Chapter 88: Look Down—The Waves Are Dancing
As Boruto excitedly explained to Hinata who Jill was, Hinata kept glancing at Naruto with a mischievous grin. Cold sweat instantly beaded on Naruto's forehead.
"Hey, Naruto, things don't look good. Maybe we should run for it,"
Kurama, residing in Naruto's body, offered the advice with a guilty expression.
Being a perfect Jinchūriki meant the Tailed Beast and the host had fully accepted each other, reaching a level of unity where their existences were intertwined. Simply put, the Jinchūriki and the Tailed Beast had essentially become one being. Although the Jinchūriki could fully access the beast's power, conversely, the Tailed Beast would also share in the host's pain.
In other words, if Naruto were about to get "disciplined" by Hinata, Kurama would get to experience that firsthand too.
"Yeah, you've got a point," Naruto muttered in agreement, rising to his feet as he said, "Hinata, there's still work I haven't finished back at the Hokage's office. I should get going."
"No rush. Besides, didn't you come back early to talk to Boruto? Since you're already home, might as well stay for lunch," Hinata said, grabbing onto Naruto's sleeve to stop him from leaving.
"Yes, ma'am." Naruto stiffly sat back down.
"Well then, I'll head downstairs and start cooking. You two can have a nice father-son talk."
Both Naruto and Boruto silently watched Hinata walk away. Even Boruto sensed something was off.
"Dad… did I get you into trouble again?" Boruto asked cautiously.
"No… Say, about that movie device—where did you buy it?"
"I dunno, some shady guy with a jar on his head. Never showed his face. Called himself a 'jar merchant.' He sells really cool stuff, but it's all super expensive," Boruto replied, recalling the details.
"Has he sold you anything else?"
"Yeah, of course! Oh right, Dad—hold on." Boruto suddenly jumped out of bed, shuffled to his desk in his slippers, and pulled open a drawer. "This! Uncle Sasuke's poster!"
It was a solo poster of Sasuke, with one eye the Mangekyō and the other the Rinnegan. His only hand held the Kusanagi sword, striking a dashing, dramatic pose.
"So cool!" Naruto leaned in close, admiring the poster in Boruto's hands. "Hey, hey, do they have one of me?"
"No idea. I never asked," Boruto said, shaking his head. "This one isn't for sale—it's a free gift for members."
"Members?"
Naruto scratched his head.
"Yeah! If you spend 10,000 ryō on a membership card, you get the poster as a gift. Plus, you get a 10% discount on everything from the jar merchant after that!" Boruto said proudly.
"10,000 ryō?!" Naruto's expression changed to shock. That wasn't exactly pocket change—especially not for a kid who had only just become a Genin. "Where did you get that kind of money?"
Naruto's face grew stern.
"Wh-What's wrong, stupid old man? Mitsuki gave it to me…" Boruto's voice shrank under Naruto's serious gaze.
"Even if it's from a friend, you shouldn't accept that kind of money! Listen carefully—if that mysterious merchant shows up again, you must tell me right away."
Ever since the appearances of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Ōtsutsuki clan, Naruto had stopped assigning Anbu guards to his family, especially when they were just in the village.
While Naruto and Boruto were talking, Hinata had gone out to shop for lunch ingredients.
Thanks to Boruto's explanation, Hinata now knew that Jill was just a character in a movie. She hadn't actually been mad at Naruto—she only put on an act because she wanted him to stay home a little longer.
"Hinata!"
Out shopping, she happened to run into Sakura and Sarada.
"Sakura! And Sarada."
The three of them walked side by side.
"I don't know what's going on, but lately a bunch of young girls in the medical unit have been asking me about Sasuke. Seriously, what are they trying to do?" Sakura grumbled to Hinata.
Lately, with all the beautiful young girls asking about Sasuke, Sakura had been having nightmares about Sasuke abandoning her and Sarada.
"...Maybe it's because of that movie Sasuke was in?" Hinata suggested, remembering what Boruto had told her.
"Movie?" Sakura frowned. She now recalled her daughter had mentioned something about Sasuke acting in a movie, but she'd dismissed it as one of Sarada's jokes at the time.
Sarada hadn't bought a copy of the movie starring her father—her goal was to become Hokage, so she spent her money maintaining her ninja tools and studying ninjutsu. Besides, since Boruto had already bought it, she could just borrow his.
"Yeah, Boruto has the movie. If you're curious, you could ask him," Sarada chimed in.
"Actually, Naruto's home for lunch today. Why don't you and Sarada come eat with us?" Hinata offered.
"Oh, we couldn't possibly impose—"
Despite her polite refusal, Sakura and Sarada eventually joined them at Naruto's house for lunch.
Everyone ate while watching Sasuke's movie.
"This part right here!" Boruto exclaimed, jumping up and mimicking Sasuke's pose. "Chibaku Tensei!"
"Idiot," Sarada muttered with a mix of awe and disdain, eyes glued to the screen.
"Dad, can I learn how to do Chibaku Tensei?" Boruto asked.
"Well… technically, no," Naruto replied. "Chibaku Tensei is a jutsu only usable with the Rinnegan, and to get the Rinnegan, you need to evolve the Sharingan…"
"Sooo that means Sarada could pull off that cool move someday? That's not fair! Why couldn't I be Uncle Sasuke's son instead?!"
Whack! Naruto smacked Boruto on the head. "You've got a problem with being my son? Listen up—Rasengan is a thousand times better than Sasuke's Sharingan!"
"But Rasengan is so basic! Sharingan is way cooler!"
"No way—Rasengan is way cooler!"
"Sharingan is cooler!"
"Rasengan!"
"Sharingan!"
…
Watching the father and son argue fiercely over which was cooler, Sakura sighed. "Those two idiots are way too alike."
"If you two don't start eating now, I'm taking the food away," Hinata said sternly, asserting her authority as both wife and mother.
"No no no, I still have work this afternoon!" Naruto immediately grabbed his bowl and started wolfing down rice.
"Haha! I win! Stupid ol'—uh… Dad…" Boruto's voice trailed off into silence under Hinata's icy Byakugan glare. In the end, he obediently focused on eating.
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