Road to Ninja Part 12

————————-

Author's Note

Before you continue reading, there has been a change in Road to Ninja Part 10, especially the part where Uchiha Raiju, Hanato's teammate has been introduced. Please read through that part as it will affect the storyline in a significant way. The change was made because of an introduction that I did not follow through on in Road to Ninja Part 5.

—————————

("Hanato's birthday is that close? But when?") Was the first thought that ran across Naruto's mind.

"I heard Gin got his hands on something that's definitely going Hanato's favorite," Irina said.

("Gin?")

("Who's this guy now?") Naruto was confused.

"Well, it'll be terrible to have a kid one up, on us," Shikamaru laughed.

"You know he's not just a kid anymore," Irina said.

"Yeah…"

"The Hidden Leaf's Silver Fang,"

"He's walked in his family's footsteps," Shikamaru said.

"Silver fang…" Naruto murmured.

"His grandfather the White Fang,"

"His dad, a successor to the white fang, and the son who outshined the two,"

"The silver fang of the Hidden Leaf," Irina's eyes gleamed with excitement.

("So that's Kakashi-sensei's kid huh…") Naruto thought.

"What did you get your son?" Irina asked.

"Eh…"

"…"

"Um…"

"I just came back…"

"I was planning to get one for him today…" Naruto answered with an awkward voice.

"Hmph, You'd better get your priorities straight, Menma," Irina glared at Naruto.

"…" Naruto could only endure in silence as tried to focus on what would Hanato like, this is because unlike Boruto, Hanato was on an entirely different page. From what Naruto had observed, Hanato was the type to observe and understand, which was completely different from Boruto who would directly confront Naruto with his faults. Another thing was that Hanato was a strategist type meaning their tastes could be entirely different even when it was choosing between presents that kids their age would generally like.

("Looks like I will have to tag along with these two to find out more about Menma's son…") Naruto thought to himself.

Behind this surface thought, he was also worried about not having a conversation with Sakura yet. He would totally avoid the conversation if he could prevent Sakura from finding out who he was; however, he had already promised Obito and Nawaki to cover up for Menma when he was out.

"Let's go," Irina said, taking the lead with Naruto and Shikamaru following closely behind her on a hunt to find a good present.

———————

Hanato and the others finally arrived at the street where BurgerOu was. BurgerOu a newly started Burger joint that was in direct competition to Kaminari Burger. Hanato's peers often ate at Kaminari Burger, however, the free food offer on the Grand Pre-Opening was too much to resist.

"Look at those lines…." Raiju and Inojin were stunned seeing Hundreds lined up before their group.

"Oh," One of the girls in the line turned back to see the group standing a few meters away.

"Shikadai, Inojin, guys,"

"You all here for the pre-opening right?"

"Huh?" The fat man next to the girl turned back as well.

"Uncle Chōji, Mayumi," Shikadai and Inojin responded.

Akimichi Mayumi, Daughter of Chōji and a teammate of the new generation Ino-Shika-Cho. Unlike Chocho from the other timeline, Mayumi had fair skin with a rosy complexion. However, what set her apart from her clan was that she had an hourglass figure that most women/girls could only dream off. This was due to her high metabolism and athletic abilities.

"Oh you've brought along Hanato, Raiju and Mitsuki as well I see," Chōji said with a smile.

"Hello, Uncle Chōji," Hanato and Raiju greeted. Mitsuki also lightly nodded from behind.

"Mm," Chōji nodded following which he looked at Hanato.

"Did your dad tell you when he'll be coming back?" Chōji asked.

"He's in the village Uncle Chōji," Hanato replied.

"Eh?" Chōji was surprised.

"When did he come back?" He asked immediately.

"He came back yesterday evening," Hanato replied.

"I see…" Chōji murmured.

"Pss…"

"Hmm??" Hanato's attention was caught by a somewhat muted sound.

"Psst!"

"Hanato," A boy with glasses called out.

"Denki?" Hanato stared at the young man.

"Shh!"

"Don't call out my name!" Denki cautioned Hanato with a quick hush.

Hanato observed Denki for a moment.

"I guess you are here to research on their burger joint, huh?" Hanato asked.

"Hehe,"

"That's Hanato for you,"

"You've guessed correctly," Denki corrected the position of his spectacles.

Kaminarimon Denki, as the name, suggests he's related to the famous Kaminarimon group within the Hidden Leaf. Denki's dad is the president of the Kaminarimon group and a former Hidden Leaf Ninja as well.

"I guess, Metal and Iwabe are here as well?" Hanato asked.

"Yup,"

"They are placed strategically in the crowd to not raise any suspicions,"

"I see…" Hanato nodded, turning around to try and spot the mentioned two in the crowd.

Soon he spotted the two.

Metal Lee seemed to have trouble dealing with the crowd with sweat appearing all over his face out of nervousness. Yuino Iwabe, on the other hand, was whistling a tune standing calmly in the line waiting for his turn to taste the food.

"Hey Hanato," Denki prompted.

"Hmm??" Hanato looked at Denki whose head was precisely at the height of Hanato's shoulders.

"Do you have the new guide out yet?" Denki asked.

"I am still working on that," Hanato said as he pulled out his portable gaming device.

"However I can send you the guide for the minimap area that I recently worked on," Hanato said following which he pressed a set of buttons.

*Notification sound*

"Oh?" Denki's eyes immediately scanned across the new data that he had received.

"WOW!"

"You've set the record for the fastest dungeon clearing time as a solo player," Denki shouted excitedly.

"SH!!" Hanato immediately covered Denki's mouth.

"Oh right, you don't want anyone finding out you're The Keymaster12," Denki spoke through Hanato's hand in a muffled voice.

"…" Hanato stared silently.

"Here," Denki handed out an envelope to Hanato.

"That's for the sales from the recent volume,"

"They are asking for a reprint," Denki reported.

"Glad to hear," Hanato nodded.

"Hey, Hanato!" Raiju called out in a loud voice.

"?" Hanato turned towards Raiju to see him standing next to Inojin and Shikadai with all the three having their portable gaming devices in their hands.

"Login the game and accept the invitation," Inojin said.

"Mm," Hanato nodded with a light smile.

"Hey, Hanato," Denki called out.

"Hmm??"

"Wouldn't they find out who you are through the name of your account?" Denki asked.

"…" Hanato stared at the game screen on which he had his saved games next to his profile.

*clicking sounds*

*notification tone*

"What?" Denki was surprised to see a maxed account change to an account with average character stats.

"I enjoy this game a lot…" Hanato said suddenly, following which a message popped up on the screen with an invitation for a team game.

"But it's more fun when I play alongside them," Hanato said as he clicked on the accept button.

"Everyone, Let's get those drops!" Raiju shouted with excitement.

"Yeah!" The group nodded with excitement.

"I see…" Denki nodded with excitement.

————————————

In a particular Shopping Mall…

Three figures walked across the floor, shops after shops in search of something.

"Let's enter here," Irina said as she pointed towards a cloth store.

"Ah…" Shikamaru stared a bit at Irina.

"What is it?" Irina asked.

"N-nothing…" Shikamaru gestured for Irina to enter the store.

"…" Irina entered the store silently followed by the two.

"This is bad…" Shikamaru mumbled.

"What is it?" Naruto asked.

"Irina has a bad fashion sense when it comes to choosing clothes for boys," Shikamaru said.

"Oh…" Naruto was surprised to hear smile details like this as well.

…

"Shikamaru,"

"What is it, Menma?" Shikamaru asked.

"Do you know what games kids are into these days?" Naruto asked.

"Mm…" Shikamaru thought for a bit.

"It's gotta be one of those dungeon hunting games for sure," Shikamaru said.

"Shinobi Dungeon Hunters," Irina suddenly answered.

"Oh Yeah,"

"Shikadai wanted that game the last time I came to the village,"

"Doesn't Hanato have that game as well? I've heard that Shikadai, Hanato, and their friends play that game a lot," Shikamaru said.

"He does?"

"Speaking of which, Shikadai asked me to get the data book,"

"He said he wanted to prepare their teams better to raid the dungeon,"

"Something about getting a Guidebook by Keymaster12."

"I see…"

"I guess Hanato and Shikadai's taste might be similar ya know,"

"strategy-wise," Naruto said.

"You might be onto something there…" Shikamaru paused for a bit.

"How's this?" Irina asked as she pointed towards a set of clothes she had picked.

"I-Isn't that…"

"Sh!" Shikamaru closed off Naruto's mouth.

"What is it?" Irina asked again, seemingly pissed off a bit.

"N-Nothing…" Shikamaru answered with an awkward voice as he stared at the Shirt and pant that Irina picked, which was totally incompatible with each other.

————————————

Elsewhere, in an unknown dimension…

(Whoosh!)

A rift was opened up, followed by a man in white robes stepping into the stable space.

"Momoshiki," The man called out.

"Hmm??" Another man who was seated in a dark corner stared at the figure.

"I see that the messengers of the High Priest have given me the chance of being in service,"

"To what do I owe this pleasure?" The man asked as he stepped out of the dark corner of the dimension.

"Ōtsutsuki Momoshiki,"

"The High Priest has divined a formidable existence in the lower realms," the man said.

"Oh?" Momoshiki's interest was piqued.

"Please elaborate," Momoshiki asked respectfully.