... inform him about my teammates, s-so that we can report to the Hokage together," Boruto had then given a lame excuse to, well, excuse himself.
"You just go report your mission to the Hokage, I'll be right there once I find my sensei."
He had then turned and started walking away.
"Wait!" Tenten had called after him.
But Boruto hadn't waited. No, he had then, in fact, increased his pace. Faster and faster he had strided until he was running - despite his earlier exhaustion - down the more or less abandoned street that was adjacent to the one they had been taking.
Just what on earth is going on here? How can this be? he had thought. That masked man. So that's what he did to us. He sent us back to the... hold on a second. This might just be some sort of genjutsu that I'm trapped in.
He had then brought his hands together in a seal as he approached a corner.
"Release!"
Nothing had happened.
So, not an illusion then. Great! he had then thought, still running. Well this is one fine mess I'm in. I sure hope Ms. Tenten's not giving chase though.
He had then turned his head to look over his shoulder and check, just as he had been about to round the corner.
And just like any other klutz who rounds a corner without looking, he had crashed into someone, who then knocked against another someone, who had then bumped into yet another someone, and they had all fallen to the ground in a tangle of limbs.
Boruto had heard a smashing sound, as whatever objects his unfortunate victims had been holding had hit the ground.
"Ow! So sorry...," he had begun to apologise as he raised his head to see his victims. His eyes had then widened as his jaws hit the floor.
There were three people sprawled on the ground asides from him. Three people with features he recognised all too easily.
The girl, the one whom he had crashed into first, had then sat up and reached out, grabbing his collar.
"Naruto you moron! Can't you watch where you're going?" she yelled at him as she shook him.
Boruto had then considered the three individuals, that all seemed to be about his age, with his gaze even as the girl continued to shake him and yelled at him.
A naggy, blonde, ponytailed girl with a pushy attitude - check!
A dark brown haired boy, also with a pony tail - a spiky one, who looked like he'd rather just keep lying there on the ground and watch the clouds than expand any energy in getting up - check, check!
A fat, ahem, big boned, boy with a scarf around his neck and a green shirt and red, spiraly patterns on his cheek who, being the only one who had saved the object he had been holding (a flower vase, Boruto realized), sat up and dropped it on the ground, only to bring out a bag of chips from seemingly out of nowhere and then proceed to stuff his face as he silently watched the girl berate him (Boruto) - check, checkity, check!
Only one thought had come to his mind at that moment.
I am so screwed! Talk about jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire. Of all people for me bump into, it had to be these three, huh. Well at least it wasn't a blonde 'him' or a lavender eyed 'her'. That would've been awkward.
Okay, a couple of thoughts, but details!
"Wait a minute. You're not Naruto," the girl had then realized as she raised an eyebrow and pulled him closer to get a better look, deflating for a moment.
"Who are you then? What's your name?" she had then demanded, still not letting go of his collar as she again flared up.
Boruto then hesitated. It wouldn't be a very good idea to tell her his real name.
"Um..., Neji," he had said the first name that came into his head without thinking.
He had then immediately regretted it when he saw the girl's eyes widen in surprise and the lazy bum of a boy sitting up and staring at him, scrutiny in his gaze.
Oops. I guess I shouldn't have used that name, he had then thought, mentally kicking himself.
"Well, Neji," the blonde girl had then continued, blue pupil-less eyes staring at his own blue with a piercing glare. " ...look what you went and did to my precious flower vases."
She had then pointed to the ground where the shattered remains of the flower vases she and the boy with the spiky ponytail had been holding lay, smashed to pieces.
"So sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going...," he had then immediately started to apologise, hopeful that that would let him off the hook. He had been quite doubtful of that though.
"Sorry, isn't going to cut it. Do you know how rare and valuable these vases are? They were all were imported straight from the Land of Iron, and now, thanks to you, there's only one left," she had then informed him, hand still clutching his collar tightly.
"Like I said, I'm sorry, ya know" he had then reiterated. "Is there anything I can do to make up for it?"
The blue eyed girl had then given him a sly grin that made him immediately regret adding that last part.
"Well I might consider forgiving you if...
He had then held his breath.
"... you come with us and help us out at my family's flower shop for a bit. My mom's going on a little trip and my dad's out on a mission so I'll really need all the hands I can get."
"What? N-No I can't...," he had then began to say.
But the girl had quickly cut him off.
"That wasn't a request, you know. You caused me some property damage here and unless you can somehow magically fix these two vases, I won't forgive you until you do what I say. And don't even think about giving me money as compensation. Like I told you, these vases are very rare, so even if I had money to replace them, the probability that I'll get new ones similar to them is very, very, low."
Boruto could tell she was very determined to force him into helping her out at her shop and he also knew she was the type of person that made sure she ALWAYS got what she wanted.
"And thus, another poor soul falls into her trap," he had then clearly heard the boy with the lazy demeanour whisper to the chubby, er..., big boned boy behind them.
She also seemed to have heard it too, for she had then glared askance at the boy.
"What was that?" she had enquired, eyes narrowed.
"Nothing."
"Alright then, you stay here and clear up this mess. You better hurry it up and catch up to us quickly though," she had then instructed him, as she stood up and pulled Boruto up by the collar, forcing him to also rise. " Come along Choji, let's go. Good job saving that flower vase by the way."
"Hold on a second, why do I get to be the one to stay behind and clean up the mess?" the pineapple haired boy had complained.
"Because, smart aleck, Choji has to bring back his vase to the shop, and I have to hold on to blondie here and take him there with me or he might try to escape. Get it?" she had then explained to him.
Did she seriously just call me 'blondie', Boruto had wondered to himself.
The other boy had then finished his bag of chips, got up and gave his friend an apologetic smile as he picked up the vase he had kept on the ground.
"Hmph! Troublesome," the pineapple head had then muttered, giving in.
Boruto had been able to tell he wasn't buying the girl's explanation. She had probably just wanted to get back at him for his previous remark.
"That's more like it. We'll be going now. Don't take too long okay."
With that, Boruto had found himself being dragged by the brash girl all the way to her flower shop.
As they had approached the shop, a woman who had brown hair which she wore in a bun and was wearing a dark teal elegant dress came out with a suitcase in hand - the girl's mother no doubt.
The purple clad girl had immediately let go of him, commanding him to 'stay put', and had then run over to her mother. They had then started talking, and that was when Boruto had decided he had better make a run for it, seeing as the other boy had now started to walk over to the two ladies and wasn't paying him any heed.
And that's how he ended up in the situation he was in now, bound by the Shadow Paralysis Jutsu of the other boy whom he had thought hadn't caught up yet.
"Don't worry mom, we'll take care of everything while you're gone. Bye!" he heard the blonde girl call out to her mother -whom he assumed must be leaving - from behind him.
"WHAT! Were you trying to escape?" he then heard her screech.
He gave a heavy sigh.
Why me!?
続け
"Man, what a drag! She's really starting to become handful these days," Shikamaru muttered to himself as he leapt from building to building in order to hurry and catch up to Ino and the others. They were probably walking to Yamanaka Flowers so he should be able to catch up soon enough.
Ino had forced him and Choji to come over and help her out at her family's flower shop. They had done it often enough so it wasn't really that much of a problem. Only, she had stopped him and Choji when they had been on their way to deliver the sample which the Fifth had requested from him.
Well, it wasn't that he urgently had to deliver it right then, at that very time, but still, he always preferred to do things sooner than later, so it was a bit irksome when Ino had insisted that he and Choji help her out right then and had handed them both one each of the flower vases she had been holding. How troublesome!
Actually, to be honest, Shikamaru was just annoyed he wasn't going to be able to lie down somewhere peacefully and watch the clouds and/or sleep that day. And besides, he had known Ino since they were little and she was just like a sister to him (a really troublesome one, but still) so of course he'd lend her a hand whenever she asks for his help - or demanded it!
All that aside though, Shikamaru had other things on his mind.
That boy, the one that had bumped into them earlier and was now being forcibly led to the Yamanaka flower shop,... there was something really odd about him.
Why does he resemble that loudmouth, Naruto, so much?
The boy looked almost exactly like his boisterous, bundle of energy of a former classmate. Granted, there were a few differences here and there once you looked closely enough. Their hair style, for one, was different. Also, some of the boy's facial features were a bit different than that of Naruto's; like the shape of his face and eyes (although oddly enough, they didn't feel very foreign to Shikamaru; as though he's seen then somewhere before), and a keen eyed observer would notice that the boy had only two pairs of whisker markings on his cheeks instead of three like Naruto's. Still, the two had enough similarities between them to be mistaken for siblings. Twins, in fact, if heterozygous ones. Except, Shikamaru knew for a fact that Naruto was an orphan who lived all by himself and had suffered the pain of loneliness. If he had a sibling - one that he knew of - then life might have been a bit much easier for him and he certainly would have let them - his classmates - know all about him, talkative as he was.
Ino must have been curious too.
That was probably part - only part - of the reason why she insisted on him going with them and helping them out. She probably wanted to try and pry some information off him.
And he called himself 'Neji', Shikamaru thought as he landed on a watertank and then immediately kicked against it, jumping off again.
Sure, it's not really that odd to find two people with the same name. But still...,
Shikamaru had a feeling the boy wasn't being completely honest with them. Maybe the hesitant tone he used when he told them that name had something to do with it.
And he was wearing the Leaf forehead protector too. But Shikamaru had never seen him around the village. If there was a Naruto lookalike prancing around the village, surely he would have noticed, or at least one of his friends would have.
So then came the important question.
Who was he? Also...
Was he really related to Naruto? If so, how?
Did Naruto even know about him?
Not that Naruto's family and private life are any of my business, he thought as he jumped down from a building and started walking casually down the street towards Ino's shop, hands in pockets.
Honestly, Shikamaru wasn't really the type to pry into other people's business. Anything that didn't concern him or his friends, he stayed out of it.
But Naruto was also a friend right? He was his former classmate and a comrade of the Leaf at the very least. So it was okay to be a little curious, right? So, Shikamaru would at least keep an eye on the boy and observe him for now.
Wait a second.
It might just have been Naruto on his way to play one of his silly pranks. It might just be him under a poorly executed transformation. Or maybe a shadow clone?
Shikamaru shook his head.
No, highly unlikely. If it was a clone then it would have been dispelled the moment it collided with us. Same goes for a transformation.
And besides, when he'd asked Ino why she didn't just ask Sakura to help her out - now that they've reconciled - she had said that Sakura and her team had gone out of the village for a mission.
So it's definitely not Naruto. Ugh. I don't even no why I'm thinking so hard about this. I'll just watch 'Neji' closely for now, and ask Naruto about him once he gets back. Not that any of this even concerns me.
By now, the flower shop was in sight. As he approached it, he saw Ino chatting with her mother who, judging by the suitcase in her hand, had probably been on her way off on her trip. He also saw Choji moving closer to them to greet Aunty. And Neji was...
Oh good grief, is he trying to escape?
Shikamaru groaned internally. If the boy escaped, then he knew that he and Choji were the ones that would be getting an earful from Ino and would be sent to find him. And that would just mean more work.
He brought up his hands and formed a seal.
That won't do...
続け
"Anything?"
"Well obviously there's no way I can spot Boruto from up here. Not with the canopy of leaves blocking my view, but the good news is that this forest doesn't go on forever as we thought. I can see an end to the expanse of forest at twelve o'clock." Sarada replied from her place at the apex of the tree she was currently atop of.
She let out a frustrated groan and looked down at Shikadai, who was standing on a branch directly below her.
"The Byakugan is much more suited for this kind of thing."
Shikadai smiled and said, "I'm quite sure even a byakugan user would have his work cut out for him finding a single person in this huge expanse of forest, atop a high point or not."
He then began to descend from the tree, which was the tallest they could find in that area.
"Still, good job. At least now we know that if we continue on the path we've been taking we're sure to exit this forest sooner or later," he continued as he leapt down from branch to branch, Sarada right behind - or rather, above him - following suit. "Once we're out we'll figure out a way to find out how to get to Konoha."
"We're really going there huh," Sarada commented, as she landed on the ground, right next to Shikadai.
"Well, we've got no other option. We've searched for hours, but we still haven't found any trace of Boruto. And he's probably also landed somewhere. When he searches for us and doesn't find us, he'll hopefully think to head for Konoha as that's the most obvious place we'd go to," he explained. "Plus, if we wander any deeper into this forest, we might end up getting lost. Better to stick to this path and exit it. Who knows? Maybe, even as we speak, Boruto's also following this path or another one out of the forest and we might converge at some point before we're out."
"I get what you're saying, I just...," Sarada clutched the strap of her backpack and gazed at the ground, "...I hope he's okay."
Shikadai nodded.
"Yeah me too."
Earlier when they had left the clearing through the same bushes the three Sand ninja had come through, they had found a path which the Sand-nin had, presumably, been taking.
They had then proceeded to search for any sign of Boruto, to no avail. After a few hours of fruitless searching, they had given up and retraced their steps (they had left marks wherever they went) back to the path, which they had then decided to follow.
Sarada sighed and let go of the strap.
"There's something that worries me though," she said.
"What is it?"
"Well, we've been here for hours and there's still no sign of the masked man. You'd think he would have decided to confront us by now. What does he actually want from us? Could it be that he has already gotten what he wanted and that's why he's letting us be?"
Shikadai shook his head.
"I honestly haven't the slightest clue. What I do know for sure is that he does have some objective. I mean, there's no way he would go through all that trouble to bring us here just for the fun of it. What that objective is though, I have no idea. Nothing's making sense!"
There was a moment of silence between the two as both were lost in deep thought.
"Say," Sarada spoke up after a while, prompting Shikadai to turn his attention towards her again.
"I get why we have to hide our forehead protectors, but what about our weapons? Why do we have to hide them too?" she then asked. "If we were to be attacked, then we'd be defenceless, wouldn't we?"
"It's best if we pretend to be civilians for the time being. We have to avoid drawing attention to ourselves unnecessarily, else we might end up changing something -
Sarada gulped.
- and I'm sure you'll agree with me that is something we really want to avoid. And besides, 'defenceless'? Really Sarada? You can punch a crater, on the ground, the size of my kitchen and you think you're defenceless? We've got taijutsu and ninjutsu, we won't be 'defenceless'. And if the situation requires that we bring out our weapons, then we will."
Sarada nodded.
"Oh, I get it now."
Then she pointed at Shikadai's head.
"So uh, tell me something. Won't that ponytail of yours be a dead giveaway that you're a Nara? That's what makes you look more like your dad than your mom isn't it?" she asked.
Shikadai remained silent for a moment.
"You're right. How could I have missed something like that?" he said as he then reached up and untied the string holding his hair up in a ponytail. He then pulled it off and let his long hair fall over his shoulder.
Sarada immediately placed a hand over her mouth as she let out a small giggle.
"What's so funny?" Shikadai asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Oh it's nothing. Just that -
She giggled again.
- Boruto was right. You really do sort of look like a girl with your hair like that."
"Ha ha, very funny," Shikadai said, dryly, as Sarada smiled an amused smile.
"I've got a thing or two to say to that loudmouth once we're reunited," he then added, eye twitching.
Sarada smiled coyly.
"Yeah, yeah. You're probably going to forget it by then. Unless of course, Boruto were to somehow miraculously appear right now out of nowhere."
And, as if on cue, someone suddenly landed on one of the lower branches of the tree they had been on earlier.
Both genin immediately prepared themselves as they're heads shot up to gaze at the newcomer.
"What?.., No way," Sarada said flabbergasted, as she took in his appearance.
Shikadai stared at the boy looking down at them with wide eyes.
Unruly blonde hair - tick!
A wide grin and whisker markings on both cheeks - tick, tick!
Tanned skin tone and those were definitely blue eyes, right? - tick, tick, tick!
All features possessed by his brash friend. Except, -
" 'scuse me ladies, I don't suppose any of you happened to see a red haired panda with a giant gourd on his back pass by here?"
- last time he checked, Boruto had only two pairs of whisker birthmarks on his cheeks, not three. And also, his friend never wore such bright colours as orange.
It was right then that any doubt they had had as to where they were was flung out the window. There was no mistaking it now. They had definitely, somehow travelled back in time.
休止
AN - Finally..., pant, pant..., done. I hope you guys liked it. And I know it took a while for me to release this but I had actually gone camping (the day I posted chapter three) for a few weeks and we weren't allowed to take any devices like laptops, phones or tablets with us (Seriously, what are we, a bunch of highschoolers?). But I had lots fun so it's okay.
To be honest though, I hadn't expected to see more than two or three more reviews once I came back. So imagine my surprise when I saw EIGTHEEN more reviews. I was so happy, that I immediately started writing this chapter and even made it much longer than the previous one. Thanks so much, guys!
All that said though, now we've resumed college and this session is going to be particularly challenging, so I'll have less time for writing. Believe me, sitting for our sessional exams without preparing adequately is like going to a battlefield barehanded - a massacre, in short. Regardless though, I'll try to be updating as frequently as possible.
So anyway, in case any of you guys don't understand military time, 'seventeen hundred hours' is basically 5:00pm and 'zero seven forty-five hours' means 7:45am. That means Team Seven left the village earlier than Tenten.
And why was the first name Boruto thought of as a substitute for his, 'Neji'? Well, cause 'neji -螺子' is the Japanese word for 'screw' and 'boruto - ボルト' is Japanese for 'bolt'. Get it? And Boruto was named after Uncle Neji after all.
Boruto NNGs Episode 43, 44 spoiler:
- Okay, Shikamaru might not be my most favourite character, but I'm now convinced that he's the best daddy from Naruto's generation. Who else is with me?
- Was that really Udon? That nerdy kid that followed Naruto around the village along with Konohamaru and Moegi? He's Metal's sensei? Cool! Looks a bit different though.
- And aww, I was really looking forward to seeing Sumire fight again. Oh well. This arc is actually quite interesting though.
Did you know:
Not only are Shino and Hinata the oldest and the youngest of the Rookie Nine respectively, they are also (one of) the tallest and the shortest respectively.
The heights of the Rookie Nine as of The Last (which are their permanent heights) are as follows:
- Shino (182cm) (one of) the tallest. 'Why? You ask? It's because...' gets rudely interrupted.
- Sasuke (182cm) (one of) the tallest. 'Hn. Don't underestimate the Uchiha.'
- Naruto (180cm) 'Even after all these years, that jerk is still taller than me?' Eye twitches.
- Choji (178cm) Crunch, crunch! No comment.
- Shikamaru (176cm) 'Such a drag!'
- Kiba (173cm) Shortest male. 'Hmph! You don't have to be the tallest to become Hokage. The old man, the Third, was one of the shortest old goats out there.'
- Sakura (165cm) Tallest female. 'In your face Ino!'
- Ino (164cm) 'Oh puh-lease, Sakura. Feminiety is much more important to a lady than height. And we both know which one of us is more feminine.' Tosses her hair gracefully.
- Hinata (163cm) Shortest. 'Guess I'm down here again.' Smiles sweetly.
Well, I guess that's all.
Word Count: 6293 words.
Chapter Completed: 6th February, 2018
Chapter Uploaded: 8th February 2018
Please don't forget to review!
Have a nice day!
Straight Path.