Road to Ninja Part 3

Kushina finally let go of Naruto, and the two entered the house together.

"Yeah, dad made-up with granny," Azami jumped excitedly.

"You're so cute!" Kushina pulled Azami's cheeks.

"Ou-Ouch, ouch," Azami yelped upon being pulled.

Hanato stood quietly at a corner of the living room, staring at the three with a light smile.

("He's very different from the Boruto I knew…")

("Calm, intelligent, probably like how dad was when he was young…") Naruto thought back to how Kushina described Minato in his young age when Kushina met him for the first time.

However, the only thing he probably liked about this boy's character was that even though Naruto (Menma in this timeline) rarely came back home, the boy didn't seem to take his anger out. Hanato seemed to be more understanding and silent than Boruto was. Azami, on the other hand, was almost similar to Himawari except with Azami's face.

As Naruto internally compared his children, a person walked into the living room from inside.

"Dad…" Naruto was surprised. Seeing his dad in person, he seemed to be a wee bit shorter than Naruto who stood at 180cm whereas Minato was almost 177-178cm losing almost a centimeter from aging.

"Grandpa!" Azami ran towards Minato.

Minato gently lifted Azami up in the air with a smile before putting her down.

"Hi grandpa," Hanato said with a smile.

"Hanato, thanks for lending a hand earlier today,"

"Glad I could help Grandpa," Hanato sat down on a sofa opposite to the television.

"…" ("Is he avoiding me?") Naruto stared at Minato as he sat down on the sofa next to Hanato and switched on the television.

"We are going to sleep," Kushina said as she held on to Azami's hand.

"Mm," Minato and Hanato nodded at the same time as though in sync.

"…" ("They are totally ignoring me…") Naruto thought.

"Dad, will you be here tomorrow?" Azami ran towards Naruto and asked.

At this moment, Hanato and Minato looked at Naruto from the side of their eyes.

"Of course, I will," Naruto patted her head and said.

"hehe,"

"Good Night, Dad," Azami said, following which she went towards Kushina and held her hand.

Naruto looked at Kushina.

"Take care of her," Naruto said.

"I will," Kushina nodded.

*Sound of news theme playing on tv*

"Late night news from Channel 9, with Fuji,"

"Latest news from the Hokage,"

"The Five Kages have decided that the Chūnin exam will take place in the Hidden Leaf this year within a week,"

Naruto looked at Hanato.

"Are you entering the exam?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah," Hanato answered calmly.

"…" Naruto looked at Minato, only to understand that he seemed to be ignoring his existence no matter what.

("Mom forgave me, but why not dad?") Naruto asked himself.

He then looked at Minato.

"Dad, can we talk?" Naruto asked with a determined expression.

At this moment, Minato finally looked towards Naruto face to face.

Hanato understood that the duo needed their space.

"I'm going to sleep,"

"Good Night, grandpa," Hanato waved to Minato as he walked away.

As Hanato walked past Naruto…

"Good Night, Dad," Hanato said, following which he proceeded into the room.

…

Minato continued to stare at Naruto silently, waiting for Naruto to speak.

"Dad,"

"Please tell me, what did I do wrong?" Naruto asked.

"So, you still didn't realize it, huh?" Minato got up from his seat.

("If I knew the problem, I wouldn't be asking,") Naruto thought internally.

On the other hand, Naruto was confused as well. Since his wish was to live together with his parents in the same house along with his family were they alive, but what confused him was that Minato and Kushina lived alone over here.

"Menma,"

"At this point, I even question myself if you are the one at fault or not," Minato said.

("Would you get to the point, I mean, why does everyone beat around the bush?") Naruto thought internally.

Minato looked at Naruto.

"Menma, you've lost sight of yourself, while trying to prove yourself to Sakura," Minato explained.

"What?" Naruto was confused.

The information was given, but it was so vague that Naruto didn't have anything to go on.

"Sorry, this is all that I can help you with,"

"Its best if you figure this out yourself," Minato said, following which he headed into his room after switching off the television.

"…" Naruto silently stared at the room devoid of people.

…

Outside the house,

Naruto looked at the sky.

("Damn it, the previous world wasn't so confusing!!") Naruto felt like pulling his hair out.

At this point, there's only one thing he could do,

Find a way to go back.

("The last time, I had to defeat Obito who took over my body,")

("Wait, Obito is a good guy in this timeline, isn't he?")

("But the only other alternative I can think is probably saving Sasuke's daughter,")

("That might be my way back,") Naruto concluded but then shook his head.

("Will solving my problem with Sakura send me back?") Naruto had to consider this solution as well.

Naruto then looked towards the stone faces on the mountains.

("I'll go meet Sakura-chan,") Naruto decided, following which he took off in the direction of the Hokage's office.

At this moment, Naruto's departure was seen by Minato from his bedroom window.

("I hope he understands what he needs to do,") Minato thought to himself.

…

(Whoosh!)

Naruto quickly jumped past the buildings and reached the Hokage's office building.

Naruto entered the building but was stopped outside the Hokage's room.

"I am sorry. But lady Hokage's in a meeting with the Chief of Police," The guard informed.

"When will she be done?" Naruto asked.

"It'll take a while, she hasn't given a specific timeframe sir," The guard explained.

"…" Naruto frowned seeing that he had met another dead end today.

"Menma?" A voice called out.

"eh?" Naruto turned around to see Obito standing behind him.

"Lord Fourth," The guard greeted.

"mm," Obito nodded.

"Menma follow me," Obito said after scanning Naruto from head to toe.

"Hm…?" Naruto followed Obito, leaving out the building.

"Follow me to this place Menma,"

"I am meeting Lord Third today," Obito said.

"All right," Naruto nodded, following Obito without question to see where this encounter would take him.

Soon the two reached a bar.

"Lord Fourth," The waiter at the bar, greeted.

"You got that table reserved, right?" Obito asked.

"Yes, Please follow me," The man said as he led the duo to the back of the bar.

"Here," the man pointed to a table with a plaque that read 'Reserved' which the man removed, allowing Obito and Naruto to sit down.

Obito asked the man to bring Sake and some complimentary snacks.

Naruto simply nodded for the same things as Obito to stop wasting more time.

After the waiter left, Obito carefully observed the surroundings before his eyes finally settled on Naruto.

"You're not from this time-space, aren't you?" Obito suddenly asked.

"WHAT?" Naruto was shocked to see that Obito had figured out his existence.

Naruto thought for a second. In the previous timeline, since he was a teenager, he didn't have many responsibilities other than being a good son for Minato and Kushina. But in this timeline, he was a parent of two kids. Whether they were fakes or not, they were real in this world, and Naruto knew that he couldn't afford to spend the time to play around. He needed to take his responsibilities seriously and cover-up until he could find Menma in this reality.

"How did you know?" Naruto asked.

"Relax,"

"I'm the one that sent Menma of this time-space away…" Obito explained.

("SENT HIM AWAY??") Naruto was shocked. Was Obito the villain after all? Naruto asked himself.

Obito immediately understood that his words probably ruined his explanation.

"I meant, I sent him on a mission for me," Obito explained.

"oh…" Naruto became relaxed after hearing that Menma (his original in this world) was safe.

"What's your name?"

"Don't tell me its Menma?" Obito asked.

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto," Naruto gave his name.

"Uzumaki Naruto eh?"

"I'm the fourth Hokage, Uchiha Obito," Obito introduced himself.

"I know," Naruto said.

"Oh, Looks like I exist in your timeline then,"

"Honestly, ever since I could use space-time powers through my Sharingan, I always thought of alternate dimensions and multiple timelines."

"Now that I have seen you, I'm thrilled," Obito said.

"I see," Naruto nodded.

"So,"

"I am curious about the third Hokage you've mentioned,"

"I haven't seen him in my timeline," Naruto said.

"Hi, Obito," a voice interrupted.

"Big brother, Nawaki,"

"Have a seat," Obito gestured for Nawaki to sit down beside him.

"Oh, I see you've invited Menma as well," Nawaki said as he sat down.

("Wait a minute,")

("Where have I heard of his name before…") Naruto wondered.

"Allow me to introduce, the grandson of the First Hokage,"

"Senju Nawaki," Obito introduced.

("Eh?")

("Granny Tsunade's younger brother?") Naruto was totally surprised this time, meeting a person who he had never seen in his timeline, a Hokage at that.