Early in the morning, after Sasuke and Boruto finished the breakfast Mikoto had prepared at the Uchiha household, they parted ways with Sasuke and Itachi, preparing to find Naruto and stay close by to protect him from the shadows.
"Master, where do you think we should go to find my dad?"
"Where would he even be at this hour?"
Boruto's question caught Sasuke off guard.
Right… this world's Naruto was different from the one in their own timeline. If he hadn't defected or run off, where would he usually go? Sasuke remembered Naruto mentioning last night, after they'd eaten barbecue, that he and Jiraiya planned to train on the outskirts of the village today.
But the outskirts of Konoha were vast—how were they supposed to find him?
While Sasuke was still thinking this through with his head lowered, Boruto suddenly collided with someone turning the corner. With a thump, both of them fell to the ground.
"Hey! Watch where you're going!"
"Who walks without looking ahead?!"
The two rubbed their sore foreheads, supporting themselves with one hand on the ground while pointing at each other with the other.
"You—why are you copying my lines?!"
"You're the one copying me!"
Sasuke lifted his head to look.
Of course. No need to look any further—should he call this destiny? This uncanny, invisible connection between father and son, to the point where they'd literally bump into each other by accident?
"What's going on?"
Jiraiya appeared behind Naruto and immediately noticed the boy who looked nearly identical to Naruto himself—same blue eyes, the same whisker-like marks, the same golden hair, though slightly different in style.
Then he noticed the older Sasuke standing behind Boruto, and it all clicked.
These must be the ones Uchiha Hikaru had told him about yesterday—Sasuke and Boruto from the future.
Boruto, now looking clearly at the faces of the two people in front of him, recognized them instantly from the photo albums back home. One of them was unmistakably his father, Naruto. The other was Jiraiya—his father's legendary master.
"Dad…"
Boruto's mouth moved instinctively.
But Sasuke realized the danger instantly and covered Boruto's mouth before he could say more. If it were anyone else, fine—but not Naruto. The last thing they needed was him doing something unpredictable.
"Ero-Sennin! This guy wasn't even looking where he was going!"
"He made me drop everything I packed for training!"
Grumbling, Naruto bent down to pick up the scattered bags.
Jiraiya, observing Sasuke and Boruto's expressions, quickly realized that their plan to protect Naruto from the shadows had already gone sideways. So, he decided to improvise and help them out.
Putting on a deliberately over-the-top expression, Jiraiya pointed at Sasuke and Boruto.
"Ohh~ So you two are die-hard fans of my books, huh? So obsessed you tracked me all the way to Konoha?"
"In that case, I'll grant your wish!"
"You both can train with me and Naruto!"
He raised an eyebrow subtly.
[I'm giving you cover. Don't let Naruto figure it out.]
Naruto glanced between Sasuke and Boruto, unimpressed.
"You guys actually read this perv's books?"
He squinted at Boruto in particular, eyes narrowed in suspicion.
"You, I can understand—maybe. But you look about the same age as me. Ero-Sennin's books are 18+."
"You little perv."
"You're just a horny brat."
Boruto nearly exploded at the insult, but when he saw Jiraiya's twitching brow silently warning him, he swallowed his retort.
"Uh… I just look young, that's all! I turned eighteen just a few days ago, actually."
"…This guy is eighteen!?"
Naruto gawked, eyes wide, looking between Jiraiya and Sasuke in disbelief.
Sasuke nodded earnestly.
"Yeah. He's a friend of mine. I was there for his birthday."
Jiraiya, clearly forcing himself to go along with the lie, nodded as well—though inwardly, he wanted to die of secondhand embarrassment.
Seriously? This excuse is paper-thin. Even Naruto's dumbass brain won't buy this.
"Y-yeah, I didn't believe it either… but turns out it's true. He's… probably… eighteen."
With both Jiraiya and Sasuke backing up Boruto's claim, Naruto's expression suddenly shifted. He stepped up, threw an arm around Boruto's shoulders, and began sobbing dramatically.
"Waaaaah! You poor bastard!"
"You're eighteen and still this short! You must've never even kissed a girl!"
"I thought I had it rough, growing up eating expired instant ramen once a week…"
"But you… you must've had it even worse! Uwaaaah!"
"Ero-Sennin! We have to treat them both to Ichiraku Ramen! This guy's probably never even tasted anything good!"
Boruto bit back the urge to yell out:
Actually, my life's not that bad! Sure, I complain sometimes, but I live pretty comfortably as the son of the Seventh Hokage. I've got friends, my mom, my sister, and even a childhood sweetheart. I've never suffered a day in my life.
But of course, I can't say that… Sigh.
—
At Ichiraku Ramen, Sasuke, Boruto, Naruto, and Jiraiya sat in a row.
Naruto waved enthusiastically to Teuchi.
"Hey, old man!"
"Give us four full deluxe Ichiraku sets, double everything!"
He pointed at Boruto with teary eyes.
"This guy's eighteen and still tiny. He's definitely been starving. Load his bowl up!"
Teuchi's soul as a ramen chef ignited at the sight of Naruto's sincerity.
"Ohhh?"
"Leave it to me, Naruto! I've got just the thing!"
Ten minutes later, four massive bowls—each as big as a wash basin—were slammed onto the counter.
Inside: steaming ramen with shrimp as long as forearms, thick cuts of char siu pork stacked along the rim like a barricade, three perfectly halved soft-boiled eggs, and more narutomaki spirals than Boruto had ever seen in his life. It was a sensory overload.
Boruto gulped instinctively. It smelled incredible—but they had literally just had breakfast that morning…
This… This is way too much… there's no way I can finish this. If I force it down, I'm gonna explode…
Naruto grinned and clapped him on the back.
"Don't hold back! It's my treat!"
"If you can't finish, order more!"
—
To be continued…
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Bonus Chapter at 150 Power Stone
Second Bonus Chapter - 300 Power Stones
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