Chapter 93: The Day That Suddenly Became Lonely
The next day.
Following the plan, Jiraiya left behind a letter and prepared to leave the village to look for Naruto. Just as he reached the village gate, he was stopped by ANBU who had been waiting there for a long time.
Along with Naruto, who had passed out the night before and had only just woken up, still bleary-eyed, they were both summoned to the Hokage's office.
"Using defection as an excuse to leave the village? Which one of you came up with such a rotten idea, huh?!"
After beating the two of them up, Tsunade took out the "report letter" that Sasuke had left behind.
"Damn it, Sasuke actually left two copies. I miscalculated it."
Naruto clutched his head and muttered in complaint.
"Forget it. He's probably already run off to Orochimaru by now. Even if we chased him, we wouldn't catch him. We'll talk about it later."
Tsunade sighed.
The way Sasuke was chasing after power now felt exactly like Orochimaru back then. The feeling was far too familiar.
"No way. I have to get revenge on Sasuke! That guy didn't leave the village right away last night. He lay in wait for me, after seeing me steal the letter, he came out and ambushed me!"
Naruto clenched his fists and spoke through gritted teeth.
"Lay in wait and ambush you? Are you sure it was Uchiha Sasuke?"
Although Tsunade hadn't been in the village before, after returning and becoming Hokage, she had gone over the general personalities of all the village's ninja. Sasuke, in particular, was someone she'd often heard about from her student Sakura.
Based on Sasuke's personality, he wouldn't go out of his way to cause extra trouble, risking being discovered and unable to leave, just to mess with Naruto out of spite.
"It was definitely him! After I passed out, I vaguely heard the sound of that jutsu Kakashi-sensei taught Sasuke!"
Naruto looked absolutely certain.
"Chidori?"
"Yeah, that's right! And when I woke up, my butt hurt a bit too!"
"Hmm… this…"
Tsunade hesitated.
The sound of Chidori was extremely distinctive. Naruto wouldn't mistake it. And it couldn't possibly be Kakashi electrocuting Naruto for fun, right?
"Tsunade-sama, there are two outsiders in the village. They say they're performers."
At that moment, Shizune pushed the door open and reported to Tsunade.
"What?"
So soon?
A trace of surprise flashed through Tsunade's eyes.
Shizune had been present during the earlier discussion and was the only other person besides Tsunade who knew the truth.
This report sounded ordinary on the surface, but it was actually already a hint.
"Bring them in."
"Yes."
"..."
Tsunade looked at the two people who appeared before her, one tall, one small.
The taller one was manageable. If she hadn't known in advance that this was Sasuke from the future, she really wouldn't have recognized him.
The smaller one was just ridiculous.
Aside from the hairstyle, slightly bluer eyes, and trendier clothes, he was basically a carbon copy of Naruto.
Trying to pretend not to recognize him felt almost impossible.
"Ahem. Why have you two come to Konoha? Don't blame us for being on edge, Konoha has just gone through some turmoil recently, and a genin has defected. We have no choice but to treat every outsider with caution."
Tsunade looked at the two of them and spoke.
"A genin defecting? That's hilarious. Defect to another village to pick cotton or catch kittens? Right, Sa, uh, Master?"
Hearing that a genin had defected, Boruto immediately grinned.
"Mm."
Adult Sasuke responded flatly and turned his head away.
"Naruto, Jiraiya, don't even think about sneaking out to peep on women's baths again. I'm assigning you a mission. While these two are in the village, you'll be responsible for monitoring them, and acting as their tour guides."
With a wave of her hand, Tsunade issued the order.
"What? But I still need to train…"
Naruto looked troubled.
"Where can't you train? How about this, if this guy Jiraiya ever dares to use 'leaving the village' or 'going to the pleasure district' as an excuse not to teach you again, you come tell me, and I'll help you beat him up a few times."
"That's great! Tsunade-sama, uh, Hokage-sama, is truly wise!"
Naruto clenched his fist and made a celebratory "oh yeah" gesture.
"Alright. Naruto, you take them around the village first. Jiraiya, stay behind, I need to teach you how to properly set an example as a mentor. Shizune, go call the Third Hokage."
Tsunade waved her hand, signaling for them to leave.
"Nooooo~~~"
Amid Jiraiya's wailing, Naruto led the two "performers" out of the Hokage Building.
However, not long after they left, while Naruto was still enthusiastically introducing Konoha, the taller one suddenly disappeared without a trace.
Inside the Hokage Building.
Jiraiya had thought he was about to get beaten, but to his surprise, after everyone left, Tsunade did nothing. She returned to the Hokage's seat and sat down in silence, not saying a word until Shizune brought Sarutobi Hiruzen in.
"What did you say? Those two just now were Uchiha Sasuke from the future, and Naruto's son?!"
Jiraiya was completely dumbfounded.
Sarutobi Hiruzen was also in shock.
"That's right. This is the information I obtained from Orochimaru and that organization."
"I didn't tell you before because I wasn't sure whether the intelligence was true, until today, when they actually appeared."
Resting her chin on her hands, Tsunade spoke seriously.
"Then what should we do now?"
Jiraiya asked.
"That person also said that an Ōtsutsuki clan member would come too. That Ōtsutsuki is the enemy those two face when they return to our era, and that is an enemy that threatens the entire ninja world."
"That person wants me to inform them, once I discover the appearance of future Uchiha Sasuke, so they can come help deal with it…"
Tsunade paused here, then slammed a hand on the desk.
"But I have no intention of being manipulated like a puppet and told how to act! The Ōtsutsuki haven't even appeared yet, whether it's real or not is still uncertain."
"If we pass the information to Amegakure now, what if they're actually planning to deal with future Uchiha Sasuke instead?"
"Compared to the organization Orochimaru joined, compared to Amegakure, I think we should trust the future Konoha ninja more."
"They seem unwilling to expose their identities, probably worried about affecting the future."
"I want you to keep this a secret, while also finding ways to extract information from them. For example, their true purpose in coming back, and the real identity of that Amegakure ninja in the future."
—
Late at night.
Naruto took Boruto around the village, then brought him back home.
"You live alone?"
"Yeah. Because I don't have a mom or dad."
"..."
"Um… to welcome you, I'll treat you to a big meal."
~
Naruto and Boruto finished their grand feast, instant ramen, then turned off the lights and went to sleep.
After chatting for a bit, the father and son, about the same age, Naruto fell asleep first.
After some reflection, Boruto also prepared to sleep.
Suddenly, he thought of a problem.
Yesterday, after his dad had been brutally "hit" by him, and then "electrocuted" by Sasuke-san, had he really recovered?
This was a matter of life and death for him!
Boruto swallowed hard, slowly climbed up from his futon, reached toward the bed, and cautiously slipped his hand under the blanket.
"Seems like there's no problem."
Boruto let out a sigh of relief.
"Hm?"
Naruto groggily opened his eyes and locked eyes with Boruto.
Then Naruto felt a hand inside his underwear, and his eyes instantly went wide.
"AHHHHHHHH"
(End of this chapter)