The moment Naruto pulled Nine-Tails into his sealed space, he turned to the still-dazed Seventh Hokage. "Let's go. Time to head home."
The Seventh Hokage followed helplessly, his mind still trying to process everything that had just happened to his partner.
When they arrived back at the house, the Seventh Hokage went straight to his bedroom. Hinata was still waiting for him.
As soon as he turned on the light, Hinata looked up from where she'd been lying on the bed. She immediately froze at the sight of her husband's face, then recovered enough to ask, "He sparred with you again?"
"Yeah." A trace of helplessness crossed the Seventh Hokage's swollen features. "I'm starting to think this other-world Naruto is a complete battle maniac."
Hinata thought for a moment, then said gently, "Naruto, weren't you the same way after graduating from the ninja academy? Always fighting with Sasuke?"
The backstab left the Seventh Hokage speechless, because it was absolutely true. Back then, he'd thought of it as "hot-blooded passion." Looking back now, he had to admit it was just being warlike.
Having no comeback, the Seventh Hokage could only say, "It's late. Hinata, let's get some sleep. Also... please try to keep your voice down later."
"Mm." Hinata's face turned scarlet.
Another full night passed.
The next morning, Boruto woke unusually early.
Hinata and the Seventh Hokage had just finished washing up when their son appeared. Hinata tied on her apron and busied herself with breakfast in the kitchen while both Narutos from different worlds sat around the dining table in the living room, drinking morning tea.
Boruto looked terrible. He rubbed his swollen, dark-circled eyes and shuffled into the living room. Looking at his middle-aged father, he complained, "Dad, are there a lot of mosquitoes in your room? Last night I finally managed to fall asleep, then got woken up by the sound of you swatting mosquitoes."
The Seventh Hokage, mid-sip of tea, choked slightly. He controlled his expression with great effort and said evenly, "There are quite a few mosquitoes, yes. It's summer—perfectly normal to have more mosquitoes."
"Fine." Boruto sighed helplessly and trudged off to wash up, his head hanging low.
Yesterday his young father had beaten him for educational purposes. Last night his whole face had felt hot, making it difficult to fall asleep. After finally drifting off, he'd been awakened by the sounds of his parents "swatting mosquitoes" in the next room.
Boruto felt deeply aggrieved.
Young Naruto heard the entire exchange between father and son. He kept his gaze on his teacup, concentrating intently on his morning tea.
After Boruto left, the Seventh Hokage looked somewhat embarrassed. He raised his eyes, glanced at the younger Naruto across from him, then sighed. "It's summer now. The weather's getting hotter. If you close the windows at night, it's too stuffy. But if you open them, mosquitoes fly in and bite you. Very annoying..."
Hearing the complaint disguised as explanation, young Naruto remained completely indifferent. He simply said, "I slept very well last night."
One sentence completely blocked any further commentary from the Seventh Hokage.
The atmosphere fell into awkward silence as both men drank their tea without speaking.
Young Naruto's mind was perfectly clear. He knew exactly what Hinata and the Seventh Hokage had been doing last night. But to be so uninhibited with him right next door? This was indeed the same "Uzumaki Naruto" who'd invented the Sexy Jutsu. The man clearly enjoyed seeking thrills.
Fortunately, on the first night, Naruto had taken Boruto out early. Last night, he'd simply controlled his muscles and shut down his auditory consciousness, rendering himself effectively deaf to the proceedings.
After a while, Himawari woke up.
The moment she did, she thought of her two fathers and came running over. She hugged one, then hugged the other. Both Narutos wore genuine smiles.
Daughters truly were healing.
Sons were just depressing.
After Himawari finished washing up, Hinata had breakfast and Boruto's school lunch ready. Because of young Naruto's presence and his massive appetite, Hinata had prepared far more food than usual.
The Seventh Hokage hurried into the kitchen to help carry dishes to the dining table. While transporting the food, he said helplessly to Hinata, "Boruto heard us last night."
Hinata's expression changed immediately. She whispered urgently, "I didn't make any sound at all!"
The Seventh Hokage knew that perfectly well. He said quickly, "I'm not blaming you. Your skin is just so sensitive." Then he escaped the kitchen with the breakfast before she could respond.
After breakfast, the Seventh Hokage left for the Hokage Building to work.
When Boruto picked up his lunch box and prepared to head to school, young Naruto proposed escorting him to the ninja academy. Boruto happily accepted the offer.
Himawari wanted to go along, but Naruto refused, telling her to wait at home. When he returned, he promised, he'd have a surprise for her.
Himawari immediately agreed with bright enthusiasm.
After dropping Boruto off, Naruto planned to explore this world's Konoha properly and see how it had developed.
Just as they reached the street opposite the school gate, Naruto spotted a one-armed ninja standing at the entrance, bidding farewell to his daughter.
Uncle Sasuke.
"Boruto," Naruto said, his gaze fixed on the one-armed figure, "don't skip class today. And don't forget your dream."
"I understand, young dad!" Boruto said quickly. "I'll never skip class again!"
He absolutely did not want to get caught skipping by his young father and receive another educational beating. His handsome face couldn't take any more damage.
Even if Mitsuki and Shikadai tried to provoke him, he would refuse. No more skipping. He had to work hard toward becoming Konoha's Hokage.
Most importantly, if he didn't skip class, his young father would have no reason to beat him up, right?
"Go on, then. I'll leave you here. Your dad has other things to do." As Naruto finished speaking, he noticed Sasuke beginning his journey home.
Before Boruto could respond, Naruto's figure vanished from in front of him.
The one-armed ninja Uncle Sasuke walked down the street, his mind churning with complicated thoughts.
He'd just returned from wandering outside the village—doing missions, technically—mainly because he'd been away too long and missed his daughter Sarada. So he'd come back to see her.
However, when he'd first stepped into Konoha, he couldn't find his house.
Because his wife Sakura had demolished it during one of her angry outbursts. She'd bought a new house to replace it.
When Sasuke got the news, he'd nearly wept. The mortgage on the last house wasn't even paid off yet, and now he was burdened with a new one.
Was he destined to spend his entire life doing outside missions, forever on the road, never able to settle down?
Of course, he couldn't show this kind of emotion in front of Sakura. He certainly couldn't complain about the mortgage. After all, Sakura herself had passed out when the house collapsed from her own strength.
If they got into another argument, the house might collapse again. Then he'd be paying off mortgages for the rest of his life, drowning in debt with no hope of reaching shore.
Actually, the mortgage wasn't even the main source of Sasuke's sadness. What truly troubled him was that his daughter Sarada had developed a temperament increasingly similar to her mother's. Very violent.
Though she didn't show it in front of him, thankfully.
Just as Sasuke was mulling over these small family troubles, a figure suddenly appeared before him, accompanied by a familiar voice:
"Sass!"
Sasuke looked up sharply and blurted out automatically, "Where is it?!"
Then his brain caught up with his mouth and he froze, staring at the person before him.
Young. Blonde. Blue eyes. Whisker marks. That insufferably confident grin.
Naruto.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Writing takes time, coffee, and a lot of love.If you'd like to support my work, join me at [email protected]/GoldenGaruda
You'll get early access to over 50 chapters, selection on new series, and the satisfaction of knowing your support directly fuels more stories.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~