At this moment, the energetic Rock Lee walked in, followed by the expressionless Neji and Tenten, who was holding a bag of ninja tools.
As soon as Tenten entered, she waved to Naruto. "Naruto, how was that batch of Kunai last time?"
"They were very good, I'll come to you again next time."
Naruto greeted the three of them and arranged for them to sit by the window.
Boruto watched as this circle of familiar faces sat down one by one, and the corners of his lips couldn't help but rise slightly.
Shikadai's dad, Chōchō's dad, Inojin's mom, Metal Lee's dad, Shino-sensei, Uncle Kiba, Aunt Tenten.
Finally, Boruto's gaze fell on Neji and the smile at the corner of his lips faded.
His uncle.
In the future Konoha, the name Neji only appeared on the memorial stone. He had heard his mom say that during the Fourth Great Ninja War, his uncle blocked an attack from Ten-Tails to protect her and his dad.
Neji seemed to sense something and turned his head to look at Boruto, who was staring at him in a daze.
He frowned slightly, his tone carrying a hint of imperceptible confusion. "Do we know each other?"
Boruto came back to his senses and quickly waved his hands. "No, I just think that you look a bit like someone I've seen."
Neji said indifferently, "Then you must have mistaken me for someone else."
Just then, the door was pushed open and Sakura and Karin walked in one after another.
"Sorry, we're late."
Sakura looked around for a vacant seat while taking off her coat. Her gaze soon landed on the empty seat next to Sasuke.
Naruto smiled at Sakura and pointed to the empty seat next to Sasuke. "Sakura, that seat is reserved for you."
Sakura was a bit surprised, but didn't think too much about it, and walked straight to sit next to Sasuke.
"Is today some special day?"
She draped her coat over the back of the chair and looked up at Sasuke sitting beside her.
The moment Sakura sat down, Sasuke stiffened. He now regretted agreeing to come to this meal.
Karin didn't notice the undercurrents on Sasuke's side at all. She ran directly to Naruto's side and sat down.
Boruto looked at his mom on his dad's left, Karin sitting on the right, and Aunt Ino, who was chatting with his dad from time to time.
He gave his mom a mental thumbs-up. No wonder she was so authoritative at home. To be able to stand out among so many competitors, could she be an ordinary person?
"Ahem!"
Seeing that everyone had arrived, Naruto stood up and said, "I called everyone here today mainly because I've met two new friends and I thought I'd take this opportunity to introduce them to everyone."
"However, these two friends have to leave Konoha soon because of some things, so I wanted to invite everyone to have a meal together before they leave."
Everyone nodded.
Sasuke kept his head down the whole time. Boruto sat up straight in his seat, trying to make himself look more natural.
Naruto first pointed to Boruto. "This guy, who looks like me, is named Boruto."
Boruto stood up and bowed slightly to everyone present. "My name is Boruto, please take care of me."
Seeing Boruto stand up, everyone began to whisper to each other.
Kiba nudged Shino with his elbow and said, "This kid is practically carved from the same mold as Naruto."
After the discussions died down a little, Naruto moved his hand toward Sasuke, a meaningful smile hanging on the corner of his lips.
"And this uncle here is named Chūni."
(Note: Chūni meaning Chūnibyō, basically edgy.)
"Pfft!"
Sasuke had just taken a sip of tea when he sprayed it all out.
He covered his mouth and coughed, a very faint red flush spreading to his ears.
"Uncle Chūni, are you okay?"
Seeing Sasuke choking on his tea, Sakura picked up a tissue from the table and handed it to him.
"Cough, cough..."
"I... I'm fine. Thank you."
Sasuke took the tissue and wiped the corners of his mouth.
Then he stood up and said to everyone in a low voice, "Please take care of me."
Although everyone present felt this Uncle Chūni was a bit eccentric, since he was a friend of Naruto, they all responded politely.
"Alright, everyone, let's eat."
Everyone picked up their chopsticks and began to eat.
Naruto picked up a piece of pork belly and placed it in Hinata's bowl, flashing a mischievous smile. "Hinata, do you think Boruto looks like me?"
Hinata looked carefully at Boruto sitting opposite and nodded after sizing him up. "Boruto-kun and Naruto-kun look a lot alike. The hair and eye colors are exactly the same and he has the same whisker markings on his face that Naruto-kun used to have."
"Hinata, I'll tell you a secret." Naruto leaned closer to Hinata and lowered his voice.
"A secret?" Hinata blinked.
Naruto leaned into her ear and whispered in a voice only the two of them could hear, "Actually, Boruto traveled back from the future. He is the child you and I have together in the future."
Hinata's face turned bright red. "With Naruto-kun... a child... from the future?"
Her gaze drifted involuntarily toward Boruto, who was eating. Before, she only thought the boy looked like Naruto, but now, looking again, she felt that the angle of his mouth when he smiled, and even the way he shoved his chopsticks into his mouth while eating meat, were all just like Naruto. And the way Boruto was quiet did indeed look a bit like herself.
Thinking of this, a wisp of white smoke began to rise from the top of Hinata's head. Her lips moved a few times, she wanted to say something but couldn't get a single word out.
Her body swayed twice, and then she fell backward, fainting.
"Naruto, why did you make Hinata faint again?" Karin glanced at Hinata, who had collapsed onto Naruto's shoulder.
"Cough, cough! Sorry, I didn't mean to."
Naruto supported Hinata with one hand to let her lean against the back of the chair and waved his other hand at Karin, signaling that he was innocent.
Boruto sat opposite and saw this scene clearly. He silently turned his gaze to the window, thinking to himself, 'Dad is way too smooth when he was young. No wonder Mom blushed every time she mentioned the past.'
On the other side.
Sakura sat next to Sasuke, occasionally glancing at him while picking food into her bowl.
This uncle called Chūni hadn't eaten a single bite of meat since sitting down. He just held a teacup and stared blankly at the wall.
"Uncle, aren't you going to eat?"
"I already ate earlier, not very hungry." Sasuke replied in a low voice.
Sakura hesitated for a moment and then asked, "Um... Uncle Chūni, although this is our first time meeting today, I feel like I've seen you somewhere before. Did we happen to meet before?"
Sasuke's fingers holding the teacup tightened slightly. "It's probably just a feeling."
"That's true."
Sakura didn't think much more about it and picked up her chopsticks again to pick up a slice of grilled meat for herself.
This uncle gave her an indescribable sense of familiarity.
Sakura threw these inexplicable thoughts out of her mind, and continued to focus on eating.
...
The sunset sank behind the Hokage Rock, and the noise in the barbecue restaurant gradually subsided.
Choji patted his round belly contentedly as he slumped in his chair.
Kiba was smoothing the fur of the equally stuffed Akamaru.
Hinata had already woken up. After she woke up, Naruto explained that what he had said earlier was just a joke.
Hinata leaned on Karin's shoulder, her blush not yet fully faded. From time to time, she would secretly glance at Naruto and Boruto, who were chatting with Shikamaru, and then quickly withdraw her gaze.
Ino and Tenten huddled together, whispering, occasionally stealing glances at the silent Uncle Chūni in the corner. Clearly, they were extremely curious about this stranger who wore a cloak and had a cool temperament, yet carried a sense of inexplicable familiarity.
Sasuke sat in the corner, mentally cycling through every curse word he had ever known in his life.
Chūni.
Never in his life had he been called that.
The party ended, and everyone said goodbye to Naruto and left one by one.
Hinata was following Kiba and Shino and was about to leave when Naruto reached out and held her back.
"Hinata, don't go just yet."
"What's wrong, Naruto-kun?"
Naruto looked at Hinata and smiled slightly. "I plan to take Boruto to take a photo and would like to ask you to join us."
Upon hearing this, Hinata's mind flashed back to the joke Naruto had whispered in her ear while eating.
"Boruto is the child you and I have together in the future."
Her cheeks began to burn.
Why did Naruto-kun specifically invite her to take a photo? And to take it with Boruto?
Could it be that he is already thinking about having children?
But we are both still so young and we haven't even officially gotten together yet.
Thinking of this, Hinata's face grew redder and redder.
She nodded ever so slightly. "Mm."
"Boruto, let's go, time for a photo." Naruto waved at Boruto.
Then he turned to Sasuke in the corner: "Uncle Chūni, would you like to join us?"
Sasuke understood what Naruto meant—leaving a memento in this spacetime.
After all, they would be leaving soon, and who could say if they would ever be able to return.
Sasuke thought for a moment and finally shook his head. "I'll pass. You guys hurry up, it's about time for us to go."
Naruto understood Sasuke's meaning and nodded.
Karin heard the word "photo," and her eyes immediately lit up. She let go of Sakura and ran over excitedly, shouting, "Taking photos? I want to take one too!"