Chapter Forty-Four

Kakashi massaged the bridge of his nose as Naruto and Jiraiya sat before the Hokage's desk, trying to ward off the migraine his nephew was giving him. Naruto and Jiraiya had come in urgently, spinning a yarn about an unsanctioned black op into the Land of Rivers and stealing an object from an internationally recognized cultural site. Naruto had done some dumb shit in his life, but he'd never intentionally caused what could have been a serious international incident. "Naruto," Kakashi eyed his nephew, his student, and his eventual replacement, "seriously, WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU THINKING!" Kakashi did not conceal his ire as he spoke.

"Uncle Kakashi…"

"Don't give me that Uncle Kakashi crap while we're in this office!" Kakashi roared.

"Lord Hokage!" Naruto shot back, defiant – something he'd almost never been as a student. He's been hanging out with Sasuke too much!

"Do you mind telling me what in the hell made you think this would be okay, under any circumstances? No, wait, don't tell me! The less I know, the easier it is to deny any knowledge of the operation as I come up with a creative cover story for why you, the most famous Shinobi in the world, is suspended from duty!"

"That's bullshit –" Naruto's words were cut off by Jiraiya placing a hand over the boy's mouth.

"Obviously, you're upset that he went behind your back," Jiraiya spoke in his most placating tone. Jiraiya's tone and demeanor, along with a twinkle in his eye, suggested that the older man expected to get Naruto fully off the hook and have Kakashi eating out of his hands. This isn't the red-light district, old man, and I'm not a courtesan you can charm into a discount!

"Jiraiya, before you speak on his behalf," Kakashi raised a finger, "consider his actions still could qualify him as an S-ranked criminal if they were ever discovered!"

"And have you considered why he would risk such sanction?" Jiraiya retorted, taking his hand from Naruto's mouth. "Some threats we are facing have world-ending consequences no matter who complains."

"He acted completely unsanctioned! And he did something completely illegal!" Kakashi shouted in reply.

"So have I, so have you," Jiraiya nodded, "or have you forgotten how you, Hiashi, and I blackmailed Danzo into agreeing to the peace treaty that ended the Third War?"

"That was totally different!"

"How?" Jiraiya retorted, "Lord Third didn't sanction us; hell, he was as pissed with me when I told him afterwards as you are with Naruto right now!" Jiraiya turned stern, "We did something illegal, something that could have landed us, possibly Minato, in jail with major black marks on our record to boot!"

Kakashi ground his teeth. The damn thing about arguing with Jiraiya – he usually won. I am not letting Naruto flash his baby blues and slide his way out of this! "And he couldn't have told me!"

"Lord Hokage, with all due respect," Naruto spoke again, still defiant as before, "while I understand you are upset, please understand I had unexpectedly come across a critical piece of intelligence, something crucial to our survival, and I did not want that information potentially being compromised."

"Compromised, by whom?!" Kakashi growled in both anger and confusion.

"Kakashi, remember that Kara was operating under our noses, and had been for some time," Jiraiya jumped back in. "Tsunade and I made multiple interventions without the Hokage's knowledge or sanction. We killed people, Kakashi. We committed espionage in foreign countries and internally without any warrant or sanction to do so." He raised a finger, "And mind you, had we not done so, we might never have learned about Kara and their machinations. The world might be flooded with a whole lot of illegal scientific ninja tools, and gods know what else that went up in smoke with the lab and the mad scientist that was running it."

Goddammit! "You got me in a box here," Kakashi huffed.

"Lord Hokage," Naruto put on cotton gloves, pulled out a box he'd brought to the meeting, and extracted a scroll from within. He placed the scroll on the desk, and handed Kakashi another set, "Perhaps you'd like to see what came back with the team?" Naruto had been careful not to name his accomplices, not that it was hard to figure out Sasuke, Sakura, Sai, and Ino had all gone on leave at the same time and all returned around the time Naruto desperately requested this audience.

What Kakashi saw on the paper stopped his heart. The script was archaic but still readable. "This is Kaguya's journal!"

"Hidden among the ruins of what might have been a colony of Moon Kingdom survivors," Naruto nodded, "Hidden by the Uzumaki Clan."

Kakashi eyed Naruto, then Jiraiya, and then the scroll. Even almost two years later, the tale of what he and his friends had found on the Moon had been fantastical to say the least. The documents from the Land of Whirlpools still left Kakashi questioning things. However, Kaguya was not something in dispute. Kakashi had lived through the infinite Tsukuyomi and the army of Zetsu creatures. He didn't want to believe his memories were real, but they were real. "You mind telling me how this helps us?"

"I think I know who Jigen is," Naruto said.

"Who? What do you mean?"

Naruto pointed a finger at the delicate paper, "According to this, the Ōtsutsuki always traveled in pairs, one sacrificing the other to a Divine Tree they had cultivated. The effect would gather the world's chakra and they would devour it, killing the planet in the process."

"Sacrifice the other? That makes no sense."

Naruto raised a finger to cut him off, "Each of the Ōtsutsuki have the ability to place a Kama Mark on an individual."

"What the hell is a Kama Mark?" Kakashi asked.

"Think of it like a virus. It invades a cell and instills its DNA in the host cell, creating more virus. Except, in this case, in begins to overwrite the person infected, cell by cell until they are a carbon copy of the Ōtsutsuki that marked them!"

"That's…" Kakashi leaned back in his chair, not wanting to consider the implication, "Why?"

"The one that was sacrificed typically would have marked another to take it's place," Jiraiya added, "Except Kaguya betrayed her partner, an Ōtsutsuki named Isshiki, before he could mark anyone. Her goal with creating the Zetsu army was to prepare for an eventual retaliation from other Ōtsutsuki for her treachery."

"And she never completely forgot about Isshiki, either," Naruto jumped back in, "Until her sons sealed her, she always feared he might have survived somehow." Naruto looked Kakashi dead in the eyes. "Think of it, he knew about the Land of Whirlpools, what was buried there. He knew about all of us! He's obviously been here a while."

Kakashi crossed his arms, contemplating the unsettling possibility that someone like Kaguya was already on earth. "What the hell is he waiting for?" Kakashi groaned.

"We don't know," Naruto said.

"It's possible he is waiting for some seminal event in our timeline, something that happened in the original timeline – something immovable."

Kakashi looked down to the picture frame with a photo of Shizune, Sakumo, and Yoshiko – none of them existed outside this timeline. He pulled open the drawer of the desk and eyed the photo that Kushina had left. Naruto, Hinata, Jiraiya, Tsunade, Minato, Kushina, and all the kids and what he assumed to be grandkids were in the photo. It was once just Naruto, Hinata, and their children. "Something immovable, you say?"

"It would have to be a majorly important event," Naruto nodded.

"All right, you rotten bastards, you win." Naruto and Jiraiya both smiled. "Naruto, you are suspended for active duty for one month for insubordination, starting today."

"Ka—Lord Hokage!" Naruto protested.

"Fair is fair. I can appreciate you acting in the village's best interest, but something so flagrantly dangerous without keeping me in the loop is a big no-go, Naruto. Danzo did shit like that!" Naruto gave a dim nod, understanding what was said. "I suggest you and your wife make the most of that month studying this! You are dismissed"

"Uncle, before you decide that is all, there is something else," Naruto drew out a pink and gold wand shaped like a crescent moon.

"You brought one of your sister's toys?" Kakashi shook his head in disbelief.

"It was in the stuff we retrieved the Land of Whirlpools," Naruto's tone suggested this was no prank. "I'm sure you can recognize what it looks like."

"Naruto, it's just a fairytale…"

"One that has proven itself to have a significant element of truth to it," he pushed the wand toward Kakashi. Kakashi picked up the wand. Light as plastic, but the construction feels solid as hardened steel. He checked the weight of it in his hand, and Naruto spoke further, "Tried filing off some shavings to determine what it was made of."

"And?" Kakashi asked.

"After five minutes with a metal file, it hadn't a scratch, and the file went dull," Naruto said. "Whatever it is, it's not of this Earth."

Kakashi didn't want to believe that he was holding an artifact that was thousands or possibly millions of years old – Queen Serenity's wand, the wand of the Moon Princess Warrior. "Naruto, what does this mean?"

"We're not sure yet," Naruto said. "I'm sure you can remember the stories."

"The fairytale tells of Queen Serenity and the Moon Princess Warrior laying waste to infernal enemies and whole armies with one wave of this wand."

"There is more," Jiraiya added.

"What?" Kakashi set the wand back on the desk.

"The wand is reacting to certain people when brought near to them," Naruto said.

"It what?"

"When brought near Hanabi and Konohamaru, the gem in the handle pulsates and makes a beeping sound."

"And the meaning of that?" Kakashi asked.

"We're not sure yet," Naruto nodded.

"Then find out, and do so quickly, dismissed," Kakashi was curt but respectful to his nephew, "Jiraiya, you stay." Naruto collected the artifacts, bowed, and left as instructed.

"Got something on your mind, Lord Sixth?" Jiraiya seemed amused.

Kakashi opened another drawer in the desk, extracted two glasses, and an ancient bottle of sorghum liquor. He poured each a glass and offered one to Jiraiya. "What do you think?" Kakashi asked as he pulled down his mask and took a sip.

"About what exactly?" Jiraiya sipped, continuing to play his cards close to his chest.

"Do you think he made the right call, cutting me out?"

"Lord Sixth," Jiraiya remained deferential, "whereas I don't usually advise cutting the Hokage out of any decision-making, I do agree that his actions definitely were in the best interest of the village."

"A lot of bad decisions have been made in the name of the best interests of this village," Kakashi took another sip, the bitter liquor burning fire on his tongue.

"I can't argue that point," Jiraiya shrugged. "At the same time, his rationale for doing what he did was sound – we truly don't know if this Jigen or Isshiki character or others like them are watching us, planning our demise." Jiraiya took another sip, "If nothing else, he did come clean about everything when he just as easily could have continued to conceal what he'd done and faced no consequences.

Dammit, I hate it when he has a point. "Do you think I was wrong to suspend him for a month?"

"No," Jiraiya said. "Had he done the same to me if I were in your chair, I would have done the same. He's been the golden child of this village for a long time, and now he's and adult. Adult actions do come with adult consequences – something he has only faced so much up until now."

"Yes," Kakashi stared down into his drink, "they certainly do."

"You're thinking of your father, aren't you?"

"What gave it away?"

"Kakashi, he made a decision that was in the village's best interest and got burned for it."

"Not unlike what I just did to Naruto."

"Kakashi," Jiraiya set his drink down and crossed his arms, "I wouldn't for a minute compare the two. Lord Third could have handled the situation any number of different ways. Nobody held a kunai to his neck and forced him to hang your father out to dry. You also didn't hang Naruto out. You set a clear boundary, and you laid out a fair punishment for having stepped over that boundary."

Kakashi rubbed his eyes, "I knew being Hokage would be a pain like this."

"It's a burden to carry, at least you had the strength of character to rise to it, and not shirk it like I did."

"Tell Naruto if he tries anything like this again, I'll put him on academic detail at the Academy until I retire."

"You'd threaten him by making him a teacher?" Jiraiya rubbed his chin, "I wish I'd thought of that!"

Jiraiya exited the Hokage's office, greeted by a still sulking Naruto as they left the anteroom. "So, did it get overturned?" Naruto asked, hopeful.

"No, that isn't what we talked about."

Naruto's shoulder sank, "Seriously!"

"Even more serious, Kakashi threatened to make you an Academy instructor for life if you pull a stunt like this again," Jiraiya chuckled.

Naruto's eyes widened in shock, "For real?!" Naruto had not been a stellar student at the Academy, much as his mom hadn't. The thought of being chained to a desk was the equivalent to slow torture for a man of action such as himself.

"For sure!" Jiraiya laughed as the exited the building, "Naruto Uzumaki, Hero of the Hidden Leaf, and teacher of children!"

"You both suck!"

"Come Naruto," Jiraiya slapped his back, "It wasn't the first time you've had your balls busted, I guarantee it won't be the last!"

"Whose side are you on?" Naruto groaned.

"The same side you are – the side of my village."

"You have a funny way of showing it," Naruto kicked a loose rock in the street.

"Hey, answer me this honestly, Lord Hokage," Jiraiya accented his words to drive his point home, "Let's say one of your kids ran off on a mission, vital to the village's survival, and you had no idea where they'd gone or what they were doing."

"I…" Naruto frowned, "… you're baiting me here!"

"Damn right!" Jiraiya laughed as they continued down the street to the commercial district. "Your father pulled a similar stunt once upon a time."

"Yeah, how did it end for him?"

"Promotion, being awarded a medal," Jiraiya grinned, "winning a certain red-haired maiden's heart!"

They unconsciously walked toward Ichiraku Ramen. "Yeah, Dad got Mom, and I got grief!"

"You win some, you lose some," Jiraiya held the door. Ayame seated them, took their orders, and brought out ramen in short order. For a moment, they ate in silence, but Jiraiya decided to risk breaking silence, "So…"

"So?" Naruto looked up, slurping his noodle as he did so.

"You didn't answer my question. Let's say one of your children did something unsanctioned…"

"Grandpa, we're both here because Himawari did something that was probably not sanctioned."

The kid is sharp. "Yes, but we have no context as to the circumstances behind it. For all we know, the village had fallen and there was no one to sanction her."

"Possible," Naruto slurped another noodle.

"And what about Boruto?" Jiraiya adjusted his aim.

"What about him?" the color drained from Naruto's face. Unexpected.

"What if he did something stupid? Say he cheated in the Chunin Exams with a scientific ninja tool. Say he went on an unsanctioned mission or sent his friends on an unsanctioned mission, and they got caught. As Hokage," he accented, "you are now responsible for an international incident and possibly have to decide to sacrifice your son or his friends, much the way Lord Third did to Sakumo Hatake."

Naruto's mouth dropped, knowing full and well what his uncle and his family had gone through. Naruto remained frozen for several seconds, his eyes turning an unnatural milky blue, and he stared off into space. He began shaking, subtle at first, but soon his shaking had become violent. "Naruto!" Jiraiya leapt out of his seat and around the table.

As fast as it had happened, the episode ended, and Naruto's eyes returned to their normal sapphire color. "Grandpa?" he asked, as if wondering how he got here at Ichiraku's.

"Naruto, Jiraiya!" Teuchi and Ayame both came around the counter. "Do we need to call for medics?"

"No, please no!" Naruto gasped in protest.

"Like hell, Naruto," Jiraiya said in the same tone he'd used to scold his children, "you are going to the hospital. Whether you walk with me there or I have medics carry you is your decision!"

Naruto nodded in resignation, "Help me up."

Tsunade had once heard that medical-nin were among the most difficult patients to manage. Whomever came up with that line never had Naruto Uzumaki as a patient. A typical male shinobi, Naruto didn't think twice of walking around with a potentially ticking timebomb in his head. "Sensei," Tsunade turned as she paused her stroll down the hospital corridor and saw Sakura.

"I take it there is news?" Tsunade asked.

"Radiology reports," she handed the reports to Tsunade.

"As expected, there was nothing abnormal on MRI or CT of Naruto's brain."

So, no tumor, no stroke. "Have the blood labs come back yet?"

"Ino and Hinata are working on them right now," Sakura replied.

"Well, let's have a look in on the patient, then," Tsunade said as they walked together to Naruto's room. As expected, Naruto was pacing back and forth, impatient as ever. In a way, she couldn't fault him. The one or two times she had to heal Dan before his death, he'd been anything but a fan of being hospital confined. "Naruto," Tsunade called his name.

He paused his pacing long enough, turning to face her, "Granny Tsunade, Sakura, can I go home yet?"

"We're still waiting on the blood labs," Tsunade said, "Although, I am glad that the imaging studies were all clean."

Naruto gave her the same pleading look he'd given her when he'd been here a week with pneumonia after his first mission. "How much longer?"

"Naruto," Sakura spoke up, "it's important that we know what is going on with you; it's not normal for a healthy young adult to suddenly suffer a seizure out of nowhere. We have to be sure there isn't some pathological process at play."

A knock at the door, and they turned, "Come in." Akemi, Hinata, and Ino entered the room. "Ladies, I take it there is news?"

Ino handed forward the report, "Nothing abnormal on CBC with diff, CMP, or urinalysis. Hell, even his ESR and c-reactive protein was perfectly in range."

Tsunade chewed her lip. By all accounts, Naruto was healthy and had no explanation for his episode at Ichiraku's. "Can everyone give me a minute, please?" she bowed politely and exited the room, heading for the waiting area where Jiraiya, Minato, Kushina, and Akane were waiting.

"How is he?" Kushina asked.

"He's fine… and that is the problem," Tsunade scanned the room, "Jiraiya, may we speak please, privately."

He nodded, following her away from Naruto's concerned family until they reached an empty treatment room, "So, what can I do for you, gorgeous?"

"You can start by being serious," Tsunade insisted. Not the time for hanky-panky! "Described to me again what happened at the restaurant."

"We were talking…"

"About what?"

"He was moping over his suspension," Jiraiya offered.

"And?"

"And what?"

"What else?"

"I asked him if he was in Kakashi's position and it was his children, what would he do?"

"Anything else?"

"I specifically asked about his son doing something stupid and…" Jiraiya's voice came to a sudden stop.

"And what?" she demanded.

"His eyes changed color, like his weird Byakugan activated out of nowhere." Jiraiya turned his palms up, "That's when he started having a fit, and I brought him here!"

Naruto had had a similar event when first implanted with Byakugan at Mount Myoboku. Since that time, Tsunade had worried about the effect of Naruto's increasing use of them – reporting the ability to see space-time shifts and predict someone teleporting before they could arrive.

The revelation hit Tsunade suddenly. "Thanks, I'll be back in a bit!" she scurried off toward the room where Naruto was kept. As she reentered, Akemi, Hinata, Ino, and Sakura all stared with concern. Even Naruto's tense face hinted his own concern. "Naruto, I need something from you."

"What is that, Granny Tsunade?" he asked, his voice tight as if choked by tears.

"Jiraiya said your Byakugan activated before you had your episode. What did you see?"

"What?" Naruto stared semi-perplexed. The four other medical-nin stared in concern.

"You saw something, something that scared you. You were having a panic attack, not a seizure," Tsunade spoke with authority. "What was it."

Naruto went ghostly white, and Tsunade felt her bladder constrict. Naruto is shit-scared! Her mind wandered the possibilities of things that could scare Naruto, all of them nightmare fuel. Naruto clamped his eyes closed, tearing up and shaking. "G-Granny Tsunade…" Hinata ran to his side and embraced him.

"Lady Tsunade," Ino spoke, voice delicate, "I may be able to provide answers without further setting him off."

"What are you thinking?"

"I can go inside his mind," she turned to face Naruto, "with your permission, of course." She turned back to Tsunade, "I can extract the memories without…"

"It was Boruto!" Naruto exclaimed, cutting Ino off mid-thought. "I saw my son!" Naruto heaved.

"Naruto?" Hinata held his face in her hands.

"Our son, was… in pain…" Naruto groaned. "He looked like in his teens, but he was scarred – like he'd been in battle many times and had suffered greatly…"

"Naruto, take it slow," Akemi spoke.

"The village… in ruins! He was fighting a shadowy figure in front of the ruins of Hokage Rock!"

"Another vision of the future?" Sakura asked.

"It could be the Otsutsuki trying to trip us up, too," Ino added.

"Another option," Hinata added, not letting go of Naruto, "he can see distortions in time and space, as can I."

"Go on," Tsunade commanded.

"What if he saw a possible future, or the future Himawari came from originally?" Hinata suggested.

"There is one way to find out. May I borrow your cellphone, Hinata?" Tsunade requested.

"Of course," she handed over the phone, and Tsunade dialed the Hokage's Office.

"Hello?" Kakashi's voice greeted.

"Kakashi, it's Tsunade."

"Tsunade? Is everything all right with Naruto?"

"He's fine, physically, but I need your help."

"What do you need?" he asked.

"I need you to look at the photograph in your drawer, you know the one."

There was the sound of rustling, and Kakashi came back on, "What am I looking for?"

"Look at Naruto's eldest son, tell us what you see," Tsunade swallowed her heart as she did.

"Um… I mean, he could be a teenaged Naruto in this photo. Blonde hair, blue eyes, and about the same height and facial features – maybe looking a bit more like Hinata."

The moment of truth! "Does he have any visible scars, anything to indicate he had been wounded in battle?"

"Ummm… nothing…"

"Is there anything else we should know?"

"He has his arm over a raven-haired girl's shoulder, roughly same age, wearing glasses."

Tsunade looked at Naruto, "Anybody we know?"

"Probably doesn't exist yet… but I don't remember that in the photo."

"So, it probably is still changing."

"All right, thanks Kakashi," she ended the call. Tsunade handed the phone back to Hinata. "Well, I can say with some certainty we don't need to keep you here, Naruto."

"That's a relief!" Naruto sighed.

"Ah, ah," Tsunade waved a finger, "you and Hinata are taking that damn vacation your friend Shikamaru booked for you!"

"Granny Tsunade?" Hinata asked, her mouth hanging open.

"You both have been burning the candle at both ends between training, researching the archives, and whatever escapade got Naruto suspended," Tsunade stepped forward, "You both need a VACATION!" Tsunade was pretty sure bits of ceiling tile were falling behind her as she shouted.

"Yes, ma'am," Naruto's voice came out a squeak.

"Well, I guess that is all," Tsunade scribbled on Naruto's chart. A slight mischief ignited in the back of her mind. "Oh, and one more thing."

"What's that? Naruto asked.

She handed the chart to Sakura, "Bring back great-grandchildren! I'm tired of waiting, and so is Jiraiya!"

"Granny Tsunade!" Naruto and Hinata protested as she left the room with a chuckle. Can't wait to see him get grey hairs!

The ride on the Thunder Train to the port village of Taiho was surprisingly relaxing for Sakura as she watched the scenery of the Kanto Plain pass by, becoming coastal wetlands, over the Great Naruto Bridge, and ending at Taiho. Sakura got up from her seat and stretched, "Mmmmm… so much better than having to walk the whole way!"

"I hear the line to Sun is nearing completion," Naruto nodded from his seat opposite her and Sasuke. He carried an element of dourness, still smarting from the suspension and his episode at the hospital a week prior.

"Hard to believe," Hinata added. "This journey used to take a minimum of three days, now we can do it in six hours!" Hinata watched the town slip by as they came to a stop at the station.

Sasuke remained quiet, staring out the window to the bustling town. This was his first time to the Land Of Waves – his first real vacation in ages. "Sasuke, are you all right?" she asked.

"Yeah," he nodded, clearly lying. He stood up, "Let's get our baggage." Sasuke grabbed down their suitcase, while Naruto grabbed the bag he and Hinata shared. Naruto summoned a shadow clone that began to carry a large cooler from the baggage rack. "You sure all that is necessary?" Sasuke asked.

"While the island is supposedly stocked," Naruto replied, "I don't want to risk us being without the essentials!"

"Which is what, exactly?" Sakura stared at her teammate with skepticism.

"Oh, you know," Naruto grinned, "Cup Ramen, junk food, sandwiches, booze – the essentials!"

Typical guy! Nevertheless, she was glad to see Naruto back in something resembling his former self. Sakura was not normally a boozer, but she had to admit, a drink on the beach to pass the summer heat sounded amazing. "You got me curious, what did you bring?"

"Red, white, champagne, rum, whiskey, juice, and soda," Naruto said proudly, "All things for a good time!"

"My liver might never be the same," Sasuke offered with a slight laugh.

"Thanks again for inviting us along," Sakura said as they carried their stuff from the train, making their way to the waterfront.

"It was our pleasure," Hinata replied, "having friends along on a week's stay was a must."

"Kind of surprised you didn't invite Shikamaru and Temari," Sasuke said.

"Don't get me wrong, we'd love to have them," Naruto said, "but she's been struggling with morning sickness, and I don't think walking, taking the train, or the boat we're about to take would be particularly good for her."

"Agree," Sakura said. The mention of morning sickness sank a block of ice in Sakura's stomach. She was around a year from having lost her first and only pregnancy. "I thought they only gifted your four days?"

Hinata raised a finger, "I called ahead and they were able to tack on a few more days for a reasonable fee." Hinata flashed a large smile, "I figured it was a good way to sit out most of Naruto's suspension."

"You had to bring that up?" Naruto groaned as they began to disembark. Naruto's choice of outfit – orange cargo shorts and a black t-shirt- befitting a kid going to the beach. Hinata, meanwhile, wore a flowing white skirt to mid shin, flipflops, a white tank top, and a purple button-down that remained unbuttoned.

"Sorry, Naruto," Sakura put on her straw hat. She wore jean shorts and a red button-down top that left her navel exposed. While feeling a bit self-conscious, the added breeze felt nice in the humid and heat as they stepped off the train.

"It's this way," Sasuke guided them down toward the platform exit onto the main thoroughfare. He was the only one still dressed in grey and black, covering most of his body.

"Why didn't you wear the outfit I chose for you?" she asked.

"I'll put it on when we get to the island," he spoke with a slight shake to his voice. Sakura smirked, trying her best to hide her mischievous thoughts.

The walk-through town left Sakura amazed how much the area had developed since they were in the area last. Back during their mission almost a decade ago, Taiho was an isolated fishing village, more a hamlet on the waterfront. After the Great Naruto Bridge had been built, traffic to the Land of Waves exploded, and beachside tourism became the dominant industry. However, as they passed hotels and cafes, Sakura could still see the old rustic charm of the original settlement as they reached the waterfront.

As they walked past the now bustling boardwalk, the smell of sweet treats such as cotton-candy, funnel cake, and saltwater taffy filled the air. Even the marina, once a singular dock, was now massively expanded with over a dozen sailboats for charter for pleasure excursions. Reaching the end of the dock, a much smaller fishing boat greeted them, "Ahoy," an older gentleman with a well-maintained grey beard greeted. "I take it you're the group going to my island?"

"What gave it away?" Naruto asked with a smirk.

"Namely, the fact that your Naruto Uzumaki," the man chuckled. The man pulled a small camera from his pocket, "I don't suppose I could get a picture with you and your friends?

"Of course! Everyone, gather in tight," Sakura joined Naruto, Hinata, and Sasuke into a huddle around the captain. They all smiled, even Sasuke, and the picture was taken.

The captain inspected the image on the camera's reader. "Excellent. Now then, let's get our things stowed and we can head over!"

The sea air and cool breeze was a welcome change from the intense summer heat Naruto had felt after getting off the train. Sea spray gently kissed his face as he leaned forward at the bow of the sailboat. The fresh air on his face reminded him of being in the field, of being on missions. As he looked out on the water, he could see the island coming into view. Something about the crossing took him back to the Land of Whirlpools. Did Taiho look the way Uzushiogakure had once looked? Mom didn't talk often about her home, not that she remembered much. What would this world look like if no one had given a damn about control? What would it look like with no Ōtsutsuki?

Naruto closed his eyes, wanting to see his son again. His blood ran cold as he watched his horrifically scarred son face off with the shadowy figure in front of a ruined Hokage Rock. Boruto couldn't be any older than Naruto during the war, and yet, Boruto looked as if he'd been at war for years at that point.

He kept his eyes firmly closed, conjuring the image of the fierce battle, wondering how the village had come to ruins, why the Hokage Monument, now including his face, had been largely shattered. The more he focused on the image, the more ethereal and unfocused it became. Dammit! His hands clutched the cool metal railing at the front of the boat.

"Naruto?" Hinata's soft voice brought him back to here and now.

"Yes, love?" he turned, feigning everything being okay.

She leaned with her back to the railing, right next to him, "You know, Kurama told me you were brooding, not he needed to tell me. Is there something we can talk about?"

"I'm afraid, Hinata," Naruto shook his head. "I'm afraid everything we've fought and suffered for will come undone… I'm afraid," tears leaked around his eyes, "That Himawari's actions will be for naught!"

"Honey," her hand rested on his arm, cool from the sea breeze, "I don't think so," she shook her head.

"Did you see something, too?" he asked, furrowing his brow.

"Yes, the same thing you did," she said. "I kept it to myself at the hospital."

"You knew?" his mouth dropped.

"I saw it through our linked chakra; I figured you'd share when you were ready," she sighed, "Plus, I was still concerned there may be been something medically wrong with you."

"Fair enough," he dipped his head. "How are you so sure I'm not seeing the future?"

"The image was too nebulous," she said, "like it was going out of focus."

"Huh?"

"Remember, I had a vision of us getting married long before we got married."

The island was coming close, a small jetty jutting out from a mostly bare protrusion of rock, sand, and dune grass. Naruto closed his eyes again, recalling the image Hinata had of their wedding when they'd been children. The image had been sharp, clean. Some details had changed, his hair namely, but otherwise everything had been as it was. "You said you thought it was Himawari's original future."

"If you had lived through what you'd just seen, would you not risk going back in time to change things?" Hinata asked.

He closed his eyes, seeing the time travelling girl who had twice visited him while in the hospital. Hima… He opened his eyes, remembering what Queen Serenity had said. The future was not set, and Himawari had created a ripple in time large enough to significantly alter events.

The boat came up to the jetty, and the captain tied off the dock, "All ashore!"

"Feel better?" she asked.

"Yeah," he nodded. Naruto made the hand seal to summon a trio of shadow clones, "guys, get out baggage, please." The clones took off as ordered, and Naruto heaved himself up onto the railing.

"Naruto, what are you doing?" Hinata asked with concern.

"Taking the scenic route ashore," he jumped into the water, splashing with a belly flop. Naruto surfaced, paddling, "Care to join me?" Hinata stared shocked at first, but then her lips tightened into a smirk. She kicked off her flipflops, took them in her hand, and joined him in the water. "I love you, babe!" he said as she swam up.

"I love you, too!" she swam with him to shore. We're going to have such a good time on this trip!

Author's notes: Hi everyone, a warm Happy Birthday to Naruto, without whom this story wouldn't exist. I hope you enjoyed the chapter.

For those expecting the Iron Shinobi competition and Chunin Exams, I completely forgot this section in my outline. Fear not, it will be coming up, but some important things have to happen on the island first.

Thanks again for reading. Stay healthy, stay safe, and I'll see you all next chapter.