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Author's Note - Hi guys! Guess who's finally posting this masterpiece on Ao3! Ah, I'm so excited for you all to read this. Now, you should all know that this was originally written and posted on a different site back in 2017 (man, I feel old). And your girl hadn't (and still hasn't) watched or read Boruto so this is 100 percent not canon compliant with Boruto. So if I get some plot points wrong, oops. But this beauty was created after I read a bunch of Naruto fics that ask the question, what would happen if Naruto was actually a girl? Well, I'm taking a slightly different root and diving head first into what happens if Boruto's generation meets their counterparts from a different universe. And surprise, that universe has Fem Naruto! So, if you don't like it, don't read it. Again, you've been warned. Anywho, this take places after the Chunin exams and to quote my original author's note from 2017 "I'm making it so that Boruto and crew are genin because it makes no sense to me why Boruto is a genin in the movie but still an academy brat in the anime so you know what, instant promotion! (You're welcome, Boruto, you little shit)". And lastly, as always, I blame the amazing fics, All Started with a Smell and Deja Vu no Jutsu for giving me the inspiration for this fic! Alright, that should be everything! On to the story!

Chapter 1: We Are So Grounded…

Shikadai

If there was one thing Shikadai hated, it was how loud the friends could be. Don't get him wrong, he liked his friends. But there was a reason that on the only day off he's gotten in two weeks that he decided to not go outside. He wanted to nap, he really wanted to nap. Unfortunately, Chocho and Boruto wouldn't hear it.

"Come on, dude! We got five more months before we can take the Chunin exams again, we need to train!" Boruto had stated as Chocho used her ridiculously stupid strength to sling him over her shoulder when he tried to ignore his friends and fall back asleep.

Shikadai wanted to be sassy, saying something like, 'It's a miracle that you're even allowed to participate in the next exam, asshole.' But, he had already forgiven Boruto and decided that opening that bag of worms again would more troublesome than it was worth. The two teams, plus Metal Lee, had just stepped into Shikadai's backyard when the ground started to shake violently.

"Ow!" Shikadai yelped when Chocho dropped him as she stumbled bring their teammate down with her. Boruto, Mitsuki and Lee ended up on their asses too, though Mitsuki looked more curious than scared. Sarada's eyes flashed red as she pointed shakily in front of her.

"Over here!" He could feel his eyes widening in disbelief. There was a gigantic, white energy lined hole in the middle of his mother's flower garden. An overwhelming sense of dread filled him at the idea of explain to his mother why she lost her petunias. Then, the hole spat out, kids?!

No, really, it was like they were shot out of a canon. Shikadai couldn't help the wince that escaped him as the boy took the brunt of the landing. The group collapsed into a pile next to one another. Yep, those were definitely kids that were collapsed out in the backyard. Three girls and one boy.

There was an awkward staring contest that commenced, his friends just as god smacked as he was. His brain refused to connect the dots and Shikadai resisted the urge to yell out "Kai!" The two eldest seemed to react quicker than everyone else. Before Shikadai could blink, the eldest girl with brown hair snatched up what looked like her mini-me before darting into the Nara forest, the blond boy already in the lead with the red-head in his arms.

"Hey wait!" And they gave chase.

Boruto

"Huh? Why did we stop? We could have got them!" Boruto was sure that they could have caught up to those strange portal kids. Then they would have beaten them up (not the non-shinobis, of course) and brought them before his dad. And once his good for nothing Dad saw how awesome he was, he would have to recognize him (and his friends.)

"This is as far into the forest that I'm allowed in." Shikadai stated. You could see in his eyes that his mind was going a mile a minute. "The fact that the deer haven't done anything though, it's weird."

"Weird or not, did anyone get a good look at them?" Sarada asked, pushing her red glasses up the bridge of her nose, the light reflecting off it.

"No, my most youthful companions! They ran off at such a youthful speed at I was too distracted to notice them!" Great, the run had clearly put Lee into one of his youthful moods again… at least there was no rainbow genjustu this time.

"The boy that carried the red head looked a little like you, Boruto." Mitsuki commented cheerfully.

"Eh? Really?" Boruto hadn't really noticed because that guy had ran away fast with the other girl right on his heels.

"Maybe we should head back," Sarada suggested. "the ANBU will get them."

"Yeah guys, its getting close to lunch time and I'm starving." Chocho complained and her stomach grumbled in agreement. Inojin, looking entirely too much like Uncle Sai, commented,

"That's possible?" The punch that followed was totally expected.

What wasn't expected was the arrival of Kakashi when they enter Shikadai's backyard again, twenty minutes later. The sixth Hokage looked annoyed and the moment his eyes landed on Boruto, the older man asked,

"What did you do?"

"Me!?" This was total unfair, he hadn't done anything today!

"Yes, you. Right now, your father has two genin, a seven and a four-year-old in his office saying that they've come from a different Konoha. So, what did you do?" Kakashi pressed again. For some reason, Kakashi and Boruto had never really got along. Sarada had always been his favorite out the Team 7 offspring and he made that really clear.

"For once, he didn't do anything," Sarada explained. "They-"

"They came out of a hole from my mom's petunias." Shikadai drawled out bluntly, pointing to the large burnt mark in the flowers. Boruto could picture Shikadai's mom face the moment she saw it. Note to self, stay away from the Nara compound for two days.

"This is such a drag." Everyone snapped up to look at Hokage's advisor, his hands stuff in his pockets and his shoulders hunched. Uncle Shikamaru had the same look on his face as Kakashi. He stalked towards the group of genin before clapping his hands down on the heads of his son and godson. Boruto glanced at Shikadai, who looked just as confused as he felt.

"Come on, you two, we're going to the tower." Uncle Shikamaru explained. He dropped his hands before he started walking towards the tower.

"Boys."

"Coming."

Boruto hated his dad's office. It was busy, always full of paperwork and a constant reminder about why he was always late for dinner and never home. So yeah, he hated the place. Who would ever want to be Hokage anyway?

His dad sat at his desk, his cape on his chair and his bandaged hand rubbing his temples. On the other side of the desk were the kids from earlier. Boruto looked at them. The most noticeable one was the guy, being that he was the one guy of the bunch. He was a little taller than Shikadai and himself but he looked about the same age as them. He had dirty blond hair that was tied back in a low ponytail at the back of his neck. However, some of his hair fell into his tan face and forehead protector, kinda reminding Boruto of Aunt Ino. He wore a skin-tight navy shirt with the standard shinobi pants and sandals. Lastly, he had his tools strapped to his leg and bandages wrapped over his knuckles to his elbows. Huh, he didn't look that tough.

The eldest girl turned to face him and Boruto couldn't help it. The girl was pretty, like really pretty. Not in the artificial way like, ugh fangirls, but in an understated, kick ass kunoichi way. Boruto puffed his chest out slightly only to shrink back slightly when the guy's blue eyes narrow dangerously. Anyway, the girl was dressed in a black, sleeveless shirt, black skin-tight leggings, and black shinobi sandals. To add some color, she had a darker red, almost purple, kimono like top over it. Her forehead protector was wrapped around her arm like Shikadai's. Besides the standard shinobi tools, her high bun looked riddle with senbon, framing it like a crown. Her dark brown, almost black bangs shaped her pale face and covered her forehead. Lastly, her sapphire blue eyes seemed to be lined with kohl, making them stand out even more.

The eldest two each had a munchkin with them. The guy was piggyback the redhead girl with golden brown eyes. The girl was cradling her mini clone in her arms as the little one slept peacefully on her shoulder. In all, the pair didn't look that specially or intimidating. It would only be later that he would regret those words.

"Would you two like to introduce yourself?" Dad's question snapped Boruto back into attention as the guy stepped forward. He was moving almost lazily, but his eyes were attentive and his muscles were tense. He quickly bowed towards his dad before straightening, the girl still clinging to him.

"I'm Takashi Uzumaki-"

"What?!"

Mira

Mira was going to kill her brother. There was no doubt in her mind that the moment they got back home, her beloved twin brother would be strangled so badly by her shadows that he would be blue in the face for a month. Because this was all his fault! Completely his stupid, genius fault!

Now, the twins had done some amazingly troublesome stuff before. All in the name of pranks, of course. Like the time they made the Academy invisible for a week. Or the time they replaced all of the water in the ANBU headquarters with sake, without getting caught. Or the time they let the deer stampede into the Hyuga compound. But this time, the blame lied solely on Takashi and his stupid fuinjutsu!

Ok, so maybe she had egged him on a little… ok, a lot. But still, Mira really couldn't be blamed for this… Actually, knowing her parents, the twins were both going to be grounded until they were jonins. Ugh, having to do D-ranks again with that stupid cat that wouldn't die made her flinch. What a drag… And the day had started off so well for her.

It was the first time in two weeks that her team and Taka's had the same day off. Naturally, Team 7 and Team 10 found themselves in the Nara compound, using the gigantic field Dad had built under the house for Mom when they got married. Anyway, the two teams decided to do a sparing tag team match against each other. After drawing names, the teams were the twins v. Sarada and Chocho v. Inojin and Kenji. It was an easy win for the twins, given their innate teamwork and as Inojin puts it, really creepy twin telepathy.

"Taka, are you still working on that thing?" Mira asked her twin, Takashi, as they sat on the sidelines. The rest of their teams were having a rematch because Inojin had said something insensitive again. Taka lifted his sky-blue eyes up lazily at her, his scroll and ink laying in front of him.

"Don't ask troublesome questions that you already know the answer to, sis." He answered back, his eyes drifting back to the seal. She rolled her own blue eyes before stating,

"You know, Mom's going to kill you if she finds out that your messing with that thing without her supervision."

"What Mom doesn't know won't kill her. Besides, you're the one who said I couldn't figure it out. I'll just blame you for giving me the idea." He smirked at her. She was about to snap back a sassy reply when their little sisters slipped through the door. Naturally, the twins' over productive instincts shot up in attention.

"Beni, Motoko, get over here." Mira ordered as Taka shifted over to give the younger girls space. The last thing the twins need was for their sisters to get hit by a fireball or an inked lion under their watch again. Benihime raced over, her long red hair making her look like a firecracker while Motoko tried to keep up. Unfortunately for the poor four-year-old, Beni's seven-year-old legs were faster.

"Taka, Mira! Shino-Sensei let us out early today and I ran into Granny and I …" Benihime's mouth started running a mile a minute as she recounted her afternoon. Taka tuned her out, nodding along sluggishly as Beni decided her big brother's shoulder were an appropriate seat for her to continue her story.

That was Beni for you. Young, energetic, with a big heart and an even bigger mouth. It was no wonder Dad jokes that if she didn't have his eyes, he would have been worried. Clearly, Beni wasn't your stereotypical Nara.

Motoko, on the other hand, was definitely the most like Dad. Even though she was young, little Motoko didn't do much. She slept, she watched Dad play shogi, she watched Mom train, she slept some more. Which explains why the littlest Nara decided to use her eldest sister's lap as a pillow.

So, how did a such a normal day such as this turn into a day of hell? Well, apparently you can bat a fireball into a different direction with the Hyuga's Revolving Heaven.

"Look out!" Too bad it was headed for the siblings. Shit!

Now, it should be noted that Mira has a photographic memory. Taka may be more creative and can figure out patterns better but Mira remembers everything, down to the smallest detail. So the very fact that she can't, for the life of her, figure out how Taka's seal activated bugged the living crap out of her.

But the seal did activate, which was why Mira and her siblings were currently falling through a portal/tunnel/whatever the fuck it was. There was a light at the end of it and they were rapidly approaching it.

"What the Hell?!" Taka cursed as before the younger girls screamed, reminding their shinobi siblings that, yes, they were falling to their deaths too. How kind of them.

"The girls!" Mira reached out and tucked her sisters into her. And Taka, being the chivalrous brother that he was, wrapped his arms around her waist, the girls sandwiched between them. Then they hit the light at the end of the tunnel.

The sight of the kids scared the living shit out of her and filled her mind with unanswered questions. Questions like, what happen to the porch Dad had put in? Why was Mom's vegetable garden full of petunias? And why the flying fuck did Sarada have glasses on and what did she do to her hair? (The last question was the most important, obviously.) This place was different. Mira's eyes took in her surroundings as the group of kids sprawled out before them tried to make head and tails of what just happened. The moment Taka started running, Mira did to, Motoko clutched so tight to her chest it was almost suffocating. As the twins leaped into the forest, she caught sight out the craved mountain and everything clicked.

Taka

"This can't be happening, Taka, you sent us into a different, fucking dimension!"

"You said a bad word, Big Sister."

"So not the time, Motoko." Taka snarked before turning to glare at the sister speeding next to him. Beni had a death grip on his neck and was abnormally silent.

"What do you mean different dimension?" He asked as they maneuvered through the forest that they grow up in. Or at least, it looked like the forest they grew up. Taka was zooming through the forest and Mira was keeping pace. But he knew she couldn't keep this up forever and that they would have to stop for her to rest.

"Check out the Hokage Heads, smartass."

"…Ah, shit." Ah, shit was right. Even in the trees, Taka could see the heads of their leaders carved into the mountain cliff. Oh, the first six heads were fine, in fact, if Uncle Kakashi was there, he would joke that he never looked better. But it was the seventh face that made him pale.

Takashi was a mama's boy. His mother was absolutely the best human being in the world and no matter how troublesome or silly she could get, he would always love her. Dad had made a point to drill in the twins' heads that their Mom had done too much and suffer too much to have to deal with bratty, disrespectful children. The patriarch went into detail about her life before them and constantly remind them that they were to respect and honor her, not just because she was their Kage but because she was their mother.

Naruto Uzumaki was the world's greatest kunoichi, one of its few fuinjutsu mistresses and the best damn Hokage Konoha has had in a really long time. She was beautiful, powerful, and loving. So instead of seeing his mother's face carved into stone, her long braid elegantly designed into stone with it (because that was her signature look), a man's face replaced.

A man that looked eerily similar to the 4th Hokage. A man who, like his mother, wore his forehead protector proudly on his forehead. A man, like his mother, with 3 whisker marks on each cheek. Fucking A.

"Alright, girls, we're going to be seeing this world's Hokage really soon. No matter what, let us do the talking. You know nothing, got it?" Mira's voice left no room for discussion. The little girls gave their confirmation, because they were shinobi children and they knew an order when they heard one. A thought crashed into Taka.

"Beni, I need you to tie my forehead protector to my forehead. Mira-"

"Yeah, I get it. Motoko, tie mine to my upper left arm."

"Where Daddy has his?"

"Yep, where Daddy has his." Mira whispered back softly, as the realization hit the twins hard. Unlike what Inojin believes, they did not have twin telepathy. They were just really entuned with each other, obviously. And there were times when they just need to look at each to form the exact same plan or know what the other is thinking. And Mira look terrified.

Hell, he felt terrified too. This wasn't their Konoha and those kids, dammit, he knew Inojin, Chocho, Lee, Sarada and Mitsuki anywhere. But they were all dressed differently, almost like they were wearing civilian clothing for some unholy reason. (Well, expect for Lee, he looked exactly the same, which was strangely comforting.)

What really scared Taka though, was the two other boys. The boy with the Nara hair and teal eyes and the boy with Mom's coloring and whisker marks. Taka had a hunch about who those boys were. For the first time in a long time, he was hoping that he was wrong. About he was the son of a genius and he was rarely wrong.

"We lost the kids." Mira spoke after minutes passed. "They're still going to keep looking for us and then ANBUs going to show up. We need to talk to the Hokage as soon as possible."

"And tell him what?" Taka mumbled sarcastic. "Oh, hello Lord Hokage, we're just your kids from a different dimension. Did I forget to mention that you're a woman and our mom?" He could feel the glare that Mira was sending him.

"No, smartass, we're going to say as much as possible without saying anything at all. See if these guys can look beneath the underneath." She was smirking, you could tell it in her voice. While a risky plan, honestly, it was the only thing that they got that would work.

"Shall we go through the window then?"

"Let's." But first, Taka needed to fix his hair. The last thing they needed was to be questioned on his hairstyle and why Taka's blond hair had brown roots.

Author's Note - The nostalgia I get reading this, it brings a tear to my eye (sniffs into a tissue). So what do you think, Ao3? Shall I keep posting chapters? Thoughts on the OCs? Let me know in the comments (I live for your comments). My goal is to post one of my chapters either daily or every other days. Remember, this is my most completed fic. Literally, I just need to finish the final chapter to my liking and it's done. It's also the fic where I developed the little side stories under each chapters. So let me know what you think! I hop you guys liked it! Please comment, kudos and bookmark! Love you guys so much!

-V.I. Winthrop

Kenji

Kenji knew that Team 7 and 10 were one hundred precent screwed when they blasted their hokage's kids away in a portal that definitely wasn't there before. Hyorinmaru whimpered and buried his muzzle into his hair as Kenji continued to stare at the spot in horror because apparently you can bat a fireball in a different direction with the Hyuga's Revolving Heaven.

"So, all in favor of telling the Lady Hokage and Jonin Commander that this is Kenji's fault?" Inojin asked far too seriously to be teasing. The pale bastard even went so far as to raise his hand like they were taking a vote. "Seriously, no one?" Chocho, being the nicer of the two remaining members of Team 10, smacked her teammate's hand down and gave him a 'are you serious?' stare down.

"What are we going to do?" Sarada demanded, biting her lip in worry. "What are we going to tell their parents?" Then, Kenji was hit with a horrifying thought. Dynamic entry and all.

"Forget their parents! Sarada, what are we going to tell Lee-Sensei?!" And that, dear reader, is when Kenji and Sarada knew that they were two hundred precent screwed.

Author's Note - I had to add something, you know. Got it mix it up for the guys who may have read this on the other site (insert evil author cackles). Love you guys!

-V.I. Winthrop

Chapter Text

Author's Note- Hi guys! Here's the next chapter and this one has always been one of my personal favorites. And to quote my old author's note 'Heads up, it'll seem like I'm bashing Temari and Hinata in this fic when honestly, I'm not. Mira, Taka, Beni, and Motoko are! And why, you may ask? If you've figured out who their parents are (and you really should know by now), then it should be blatantly obvious why their kids are so protective, even to these guys who are actual their parents but close enough.' end quote. Hope you guys like this chapter as much as I do! On to the story!

Chapter 2: Motoko v. The Lady with the Big Fan

Mira

You know, Mira was really disappointed with this male version of Mom. To be frank, he looked too tired to be the kick ass Hokage that Mira could sense that he was. And it wasn't that the man wasn't handsome, he was, but he looked so un-shinobi. She didn't know what she was expecting but a man in civilian like clothes, no forehead protector and an office filled to the nine with paperwork was not it. The sheer amount of paperwork in the room was ghastly and she tried to remember a time if Mom's office was ever this discombobulated. Nope, she couldn't think off anything. Taka and her must have been in harmony because she could just tell that he was thinking the same things.

"So, let me get this straight. You come from a place where your Hokage is a woman," they nodded, "you were sparing in the Nara compound because Mira invited your teams over," another nod, "and you, Takashi, were messing with an unknown seal that somehow activated when a stray fireball came headed your way."

"Yep, sounds about right." Mira almost chirped, but stopped herself. She had to be more Nara like. More, well not lazy because that was really hard for her, but definitely more laid-back and uncaring. She could show emotions, because no, Naras aren't cold-hearted bastards, they just don't care about other people's bullshit. She just couldn't let her more bubbly side show in front of the man who really should have sent them to T&I the moment they showed up at his window.

The lack of security in this world was a little terrifying, in a weird way. If an unknown person had showed up at Mom's window like they had, you better believe that Dad would have definitely sent them straight to Aunt Ino. So what if he bloodied them a bit, as long as the person was breathing and the head still attached to the body, Aunt Ino could read their memories. Mira shouldn't be complaining though, the lack of ANBU and security made it easier for her family to talk with the Hokage.

"I don't get paid enough for this." The Lord Hokage grumbled. Mira and her family had agreed before meeting the man that calling him Lord Hokage to his face would make everyone's life much easier. The last thing they needed was to be called him Mom. Besides, in her thoughts, he was now dubbed Guy Mom.

"But…" Taka urged. Lord Hokage sighed before he gave them a small smile.

"But I believe you." Taka had raised his hand already so that her excited hi-five to him made it look like him started it, not her. Beside them, Beni relaxed, a grin spreading wide across her face. And Motoko, well, Motoko was in her lap doing the sleeping/resting/still hearing every word in the conversation thing that she could do.

"However, I am curious. You two are Uzumakis?" The man asked, the question pointed at Taka. Mira could almost sigh in relief at how easy their plan was working. The key to it was to break up her siblings. An almost herculean task in any normal situation, but this was far from normal.

Mira and Motoko have always looked the most Nara out of the four siblings. Taka and Beni, on the other hand, looked about as Uzumaki as you can get, especially with Beni's hair. It helped that when Mira and Taka became Chunin, they decided it would be easier if Mira was known as Chunin Nara and Taka was known as Chunin Uzumaki.

"Yes, sir. I'm Takashi Uzumaki and this my little sister, Benihime." Taka spoked with a slight grin. Besides, Taka wasn't lying to the kage, he just wasn't saying the whole truth.

"Ah, the crimson princess. Very fitting." The Hokage chuckled and Beni flashed him back a smile before he turned to face Mira.

"Mira Nara, sir, and my little sister, Motoko. Please excuse her, she likes to nap." Who ever told you that be polite got you no where was a loser and a liar. They had the Hokage right where they needed him. Then, the office door opened and Mira smelled tobacco.

She froze, as she watched the male kage's face lighten up as he greeted his advisor. So happy was the man that he missed how Beni and Motoko mouthed the word 'Daddy' while Taka pulled Beni closer to his side, his entire body tenser than a steel rod. But she could feel those calculating eyes bore into her back. And his chakra, sweet god, it felt the same. The cool, comforting and protective feeling she got whenever Dad was close by. But this wasn't her father, even if they had the same name.

"Shikamaru, you'll never believe what happened!"

"Four kids destroyed my wife's petunias." It would have been really amusing to see a grown man sweat-drop over his friend's sarcasm if she wasn't about to have an emotional break down. Because, really, the only reason they had been doing so well was because Lord Hokage was by himself when they explained their (mostly) accurate story to him. They were running on pure luck and it looked like it was about to run out. Because if this plan was going to fail, it was going to be because of this man.

"Are these them?" The familiar baritone voice asked lazily, but Mira could tell that his eyes were analyzing them. Ok, Mr. Not Dad, let's see how long it takes you to figure us out. She stood up lethargically, faking a yawn as she gently placed Motoko on the grounded in front of her, facing her father's doppelganger.

Mira kept her eyes from widening at the sight of him. In a way, it was probably a good thing he dressed differently from her Jonin Commander father. That and his muscles didn't look as toned as Dad's. Yet, he was still tall, he still smoked, and he still had that stupid goatee. Thankfully, Mom convinced Dad to make it into a full-on beard, which made him look ten times better with the stupid thing. Gently, she pushed the back of Motoko's neck, getting her into a full bow as she did the same.

"Troublesome," She actually didn't have fake that part of her speech. "Lord Nara, we would like to formally apologize for destroying the Lady Nara's petunias." Even if they were ugly and unkept. "And for entering your yard without your permission. Please, forgive us."

She expected him to pull an Uncle Kakashi, to say "don't say such formal things," or even to just say "what a drag." Yet, he nodded to them, allowing them to raise from their bow before he asked,

"Apology accepted. You know I'm the Lord Nara?"

"I know my history, sir." Ah shit, good job with that one, Mira. You've screwed up already.

"History?" He questioned before his Kage started explaining enthusiastically about the siblings' (if only they knew) story. Motoko tugged on her leggings, demanding to be lifted again in the universal body movement of lifting her arms and giving her the puppy dog eyes. Lazy little sister, I'm so proud!

"You think this is time travel?" At Not Dad's (she needed a better name for him but her brain was a little uncreative) question, Mira had to force back her smirk. Yeah, they could fake that for a bit. Apparently, Mom's luck had rubbed off of them. Sweet!

"Think about it, Shika!" If it wasn't for their shinobi training, Mira and Taka would have flinched at how similar the situation looked and sounded to them. "These kids said their Hokage is a woman which means that it has to be time travel. Sarada must have become Hokage!"

So, the Sarada here also wanted to be hokage? Ok, so her best friend hadn't changed too much. But she still needed to interrogate her about those glasses.

"And since they time-traveled, they can't tell us that much about their future because it'll risk the space-time continuum!" Lord Hokage continued to babble. Taka sweat-dropped quietly behind her, little weirded out by Guy Mom's imagination. Eh, she didn't really care about it as long as they got back home soon. And honestly, his imagination reminded her of home.

"I mean, look at that hair," The Kage pointed to Beni's long red locks. "That's Uzumaki red if I've ever seen it." To help the situation, Beni leaped out from behind Taka's leg and did a twirl, her hair being the center of attention. Mira didn't even fight the smile that graced her face, because Beni had been so quiet and unlike herself that it was unnerving. Beni got Not Dad to crack a smile too before stating,

"Alright, so we've got four time-travelers, where are we going to do with them?"

"How about giving your brats babysitting duty?" A drawl voice spoke from the window. Had they left it open? There crouched on the sill was Uncle Kakashi. She could have kissed him because finally, finally, someone looked like a shinobi! Because, really, what is with this dimension and not looking like shinobis?

"Hello, Lord Sixth." Taka smirked out as Beni latched herself at him. Mira would have been worried that she was breaking the plan if it wasn't the fact that the mischievous look hadn't returned into her eyes. The masked Kage's eyes widen as he scrambled to catch the red-head child. She latched onto him, a big, Uzumaki, shit-eating grin on her face.

"Hi, I'm Benihime Uzumaki but you can call me Beni! What's your name? Are you actually Lord Sixth? Why are you wearing a mask? Can I see your face? How did you do that to your hair? Can you do that to mine?" And her mouth kept running, spewing out question after question that she already knew the answers to. Why was Beni doing this? Because this was her thing with Uncle Kakashi, to talk his ear off so that he would be distracted and flustered until he gave in to whatever her little heart desired. And she played him like a whistle.

"Beni, leave Lord Sixth alone." Taka ordered after a minute, because clearly the other authority figures were too dumfounded by Beni's Talk no Jutsu skills. Taught to her by yours truly. It was funny as hell to watch though.

"Kay!" She chirped back, before looking at Uncle Kakashi's flustered face. "You, me, ramen, tomorrow at lunch, don't be late or I will know." With that, she untangled her arms from his neck and skipped back to Taka. With a jump, she was on his back, demanding him for her customary piggyback ride.

"There's two of them?" Uncle Kakashi whimpered out rather pitifully. Oh, Uncle Kakashi, you've seen nothing yet.

"Anyway, maybe it would be a good idea to let the kids watch them?" Not Dad commented. He stroked his goatee, as continued to analyze the kids in front of him. "Kakashi, can you find them for me? I'll be right behind you."

Uncle Kakashi, still freaked out by earlier, didn't need to be asked twice. He was gone before she could blink.

"Ah…" Beni moaned. "He left before I could figure out the best place to get ramen. Lord Hokage, where's the best place to get ramen?" There was a reason Beni was allowed to ask her silly question. She had this strange talent for distracting authority figures from their tasks so that they (Mira and Taka) could finish whatever prank they were doing. Like the time she stalled Uncle Gaara so that they could finish making Kankaro's war paint permanent and turned his cat ears hat/thing into a tiara. We trained her so well!

As the Lord Hokage started to ramble on and on about the glories of Ichiraku Ramen, which they already knew about (that's where dinner was every Friday night), Not Dad had left the office. Guy Mom's rambles were illogical but so relaxing to hear that Mira didn't feel so homesick anymore. Sure, the man in the office wasn't Mom, but at the same time he was and just his smile alone brought them all peace.

The Kage tensed though, after a few minutes, pausing his speech before dropping his head into his bandaged hand. Uh, maybe he hurt it in a spar? But Kurama should have healed it by now.

"I apologize in advance for anything my son does or say." Taka locked eyes with her, just as the office door opened again, behind them. Slowly, she turned to look at Not Dad, Teal-Eyes and Whiskers.

The boys looked like civilians who were playing Ninja. The Nara boy had his hair up in traditional fashion and his forehead protector was in the right place. But none of his clothes looked to be out of shinobi certified material. Nonetheless, Teal-Eyes looked so much like Taka that they should have been the twins. Their chin line was the same, their nose, their ears, the slouches, their posture. Another joke back at home was that Taka was Dad's clone that got the wrong coloring in the lab. Mom, without fail, would always comment 'That is your son, Shikamaru!' or 'You get that from your father!' or if he was acting even lazier and more like Dad than normal 'Takashi, I swear if you start smoking like your father, neither of you are going to see the light of day!'

Back to Teal-Eyes, yep, he looked so Nara, especially with the 'I'm so not wake enough for any of your bullshit' look in his eyes. Speaking of his eyes, they were teal, duh, and Mira knew who his mom was without even asking. Great, just what we need.

Whiskers, on the other hand, was checking her out and being blatantly obvious about it, which was just, ew, no! For once, she was grateful for Taka's overprotectiveness. Though, she was 99.9997% certain that Taka and Dad had a master plan to ensure that the girls would never date until they were Jonin, the evil bastards. Either way, Whiskers looked a lot like Lord Hokage. Oddly enough, his forehead protector had a gigantic slash through the leaf, as if he was a missing-nin. And he wore pink, like hot, neon pink lined the details of his mostly black ensemble. And his hair was too, for a lack of a better word, designed, as if the guy spent hours in the morning to make it look this way. Hours wasted if you ask me.

Mira was eternally grateful to whatever deity ensured that she and her siblings didn't have the whiskers. It was bad enough on missions when people recognized her eyes. The last thing she needed was for someone to take one look at her cheeks and shout, "It's the Hokage's daughter!"

"Would you two like to introduce yourself?" Guy Mom's question cause Taka to step forward. Beni was still clinging to him but she was happy and back to normal, which was good. He quickly bowed towards the Hokage, as he should, before straightening and meeting the eyes of the two boys. Taka opened his mouth. A smirk emerged on her lips. This was going to be fun.

"I'm Takashi Uzumaki-"

"What?!" Sheesh, did Whiskers have lungs of steel or what? But the absolutely wide eyed, completely baffled look on his face was total worth it. Teal-Eyes didn't look much better, his jaw nearly reaching the floor.

"Boruto, let him finish. Please continue." A screw? This version of Mom name her first born child screw? Ok then… Mira was now really curious to find out who the hell Boruto's mom was.

"And this my little sister, Benihime. Mira, you're up." Mira stepped forward, trying to make herself appear as laid-back as possible.

"Yo," She said lazily, giving a little wave with one hand, cradling Motoko in the other. "The name's Mira Nara. And this is Motoko." She placed her hand gently on the child's hair, massaging it slightly to get her to lift her head. Her amethyst, sleepy eyes looked at the boys, nodded to them, before returning her forehead to the crook of Mira's neck.

"What's your name?" Beni asked, pointing one hand at Teal-Eyes. The guy shook himself out of his stupor.

"I'm Shikadai Nara and this is Boruto Uzumaki." The now christened, Shikadai, explained as Boruto also accepted the reality that was occurring. Welcome to the party, dude!

"Well, this is all nice and stuff, but why are we here, Old Man?" The sneer in Boruto's voice from the question but Mira and Taka both tense. That vitriol added to the words 'Old Man' made Mira want to fry this guy like a lightning rod. How dare he speak to his Hokage, to his own father, in such a way? If her and Taka tried to do that to Mom, Dad would beat the disrespect out of them sooner than you could say kunai! And Kage just took it and his Advisor said nothing, as if this was a common occurrence. Oh no, that wasn't going to fly, not by a long shot.

"You're here to escort Takashi and his sister to your mother, son." The upset Hokage stated, clearly disheartened by his own son. "And you, Shikadai, are going to escort Mira and her sister to your house. They're going to be staying with us. These four have stumbled into our time and they need to figure out a way to get back home. You two are going to watch over them while they're here. I need you guys to show them around and make sure nothing happens to them or the village. Understood?" While Shikadai nodded back to the Kage, Boruto huffed and threw his arms behind his head, scoffing.

"Whatever, Old Man. Come on, dude. Mom can make us lunch." Mira and Taka glared at the boy's back as he left the office before Taka turned to the Hokage, the question in his eyes.

"May Mira and I train while we're here, sir?" Taka's question caused the two men to lock eyes. The scene was painful to watch because all she could see was Mom and Dad, doing the exact same silent discussion with eye contact alone. Finally, the men broke away and the Hokage nodded.

"You better hurry, if you want to caught up with-" But Taka was already out the window, Beni laughing happily from his back as they leap out the window. They must have landed right in front of Boruto, if his scared yelp was anything to go by. Mira turned to face the Nara men, a smirk on her porcelain face and Motoko smirking into her shoulder.

"Shall we, boys?" Let the pranking begin.

Shikadai

The walk back home was a little weird for Shikadai, especially since the girl, Mira, seemed right at home and really didn't need him as an escort. But an order was an order, and the girls didn't seem too troublesome. They looked and acted like Naras so they couldn't be that bad… right?

Dad had stayed back at the office, with a promise that he'll be home for dinner, on time for once, and don't worry about Mom, she never liked those flowers anyway. Which was a lie if Shikadai ever heard one. Mom, even though she couldn't garden to save her life, loved those god damn weeds because it proved to Grandma Yoshino that yes, she could be domestic if she wanted to be. Thus, Mom was going to be pissed when she found out. Then he was going to get in trouble for no reason. Again. How troublesome.

"So Shikadai, anything I should know about before we enter the Lion's Den?" For a time-traveler, Mira was strangely calm about her situation. Then again, the girl had an oddly intimidating feel about her, even if she didn't look like much. Like she could just look at you and that you would be under her spell within a second. Nah, he was overthinking again. This girl really didn't look that tough, just your standard kunoichi genin. He would regret those words soon.

"My mom's troublesome?" Shikadai stated slowly, not sure him this was the answer that she wanted.

"What else is new?" She snorted by asking, "No, I mean like, do you have a team? Are you the Nara heir? Why does Boruto disrespect the Hokage so much? Stuff like that."

"Um, yes, yes, and he's always done it so…" He probably shouldn't be telling this stuff but honestly, he was too tired to care. He really need to nap. Like really need to. He had practiced way too much with his yin release this week and it was coming back to bite him in the ass. Man, maybe if he just closed his eyes for a bit-

"Huh, ok then. Oh, we're here." Her nearly angelic voice brought him to reality. Looks like he was sleep walking again, great. He opened the front door to call out,

"Mom? I'm home?" But there was no reply.

"Mom must still be out with Aunt Karui. Guess I'll have to fix us some lunch. Man, this is such drag." Shikadai complained as he entered the kitchen, Mira and Mikoto following after they took of their shoes.

He wasn't trying to do anything crazy, just chop up some fruits and vegetables that Mom had laying around. The hand that wrapped itself around his wrist brought him out of his dreamlike state. Oh, would you look at that, he almost lost a finger.

"How about I finish the chopping and you go lie down for a bit?" Mira suggested and Shikadai was too tired to argue. He barely made it into the living room before he collapsed on the sofa and passed out, face first into the cushions.

"Shikamaru, you lazy-ass!" Of course, it would be Mom's naggy, almost harpylike voice that would wake him up from his oh so lovely nap. Thanks a lot, Mom, troublesome woman.

"You should have warned me that we were having guests! Just a simple message like I don't know, Oh Temari, the Hokage has order our son to house these girls for an unknown amount of time, just to give you the heads-up!" Yep, she was pissed. Shikadai sat up, to see his mom giving down a good-scolding to Dad in the kitchen while Mira and Motoko sat at the living room table, Mira playing with his shogi board and Motoko watching.

"Oh, hey Dai, welcome back to the land of the living. Sorry I didn't ask you if I could use your shogi board but Lord Nara said it was cool." Mira stated with a smile before turning back to the board. It was weird to hear anyone call his dad Lord Nara, let alone this girl. And did she just give him a nickname? She was an odd one. How troublesome.

"I didn't even have time to clean this place! What'll our guests think if they'll saw our home as messy as it was?!" Come on, Mom. The only thing that looked dirty when he walked in were the dishes in the sink.

"That's we're busy people." That got Dad a smack on the head.

"Ugh, you are unbelievable. Girls, dinner's ready. Shikadai, you better not have drooled on that sofa, young man!" He flinched and sighed in relief that he didn't drool this time. Not that he ever drooled! Well, maybe a little?

"Shikadai!"

"Coming, Mom." Ugh, why couldn't he still be asleep? Now he had to do stuff. Mom had dinner set up in the formal dinning room so that they could fit the two guests. Dad was already there, nursing a cup of sake, trying to rub away the big bump on the make of his head. Mira sat Motoko down next to Dad, before frowning and walking over to the kitchen.

"Lady Nara, do you need help setting the table or getting the food?" The blue-eyed girl asked and it was only then that Shikadai noticed Mom had only brought out three plates of food with chopsticks. His stomach grumbled loudly as the realization hit him that him and Dad were in the doghouse again. Mom must have seen the flowers and Dad must have really pissed her off with his sarcasm. Whatever, he'll just have to sneak some food in later. Or he could just show up at Chocho's house with Dad and tell Uncle Chouji that he was hungry. That'll get him more food that he could ever eat.

"It's Temari, and no, I'm fine. Thank you though." Clearly, the girls had gotten on Mom's good side already. Mom entered the dining room and sat, Mira following suit with a frown. Mira and Mom started to eat. Little Motoko though, didn't.

Her face was adorable though, even if she was frowning up a storm. Her arms were crossed, her brows furrowed and her eyes dark. She glared at her plate, then Mom, then back down at the plate.

"Mira," Her soft voice made everyone stop whatever they were doing to look at the little girl. It was then at Shikadai realized that was the first time he ever heard her speak.

"Yes, Momo?" Her sister asked back with confusion. "Is something wrong? Lady Nara made you seaweed salad with salmon, your favorite." Shikadai felt a sense of dread fill him when the little girl turned her glare back onto his mom and it harden. Mom seemed to tense while Dad watched, now intrigued by this turn of events, his sake laying forgotten on the table.

"Not everyone has food. We shouldn't eat until everyone's got food. Mommy said so."

You could've cut the tension with a kunai; the air was so thick. No one had ever had the balls to question his mother when her mind was set. Not her brothers, not her son and certainly not her husband. But here was a little girl, so tiny that she barely came up to his waist, glaring down his Suna mother and saying that her decision was wrong. Mira, trying to ease the tension, patted her head before nodding in agreement.

"You're right, Motoko, we shouldn't eat until everyone's got food. How about you and I share with Lord Nara and Dai can share with his mom? Maybe later we can get Dai to show us the best place to get dango? How does that sound?" The little one nodded in agreement before giving her entire plate of food to Dad. It seemed that Motoko decided that she would be sharing Mira's plate so that Dad could have a full one instead. The four-year-old marched out of the dining room, found the chopsticks on her first try, and came back, handing one set to Dad and the other to him.

"Thank you, Motoko." Dad said quietly to little one, though you could clearly tell that he was pleased with the changing events. And the girl smiled as brightly as a star before lifting her arms to him. The command, 'pick me up' was loud and clear even though no words were said. He looked at Mira, who nodded with a pleased smirk/smile on her face, before lifting the child. Motoko seemed entirely at home as tucked herself into Dad's shoulder. They looked so much like the pictures that Mom used to take of him and Dad when Dad used to nap with Shikadai cradled on his chest. He should feel jealous, but oddly, he wasn't, because this turn of events was fitting. Motoko, looking more pleased and mischievous than any four-year-old he's ever seen, bore her eyes into Mom.

"No one should ever go to bed hungry." Mom didn't talk for the rest of the night and it was beautiful. Forgot what I thought earlier, they were the worst kind of troublesome.

Author's Note- The sheer chaos that my OCs bring to canon is unmatched. I live for it! They're not even in Canon Konoha for a day and Mira and the gang have completely turned the place upside down! The Uzumakis would be so proud!  Mira and crew come from a world extremely similar to this one and instead of just going along and keeping their heads down, they say screw this, and cause as much mischief as possible! Which begs the question, have Mama and Papa Bear noticed that their babies are missing? You'll just have to wait and see! Love you guys so much and don't forget to comment, bookmark and kudos! See you guys next time!

-V. I. Winthrop

Ryuji

The sight of Sasuke Uchiha pacing the rug like frantic mother duck with her head cut off was a slight to behold. Which was a shame, really, that Ryuji couldn't see it unfold as the genin recounted to them exactly what happened to their squad mates. And little sisters.

"So I guess we're officially off of the genin sitting list?" Ryuji joked to his partner, who shot him a withering glare at the blind samurai for his (admittedly) poor taste sense of humor (with perfect comedic timing, thank you very much). "Don't you look at me with that tone of voice, Sasuke. The kids already feel bad as it is. We must look at the positives in this situation."

"Hm." Which in Uchihaniese translated to, 'Positives, my ass'. "Naruto's going to lose her shit." Sasuke grunted unhelpfully as the waft of despair from the genin grew worse from the second. "And she may actually let Shikamaru kill us time around."

"You." Ryuji corrected. "He'll try to kill you. What would that make, four attempts?"

"Five."

"Ah, your lucky number."

"Fuck you."

"Later, honey, not with the kiddos here."

"Your dads' are so weird." Sarada's teammate, Kenji, tried to whisper to her, failing miserably in the process. After all, Ryuji's sense of hearing was the best in Konoha. 

"I know." Sarada said with a loving sign. Then she shifted nervously for one foot to the other. "Papa?" Beside him, Ryuji felt how Sasuke perked at his daughter's worried tone. "What are we going to do?" 

"I-" It was rare to hear Sasuke stumbled over his words. As Police Chief, he always knew what to say, what to do. But this, this was a situation that no one could have prepared for. 

"We gather the group and tell them what happened." Ryuji said, bumping his shoulder against Sasuke's in a 'I've got you' manner. "Whatever happens, we'll figure out. Together." Sasuke's fingers brushed against his, drawing comfort from the smallest of touches. "Right?"

"Hm." Sasuke hummed with a hint of positivity and no Uchihaniese. Then, the last (male) Uchiha turned to make his way out of the open window. "Everyone, to the Tower." And with that, they went to tell the Lady Hokage the news about what had happened to her babies. 

Author's Note - Perhaps one of my favorite OCs that I've ever created. Ryuji is right up there with Retsu and Friend. Love you guys!

Chapter Text

Author's Note - I like to think of this chapter as the tale of twos. The tale of two Uzumakis, to be specific. And Konoha 2.0. And two Saradas. So yeah, the tale of twos. On to the story!... Man, that is the shortest author's note that I've written before a chapter. Oh well. On to the story! Again!

Chapter 3: Don't Waste Money, Boruto

Takashi

"So, are you and Mira like, dating or something?"

It was questions like that that made Takashi want to curse Mom for her great beauty. Then curse her again for blessing her daughters with it. Ever since Mira graduated the academy, every guy she met that didn't know that her mama was the Hokage or that her daddy was the Jonin Commander would ask these questions to him! Oh no, not to her, because she was scary. But to him because these idiots couldn't put two and two together. They failed at figuring out that, shit, that's not her boyfriend. No, he was her twin brother. Normally, his deadpanned and sharp toned 'I'm her twin' sent whoever asked packing but since he couldn't actually say that…

"No." Yep, short, sweet and to the point.

"Taka and Mira? Together? Ew!" Leave it to Benihime to articulate a perfect response to that ludicrous question. Really, people only see the hair and think, oh those two can't possibly be twins. Idiots, he was surrounded by idiots. Except for Beni, of course.

"Ok, geeze, sorry I asked." Boruto said before inching away from the two other Uzumakis, Taka's frowning face making him appear stand-off ish. Yeah, he should probably be acting bubblier and smile and shit but he had Beni with him who was Uzumaki enough for the both of them. And judging by the place of the sun, yep, 3:30, time for his afternoon nap. He was still ticked off that he didn't get his 10:00 nap this morning when Grandma Yoshino busted into his room and dragged him outside to 'go help your sisters to feed the fawns, Takashi! Don't you dare say troublesome, young man! I swear, you are just as lazy as your father!' She really should know by now that call him lazy was actually a compliment.

Back to his 3:30 nap. He was going to have to miss it, again. Ugh, what a drag. What did he do in a past life to deserve this? Honestly, Taka doesn't ask for much. Just give him nap time and fuinjutsu and you got yourself one happy Chunin. Now he had neither, which sucked. No wonder Dad used to envy clouds.

"-What, Ow! Get her off of me!" Boruto's screaming brought him out of his daydreaming to realize that Beni had left his back and jumped onto Boruto's. She was pulling his hair quite furiously for a seven-year-old and she looked pissed! Like her hair was forming nine hair tails pissed! Quickly, Taka snatched her up by the back of her collar. Boruto sighed in relief as he inched even further away from the mini she-fox.

"Let me go! Let me at'him!" She was still kicking and trying to grab the other boy. Taka leveled a glare at Boruto.

"What did you do?" He asked even though he really didn't want to know the answer.

"Nothing! Why does everyone keep blaming me for stuff? I was just talking and she attacked me, the little demon."

Oh, oh that was the wrong word to say in front of Takashi Nara Uzumaki. You see, unless you are scared from a nightmare and telling Mommy and Daddy that there are demons under your bed who want eat a baby Kurama and kidnap Mr. Fluffy the Deer (cough, Beni and Motoko, cough), the word demon isn't utter in the Nara compound and certainly not in front of Lord Nara or any of his children.

Dad's genin team, Team 4, had once told Mira and Taka about their first C-Rank. Naturally, something went wrong and they were surrounded and everything looked bleak. Then the leader, who had been a civilian-born missing-nin from Konoha, figured out who Dad was and who he was married to. As the story goes, Dad single-handedly strangled 20 missing-nin with his shadow before spearing the rest for calling Mom, quote, 'Konoha's Demon Whore.' In a span of one minute. Retsu said that they've never seen Dad so angry and so terrifying in their entire lives. Kaien and Daisuke didn't act up for a straight three weeks because they didn't want to trigger 'The Shadow Man'. Duh, duh, DUH!

Since Taka couldn't show Boruto a reenactment of C-Rank Gone Wrong #342, he lifted Beni so that she was eye-level with him before saying as honestly as possible,

"You should have hit him below the belt."

…Aunt Hinata? Mom's male-self bagged Aunt Hinata to be his wife?! Dah Hell?! Thankfully, Taka kept his mouth from dropping because this was freaking him the fuck out. How in the- you know what, Taka didn't even want to know how this union occurred nor could he fathom why she was a housewife.

Aunt Hinata was awesome. She was an absolute cinnamon roll who need to be protected at all cost from those who wished to even dare harm such an angel on earth (these were Mom's words, not his but the statement still stands!) Not that Aunt Hinata needed protection, seeing as she was a kick-ass kunoichi, the Head of the Hyuga Clan and had the best bodyguards ever in the form of her husband and Akamaru.

But this Aunt Hinata, wore cargo shorts and a hoodie. The least Taka's ever seen her wear was a yukata and that was after she gave birth to Kenji's little sister, Hisana. Nope, this was wrong. This dimension was seriously fucked up if they had Hinata Hyuga, The Ender of the Bird Cage Seal and The Bridge of the Hyuga Clan, as the 7th Hokage's housewife. And no, Taka was by no means a feminist (he shuttered at the horror of the idea) but even he was angered that this inspirational woman had become this domesticated copycat.

"Oh, your hair is really pretty!" Thank the deities for Beni and all-powerful Talk no Jutsu. "Hi, I'm Benihime Uzumaki, but you can call me Beni! This is my big brother, Takashi! What's your name?"

"Oh, I'm Hinata Uzu- wait, did you just say Uzumaki?" Aunt Hinata asked, her white eyes even wider than usual as a whiskered mini-me with blue eyes popped out from behind her.

"Surprise, Mom." Boruto faked shock before reaching out and patting the blue-haired chipmunk. "Sup, Hima. Mom, what's for lunch? I'm starving." (Boruto must not have realized that it was way too late for lunch and far closer to dinner time.) He tried to circle past his mom when her hand caught the back of his collar. Taka and Beni tried to stifle their chuckles as the other blonde choked and spattered about. A red glow of evil thoughts surrounded Aunt Hinata's body, which was as comforting as it was scary.

"Everyone, living room, now! Boruto, what did you do?"

"Nothing! God! Why is everyone always blaming me for shit? Ow! Mom!"

"Boruto said a bad word! Boruto said a bad word!"

"Oh shut up, Hima!" Man, these guys are troublesome. I wonder if Mom and Dad know that we're missing.

Meanwhile: In Konoha 2.0

Sarada

It was a peaceful day in Konoha 2.0 (which shall be known as 2.0 from now on.) The ninjas were training, the civilians were shopping, the genin were failing to catch Tora. All was right in the vill-

"What do you mean my children are missing?" Ok, so all was not right in the village as the remainder of the Konoha 12 plus their offspring and their senseis squeezed into the Lady Hokage's office. Aunt Naruto and Uncle Shikamaru were the furthest thing from happy that Sarada's ever seen and they were terrifying.

Aunt Naruto was naturally a loud woman. She talked a lot, was optimistic about everything, and had a mischievous side twice the size of Konoha. She was funny, sometimes slow to anger (depending on the situation) and a whole lot smarter than everyone gave her credit for. But when someone upsets her and her family, she didn't get upset, she gets even.

So, Aunt Naruto being this quiet was absolutely terrifying. Her question had been spoken softly, as if she didn't hear the statement properly. Her eyes were closed and her smile was frighteningly beautiful. But what was really making the four genin (and near everyone else in the office) quaking with fear, was the suffocating amount of killing intent that was leaking out her like a waterfall. No, Aunt Naruto wasn't pissed. She was beyond that a long time ago!

"We said Taka and the girls are gone." Mark Sarada's words, Inojin's lack of a filter was going to get him killed one day.

"Gone?" Aunt Naruto parroted softly. Uncle Shikamaru, who was as upset as his wife, stood behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders, wrinkling her Hokage cape. Her left hand shot up to lace her fingers with his. Her right hand was fisted tightly on the arm of her chair.

"Gone, as in vanished, missing, disappeared… I'm going to shut up now." Yeah, you do that, Inojin. Only Inojin could piss off the Hokage and her Commander in a time like this and still live to see another day.

"So, now what?" Kenji broke the tense silence, his dog, Hyorinmaru, barking in agreement from his spot on his master's head.

Tick, tock, tick.

Chaos ensued.

"Should I go sniff them out?"

"My beetles cannot sense them, why, I do not know."

"Inojin, link minds with me this instant!"

"Alright, let's just all calm-"

"OH, MY LOYAL AND DEPEDICATED STUDENTS HAVE GONE MISSING IN THE MOST UNYOUTHFUL WAY! METAL, IF WE CAN NOT FIND THEM, WE SHALL DO-"

The sound of metal shattering had sound off the walls as the room completely blacken, encased by pitch black shadows. As quickly as they came, the shadows receded back to Uncle Shikamaru. Distracted by the shouting match, Sarada failed to notice that the couple were standing. At their feet was Aunt Naruto's metal desk, made of the newest shinobi-proof technology so that it could with stand any beating. But Aunt Naruto wasn't your average shinobi and the desk shattered faster then Sarada could physically blink.

Uncle Shikamaru had put his back to the large group, shielding his wife from view as he whispered softly to her. What he was saying, Sarada couldn't tell. Aunt Naruto's hands, which had fisted tightly into the back of his vest to stop them from shaking, loosened their grip. Even with his back to her, Sarada could tell that Uncle Shikamaru that he had leaned down to kiss his wife. And if they embraced for a little longer than normal, no one commented. They needed a moment.

"We'll get them back. They're our kids. Most importantly, they're your babies. The twins are probably wreaking havoc as we speak with Benihime and Motoko spearheading the operation." That got a watery laugh out of Aunt Naruto. "They'll be fine." With that, he wiped the rest of her tears away and moved to his normal spot, right by her side. She sniffed once before straightening up. Their Hokage was back.

"Right, Team 10, report! What was the seal that Chunin Uzumaki was investigating?" The Lady Hokage ordered and everyone's back straightened. Inojin and Chocho stepped forward and bowed.

"Ma'am, we believe that it was a combination between an Uzumaki circle and the Flying Thunder God seal!" Chocho reported out quickly. Please forgive me, Mira, but I've got to squeal on you.

"It was Chunin Nara's idea, Ma'am." The adults all turned to look at Sarada but she stood tall. Kenji and the others looked at her like she's lost her marbles, though.

"Genin Uchiha?" The Lady Seventh asked, urging her to continue.

"Ma'am, Chunin Nara had made a bet with Chunin Uzumaki to see who could create a signature move first. Chunin Nara wanted to create a new attack with her lightning and yin release while Chunin Uzumaki wanted to see if combination the Flying Thunder God seal with an Uzumaki circle could enhance its speed and teleportation capabilities." Silence. Aunt Naruto and Uncle Shikamaru locked eyes, the message 'They are in so much trouble!' rang as clear as day.

"Lazy Husband?"

"Yes, Troublesome Wife?"

"Remind me to have the twins on both deer patrol and gate patrol for the next, I don't know, six-months."

"Of course, might I suggest adding a few unsavory D-Ranks in as well?"

"Oh, great idea, I knew there was a reason I kept you around. Let's go find our kids." Damn! Oops. Sorry guys.

"Oh, and Teams 7 and 10, thank you for volunteering yourselves in helping your squad leaders with their D-Ranks." Ah, fuck. She knows! As the two teams left the office building, Sarada felt their stares.

"What?" She asked and turned to face their shocked expressions. Kenji stepped forward, with Chocho and Inojin looking on.

"You know, I think I speak for everyone when I say, I can't believe you, Sarada Uchiha, did something to get Takashi in trouble!" She felt her cheeks redden as she glared at her annoying friends.

"For the last time, I don't have a crush on Takashi!"

To Konoha 1.0

Boruto

It should be illegal to be blamed for the amount of shit that people blame him for today. Like, seriously, you cheat one time in the final match of the Chunin Exams and everyone automatically thinks you're the bad guy. Hello! Shinobi! Cheating is kinda in the name!

Whatever. Back to the situation at hand. Mom was handling the new Uzumakis better than he thought. After seeing the 'Really Scary Glow of Doom!' (Duh, duh, DUH!), Boruto was sure that he wasn't going to live to see dinner. Luckily, the redette, Benihime, charmed Mom with her endless smiles and unstoppable talking. Man, does the kid even breathe between sentences?

"And that's why we're here! Thank you for having us!" Beni finished with a huge grin, the gold in her eyes shining. She sat on her brother's knees as he reclined back on the sofa, his arms crossed against his chest. Takashi was silent through most of the conversation, interrupting only when Beni got too off track. Himawari, who was between him and Mom on the other sofa, looked excited. Almost too excited, like so excited that Boruto should sleep with one eye open, excited.

"Wow! You know fuinjutsu?" Hima asked Taka, who nodded back stoically. "Can you teach me?!"

What?! What is this?! This guy isn't even here a day and his little sister wants to taking sealing lessons from him?! Oh, that is so unfair!

"You should probably ask Lord Hokage first." Taka said back, actually cracking a smile. Ugh, Boruto hated it when other people reminded him that his dad was the Hokage. And seeing how formal this guy was, he was going to be hearing it a lot. Great…

"Well, now that that's all settled, how about I make us a snack before dinner? Any requests?" Mom asked politely, her soft smile back on her face.

"Ramen!" Yep, Beni was your stereotypical Uzumaki. But then her brother's hand covered her mouth gently and he scolded,

"It's not Friday and you've already convinced Lord Sixth to get you some tomorrow. What would Mom say if she found out you had more ramen then you should?"

"Good job?"

"…Ok, good point. What would Dad say?"

"Ok, never mind. Can I have miso instead?" Beni asked Mom again, who nodded back and headed back to the kitchen. After she left, Hima looked to Beni and asked,

"Do you want to play?"

"Yeah! Let's go!" Boruto blinked and the girls were already gone. For some reason, he felt that there was an unholy disturbance in the universe. That can't be good.

"Well," Taka yawned. "now that Beni's occupied, I can nap in peace."

"Nap? Dude, you sure you're an Uzumaki?"

"Yep."

"We don't nap."

"Says you. My mom naps every afternoon if she can. Now be quiet, you're loud." And with that, Taka fully reclined back on the couch, his head pillowed in his folded arms and was out like a light. Well that's just plain rude.

He should know better than to fall asleep on a Uzumaki. A mischievous smile spread across Boruto's face. He inched closer, the black object firmly in his hand. He hovered over Taka's face, arm raised when-

"Permanent marker? Dude, you need to do better than that if you're going to ink someone's face." Taka commented with one eye open, his hand holding Boruto's wrist with the pen. He moved fast, Boruto realized. For a guy almost as lazy as Shikadai, this guy was quick.

"How did you-"

"You've met my sister. She's an evil genius when it comes to pranks. No one's safe. Except for Grandma and Granny but they're vicious." Taka's sarcastic words made Boruto pale drastically. Had he really just left Hima alone with a prank genius? Oh no...

"Do you need something or can I go back to sleep now?"

"I-"

"Boruto! Get out here now!" Oh, Sarada found him. Perfect timing!

"Come on, you can meet my teammate." Boruto tried to come off as 'I already knew she was there' but Taka's eyeroll showed how much he believed it. Tch, dick. Boruto opened the door to find Sarada waiting on the step, her foot tapping impatiently. She glared at him through her lenses. Great, what did he do now?

"You forgot this." Sarada said, chucking his Kote at him. There it was, the reason he lost the Chunin Exams. And it was empty. He must have left it at Shikadai's house.

"I shouldn't even be giving this back to you, but I'm…" Sarada started but trailed off. She was staring over his shoulder. Boruto turned to look and there was Taka. He was- holding the Kote! Yep, the guy had snatched the Kote out of his hand without him even noticing. Just how fast was this guy?

"Hey! Give that back!" Boruto yelled as he tried to jump the other blonde.

Ow! Boruto sat up, rubbing his sore chin and turned to glare at Taka. He stood in the front yard now with the Kote still in his grasp. Sarada was staring at Taka full on now, her jaw dropped.

Taka held the tool up with one hand, letting the light reflect it. He turned it and flipped it over. There was scowl on his face. Then, he broke it!

"Dude, you broke it!" Boruto yelled as he charged at him, eyes closed from fury. Something pressed against his head and it felt like he was running in place. And he was, because Taka had reached out with his left hand and was pushing Boruto back without breaking a sweat.

"Calm down, I didn't break it. I'm looking at the inner workings of this thing." And yeah, it's true, it wasn't broken. Taka had just taken of the huge screw like lens. He was like a watchmaker, the way he was examining the tool's machinery.

"It's like a cheap cope out of fuinjutsu!" Taka determined as he picked at it, having let go of Boruto. Sarada had walked over to get view as Taka sat and laid the tool in front of him.

"The chamber works as a chakra reactor. Once the scroll is in place, the user needs to focus his chakra into his forearm. That hits the reader in the armband, which triggers the chamber to activate the scroll, releasing whatever jutsu you had sorted in it." …Amazing, he only looked at it for what, a minute, and he already understood the tool as well as the manufacture.

"Tsk, what a waste of money." Taka exclaimed before tossing the repaired Kote over his shoulder. His aim was impressive, because it landed in the conveniently open trashcan.

"Ah!" And naturally, Boruto dove after it and found out that what three-day old eggs smelled and tasted like.

"Bah! Gross! What the hell, man? That's my Kote!" Boruto snarled. Normally, when he did that people flinched back. But this guy, he stared back at him with a 'Really, that all you got?' stare and rolled his eyes.

"You're an Uzumaki. You don't need that thing. Now, if you could repeatedly use the jutsu in the scroll over and over again, then knock yourself out. But that gadget is a one trick pony. It isn't something you should be wasting your money on. Use your fuinjutsu." Taka stated firmly as he stood up, brushing the dirt off his pants. He was about to turn back to the house, hands stuffed in his pockets when Boruto snapped back,

"Don't have any." Taka froze before turning back to face him. Boruto tightened his grip on the Kote but had to smirk. It was nice to get one over on the smartass.

"Really?" Taka questioned, his eyes narrow again. Sarada, man, she was still there? Sarada coughed dramatically, getting their attention.

"Boruto doesn't know fuinjutsu. He specializes firmly in ninjutsu." Sarada explained. Taka nodded before holding out his right hand to her.

"Takashi Uzumaki." She looked shocked, her eyes flickering between the two blondes, before finding her nerve. She shook his hand.

"Sarada Uchiha, please to meet you, Takashi." Was that? It was! She was blushing! No, Sarada! Not you too! Boruto was really starting to hate this guy.

"Call me Taka. You too, Boruto."

"Boruto, why is the door- Oh, hello, Sarada." Mom called from the open door.

"Hello, Auntie, how are you?"

"I'm good, thank you for asking. Sarada, would you like to join us? I just finished making miso."

"No, thank you, I got go home for dinner. I'll see you tomorrow, Boruto. Don't be late for practice this time." Hay! "Nice meeting you, Taka." And with that, she was off. Taka stared after her, watching as she disappeared down the street before he smirked.

Boruto narrowed his eyes as the guy walked into the house. There was something about this guy that just wasn't still right. But what?

Author's Note - Ah, the smell of young love and jealousy. I love it! Now this chapter foreshadows one of my biggest headcanons and annoyances with Canon. So no spoilers in the comments [I will be watching ;) ]. Let me know what you guys think! Don't forget to comment, kudos, & bookmark! Love you guys!

- V.I. Winthrop

Temari

"Someone better be dying." Temari grumbled to the toad that destroyed her pile of paperwork when it summoned itself to her office. Clearly, her offhand comment must have been triggering for the poor thing as it burst into tears. "Wait, I was kidding! What happened?!"

"GULP! Miss! Naruto's! Babies! Are! Missing!" The toad sobbed before dramatically pausing to cough up the letter Naruto had written. As the former Kazekage awkwardly patted the summons on the back, she rushed through the letter. By the end of it, Temari wasn't sure if she should be horrified by the kids disappearance or the fact that the Uzumaki chaos was actually hereditary.

"Sen." Instantly, her assistant appeared at her desk, her genjutsu dropping to reveal her willowly frame. "Get me my son." Sen nodded and turned to leave. "And the Leaf Ambassador." Instantly, the genjutsu mistress froze. Sen looked back over her shoulder at Temari, betrayal in her eyes.

"Temari... Please. I can't-"

"He and his genin have been here for two weeks." Temari said slowly, watching as her best friend's anger deflated with every word. "You can't hide from him forever. Kankuro said he's been asking around about you and you know Shira can't keep a secret to save his life."

"I can try." Sen joked without humor before sighing. "I'll get them."

"Sen-" But the woman was already gone. Temari rubbed her temples in a futile attempt at easing her growing migraine. "Kids," she said at she stared at her photo of her own son on her desk. Haji on the day of his Jonin exam smiled back at her through the frame, the shine of his scythe reflecting in the image. "Who needs them?" 

Author's Note - Is that more foreshadowing I see? Oh, the drama of Konoha 2.0, here we come!

-V.I. Winthrop

Chapter Text

Author's Note - Hi guys! After a tiny hiatus (works been cray-cray lately), we are back to our regularly scheduled program. I like to this of this chapter as a foreshadow to my love for the Nara clan (ha, foreshadow, I'm hilarious). Because as we all know, Shikamaru is more than meets the eye and people forget that while he's lazy, he's a genius amongst a clan of genius. This chapter is full of 2.0 headcanons. With a hint of filler (or is it filler?). I hope you guys like it. On to the story!

Chapter 4: The Not So Lazy Clan

Mira

The crack of dawn, hell, it was even earlier than that. That was the time that Mira and Motoko woke up in order to train. Yes, you heard correctly. Two Naras willingly lost sleep to train. The end of the world was occurring!

Ok, the end of the world was not occurring. There was a reason Naras were so lazy and always tired. They used yin chakra and lots of it. The entire clan lived and thrived in the shadows, surrounded in the comforting embraced of darkness. Naturally, that meant Naras had to practice when their shadows/darkness were their most potent. At 3:30 to 4:00 in the morning. Which freaking sucked. Now do you see why the clan liked to nap so much.

Mira wasn't like most Naras. She's known this since forever, and quite frankly, the clan was cool with it so she's never really cared. But she couldn't nap. Ever.

She could sleep just fine. She was an extremely heavy sleeper at home too (something that Taka's used against her before, the bastard). Missions were different, but that's another story. Anyway, at a minimum, Mira needed a solid six hours of sleep before she could function properly. And if she didn't get it, it was ugly (something else that Taka can attest to).

Motoko was getting used to the new training/sleep schedule. But seeing as she was practically still a baby, Mira was going to let her stop and sleep once they went through the proper katas. So, there they were, two dimension-hopping sisters up before the crack of dawn, in a training field that's clearly seen better days. No wonder Dad built Mom the underground one.

As she fixed Motoko's stance, Mira could feel the separation anxiety creeping into her exhausted body. After dinner, Dai had brought Mira to the guest room while Not Dad followed lazily, Motoko tucked carefully against him. A guest room that should have been Taka's bedroom. And no matter how familiar the compound, hell, even the room felt, Mira didn't sleep a wink.

Mira missed Mom and Dad. A lot. She missed seeing Mom smile as Beni rambled on and on about her day. She missed seeing Dad smirk with pride as Taka and Mira avoided an pranked his newbies, showing the jonins that their newbs needed to step up their game. She missed the many snippets of romantic moments that her parents did every night without fail, even if they didn't think she noticed. Like Mom always leaning close or touching Dad, just to assure herself that he was there and safe. Or when Dad got that look in his eyes, when he stared at Mom. They were warm, full of love, staring at Mom as if she was the most beautiful woman on earth and that she was his only reason for being the man that he was (which was all true).

She missed her twin. She really missed Taka and she needed to make sure that he and Beni were ok and fed because god knows that if she wasn't there, Taka would never eat and Beni needed to have her hair brushed and-

Stop, she had to stop that train of thoughts before she could convince herself that breaking into the Hokage's house was a good idea. It wasn't but that's never stop her before- No, bad idea. She'll find him after breakfast. Or he'll find her. Whichever came first.

"You two are up early." Mira felt herself jump as she turned to look at Not Dad. She may or may not have flung a kunai at him but he dodged it with easy. She blushed before bowing deeply.

"I'm sorry, sir." She apologized, her head still bowed. Mira only raised her head when she felt a hand ruffle her chocolate hair, ruining her already messy bun. She raised her eyes to meet Not Dad's smile.

"No harm done. And stop with the sir. It's Shikamaru. Ok?" He spoke softly. Yeah, not happening. She nodded, not trusting her words.

She wanted to scream at him, because no, it was not ok. And she didn't care how pathetic she sounded right now but she really wanted her Daddy. She wanted her Daddy, who played late night shogi with her when her nightmares wouldn't let her rest. She wanted her Daddy, who kissed her forehead before he woke her up for training every day. She wanted her Daddy, who glared at any boy who dared look at his eldest baby girl in anything at wasn't platonic.

This world was mocking her. No, the gods were mocking her. Here was a man that was and wasn't her Daddy and it was awful. If Mira was having such a hard time with this, poor Motoko must be absolutely miserable. Motoko clung to Dad. He was her favorite person in the world. If she could, Motoko could spend the entire day with Dad.

One time, Motoko ate breakfast and asked Dad to carry her to Grandma Yoshino's. When they got there, she refused to let go and would cry and shriek when he put her down (which was extremely unlike her). That day, Dad went through his meetings, his reports, and his supervising while carrying Little Momo in his arms. Uncle Kiba teased him for two weeks until Hisana did the same thing. For four days.

So, was Mira shocked when Motoko raised her arms up to Not Dad, a cute pout on her lips? No, she wasn't. Mira should've been concerned that Motoko would get attached, but Motoko explained herself last night as she cuddled into Mira. They were sharing a bed and Mira asked her sister why she had spoke up at dinner. Motoko had answered,

" He's not Daddy. I know that. But he is Daddy too. And no one does that to my Daddy. I need to do something for this Daddy. Mommy wouldn't be happy if she found out that we didn't help. Right, Mira?" Mira remembers looking up at the ceiling that should have been sky blue instead of moss green. She remembers blinking away tears before she peppered kisses into Motoko's hair.

" Right."

"You sure like to be held." Not Dad commented with a slight smile as he lifted Motoko. She curled against him, a smile on her lips too. "Is she always like this?"

"Always." Mira smiled back before turning to the bench for some water. Not Dad sat next to her. They sat there, looking up at the stars. If this was her dad, her head would've already have been on his free shoulder. But he wasn't, so she did nothing.

"You're from the main family." He stated firmly.

"My father is." Again, not a lie but not the full truth. Only the main family got up this early. The rest got up at 4:30 at the earliest. Mira could tell what Not Dad was doing. He was trying to build a timeline, to figure out where in the (inexistent) future they were from. He'd figure out what she was doing eventually. Until then, her pieces were set.

"The Lady isn't joining us? Or Shikadai?" Mira had originally asked this question to change the subject but she was curious as to why Temari wasn't here too. The man yawned before answering,

"Shikadai will be here any minute now. Temari doesn't train with us." Even Motoko sat up to look at him in shock. That woman was the Lady Nara and she didn't do the traditional training?... Oh man, that can't be good for the Suna woman's standing with the clan. Not Dad just shrugged, but his eyes were hard. Obviously, he knew the image this wife was presenting before the clan.

Now, the Nara clan was laid-back and lost its most archaic rules a long time ago because they were too troublesome. But the traditions that they did keep, the clan took seriously. And the early morning training could be argued as the most important. Hell, even if she couldn't use the shadows, she needed to know the Nara katas so that she could teach her future offspring.

"Does she-"

"No." Not Dad cut her off. "Not one kata. She's picked it up off handedly when she spars with Shikadai and I but…" He shrugged again. Motoko, sensing his stress, squeezed his neck before giving him a baby peck on the cheek. Not Dad looked down at the child in shock, before looking at Mira too.

Mira didn't care that the man appeared stressed or that his only child was Dai. He needed hers and Motoko's love too. So, she gave in and her head rested against the man's shoulder.

"I'm sorry. We won't cause you any extra trouble. We promise." His eyes softened before he quickly squeezed Mira's shoulder before standing carefully. He placed Motoko on the bench and gave her the blanket that was tucked under it. Motoko's eye lit up at the sight of the familiar blanket. Dad's baby blanket. The one that he used to snuggle with when he was her age. The one back at home went through all of the siblings and Dai must have used it too.

"Alright," Not Dad turned to Mira, a smirk on his face. "Let's see what you got." She didn't try to stop the large smile that lit up her face.

"Right!"

After an extremely tense and awkward breakfast, Temari really didn't like Motoko now, Dai led the girls out the compound to Training Field 7, where he and his friends trained. He looked much better today now that he got some sleep. However, he looked both confused and petrified as he carried Motoko. The lazy baby had turned to Dai the moment they were out of the compound, her arms raised.

"You aren't going to drop her, you know." Mira chuckled. "She's like a monkey. Momo the Monkey, right, Momo?" She laughed when Motoko gave her a baby glare before resuming her cuddling. Dai chuckled too. She could tell, Motoko had him and Not Dad wrapped around her pinky finger already.

"You guys are adjusting well." Dai commented. The comment made Mira pause before she shrugged.

"I guess." She replied. "It helps that your dad reminds us of our dad." Dai nodded in understanding before forging ahead.

"Besides, you're family." Mira continued before she could stop herself. But he was family and so was Not Dad and to Mira, family meant everything. Dai froze before turning back to look at her. She lowered her sapphire eyes to the ground before raising them to meet his teal ones. Can't back down now.

"One day and you already think of us as family?" He questioned, his eyes narrowing. He looked so much like Taka right now, that it hurt. But she nodded, and Motoko did too. He looked between the sisters, his mind turning.

"You girls are troublesome, you know that?" Dai stated after a moment before he cracked a smile. "You sure you want to be family? My mom's a little troublesome."

"We can handle it. Right, Motoko?"

"Right!"

Taka

"961, 962, 963…" Taka muttered under his breath as he did his push-ups, Beni mediating in the lotus position on his back. It was about 5:00 in the morning and they were in the Hokage's backyard. Even in a different dimension, the Nara traditions must be upheld. Mom would know if he didn't do it anyway. She always knew, which sucked because he could never sleep in. Oh well, it's not like he slept at all last night.

After a tense, Hokage-less dinner last night, Aunt Hinata had offered Taka a sperate guest room from Beni. Thankfully, he didn't have to reject the room when Beni used her Talk no Jutsu to explain that 'Taka needs to be with me because there are monsters under the bed and in the closet and its really dark and scary and Taka will keep me safe and I don't have Mr. Fluffy with me and…" And this continued for a solid two minutes. Thus, Taka got a kicking and life squeezing bedmate until they got home. Which was for the best because he would have snuck into Beni's guest room to keep watch if they weren't together.

And yes, he was feeling the separation anxiety from Mira. They were twins and it was hard to be away from someone who you've spent your entire life with. This always happened whenever they went on missions. Most days, it was easy to push back. Most days. On really bad days, it wasn't Mom that the twins searched for when they returned, it was each other. Their teams understood and it was a pure coincidence if one team decided to train next to the gate on the return dates of the other team. But he had faith in Mira and knew that her and Motoko would be just fine. He'll find them later anyway.

They had gone through their katas as quickly as possible. The last thing they need was to be questioned on why they know the Nara katas. Then, they briefly worked on their (super pathetic, in Taka's opinion) Shadow Possession Jutsu. Mira was definitely the best of the siblings when it came to using the shadows which was fine with Taka. She couldn't seal worth shit and her creativity was even more pathetic than his Shadow Possession Jutsu. But at least she knew the basics of sealing (cough Boruto cough).

"And I thought I got up early." A tenor voice spoke out. Taka nearly jumped out of his push-up but stopped himself. Beni would've killed him if he dropped her. Again.

Taka looked back towards the house. There was the Lord Hokage, wearing shinobi pants and an orange t-shirt. Looks like he was going to train now too. At least Mom's male-self still trained. Taka was a little worried when he saw all of the paperwork and when he returned late last night.

"Good morning, Lord Seventh. Beni!" Holding his body in place with one hand, Taka reached back to snap his fingers next to her. She woke from her mediation and look back at Taka. He tilted his head towards the man.

"Greet the Lord Hokage." His sister nodded before leaping off of his back. She faced the man, who was as curious as he was confused. Beni bowed, her red locks shielding her face from view for a moment before she stood up. Her shoulders were back and her eyes strong as she met the Kage's gaze. She smiled brightly before her rambling spilled out.

"Good morning, sir! Did you sleep well? When did you get back? Where's your fancy cape? Is Miss Hinata up too? She's a great cook! Can she teach me-"

"Woah!" Seventh said, holding his hand up to stop her. "One at a time, Benihime. Drop the formalities, both of you." Yeah, not happening, "And yes, I did sleep well last night, thank you for asking. Now, why are you two up so early?"

1,000! With that, Taka pushed himself into a handstand before he righted himself. As he faced the man, Taka could see the similarities between the male and his mother. He had his left hand clocked on his hip and was leaning out to his left side, just like Mom when she was interested. His eyes had the same happy but hidden glow of wisdom to them. And he had Mom's small smile, the one that she got when she was trying not to be amused about something. Yes, Taka was a little weirded out by the whole situation but its actually kinda cool that he knows what Mom would have been like if she was a guy.

"My sensei insists that early morning training helps balance the chakra and the body." Which was true, Lee-Sensei did preach that. Taka may have removed a bunch of 'youthful' from the speech though. Besides, it's not like Taka could say that the Naras actually got up to train. That would completely ruin their image in the village!

"I see. Well maybe you two can rub a little bit of your work habit into my kids." The man joked before he waved them off. "You two go back to what you were doing. I'm going for a run."

"Would you like company?" Taka blurted out before he could stop himself. Mom was always his running partner. It was one of the reasons he was so fast. You try out running the fastest kunoichi in the world and not get faster. Beni had just started joining them three months ago and for her age, she was about as fast as a mid-chunin. The man paused and blinked at them. It was then that Taka realized that this was probably the first time in a long time that the Hokage's had someone who would willing train with him.

That's sad, like really sad. For shame, Boruto. If you really want get to know your parent, you got to train with them. Nothing says I love you like training the shit out of each other on a daily basis.

"Are you sure?" The siblings nodded. "I won't go easy on you."

"I can't do too many laps." Beni confessed. "Mommy doesn't let me." The last time Beni did too many laps she crashed for a solid 10 hours, which scared the living shit out of Mom.

"For good reason. Ten laps, that's it. Got it, Beni?" Taka ordered. She gave him a two-finger salute before turning back to Lord Seventh. He nodded in understanding before looking back at Taka.

"You sure you're up for it, Takashi?" Taka let an Uzumaki grin out for the first time since he's been here.

"Bring it, Old Man."

They were going to need more clothes, Taka realized as Boruto lead him and Beni walked to Training Ground 7. Taka had a few emergence mission packs sealed away. Poor Beni though, had nothing. Himawari was nice enough to offer her some clothes but most of it was pink. Beni never wore pink because it clashed with her hair. Thus, she was wearing one of Boruto's black shirts and Hima's tan shorts. Mira was going to kill him when she saw how poorly dressed she was. At least Aunt Hinata brushed Beni's hair today.

Speaking of Mira, Shikadai had messaged Boruto earlier to let him know that he was bringing Mira and Motoko with him to training and that he should probably bring his guests with him too.

"So, what's your team like?" Taka asked, trying to kill the awkward silence. Boruto had been in a pissy mood since dinner and Taka wasn't used to silence. Normally, him and Dad relished in any type of quiet they could get. Living with four girls meant that a quiet house was hard to come by. But this tension, nope, not happening today.

"They're cool." Boruto asked, easing up a little. "You met Sarada yesterday. She's the Brainiac. Just don't get her angry."

"Talking from experience?"

"Shut up." But that got Boruto to smile. You know, once you got him away from his dad, Boruto wasn't that bad of a kid.

"You'll probably meet Mitsuki today. He comes off as a little creepy but he's a nice guy. Trust me." Taka nodded, before his eyes drifted to the clouds. So, Sarada seems almost exactly the same and so does Mitsuki. Chocho and Inojin looked the same yesterday too. The major difference is the clothing. And Sarada's glasses… Why she wearing them anyway?

"Boruto, you're late!" Taka snapped out of his thoughts as Boruto got punched two feet under. A ticked off Sarada stood over him, her lenses flashing dangerously. Scratch that, Taka sweat dropped, She's exactly the same. Troublesome…

"Oh, hello Taka, I didn't know you would be joining us today." Sarada stated before looking to the girl on his left. "Who's this?"

"Sarada, meet my little sister, Benihime. Beni, this is Sarada Uchiha, Boruto's teammate." Three, two, one-

"Hi, it's nice to meet you. Wow, your eyes are pretty. Why are you wearing glasses? Are you a kunoichi? And you're an Uchiha? Can you teach me a fireball jutsu? Please?!" Beni begged. The Sarada back at home knew better than to give into Beni's questions. This one though…

"Um, yes?" She asked more than stated but that was enough for Beni.

"Woah!" Beni exclaimed before she spotted another target. Mitsuki. She marched up to him, gave him a brief once over before stating,

"I think you're cool. Welcome to the team, Snake-Eyes!" Mitsuki blinked, notching his head to the side before he smiled,

"Happy to be aboard, Red-Robin." Yep, Mitsuki was still the same. All of this occurred with this world's Chocho and Inojin watching. They looked so lost. Taka was about to introduce himself to them when he felt a weight landed itself on his back. If it was anyone else, he would have dodged it.

"Good morning, little fawn. Where's Mira?" Taka whispered softly as Motoko poked her head out from behind his shoulder. Thankfully, she was smiling and perfectly fine. The child pointed her thumb behind her. There was his twin with Shikadai. The relief the flowed through the twins was almost palpable. She looked fine in her spare clothes. Her eyes were even lined with kohl, speaking of which, where in the hell did she find that anyway? Only her hair was different. It was in a bun instead of her standard braid. But that hardly mattered because his sisters were together and safe. He'll get them home. This, he swore.

"Ok, timeout!" Chocho shouted out of nowhere. "Who are you people?" Inojin nodded along furiously in agreement.

An overwhelming sense of deja vu over came Taka, Mira, Boruto and Shikadai as they all glanced at each other. The eye conversation went as followed

You do it!

No, you do it! That was Shikadai and Boruto. This was his and Mira's.

Taka…

Ok, fine!

Troublesome, the whole lot of them. Taka stepped forward as Motoko returned to Mira's arms and Beni stood behind his legs.

"I'm Takashi Uzumaki-"

"What?!" It's going to be a long morning. What a drag…

After explaining their (mostly true) story, Boruto and Shikadai's teams were called away to perform some D-ranks. Giving the siblings some time before lunch to buy themselves some more clothes. Luckily, their money was still useable. As they walked to a new story, Mira started talking, the younger girls skipping happily ahead of them.

"Motoko made a scene yesterday." Wait, what?!

"Motoko? As in Silent Momo, made a scene?" Taka questioned. Mira nodded.

"Yep, long story short, Temari was upset at Dai and Not Dad. She decided that they shouldn't have dinner. Motoko wasn't happy and she made that well known. No one dares be mean to Motoko's daddy and gets away with it." Mira smirked out. There were so many things in that statement that he wanted to ponder. But the most important question came out.

"Not Dad?"

"What?" He continued to stare at her, completely unimpressed. "Oh, come on, Taka. It works. I can't call him Dad now, can I?"

"Ok, point. But man, Motoko's got balls." He wiped away an imaginary tear. "We trained her so well. Not even in the academy and she's already pissing off adults." That got Mira to laugh and couldn't help joining in.

"But are you ok?" Taka asked, because he knew his twin and she was upset. Mira flickered her cobalt eyes away towards the Hokage's tower, a faraway look entering them.

"It hurts, being around Not Dad. They're so similar. I'm afraid that I'll call him Dad if I'm not careful. You've got it easy. At least Guy Mom is a different gender." She explained. An awkward silence covered them for a moment before Taka asked,

"Guy Mom?" This time, Mira actually punched him.

"Like you can think of anything better, Mr. Creativity?"

"…"

"That's what I thought. Anyway, who's Boruto's mom anyway?" She asked. He smirked.

"I'll give you three guesses."

"Well, it's not Aunt Ino. This Sarada has a slightly bigger forehead so it's not Sakura Haruno, so… No! Really?" Leave it to Mira to get it in one guess.

"Yep."

"But, Aunt Hinata, really? What kind of fucked up dimension is this?"

"That's what I said."

"It explains so much though…"

"Yeah…"

They fell silent as Beni led them towards Ichiraku's for her lunch-date with Uncle Kakashi. Motoko had fallen back a bit, which made sense since her 3rd schedule nap was only ten minutes away. As he was scooping up a sleepy baby sister, he heard Mira grunt furiously.

"I can't remember…" Uh?

"What do you mean?"

"Your seal. I can't remember the reason for why the seal activated and its bugging the living shit out of me." Huh, well that's weird.

"Taka, Mira said a bad word again."

"Again, Motoko, not the time. Well, don't worry about it too much. I'm going to start doing some test runs this afternoon. And if all else fails, Mom will come up with some hairbrained idea that some how works." It was weird that he was being the optimistic one. This place must have been messing with them. Luckily, Mira wasn't too down to tease him.

"Maybe Mom finally found your seals diary in your underwear drawer."

"For the last time, it's not a diary!"

Author's Note - I promise, Canon Boruto Ino-Shika-Cho will get some lines in this. And I'm not just going to focus on the Nara Clan. Oh no, we're deep diving into the Uzumaki Clan because I'm still pissed that Canon Naruto never really learned fuinjutsu. Pure blasphemy, I tell you. Blasphemy. That's it for now, let me know what you think! Don't forget to comment, bookmark and kudos! Love you guys so much!

-V.I. Winthrop

Haji

"They're not here." Haji said as he landed next to his fellow ambassador, his scythe's heavy weight pressing down on his back more than usual. Ichiro nodded stiffly back to him, glaring his Hyuga eyes at the Suna sunset like it had personally offended him. "I can look again but-"

"Don't bother." Ichiro said sharply before sighing through his nose. "Kenji messaged me. He thinks this is his fault." Ah, that explained Ichiro's extra prickliness. "And Mother was already worried about me being here to begin with." Below them, kunai clashed and voices raised dramatically. Haji rolled his eyes at his little cousins as they scuffled with Ichiro's genin. Seriously, he couldn't take Krow anywhere without the little shit causing trouble. "And my genin are hellions and she's still avoiding me."

"All genin are hellions." Haji countered and stuffed his hands in his pockets, his slouched posture a stark contrast to Ichiro's tightly wound spine. "You knew it wouldn't be easy." He could feel Ichiro's glare focus on him now. "Aunt Sen isn't stupid, Ichiro. She knew what she was doing, no matter how much it hurt. Both of you."

"Then why ignore me?" Snapped the Hyuga heir. The pain in his voice was hard to hear. "If it hurt so much to let me go, why ignore me now? Krow got to have both. Why can't I?"

Haji knew he should have kept his month shut but the word tumbled without filter. "She's protecting herself, asshole." Ichiro's eyes twitched, his Byukagan roaring to life. "The moment she saw that you had the Byukagan, she knew that she was never going to be able to keep you. What's going to happen when you leave? Have you even thought of that?"

The reaction was immediate. Ichiro, proud, stubborn Ichiro Hyuga, heir to the Hyuga Clan, Ambassador to the Village Hidden in the Leaves, deflated. They stood in a tense silence as the moon rose above them. His heart tightened as the memory of a girl with sapphire eyes danced under the moonlight. Her swords of fire and lightning swinging with each step as she took down her opponents with ease, her shadows dancing beneath her.

Well Princess, don't do anything stupid. The memory of his scythe slicing in harmony beside her echoed in his mind. I'd hate for that to be our last dance.

Author's Note - Is this another OC of mine? Named after one of my favorite characters in all of anime? Yes, yes it is. Love you guys!

Chapter Text

Author's Note - Hi guys! After the chaos that has been work lately, I bring you one of my favorite filler chapters. Starring the one, the only, Talk no Jutsu master, Benihime 'You Can Call Me Beni' Uzumaki! And Kakashi, who was one of the few (in my humble opinion) that still acted like a shinobi in Boruto. But just because this a filler chapter, doesn't mean it isn't back with a bunch of foreshadowing. Let me know when you find it in the comments! I live for your comments. That's it for now. On to the story!

Chapter 5: Beni's First Date

Kakashi

There was something about those kids that Kakashi couldn't put his finger on. Granted, they claimed that they were from the future so that was probably it. They were intriguing. When Kakashi was first alerted to their presence, he had been roof hopping to the tower. Naruto, while a good successor, still needed his help in juggling all of that accursed paperwork. Ugh, he shuttered at the horror of just thinking about. If only there was a way to make it manageable…

Anyway, he had arrived at the open window and listened in. The tale was fascinating and a little farfetched. Then again, given everything that's happened, Kakashi believed that anything was fucking possible… Still, it was the kids' reaction to Shikamaru that was really interesting. Naruto hadn't noticed (he was still a bit of an idiot, bless his heart), but Kakashi had.

The two little girls had mouthed something that began with a 'D'. With their faces tucked against their siblings, Kakashi could barely read their lips. The boy had tensed drastically while the eldest girl paled even more. However, the eldest children's eyes told a different story. They were laced with respect, love, loyalty, and- fear? Yes, there was definitely fear in their eyes.

All of this lasted for a second. Then Mira Nara and Takashi Uzumaki revealed just how good they really were. They removed those raw emotions and had the Hokage and his Advisor's trust quicker than you could say kunai. These kids were good. So good in fact, Kakashi wanted to pay whoever taught them to fix the past few graduating classes, especially Boruto's.

Now don't get Kakashi wrong, Boruto was Naruto's family so of course, that made Boruto his family too. But the kid had serious daddy issues that needed to be address yesterday. And the last few graduating classes were pathetic pussies who would never survive an actual war. Kakashi wasn't Danzo (May he burn in hell for the rest of eternity), but this isn't what Kakashi meant when he said 'Let's have peace through strength.' What would these kids do if an Akatsuki like group invaded the village?

... Yeah, it's not a pretty thought. Above all, Kakashi didn't want these kids to die because they were underprepared for the real world.

Back to the Time-Traveling Quartet. They seemed familiar, those kids. Like Kakashi's seen them before and that he should know them. God, this is going to bug the living shit out of him. Either way, Takashi had surprised him by addressing him correctly. Then, he was attacked by a mini tomato.

"Hi, I'm Benihime Uzumaki but you can call me Beni! What's your name? Are you actually Lord Sixth? Why are you wearing a mask? Can I see your face? How did you do that to your hair? Can you do that to mine?"

As the girl continued to ramble, Kakashi could only see Kushina. The woman who practically raised him with his sensei after Obito's (supposed) death and in his arms, was her reincarnation. Only her eyes were different. He tried to squash down the guilt that was building up in him but that failed miserably.

He had already apologized profusely to Naruto about it, but Kakashi would always feel guilty about not taking him in when he had turned 20, since single shinobis couldn't adopt until they were 20. After Sensei's death, Kakashi's ANBU life was his pathetic escape from the pain of losing everyone he had ever loved.

In the end, Kakashi was a coward and even worse than scum because he had abandon his little brother to hell. Sure, he had been apart of Naruto's ANBU but that's hardly enough to make up for the years of loneness and abuse that Naruto suffered.

So, Kakashi's whimper of 'There's two of them?' wasn't referring to the brother and sister but to Kushina and Beni. She was here to mock him, to make his guilt consume him. And when Beni demanded that they get ramen, he knew that he was going to give in even before she spoke. No one said no to Kushina and clearly, her mini-me was the same, even if her method had a hell of a lot less bodily harm.

But first, Naruto had called the Konoha Twelve together and the senseis for an early ass meeting. If Kakashi hadn't have known it was about the kids, he so would've been at least 3-hours late. As irony would have it, he was the first to arrive. This had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that Guy wanted to be there early and had him asked for some company, of course.

"Time-traveling children? How positively youthful!" Guy chirped from his wheelchair as Kakashi pushed him to his favorite window, Asuma's daughter following. It was out of respect of his old friend that he actually let Mirai do her job as his bodyguard. It's not like she was good company or anything.

"And two of them are Uzumakis?" Mirai asked. He nodded as the others slowly entered in. Kurenai, upon spotting her daughter with the other former senseis, moved to sit with them. Kakashi scanned the room. Choji sat next to Ino and Sai, eating a bag of chips while Ino chatted on about the lastly gossip. (Wait, Kotestu and Izumo were finally dating! Fuck, he owned Genma 100,000 ryos now.) Sai sketched Ten-Ten's kunai balancing act while Lee did handstand push-ups to pass the time. (It took the combined efforts of him, Mirai and Kurenai to get Guy to stay in his chair.) Sakura and Sasuke entered quietly with Hinata. All the while, Naruto sat at the desk, doing his never-ending paperwork. Then the office door slammed open, making everyone look towards it. An upset Shikamaru stalked in, a frown gracing his features. The Nara looked stressed and itching to fight as he maneuvered to himself to stand next to his old team. Ino and Choji shared a worried look.

"What's with Shika?" Mirai whispered to him. He shrugged as she continued, "I haven't seen him this upset set since Temari got into it with his mom." Fuck, was that an awful day. Who knew two women who were so similar could hate each other so much.

"Alright!" Sakura shouted out, getting everyone's attention. "What's this about time-travelers?" Everyone turned to Naruto, even Hinata, who knew what was going on. Naruto sighed before starting,

"Yesterday, three girls and one boy showed up at my window. And they claimed that they are from the future." And the story telling commenced.

"Oh, the poor dears…" Kurenai whispered out when the room fell silent when the story ended.

"Takashi and Benihime are very sweet. Himawari hasn't stopped talking about Beni since they met." Hinata added helpfully.

"Ok, I get that they're kids but why the hell didn't you send them to me?" Ino asked, the hard look of the Head of T&I entering her eyes. "Two of them are genin but even genin can cause damage, Naruto." And if anyone was proof of that statement, it was Naruto himself.

"Maybe we should send the eldest to Ino…" Sasuke grunted in agreement as the muttering commenced.

"That's not happening." Everyone turned to look at Shikamaru. He wasn't looking at the group though. His eyes were locked with his teammates. His fists were clutched into tight fists and he met Ino's surprised but firm glare with an icy anger. The teammates stared down with Choji in between them, ready to grab either of them if they decided to start throwing punches.

"Why?" Ino questioned. "Give me a damn good reason as to why I shouldn't find the nearest one and probe them. We can't afford another threat to the village. You know this better than anyone, Shikamaru."

"The girls are from the main family." Kakashi admits, he was confused as to how and why that was important. So was everyone else in the room. But Team 10 changed. Choji's face lightened up as a big grin filled his face. While Ino…

"Really? Oh Shika…" Ino trailed off as a hand covered her gasped mouth, tears welling up in her eyes. Shikamaru nodded before he fell back into his chair, rubbing his temples.

"Um, what does that have to do with anything?" Ten-Ten asked carefully. At her question, Team 10 looked back at everyone as if they had forgotten that they were all there.

"Sorry guys, this is Ino-Shika-Cho business." Choji explained. "But you said that you trust these kids, right Naruto?" At Naruto's nodded, Choji continued, "Then we'll trust your judgement. Besides, wasn't the worst that four kids can do?"

As Mirai followed him out of the meeting, Kakashi could feel her questions. She was curious, he noticed.

"Well, out with it. Ask your questions." Kakashi stated as the chunin bodyguard walked beside him. She looked at him, the ruby of her eyes reflecting brightly in the sun.

"…They're not questions as much as me trying to work out what happened. Shika's my godfather, hell, he's the closest thing I have to a dad. I know when he's being stupidly overprotective. And in there, he looked ready to be beat the living the shit out of Ino because she said that they should be interrogated. It was like she suggested that Shikadai should test out some of her new torture devices. That's it, I want to meet these kids! Anyone who can make Shika act this way needs to be looked at." Mirai stated firmly.

"Well, then you better stick around. I've got a meeting with one of the little ones." She blinked at him.

"What?"

"Benihime Uzumaki demanded that I buy her ramen today. It was hard to say no." He explained. Asuma's daughter blinked before stifling a laugh. The urge became too strong and soon she was laughing full on. Kakashi sweat-dropped. Look at the abuse I get and from my own bodyguard.

"I think I'm going to take you up on that offer." Mirai said happily before grabbing onto his right arm and lacing her left arm around it. He could easily break the hold. Easily. It wasn't as if he was trying to avoid having an angry chunin.

"But I better make sure you actually pay for us."

"Me, not pay? Never!" She snorted.

They arrived at Ichiraku's just before the kids. Thankfully, Takashi had asked Naruto to tell him that Beni wanted Ichiraku's for lunch. Old man Ichiraku was actually in today, helping his daughter by making the noodles. Ayame had aged a bit but for a civilian, she was still beautiful woman.

"Well, if it isn't Lord Sixth?" Ayame greeted happily as she brought them water. "And Mirai! How's your mother?"

"She's good, thank you."

"Now what can I get you guys?"

"Actually," Kakashi started. "We're waiting for one more-"

"Lord Sixth!" A cherub squeaked before his lap gained a bundle of energy and red hair. Mirai was laughing at the dumbfounded expression on his masked face as the young Uzumaki proceeded to hug and squeal,

"You're here! You're here! You're here! And you're not late! I'm so proud!" Really, did people really think so low of him. Luckily, Mirai felt pity on him and decided to speak to the girl.

"Hi, I'm Mirai Sarutobi. I hope you don't mind that I'm crashing your lunch. I've got to protect the old man."

"Hey!"

"No, no! The more, the merrier!" Beni agreed with her endless smiles before she turned in his lap so that she was facing Mirai. She had stuck out her little hand towards the chunin.

"I'm Benihime Uzumaki but you can call me Beni! Your eyes are really pretty! Are you also an Uchiha? I like your hair! Do you think I should do that with my hair? And you're a chunin, that's so cool! I want-" With an equally large smile, Mirai shook the small hand, cutting off Beni.

"Thank you for the compliments, Beni, and yes, I am a chunin. But I assure you, this," she waved a hand to herself, "is all Sarutobi. And I like your hair just the way it is. It would be a shame if we cut it all off, you know." No, Kakashi didn't keep Mirai around so that she could do all of the communicating. He would never do something like that. The little Uzumaki blinked before declaring,

"I like you!" Then the child swiveled around so she could point a finger at his masked face. With the most serious and adorable face he's ever seen, Beni ordered, "You should keep her." Before either shinobi could comment, a cough erupted from behind him. Kakashi looked over his shoulder as Beni chirped,

"Taka, I found Lord Sixth and I made a new friend!" Her older brother smirked back at them. Behind him was Mira, her sleeping sister tucked against her chest. Mira gave a lazy wave to them, being careful to not wake her sister.

"I see that." Taka said, clearly amused by his sister's antics. "Remember you are on a strict three-bowl limit, no don't give me those eyes. You know rules, Beni. Sir," Taka stated to Kakashi, a hand held out with ryos. "This should cover Beni. Mira and I are meeting Boruto and Shikadai's teams for at Yakiniku Q if you need me. Be good for the Lord Sixth and…"

"Mirai Sarutobi." She introduced himself and shook Takashi's hand.

"Takashi Uzumaki. Be good for the Lord Sixth and Chunin Sarutobi." As the boy was about to turn away, Kakashi grabbed his elbow.

"You don't have to pay for Beni, I've got it cover." Kakashi promised as he placed the money back into the boy's hands. The blonde blinked before stepping back to bow at him.

"Thank you, Sir." He straightened before winking that his sister before reiterating, "Be good, Beni."

"Bye, Taka. Bye, Mira." Beni called as the two teens walked away. Mirai, who toke in the scene with an almost quizzical look, looked down at Beni with a smile.

"That's a good brother you got there, Beni."

"Yep! Taka's the best! He even sneaks me out of the academy to get ice cream if it's a chakra theory day! But don't tell sensei or Mommy or Daddy." Beni warned as sternly as a seven-year-old could. "That's our thing."

"Well, your secret is safe with us." Mirai promised as Ayame moved back over to them for their orders.

"So, Beni, what type of ramen do you want?" Kakashi asked when it became clear to him that the child wasn't going to move from his lap. She very tactile, it seems. She placed a finger on her chin as she pondered the question.

"Pork, please!"

Kakashi and Mirai waited until she was on her second bowl before they started asking Beni some questions. Nothing harmful! But they had some questions that need to be answered. Even if he felt a little guilty using the child's innocence against her.

"Beni, why were you with your brother when he was training?" Kakashi asked carefully. Mirai's red eyes narrowed slightly as they waited for the girl to finish her slurp.

"Bluch!" Beni burped before blushing, "Excuse me. Um, I've always watched Taka train. I want to be a great shinobi like Taka and Mira and Mommy and Daddy!" Kakashi locked eyes with Mirai at the mention of the Nara girl's name. Mirai nodded to him before she looked down at Beni.

"That's great, Beni!" The chunin started. "Does Taka train with Mira often?"

"Yep! All the time." Huh, this is going to be harder than I thought. This kid is good.

"Are they close?" Kakashi tried again.

"Yep!" Yeah, this was getting nowhere. Beni knew how to give vague but honest answers. Nothing that would give him any proof against their story. Mirai tried a different approach.

"So, do you know fuinjutsu too?" The girl nodded as she reached for her third bowl. It must be an Uzumaki thing. No one should be able to consume that much ramen and still be so tiny.

"Mommy's teaching us." Us, huh. Shit, that still implies her and her brother. Maybe I should ask about her parents. Her brother looks too much like Sensei and Naruto to not be from his family.

If their story was true, then the time-traveling Uzumakis were the progeny of Boruto and Himawari. However, it was the fuinjutsu subject that wasn't adding up. Naruto never truly mastered fuinjutsu (or learned, for that matter), Boruto specialized too much in ninjutsu to invest himself in the art and Himawari was too Hyuga and young to know anything about sealing. Beni also kept mentioning that her mother was teaching them fuinjutsu, implying that they were Uzumakis through their mother, not their father. And clearly the father was still in the picture, since Beni kept mentioning him. Kakashi felt like he had all of the pieces in front of him but couldn't seeing the painting before him. It was rather annoying.

"Taka's feels guilty that we're here." Beni stated suddenly as she pushed away her bowl. "He didn't mean for the seal to work and he can't get it to work again. He stayed up all last night writing it over and over again to figure it out. He wants to keep us safe and get us all home, even if it kills him." She looked up at him, her golden-brown eyes pleading with him.

"We just want to go home. We won't cause trouble or hurt the village or the Hokage. We promise. Please believe us. Taka and Mira are going to be sick if they don't rest."

No, Kakashi's heart didn't break into pieces at the girl's honest, heart-felt plea. Absolutely not. He was a kage, thank you ever much. He did not submit to the pleas of little girls. But today, he made an exception. At Mirai's elbow and look of 'Do something, you idiot,' he flicked the kid's nose. The sad expression on her face faded as she scrunched up her nose, looking up at him with curiosity. He gave her his famous eye-smile.

"You got it, kid." And no, the smile she gave him didn't make him decide to treat his group to ice cream. No never, he was a cheap bastard, after all. Nor did he let Beni ride on his back as they walked around the village. Stop laughing, Mirai!

Meanwhile, in Konoha 2.0

Shikamaru

Shikamaru paused his searching for a second, his fatherly senses tingling. A male had treated one of his girls to lunch, without his permission. He didn't know if this upset him or made him feel relief. Relief, let's go with relief. Relief meant that his kids were still alive, somewhere. Besides, Takashi knew the master plan and wouldn't let anything happen to the girls.

Shaking his head, Shikamaru returned to the scrolls that littered the living room floor. He could feel the headache coming on as the kanji blurred. There was a reason he left the fuinjutsu to Naruto and the kids. Perhaps he shouldn't have let Naruto dump all of their scrolls about fuinjutsu in here at once. But who was he to say no to his worried and stressed wife? Especially when she still looked ready to shatter at any moment.

Now, let's make something extremely clearly. Naruto Uzumaki Nara was the strongest woman in the world. She wasn't weak by any means. However, Naruto has always had problems with loss. Given her isolated childhood, she clung to her precious people, forever fearing that she would one day be alone and unloved once again. This drove her to selflessly take any hit, attack any enemy and kill whoever dared hurt her precious people. And while at times, this habit of hers drove him crazy; (Because god dammit Naruto, how the hell do you think we would feel if you died? How do you think I would feel, you troublesome woman?) it was one of the many, many reasons he loved her.

Absolutely no one was more precious to Naruto than their children. Shikamaru knew this the moment they first found out she was pregnant. Earlier that day, Naruto had gone to regular check-up. No, seriously, just a routine check-up, nothing special. But after Tsunade had told them the news and left, Naruto remained in a daze for the rest of the day. It wasn't until they were getting ready for bed that night that it hit really her. She had stared at herself in the mirror, her hands placed on her flat stomach. She had whispered,

" It shouldn't be possible…" He remembers looking over at her as he removed his ponytail. He started to walk over to her as she continued her ramblings.

" They said it would never be possible. I could never be a kunoichi. I could never be the Hokage. I could never be a wife. I could never be a mother. That's what they all said. I could only be the demon girl, the dead-last, forever alone." Her sapphire eyes never left the mirror, her arms now wrapped around herself as if they were shielding her from her past. He moved up against her, wrapping his arms over hers. Their fingers laced together as he locked eyes with her in the mirror.

" And what would you say to them now?" Shikamaru asked before he pressed a kiss into her golden locks. Naruto leaned back even more into him, tilting her head back she that she could return the kiss. For moment, they got lost in each other. Nothing else mattered. When she pulled back, she opened her watery eyes before joking,

" Not bad for a dead-last, huh." He snorted as she wiggled herself out of his arms, the dark navy shirt that she stole from him twirling around her. She was beautiful.

" Our kids are going to be forces to reckon with, Shikamaru! They'll have Konoha at their beck and call before you know it!" She stated as excitement radiated off of her. It was intoxicating, her excitement, her energy, her smile. He could drown in it and die a happy man.

" Kids?" He teased as her whiskers cheeks blushed ruby.

" Well, you know I've always wanted a family. And I absolutely love your family, Shikamaru! But I've always wanted to be that parent at the Chunin Exams, saying 'Hell Yeah, that's my kid and I got others back at home who can kick just as much ass as that. And I-" He took hold of her shoulders, causing her to pause and look up at him. He smiled down at her, tucking a rebellious strand of hair behind her ear.

" We can have as many kids as you want, Naruto. And my family has always been your family, never forget that. I get what you mean, though, so stop worrying." She jumped up onto her toes to kiss him, the joy flowing out of her.

" But I'll warn, you, Lazy Husband." Naruto stated with a joking sternness. "I'm expecting a rather large family." He couldn't help the laugh that erupted out of him.

" Whatever you want, Troublesome Wife."

"Shikamaru!" His mother's yell snapped him out of his memories. He looked up at her through his smoke. Under normal situations, Mom would have snapped his cigarette and his pack and burned it in his fireplace, like she's done the other 50 times he was stupid enough to smoke around her. But Mom wasn't going to do that to him today. Not when her grandkids were on the line. He could tell that she was worried about him.

"Shikamaru, Naruto was calling for you. Tsunade and I will keep looking through the scrolls in here. Ok?" Mom stated as Tsunade came back into the room. Upon hearing that her adorable great-grandbabies were missing, Tsunade left her sake at home and grabbed her reading glasses. Instead of looking like she was 24, she now looked around 45, to make it more realistic when the kids called her Granny.

It really was a team effort to get his kids back. Kakashi and Shizune immediately took helm of the office, giving them a week before the council would wonder what the hell happened to the Lady Hokage. He had left Kiba in charge of his jonin while Ino was volunteering at the hospital to replace Tsunade and Shizune. Choji was running the Nara clan with one of Shikamaru's second cousins. All the while, Hinata, Shino, Lee, Ten-Ten, Sasuke and Sai left for mission to Suna, where Gaara had offered to spearhead the search for the kids through the villages. Shikamaru had never been more gratefully for his friends until now.

Shikamaru nodded to the older women before standing. He walked through the halls, trying to ignore how suffocating the silence was. He cursed all of those times he wished for quiet. He would do anything to have his kids running down the halls and causing a ruckus again.

He entered Takashi's sky-blue room. Shikamaru could remember how he and Sai spent all day getting the ceiling perfect for his son's fifth birthday. All Takashi wanted that year was to sleep under a clear blue sky, with a few clouds here and there. It had taken the men forever to get the clouds to change and move but somehow, with Sai's powers, they did it and Takashi was so happy that year.

The room was an absolute mess though, completely the opposite of how Takashi left it the day before. Naruto had marched into the room yesterday, took one look at it and stated,

"You may want to stay out of here. I have a feeling I'm going have to destroy his room to find his stash."

With that, Naruto locked herself in there and only left to sleep for three hours last night. And judging by the state of the room and all of the cursing he heard, she did as she promised. Takashi's dresser and closet were overturned completely with all of his clothes thrown out into the hallway. All of his sleeves emptied, all of his books scattered across the floor. His bed was flipped onto it's side and there it was, his stash where he kept his personal fuinjutsu notes.

Naruto was sitting against the overturned bed, their son's books and scrolls scattered around her in a classic chaotic but completely organized nature. Shikamaru stared at his wife's exhausted form. She had ink smeared across her cheek and in her hair. Her kunoichi dress was wrinkled behind repair while her braid was falling out over her shoulder. But even in her low state, she was still breathtaking.

Her focus was completely on the well-love, leather bound book in her hands though. She didn't look up when he entered into the room, crushing his cigarette before he entered. He walked slowly to her until he knelt down in front of her. Finally, she snapped out of her daze and blinked at him. She forces a baby smile and he returned it.

"Our son is a lazy genius, Shikamaru. He's also in so much trouble." Naruto stated firmly.

"And why would our son be in so much trouble?" He was almost afraid to know.

"20 seals. Our son had 20 different seals on his collection so that I couldn't get to them. I've been burned, soaked, cut, and electrocoated while deciphering his amazing fuinjutsu. Our son has been a master of fuinjutsu for the past two years and he was too lazy to take the damn test to earn his mastery. But this," She held up the diary. "puts even my father's or Mito's seals to shame. Takashi has created seals that could reattach limbs, Shika. The seals that I could read, they're amazing."

"That you could read?" Shikamaru asked. His wife nodded before she tossed the book to him.

"Look at page 47." At her command, he found a page completely in number. Evenly spaced out and lined, rows upon rows of numbers filled the entire page. He flipped to the next page and there was a drawing of an Uzumaki chakra circle with the Flying Thunder God seal drawn next to it.

"He coded it?" Shikamaru asked.

"Yep."

"But he hates coding." Wait a second. Shikamaru tuned back to the number page and noticed the difference in penmanship.

"Don't tell me…" Shikamaru groaned out anyway as his wife sighed in agreement.

"Yep, he decided to have his twin code it for him. There's got to be a key but I can't find it. I've been looking at that damn page for over an hour. Please tell me you can figure it out."

"Pass me a pen, this is going to take a while." His words made his wife deflate a little, closing her eyes. She looked so tried. He reached out and cradled her cheek. Her eyes cracked open slightly before she leaned closer into his palm.

"You should get some sleep." Shikamaru stated. Naruto snorted before grabbing his hand against her cheek. She raised it to her lips and pressed a kiss to his wedding band.

"You first." She challenged.

"We'll get them back."

"I know." She whispered back. They didn't sleep that night, not one wink.

Author's Note - Taka, bro, what are you and Mira up to? And can we all take a moment to appreciate over-protective Shikamaru 2.0? Swoon. And I think you guys are starting to notice that Canon Shikamaru is becoming more and more protective of Mira and Motoko. Trust me, that's supposed to happen and it'll happen to Canon Naruto too. Basically everyone from canon are feeling the way that Kakashi's feeling, they have all of the pieces but they can't see the picture. Also, isn't Kakashi the biggest king of denial? It's freaking hilarious! I think him and Mirai make a great duo! Honestly, I was debating adding Mirai into this story because of how close her name is to Mira. However, it worked out so she's in. So that's it for now. Don't forget to comment, kudos and bookmark! Love you guys so much!

-V.I. Winthrop

Tsunade

"Milady?" Shizune asked in shock when her sensei and former Hokage jumped gracefully through the windowsill of her old office at the dead of night. But Tsunade only gave a tense nod to her student as she pushed her grandfather's portrait to the side. With a pop, she chugged her emergency sake in three gulps before flinging the bottle to the side. It shattered against the wall but neither woman flinched. "No news?"

"Takashi is a fuinjutsu master." Tsunade said instead. Her heart was in her throat, threating to choke the truth and sadness out of her. She hadn't felt this way in a while. Not since the day Naruto learned the truth. 

"... Yes, he is." The confusion in her student's words was palpable. 

"He kept a journal, of all of the fuinjutsus that he created." His smile flashed before her, then overlapped with his pride and joy. Then their pride and joy. "Every time Takashi does something with fuinjutsu, I can't help but think that the gods are punishing me for what I did. Everything he does is so painfully like them that it hurts. Naruto says that that boy had surpassed her and-" Now her emotions were chocking her as Tsunade did her best not to cry. "They never got to see it happen, because of what I did."

Shizune moved to her side, placing her hand on Tsunade's shaking back. "You had no choice." Shizune reminded softly. "You were young, in a war, and believed that your Sensei and his teammates had your best interests in heart." Tsunade bit her lip to keep back the self-loathing comment that wanted to come out. "You can't keep blaming yourself for the past. Naruto and Master Jiraiya forgave you years ago. You need to forgive yourself."

Tsunade snorted with melancholy. "Naruto and Shikamaru thinks the brats went to an alternate world. They think that everything is the same over there except Naruto's a man." Shizune paled in horror at that thought, just like Tsunade had earlier. "And their Tsunade isn't a coward." 

"You don't know that-"

Tsunade laughed despite the pain. "I do because that means that world's Naruto must look so much like them there was no way that Sensei's plan worked. Right?" Tsunade looked at her student, her eyes pleading for the other woman to agree with her. "Right?" But Shizune kept looking at her sadly. "Right?!"

"We won't know until the kids are back." Shizune said logically as she kept rubbing Tsunade's back. "When will Naruto and Shikamaru go get them?"

"Tomorrow."

"Then we'll find out tomorrow." But that did nothing to ease Tsunade's guilt. After all, it was Tsunade's fault that Naruto grew up without knowing who her grandparents and father were until she became a chunin. And knowing Tsunade's luck, that other world's Tsunade was just as much of a coward as she is.

Author's Note - Damn, Tsunade, what the hell did you do? You guys will have to keep reading to find out. Insert evil author cackles here. Love you guys!

-V.I. Winthrop

Chapter Text

Author’s Note - Knock, knock, anyone home- [dodges a fireball jutsu] Hi guys! Did you miss me? Work and life kept me anyway for posting but I’m back with this glorious, YOUTHFUL chapter! Oh, and fyi, I suggest watching Yoruichi v. Soi Fon from Bleach on YouTube if you need a visual while reading this chapter. If you couldn’t tell, this fic is heavily influenced by Bleach. I hope you guys enjoy! On to the story!

Chapter 6: A YOUTHFUL Spar!

Shikadai

"Oh my god! Aren't you the cutest, most precious little munchkin in the world?! Yes, you are! Yes, you are!"

Shikadai should've know that letting Chocho sit next to Motoko at lunch was a bad idea. Chocho had two main passions, food and babies. Food, for obvious reasons, and babies because they were, in her words, 'cute, cuddly, and have the chubbiest cheeks you've ever seen!' So, when Mira had passed Motoko to Chocho so that she could get into the booth, the child was stuck in Chocho's arms for the rest of lunch.

"It's just a brat." Inojin grumbled next to him and Shikadai nodded in agreement, (though Motoko wasn't actually a brat). Chocho was the reason that they couldn't do babysitting D-Ranks anymore. How troublesome. Still, Motoko took his teammate's fussing in stride, happily cuddling against the bigger girl and letting Chocho feed her barbeque.

"And Konohamaru-Sensei said that-" Shikadai tried to tune out Boruto's unfortunately loud voice as he told Taka and Mira about their D-Ranks this morning. Which were nothing special, dude, they're D-Ranks for a reason. Then there was Sarada's yelling at the top of her lungs, telling Boruto to 'Stop making up shit! That's not how it went! Boruto!'. Ugh, thank god Mitsuki wasn't loud. Maybe they could finish eating and get out of here before-

"Oh, if it isn't my most youthful friends!"

Fuck… Man, what a drag… Don't get Shikadai wrong, Metal Lee was an awesome guy and a great friend. But he was loud, annoying, and yelled youthful way too many time to still be grammatical correct. Why couldn't he have quieter friends?

"Oh, Lee, come join us!" Inojin, you smirking bastard. Shikadai stomped on Inojin's toe as Lee moved to sit at the end of the table. Next to him. In retaliation, Inojin gave him the finger. Now he would have to deal with Lee's loud antics for the rest of the meal. Great.

"My friends, unfortunately my youthful teammates can not make it today because they are recovering from the unyouthful Tora!" Even though Lee was basically yelling out his words, a shiver went down the spines of all of the teenagers, even Mira and Taka. Shit, that means that damn cat never dies.

"Don't worry about it, Lee. Anyway, remember those kids that popped out of the ground yesterday?" Chocho asked as Lee grabbed some meat off of the grill.

"Yes! They ran away in the most youthful manner! The speed that they achieved, it was positively youthful!" Lee exclaimed.

"Thanks, man." Taka said while giving Lee a two-finger salute. The action caused Lee to pause, the piece of meat falling out of his chopsticks. Seeing the confusion on Lee's face, Shikadai decided to do the introduction.

"Lee, this is Takashi Uzumaki. He along with three girls traveled back in time to our Konoha and are stuck here until we can figure out a way to get them home. Takashi, this is Metal Lee, member of Team 5 and a taijutsu specialist." Their friends watched as the two boys stared each other down.

"Taijutsu huh?" Taka smirked, life sparking in his normally bored blue eyes. "That's impressive. It takes a lot of time and dedication to specialize in taijutsu." The oddest thing was that Lee, socially awkward Lee, actually smirked back.

"Indeed. You speak from experience, youthful acquaintance." Lee commented, making the rest table pause. Speak from experience? Wait, don't tell me-

"Huh? What do you mean, Lee?" Chocho asked. Lee pointed to Taka's arms, more specifically his forearms.

"Only a taijutsu specialist would bandage his arms in such a manner. A taijutsu specialist who is mastering or currently mastering the Reserve Lotus." Lee stated with confidence. Taka snorted before clapped.

"Well caught." Taka praised before an overwhelming sense of dread filled Shikadai as the boys stared each other down. Looks like there were going to be a lot of downed trees soon. Taijutsu though, huh, wasn't expecting that…

"Shall we see who's taijutsu is best?" Lee challenged, standing up. But then the bored look entered Taka's eyes again. He shook his head and leaned back against the booth.

"Nah." He yawned. "Too much work." This made everyone sweat-drop and caused Boruto to snort,

"Look's likes someone's afraid of getting their ass whooped."

In seconds, the room dropped at least 20 degrees as a dark-blue, killing intent glow surrounded the slouched back form. Shikadai couldn't stop the shiver that ran down his back as Taka's eyes sharpened dangerously. He faced Lee and grinned,

"Challenge accepted."

Taka stood, reinforcing the first stared down. It was like there was lightning between him and Lee, the energy palpable. If they fight in the restaurant, Dad's going to kill me.

"Alright, time out!" Mira shouted before her hand shoot out to grab Taka's shoulder. She pushed him down back into his seat and shoved a piece of meat into his mouth. Shikadai had to stop the laugh that almost erupted at the funny sight of the blonde choking.

"Ugh, what the hell, Mira?" Taka complained as the girl glared right back at him.

"Food first, you moron. You barely ate and if you pass out after your oh so manly showdown because you didn't eat enough, I'm going to strangle you. Now, eat!" She ordered as she pushed more meat onto his plate.

"But Mira-"

"Don't even think about." With that, the boy dove into his food, eating at a speed that made Uncle Choji look slow.

"And you!" Mira said, pointing her chopsticks at Lee. He straightened at attention. "Don't even think about leaving this table without eating first!"

"Um, yes, ma'am." Lee sweat dropped before diving into his food too. "Um, who are you?" It was then that the table realized that they forget to introduce the Nara girls.

"Mira Nara, pleased to meet you. The girl in Chocho's lap is my sister, Motoko. We're with this dumbass." Mira said, pointing her chopsticks at Taka before she turned back to her plate. Shikadai was about to do the same when he noticed that Lee was still staring at her, a blush on his cheeks. Ah, hell no!

Shikadai didn't even bother to withhold the death-glare that he sent to Lee. Yeah, hell would have to freeze over before he let anyone stared at his sister like that. So, what if Mira and Motoko weren't actually his sisters? It's was close enough and a matter of principle. At his glare, Lee shirked back and brought his attention back to his food. Good. A foot nudged him and to Shikadai's surprise, it was Taka who nodded thanks to him. Huh? What was that about?

"Man, why does Lee and Taka get to spar first?" Boruto complained as everyone sat on the sidelines of the training field. "I'll never be chunin at this rate."

"Boruto, stop complaining. I doubt we'll be able to spar at all today. They look ready to kill each other." Sarada commented.

"Nah, they'll be fine. Taka needs to relieve some stress and Lee volunteered to be his punching bag. A few punches here and there and they'll be best friends by dinner time. It's the field you guys should be more worried about." At Mira's comment, the genins turned to her.

"What? Taka's strong and his punches hurt." The girl said, rubbing the back of her neck. "He could probably level all of these trees if he wanted to. I wouldn't be surprised if he makes moon craters." Great, we're going to have to repair the field again. Troublesome.

"What, you let your boyfriend hit you?!" Chocho exclaimed, the horror plastered on her and Sarada's faces. Mira made a disturbed face before saying,

"First off, he's not my boyfriend, that's just-"

"Ew?"

"Yes, ew, thank you Motoko. Second, we spar all the time. If you think you can spar with Taka and not get hit, you're insane. Third- oh look, it's starting." With that, Shikadai watched the two in the middle of the field. They faced each other.

"You ready, Lee? I'm not going to go easy on you." Taka commented.

"Good, neither will I. Let's us have a youthful spar for the hand of the fair maiden!" Lee declared before rushing towards Taka at break-neck speed. Dust kicked up on the field and for a moment Shikadai thought it was all over.

"First off!" Taka yelled as the dust cleared. The shock filled everyone at the sight of the two boys. Taka was standing perfectly still, with his left arm bracing Lee's kick in place. He was completely unfazed by Lee's attacked and had a tick mark on his forehead.

"Mira is not my girlfriend!"

Moving faster than Shikadai could ever accomplish, Taka had used his left arm against Lee's leg as leverage to drive a heel under Lee's chin. Lee barely dodged, backflipping away from the blonde. Taka huffed his bangs out of his face before speeding after Lee. He jumped high above Lee, leg extended for a drop-kick. Lee dodged and it was a good thing he did. Shikadai's seen Sarada and her mom make craters before but never had he seen a genin make one so big.

"That would just be- you know what, never mind!" Taka continued from his crater. "Second, she's not allowed to date until she's at least a jonin! Orders from the Jonin Commander so don't even think about it!"

"I knew it!" Mira and Motoko whispered in disbelief but Shikadai doubted anyone else heard them. Lee had released his shuriken at Taka. Doing something he's only seen Lee do, Taka catch all of them with practiced easy.

"Jonin Commander?" Shikadai questioned as the group watched a barrage of fists and kicks.

"Yeah, my Dad's the Jonin Commander." Mira answered, her eyes never leaving the fight, unless to look up at- the sun? Huh, that's weird.

Taka and Lee had met in clashing kicks, canceling each other out. They jumped away from each other, gaining space. They launched at each other again. Lee throw a punch, Taka pushed it back. Taka kneed him, Lee blocked it with his elbow. And the speed that they were using, it was unreal. Were they actually getting faster?

"Man, that must suck if you ever bring home a boyfriend." Chocho commented.

"Yep, he can get really scary!" A voice behind Shikadai chirped. Turning around, he saw Lord Sixth and his god sister, Mirai, their eyes glued to the spar. But neither of them had spoken. No, it was the red-head child hanging off of the Lord Sixth's shoulder.

"Mira! The Lord Sixth and Miss Mirai got me ice cream!" Beni yelled from her perch as a grunt sounded through the field.

Lee was thrown back into the trees, making a valley of rock on his way. Taka was running after him. Then he jumped back as Lee did a handstand kick out of his ditch, releasing hidden kunais at his opponent. Taka blocked them down, using what looked like an ivy blue chain wrapped around his right forearm. The moment Taka paused, Lee's dropkick was upon him, using the foot of his bent leg to press against Taka's chained arm and close the distance. In an act of pure flexibility and skill, Taka clamped his hand down on the foot on his chained arm and twisted his body upwards so that his foot could block Lee's drop kick. Lee back-bended into a handstand as Taka leaped over him, the two breaking apart.

"He can use chakra chains." Lord Sixth commented with surprise.

"Duh, he's an Uzumaki." Mira drawled out.

"But no one in my family can't do that…" Boruto said, causing Beni and Motoko to look at him in shock. But what Shikadai noticed was that Mira fought the urge to not look at him. She flinched, she definitely did. But why would she care?

"But that's bla, blah, Mira?"

"Blasphemy, Beni."

"Blasphemy, you can't be an Uzumaki and not use chakra chains!" Beni cried before looking down at Boruto. "You, me, and Taka, early morning training, tomorrow! Don't even think about sleeping in or I'll drag you out myself!"

"Um…, yes, Beni-"

"Good!"

"Feisty! Kakashi, we should keep her!" Mirai joked before dunking as a tree branch headed her way. "Hey!"

"AH, MY MOST SINCERIEST APOLOGIES, MISS MIRAI!" Lee yelled back before launching him at Taka. "LEAF HURRICANE!"

"SIREN'S SNARE!" The two kicks canceled each other but Taka's second leg swung around at Lee's head, hooking his knee around Lee's neck and slamming down on his head with an elbow. Lee crashed into the ground below, forming a Lee size crater. But then he shot back up and charged at Taka, a staff extended behind his back. Taka's chains started to overlap one another, giving him armored gauntlets. They clashed.

"Amazing. Their taijutsu is superb!" Sarada exclaimed, her sharingan spinning.

"So, this is what the noise was all about." Shikadai's eyes widen before he swiveled around to see Dad and the Hokage behind him. Like Lord Sixth and Mirai, their eyes were glued to the fight before the group. It was Dad who had spoken, a cigarette hanging from his lips.

"What are you doing here, Old Man?" Boruto asked, a sneer evident in his voice before a rock connected to the back of his head, hard. "Hey! What the hell, Beni?"

"That's not how you talk to your daddy, you big meanie!" Beni scolded, before she yelled at the top of her lungs, making everyone in their group cover their ears.

"TAKA, BORUTO'S BEING RUDE AGAIN!"

"So! Not! The! Time! Beni! Gah! Fuck, Crashing Waves!" Taka said during a series of swipes from Lee. After one connected with his chin, Taka folded backwards. He pushed his heels below Lee's ribcage, one foot after the other in an almost break-dancing move.

"Thank you for that, Benihime, though, you shouldn't throw rocks, ok?" The Lord Hokage said. She gave him a blinding smile and a thumbs-up in return.

"We were trying to do work but all of the mini-earthquakes were a little worrying." He explained, his eyes peeled and his muscles tense, as if he wanted to join in on the punching contest.

"He's playing hooky." Dad deadpanned, making his boss sweat-drop. Then he looked down, Motoko tugging on his pants leg. Shikadai didn't stop the smile that spread on his face as his father smiled down on the little girl and picked her up, holding her close. It was good to see Dad smiling this much again. Then, Dad narrowed his eyes more, analyzing the fight.

"So, Takashi's proficient in the Strong Fist." Dad deduced, causing Lord Sixth to shake his head.

"No, it's extremely similar to Guy's style but Takashi appears to use his flexibility more often." Lord Sixth explained, causing the Lord Hokage to comment.

"I've seen this style before."

"That's because it's extremely popular amongst the water villages." Everyone turned to look at Mira. Again, her eyes remained glued on the fight. Though, she's still checking the sun. But there was an edge to her eyes and her hands were twitching slightly.

"More specifically," She continued, "It's called Breakers. Best way to describe it is the Uzumaki's version to the Strong Fist. Uzumaki shinobi and the Seven Ninja Swordsmen were the most proficient in this style. The key is to use your opponents' body against them. They punch you, you brace the arm against you as leverage for a kick. They kick you, you trap it and snap the leg in half. So, you are either breaking the path of the attack or-"

"You're breaking the limb used." Shikadai finished, snapping his eyes back to the fight. Both boys were breathing heavenly now but they both had a smile, as if this is the best spar either has had in a long time.

"You seem to know a lot about this style, Miss Nara." Lord Sixth commented. Out of the corner of his eye, Shikadai saw Mira just barely tighten her fist before answering,

"I've known Taka my entire life. It's hard not to."

"Who's winning though?" Inojin asked.

"Neither." Lord Sixth and Dad said at the same time.

"Huh?" Asked the group of genin. Mira stayed silent though.

"Neither are fighting to their fullest potential." Lord Hokage said, his eyes shining with what looked like pride. "You all know how fast Lee is, with and without his weights. From what I've seen, Takashi could match those speeds if he wanted to. But they're having too much fun to actually do that. Isn't that right, Miss Nara?"

"Please, just Mira is fine, sir. And yes, you're right."

Lee vaulted over Taka, using his bo staff as leverage as Taka slide under him. Landing, Lee pivoted, the staff extending out to clip Taka. The blonde recoiled but recovered quickly to stop the second round. The end in one hand, Taka karate-chopped the bo, causing it to snap like a toothpick. Again, the boys separated, before starting to rush towards each other.

Then, they froze?

"Shadow Possession Jutsu, complete."

It wasn't a male Nara who performed the jutsu on the boys. It was Mira and her range and speed was astonishing. All of the adults, yes, even Dad, were staring at her shadows in shock. She was kneeling now, her hands in the traditional rat symbol. But her shadows- Holy shit, the guys were sparing nearly 100 yards away and she was able to ensnare them both?! And her shadow was split in two and they didn't narrow at all?! How?!

Shikadai was good with his shadows. So good in fact that Grandma Yoshino commented on it whenever she decides to come over for the early morning training. Which was almost daily. Hell, she really should be living with them, she was over so often. But seeing as her and Mom have had this really weird tension for the past four years, its probably a good thing Grandma stayed in the house next door…

Back to the jutsu. Shadow Possession Jutsu (or Shadow Paralysis if you really wanted to be old fashioned) was a demanding technique. Most Naras can only hold the jutsu for around five minutes before they run out of chakra. Dad holds the record for being able to hold the jutsu for around 30 to 45 minutes, depending on the situation, lighting, closeness to the target, etc. It's actually a huge accomplishment that Shikadai could hold his Shadow Possession for 4 minutes at his age. But at the sight of Mira's jutsu, he could tell that his skills paled in comparison to hers. Just how much chakra does she have?

"Time's up, boys. You're done." Mira ordered, ignoring the incredulous looks she was receiving from everyone. It was then that Shikadai realized that she had been using the sun to keep track of time. Lee looked like he was trying to move but couldn't budge at all. Taka, on the other hand, didn't even bother trying.

"Ah come on, Mira. We can both keep going!" Taka whined, before a shadow hand shot out to smack him on the back of the head. "Hey!"

"Don't be a dumbass. You could send each other to the hospital if you keep this up and you both know it. I'm calling this one a draw. Now, the moment I release you both, you two are going to sit under a tree and only move to drink water. Got it?"

"Fine, what a-" Taka was cut off by another smack on the head. But for some reason, the moment looked ridiculously familiar to Shikadai. And it wasn't just Shikadai who thought this…

"Yes, Mira." Lee answered. The shadows receded back to her and the boys limped back to the group. They were supporting each other, laughing and complementing each others' skills. And would you look at that, they're friends now. But why does Mira know so much about the Uzumaki's taijutsu style?

"Well," Taka said, falling back against a tree, his arms pillowing his head, "if you need me, I'll be unavailable for the next two hours." And promptly started snoring, making everyone sweat-drop.

"Has he always been this bi-polar?" Boruto asked, causing Mira to shrug.

"Aren't all shinobi?" She asked back rhetorically before nudging the sleeping blonde with her foot.

"Aw, Taka's out cold again." Beni complained, having dropped down from Lord Sixth to poke her brother's face. Motoko nodded in agreement, still perched in Dad's arms.

"Beni, leave him alone."

"Aw!" Beni whined as Mira moved the pouting redhead away. Then she looked back up at the sun and frowned.

"Well, I guess we can still do some light sparing." She started. "It's getting close to dinner time though so we're going to have to hurry."

Boruto

"Geeze kid, what do you eat? Bricks?" Boruto asked rhetorically as he carried Beni back to his house. Dad was walking next to him, piggybacking the still passed out Taka. He winched as Beni tugged a fistful of hair.

"Lord Hokage, Boruto called me fat."

"Boruto, be nice to Benihime. Benihime, let go of his hair." Dad ordered sternly.

After some light sparing, everyone had left to go home. Mirai and Old Man Kakashi had left shortly after the spar, with the promise that they would stop by Aunt Ino's house for the monthly Konoha 12 dinner. Dad and Uncle Shikamaru decided to stay around though, calling out mistakes as they saw them. And honestly, it was nice having Dad there to watch him spar with his friends again. Not that he would ever admit it out loud.

Anyway, when everyone (including a rested Lee) was done training, Mira had gotten up to wake Taka. She shook him a few times. Then she snapped her fingers under his nose.

" Taka, seriously. Wake up." She grumbled, trying to wake him again.

" Man, he's a heavy sleeper." Chocho commented.

" Maybe he's dead." Inojin said, not missing a beat. Only flinch back when the three time-traveling girls turned to death-glare him. Even Motoko, who looked like she was taking her own nap, shot straight up to glare at him. These girls even glared the same, man, they were weird…

" He's not dead. He's exhausted. The dumbass hasn't been sleeping again. Troublesome boy." Mira explained before she knelt down in front of him.

She unpillowed his arms before putting his hands together, creating a loop. Before anyone could stop her, Mira looped his arms around her neck and lifted him onto her back. His dirty blonde hair fell out of its low ponytail, revealing the back of his neck and more of his brown roots. Huh, never actually noticed how dark his roots were. She stood with a practiced ease, as if she has done it hundreds of times. She started trekking back over to their group, Taka snoozing peaceful on her shoulder, her arms holding his body up. Dad and Uncle Shikamaru shared a look before Dad stepped forward.

" Mira, would like one of us to take him?" Dad asked. Mira looked up and blinked in confusion. Then the understanding entered her face.

" Huh? Um, how do I explain this? The thing is that Taka probably won't let anyone else carry him." Mira stated. Silence and confusion filled the group.

" Huh?" The group asked unanimously. Mira sighed before muttering,

" You are such a drag, Taka, I hope you know that." Then she straightened and explained.

" Taka's actually not as heavy of a sleeper as you think. The safer he feels, the heavier he sleeps. Trying to get him up for a mission briefing is a real pain. Anyway, if you try to touch him while he's sleeping and he doesn't trust you, well-"

" He goes into sleepy taijutsu mode and kicks butt!" Beni finished, causing Lee to get a starry-eyed look. Immediately, Lee was in Mira's face, more screaming than asking,

" MY ETERNAL RIVAL KNOWS THE SLEEPY FIST!" Only to get yanked back by Uncle Shikamaru, a dangerous vibe rolling off of him that made every male genin (sans Shikadai and Taka) shiver.

" Um, if you call sleep fighting that than yes, he does…" Mira trailed off, completely oblivious to the boys' perils. She paused for a moment, her eyes locking with Dad's body before stating, "Lord Hokage, I guess you can try carrying him. Don't worry about dropping him, he's got a hard head."

And that is how Dad got stuck piggyback Taka. Eh, better him than me even if I got stuck with the mini demon. Now, Boruto had learned his lesson. Never say the word demon around Taka and Beni because bad things happen. Hell, Boruto doesn't even remember what he had been saying that first day when Beni jumped him. He knows that he said demon twice, the first ticked off Beni and the second really ticked off Taka. Oh well, doesn't matter now. He'll just won't say it anymore if it upsets them so much. But why?

"Lord Hokage, can you use chakra chains like Taka?" Immediately, the father and son both tensed at the girl's question. Boruto glanced up at his father, who had a faraway look in his eyes.

"Honestly, Benihime, I never learned how to." Dad confessed. Boruto didn't have to look at her to know that her mouth was dropped.

"No, no, no." She muttered, before she said. "We need to have an inter, inter… Boruto?" Um, she wanted him to fill in the word for her… Ok, then...

"Um, intervention?" Boruto asked more than stated but-

"Yes! Intervention! This isn't right! You and you and Hima need lessons!" Beni declared. "Five in the morning, don't be late!" How can Taka ever say no to her? She's absolutely terrifying!

"Well, son, you heard the little lady."

"Great…"

Aunt Ino and Uncle Sai were hosting the Konoha 12 dinner this time around. Not that there was anything wrong with Aunt Ino's house (please don't hit me), but Aunt Ino kind of gave Boruto the creeps (pretty please). It was just her and her eyes. And, yeah, that statement was ironic seeing as he was half-Hyuga. However, Aunt Ino could just look at you and you'll say bye-bye to any secret you had. And yes, he was speaking from experience but that was a story for another day.

"Boruto! Go get the others, we have to hurry or were going to be late!"

"And it won't be my fault this time!"

"Naruto!" Mom scolded Dad before Boruto moved to Hima's room first. After the whole teddy bear incident (never again), Boruto and Himawari agreed to never enter the other's room unless they knocked or were getting attacked by enemies. Unfortunately, Hima liked to ignore him whenever he knocked. She was passive-aggressive like that.

"Come on, Hima. We got to go." His knocks got progressively louder the more he waited. Shit, what did he do now to piss her off? Um, no, wasn't that. No, she got over that last week. Maybe it was-

"WHAT?!" Hima screeched, yanking the door, her byakugan activated. Boruto flinched back because Hima was in a bad mood if the 'Really Scary Glow of Doom' was anything to go by. (Duh, duh, DUH!)

"Um-"

"Kids, hurry up, we're leaving in 5!" Dad called. Hima blinked, her byakugan falling as the realization hit her.

"Boruto, when's dinner?"

"About 5 minutes- hmpf!"

"Ah, why didn't you get me sooner?!" She demanded as she pushed past him in a hurry to get to the bathroom. He blinked, before shaking his head. Girls. Well, time to get Beni and Taka. Taka can't still be sleeping… could he?

Luckily, all of the yelling had awoken their guest as Taka opened the door just as Boruto was about to knock. Taka yawned, before nodding to him.

"Morning."

"… Dude, it's still nighttime."

"Really? Huh, you're right. Sorry about that. Sounded a lot like mornings back at home." Taka drawled before cracking his back. Then, his eyes widened and he straightened.

"Who carried me here?" Taka asked.

"Lord Hokage did!" Beni exclaimed as she jumped onto Boruto's shoulder, which totally did not scare the crap out of him, thank you very much. (Lies, all lies…) How did she do that anyway? And there was this little thing called personal space, Beni…

"And I didn't attack him?"

"You actually do that?"

"Yep! You did good, Taka."

"Well, damn…"

"Sure, ignore my questions. I see how it is." Boruto grumbled, causing Taka to smirk at him.

"Tough luck, man. Got to make sure that one stays happy, you know." Taka said, nodding to Beni before Dad yelled,

"Kids, let's go!"

Boruto turned to move away. As he did, he noticed out of the corner of his eyes that Taka paused. He almost looked whimsical and lost in thought. And it wasn't Taka that acted differently in that second. Beni's grip on Boruto tightened before it returned back to normal. It was almost as if, they were reminded of something or someone. Nah, that couldn't be it… could it?

The Yamanaka household was bustling when they arrived. Aunt Ino had gone overbroad again. The house was spotless and there was peaceful jazz music playing in the background. Too bad the war in the kitchen was disturbing the peaceful scene.

"Pig! If you don't stir the onions, they're going to burn!"

"Shut up, Forehead! I'm not going to listen to someone who's burned water before!"

"That was one time and you know it!"

"Ino, why is there no room in your fridge? And who the hell made the mochi?!"

"It was my turn to make the mochi, Karui! The last time you did it, you mixed up the sugar with the salt!"

"I'll have you know-" Crash!

"Forehead, you clumsy idiot!"

"Not again…" Mom, bless her soft soul, sighed as she walked passed Inojin, who had let them into his crowded house. She took a deep breathe and marched into the danger zone.

"Hinata! Tell Forehead that-"

"Hinata! Tell Pig that-" Yep, just your regular Konoha 12 dinner.

The others had been smart enough to stay out of the firing zone. Mira's head shot up from her game of shogi as they entered, Shikadai moving one piece forward. They were sitting with the other genin. She waved them over as Dad moved to speak with the men. Motoko was sleeping again, her head pillowed against Uncle Shikamaru's lap as he and Sasuke-Sensei discussed something serious.

"Hey guys! Taka, you're alive!" Mira teased, elbowing the dirty blonde. He rolled his eyes but there was smirk on his face. You know, it was kind of odd how they always made sure that they were near each other. Nah, he was over thinking things again.

"Shut up. Huh, you're actually losing?" Taka spoke as he analyzed the board. The other genin stared at him in shock, causing him to look up.

"What?"

"You know how to played shogi?" Chocho asked slowly.

"Yeah."

"You, an Uzumaki, know how to play shogi?" Hey, what the hell was that supposed to mean, Inojin?! Thankfully, Taka felt just as insulted as he did.

"Excuse you, we maybe dense, but we are not idiots."

"No, you're a dumbass." Mira stated, placing her piece down. "And I'm actually winning, right Dai?" Dai?

"For now." Shikadai answered before Chocho groaned dramatically. She threw herself back against Shikadai's and Sarada's back, nearly wrecking the board.

"How much longer?" She whined. "I'm hungry." She glared at Inojin, pointing the question at him.

"Don't look at me."

"It's your house, go ask."

"Screw that, I'm not going in there."

"Uncle Sai, Inojin isn't being a good host!"

"Inojin, remember what your mother said."

"Yeah, yeah. Be a good host, get the girls something to drink, offer your chair up, blah, blah, blah." Inojin grumbled. "Wish me luck. If I die, tell my father I love him and that Mom did it." With that, the brave Yamanaka marched into no man's land.

"Bless his soul." The boys said in prayer as the girls sweat-dropped.

"Anyway…" Mira started, turning to face Taka. "How are the seals going?"

Her question caused everyone to turn towards Taka, even the men in the room shifted and paused. Taka sighed and glared at her with a 'really, right now?' look in his eyes. She shot back with a 'of course, right now.' Then he flicked his wrist.

Pop! In a puff of smoke, there was a little notepad now resting in Taka's palm. The pages looked absolutely covered with notes and ink. Taka tossed the pad to Mira before Beni and Hima could steal it from him.

"Aw…"

"Not now, girls." Taka scolded. "What do you think? Anything jogging your memory?" Mira scolded, her eyes narrowing as she scanned the pages. A tick mark formed over her forehead.

"No, nothing. Did you even sleep last night?" She asked in an annoyed tone, as if she already knew the answer.

"Of course, I did."

"Not even a wink." Taka and Beni said at the same time. Taka turned to look at his little sister, the fake hurt written on his face as Beni stuck her tongue out at him.

"Oh, is that so?" Mira said sarcastically. "And here I was, worried that you wouldn't eat. Now I have to worry about you not sleeping. Troublesome…"

"Shut up and tell me what you think of the seals."

Taka's demand caused silence to fill the living room. Mira reached up into her hair and pulled a senbon out of her bun. She stuck in between her lips, like it was a cigarette, and bit down on it. She stared at the pages, concentrating on the squibbles of kanji. After a few moments, she pulled the senbon out and used it as pointer.

"There, the seals are missing something. Everything else looks fine until you actually try to overlap the two seals." She stated firmly, causing Taka to look over her shoulder. Naturally, this caused everyone else to do the same.

The senbon was pointing at an image of circle with kanji splitting it down the middle. Wait a second… Boruto realized that the circle wasn't just a plain circle. Oh no, it was a circle made out of the kanji for the twelve months. The kanji repeated itself, making it appear infinite. Inside the circle was a familiar looking kanji. A hand shot out and stole the pad from Mira.

Old Man Kakashi stood before them, Mirai standing off to the side in caution. When he arrived, who the hell knows because quite frankly, it wasn't important. What was important was that Old Man Kakashi looked tensed. He tossed the pad to Naruto, like he couldn't believe what he just read.

"Naruto, what is the seal in the middle?" Old Man Kakashi asked. But Boruto could tell that he already knew the answer.

"… Takashi, how in the hell did you get ahold of the Flying Thunder God Seal?" Dad demanded, the seriousness etched into his face as the other men leaned over to look at the notes. Taka shot a 'look at what you've done now' look to Mira before muttering something under his breathe. Then he straightened, staring everyone dead straight in the eye.

"It's my birthright."

"Dinner!" Inojin, your timing sucks… Well, at least it can't get any worse-

"Hello, my youthful friends! Metal and I have returned from our 200th laps around the village!" God dammit…

Author’s Note - Oh, stuff is about to go down! Now you might be wondering, why would Taka and Mira openly discuss their notes to get home? Honestly, for the plot but also because they’re getting comfortable being in the Canon world and behaved like they normally would. Which is the conundrum of this fic. Everyone feels comfortable, like they’ve known Mira, Taka and the girls their whole lives, but Canon has no idea why (but a few characters are starting to piece everything together, wink wink). I hope you enjoyed this chapter because I know I did! Don’t forget to comment, bookmark and kudos! Love you guys so much!

-V.I. Winthrop

Ino

”You look like shit.” Ino pushed past Shikamaru to she lay the food that she had made for him and Naruto on the counter. “Your mother should have called me sooner.” Her nose wrinkled. “And you smell like an ashtray. I thought Naruto didn’t let you smoke in the house?”

Shikamaru glared at her, frowning around his cigarette. “In case you haven’t noticed, Ino, I’ve been a tad preoccupied.” Near them, the hallway rumbled and explosion sounded. She started to move towards the noise when Shikamaru grabbed her elbow.

”Don’t.” He said, his voice deep with exhaustion. “That was Naruto. She found Takashi’s journal.” Another explosion shook the house. “And his seals.”

”Ah.” She watched as her teammate sank against the counter. His gaze turned upward to the ceiling. She couldn’t help but feel like she was back on the battlefield when their dads passed. He looked that lost. “What can I do to help?”

”Have you heard anything else about the sighting?” Shikamaru said instead, forcing himself back into commander mode. He was deflecting again, emotionally-stunted idiot that he was. But if there was one thing that Ino learned, it was when to push him to talk and when to back down.

”ANBU lost her once she reached Snow.” Ino reported. “One of Sai’s subordinates thought he felt another ninja with her in Grass but there’s no certainty in his claim.” The kitchen grew with tension before Ino decided to slice through it with her conclusion. “But the timing of all of this is suspicious.” 

“Man, what a drag.” He puffed out the smoke and crush the bud in his sink. “Keep an eye it for me, will you?”

”Of course.” He knew that he didn’t have to ask. After all, he and Sasuke weren’t the only ones who wanted to kill her. And when Ino found her, Sakura Haruno would pay. Dearly.

Author’s Note - Oh, what’s this? A subplot from the 2.0 world? I wonder what happened [insert a wicked smile]. Love you guys so much!

- V.I. Winthrop

Chapter Text

Author's Note - She has risen, babygirl! [Queue Iris by the Goo Goo Dolls]. I’m back everyone! And I brought a new chapter over from Fanfic to Ao3. Now, for my notes. Kids, don't smoke. Shikamaru Nara smokes because he is an anime character. And no matter how cool it makes him look (trust me, I know), smoking is bad for us actual humans. Thank you, we'll bring you back to your regularly scheduled program. So, first thing on the list, I've left a hint in the title and that is all that you need to know. Second, yeah, it may seem a little like, oh the dimension-hoppers are getting along with everyone just fine, but in reality, that's only true for most people. Three, remember the numbers, guys. Numbers are important. That vague enough for you guys? Great! On to the story!

Chapter 7: Man, I Feel Like a Woman

Shikadai

"Ok, I'm going to make this a quick as possible because I didn't slave over that meal only for it to go cold." Aunt Ino ordered as she stood before Taka, her arms crossed. She didn't look that upset though, as if she's been waiting for this moment. After Taka's declaration and the Lees impromptu arrival, the women in the kitchen had entered the living room to see what all of the fuss was about. After a brief summary of what occurred, the Lord Hokage gave Aunt Ino permission to interrogate Taka.

"Yes ma'am." Taka nodded in agreement.

Shikadai watched on from his spot next to Mira and Beni. Both girls gave off an odd air to them. As if they were both petrified and at peace all at once. Like this moment was the inevitable that they have been waiting for since their arrival. Mira was standing with her shoulders back, every muscle tensed. Beni was leaning against her, her little arms wrapped around the brunette's thin waist. Flaking them was the other genin, all watching with baited breath.

The adults surrounded the pair in the middle of the room. More specifically, they stood near the exits, prepared to catch a runner. Only Shikadai's father didn't stand at attention. During the hoopla, Motoko had burst into inconsolable tears, worrying not just the room and her sister but his father as well. The little girl had thrown herself from Dad's arms and sprinted to Taka's legs. Once there, she wrapped herself around the boy, speaking through the tears,

"Don't hurt, Taka!" Over and over again, looking at Aunt Ino in absolute fear. It had taken the combined effort of Mira, Taka, and Dad to assure her that no, Aunt Ino wasn't going to hurt Taka, she just had a few questions. Even still, the child was still clingy and would only leave Taka for Dad.

"You understand why we're doing this, Takashi?" The Lord Hokage asked softly. He looked pained, as if he never wanted this to happen and that he despised the very fact that it was happening. Taka took it in stride and shrugged.

"Honestly sir, I was expecting this sooner. I get it though. You've got a village to protect and I happen to have one of its secrets. Go ahead with your questions, ma'am. I've got nothing to hide." Taka stated firmly. Aunt Ino stared him down, her Head of T&I persona kicking in.

"What's your name?"

"Takashi Uzumaki."

"How long have you been a shinobi for?"

"A year."

"Alright, you're telling the truth. Tell me, you claim that the Flying Thunder God Seal is your birthright. Is this true?"

"Yes."

"How?"

"Through my mother."

Shikadai couldn't stop his eyes as they glanced over to Himawari. The Uzumaki girl was standing next to her brother, her blue Hyuga eyes locked on the show before them. Shikadai flicked his view from her to Taka to her again. They did look similar. Shikadai then compared Taka to Himawari's father and brother. He frowned. Yes, the possibility was there. Takashi Uzumaki could be the son of Himawari.

Yet, Shikadai doubted his own conclusion. There was something about Taka, his mannerism, his attitude, his tone of voice that tossed the possibility out of the window. Taka and his heritage was an enigma that refused to be solved. There was something else, something else that he, Shikadai Nara, the son of a genius, refused to see. But what?

"So, you are Uzumakis through your mother and that you are also related to the Fourth Hokage?" Aunt Ino asked.

"Yes." Taka stated firmly, his resolution unwavering. Aunt Ino continued to stare at him before turning to face her boss.

"He's telling the truth." She confirmed.

There was a plethora of sighs of relief that filled the room. Hell, he sighed with relief. Taka was a cool guy and clearly, he was important to Mira and Motoko to cause such strong emotions from them. Shikadai shuttered to think what they would do if Taka was dragged away by ANBU. Either way, the situation was over and Taka was cleared-

"Read him." Sarada's father ordered, his visible eye staring Taka down. Lord Hokage tensed and pivoted to glared at his friend. He purposefully stood between the Uchiha patriarch and Taka. Contrary to popular belief, Shikadai did not sleep through all of his academy lessons. Shino-Sensei's history lessons was the one section that Shikadai didn't nap through. Especially when Shino-Sensei was talking about their current Hokage's life. One of Shino-Sensei's most important points was that Naruto Uzumaki was and still is an orphan who was ostracized by the village for being the human prison of the Ninetails. The boy had no one, no friends, no family. No one. So, this revelation that Takashi, and thus, Benihime, were members of his clan and his family in more ways than one, it was no wonder that the man looked ready to kill for them.

"He's telling the truth, Sasuke." Lord Hokage reminded his friend, causing the stoic man to surprisingly nodded in agreement.

"Yes, he is. He's still hiding something." Sasuke Uchiha explained.

"I'm a shinobi, sir. It's part of my job." Taka chided, trying to add some light to the situation. "It's fine though. You can read me, ma'am. It'll put everyone at ease."

There was a sharp, barely audible in take in breath by Mira. Shikadai glanced at her. Her arms were now wrapped around Beni, gripping the redette firmly against her form. Mira looked two shades paler and her eyes were laced with worry. Beni wasn't doing much better. She burrowed herself into the older girl, shielding herself away from the scene as her smaller body shook. Thankfully, Motoko had cried herself to sleep or else she would have made another scene. Shikadai reached over to grip Mira's shoulder, causing her to nod in thanks.

Obviously, Shikadai wasn't the only one to notice the girls' distress, though Mira hid it well. You could feel it though, their fear and worry with an undertone of betrayal. To them, this was the end. The guilt pouring from the adults was almost as palpable. In the two days, hell, had it only been two days? In the two days these kids had been here, it was like they've been here their entire lives. It was like they were family…

Actually, they were family now and that made the situation all the more soul crushing.

"I don't take orders from you, Sasuke." Aunt Ino sneered, turning herself to glare harshly at the boy she once fawned over. Even she had grown fond of the time-traveling quartet. "I'm not doing anything to this child," she pointed back at Taka, her stance widening slightly, "without either an order from the Hokage or permission from his guardian."

"He's hiding something." Sasuke reiterated causing her to roll her eyes.

"Maybe your years of soul searching and wandering made you forget but I'm actually a loyal shinobi." Ouch, low blow. "And so is Takashi Uzumaki. Naruto, do you want me to read him?"

"No, I believe him."

At the Hokage's order, the tension dissipated from the room. Under his hand, Mira relaxed and Beni looked up in joy. She removed herself from Mira only to soar across the room. Catching the Hokage by surprise, Beni jumped up into his arms and squeezed his neck.

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" She squealed, kissed his cheek before dropping down and doing the same thing to Aunt Ino. Aunt Ino laughed and kept the girl on her hip, turning to face the room.

"Now, can we please enjoy our meal?"

Dinner was definitely better now that the air had clearly. Everyone was chatting and laughing as the adults spun their stories about the good old days.

"-Poor Ayame, she must have gained at least 40 pounds just by eating the Ninja Chefs' food." Sakura commented as her, Uncle Choji and Uncle Naruto recounted the time they had to save the ramen girl. Now that the group was relaxing, Uncle Naruto could finally stop acting like a Hokage and relax with his friends and family.

Everyone were seated in clusters by families. The Yamanakas sat at the head, with Aunt Ino leading the feasting. Next to them were the Akimichis and the Naras, completing the Ino-Shika-Cho trio. Next were the Uchihas and the Lees, which a disaster waiting to happen. Lastly, were the Uzumakis, and their guests, Taka, Beni, Lord Sixth and Mirai. Uncle Naruto sat directly across from Aunt Ino, as a way to respect his position while being in the sacred Yamanaka compound.

"You guys have some wild stories." Mira commented from her seat across from Shikadai. She was seated next to his Dad so that when Motoko wakes up, if she ever woke up, Mira could get her plate ready. Across from Dad was Mom, who looked odd. She appeared upset but seemed to be forcing it down, faking her smile. And Dad was ignoring her, focusing his attention only on his food, the stories and not waking Motoko sooner than necessary.

Sans Motoko, this scene was nothing new in Shikadai's house. When it first happened four, nearly five, years ago, Shikadai didn't know what to do or what had caused the overwhelming silence. The first year was the worst. There were days where Mom would screech at Dad over the table, for doing as little as asking her to pass the pepper. Or there were the days were neither spoke, neither ate and Shikadai couldn't stomach the food before him. And then, there were the fights that occurred when they sent him to bed. He never could understand the words that were exchanged but most nights, Dad left the house, slamming the door as he left so that he could crash at Grandma Yoshino, Aunt Ino, or Uncle Choji's. And Mom would slam the bedroom door and act like nothing happened in the morning. It had gotten better as Shikadai got older. All of his troublesome behavior at the academy distracted his parents from their turmoil and made them almost normal.

But since that night when Motoko stared down his mother, Mom has had this vendetta against the girls, especially Motoko. Mom would flinch and look pained whenever she glanced at Dad cradling the harmless, sleepy child or if Mira challenged Dad to a game of shogi. They had triggered this behavior in his mother.

Yet, Shikadai couldn't find it in himself to blame them. The years of unresolved strain on his parents' marriage needed at catalyst, either to save it or raze it. Who was he to blame two lost girls who had nothing but the clothes off their backs? They maybe the catalyst but they weren't the cause. There was no room his heart to hate them, because they were already his sisters.

"Tell us about your Konoha!" Hima's question shook Shikadai out of his thoughts. With the rest of the table, their eyes roamed until they landed on Taka, who the question was pointed to. Beni, who had been having an eating contest with Boruto, stopped abruptly, a piece of tuna falling out of her chopsticks. Across from him, Mira looked onto and nodded. Taka snorted, throwing his hands behind his head. There was a devilish smirk on his lips.

"I'm not a good story teller. Mira is." Taka stated, nodding his head to Mira. "She has the photographic memory, after all." Shit, really? What a drag…

"And I will remember this, jackass." Mira muttered under her breathe as the room's attention landed on her.

"Troublesome, where should I start? Well, our Konoha is extremely similar to this one. With all of the technology and what not. The most obvious difference is that our Hokage's a woman." Mira started, playing with her food as she spoke.

"Our Hokage is a wise woman. And she's beautiful. The Lady Hokage is married and has four children with her husband, who looks at her as if she's an angel on earth. Milady lost nearly all of her clan before she was born and had to fight tooth and nail to get where she is now. The best way to describe her is that she a warrior. The fools who dare to underestimate her ability, her drive, her strength is either dead at her feet or changed for the better. And yet, through all that she's been through, she's merciful. There are times I question what the village did to deserve her because frankly, we don't. She too good, too powerful, too saintly to be something as mundane as our Hokage. She's too good for us."

The silence was deafening. Through Mira's ambiguous yet enlightening words, all Shikadai could picture was paradox of a woman. A puzzle so contradictory that it seemed impossible to unravel. In her sentences, Mira spoke her love and devotion to this Lady Hokage, while saying nothing at all. Just who is this woman?... And why does it sound so damn familiar?!

A clap broke the silence. It was Beni who clapped, a smile spread across her face.

"Sounds about right!" Beni confirmed as her brother nodded in agreement. Even Motoko, who was suddenly wake, clapped softly.

"Well, would you look at who's awake?" Mira chided as Shikadai passed her the empty plate that was next to him. "What'll it be, Motoko? Rice and salmon?"

But the child shook her head and shielded her face against Dad's shoulder. Mira's face fell slightly. She continued to pile the plate and divided the fish into manageable pieces. She reached over, gently rubbing the child's back. The room was still watching them, analyzing the girls' every move.

"Come on, Momo. You've got to eat. Mom won't be happy if she found out that you were sleeping through dinner again." Mira tried to joke. Motoko tightened her grip against Dad. She was probably choking him now. But Dad took it in stride.

"I want to go home…" Motoko's soft voice cut through the room.

"I miss Mommy and Daddy. I miss our Konoha. I miss our house. I want Daddy." Perhaps it was the fact that Motoko barely spoke but just her opening her tiny mouth silenced the entire room. The adults exchanged glances, the girl's soft whimper tugging at their heartstrings. Well, expect Sasuke but he was a hard-ass, deadbeat dad so who cared about what he thought? Shikadai certainly didn't.

"I'll get us home, Motoko, no matter what." Taka promised. Mira nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, don't you worry! Taka and Mira are on the case!" Mira stated with a smile, poking her little sister, causing Motoko to look at her. In an un-Nara like move, Mira gave her sister a thumb up and winked. Where have I seen that before?

"We'll be home before you know it! We don't make promises we can't keep, right Taka?"

"Well, there was the one time- ow!" Mira had chunked her chopsticks at him. But that got Motoko to chuckle.

"See, Taka's being a goofball again. Who knows what else he'll do if we keep him here for too long?" Mira teased at the boy's expanse. Taka took it in stride because Motoko was happy again, and that was all that mattered. "Now, will you please eat something?"

Her sister's plea, Motoko sat up in Dad's arms and stared at him. Dad sighed, before using his free arm to grab Motoko's plate and chopsticks. Now ecstatic, Motoko maneuvered herself so that she was in his lap, scarfing down the plate in lightening speed.

Blink, blink.

"More please!" How can someone so small eat that much food so quickly?

"And she's back!" Beni cheered. Mira ticked, flicking her sister's forehead.

"Motoko, don't forget your manners. You didn't thank Lady Yamanaka for the food." Mira scolded. Motoko blinked before shifting towards the head of the table where Aunt Ino sat. Motoko bowed her head as deeply as she could from her seat.

"Please for- for- Mira?"

"Forgive."

"Please forgive me, Lady Yamanaka. Thank you for the meal." Motoko apologized causing Aunt Ino to laugh and wave her hand.

"You guys are all so polite. Take notes, Inojin." Inojin groaned 'Mom…' but that didn't stop her. "You're welcome, sweetheart. Eat as much as you want. There's plenty to go around."

Dinner had finished without anymore hitches and soon Shikadai was laying his bed, ready to fall asleep. Belly full and warm, clean sheets, man, this is the life.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" His mother's whisper rang through the quiet compound. From the shadows creaking from under his door, his parents stood before his door in the hallway.

"Not now, Temari-" Dad tried to walk away, but Mom's voice stopped him.

"Not now, ok, then when? Or are you going to ignore the fucking elephant in the room? Like you always do? Like the coward that your father said you were?" Her voice was getting progressively louder with each question.

Shikadai should get up. He should be running from his bed. He should be wrenching his door open and screaming at them to stop fighting, because it hurt, it fucking hurt when they were fighting like this. When his mother's fury made her spill whatever vile bile she kept hidden, not caring who she hurt because she was hurt first and she was too hurt to care. When his father avoided the situation, not because he was a coward but because he was at a loss for words and nothing he could think of in his genius brain could make the situation better. Shikadai did nothing though. He just sat and listened as his mother continued.

"I've never felt so unwelcomed in my own goddamn home! I can feel it; their condescending looks that say that I shouldn't be the Lady Nara! How dare I be the Lady Nara?! How dare I be your wife?!"

"They are-"

"I want them out." Mom had hissed that line out but Dad's reaction was immediate. His fist slammed against the hallway wall, causing Shikadai's room to tremble.

"No." His voice was as clear as it was unwavering. The shadows that lite Shikadai's room showed Mom turning away from Dad, her shoulders shaking. She hissed her last words as she walked away to their bedroom.

"They can't replace it and you know it."

Shikadai laid in his bed and waited. He waited for his mother to slam the master bedroom door. He waited for Dad to unfreeze himself after what felt like hours of him not moving. Dad didn't bother using the front door. He found the nearest window, opened it and was gone. He was gone.

"I'm sorry." Shikadai shot up in his bed to stare at Mira, who had appeared from the shadowy corner in his bedroom. She had used the shadows to travel between their rooms. The fact that she could do that was amazing but Shikadai barely focused on that.

All of his attention was focused on the girl before him. She looked like she had rolled out of bed, her usually neat hair impersonating a bird's nest. Her eyes were pointed towards the floor, as if she was ashamed of herself. She shifted her weight from foot to foot before looking back at him. Then, she bowed deeply.

"I'm so sorry, Dai. For causing you and your parents so much trouble. Motoko and I won't bother you guys anymore. I'll start packing in the morning and we'll be-"

"Mira, stop!" Shikadai nearly shouted, stopping her ramblings.

"Neither of you are going anywhere." Shikadai ordered, reaching out to grip the girl's shaking shoulders.

"But we-"

"Whatever that was has been happening for years. You too have nothing to be sorry for. Besides," Shikadai paused, smiling at her. "You guys are troublesome girls but you're our troublesome girls."

Mira stared at him, her blue eyes locking with his teal ones. They fell back onto his bed as she tackled hugged him. If this was any other girl, he would have been blushing fiercely at their situation. Inside, he clutched her just as tightly as she did him, leaning against each other as their emotions swarmed them. They cried into each other, Mira releasing her stress and he doing the same thing. After the crying feast, they separated and wished each other good night.

Man, they're troublesome. But, they're worth it. Every last bit.

Then a thought struck him. Eyes widen open, Shikadai sat up in a cold sweat. He shifted so that he was staring at the wall that divided his room from the girls.

If Taka and Beni are Himawari's children, could Mira and Motoko be… my children?

Meanwhile: in Konoha 2.0

Naruto

Over with the right strand, grab a piece of hair, lay it over the middle strand. Over with the left strand, grab another piece of hair, lay it over the middle strand. Repeat the process. Aw fuck it. Racking her fingers through her hair, Naruto undid the awful braid. Guess tonight was a hair down type of night.

Her hands were stilling shaking slightly as Naruto continued to comb her blonde hair. Must be the nerves, a jacked-up concoction of overwhelming worry and adrenaline. The house was so quiet that it was smothering her. The only noise in the house was Shikamaru as he took his nightly shower. Yoshino and Granny had left, with the promise that they'll be back in the morning to prepare everything. The two women had been her rock through the entirety of Naruto's teenage life and these past two days, they were god sends. But tomorrow, this will all be over and she will be cradling her children in her arms orelse it will get ugly.

Shikamaru had cranked the code and it had taken every ounce of their will power not to run head first and recreate Takashi's amazing stupid seal. In fact, she was ready to do just that when Shikamaru stopped and talked some sense into her (sometimes his Talk no Jutsu skills were better than her own, specially when he used his stupid, genius logic). They would be no good to their kids sleep-deprived and underprepared. And, as horrifying as the thought was, they need to be at their best in case- she flinched, in case they had to completely eradicate whoever harmed their babies. (Those people better pray that not a single hair is missing from any of her children or she will have absolutely no problem going ultra Kurama, Sage, Kick-ass Kunoichi mode!)

Dimension hopping. Only her children could successfully create a way to travel through dimensions. Perhaps this was payback for some of the shit that she did earlier in her life (none of which was her fault, thank you very much, she just happened to be at the wrong place and the wrong time- Stop rolling your eyes, Shikamaru!) Really though, only her children could do this, which is why they are grounded for the rest of their life.

A little harsh, don't you think? Kurama asked, dragging her in for a conversation.

You're right, Benihime and Motoko have nothing to do with this. The twins are so grounded! She agreed as the beast snorted.

I told you this would happen. Here he goes again. What were you going to expect mating with a boy who had an IQ over 200 and played with shadows?

Good sex?

Besides the obvious, you were either going to have weak offspring or mini-powerhouses who might actually succeed in taking over the world just for shits and giggles. Or two worlds, it seems.

Ha ha, very funny. Your belief in them is astonishing.

What's truly astonishing is that you know what that word means. She rolled her eyes at him and flipped him off before exiting her mindscape.

Standing, Naruto moved from her vanity to the bed before flopping into the pillows. Ugh, Kurama was being annoying again. At least, the stupid fur-ball was just as worried about the kids as she was. Even if he would never admit that he was actually a big softy for little kids. God, she was tired. And her nerves were shot. Was this what she made Shikaku and Yoshino feel whenever she dragged Shikamaru into her adventures? Great, now she felt worried and guilty.

"What's with that face?" Her husband's baritone voice rang out as he exited their bathroom. She kept her eyes to the ceiling, before throwing her arm over them and groaning,

"I owe your mother an apology… and some flowers. Is this what she felt whenever you and I did something stupid?"

"Yes, but usually we ended up saving the world so we kind of made up for it."

"Honestly, that doesn't make me feel better." Naruto stated as she sat up. And while normally she would take the time to appreciate his body, he had an amazing ass and his abs (yum), they were too exhausted and worried to do anything naughty. Which was a damn shame because they haven't had a free night in what, two months. Stupid Chunin Exams and alien invaders. Oh well, they had been creative. There was reason that their offices had sofas. And desks. And the floors… No wonder they had four kids.

"Well, we've figured out the seal so we'll be tucking them in tomorrow." Shikamaru commented as he pulled up his pajama bottoms. He had a pajama shirt, key word being had. She may have stolen it. Eh, it not like he ever wore it anyway.

"After we chew them out?"

"Of course." He agreed immediately, pulling back the sheets and climbing in. Then he reached over to the bedside table, pulling out one of his reports.

"I thought we agreed not to bring work to bed."

"We also said we wouldn't bring bed to work and that went so well." Shikamaru said sarcastically, causing her to flush. It wasn't her fault that she goes through heat… stupid fur-ball.

"Besides, I thought you would want to read this one." He passed the paper over. "Apparently, the twins had applied to do a test-run for the Jonin Exams earlier this week."

"What?" She asked, snatching the paper from him. "They haven't passed all of the qualifications. And Takashi's too lazy to put in the effort to take a test early."

"But his twin isn't." Shikamaru pointed out as she continued to scan the papers. "Normally Kiba and I would have green-lighted their request but given everything's that happened-"

"Denied until their probation is over." Naruto stated firmly, before she paused to amend it. "Or until I say so. Whichever comes first."

Her husband snorted as she tossed the paperwork away from the bed. They'll clean it up later. She reached up to comb her fingers through his slightly wet hair (it was sexy when he had his hair down) before laying against him, trying to get comfortable. His arm wrapped itself around her tiny waist before he leaned down to peck her forehead.

"You're not going to sleep, are you?" Shikamaru asked, causing her to give him a guilty smile. "Tch, Troublesome Wife."

"Lazy Husband." She answered back. "Like you've slept at all."

He stayed silent as she reached over to shut off the lights.

"I love you." Naruto whispered as she hovered over Shikamaru. In the darkness, his eyes seemed to glow. They softened before he kissed her gently.

"I love you too. Get some sleep." As their bedroom pitched into darkness and silence, Naruto tried to sleep. She was almost there when-

"LADY HOKAGE! WE HAVE RETURNED FROM SUNA AT A MOST YOUTHFUL PACE WITH- EH, OH, OW!" Thunk, thunk!

Lee was founded pinned to the wall across from their bed by her kunai and Shikamaru's trench knife as Shikamaru flicked on the light switch. With his entire Suna Mission squad, in her bedroom. Now, being the Hokage and before that, the wife of the Jonin Commander, she was used to people showing up at her house (and bedroom) unannounced. It came with the job. With it, came a rule which was-

"Lee, someone better be dying." Yep, there it was.

"It appears that we've interrupted something, Washboard."

"Really, Sai, what gave it away?" Naruto replied sarcastically as she sat up. It was a good thing she actually wore her nightgown. Though, it wouldn't be the first time someone's seen her looking less than decent. At least Hinata had the decency to blush. Not that she could ever stay mad at Hinata.

"Hn." Which translated from Uchihaniese into 'Nice outfit, Dobe.'

"Bastard, I don't have the patience to deal with your assholeness right now."

"What do you guys want?" Shikamaru complained, throwing himself back into the pillows. "We were actually sleeping. For the first time in two days."

"Uh, I'm sorry Naruto, Shikamaru. We just wanted to let you guys know that the villages couldn't find the kids anywhere but they're going to keep looking." Ten-Ten apologized.

…

"That's why we called you guys back. We already know that." Shikamaru said slowly. Naruto could feel a tick mark forming. The group before them blinked.

"Oh…" They all said.

"Alright, everyone, out of my bedroom! I want you all here at 800 hours for your full report and next time, read the entire damn summons! I told you guys to report back in the morning!" Naruto ordered.

"It is the morning." Not the point, Shino.

"Get out…" Shikamaru and Naruto ordered, the annoyance laced in their tone. Thankfully, Hinata got the message. She bowed deeply, before getting Lee off of the wall.

"We're sorry, guys. Have a good night." Hinata said and with that, the group left in hurry.

"What are we going to do with them?"

"Stick them at the Academy for two weeks?"

"Seems like an abuse of power."

"That's never stopped us before."

"True, let's do it!"

"Troublesome Wife."

"Lazy Husband." She kissed him before tucking back against him and falling into a restless sleep.

The early morning training was as heartbreaking as it was nostalgic. It reminded Naruto of the first time she learned about the Naras super-secret training. That had been a weird day.

She was around eleven. Earlier that day, some civilian drunkards had thought that trashing her apartment while she wasn't there was a brilliant idea in their tiny, pea sized waste of shape they called brains. It wasn't the first time that it happened, but it had been the first time Shikamaru had seen some of the truly sad details about her life at the time (mainly because she did her absolute best to hide it from him).

The pair had been friends since the day she switched into their class, when she had left a whoopy cushion on Iruka-Sensei's chair. This triggered a cream pie to fall on him, once again proving that classic pranks were honestly the best. Of course, she was sent to wait in the hallway. After five minutes of utter boredom, Shikamaru had been sent out to join her because 'If you like to sleep so much, do it where we can't hear you snore!' And to Iruka-Sensei's absolute horror when she, his honorary little sister, confessed to him that they (Shikamaru and her) had been dating for nearly a year (probably more than that actually), and she couldn't tell him because of the Akatsuki and the war, and oh yeah, they got married during the war (oops). Anyway, Iruka-Sensei was the reason they were friends to begin with.

Later on, Shikamaru confessed to her that in the beginning, the main reason he hung out with her was because she was an enigma that he wanted to figure out. That reasoning lasted for a week until he realized that he actually enjoyed her presence and wanted to be her friend. The rest as they say, is history.

Back to the training. Shikamaru had insisted on walking her home that day from the academy. Something about her being a troublesome danger magnet and that it was a drag but someone needed to make sure she got home in one piece. Doesn't he have a way with words? Anyway, they had arrived at her apartment and when Naruto pushed her key into the lock, the door swung open.

" What the?" Shikamaru questioned as she froze. Before she could stop him, he pushed the door open all of the way and entered the little apartment. Graffiti covered the walls that she had just cleaned earlier that week. The words 'bitch' and 'demon' littered the scene. Her few plates were smashed to pieces and her fridge had been raid. Left over bottles of alcohol covered every inch of her floor. Her windowsill garden, which she had worked very hard on, thank you very much, was uprooted, the soil dirtying her floor. She didn't want to see they did to her bedroom, especially with the smell of urine that was coming from said room. Looks like she'll be sleeping on the floor again.

" Um," Naruto started, rubbing the back of her neck as she approached her friend. He was still inspecting the apartment and barely acknowledged her.

" Well, it looks like I need to go grocery shopping again. And I better start cleaning. I hope they didn't get my clothes again. It sucks having to wear the same underwear for a few weeks. Thanks for walking me home, Shikamaru. Shikamaru?" She was rambling nervously again, trying to stay positive. On the bright side, at least she wasn't here when they did it this time. But now that Shikamaru saw how people really, like really, hated her, he wasn't going to be her friend anymore, and he would leave and she couldn't blame him because why would he be friends with a demon like-

But then, Shikamaru turned to face her. She had never seen such a furious expression on her lazy friend before now. Normally, he faked his annoyance and anger, mainly because he liked ticking people off and was too lazy to actually get angry. But this, this was pure, unadulterated anger.

" Shika-" She called out again, only to have him gently but firmly grabbed her wrist and dragged her out of the ruined place. He didn't speak or let go, no matter how many times she tried talking to him or shaking him off. Eventually, she gave up and let him drag her. After a while, she noticed that they were headed to the clan compounds of the Akimichis, Yamanakas and Naras. They arrived at his house with him slamming the door open. Yoshino whipped her head out of the kitchen while Shikaku looked up from his game of shogi. Shikamaru didn't even let her take off her shoes as they entered the living room.

" Shikamaru?" Yoshino asked in shock. She too was shocked by the apparent emotions that adorned her son's face. Shikaku had his thinking warrior look on, his eyes glancing between the two children before him.

" Mom, Dad, Naruto's going to be staying with us." Naruto whipped her head around to give a look that can only be described as 'Huh?' Shikamaru ignored her confused expression, releasing the grip on her wrist so that he could hold her hand instead. Now, if she was a normal ten-year-old, her reaction to a boy holding her hand should have been 'ew, cooties.' But, Naruto craved touch and squeezed his hand back just as tightly. Besides, it was Shikamaru. Yoshino and Shikaku shared a worried look before Shikaku asked his son,

" What happened?"

Now, the Naras knew how unpopular she was in the villages and even before she became Shikamaru's friend, the lazy clan had always treated her well. Shikaku frequently badgered her ANBU team to make sure that they actually did their job, especially if Big Brother Dog wasn't there. Nara shinobi and kunoichi were often the ones that broke up the angry mobs or at least froze them until she could escape. Thus, there was no way in hell she was going to mooch off of them any more than she already did.

" It's nothing, really!" She tried to explain, faking a smile. "Someone broke into my apartment is all. I just have to clean it up! No need to-"

" They completely ransacked it." Shikamaru cut her off, the iciness in his tone telling his parents just how serious he was. "It isn't safe. She's staying here."

And that is how the guest room next to Shikamaru's room became her bedroom. Shikaku had gone to check the apartment, took one look, and stormed the Hokage's office. Gramps immediately agreed to her new living arrangements, which pissed the civilian council off to no end (you know you're doing something right when you're pissing off the civilian council).

How does this tie into the first time she participated in the traditional early morning training? Well, it was hard to sleep when Yoshino decides to throw her giant shuriken at Shikaku during their spar. He dodged, but sadly, her window couldn't.

" Ep!" She screeched as glass shattered and the shuriken got imbedded into the back of the door. Well, that's one way to wake up. At 4:00 in the morning. The family swarmed her in a matter of seconds.

" Ah, Naruto! Are you ok? Did the glass hit you? Let me see!" Yoshino panicked as she inspected Naruto, making the girl feel like a ragdoll with all of the matriarch's pulling. The male Naras were doing what they did best; muttering troublesome under their breath.

" Look at what you did, Shikaku! We lost another window!" Yoshino scolded, turning to wag her finger at her husband.

" What did you want me to do? Get hit?" Shikaku muttered, which Yoshino heard, naturally. She got that really scary glow around her again and her frying pan was in her hand.

" I mean, yes, dear, I'm sorry." He stuttered through quickly, trying to appease his wife.

" Whipped." Shikamaru coughed, earning him a smack on the head from his dad.

" Um, why are you guys up at 4:00 in the morning?" Naruto asked, causing the family of three to blink, remembering that she was there too.

" Um, are we allowed to tell her?" Shikamaru asked, looking up at his dad.

" Well-"

" Shikaku, I have an idea!" Yoshino exclaimed before leaning up to whisper into his ear. The kids shared a confused look before they continued to watch the parents' hushed conversation. Shikaku nodded a few times. He mouthed 'Really?' glancing back at the kids before listening to his wife's whisper. When Yoshino eventually stopped, he spoke for the kids to hear,

" I'll handle it in a few hours. Well, Naruto, you are one of the few non-Naras to know this so you can't actually tell anyone. We," he waved to his family, "were training."

"… You three were training?"

" Yes."

" At 4:00 in the morning?"

" We started at 3:30, actually."

" Even him?" She questioned, pointing to her lazy friend. "Mr. I'm Going to Sleep Through Practice Spars and Kunai Throwing?" The parents snorted in laughter.

" Why do you think I sleep through school?" Shikamaru stated. "I've already learned all that stuff and daily training at 3:30 every morning is exhausting. Iruka-Sensei's droning on and on about chakra theory is the perfect time for a nap."

Ok then…

" But why so early?" Naruto asked.

" Believe me, I asked the same question." Yoshino stated, giving her a weird wink, like she knew something that Naruto didn't.

" Our clan specializes in a jutsu that manipulates shadows and darkness. What better time to do that than when the shadows are most prominent?" Shikaku explained and while Naruto didn't understand all of the words that he used, her vocabular still sucked, but she got the main point.

" And you're going to join us!" Yoshino chirped cheerfully, causing the kids to blink at her.

" Eh?!" They asked.

" But I thought the stupid council said that you guys couldn't help her with her training?" Shikamaru remembered. That whole shit show had happened when she was ten, but that was for later.

" Correct, we, the adults, can't directly help her. But if Naruto just so happened to be there for our early morning training and we're fixing your mistakes, well, can they really blame us for Naruto being bright? Besides, you can help her all you want." Shikaku explained with a wicked smirk. His son mirrored him perfectly before turning to her.

" Get dressed, we've got work to do. Starting with your taijutsu."

" Hey, it's not that bad."

" You look like a drunk brawler. Come on, we're going to fix it. Troublesome Girl."

" Lazy Boy!"

"You're distracted again." Shikamaru commented as the edge of his trench knife grazed her cheek. She jumped away, wiping the blood away, revealing a perfectly healed cheek.

"Sorry, lost in memories." She stated, as she high-jumped, her leg extended for a drop-kick. He blocked her this time, but the ground still cratered beneath them. They broke apart, before the timer rang out. Shikamaru sighed with relief before collapsing against the bench, glopping down some water. He passed it to her before asking,

"What were they about?"

"The morning I first started training with you guys."

"Ah, good times. I could actually beat you in a spar back then."

"Don't sell yourself short. You're still way smarter than me."

"Well, someone has to be the smart one."

"Hey!"

"Kidding, troublesome woman." Shikamaru said before groaning, "Why do I have a feeling that the kids are fine but have done something to mess up life as we all know it?"

"Because they have? Sorry, we'll blame it on my side this time. What does that make?"

"Nara: 285 to Uzumaki: 94 but the Uzumaki side is doubled because it's your family and none of you do anything half-assed."

"Damn right we don't." She commented before saying, "We should get ready, everyone's going to be here soon and I still need to decide if I should wear the cape."

"Wear it, it shows your status and intimidates people if we have to fight."

"You're right, good call. Let's go."

Author's Note - Well, was that a dozy of a chapter? So, what do you guys think is wrong with Shikamaru and Temari? Side note, sorry to all of you guys who are rooting for Canon Naruto and Shikamaru to get together but that ain't happening. The Canon relationship will stand in Canon Universe. Also, here she is, Naruto 2.0! For not giving you guys too much background knowledge, I've clearly showed the difference between the two universe. And before people start bitching at me for saying that Naruto and Shikamaru 2.0 are too young to be married during the war, if they can kill at the age of twelve, they can get married. Besides, before going to WWII, a lot of young people got married before the husbands went off to fight. It's the same thing here, except both spouses are in the war. Also, this is a story, fiction. Its not to be taken seriously. Well, what do you guys think? Review, favorite and follow. Love you guys! See you guys soon!

-V.I. Winthrop

Yoshino

”Your grandson is lazy genius.” Yoshino spoke to the image of her late husband. “He and girls found a whole new world. You would have been proud, even if it’s way too troublesome.” Shikaku, of course, said nothing back. 

“Naruto won’t stop apologizing.” She smiled sadly. “She said that their antics growing up must have taken years off of my life if what she’s feeling right now is any indication.”

Yoshino sighed and shifted her weight, trying to elevate the pain off of her bad leg. “Shikamaru and Naruto are going to go to that new world and save the kids tomorrow…” Her husband’s lifeless eyes and endless smile was like a kunai to the heart. “Do you think you’re still alive? In that new world?”

Silence followed. The candle next to his photo flickered. A shadow stretched against floor, lightly grazing her bad knee.

Yoshino chocked back her tearful smile and locked eyes with the photo. “Good. I don’t know what I’d do if you were still alive there. I’d probably never leave.” Finally, the Dowager Lady Nara stood with a wince as her leg protested. Decades later and those burns still bothered her. Or maybe it was the guilt from Haruka’s death bubbling up again. Who knows?

”I love you.” Yoshino leaned close to candle. “Goodnight.”

She blew a kiss and the snuffed out the flame.

Author’s Note - I’ve never gotten over Shikaku’s death and I don’t think I ever will. Love you guys!

-V.I. Winthrop

Chapter Text

Author’s Note - Hi guys! Thanks for all of your comments! Welcome to one of my action packed chapters in this fic. Trust me, it won’t disappoint. Also, just a reminder, I wrote with barely any knowledge of Boruto many years ago, so it’s definitely different from canon. Oh well. On to the story!

Chapter 8: Mira Gets a Proposal?

Mira

"What are you trying to do? Draw someone to death? Come on, Inojin, take this seriously!" Mira ordered as she exploded another one of his ink beasts with her kunais, before catching him with her shadow. Man, these kids were painfully slow. And Inojin's rainbow ink was making his attacks really unintimidating. She fell into a spilt as Chocho's expanded fist swept over were her head used to be.

"Ow, fuck!" And clearly, this Inojin wasn't as flexible as the one in her world; something she may or may not have contributed to. Not that she was sorry. He called her Bitch, she called him Bastard, and they would spar out their hatred/dislike/fondness for each other. It was kind of their thing. Shit, this place was really messing with her if she missed Inojin of all people.

"Dai, Inojin said a bad word." Motoko said from where her and Dai sat on the sidelines. Dai pulled an unknowingly Taka move by volunteering to watch over Motoko. Lazy asses, the both of them. Maybe Grandma Yoshino was right; Nara men are born to be one thing, lazy! Dai had just nodded along in a lazy daze, watching the clouds pass above them.

Releasing the jutsu temporally, she swung herself out of the spilt into a triple back flip. Focusing chakra to the soles of her feet, she quickly sprinted up the trees to gain some coverage. Normally, she would use her Nara jutsu to trap whoever was following, then throw some of her fancy elemental ninjutsu at them. Sadly, she was restricted to only her clan jutsus, which sucked. How can she be Konoha's budding Element Mistress without her elemental jutsus?! Oh well, she can improvise.

Mira flipped out of the tree as Inojin and Chocho raced up the tree she had just left. Immediately, her hands were in position as she landed on the ground. Her shadow extended and snagged them both. The pair screamed as they were slammed together, her shadows tying them together with a bow. And because her shadows had a sense of humor, they were left hanging from the highest branch.

"Nice look, guys!" Dai laughed.

"Shut up, Shikadai! Get us out of here!" Chocho screeched.

"Ow! Watch where you're squirming, fat-ass!" Inojin ordered. Chocho starting swinging the pair until Inojin was slammed back against the tree. Ha Ha! That was one of the reason she and Chocho got along so well. They shared a sick joy about causing Inojin pain. Poor boy. Oh well!

"Alright, down you go." Mira said as her shadows lowered them to the ground and receded back into her. But not before she got pictures. She needed new blackmail.

"You're pretty creative with your shadows." Dai commented as he carried Motoko over to them.

"Wish I could take credit for it." Mira laughed. "Taka came up with most of them. He thinks that I can do just about anything with my shadows." Slowly, their group started moving to visit Boruto and company, who had messaged them saying that they were at Training Ground 7.

"He's right. Quick question. How long can you hold your shadow for? You don't even look tried!" Chocho asked, poking her to get her attention.

"Um, let's just say I'm the best in the clan and leave it at that." Mira said. The last thing they need to know was how she broke the sixteen generations long record for how long can a Nara hold their shadow. At the age of 7. Dad had looked at Mom and said troublesome and 'Only your daughter could do this. Stop breaking the impossible, Naruto! We're running out of things to throw at you!' To which Mom replied, 'But that's my thing, Shikamaru!' Anyway, the Ino-Shika-Cho trio, plus two Nara girls, arrived to a scene that Mira can only describe as pure Uzumaki chaos.

"No!" Beni screeched, whacking a ruler against Boruto's knuckles. "You have to write neater! That looks more like an 8 instead of a 4!"

"Sir, you have to control the chains. They won't strangle you if you show them that you are in charge." Taka sweat-dropped, unraveling Guy Mom from his own, tangled up Chakra Chains. Oh no, what have they done?

Oh, and they weren't the only ones watching the spectacle. Everyone who was at dinner last night was there. Even Temari, who was glaring at Motoko again. Tch, fine by that way. Have a vendetta against a child. Real mature. Mira found herself turning to Aunt Hinata. Which was still fucked up that Aunt Hinata was married to Guy Mom, in her humble opinion. Still, Mira turned to the older woman.

"What is this?" Mira asked.

"Apparently, Takashi and Benihime are giving a lesson. I believe they called it 'How to be an Uzumaki 101.' They've been at it since 5 this morning." Aunt Hinata explained as an explosion erupted from Boruto's scroll. Boruto was covered in soot.

"Cough, cough, you idiot! That's supposed to be the kanji for water!" Beni yelled, hitting Boruto again with her ruler. Maybe Beni has been spending too much time with their grandmothers again…

"Hima! We need a new scroll and ink, stat! Code black! Code black!" Beni cried. Himawari saluted and marched up to Uncle Sai. She held out her hand and released it…

The Puppy Dog Eyes no Jutsu. With added cuteness points for having the Hyuga's eyes. Hima had the scroll and ink back to Beni before you could blink.

"Again! And don't waste the ink this time! Hima, he needs penmanship lesson."

"Clearly, it's awful! I'll hire a tutor, Grandpa still owes me a favor." Hima agreed.

"Guys, still here."

"Keep writing!" The girls ordered, each giving off their own evil glow. Only three days and they were best friends. Man, Beni worked quickly.

"What are you guys doing here?" Dai asked, the question pointed at the spectator group.

"We wanted to see how all of this was going to turn out." Uncle Choji said, munching on some potato chips. "Naruto told us that the kids were going to teach him a few things last night at dinner."

"Honestly, best show ever." Uncle Kiba snickered. "Glad I ran into you guys on my back from that mission. So, you're the Nara girl?" Akamaru barked happily beside him.

"Yes sir, Mira Nara, pleased to meet you." Mira introduced herself before pointing at Motoko, who had once again found Not Dad. "That's my little sister, Motoko. You'll have to excuse her, she's shy and sleepy." Uncle Kiba laughed before giving her some room so that she could sit between him and Aunt Hinata. Man, it was weird seeing them not married. Kenji will never believe her when she tells him that his dad was married to a cat lady in this dimension. He might actually die from a heart-attack. Note to self, remember to bring the camera to training.

"In coming!" Someone shouted as the group dunked, a plethora of chains flew over their heads.

"What a- I mean, trouble- I mean, Mira, you're here!" Wow, real smooth, Taka. "Lord Hokage sucks at chakra control." Huh, granted Mom's chakra control wasn't great but she was still pretty decent at it.

"What do you want me to do?"

"Fix it?" Mira rolled her eyes at his pitiful plea.

"Nope, you got yourself into this, you deal with it."

"I didn't even agree to this, Beni did!" Taka protested before dodging another rogue chain. "What the hell is with your chains and coming to life?!"

"If it helps, my clones used to do this too." Guy Mom said bashfully, scratching the back of his head. Taka looked at him in disbelief.

"Why didn't you say anything two hours ago?" Taka complained, before he called out to her. "Mira, what do The Notes say about dealing with out of control clones?"

"'If you are facing a few rogue clones, there are a few ways you can deal with it. The most obvious one is killing them right way and never using Shadow Clone Jutsu ever again. Clearly, you aren't ready for it. Personally, I recommend my method of actually letting them run wild for a bit in a controlled space before beating them into submission. Trust me, it works like a charm and they'll start calling you boss.' The Notes, chapter 2, page 73, paragraph 5."

There was silence as everyone stared at her in disbelief. Mira shrugged.

"What? I have a photographic memory. I remember a lot of things." Mira stated.

"Yeah, a little bit about everything and a whole lot about nothing." Taka snickered before leaping out of the way of her senbon. Oops, her hand slipped. Sorry Taka… Not!

"I can't believe Naruto's actually learning some about his clan." Sakura Uchiha commented to Uncle Kakashi, causing him to nod. Mira couldn't believe that Sakura was actually Sarada's birthmother in the dimension. Man, Mom's going to flip a shit when she finds out and it's not going to be pretty. (The reason for that is a really long and complicated tale that was too troublesome to explain at this moment.)

"I can't believe Dickless has a brain to learn with." Uncle Sai commented, causing his wife to slap him on the back of the head.

"Alright, that's 47 chains you got under control, 258 to go." Taka counted in defeated, wondering why oh why was he always volunteered to do stuff.

47… 47… Page 47!

"TAKA! STOP TEACHING!"

Now, if they were back at home, her yelling at her twin is quite common. Actually, there was always a lot of noise at their house. Someone fighting over the bathroom, people arguing over whose turn it was to feed the fawns, random shinobi popping in and out of the house, etc. But since she was trying to act more Nara while here, she's been oddly quieter. It actually felt good to yell again. The people here though, looked at her as if she had just been taken over by a ghost. Well, more like her brain took over and it was running a mile a minute. Ignoring all of the looks, she raced over to Taka and started shaking him like a rag doll.

"Taka, you're a genius!"

"How?! Stop shaking me, woman!"

"Numbers, Taka! Numbers! Page 47! Your seals diary! I remember the code! I need something to write on!" Mira exclaimed. Her twin's eyes widen before he ripped the scroll and ink that Boruto was using away from him.

"Hey!"

"Sorry, dude. Everyone, you are about to witness the genius and insanity that is Mira Nara." Taka teased, but she hardly cared. She barely noticed how everyone circled her as she knelt in the grass, furiously writing number after number. Soon, the entire page was filled with evenly spaced rows of numbers.

"New scroll!" She ordered and was immediately handed one by Uncle Sai. She started to decode her own message. One of the done sides to her memory is that she has to do everything the way she remembers it. Which means, no, she just can't remember the message, no, she had to write down the code first, then solve the damn thing. Troublesome…

"Amazing, that coding method was used back in the First Shinobi War." Not Dad muttered under his breath.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Aunt Ino asked.

"Notice the difference in how her stroke pressure when she wrote out the numbers. Now notice how the numbers only go up to 46. It's a traditional code, the numbers represent a syllabary from our alphabet. However, matched every number to syllabary, you wouldn't get the message. Her brush strokes are the key. The numbers that she needs are the ones that she used a lighter stroke when she wrote it. Thus, you need a fine eye to detect the difference in the strokes. Old fashioned but since every few people even know about, it's a perfectly good method to use in order to protect something important." Not Dad explained for her. There, she finished it. Under two minutes, a new record!

"Shadows, they bridge the worlds together. Taka, I activated the seal." Mira said in shock.

Before anyone could comment, all of the adults, plus Akamaru, were thrown away from the kids. They were dog-piled off to the side and a huge, yellow cube formed around them. Oh no, that can't be good...

"I'm sorry, but I can't let you four leave just yet." A voice called from above the kids. Fuck, these guys again! Why can't they just go away?! Above them was an Otsutsuki, one of those alien-hybrid shinobi things that were a real pain in the ass to deal with. And an army of shinobi puppets. Great, what a drag…

"Toneri!" Guy Mom shouted from the barrier. "Let us out of here so that I can kick your ass again!" The adults were all standing, their faces pressed against the walls as they all glared up at the floating alien. So, this world has to deal with piece of shit aliens too… God dammit…

"Tempting but no. Good luck trying to get out of that barrier though. One of my dear grandmother's creations, you know. Only I can bring that barrier down." Toneri bragged.

"Is this the asshole who tried to marry Aunt Hinata then proposed to Mom mid-battle?" Taka asked as he helped her up.

"I think so." Mira stated as the genin all stood-up to face Toneri. At his side was a much of his puppet shinobi.

"What the hell do you want? Dad already kicked your ass and Mom already rejected you!" Boruto stated, causing Toneri to laugh.

"Oh, believe me, young Boruto, I remember that very clearly. However." The alien's eyes shifted until they landed… on Mira. Fucking Hell! "She will be my new bride."

Mira wasn't sure who growled louder, Taka, Shikadai, or Not Dad. She shifted into her taijutsu stance. Raising her eyes to meet Toneri, she glared at him.

"Yeah, no! Piss off, Pervert!" What was with her and fighting people who wanted to date/marry her? It happens all the fucking time and she only 13!

"Feisty!" Toneri laughed. "I like that. But it's not like you have a choice. Get her."

With that, the shinobi puppets rushed forward to swarm them.

Kakashi

"Benihime, Class Orange Shinobi! Your mission is to protect Himawari and Motoko! Activate protection shield when safe!" Mira ordered firmly, before her hands signed very quickly for a genin. "Black Spider Lily!"

Her shadow shot out, ensnaring nearly all of the puppets in an almost spider web-like fashion. One of Shikaku's old techniques, Kakashi noted. The puppets she missed were being pushed towards her by a fast Takashi, who was like a dirty blonde comet in the sky. He kicked and punched the puppets to the ground, where Mira trapped them. The other genin started to do the same. The genin, plus two academy students and a girl who was practically still a baby, were facing off against an Otsutsuki all by themselves. And the adults could do nothing because this barrier was repressing all of their chakra. Yes, even Kurama was repressed. They could do absolutely nothing. No jutsus, no Kekkei Genkai, nothing!

"What the hell do you mean your rinnegan isn't working?" Well, Shikamaru was pissed off.

"I can't get us through, it isn't working. It's like this thing is repressing our powers."

"Byukagan!" Hinata shouted, activated her eyes, only shield them and hiss. "He's right! This thing isn't letting us use our Kekkei Genkai! No, Himawari!" The mother's scream of fear alerted everyone to the youngest Uzumaki's peril as Himawari stood before them protecting Motoko, her own Byukagan activated as a puppet tried to stab through her.

Whoosh! Slice!

"Stay away from my sisters, you big meanie!"

Kakashi blinked in absolute shock with a hint of horror at the scene he just witnessed. Benihime had just rushed forward in lightning fast speed and sliced the puppet in half. But it was the weapon that she used that made him and the original Team 7 drop their jaws in absolute shock.

"Is that Kubikiribocho?" Sakura asked, not believing her eyes as they watched Beni swing Zabuza's blade with practiced easy. A redhead seven-year-old, swinging a blade that was taller than her as if it was as light as a feather. Where the hell did she even get that thing?! And the girl had complete control of the blade, slicing puppets with expert ease as Hima called out their positions, Motoko now latched on Hima's back. Together, the two Uzumaki girls battled their way to the yellow cube and put their backs the adults. Beni stabbed the ground, the blade shielding girls before Beni put her hands that the flat side of the blade.

"Fuinjutsu: Protective Claymore Shield!" From her hands, blue chakra lines swirled, etching themselves into the blade before a chakra barrier formed around the girls. The barrier formed another cube, just big enough to completely shield the girls. One of the puppets tried to break through into, only to combust on contact.

"Motoko, take over the seal! Hima, time to put those lessons to work! Don't worry, everyone! I'll get you guys out!" Beni promised.

With the most serious expression Kakashi's ever seen on a four-year-old, and that's saying something, Motoko took helm of the seal on the sword, stabilizing the chakra barrier. Beni turned to face the yellow wall that separated the two barriers and placed her hand on it. Immediately, chakra lines and seals appeared before her and she groaned.

"Ah man, whoever made this was good." Then the girl yelled at the top of her lungs.

"MIRA, TAKA, I NEED AT LEAST TEN MINUTES!"

"Roger that! Mira, do it!" Taka ordered as the genin jumped away from the shadow bound puppets.

"Shadow Decapitation!" Mira said. Her shadows crawled up the puppets. Slice, slice, slice. Thump, thump, thump. All of the puppets fell, all headless. Toneri laughed and clapped.

"Oh yes, you are perfect!" He purred, looking at Mira as if she was a treasure trove. "A girl Fertile with Yin and blessed with endless chakra and longevity. Yes, you will bring back the great glory of Otsutsuki Clan when you bear our children." What the hell does that even mean, Fertile with Yin?

"I'd sooner die!" Mira hissed. "No Nara woman has ever been told what to do from someone she doesn't respect and I will be damned if I am the first!"

"That can be arranged. Marry me, Shikamira Nara or die with your friends. The choice is up to you." Toneri said. Then in a second, he was before the girl, his hand caressing her face. Mira froze, stunned by the fact that he knew her first name.

… Shikamira… her real name was-

Gasps exploded from the adults in the cube, all of their eyes locking onto Shikamaru. His gloved fists banged against the barrier, his shoulders shaking with fury and worry. Shikamira, though clearly, she went by her nickname, wasn't just a powerful Nara. No, she was the heiress, the first born, the future Lady Nara.

"How did he know that?" Beni grumbled as her and Hima continued to mess with the barrier. Motoko shrugged, giving the hybrid a death-glare that would scare any man.

"ROARING RIPTIDE!"

"Umph! Gaah!" Toneri shouted in pain as Taka's quick, chakra infused kick sent him flying back into the forest. Enraged, Taka followed and launched himself at the alien, throwing punches left and right.

"Keep! Your! Hands! Off! Of! My! Sister!" Taka roared with each punch.

…Sister, did Taka just call Mira his-

"Sister, holy shit-"

"How did we miss that?"

"No way-"

"Told you he was hiding something."

"Bastard, I don't have the patience to deal with your assholeness right now!"

"Then that means…" It was Shikamaru who whispered that line out and it finally clicked to Kakashi part of the image that he couldn't see cleared. These four time-travelers were siblings! That's why they were so close! Why Mira knew the Uzumaki taijutsu style! Why the girls were distraught when they were questioning Taka last night!

"Benihime, what your brother just said?" Naruto asked, causing Beni and Motoko to give them a guilty smile.

"Oops! Surprise! Well, Mira and Taka are twins. Mira's the oldest. Then Taka, then me, then Motoko!"

"But you said you were Uzumakis!" Choji stated.

"Yep, because we are! I'm Benihime Nara Uzumaki, but you can still call me Beni!" Beni exclaimed. To Kakashi's surprise, Hima commented,

"I'm surprised you guys didn't find out sooner!" They gave her a surprised look. "What?! I noticed that Taka and Shikadai acted and looked the same! So, I asked Beni!" They turned to the redette, who shrugged.

"What? You didn't ask." Before anyone could question the girls further, Taka was throw back against their cube as the wind picked up. A mini tornado formed in the middle of the forest, causing the genin to take cover.

"Fuck, that hurt!" Taka complained as he unpeeled himself from the barrier. "How much longer, Beni?! He brought a friend!" Taka's bangs whipped out of his face, revealing his pissed off expression. In that moment, Kakashi could see just how identical he looked to Shikadai and Mira.

"Um, ten minutes?!"

"That's what you said last time!"

"Oh, you spilled the beans again, Taka." Ripping his blue eyes away from the growing tornado, Taka turned to have the adults. There was no denying it now. You could just see how Nara he was, especially when he slouched and said,

"What a drag…"

"I'm going to enjoy killing you all but first, I would like to introduce you to my little friend." Toneri laughed from above as he watched the fight below him. He was playing with them, Kakashi realized. He wanted to play with his food before he killed it.

"TAKA, GET YOURSELF BACK HERE AND HELP US, YOU DUMBASS!" Mira shouted through the windy forest.

"GIVE ME A MINUTE!"

"WE DON'T HAVE A MINUTE!"

"Aw, fuck it! We'll explain later, after we finish kicking ass." Taka promised and was off, running at a speed that would make Guy proud. Then Taka shouted,

"The First Gate: The Gate of Opening! Open! The Second Gate: The Gate of Healing! Open! The Third Gate: The Gate of Life! Open! The Fourth Gate: The Gate of Pain: Open!" Immediately, the green glow shrouded over Taka as he launched himself into the heart of the tornado. He disappeared into the cloudy windy but they could clearly hear him.

"CRASHING HURRICANE!"

A tremendous roar of pain escaped the tornado as the wind vanished. A gigantic wooden monster stood in the middle of the forest. It looked a lot like the One-tail but with wooden armor. Taka had gotten the beast in the middle of the chest. It fell back in pain, an enormous crack where its heart should be.

"Lee, catch him!" Chocho screeched as Taka fell from the sky, the green light vanishing. Metal Lee snatched him out of the air, carrying the boy over to the rest of genin.

"You idiot, I said help us! Not try to kill yourself!" Mira yelled as she pulled her twin off of Lee.

"Stop nagging, you troublesome woman." Taka groaned.

"I'll show you troublesome!" Mira snapped back, before she ramaged through his pouch. She pulled out a seal and slapped it on him. Taka activated it and the burns and cleans that he had received vanished, his fatigue leaving him. Did Taka have healing seals on him?

"Guys, Big, Bad, and Ugly is still standing!" Boruto shouted as the creature rose to its feet.

"Yes, Hozukimaru is impossible to defeat now that I've blocked off your precious Hokage. Get them." Toneri ordered and the wood beast charged at the kids. The kids scattered.

"We need a plan!" Sarada shouted. "There has to be some way to take this thing down!"

"Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!" Everyone turned as Mira released the gigantic burst of fire onto the creature. It roared in pain before trying to bat her way. As it did, Kakashi noticed how the injuries it just received were already healed. But where Taka hit it-

"Guys, we've got to hit it where the crack is!" Shikadai shouted before dodging as the monster trampled the tree he was in.

"Benihime, how much longer?" Shikamaru asked, his eyes never leaving the fight. The Konoha 12 had never felt more useless in their entire lives. Here they were, trapped in a barrier that made them as weak as civilians.

"Three more minutes!"

"How? The damn thing won't stop moving!" Boruto noted before one of Mitsuki's snake arms dragged him out of falling tree branches. The kids were running out of energy and time.

"We've got to trap it! Dai, Taka, pin it down!" Mira ordered. The genin and the adults looked at her in confusion. Why was Mira ordering someone else to pin it when she was so good with her shadows? But Taka did as he was told.

Slamming both palms into the dirt, the boy halted his run, his back to the yellow cube. Kakashi watched as his back as black chakra lines appeared on his back. Pitch black chains appeared from Taka's shadow, racing at the monster. The chains wrapped itself around the beast's limbs.

"Shadow Chaining Jutsu Complete!" If there was any doubt of Taka not being a Nara, that attack made those doubts disappear. Unfortunately, the thing could still move. Then more shadows appeared, stabbing into the beast.

"Shadow Stitching Jutsu Complete!" Shikadai yelled, joining in on the action. Sarada shared a nod with Chocho and Metal as they all jumped around the beast, forming a triangle around the creature.

"Partial Expansion Jutsu!" Chocho yelled, her fist growing in size.

"The First Gate: The Gate of Open! Open!" Metal shouted, building up power.

"Shannaro!" Sarada shouted and the trio punched the ground before them. The ground below the monster caved in, stopping most of its movements. Then a gigantic ink octopus latched itself onto the monster back as Mitsuki's snakes helped the ink octopus to pull the beast so that its chest was wide open.

"Form the Rasengan and I'll follow!" Mira ordered as her chakra and shadows started to circle around her.

"How do you know I can do that?!"

"Just do it!"

"Right, RASENGAN!" Boruto throw his rasengan, it turning invisible as it flew. It made contact, making the crack in the monster become a spiral. The monster roared in pain, deafening all that was around it.

"Alright, everyone, watch out!" Mira shouted as her dark red top was reduced to shreds back of the lightning erupting her back. Thankfully, she was wearing a pitch-black halter top underneath it. Through the lightning chakra, Kakashi could see what looked like a black seal on the small of her back. The seal shined and the lightning turned as black as her shadows.

Mira jumped, running up her brother's shadow chains, leaving a trail of black lightning in her wake. As she ran, her palms formed what looked lightning balls. She jumped off of the chain, freefalling and bring the two orbs together. The two orbs combined, creating what can only be describe as a black rasen shuriken. Turns out, Kakashi's description wasn't that far off target.

"Yin Veiled Rasen Shuriken!" Mira shouted as she released her jutsu. It slammed into the wound. At contact, the sound barrier broke as black lightning charged across the creature. The monster screamed as it was crack widen opened, its insides being burned alive until it died, incinerating completely into a large, ash pile. They did it!

"Done!" And the barrier fell. Immediately, Kakashi felt his chakra return him as the parents ran to their respective children, standing in front of the protectively. Immediately, Naruto went into Kurama mode as he and Sasuke jumped into the air, ready to face the smiling alien. Wait minute, why the hell was he still smiling? Unless-

Naruto and Sasuke slammed into a wall, another yellow barrier was formed around all of them again. The two immediately lost their chakra again, crashing into the ground hard.

"Seriously! I just fixed this!" Beni complained as Toneri laughed, the evil laced in his voice.

"Mira!" Taka shouted. Kakashi turned and his eyes widen. Mira was left purposefully outside of the barrier, singling her out. She struggled to get to her feet, flinching as bouts of black lightning danced across her skin.

"You know, I'll make a deal with you, Shikamira. Marry me and I'll spare your friends and family. Refuse, and I kill you all, starting with you." Toneri said, smirking as he watched the heiress limp, using the barrier as a support. She kept her head down, her dark brown hair shielding her from the gazes.

"Don't do it, Mira!" Taka yelled, tried to punch through the barrier, blooding his knuckles. "We aren't worth it, you troublesome girl! Mira! Mira!"

Other pleas joined in, from Shikamaru, Shikadai, Beni, Hima, Boruto, Sarada, Motoko, hell, even he was pleading with the girl. But she ignored them all, until she stood between them and Toneri. The alien lowered himself so that he was on the ground, staring directly at her bowed form.

"So, Shikamira, what will it be?"

The wind blew, a leaf dancing in between them. Then Mira snapped her head up and flicked both of her wrists. Instantly, she gripped two shadow katanas, one flaming, the other crackling with lightning.

"I'm Shikamira Nara Uzumaki of Konoha. I am a Chunin, the eldest child of the Lady Hokage and her Jonin Commander. I will be the Lady Nara. And if you think, I'm going to let you hurt any of these people, you're dead wrong! You want to marry me, you're going to have to beat me first!" Mira stated, bring the two blades so that one was straight up at a 90-degree angle while the other met it, forming a perpendicular cross between the blades.

"Pity, we have to do this the hard way. So be it." Toneri said and rushed towards the injured girl.

"Mira!" Everyone shouted, but the girl didn't move, she didn't dodge. She stood firm, blades raised, glaring down the alien with all she had. He was getting closer when-

CRASH! CLAP! BOOM!

Immediately Toneri flew backwards with the hundreds of uprooted trees that were being blown away. A dust cloud formed before Mira and the barrier but Kakashi could tell that whatever had done that tremendous gale force winds formed an equally as large of a crater into the ground.

"Shikamira, we give you guys one day off and you end up dimension hopping and fighting alien shinobi. What am I going to do with you?" A feminine voiced teased, her soft alto-soprano piercing through the dust.

"No way…" Mira spoke with shock, nearly dropping her blades.

"Is that…" Taka said, equally as shocked as his twin.

"Mommy!" Beni and Motoko cheered, pressing their faces against barrier so that they could see the woman's form as the dust vanished. In the carter was average height woman and that is where the average ended. Because Kakashi has since that body and cape before.

"Holy shit!"

"What the?"

"Impossible!"

"Dickless, appears that you are actually dickless!"

But Naruto was too in shock to respond as he stared at the woman with his cape, who had jumped out of her crater to face her daughter, and as a result, the group. The woman was skinny, with toned muscles and voluptuous curves (but not too voluptuous, more of an Kurenai than a Tsunade). Her skin was kissed by the sun and flawless. Her eyes were like sapphires, shining with energy and power. Her beauty was breathtaking, completely a natural beauty. She wore a navy blue kunoichi dress, with high slights on both legs. So high that she wore jet black leggings underneath it to keep her dignity. The bodice of the dress was high necked but sleeveless, her cape extending from the collar at the back of her slim neck. Orange details lined the edges and inside of the dress, giving the woman some color without the kill-me orange target-look. The dress was skin tight against her body, showing off her amazing figure. She wore long, fingers gloves on both arms and high-kneed shinobi boots.

The woman before him look so much like Naruto's Sexy Jutsu form that it was ridiculous. But this woman, looked more realistic. Her hips were wider than the jutsu's, she actually had muscles, her breasts weren't ridicously huge and her blonde locks were elegantly tied back into a fishtail braid instead of those cheesy pigtails. In all honesty, it was the whisker marks on her cheeks that confirmed to Kakashi what he was seeing.

"Mom?" Mira whispered as her mother roved her eyes over her daughter's body, scanning her for injuries. The blonde woman gave her daughter a baby smile before pushing gently on her shoulders. Mira sat, her back against the barrier before another barrier formed around her.

"Stay there, your father is on his way." The woman whispered before she scanned the group in the box. "Benihime, Takashi don't mess with the barrier until I'm done."

"Yes, Mommy!" Beni saluted as Takashi just nodded disbelief as the woman turned away from the stunned group. As she turned, the wind blew her cape, revealing the white outline of the Nara clan-mark. Toneri was standing 100 yards away from her. He was bleeding, glare at the beautiful woman.

"Who the hell are you?" The alien demanded. The woman widen her stance, crouching slightly before smirking,

"Who am I? The name's Naruto Uzumaki Nara, 7th Hokage of Konoha. Today's your lucky day, Toneri. You've made it to the top of my shit list." The Lady Hokage punched her fist into her palm. She didn't have a fake hand. "Get ready for an ass whooping!"

Author’s Note - How was that for a dynamic entry?! God, Gai is one of the best characters in Naruto for that alone. So, what did you think? The next chapter will have more action and, more important, Canon’s reaction to 2.0 ShikaNaru. Let me know your thoughts in the comments. Don’t forget to comment, kudo and bookmark! Love you guys so much!

-V.I. Winthrop 

Lee

Thud, thud, THUD!

The stomp shattered under his fists as Lee took a deep, anxious breathe. He was worried for his youthful, precious students, of course. Naruto and Shikamaru had just left through a seal into a parallel dimension. Who knows what horrors await them? Where Takashi and Shikamira strong enough to face it? Had he trained them enough?

Leaves rustled as she dropped down beside him. “Hey.” Ten-Ten greeted softly as she stood, taking in his bloody knuckles and the tree damage before him. “They’re going be ok.”

Lee blinded her with a smile of faked confidence. “Of course they are! Shikamira and Takashi are some of the most youthful shinobi of their age!” Ten-Ten’s eyes softened, which contrasted sharply against the makeup from her seduction mission the night before.

”I’ll go check on the team.” Ten-Ten said as she squeezed his bicep in comfort. “Make sure Kenji’s not beating himself too much.” She turned to leave.

While it warmed Lee’s heart that Ten-Ten had adopted his genin like her own, it didn’t stop the bitter question from spilling out. “And Metal?” Ten-Ten froze, her back straight with tense shoulders. “He’s worried about his eternal rival too.”

”Lee, I-”

”No!” Lee cut her off, grabbing her shoulders with a surprising gentleness despite his angry tone. “He’s hurting, Ten-Ten. I know he’s not the son you were expecting,” her eyes flashed with hurt at his pointed accusation. “but he’s the one you’ve got.” He dropped his hands and took a step back with a slump. “He needs you, Ten-Ten. I’m not enough.”

“I’m a whore, Lee.” Ten-Ten said sadly, wrapping her arms around herself for comfort. “What kid would be proud of that?”

”Our kid,” Lee emphasized as he moved closer to her. When she didn’t step back, his arms rose to cradle her close. “gives two damns about that and you know. You’re the best kunoichi in the Seduction division and he just wants to spend time with you. You know that.” Her head rested against his beating heart. “I don’t need anything from you, Ten-Ten. Just spend time with him, please.”

Minutes passed before she finally raised her head with a shaky smile. “You must be serious if you’re cursing.” Lee smiled at her as she smiled back at him. She patted his chest. “Team Gai’s got to stick together, right?”

His arms tighten around her waist. “Always.”

Author’s Note - Metal is Ten-Ten’s and nothing canon throws at me will convince me otherwise!

-V.I. Winthrop 

Chapter Text

Author’s Note - MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE! I’m alive and I’ve been inspired to post again. I’ve updated this chapter, slightly, but nothing too crazy. Also, this chapter is a tad fillery but it is very important to the story! I hope you all enjoy it! On to the story!

Chapter 9: Will You Stop Flirting!

Advisor Nara

"Who am I? The name's Naruto Uzumaki Nara, 7th Hokage of Konoha. Today's your lucky day, Toneri. You've made it to the top of my shit list. Get ready for an ass whooping!"

This can't be happening, this can't be happening, this can't be happening! Shikamaru could barely breath before the arrival of the woman. The sight of his son battling a bamboo monster along with Shikamira-

Shikamira, she was the heiress. Only the heir, the future leader of the Nara clan had a Shika in their name. The sitting girl before him would be the first Lady Nara since the creation of the clan to lead the clan. His wide eyes shifted from the girl to the woman who claimed to be her mother and his brain froze.

Shikamaru watched completely god smacked as a female version of Naruto vanished until to appear before Toneri, kicking him so hard in the stomach that he went flying into the air. Girl Naruto jumped up, spinning elegantly in the air, her kunoichi dress and cape making her resemble a spinning top. She reached the stunned and pained alien, one leg kicking his stomach again as her elbows slammed into the back of his head.

"Gah!" Toneri spat up blood and tried to break her grip on him when her free hand grabbed the back of his robe. She started her spinning again, swinging the alien around and around until they only looked a strip of blue and black in the sky.

CRASH! BOOM!

Girl Naruto released him, sending him crashing into the earth. He formed a valley as his body dug deeper and deeper into the ground, ruining the forest even more.

"Yay, Mommy! Get him!" Benihime cheered from inside the barrier as she and apparently her little sister, Motoko, watched with excitement. They were probably the only ones in the cube that weren't confused or weirded out of their minds. Hell, Shikamaru has seen a lot of shit happen but this, this was a first.

It looked wrong, seeing the woman version of Naruto fighting to protect them instead Naruto himself doing it. But what threw Shikamaru the most was his reaction to the sight of her. Her sunny hair and vibrant eyes, to her smiling whiskers and feminine frame.

Shikamaru swallowed, trying desperately to levitate the dryness in his mouth. 

Who knew Naruto as a girl would actually be this, dare he think this, beautiful? Actually, there had always been this thought amongst the guys that Naruto would have made a pretty girl, seeming how soft a lot of his features had been when they were younger. Clearly, they had been right.

Fuck, she was exactly his type too. Blonde, curvy and troublesome…

And this woman was powerful. Here she was, quite easily beating the life out of the alien before her with nothing but her taijutsu. And if she was truly Naruto, then Shikamaru would bet his life savings that she had Kurama and Sage mode too but wasn't using it.

"This is so weird but awesome at the same time!" Kiba stated, a wolfish grin on his face as they watched the Lady Hokage start her descent back to the ground.

Team 7, both old and new, were all pale, Naruto being the palest, the horror and embarrassment plastered on his face. Shikamaru couldn't look at his boss and best friend because he felt like the earth should swallowed him whole to save him from the embarrassment. Team 8 just looked in awe at the woman's skills, well, Hinata also looked a little disturbed. Lee was drooling, wither it was over the women's body or her taijutsu skills was unclear.

The kids, well, the kids were trying to get questions out of Takashi, who stayed silent as his mother battled, his eyes narrowed as he inspected the battle. Fucking A, Shikamaru though, kicking himself for not realizing sooner. That was the exact face and analyzing gaze Shikamaru used to make when he was that age. And seeing Takashi, even with his hair different from Shikadai's, standing next to his son made the situation all too real.

Mira mirrored her brother, but her hands still held her katanas, prepared to fight encase the shield collapsed. Shikamaru's gaze shifted over to Choji, Ino and Karui. Karui was watching the fight with a smirk, clearly happy to see a kunoichi kick some ass for once. Choji had opened a bag of chips, munching furiously while he watched. Ino looked dumbfounded but she had this 'OH' face as if everything that's happened these past three days made way more sense.

It was Temari's reaction that made him nervous. His wife's teal eyes shone brightly with dislike. Clearly, she didn't like the fact that Girl Naruto called herself a Nara and the mother of the heiress. Which meant that this woman as the Lady Nara which meant that-

The gears screeched to a halt before going into overdrive. 

He looked at Benihime below him. The young Uzumaki girl cheered loudly for her mother when she felt his eyes on her. His breath hitched when his eyes smiled back at him from behind red bangs.

Benihime had his eyes.

Shikamaru's eyes kept moving, comparing the woman to her kids, to his son, to Naruto, then back at the woman. No way… He could feel himself grew paler with every look, the horror setting in on his face. These kids aren't time-travelers! They're from a dimension where Naruto's their mother and I'm their-

Girl Naruto floated down, using what looked like wind chakra to soften her landing. As soon as her feet landed, she reached behind her waist and lowered her stance, pulling out two long, but slim pieces of metal with a sharp tip. They were twice the length of a kunai. Then, Girl Naruto flicked her wrists and Shikamaru heard Temari's sharp intake in breath.

Fans. This Girl Naruto battled with hand fans. And these weren't your ordinary hand fans. They were completely out of the same metal as kunai, no paper what so ever. They shined in the sun, revealing the engraved kanji of all of the elements.

Girl Naruto's back glowed as chakra lines appeared on her. The fans glowed with her as the lines on the woman's back formed chains. The chains formed at the base of the fans. The chains climbed up each arm, wrapping loosely around them six times before they connected, leaving a large loop that fell onto her back. Then, the chains changed into an icy blue and started to float. The large loop framed an almost completed circle over her blonde hair as the twelve arm wrappings remain levitated an inch above her skin.

"Oh, shit, she's taking this seriously." The trapped group shifted their attention to Mira.

"Mom tries not to use her fans too often. Says she causes too much property damage when she does." Mira explained.

"Mommy, Mira said a bad word."

"Not now, Motoko, Mommy's busy." Girl Naruto said, her eyes never leaving the valley before her. Rocks exploded up as Toneri crawled his way out. The woman didn't even flinch as boulder flew at her. Taking the right fan, she swung it up. Shikamaru's eyes locked onto the kanji on the fan as it glowed blue. The kanji morphed quickly, reading tiger, then rabbit, dog, ram, and dragon.

"Wind Style: Wind Blade Jutsu!" The large stone was cleaved in half. The two pieces kept flying but passed their cage by inches. Shikamaru could almost feel the envy that roared out of Temari. Trees, Temari could cut down easily. Stones were a different story, especially one that big. And to do it with such a weak wind jutsu on top of it.

"You guys ok?" The woman didn't look back as she asked her question, her attention locked on the enemy.

"We're good, thanks Mommy!" Benihime answered for the stunned stupid group.

Then Toneri screamed, "What did you do?!" He tried jumping up but just barely gained air, collapsing onto the ground.

"Anti-gravity seal!" The mother smirked. "Thought it would be fun if we actually obeyed the laws of physics for once!"

The alien roared at her. Fist raised, he ran at her. Half way there, they became flaming fists. Girl Naruto rolled her wrists and shifted her stance, but did the most shocking thing of all. She didn’t move.

Wait, why wasn't she trying to dodge?! He was getting closer!

Silence fell as time froze.

Toneri struggled mid strike, his one of his flaming arms centimeters away from landing onto her stomach.

"How?" Toneri asked, unable to move at all. Girl Naruto pointed down, causing everyone to look at the ground. Attached to Toneri's shadow was trench knife that looked eerily like Asuma-Sensei's, locking the alien in place. Then two large shadow hands reached out from Toneri's shadow. The shadow hands had complete control over Toneri as Girl Naruto jumped back to watch the show that was about to unfold. Lifting Toneri at the ankles, the shadows slammed his back into the dirt before doing the same to his front. And it kept going. For two whole minutes.

"Oh, my husband's is as protective as he is lazy!" The woman laughed. "Looks like you made it just in time, Shikamaru! We need to work on your shadow traveling speed, though. You're slacking again."

Shika-

The shadow hands shot Toneri flying back into the forest like a slingshot before they received back into the shadow, grabbing the trench knife with it. The shadow shot over to her side, before a man rose from the shadow.

For a second, Shikamaru swore he was looking at the back of his father. Shikamaru had always looked like Dad's clone but so did the man before. He was just as tall as Shikamaru and was slouching, his hands in his pockets. The man even wore Dad's fur vest over his chunin vest, the same vest swore he kept in the back of his closet. Under those was a dark green fishnet top, which enhanced the man's muscles. They weren't bulging but they were toned and strong. He wore black shinobi pants and sandals. But as the man shifted slightly, Shikamaru saw his own face on the man.

"No way…" It was like he was staring at a mirror. The cries of Kai sounded in the cube, no one believing their eyes and ears.

There was a copy of him outside of the cube. The same jaw, same face, same eyes, same hair, same cigarettes. The only difference was that this Shikamaru had a beard with his goatee, making the man look huskier.

Shikamaru's eyes locked with his counterpart's. Nausea bubbled in his stomach. No, this was impossible. But before him, the counterpart's eyes widen slightly, shifting over the group before looking back at him. The doppelganger mouthed 'Troublesome' before he smirked and turned to face the woman who called him her husband.

"I'm not slacking." Other Shikamaru drawled, clearly unamused. "You've somehow gotten faster."

"Eh! Really?" Girl Naruto blinked, gaining an almost doe-eyed look. "I'm not even using sage mode or Kurama yet."

"Of course not." He said sarcastically but there was a fond smirk on his face. Holy hell, he was looking at Girl Naruto with such affection that it was almost sickening. "Tch, Troublesome Wife."

"Lazy Husband." Shikamaru stumbled back into Choji. His best friend, bless him, kept a steady hand on his shoulder at the mindfuck unfolding before them. Have mercy, they were flirting with each other!

"Seriously, are you two actually flirting with each other right now?!" Ino shouted at them loudly. Nope, this too much for his genius brain. The couple blinked, looking at the trapped group as if they just noticed them.

"Oh, right, you guys don't know us. What a drag. So, what do I need know?"

"Otsutsuki, real piece of shit. Needs a good ass kicking."

"Details, Naruto. Can this one fly?"

"He could."

"Could?"

"I stopped it."

"How- never mind. Is he taijutsu only?"

"Nope! I just had the need to punch something. You should try it sometime. It's good for the soul!" (She really was Naruto, right down to her endless talking and smiles…)

"Naruto…"

"Oops, got it, stay on task." Girl Naruto pointed her finger back at them. "These guys can't use chakra at the moment, so we have to be careful around his barriers. Oh!" The woman cupped a fist into her palm as a thought struck her. "He doesn't have the byakugan or the tenseigan!"

"But he can see?"

"He must have stolen those eyes from someone." Girl Naruto shrugged.

"Dad, Situation 'A Snowball's Chance in Hell' has happened." Taka called out, causing Other Shikamaru to tense dramatically before turning completely to face Mira, who wave nervously at him. He looked her over through the shield before turning to his wife.

"Please tell me I can actually kill this one." Good, Shikamaru and his counterpart were on the same page.

"Why- Oh!" Girl Naruto glared at the direction where they threw Toneri. "Granted!"

"Excellent, anything else I should know?"

"Daddy! Motoko and I made a friend!" Shikamaru had to stop the flinch the escaped him when Benihime shouted. And the sadness that set it when he noticed the excited and happy look on Motoko's face as nodded in agreement with her sister.

"That's nice, Benihime. Tell me all about it after I've finished gutting this alien."

"Okay!"

"Oh, he's on his way back." Girl Naruto said, cocking her head to the right. "Why didn't I think of using that seal last time? He's way slower than before."

The pair jumped, dodging the typhoon of water that Toneri shot at them. Girl Naruto twirled in the air, her chained fans chiming as she twisted around herself. Slashing both of her hands forward, the woman shouted,

"Water and Fire Style: Burning Tundra Jutsu!" Gale force winds slammed against the water, freezing before the ice started steaming. The dry ice slammed into Toneri, was barely able to move out of the way. He roared, clipped by the burning ice before he tried to gain some distance. He made it a few paces before Other Shikamaru stabbed his trench knives into the ground.

… He had trench knives? He kept Asuma-Sensei's trench knives?!

"Earth Style: Shadow Quick Sand Graveyard!" The shadow shot out of Other Shikamaru, before latching onto Toneri, dragging him into a pile of chakra enhanced quick sand, keeping the alien in place. The duo stood before the struggling alien. Other Shikamaru raised his trench knives, a shadow sharpening them, when-

"I want to ask him some questions." Girl Naruto said. Everyone blinked at her.

"No, no Talk no Jutsu. We agreed that I get to kill him so I'm going to kill him." The doppelganger complained to his wife, his blade just centimeters away from his neck.

"Yeah, but I'm curious as to why he's doing this. Come on, Shikamaru."

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

Girl Naruto huffed with a slight pout, crossing her arms, turning away from her husband. She was facing the group again and had a mischievous smile on her face. She winked at them and started mouthing 'three, two, one-'

"Fine." Other Shikamaru groaned as he moved his knives away from the alien's neck. The blonde woman jumped up, quickly pecking him on the lips before crouching down in front of their prisoner. She did it so casually, like it was second nature to her. Unfortunately for Shikamaru, he started choking on air while Naruto looked on with confusion and horror.

"So," Girl Naruto started. "What's your actual name?"

…

"WHAT?" Everyone screamed.

"How the hell did you know that I'm not Toneri?" The Otsutsuki asked.

"Oh, you look a lot like him. But Toneri, for what he's worth, is an honorable guy. Keeps his promises, you know. Besides, your chakra is a different color from his. A more lavender than a royal purple." Girl Naruto explained with a smile. Her husband groaned, smacking his forehead in disbelief.

"Is this really important?"

"Of course, it is. He's just the lackey!" Her husband's surprised expression caused her to cheer. "Yes! That number 489 for the amount of times I knew something before you!"

"Naruto, focus!"

"Right, well, to be frank, you, Mr. No Name, are honestly too weak to be Toneri which means that you're probably from the main branch but you're someone's servant, posing as Toneri. So, what does your boss want?" She asked politely.

"I'm not telling you anything, bitch." The alien spat only Girl Naruto hand to shoot out, choking him. A golden-red glow encased her.

"Listen here, asswipe. In the past three days, I've been nothing but stressed out, hormonal and exhausted because my babies went missing. You are still at the very top of that shit list, especially since you thought that my daughter was up for sale and decided to use my kids as a chew toys. Now, I'm going to ask you again. What does your boss want?!"

"The girl with the Yin and the boy with the unknown Kekkei Genkai!" The alien gasped, only for Girl Naruto's grip to tighten.

"And where is your boss?"

"In the Land of Rice!" He confessed, gasping for air as she let go of his neck.

"There, not so bad right!" She chirped before standing, and turning away from the prisoner.

"You can continue, Jonin Commander." Oh, that's right, his counterpart was the Jonin Commander, not the Advisor…

Thud, whoosh, crackle! The Otsutsuki was dead, ash remained where he had been.

The parents stood before the still trapped group, Mira standing next to them.

"Huh," Girl Naruto said, knocking on the barrier. "Not bad. And it's still standing after that guy died."

"Naruto, how about letting everyone out instead of complementing the enemy's barrier skills?"

"Aw, do I have to? The other you looks like he's going to pass out." And he might actually do that. Fuck, he needed a smoke, badly.

"Naruto-"

"Fine, be a buzz-kill. Let's see here, ah ha! Wow, this is going to be easy! You guys may want to step back!" Everyone jumped back as chakra lines formed a circle before her.

"Here goes!" Girl Naruto said, punching the chakra lines, causing them to glow blue, then a violent red. Crack! The cube shattered, freeing everyone.

"What?! It was that easy?!" Ino complained as the Girl Naruto pulled her twins into a tight hug as Benihime and Motoko leaped at their father, causing the man to laugh and twirl the two girls around.

"From the outside, totally. You just have to over power the amount of chakra used to make the original barrier. From the inside, you're screwed. Oh, hello, Male Me!" Girl Naruto exclaimed. "I think we should use the office. The twins have a lot of explaining to do."

Instantly, the twins looked up before pointing a finger at each other.

"He did it!"

"She did it!"

Shikamira

"What have you done to the office?!" Mom screeched with horror as she pushed past Guy Mom. "There are documents in here from November! It's," she paused to look at the calendar, "July!"

"Those are classified-" Guy Mom tried when Mom snorted.

"Seventh Hokage, Me! Of course, I can read these! Though your penmanship is awful!"

"Can someone explain to me what the hell is going on?" Temari finally snapped as the two Hokages fell quiet. The room was stuffed to the brim with the everyone that Mira's met since being here. Plus her family, whose presence was causing havoc, again.

"I think we would all like that. Well Shikamira, Takashi, care to explain why you two decided that dimension-hopping with your sisters was a good idea?" Dad drawled as Mom pushed herself away from the desk to stand by him, looping her left arm around his right one so that it looked like he was escorting her. The room was giving them weirded out looks but as usual, her parents didn't give a shit.

"Um, well, I guess we should redo our introductions. Just don't interrupt us, we'll answer all of your questions, I promise." Mira started nervously, scratching the back of her head. "My full name is Shikamira Nara Uzumaki. I'm 13 years-old, I'm a Chunin, and I'm apart of Team 7 back at home, with Sarada Uchiha and Kenji Hyuga. Our Sensei is Lee-Sensei."

Sarada jaw-dropped as Lee-Sensei looked ready to cast his rainbow genjutsu but his former teammate held him down. Both of this world's Ino-Shika-Cho trio looked at her in shock and were about to interrupt when Taka took over.

"I'm Takashi Nara Uzumaki. I'm also 13 and a Chunin. My team is Team 10 so yeah, I'm the Shika of Ino-Shika-Cho. Inojin's the Ino and Chocho's the Cho. Konohamaru-Sensei is our Sensei, which is a drag. Whatever. We'll example in a bit. Beni." Beni shot up over Taka's shoulder and smiled at everyone.

"I'm Benihime Nara Uzumaki but you can still call me Beni! I'm in the academy with Shino-Sensei and it's awesome! Oh!" In a second, Kubikiribocho was released, completely sheathed onto her back. Taka groaned at the new weight.

"Sorry Taka! This is Kubikiribocho but I call her Kubi!"

"How did you even get a hold of that?" Uncle Kakashi interrupted, the horror plastered on his face. "And why is your seven-year-old giving it a nickname?!"

"Kisame-Sensei gave Kubi to me, Uncle Kakashi! And Kubi isn't an it, she has feelings!" Beni huffed. The adults all tensed and screeched,

"Kisame's alive?" The Nara Uzumakis all blinked at them.

"He's not alive here? Ha!" Mom started laughing. "I can't wait to tell him about this next time we bring Benihime to her lessons!"

"You're letting an S-Class missing-nin from the Bloody Mist teach your daughter sword fighting?!" Ino yelled.

"Of course!" Mom said, completely unfazed by their reactions. "Kisame knows what he's doing. Who better to teach her than someone who was apart of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen!"

"Besides, Chojuro's too busy and Kisame owed us a favor." Dad added, lighting a cigarette before tossing his pack and lighter to Not Dad. Not Dad caught it, looking up at his counterpart.

"You looked like you could use one." Dad shrugged. Not Dad nodded in thanks and took a drag of his smoke.

"How are you handling this so calmly?!" Guy Mom shouted next. Dad pointed to Mom.

"Nothing is impossible with her." Dad drawled, smirking fondly. "You get desensitized after a while."

"You always say the sweetest things, Shikamaru." Mom teased sarcastically but had a soft smile on her lips.

"Alright, let's get back on track!" Guy Mom ordered, clearly disturbed by Mom and Dad's weird flirting. "I believe Motoko's next."

Motoko stepped forward before giving a bow to everyone.

"I'm Motoko Nara Uzumaki. I'm 4 years-old and I'm just starting my training. I can hold Shadow Possession Jutsu for 3 minutes." Motoko said causing Not Dad and Dai to stare at her in shock.

"But I can only hold mine for 4 minutes!" Dai stated in disbelief. Motoko cocked her head to the side before Dad explained.

"That would be the Uzumaki side kicking. All of our kids have larger than average chakra reserves."

"Just how big are we talking?" Uncle Sasuke asked. Mom snapped her head in his direction, staring at him in disbelief before she appeared in front of him, shocking the other adults.

"Hey!" Sakura Uchiha shouted at Mom, which she ignored. Mom inspected Sasuke before exclaiming,

"You are Sasuke! What the Hell? Yours speaks?!" Mom yelled her question at Guy Mom, turning to face her counterpart, pointing back at the male Uchiha. "I had to create a new language for mine! Do you know how hard it is to learn Uchihaniese?!"

The room couldn't decide if they wanted to laugh at her insanity or shutter in fear. Her husband and kids just sweat-dropped, used to the woman's behavior.

"To answer your question, Shikamira and Takashi already have the chakra reserves of a seasoned jonin while Motoko and Benihime have low to mid-level chunin reserves." Dad explained, ignoring everyone's gaping expressions when Motoko pulled on his pants. "Yes, Little Fawn?"

Motoko reached out her hand. She grasped Dad's hand before pulling him. Dad let her pull him as Mom stepped away from Uncle Sasuke, watching the scene unfold with a loving smile on her face. Motoko lead Dad to were Not Dad and Dai were sitting, walking straight past Temari as she did so. Motoko stopped in front of the father and son before looking up at Dad.

"Daddy, this is Other Daddy and his son, Shikadai. Mira and I called him Dai." Motoko started, carefully. The child took her time, emphasizing words in serious cuteness. "Other Daddy took very good care of me and Mira. He even made me eat my veggies."

"Oh, is that so?" Dad pondered with a slight smile, playing along as Motoko nodded seriously.

"And Dai got me dango and carried me to practice so that Mira wouldn't have to do it."

"I see." Dad said, nodding along. "Thank you, gentlemen." The two could only nod before Beni shouted,

"Mommy, Daddy, you have to meet Hima!" With that, the redhead dumped her sword into Taka's waiting arms before she leaped over his shoulder. Weaving her way through the crowd, Beni grabbed Hima and started to pull her towards her parents. But as she passed Boruto, she snatched his wrist too.

"Hey!" Boruto complained as he and Hima were pulled front and center before the Lady Hokage and her Commander.

"Mommy, Daddy, this is Boruto and Himawari Uzumaki." Beni introduced them. "Taka's been sparring with Boruto's team. He can do the rasengan too! And its invisible!"

"Really?! Oh, I've got to see this!" Mom chirped, the excitement lighting her cobalt eyes. Boruto looked up at her in shock, as if her excitement surprised him.

"And Hima and I are best friends now! I've been teaching her Fuinjutsu and she's very good at it! And she can already use her byakugan! Hima was the only one to figure out that Taka and Mira were twins which means she's really smart!" Beni praised. Mom chuckled before ruffling Hima's hair.

"Of course, she is! She's an Uzumaki! We're smarter than we look. Is this your daughter, Hinata? She looks just like you!" Mom asked, causing the Hyuga woman to nod.

"This is all very touching, but can we get back to the task at hand? Starting with why you guys lied to us?" Sarada demanded, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose.

"We didn't lie to you guys. We withheld information. There's a huge difference." Mira said as the focus returned to her and brother.

"When we first saw you guys in the backyard, I noticed how different everything was. Mainly that Lord Hokage's face replaced Mom's in the mountain. We determined that we were in a dimension where Mom was a man. So, before we met with Lord Hokage, we came up with a plan. Our plan wasn't to trick you guys as much as to save you all from confusion and awkwardness, we promise! The first thing we did was change our appearance slightly." Mira explained as Taka removed his hairband while she moved her forehead protector back onto her forehead. Taka's low ponytail fell before he gathered his hair into the traditional high ponytail of Nara men. When he straightened, he pulled his forehead protector way from his forehead and tied it to his left bicep.

"Much better. Aunt Ino, I don't know how you can fight with your hair in your eyes. It's a real pain." Taka grumbled, slouching back against the wall as everyone stared at him before looking back at Dad. Taka threw an arm over Shikadai, gesturing between them. Man, they really did look like twins. Especially since Taka's dark brown roots were visible again.

"I couldn't exactly show up with my hair like this." Taka explained. "It was also why I never stood next to you, man. We're too similar and you and Not Dad would have figured it out."

"Not Dad?" Not Dad asked, an eyebrow raised. Not Dad had gained some color back, which Mira was glad to see. She thought for sure he was going to pass out earlier.

"Well, its not like we could call you Dad." Mira said before continuing. "Next, we used our Chunin names when we introduced ourselves. Long story short, when Taka and I became chunins, we decided to make everyone's lives easier. I'm Chunin Shikamira Nara. Taka's Chunin Takashi Uzumaki. We made sure to introduce ourselves first then say that the girls were our sisters."

"And we just assumed that you two weren't related." Uncle Choji realized, the dumbfounded look covering all of their faces. The twins nodded.

"Wait! You guys are chunins?!" Chocho shouted.

"Yep." The twins answered.

"And you didn't tell us?" Inojin asked.

"You didn't ask." Taka answered before continuing. "That's basically it, we weren't really hiding anything, just our parents. It wasn't like we could show up before Lord Hokage and call him Mom. Now that would be weirdand disturbing." Everyone shuttered. "That's why we were so formal with you guys. We've known you guys since we've been in diapers. It would have been really confusing with we started calling all of you 'Aunt' and 'Uncle'."

"Most importantly, we'd like to thank you guys for taking such good care of us. And for not sending us to T&I!" Mira said, bowing to everyone. Taka sighed, but did the same.

"So, any questions?!" Beni chirped.

…

"How are you two-"

"Who is Kenji-"

"Why are you the Shika-"

"WHY DO YOU HAVE THAT SWORD?!"

"Whoa! Guys, one at a time!" Mira pleaded. "Alright, Uncle Kakashi, you get the first question."

"Why did you guys claim that you were time-travelers?"

"We didn't." Mira and Taka stated in unison.

"Yes, you did!" Guy Mom, Not Dad and Uncle Kakashi protested.

"Nope, Guy Mom suspected that we were time-travelers because we said our Hokage was a woman, aka Sarada. We just didn't correct you." Mira explained, causing the three men to sweat-drop.

"Daddy says you shouldn't assume anything." Motoko added sweetly, cuddling against Dad. "You make an-" she would have continued if Dad hadn't covered her mouth, quickly.

"Shikamaru, what was Motoko about to say?" Mom asked sweetly, her glow of doom appearing. (Duh, duh, DUH!) Dad inched away from her nervously.

"I have no idea what you're talking about. Right Motoko?"

"Uh, huh. Give me our baby." Mom demanded, snatching Motoko away, shielding her away. "Honey, just because your father says something doesn't mean you're supposed to repeat it."

"But Daddy's very smart, Mommy!"

"Daddy is very smart, which means he knows better." Mom glared at him, causing Dad to hold his hands up in surrender.

"Ok, next question! Chocho, you're up!"

"Why is Taka the Shika in Ino-Shika-Cho?!"

"Oh, I'll answer this one!" Mom chirped, placing Motoko on her hip. "There are two reasons! The first is that when we," Mom waved between her and Dad, "were making the teams, we wanted to keep Team 7 and Team 10 in rotation. However, there would have been some problems if we had Shikamira with you guys."

"Why?" Both Ino-Shika-Cho trios asked.

"Inojin and I don't see eye to eye." Mira admitted, making Taka snort.

"More like you two fight like cats and dogs if you have to spend more than five minutes together."

"Well when he stops calling me Bitch then I'll stop calling him Bastard." Mira huffed, before she got a smack on the back of the head. "Ow! Mom!"

"Anyway, the main problem with Ino-Shika-Cho is that it lacks offensives moves." Dad continued. "Especially at a young age. However, Takashi is proficient in Shadow Possession Jutsu as well as taijutsu and fuinjutsu. Adding in Chocho being an Akimichi and Inojin's Beast Scrolls, we have an Ino-Shika-Cho trio that can take on more offensive missions while holding on to tradition."

"Even though my Shadow Possession sucks." Taka huffed, making Dai gain a curious look.

"How long can you hold your Shadow Possession Jutsu?" Shikadai asked.

"30 minutes, pathetic, right?" Taka stated, only blink in confusion at the trios' jaw-dropped expression. "Was it something I said?"

"How is that pathetic?!" Dai protested, causing Taka to point at Mira.

"Her record is currently 4 hours, 28 minutes and 39 seconds."

…

"What?!"

"Anyway!" Mom interrupted, continuing the explanation. "Team 7 lacked someone who wouldn't rush head first into a situation. So, we thought that having Shikamira on Team 7 as the strategist and counter-strategist would save us a lot of paperwork!"

"How come you guys are chunins? None of us got promotions because the Otsutsuki crashed our exam." Boruto whined.

"Oh, ours too. They just wait for it to be the big Kages' dinner before they attacked." Taka explained. "Besides, we forfeited.”

"WHAT?!"

"Man, you guys are loud." Taka whined, pulling his pinky out of his ear.

"The third exam was a tournament, same as it always is. Taka and I won our first two matches, where we showcased our abilities. As a result, we were the last match. But Taka and I don't fight each other. We spar but we don't fight. So, we forfeited. It's a tradition!" Mira explained.

"And I was exhausted and wanted to nap. Besides, Mira cheats."

"Kunoichi. Like you're one to talk, Mr. I've Prepared the Field with Exploding Seals."

"Are you still upset over that? I thought you knew it was there!"

"Of course, I didn't know it was there, dumbass! You put a genjutsu over it!"

"That was the whole point!" Then, hands grabbed the back of their collars, separating the twins.

"Alright, break it up you two." Dad ordered. "Who asked the question about Benihime's sword?"

"I did." Sakura Uchiha said, bring Mom's attention to her. Mom's eyes narrowed dramatically, honing in when Mom lunged. Oh shit, not this again…

Author’s Note - Canon and 2.0 clash! And Girl Naruto is pissed, I wonder why? [Insert evil author chuckles here.] Anyway, to make everyone’s lives easier, for the Narutos and Shikamarus, if it’s their POV, I’ll use their official titles to introduce their POV. Also, 2.0 is not OP, you just think she is because how she was introduced. In fact, I have it so that Canon Naruto and 2.0 Shikamaru are stronger than 2.0 Naruto and Canon Shikamaru. You see this more as you keep reading. Anyway, that’s all for now. Thanks for all of your comments, kudos and bookmarks. Love you all so much!

-V.I. Winthrop 

Meanwhile, in Konoha 2.0

Vice-Commander Inuzuka

“Fucking hell.” Kiba growled as Sai’s ink bird exploded, throwing him back against the tree. Her crazed laugh haunted the forest as Sai struggled to stand. “Come on, Akamaru! FANG OVER FANG.”

With a howl, they spun through the air, ripping up the tree line in their wake. Her leg swung up to her face before she slammed in her heel into the earth. 

Ten earth walls erupted in their path.

Lava Style, Kiba thought as he sent chakra to his mouth, Flaming Fang! Lava burst, charring their path.

Seconds later, earth walls were melted lava in his wake. 

“No!” Sai shouted as he sent a tsunami of ink at her. But she smirked at them, the seal glowing green under her feet. The ink swept over her seconds too late.

“You bitch!” Kiba snarled. Beside him, Akamaru howled in anger as Sai limped to their side. The Head of Anbu’s emotionless face remained but Kiba could smell the betrayal wafting off of him.

Sakura Haruno had escaped, once again.

Author’s Note - Oh, would you look at that? Sakura 2.0 is back. I wonder what she’s up to [more evil author chuckles]. Love you guys so much!

-V.I. Winthrop

Chapter Text

Author’s Note - Y’all, I barely made any edits to this. That’s how good of a chapter this is. On to the story!

Chapter 10: She's Not a Bitch?!

The Lady Hokage

Normally, Naruto loved being held by her husband. His arms were home; warm and loving.

“Let me go, Shikamaru!”

Except when they were stopping her from committing a homicide. Then she didn't want to be held. Hearing Haruno and seeing her standing next to Sasuke made her see red.

"Not the same person, Naruto." Shikamaru hissed into her ear, wincing as she elbowed him. "That's isn't Haruno, you can't kill her."

"Watch me."

"Mom, you're worrying Sarada!" Takashi called out, pushing Sarada forward. Instantly, she was before her not-really (but still is) goddaughter, pushing herself away from Shikamaru as he muttered 'Troublesome woman'. Kneeling, she held Sarada at shoulders length. She looked ok, a little beat up from the bamboo thingy but nothing too bad. Her hair was shorter and less glossy. But Sarada was wearing glasses. Karin's glasses.

"Are you ok? Your back isn't hurting? And why are you wearing Karin's glasses?" Naruto asked as she continued to check Sarada over.

"Huh, my back's never been hurt. And she gave them to me after my eyesight got worse when I had a fever when I was little." Sarada explained. Naruto nodded before shifting her eyes over to her best friend and the bitch. She need answers and she needed them yesterday!

"Sarada, I want you to answer me as honestly as possible, ok honey?" She asked softly causing Sarada to nod in agreement. Maybe this wasn't her actual goddaughter but it was still her right to ensure that Sarada was safe!

"Why is she," Naruto pointed to Haruno, "standing next to your father?" Sarada tilted her head in confusion.

"That's my mom." Naruto's head snapped up to look at Sasuke. He was watching her, unsure if she was friend or foe. Please, she was something worse than that. His sister. Not by blood, of course, but they were siblings none the less.

"Is she actually?" Naruto asked.

"Hn." Translation: Yes, and she's my wife. Good thing she was fluent in Uchihaniese.

"I see." No, she didn't see. Back at home, Sasuke was about as straight as a 45-degree angle. The only reason he had Sarada was because Karin was his surrogate. For what it's worth, when Karin realized that Sasuke didn't bat that way, she decided to give him the one thing that she could. It was a shame that she died during childbirth. Right, Haruno?

"Huh, I'm sorry, Haruno. Apparently, you aren't a vindictive bitch in this dimension." There, she apologized. Happy, Shikamaru? Her husband faced palmed as her kids sweat-dropped. What? She apologized! Not that she deserved an apology…

" I got a letter from Sasuke." Naruto said as Motoko continued to feed. They were in her office, going over the documents that the other had to approve before Shikamaru started his rounds. Shikamaru looked at his nursing wife and Hokage. She had been Hokage for a year and half now. And naturally, she had been pregnant for the first nine months of her reign. Thank you, dear Not-So-Lazy Husband.

" What does he want?" He asked, clearly uninterested as his sight returned back to their reports.

" To know if his lover can apply for citizenship." That got Shikamaru's attention. He looked up at her in shock, making her snort at his expression.

" What? Sasuke can't find love?" She joked, making Shikamaru shake his head.

" No. I'm just shocked that he's actually being open about his sexuality for once." Shikamaru explained, which made her nod in understanding.

" Well, he is. They'll be here in a week. I want to interview this guy before I make any decisions." Naruto determined before Motoko unlatched herself and gurgled happily. "Isn't that right, my love? Absolutely no one is good enough for Uncle Sasuke unless they have my approval."

Shikamaru shook his head at his amusing wife before collecting his youngest so that she could fix her top. The amount of things Motoko's heard because they kept cribs in their offices… Motoko sighed, very happy to be with her daddy again. He started to burp their baby.

" Are you going to tell Sakura?" Shikamaru asked, causing her to sigh and get up. Naruto turned to look out the window.

" Sasuke said he sent a letter to her saying that he's bringing a traveling partner with him and that he wants to introduce him to Sarada. Since Sakura is still in denial about Sasuke being gay, who knows how she'll take it. I should talk to her though, shouldn't I?" She grumbled. Shikamaru walked up to stand next to her, pulling her against his chest so that she could see Motoko. Just the sight of her baby's smiling face made her nearly forget all of Team 7's dramas.

" You don't have to if you don't want to. It's technically Sasuke's problem. Sakura's been raising Sarada because he's been off protecting the village. He has to actually tell her the truth that she doesn't have a snowball's chance in hell with him. She's not going to believe it from anyone but him and you know it." Shikamaru explained patiently so that she could let it all sink in.

" Yeah, I guess you're right."

It had not gone over well. Oh, the beginning of the day had gone well. Naruto had brought Shikamira and Takashi with her to greet the traveling pair at the gate because Shikamira had begged. Both were skipping again but since Iruka's teachers haven't found them yet, or sent her message, the twins must be doing something right. Besides, Shikamaru and her skipped all the time and look at where they are now.

" Mom, where are they?" Takashi whined. "We've been here for ages."

" Try waiting for Uncle Kakashi, then talk to me about being somewhere for ages." Naruto said dryly before knocking her head to the side. "Oh, they're almost here."

" Eh?! Really?!" Shikamira asked, bouncing on the balls of her feet as her brother groaned, throwing himself back again his mother and shutting his eyes. In a second, he was out cold.

" Lazy little brother." Shikamira huffed before squinting, smiling brightly. "Uncle Sasuke! You made it!" The young girl threw herself at her uncle, causing the stoic man to huff as he caught her. But there was a small smile on his lips as he allowed his goddaughter to hang off of him.

" Did you bring Sarada and I anything?" Shikamira demanded, causing Naruto to chuckle before scolding her daughter.

" Leave your uncle be, Shikamira. He's only been back for a minute. Takashi, wake up and greet your uncle." Shaking her boy awake, Takashi blinked before a smirk rested on his features. Straightening, Takashi slammed a fist against a flat hand and bowed, causing Sasuke to do the same. Then Sasuke ruffled Takashi's hair, making him huff with affection. It was good to have Sasuke back. She started tapping her foot, getting the man's attention. He looked up at her, giving her his classic 'Yes, Naruto?' face. She held her arms out.

" I haven't seen you since my inauguration and you think we aren't going to hug? You need your yearly amount of Uzumaki Sisterly Affection." Naruto quipped as he rolled his visible eye but hugged her anyway.

" Missed you, Dobe." He whispered, causing her to tighten the hug and whisper back,

" Missed you too, Bastard." Before she pushed him back, giving him a stare down. "And so does your daughter, who's waiting very patiently at the Academy to be picked up by you today, unlike two troublemakers."

" Hey! We did offer to sneak her out." Shikamira protested as Takashi looked past the gates.

" Sir, do you need help?" Takashi called out, causing Naruto to follow his sight line of the man walking towards them. Oh, this makes much more sense now. The man was shorter than Sasuke but taller than her, his posture perfectly straight. He dressed in a light-weight samurai inspired outfit. His hair was a honey-brown, lightened by the sun. His features would have been considered dainty, almost feminine, reminding Naruto of Haku. At his hip was a sword. It was the man's feet and eyes that made her pause. He wore no shoes, his sole's blackened from the dirt. And he had bandages over his eyes. He was blind.

" Oh, I'm fine. Thank you for asking. Ah, it's a pleasure to meet you, Lady Hokage!" The blind man said cheerfully as he turned and bowed in her direction. She nearly nodded to him before she stopped herself.

" Thank you. You must be Ryuji." She said as Sasuke moved back over to Ryuji. He grabbed ahold of the blind man's elbow before the man huffed.

" Sasuke, I'm fine. I can still sense where I'm going." Ah, he was a sensory type. And possible an earth-type. "And aren't you going to introduce me to your niece and nephew? Ah, never mind, you're in a 'Hn' mood again. Don't worry, I'll do it myself. It's a pleasure to meet you, Shikamira, Takashi." Ryuji said, bowing to her children in the correct order. Her twins shared a look before blurting out in unison,

" Are you blind?" They are so their father's kids…

" Kids!"

" Oh, don't worry, ma'am! It's alright! So, tell me, where's the best place to get food around here? I'm starving!" And with that, her kids were hooked. As her kids led Ryuji through the village, explaining in great detail the village he couldn't see. And he chatted back just as cheerfully, clearly enjoying himself. Naruto and Sasuke trailed behind then, the villagers staring at them in awe.

" So, you found someone else to do all the talking for you?" Naruto teased, elbowing Sasuke.

" Hn."

" He's different, isn't he?" Naruto tried again. To her surprise, Sasuke actually nodded and spoke softly,

" He knows." She looked up at him in shock. "I told him everything. My family, Itachi, the curse mark, Sarada, everything. He didn't leave."

In that second, Naruto completely understood Sasuke. Their childhood, her years of having no one and his years of having lost everything, made them value the people who stayed. She was lucky, she knew that. Shikamaru's been that person for her since she was eleven. She tried to be that person for Sasuke but it wasn't the same. She didn't love Sasuke that way.

Instead, Naruto smiled at Sasuke, dragging him in to give him a noggie. He fought against her but heard her anyway.

" I'm glad."

She was at home, feeding the baby again as Shikamaru cleaned the dishes. The kids were in the living room, watching a new movie. Naturally, she founded herself ogling her husband because damn, could he pull off the apron look.

" Well, what's the finally verdict?" Shikamaru asked, making her stop her staring. Dammit!

" Oh, I like this one." Naruto chirped. "He's good for Sasuke and doesn't take any of his, I Don't Deserve Happiness, bullshit. And he's fluent in Uchihaniese!" She smirked as Shikamaru sweat-dropped, not believing his wife's insanity.

" Sarada liked him too. Thought it was cool that Ryuji walked through the village without bumping into anyone and anything. Apparently, he can use his chakra through his feet to send wave rays through the earth to tell what's there and what's not."

" So, he sees through touch?"

" Basically."

" That's impressive." Shikamaru praised, turning to face her as he pulled off his apron. "Were you staring again?" Instantly she flushed and looked away.

" So, what if I was? It's not like you don't stare every time I'm feeding Motoko." She protested weakly as he smirked, the lust filling his eyes. Fuck, she was still horny. Stupid hormones…

" NARUTO! SHIKAMARU!" Well, there goes the moment.

" Mom, Dad, Uncle Kiba's beating down the door again!" Instantly, Motoko was in her playpen, Naruto fixed her shirt and Shikamaru answered the door. Now, Kiba was still in fantastic shape, especially since he was Shikamaru's Vice-Commander. However, he looked like he just ran from Konoha to Suna and back to Konoha.

" What's wrong?" Naruto demanded as the dog-man struggled to catch his breath.

" She snapped." Instantly, her heart dropped to her stomach as Kiba looked up and his eyes glanced to Shikamira as if he didn't want to say anything in front of her.

" Sakura. She snapped. Sarada's hurt and in the hospital."

"What the hell does that mean?!" Haruno demanded, raising her fist in anger. Naruto stood up, ready to bitch slap her when Shikamaru slapped a hand over her mouth and pulled her against his chest. She had to fight the urge to lick his hand, no matter how kinky it would have been. He fisted her dress at her hip as he whispered into her ear.

"She's not worth it. And you're scaring the kids. We'll deal with this later. I promise." Sighing, she nodded. Everyone watched them in shock, clearly disturbed and concerned by her behavior. Great, smooth move, Naruto.

"Benihime has Zabuza's sword because I had it and I said she can have it. Chojuro and I wanted to strength the ties between the Mist and the Leaf by doing an exchange. Three of our shinobi will become apart of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen. Three of their shinobi will become apart of our brand-new Police Force. There, happy?" She explained, giving her male self an unamused look. He nodded, clearly not wanting to piss her off more.

Naruto couldn't help the comparison that she made between Male Me and her Sexy Jutsu form. Huh, she imaged his hair to be a little longer, honestly. At least he didn't have a dad bod. Her sapphire eyes shifted to her husband's clone. Yep, still attracted. Even still, her husband was better and sexier, in her own personal opinion, especially with the beard. God, that beard was sexy. Shikamaru must have knew what she was thinking because he was smirking around his cigarette. Ignoring the stares, his arm wrapped itself around her waist, pulling her flush against his left side.

"Ok, I'm going to shoot down the elephant in the room!" Ino shouted, pointing at Naruto and her husband. "How the hell did you two happen?"

"Not this again…" Takashi groaned as Shikamira whacked his shoulder.

"Oh hush, it's romantic."

"It's nauseating."

"You're going to have to be more specific, Ino. You're not going to get a straight answer from her." Shikamaru stated. "Besides, we have better things to do. Like discussing why No Name wants Shikamira and who the other kid is."

"Boruto."

Instantly, that got the rest of the rooms to focus. In all honesty, Naruto had forgotten about the Snake Sannin's experiment/son. Sweet thing, Mitsuki was. So, he was the third person on Boruto and Sarada's team. Interesting decision on Male Me's part. Speaking of Boruto-

"He didn't say anything!" Boruto exclaimed as he held Mitsuki's mouth. The snake boy blinked in confusion. Then Hinata grabbed her son's ear and pulled, making him release his teammate.

"Ow! Mom!"

"Mitsuki, what do you mean?" Male Me asked as he stared down his struggling son.

"Boruto's right eye makes a dojutsu like the byakugan but it's only in one eye and is light blue." Mitsuki explained with a smile, ignoring the death-glares from his friend.

"What?! He has what?!" Sarada asked her teammate. "I've never seen it before!"

"Of course not. Boruto can't control it. It happens sometimes when you two a sparing but goes away quickly." Mitsuki stated as he dodged a tackle from Boruto. The blonde boy sprawled out before her, nearly slamming into her knees. When Boruto tried to jump up, she clapped her hand on his head.

"Woah, Kiddo, calm down. So, you have an unknown Kekkei Genkaki. Now we know so we can protect you." Naruto stated as the boy looked at her. Then his hand slapped hers away as he stood, enraged. Shikamaru tensed beside her, but she put a hand on his arm.

"Don't order me around! You're not my mom! Or my dad!" Boruto yelled. Hinata and Male Me looked ready to yell at him when she nodded in agreement.

"You're right. You aren't my son. That doesn't matter." Naruto stated firmly, as Boruto's eyes started to widen as she continued. "You are his son." She pointed at Male Me. "And that makes you my family. Absolutely no one threatens my family and lives. It doesn't matter how you put it. While I'm here, if someone were to attack you, I'd throw myself in its path and fight for you. Do you understand, Boruto? This includes you too, Himawari, Shikadai."

The three children were looking at her in disbelief. The others were doing the same. Slowly, the three children nodded. Someone made a single clap. In a second, Shikamira had Boruto under one arm with Shikadai under the other.

"Congratulations, boys! You've official been adopted into the Nara Uzumaki family, Dai, Ruto! Taka's been wanting brothers for forever!"

"Finally, Dad, we're not completely outnumbered…" Takashi grumbled as his twin stuck his tongue at him.

"Yay! Hima, I can teach you more fuinjutsu!"

"Woah!" Hima cheered back as she high-fived Beni as Motoko smiled brightly from Takashi's side.

"Ruto?" Boruto and Shikadai asked in a daze. Shikamira made a 'duh' face.

"Nicknames, duh. You need one. All of us have one. Even Momo!"

"Just go with it." Takashi advised. "Her mind's been made and nothing you can say will change it."

"Shut up."

"Wait, you guys are staying?" Kakashi asked as his eyes narrowed. This got the room to stare back at Naruto and Shikamaru. The couple looked at each other before nodding.

"We are staying until we've help you guys eliminate this Otsutsuki." Naruto stated. "The kids are going home."

In retrospect, she should have expected the strong reactions this triggered throughout her kids. However, it was the reaction of all of the kids that shocked her.

"WHAT?!"

"MOM!"

"No, Mommy!"

"They just got here-"

"They are our friends-"

"But my Eternal Rival and I-"

"We finally got another girl-"

"Shikamira, Takashi, neither of you have any grounds to protest right now." Shikamaru reminded as her twins continued to protest.

"But Dad-" They started.

"Listen to your mother."

"Mom, we can't go back yet!" They protested. They must be really upset if they were speaking in unison again. The others looked at them, as if they were just realizing Shikamira and Takashi were twins. Man, they must have done a great job at protecting their identities. She was so proud!

"Please, there is very little you two can say that can change my mind. You four are going back home and that's final." Why was everyone looking at her in shock? Haven't they ever seen a mother put her foot down. Or maybe Male Me doesn't put his foot down?

"Mom, please, we need to stay here! These guys are our friends!" Shikamira objected as Takashi nodded.

"And Boruto and Himawari don't know any Uzumaki specialties whatsoever!" Takashi added. That got her to flinch in shock as she turned to face Male Me. Impossible! Unless-

"And I can teach Shikadai how to expanded his reserves so that he can do more advanced jutsus!" Added Mira before another idea came to her.

"We're also Chunins, Mom! We can be the squad leaders in case the Otsutsuki attacks! Taka can lead Ino-Shika-Cho and I'll lead Team 7!"

"We're not actually numbered-"

"Not important, Sarada! Mom please! We can teach these guys to protect themselves better! Please let us stay! We'll do anything!"

"Anything?" She pondered, as Shikamaru gave her a 'Really?' look. She elbowed him. Oh hush, Shikamaru, she knew what she was doing. Maybe…

"Anything!" Her twins agreed.

"Alright." Instantly, the kids cheered as she smirked. "You two are on probation the moment you get home."

You could hear a pin drop; the room was so silent. Actually, Kakashi was giving her a look of respect and had this 'Finally!' face. Anyway, her twins sighed, nodding in understanding.

"Geeze, do you not discipline your kids or something?" Naruto found herself asking Male Me, whose jaw was dropped.

"I do but, I don't know, probation seems harsh for something like this." Male Me stated. She shook her head in disagreement.

"Nope. They've done crazy stuff before but this tops off everything they've ever tried. Right Shikamaru?"

"Well, making the academy invisible for a week was pretty impressive." That got the twins shocked looks. They shrugged.

"We were bored."

"True, but this caused me far too much stress. How would you react when you realize that your babies are missing and the reason their missing is because the two eldest, who know better, decided to create new jutsus unsupervised?"

"Especially when one of the jutsus contained a seal his mother explicitly told him not to use without her." Her husband added, making Takashi laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head.

"Oops?"

"They'll learn their lesson. They'll have a lot of time to think about it when they're on gate duty." She stated, as the twins sweat-dropped.

"And deer patrol." Shikamaru added as the twins got more depressed.

"Oh, and there are plenty of D-Ranks with their names on it. Tora missed you guys, by the way." She finished as Shikamira groaned and glared at Takashi.

"This is your fault!"

"My fault?! You activated the seal!"

"Well you-"

"Kids, enough, don't make me change my mind again." Naruto stated before she turned to Benihime and Motoko.

"Come on, girls. Time to go home."

Naturally, the girls reacted badly to this. Benihime's eyes widen dramatically as she hugged Himawari. Himawari did the same, as the two released their Puppy Dog Eyes no Jutsu. Motoko, being the little imp that she was, jumped up to Shikamaru and released her own version of Puppy Dog Eyes no Jutsu, complete with crocodile tears.

"No Mommy! Hima needs my help!"

"Please, Ms. Lady Hokage!"

"Daddy, I don't want to leave!"

"Um-" Shikamaru started slowly, because God forbid he make any of his girls cry. Looks like she was going to have to be bad cop. Again. She patted her husband on the shoulder as she swung Motoko up so that her baby was on her hip.

"Honey, look at me. No, you don't use Daddy to change my mind. You, and you, Benihime, are not shinobi yet-"

"I have Kubi, Mommy-"

"I know, Love, I gave her to you. You are still in the academy. And you, Ms. Motoko, haven't even had a day at the academy. You two are going back home where I know that you two are safe." Naruto explained, brushing the baby tears out of Motoko's eyes. Aw, her baby was actually sad. Then, Motoko's eyes harden as she looked back at Other Shikamaru and Shikadai.

"But Mommy, Other Daddy and Dai need me here." Motoko explained firmly, which caused Naruto to raise her eyebrow at the stubborn four-year-old.

"Oh, and why is that?"

"They don't have a Motoko." It was moments like these that reminded Naruto how much her kids were like Shikamaru. Sharp, quick and painfully blunt.

Instantly, it was like the room had dropped twenty degrees. The tension was suffocating. Ino and Choji tensed dramatically, Ino gaining a guilty look on her face. Shikadai just clocked his head to the side, confused by Motoko's statement. But it was Other Shikamaru and Temari's reaction that was the most telling. Other Shikamaru was as white as a sheet. His jaw was clenched, fisting his pants legs so tightly that he nearly ripped them. His eyes were pained, looking faraway with guilt and longing.

Naruto's heart really went out to Temari though. Her reaction sealed what Motoko in her childlike innocence implied. She had been standing, but now she was leaning against the wall for support. Her arms wrapped tightly against her stomach, her back hunched. Her hair shielded her face as her shoulder shook violently. Motoko continued before Naruto could stop her.

"Mira." The child pointed at Shikadai. "Taka." She pointed at Boruto. "Beni." She pointed to Himawari before shaking her head. "But no Momo. So, I'm going to be the Motoko here. For Other Daddy and for Ms. Temari."

Temari's head shot up to stare at Motoko. There was a plethora of emotions that swarmed those teal eyes. Pain, anger, sadness, forgiveness and regret. Regret was the most prominent. The Suna woman looked ready to cry, to shatter into pieces. Then, she breathed, as if this was the first time in ages she actually could breathe and regained herself. Then, she smiled at the brunette baby.

"Thank you, Motoko. Shikadai, your father and I have something important to tell you when we get home." Temari stated, completely at peace as her husband looked at her, cracking a pained but loved filled smile.

"So, are they staying or what?" Great, Inojin still had no filter here too. How the boy wasn't dead was a miracle to Naruto. But, it killed tension as all of the kids looked at them with impatience. Shikamaru shrugged at her.

"I guess if we could get someone to watch them, it'll be fine. But everyone here will probably be helping us so…" Shikamaru trailed off, making her think. Who could watch the girls and not lose their minds or lives while doing it?

"What about Grandma?" Two male voices asked, making Takashi and Shikadai stare at each other in shock.

"That was weird."

"Let's never do that again."

"Agreed."

"Mom?" Other Shikamaru asked, having regained his senses. "You want my mom to watch the girls?" Hm, Yoshino, that could actually work!

"Does she have her frypan?" Naruto asked innocently, only to get a deadpanned look from everyone. "Perfect! Ok girls, if Yoshino agrees and only if she agrees, you can stay."

"Yay!" Benihime cheered before pulling Himawari into a huddle like position. "Motoko, assume the huddle!"

"Mommy, down please!" Motoko demanded before rushing to the huddle, the three girls plotting.

"So, who wants to go get Yoshino?" Naruto asked only for all of the men to shrink back, including her own son and grandson, making Shikamaru groan.

"Why do I feel like I'm going to regret this?" He deadpanned.

One Hour Later

"So, let me get this straight. You are my son with Shikaku from a different dimension who is married to the female version of the Hokage. These are your four beautiful children who have been here for three days and you need me to babysit the two youngest and Himawari so that all of you can go alien hunting." Yoshino summarized from her spot in the middle of the room, her sharp eyes analyzing the group. She looked exactly like her mother-in-law, right down to the pink dress and apron. There were more grays in her hair but her beauty was still there. The group stood tense as the Nara woman stalked up to her actually son and smacked him on the back of the head. Naruto's husband winced in sympathy.

"Ow! Mom!"

"Why am I just hearing about this now?! They've been here for three days and you didn't tell me! And wipe that smirk off your face, Shikadai! You are also in trouble, young man!" Yoshino scolded, making both flinch in fear.

"It's not like I knew any of this, Mom. This is all new to me too!" Other Shikamaru protested as his mother tsked.

"Don't give me that. I could have had the girls over for lunch regardless if they were my grandchildren or not. Now that they are, you have no excuse."

"So, is that a yes?" Takashi asked carefully, also fearful of the elder Nara matriarch's fury.

"Of course! In fact, you can all stay with me until this is all fixed up!" Yoshino insisted. Shikamaru blanched, holding up his hands and shaking his head.

"Thank you, ma'am but we just need you to watch the- Ow!" Yoshino had reached over to pull his ear.

"Shikamaru Nara, I don't care if you are my son from a different dimension or not. I have four other grandchildren I get to spoil and if you think you're going to get away from my questions, you have another thing coming. You are all staying with me and that's final."

"Yes, Mom." Yep, Yoshino was a force to be wretched with. The girls would be just fine.

With that, everyone went their separate ways and Yoshino made them a fantastic dinner. Afterwards, Naruto cleaned up and looked at the clock before her eyes drifted out the window. From the window, she could see the skyline of the village. The lights were beautiful in the twilight but there was one light out there that bugged her.

"Shikamaru, I'll be back." Naruto called out, making her husband poke his head through the doorway. Yoshino was in the living room with the kids, clearly adoring all of them. Shikamaru walked up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist as his eyes followed her line of sight.

"I'll come with you-"

"No. No, I need to do this on my own. Besides, you should talk to your copycat too. Bring him some sake. I think he needs it."

"He needs it? I need it. Only our children could do this." Shikamaru grumbled as he rested his chin on the top of her head.

"They are troublesome, aren't they?" Naruto quipped before twirling in his arms, kissing him before promising, "I'll be back to tuck Motoko in. Don't smoke too much. Yoshino won't like it if her guestroom starts to smell like an ashtray."

"Yeah, yeah." Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "Off with you, Troublesome Wife.

"Lazy Husband."

Male Me jumped when she knocked on his window, swirling around in his swivel chair. He stood to let her in. She hopped in, cracking her fingers as she did. He watched as she pulled up a chair and grabbed a pen.

"What? You looked like you needed help." Naruto stated as she grabbed a piece of paperwork. "And I figured we could talk. You've got questions, I've got questions, I'm helping you with your paperwork. This is a win-win situation."

She was rambling again because Male Me was being uncharacteristic quiet but he fell back into his chair. He looked so much older. But there was still curiosity in his eyes and he was growing more comfortable with each passing second.

"How did you guys get here?" He asked as he signed paperwork.

"Takashi created a seal that can hop dimensions. Or more specifically, hop from one dimension into its opposite dimension. A shadow dimension." Male Me raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?"

"Did Takashi show you his seal?"

"He did."

"Well, the overlapping of the two seals can't occur without bridging it together. Shikamaru believes that when the fireball headed towards the kids, Shikamira was extending her shadow to shield her siblings from the attack. The shadow passed over the seal, successfully bridging the seals together and creating a portal that led them to a world extremely similar to their own but with one major difference."

"Us."

"You catch on quickly. Just another reason to hate being this child of the prophecy." She grumbled.

"You too?!"

"Finally, someone understands my pain! Anyway, when Shikamaru and I figured out what the kids did, we followed. Got any more questions?"

"What was that with you and Sakura?" She flinched at the caring in his voice over the pink-haired bitch. But perhaps this world's Sakura isn't a pyscho.

"Has she ever been tested for mental illness?" Naruto asked instead, making her male self pause.

"No, why?"

"I've got one more question before I answer. Did Haruno have an obsession with Sasuke when she was younger?"

"Well, she had a crush on him, but-"

"For how long?"

"Since she was in the academy." Male Me confessed, the confusion growing on his features. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Sasuke's gay." Maybe she should have worded that differently as her male self chocked on his water that he was sipping. She nearly laughed at him but the subject was to serious for her tomfoolery.

"I'm sorry, what?!"

"Sasuke's gay, homosexual, bats the other way, likes-"

"Please stop." It was funny watching her male self get so flustered.

"Well, he's always had been. Or maybe the fangirls made him that way." She wondered out loud. "Anyway, it was actually one of the reasons Sasuke had so many problems. How can he rebuild his clan if he couldn't see himself with a woman? After the war, he came out about it and I honestly didn't care because I always knew. But Haruno was in denial. Complete denial. She had built up this fantasy in her head that she would be the Lady Uchiha if she was patient. Sasuke would be hers and hers alone. Then, Sasuke's lover, Ryuji, convinced him to go home to visit Sarada. Ryuji wasn't originally going to travel with Sasuke to Konoha but Sasuke insisted because he wanted Sarada to meet him. Before Sakura's eyes, her fantasy shattered completely and with it, her sanity. She snapped and Sarada took the brunt of it."

Naruto had whispered out the last sentence, because the guilt still ate at her. Male Me stared at her in disbelief, before shaking his head.

"Ok, if your Sasuke's gay, how could he have Sarada?" Her male self demanded, ready to defend his teammate. She stood abruptly, and paced before the desk.

"Do you have a dear cousin, Karin?" At the man's wince, she continued. "Yes, well, she actually took Sasuke's sexuality better than Haruno did and made him an offer. She would bear him his heir and in return, all she asked was that the baby be well taken care of in Konoha. Sasuke agreed and Karin became his surrogate. They traveled together and as they approached Konoha, she went into labor at seven and half months. Sasuke took a risk and rushed her to the hospital. Karin needed an emergency C-section to save her and the baby." She paused, shutting her eyes so that she wouldn't see her male self's concerned face.

"She died?"

"Yes, she did. And apparently, her last words were for her doctor to take care of her baby. I'll give you one guess."

"Sakura? But-"

"Haruno let her die. She could have saved Karin but she chose not to because she wanted to Sarada's mother. Sasuke was actually distraught over Karin's death because apparently maternity made her less annoying. He stayed in Konoha for six months before we decided it would be best if he traveled again. And foolishly, Kakashi and I let Haruno be the one to raise Sarada in his stead. I should have taken her in and I've cursed myself for not doing so. At the time though, she appeared genuine in her love for Sarada. Years passed and Sarada grew into a beautiful young girl, strong and ready to take on the world. Yet, Haruno was waiting. She had changed her name to Uchiha, lying to us by saying she didn't want a different last name from her child. In reality, she believed that it was one step closer to her fantasy."

God, she needed a drink. Granny's stash should be somewhere, Ah ha! Male Me blinked as she pulled two sake bottles out from behind the First's portrait. She tossed one bottle to him as she took a large swig of her own.

"How-"

"Granny's stash. Always perfect for situations like this. Drink, you'll need it." He stared at her before doing as she ordered as she collapsed back into the chair.

"Sarada had invited Sasuke and Ryuji back to her house for dinner. Later on, Sarada told us that Haruno was tense but seemed fine as she hosted the men. But then, Sarada made the mistake of saying that she liked Ryuji and that he was good for her Papa. That's where Sarada's memory goes blank. Do you want to know the full report?"

"Please."

"Haruno had punched her threw four walls. Ino and Granny calculated that Haruno punched her so hard that it was the equivalent of her fall off of the top of Hokage Mountain. Sarada's back had shattered from the force her so-called mother used. The only reason Sarada lived was because I had put an ANBU guard on her without Haruno knowing. And that day was the only day that that guard had a medic in the group. Sarada was in a coma for three weeks, the house had collapsed from her being punched through it and her career nearly ended before it could begin. Sarada has to wear a back-brace now. It's a miracle that she's a kunoichi." She ended before draining the last of the sake before turning to face her copycat.

"I nearly killed Haruno when it happened. The only reason Sasuke didn't kill her was because Sarada needed him and that Haruno needed to go on trial. I had Ino go into her mind with the orders to break it if necessary. Haruno had a split personality, an Inner Sakura. Inner Sakura was actually Haruno's line of defense against mental attacks and the last bit of sanity left in Haruno. Inner Sakura revealed everything to Ino, every last detail in this fantasy. How Sakura let Karin die on the operation table. How she believed that it was only a matter of time before Sasuke realized that he 'loved' her. How if she raised Sarada, then Sasuke would marry her. How the fact that blind man who wanted to meet his lover's daughter made her lose her sanity. How her love for Sarada was a farce, just a step in her masterplan."

Male Me looked sick as the words sunk in. He chugged his sake before turning to face the window. He was watching her through the window, his mind calculating every sentence she had just said. He was looking for a lie. She wished that she was lying.

"I believe you." The Lord Hokage finally stated, turning back to her. "It seems impossible but…"

"It's always the quiet ones." She commented. "You'll have to forgive me for looking at that woman in disgust. Haruno lost my love along time ago. This was just the final straw. Now, judging by your reactions, the Haruno here is actually sane and that Sarada's her biological daughter. So, I'll be civil with her and all that shit."

"Do you want me to have her mentally evaluated?" Male Me asked. She paused before shrugging.

"It's your call. You know your world better than I do. If you do send her in, I'd suggest waiting until we're just a memory. Make it appear as if it's just a routine checkup."

He remained silent, his bandaged hand rubbing his temples as he pondered over everything that he just learned. The silence and tension were unbearable. Besides, she had an important question for him.

"So, mind telling me how you got together with my Matron of Honor?"

Commander Nara

"That's a good wife you've got there." Mom stated calmly as she poured him, her alternate world's son, some tea. "And your kids are beautiful and smart. They must keep you on your toes."

"They're all troublesome, the whole lot of them." He said, sipping his tea as his eyes wondered to the living room where the kids were watching some tv. "Naruto, she's worst of them."

"Oh really?" Mom laughed. "You know, I couldn't see it until watched you two over dinner but it works. She's your yang to your yin, isn't she?"

"Yeah, she is." Shikamaru stated, his eyes rooming over to the clock. She won't be back for a while. Tch, Troublesome Wife.

"So, do I like Naruto back at home too?"

"Please, there are times where I think you love her more than you do me." That got another laugh out Mom too. "Do you not like Temari?"

That was the question that formed in his head when Mom had asked her question. Mom turned tense as she pondered over the question. Slowly, she shook her head before she started,

"No, I like her and she's good to my son. It's just been tense these past few years and she's never truly entered into her role as Lady Nara."

"Because of the baby?" Mom whipped her eyes up at him, the shock evident in her expression.

"You know?!"

"Motoko, while young, can read any situation. Her argument for staying here was that your son needed her here because you guys were missing a Motoko. The implication was there." Shikamaru explained as Mom sighed, a faraway look entering her eyes.

"It would've have been Motoko's age." Mom confessed. "I don't think Shikamaru and Temari truly ever got over it. They never told Shikadai. Why tell your only child that you lost their sibling before you could even tell him about it? There's more but it's not my place to tell you." He nodded in understanding.

"Do you mind watching the kids for a bit? I've got to have a conversation with myself. Man, this is weird and a drag." Shikamaru groaned, making Mom laugh before nodding.

"Go ahead, I've got this."

He got up, moving into the living room. The tv was on a kid friendly show for the girls as his twins played a round of shogi against each other. Shikamira's head shot up as he entered the room.

"Dad?" She called out as he walked closer to them. His heiress leaned against his legs as he approached her seat. She missed him, Shikamaru noted. Takashi also looked worried, his body tense.

"I'll be back in a bit. I need to talk with my clone. Be good for your grandmother." Shikamaru explained with a smile as the tension left his eldest children. Takashi's eyes shot up though, the worry in his eyes.

"Where's Mom?" Ah, Takashi, always worrying about his mother.

"Having a chat with Lord Hokage. She'll be back to tuck Motoko in. Be good, you two. And someone please brush Benihime's hair." He ordered, making Takashi laughed nervously. Shikamaru knelt next to the board, bring the two into his arms. Shikamira instantly latched onto him, her body shaking. Takashi was more reluctant but caved almost immediately. They buried themselves into his shoulders, both trying not to cry.

"It's alright, we're here and we are all okay. That's all that matters." Shikamaru whispered as Shikamira hiccupped, her grip around his neck tightening.

"I missed you, Daddy." Shikamira confessed, making Shikamaru shift his face so that he could kiss her forehead.

"I'm sorry, Dad. I couldn't protect the girls." Takashi confessed, making the father shake his head and tap his son's chin to get him to look up.

"Stop with that nonsense. You did a great job protecting the girls."

"But Mira-"

"Was separated from you by a chakra repressing barrier. You can't beat yourself over something completely out of your control. Don't be down on yourself, son." Shikamaru firmly explained as his boy nodded, using his forearm to whip away the rebellious tears. He just like his mother, always feeling guilty over things out of his control. Takashi was getting older; he was growing up to be a fine young man. But he was still Shikamaru's little boy, no matter how old he got. For the first time in a while, Takashi let him kiss his forehead. Shikamaru squeezed his twins tightly before releasing them.

"I'll be back soon. Be good."

Shikamaru made sure to grab some sake before he headed over to the main house. Huh, at least the front still looked the same. And Naruto's vegetable garden had poorly kept flowers in its stead. They also didn't have a porch, which was a damn shame. Where did his other self smoke? Tch, what a drag. Shikamaru jumped onto the roof where another person was smoking.

The advisor was leaning back against the chimney of the house, taking a drag. He stared at the stars, the red of his eyes prominent. He had been crying, Shikamaru realized as he moved closer. Advisor Nara didn't budge as Shikamaru sat next to him, popping open the two bottles.

"Please tell me you brought sake." Copycat pleaded, his gaze still locked on the stars.

"Any preference?"

"Whatever gets me drunk the fastest."

"Ah, the cheap shit then." That got a laugh out of his doppelganger as Shikamaru passed a bottle to the advisor. They both took a swig before Shikamaru reached into his vest pocket, pulling out his packet. Advisor Nara spoke as he lit his drag.

"I'm surprised you guys still use that style." Ah, his chunnin vest.

"They've been modified. We have the chest plates too but you get a choice. I preferred the old-fashioned look." Shikamaru paused, waiting for his other self to take another swig before continuing. "Besides, they're easier to take off."

Cough!

Shikamaru laughed as his doppelganger choked and splattered on his sake. The breadless man's cheeks were a rose red. As he regained himself, the advisor glared back at him.

"Was that really necessary?"

"Absolutely." Shikamaru affirmed before looking back as, you know what, let's just call him Nara from now on. Nara's eyes shifted back to the sky.

"So, do you want to talk about it?" Shikamaru asked carefully.

"No, but I should, shouldn't I? Tch, troublesome." Nara groaned before his eyes drifted down to the light escaping the house.

"When Shikadai was born, the pregnancy caused some complications. Temari had what is called a retained placenta. The doctors had to remove the placenta because it wouldn't fall out naturally. They missed some of it and it caused an infection. The infection- it essential made it so that if we did conceive, we had to wait three long months to ensure that Temari would actual carry to term. We've been trying for years and Temari's had four miscarriages. Most of them have been early on but still…" Nara trailed off, the sadness entering his eyes. Hell, he felt sad.

"She made it to three months." Shikamaru probed making Nara flinch before shaking his head.

"Four, we made it to four months. Shikadai was seven and just assumed that Temari had gotten fat. I had left to go with Naruto to a month long Kage meeting. One week of travel, two weeks of meetings and then one week to travel back home. We decided to wait until I got back to tell everyone. Ino, Choji and Mom knew and Temari had me tell Gaara and Kankuro when we got to the meetings. The day we got back, Choji was waiting for me at the gate." His voice was getting progressively shakier as he continued.

"I've never felt more small and helpless than I did in that moment. We got back to the house to find Ino scrubbing the floor raw, tears still falling. Ino had been visiting Temari while Shikadai was at school and they were cooking when it happened. Ino did everything she could to stop the bleeding before rushing Temari to the hospital. The baby didn't make it." Nara was whispering now, tears rolling down his eyes. Shikamaru didn't say anything as he reached over, clamping a hand on the other's shoulder. Finally, the man regained himself, wiping the tears away.

"We never told Shikadai until today. We should have but neither of us wanted to talk about it. Who would? So, we faked it. We pretended that everything was alright for him." Nara finished, swigging the last of the sake.

"Have you properly grieved?" Shikamaru asked as he thought about his kids. Then the horrid thought of Naruto going through the same thing made him sick to his stomach. He would say poor Temari, but Temari back at home was never one for sympathy. He felt for her, though, he really did.

"We are now." Hm, good. They needed it. "Let's talk about something else." Ah, Nara was curious.

"Ask away." Shikamaru said, reclining back against the roof tiles.

"Naruto, of all people-"

Instantly, Shikamaru shot up and glared at his counterpart, causing Nara to throw his hand up in an 'I surrender'.

"Choose your next words very carefully. You may be me but I reserve the right to beat your ass if your planning on insulting my wife."

"Troublesome…Not insulting at all. Just extremely confused as to how you two happened." Nara insisted making Shikamaru weaken his glare before nodding in understanding.

"Yeah, I guess that makes sense. Especially since she's a guy here. Well, if you want me to be perfectly honest, there's only been her." Shikamaru stated.

"What?" Nara blinked.

"I've known Naruto since we were eight. I was her first real friend and she was scared of me finding out just how badly the villagers and the academy treated her. When Naruto was eleven, I had walked into her apartment to find it absolutely raided. Every possession she owned was either smashed, stolen or pissed on. I saw red and moved her into the guestroom next to me room. She wasn't staying in that hellhole any longer." Shikamaru explained as Nara gaped at him.

"But that implies-"

"Yeah, yeah, that she was my intended bride and all that shit." Shikamaru grumbled. "Trust me, I knew that the moment I did that. She was worth it. The village got a message loud and clear. The jinchuriki they despised so much was going to be protected by one of the village's most important clans. Their bullshit was longer allowed."

"But to make that decision so young…" Nara muttered before the realization hit him. "Fuck, does that mean that old saying is actually true?"

"That Naras fall in love with the first person to challenge them mentally and emotionally. Yep, so far, it's true. Naruto and I have bet running on how long it takes Takashi to make a move on Sarada. The boy's been in love with her since he was four. He has Naruto's obliviousness though so who knows how long it'll take him realize his feeling." Shikamaru pondered. Nara made a face.

"You two bet on your son's love life?"

"When you have our normal wager, we bet on everything."

"What's the- No, I don't want to know." Yeah, Nara probably don't want to be scarred for life because Shikamaru had an extremely active sex life with his wife.

"So, there's been no one else? Not even Temari?"

"Nope." Besides, Temari was never an option because she was off being the Kazekage during his teenage years. (The Suna council wouldn't choose Gaara for Kazekage after learning about the Mizukage also being a jinchuriki. Kankuro was also a big 'Hell No!' Thus, Temari became the Kazekage instead. Now, Gaara was the Kazekage but he's only been in power for as long as Naruto has been.) If Shikamaru had to guess, this world's Temari was probably the Sand's ambassador while Nara was the Leaf's ambassador. Which meant that they spent a lot of time together and the rest was history.

"How?"

"Well…"

" You head out tomorrow?" Shikamaru asked from his spot in the grass as he and Naruto lounged in his backyard. The girl in orange nodded as she moved to her side so that she could look at him better.

" Yeah, Pervy-Sage thinks that the sooner I leave, the better. Those assholes are making some moves." She grumbled, her face sad at the idea of leaving the village for two years. Stupid Akatsuki… And hopefully, she was sad about leaving him.

" Who's going to get into an argument with Chiyo for me if you're gone?" Shikamaru whined, dreading having to deal with the Sand elder by himself. His fellow chunin laughed at his despair, patting his chest. Unlike him, she didn't wear her vest often. Something about it being suffocating, whatever that meant.

" You'll be fine." Naruto insisted before the nervousness entered her eyes again. "You'll write me back, right?"

Shikamaru was her designated messenger while she was on this training trip. All of her reports would be sent to him via summons and he would deliver them to the Hokage. On top of that, Naruto wanted to write to him, just to give him a life update and check in. In reality though, it was to make sure that he would still care about her when she returned. Which was why she was being a ridiculously troublesome girl. Absolutely nothing would ever make him stopping caring about her. This past year that they spent together on mission after mission across the villages after their promotion just solidified his feelings for Naruto. He loved her, he knew that for certain and she definitely felt something for him. Yet, he couldn't tell her this, even if they were practically dating. They needed to be away from each other, to confirm their feelings once and for all.

" Tch, of course. Troublesome Girl." Shikamaru confirmed, reaching up to grab her hand on his chest, lacing their finger together. She shifted closer, her blonde hair sprawling across his shoulder and the grass below them. She didn't do her normal 'Lazy Boy' which made him look down at her.

" I- I'm going to miss you." Naruto confessed, her voice uncharacteristically softer as her grip tightened around his hand. His eyes softened before he shifted so that he could press a kiss against her forehead.

" I'll miss you too."

The next day was rough. Mom and Dad fussed over Naruto, with Mom triple checking Naruto's pack while Dad reiterated to Jiraiya, 'If Naruto picks up any bad habits from you or you leave her to go peeking or if you do anything perverted to her, I'll know and I'll end you.' Moments like these made Shikamaru question who his parents loved more, him or Naruto. He founded himself staring at her, in her orange and navy short, yukata kunoichi dress and her hair pulled back in a braid. Her, they loved her more. God knows he loved her more than anything else in this dangerous world. It was hard not to love her.

And before he knew it, she was hugging him goodbye at the gate. His team was there along with their senseis. Haruno wasn't there, which didn't surprise him one fucking bit. She's always been jealous of Naruto. He could hear Ino whispering to Choji that Shikamaru needed to 'Grow a pair and kiss her.' (Which, piss off, Ino, he has kissed her and sure as hell wasn't going to do it in front of Konoha's biggest gossip. The last thing need was to be question on why they weren't officially dating.) He didn't need to look at Asuma-Sensei to know that he was smirking at them. Asuma-Sensei was one of the first to pick up Shikamaru's attraction for the troublesome Uzumaki. Thus, it wasn't uncommon for the Sarutobi to invite Naruto to get BBQ or train with them, especially after Asuma-Sensei learned that she had wind release too.

Kakashi-Sensei was there too, reading his porn in daylight again. Shikamaru and Kakashi-Sensei had this weird understanding with each other. Kakashi-Sensei was fiercely protective of Naruto. Why? Well, he used to be apart of her ANBU guard and then there were other reasons that Shikamaru didn't know until later on. Anyway, Shikamaru was the only boy Kakashi-Sensei let near Naruto, which was saying something because nearly every freaking boy she's met ended up falling in love with her without her even knowing. Oblivious troublesome girl.

" Come on kid, let's go! We're wasting precious research hours!" Jiraiya whined only to flinch back when Naruto sent a glare his way.

" Stupid Pervy-Sage…" Naruto grumbled as she turned back to face him. "Give Kankuro hell and have Gaara write me a letter when you're in Suna. And you better not slack on your training, Shikamaru. Who else is going to cause mayhem with me with you can't keep up?" Shikamaru snorted as she flashed him a smile.

" What a drag… yeah, you've got it. Do you have everything?" He asked and she nodded.

" Yeah, I've sealed everything away. Good thing Granny Mito left such detailed notes about sealing."

When Naruto was promoted to chunin, it had caused one of the Third Hokage's last orders to go into effect. The order stated that the moment Naruto became a chunin, Mito Uzumaki's possession would be passed to Naruto so that the girl could learn her heritage. That day had been an emotional one on Naruto. Just entering the First Wife's home got her shaking with emotions. When they used Naruto's blood to unlock the stash, Naruto fell to her knees at the sight of the dead woman's possession. Mito Uzumaki had walls upon walls of books and scrolls, a plethora of Uzumaki memorabilia and more clothes than Naruto could fit into her closet. Naruto learned about her clan that day and she made it her mission to ensure that the Uzumaki clan wasn't forgotten.

" Kid-"

" Don't get your panties in a twist, Pervy-Sage. I'm coming." Naruto said before she hugged him one more time. His hands fisted her clothes tightly as she whimpered softly, trying to bury herself away.

" Come back to me." Shikamaru whispered into her ear and she nodded against his shoulder. They broke apart and Naruto quickly used her forearm to wipe away any rebellious tears. She smiled at him and he smiled back as she turned to sprint over next to the Toad Sannin. Her golden locks shined as she twirled around, waving back at all of them.

" The next time you guys see me, I'll be kicking ass and taking names! And that hat will be mine!" She promised. "Those bastards won't know what hit them! See you guys soon!"

And then, she was gone. Two years passed and he trained harder than ever before. Every two weeks, he gave the Hokage Naruto's report before hiding himself away to read her letters to him. Most of them made him laugh, only she could be so ridiculous as to get into a fight with the Tsuchikage granddaughter over which release was better, wind or earth. (Wind is clearly the best, Shikamaru! You can use it anywhere, unlike as certain dirt-bound release!) Or how she got into a rap-battle with the Raikage's brother. (And he's a jinchuriki too, Shikamaru! I've got another teacher and this one isn't perverted! It's a miracle!) He sent her back letters, tell her about what's happening in the village. (I've got to run the Chunin Exams that we're hosting with Suna this month and it's a real drag. Kankuro doesn't do jack-shit and Gaara is scaring the genin again. Man, what a drag.) Or about he's personal and professional life (I got an apartment closer to the tower. That way, I can sleep in later and Mom won't nag me so much.) Years later, Shikamira and Takashi had found all of their letters. Shikamira insisted that they should publish them because 'They're so romantic, Daddy!' to which Takashi replied almost instantly, 'They're nauseating.'

He had been escorting the Sand Bros back to Lady Tsunade's office. Kankuro was going on and on about how Temari was 'Yelling at me for absolutely no reason! How was I supposed to know that those papers were important?!' Gaara was walking beside them quietly, carrying their luggage behind them with his sand. They were staying here again for a month because of the upcoming Chunin Exams. Which meant that Shikamaru had to skip his nine o'clock nap. Again. Being the Leaf's ambassador was such a drag…

As he opened the door to the office, he felt himself froze. It didn't matter that Haruno and Lady Tsunade were also in the office. It didn't matter that Kankuro was telling him to get his ass out of the doorway. It didn't matter that Gaara was actually smiling and waving hello.

Naruto turned to face him. Her hair had grown longer and she had it in a new style that looked too complicated for one person to do every day. Then again, this was Naruto and she didn't do anything half-assed. She was as tall as Haruno, no longer the shortest of the Kunoichi. Her navy and orange were replaced by black and orange. Her dress was still in the same style but- Shikamaru gulped- she had matured and filled out in certain areas. She was beautiful, absolutely stunning. Her sapphire eyes widen, her whiskered cheeks reddening before she stepped forward.

To this day, he doesn't know who grabbed who and he didn't give two shits. Her arms wrapped themselves around his neck as he lifted her by the waist, holding her close. She was skinner but packed with muscles and curves. He could hear Lady Tsunade chuckling as Kankuro spattered in disbelief. And Haruno, well, Haruno was being her jealous self. Because god forbid that Naruto's happier and prettier than her.

" What the hell? You two were actually dating and didn't tell me?! Gaara, did you know?"

" They aren't dating."

" Bullshit! I call bullshit!"

" Hi." Naruto whispered. "Did I miss much?" He snorted as he put her down.

" No. I thought you said you wouldn't be back for a month." Shikamaru questioned, making her do jazz hands as she stepped back.

" Surprise!" Naruto cheered. "Granny called us back early. Besides, we were done anyway. Pervy-Sage just wanted to spend more time at the hot springs for his oh-so-important research." Her sarcastic words got a smirk out of Shikamaru. "How are you two doing, Gaara, Kankuro? Temari's not working you guys too hard?"

" She's a slave driver."

" We're good." The brothers said at the same time. You can guess who said what.

" Anyway, I've got so much to tell you, Shikamaru but I'll do that after Sakura and I kick Kakashi-Sensei's ass!" Naruto was buzzing, bouncing around on the balls of her feet.

" You can tell me all about at dinner." Shikamaru said, causing her to blush and give him a small smile.

" Not dating, my ass." Kankuro grumbled, causing Shikamaru to elbow him.

" Come on, Naruto. Kakashi-Sensei's waiting for us." Sakura said, looking annoyed, as usual.

" Coming, Sakura!" Naruto said. "You'll find me if I'm not back by six?"

" Yep. I'll see you in a bit." Shikamaru said as Naruto and Sakura rushed out of the window.

Dinner had been at Ichiraku's. Naruto hadn't had it in two years and he could tell that she missed it. She wasn't even going to bring it up but when he suggested it, her smile told him just how happy she was. They were walking back, their stomach full as Naruto chatted on and on about her travels. It took her awhile but-

" Shikamaru, where are we going?" She asked. "The compound's in the other direction."

" I know. I want to show you something." Shikamaru said as he grabbed her hand. They entered his apartment building. His apartment was on the second floor, which meant less stairs (totally something he planned for). Choji lived down the hall from him and Ino was two floors up. Shikamaru was fairly certain that Lee lived on the top floor, if his shouts of 'YOUTH' were anything to go by. They arrived at his door. He unlocked it, opening the place to Naruto.

" This is where I've been staying for the past year. It makes getting up for missions less troublesome and if I sleep in, Choji can come get me. It's not much but I like it." Shikamaru explained as Naruto surveyed the two-bedroom, one-bath apartment. The walls were a blue-gray. His living room, kitchen and dining room was one space, making the apartment look bigger than it actually was.

" I like it!" Naruto twirled back to look at him only to reach up to catch what he tossed her.

" A key?" She wondered, looking back at him. He shut the door behind him as he closed the distance between them. He cradled her face in his hands and leaned closer, giving her time to move away. She did the opposite. Her arms locked themselves around his neck as he kissed her, picking her up and moving them to the couch. They collapsed against it with her in his lap. She looked back at him through her bangs, gnawing at her rouged lips.

" I want you to stay." He confessed, brushing the hair out of her eyes. "The compound felt empty without you. Your room is still the same but I- I've missed you. Stay with me. Please." He was whispering now as her eyes shined. They softened as she leaned closer, pecking him over and over again.

" Yes, I'll stay. Only if you want me." Naruto whispered back, her face flushed. She fiddled with the zipper of his jacket, a nervous habit of hers when they did something romantic.

" I wouldn't have asked if I didn't want you. Tch, Troublesome Girl."

" Lazy Boy." They shared a smile.

" So, does that mean we're dating now?" Naruto asked, knocking her head to the side. He shrugged.

" Only if you want to."

" Yeah, I want to."

"And that's basically it." Shikamaru finished, tossing his dead cigarette.

"Your Naruto was a chunin?"

"That's your question?"

"Oh, trust me, I've got plenty of questions but that one's important." That got Shikamaru's intention. He whipped his head around to see Nara in his thinking position.

"You said that the orders from the Third were only to be activated when Naruto became a chunin?"

"Yes, why?" Then with the grave face, Nara turned to him.

"The Naruto here was never a chunin. He was a genin until after the war. That's why Kakashi made Naruto's promotion to jonin his first order of business as Hokage. And I think the Third here also had that order. And it was never activated."

Author’s Note: And that, my friends, is the lore of 2.0! What do you guys think?! Personally, this is my favorite chapter in DMWSYI. Let me know your thoughts. Don’t forget to comment, kudos and bookmark! Love you guys so much!

-V.I. Winthrop 

The Lord Kazekage

”I don’t remember approving sending back the Leaf Ambassador and his genin.” Gaara commented as he approached his predecessor. Her hair blew in the wind as Temari’s attention remained locked on the gate. “Nor insisting that our Ambassador and genin escort them back to Konoha.”

She hummed with a shrug, “You were dealing with the trade diabolical with Mist. I took it off of your plate.”

”You forged my signature.”

”Wouldn’t be the first time.” 

Gaara fought back a groan. “Temari-”

”Look, your kids will be fine. Haji’s with them and Krow’s- well, Krow.” She turned around, her back rested against the rooftop railing. She raised her chin defiantly. “Naruto used her frogs to tell us about her kids. Her and Shikamaru need us, now more than ever.”

He sighed. She, naturally, was right. “They’re toads. Look, next time, just tell me before you send my kids on a mission.” He moved to the railing just as his girls sprinted into the desert, trialing their older cousins. He knew they would be safe, Haji and Krow would die before letting anything happen to them. But still, he worried.

”Besides,” Temari said suddenly, a mischievous gleam in her eyes. “This is the perfect opportunity for Haji to get into Shikamaru’s good graces.” 

Gaara didn’t bother fighting back the groan this time. Not this again. The last thing he needed was his nephew (and most likely successor) ending with Shikamira. Naruto would never let him live it down.

Author’s Note - The Nara clan likes blonde, wind users. What can I say? ;)

-V.I. Winthrop