Chapter 3

Ok.

So far no one found jacksquat.

After their little mishap yesterday, they had found an inn to spend the night at. No one could really get any sleep, which Shikadai could understand. He slept like a baby though. Most likey due to the chakra exhaustion making his bones feel heavy and his new blanket cape thingy. Epecially the new blanket cape.

The next morning they set out to find something that could help them get back to their own time. Sarada had gone to sneak into the Uchiha compound-there most likely wasn't any sneaking needing to be done as there probably wasn't anyone even there. The sharingan is how her father had gone back through time before so she was hoping to find something related to that.

ChoCho and Inojin had gone to the library. Inojin was going to go by himself but decided to bring ChoCho along as she wouldn't get anything done be herself... except eating. She would definitely get that done even at the library.

Mitsuki had offered to go to one of his father hideouts. They all quickly shut that idea down. Orochimaru, as nice... as bearable as he is in the future isn't in his right mind right now. So instead Mitsuki decided to observe and listen to the people around him and gather information on when exactly they landed in time.

Boruto and Shikadai were trying to figure out how the hourglass worked.

"I'm boooored!" Boruto exclaimed, throwing his arms up.

Or at least Shikadai was trying. Boruto just kinda stood there.

"Maybe you should've just gone with ChoCho and Inojin then." Shikadai countered back.

Boruto gave him the most deadpanned stare.

"Did you just seriously suggest that? That would be MORE boring, which is why I went with you!" He dramatically pointed at Shikadai. "But this is boring too! You havnt even been able to make the sand in it move! Why dont you let me try!?" He yelled.

"Because last time I let you hold it, you almost dropped it." Shikadai said, not sparring Boruto even a glance.

"Oh come on! That was an accident! It won't happen again!" He yelled again.

"Yea-no." Shikadai sighed and put the hourglass back into his shirt. He pulled his blanket cape around him tighter. It was starting to get chilly again.

They've been wandering the streets of past Konoha for awhile now, trying to get the hourglass to respond to anything. Even chakra does nothing.

Shikadai temporarily gave up and instead focused on trying to find something to eat. It was already mid day. They all hadn't eaten dinner the day before or breakfast this morning, too busy trying to find answers to their little -big- problem. They settled for a BBQ restaurant.

*whoosh*

Boruto ran inside and took a deep breath in.

"It smells sooooo goood!! I'm starving man!!" He followed the waitress to a table.

Shikadai followed not too far behind albeit at a slower pace.

"Calm down. We don't want unnecessary attention on us." Shikadai said while sweatdropping.

"Hi, how may I take your order?" A different waitress came up to us putting down two cups of tea.

"Ehhh... I want the the Ramen special dattebayo!"

'Oi oi, this isn't Ichiraku...' Shikadai thought while he sweatdropped again.

"Hm, okay! And what about you sir?"

"I'll just get what he's having please."

"Okay then-" She finished writing it down. "-ill be right back."

"So... what do we do now?" Boruto asked Shikadai.

"Nothing. We meet up with the others back at the inn and see what they've found." Shikadai said while lying back into the chair.

They sat in silence for awhile.

It was broken by Boruto mumbling something under his breath.

"What?"

"I said sorry!"

Shikadai winced at the volume. They got a couple of stares from others near them.

"Why are you sorry?" Shikadai asked his distressed friend.

"Because if I hadn't dragged you guys into the forest then none of this would've happened!" He yelled again.

*sigh* "No one could've predicted this would've happened Boruto. Don't beat yourself up about it." Shikadai said, resting his head on his hand. If anything, it's also his fault for picking up the hourglass. He should've just left it. But then again, he didn't exactly know that he would get kidnapped by Boruto.

"Bu-"

"AAHHHH!"

Boruto had opened his mouth to say something else but was cut off by a scream followed by shattering glass.

Both Shikadai and Boruto shot up and ran over to where they heard the scream. After pushing past the gathering crowd they could finally see what was going on.

A man was towering over a woman, who held her arms up to her face as if trying to sheild herself. She had blood dripping down her head. Shikadai recognized her as the waitress that had come to take their order.

The man was about to strike again, this time with the other half of the now broken bottle. Shikadai reacted before he could think.

Now... this was his first mistake.

He used his shaodw to paralyze the guy before the hit could land. He let go as soon as Boruto was about to tackle him.

This... was his second mistake.

Allowing Boruto to tackle him instead of just tripping him on his way over to the man was a bad move. One sure enough to cause the attention to slip off the man and onto the woman's savior- Boruto.

Shikadai cursed before backing away towards the entrance of the place. Boruto can catch up later. He needs to leave before someone notices that he's with Boruto or Boruto himself gives it away. The less people who know their faces the better.

Shikadai took two steps backwards and swung his body around only to crash into the person behind him. He loses his footing and nearly falls but strong hands hold him upright.

The whole restaurant quiets down.

Shikadai, finally recovered from the shock and looks at the people around him. Their all looking at him... no. At the person still holding his arms in a firm grip.

Shikadai slowly looked away from the people surrounding them and instead brought it up to the person behind him.

'...no way...' Shikadai thought as he looked up.

- - -

Shikamaru spent the last half hour looking around the shed that he had last seen his son.

He found nothing that couldve possibly led to his son's dissapearance. Just a bunch of junk and old boxes that... Boxes? Now that Shikamaru was calm enough to think rationally, he remembered that he had taken his fathers box-that shouldve already been destroyed and gone from the world-from Shikadai and ran out, leaving Shikadai sitting confusedly in front of the chest he had found it in.

"This chest..." Shikamaru stared at the still open chest at the far end of the shed.

...

He felt really dumb how he hadn't noticed it earlier. He guessed his son's dissapearnce and his franticness to find him had him on edge more than he thought.

He crouched down in front of the chest and looked inside. There was a bunch of papers and old clothes along with a kunai and shuriken. Even some seals.

What caught his attention was a book. That had laid where he's guessing his fathers box had once been. Picking it up, he examined it.

It was relatively small for a book and the cover was dark red. There was a picture on the top cover.

It was an hourglass.

Shikamaru frowned and opened the book. He froze.

This... this was... what?

'Where the hell did you get this from dad?' Shikamaru thought with a sigh.

Shikamaru closed the book and got up.

It's a good thing that he hadn't gotten rid of his father's box yet. He only hoped that whatever was in the box could help explain more of what was happening.

He silently apologized to his father.

Shikamaru was gonna have to open up the box. He already felt bad that he hadn't gotten rid of it like he thought he had after the war.

He still doesn't know how that happened. He could've sworn he saw it burn.

Shikamaru was about to turn to leave but stopped. He brought his gaze back down to the box. He might as well bring it with him in case the rest of it's contents were important.

He closed the lid of the chest and paused.

"Shikaku Nara?" He read the nameplate.

- - -

The drunk man was now on the floor being pinned down by a larger man. The woman was being tended to by an another man with a ponytail.

"What the hell!?" Boruto yelled as one of the other ninja grabbed him.

Shikadai wasn't paying attention to that though. He just stared at the person in front of him.

["COVER HIS MOUTH!!" Sarada yelled as she tried to reach over to Shikadai.

But it was too late.

Shikadai started to move his mouth to form words.

"Shikaku Nara."]

Oh no.

The bell to the restaurant chimed.

Everyone's head snapped to the boy who had walked in.

Mitsuki, in all his glory, stood there, looking over the crowd of people, pausing breifly on the man behind Shikadai before his eyes settled on Boruto and Shikadai.

"...I find my entirely pointless if you guys were just gonna find out about it yourselfs." He stated.

He was met with more silence.

"...bad timing?" Mitsuki asked, looking at Boruto and Shikadai while tilting his head.

"You guys are coming with us." The gruff voice behind him said. Shikadai whipped his head back to the man still holding his arms. Loose enough so that it wasn't painful but tight enough so he couldn't get away.

The man motioned for his companions to take the offender, the victim, Shikadai, Boruto, and even Mitsuki with them.

Shikadai barely registered the large man holding down the offender mumble something about BBQ and not being able to eat.

He simply stared at the man in front of him.

The man... who was his grandfather.

Shikadai remembered the last words he had said before they all got here.

["Shikaku Nara."]

Hell.

He had brought them back to a time where his grandfather was still alive.

- - -

"I'm boooored!" ChoCho whined.

"Then read." Inojin replied.

"But that's even more boring." She's pouting now.

It made Inojin almost wish he had taken Boruto with him instead.

Almost.

Actually no. He took that back. Boruto's probably being even worse than ChoCho right now. Poor Shikadai.

*creak*

The front door of their room at the inn opened.

They both froze before realizing it was just Sarada.

"Find anything?" Inojin asked, going back to his book.

"Nope. Everything that might've had something of importance was missing or in pieces. You?" She asked back.

"No such luck." ChoCho said shrugging.

*sigh* "Where's the others?" She seemed to notice their absence.

"Not back yet." Inojin stated.

"Shouldn't we go look for them?" ChoCho asked, looking at Sarada.

Inojin looked back up from his book towards Sarada as well.

Sarada frowned.

"We should."