Chapter Text
"There you are sneaking around as usual!"
A stern but familiar voice stopped Boruto in his tracks. He turned around to see his childhood friend turned teammate glaring at him. He grinned sheepishly and scratched the back of his neck.
"Sa-Sarada, what are you doing here in the Hokage tower?"
The reply never came; instead, a finger was jabbed square at his chest. "What are YOU doing here?"
"Uhhh, you see, my old man forgot his bento at home, so I came to deliver it, nothing else, I swear," he tried to convince her. But Sarada knew him way too well and saw right through his lie, letting out a disappointed sigh.
"Boruto, if you have enough time to pull pranks on your father, why don’t you spend that time training instead?" she chided.
"Killjoy," he retorted back.
"Take it back, you idiot," she shot back. They kept bickering back and forth with practiced ease for a while until Boruto eventually gave up and raised his hands in surrender.
"Fineee, but I just wanted to check the scroll room to read a bit more about the time of our village's founding period, ya’ know," he said, trying to act nonchalant, knowing full well it would grab his teammate's attention.
"Well, why didn't you just go to the library then?"
"Hah, you see, our library has very limited information about it, so I wanted to see if they had something in here."
"....."
"Well, I’m gonna go check the scroll room. You can join me if you want," he said, putting on his signature mischievous grin.
Sarada sighed and followed him just so she could keep an eye on her stupid teammate. He was her friend after all.
They both just quietly skimmed through the scrolls for a while. Sarada was surprised that no one came to check on trespassers in the Hokage tower but brushed it off, thinking Boruto must be a frequent visitor here with his dad being the Hokage and all. How nice that must be, she thought, having access to so much reading material. She felt a pang of jealousy at that thought because if she were in his place, she would spend every waking moment taking in all the history and knowledge she could. Then her thoughts drifted to when Boruto declared that he would be her right-hand man when she told her teammates that she was aiming to be Hokage. Her cheeks flushed at the memory. She was broken out of her reverie by Boruto calling her name.
"Oi, Sarada, look at this," he was holding a scroll encrusted with the Uchiha clan symbol. It looked old, battered even. She knew very little about her clan's history; there was no information available in the public records. Her father had told her bits and pieces, but that was not enough to satiate her curiosity. Boruto just handed over the scroll to her silently with a knowing look.
She opened it to find strange writings in a language she was unable to decipher, markings that resembled the Sharingan and Rinnegan, and what seemed to be a drawing of the Nine-Tails. Boruto came by her side and peeked into the scroll too.
"Hey, Sarada, I dunno if it makes sense, but I think only Sharingan users can decrypt this scroll. It belongs to the Uchiha clan, and the markings and everything..." Boruto spoke solemnly.
Without second thought, Sarada took a deep breath and activated her Sharingan.
"I walk forward... yet leave no trace behind... flow... fold, that's all I'm able to read, Boruto," she said, feeling slightly defeated.
"Well, that makes no sense whatsoever," Boruto complained.
"I think it's designed to be read by advanced Sharingan users... I still have only one tomoe..."
"Hey, don’t be so glum. You made out some of it, and that counts as a win, 'kay?" he said, patting her encouragingly. But the words "forward," "flow," and "fold" kept repeating in her mind.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, a portal opened near her, trying to suck her in. Boruto instantly ran to her, panic-stricken, and tried to grab hold of her, only to be sucked in with her.
They both fell to the ground, dropping from a height. Boruto landed face-first in the dirt, and Sarada landed on top of him. She quickly jolted up and away from Boruto to see if he was injured.
"Boruto! Are you okay?"
"That really hurt, man," he complained, rubbing his head. Sarada rushed to check for injuries, only to find none. She looked around to recognize where they were and to analyze if they were safe, but it looked familiar, like one of the training grounds in the village.
"Must have been a teleportation ninjutsu scroll," she mumbled, and Boruto groaned in agreement.
"Come on, let's get you to the hospital," she tugged at Boruto's hand. "I'll have Mama take a look at you."
"I’m fine, I’m fine, no need for the trouble," he grimaced.
Sarada then shot him a look that meant no room for argument. He gulped and stood up on his feet, dusting himself off, ready to go.
"Are you able to walk on your own? Do you need me to hold you for support?" she questioned, concern evident.
"I'm fine, Sarada, let’s just go to the hospital," he replied, feeling guilty for dragging her into this.
Her eyes twitched with anger, but she wouldn’t argue with him here. After he was assessed by her mother, she decided that he was going to get an earful. But that could wait for now. And so, they began their walk toward the hospital.
As they were about to turn the corner toward the hospital, Boruto tugged at her sleeve a bit too hard, making her halt. Annoyed, she turned to see him staring into the distance, mouth agape. She followed his line of sight only to be left speechless herself. They were staring at the stone faces on the Hokage monument, but instead of seven, there were eight of them. The eighth one eerily resembled her own face.
"Did... did we time travel to the future?!" Boruto exclaimed in shock. Sarada felt like the world was spinning. It was all overwhelming for her.
"Boruto, what if we get stuck here?" she asked worriedly.
But Boruto broke out into a grin that made her eye twitch. Again.
"Well, then we ask you for help, or at least the future you, who seems to be Hokage," he beamed with pride at his idea.
"IDIOT, WHAT IF IT AFFECTS THE TIMELINE IF WE INTERACT WITH OUR FUTURE SELVES?" she screamed at him, and he cowered.
"We have to at least try something, and that seems to be the only possible chance at getting back home," he almost cried, scared of his teammate's rage.
"Fine, but we need to be careful so we don’t run into people we know."
"What about a henge?"
"Yeah, that’s our best shot at being discreet. We’ll pretend to be lost travelers from a faraway village." They both finally agreed.
So they cast a henge, masked their chakra, and decided they would go to the Hokage tower, pretending to be lost travelers.
After explaining to the front desk shinobi that they were lost travelers seeking an audience with the Hokage, they were made to wait.
"I think the older you is gonna be so cool," Boruto spoke casually, his calm grin etched on his face, a direct contrast to her own turbulent emotions. She felt like she was about to explode when a calm voice approached them.
"Hey, kiddos, heard you were lost, the Hokage is caught up in a meeting, ya' know. You can tell me what you need."
Now it was Boruto’s turn to look stunned, because standing there was an older version of him, one scarred eye, well-built, and dressed too much like Sasuke for Sarada's comfort. She couldn't stop the whirlwind of thoughts about how cool and handsome he looked compared to the clumsy Boruto she knew. A tiny figure clutching his leg poked out to see the new faces.
"...so cool," she heard younger Boruto mumbling to himself, not noticing the tiny figure at first.
Finally, she cleared her throat, pushing back her thoughts. "I think only the Hokage can help us," she tried to put on a stern voice.
"Is that so?" replied older Boruto with a raised eyebrow and a chuckle.
He then unexpectedly crouched beside her and whispered, "This is a secret not many know, but I am the Shadow Hokage." Now Sarada was blushing, her face red as a tomato.
Then the door clicked open, and out walked older Sarada—the Hachidaime, elegantly dressed in a similar kipao to what she wore but with a bit more design, a robe similar to that of the seventh's but read "The Eighth," and half of the Uchiha symbol joined with the Uzumaki symbol embroidered on her back. Before young Sarada could process what was happening, she walked over to where they were all standing, older Boruto stood up, and they both gently pressed their lips as a greeting.
Younger Boruto almost passed out of embarrassment, and younger Sarada turned an impossible shade of red.
The tiny figure then left her spot and rushed to the Hokage, wrapping her around her legs.
"Mama!"
"Hi, baby girl. Did you have a good day with Papa? Hmm?"
"Yeah, we went to the park, and Papa got me dango," the child babbled.
"Aiko, darling, Mama needs to help these two people here." Older Boruto gently nudged her away from the Hokage and held her hand.
Younger Sarada thought she might explode from embarrassment right there, thinking about the implications of what she had just witnessed.
"Oh, hi, didn’t see you kiddos there. How can I help?" Older Sarada quipped gently.
"Gaah, I can't do this anymore!" In a puff of smoke, genin Boruto broke his henge, looking redder than a tomato.
"You idiot!" genin Sarada muttered, breaking her own henge, her cheeks still flushed.
Now it was the adult versions of themselves who were stunned.
"Weweremeddlingwithoneoftheoldscrollsindadsofficeandwesmehowendedupinthefuture." Young Boruto sputtered in one breath.
"That tracks," older Sarada laughed, poking her contemporary at his side.
"That is definitely something I would have done," he said with a sigh.
Aiko just clapped her hands, giggling, thinking she was witnessing some sort of magician's act.
"You look like Papa and Mama from the old photos," the child voiced her observation.
Younger Boruto, only now noticing the child fully, took the image in front of him; standing before him was a girl with Sarada's black hair and his blue eyes, who looked barely four.
As the cogs in his brain turned, he screamed, "I END UP WITH HER OF ALL PEOPLE!" and ended up instantly getting smacked by his older self. Hokage Sarada and Aiko just giggled at the exchange while Genin Sarada was fuming.
"Well, can you send us back?" younger Sarada asked, trying to divert the conversation from Boruto's antics.
"If we can find the same scroll for sure, and since you found it in the scroll archives, it probably is still there, but the keeper just left for the day, taking the keys with him," older Sarada replied.
The two genins exchanged worried looks.
"Hey, why don’t you crash at our place till we figure this out? Otherwise, you might bump into friends and family and totally freak them out," older Boruto spoke with his signature mischievous grin plastered on his face.
Older Sarada nodded in agreement.
"It’s... it’s okay, we can manage," younger Sarada mustered out, but her older version gave a look that reminded her of her mother when there was no room for argument.
So, the younger duo simply complied.
The walk back home was filled with the two adults chattering and snickering while Aiko babbled with them. The younger duo followed behind at a distance, too embarrassed to even look at each other. Finally, they reached what looked like a very cozy, warm, and inviting home tucked away in one of the streets behind the Hokage tower.
As the younger duo was ushered in by their older selves and a very excited Aiko, who was happy she had new playmates, they absorbed the numerous pictures adorning the walls. A few pictures of them from their early childhood, Boruto and Sarada's pictures from when they were young, their Team 7 picture with Mitsuki and Konohamaru-sensei, their wedding pictures, pictures of a baby Aiko, and numerous photos of them with her.
The younger duo just silently stood there, taking in the weight of everything and not trying to die of embarrassment.
Older Boruto then showed them the guest bedroom to freshen up before dinner, leaving the two young people by themselves with a million questions on their mind and a lot of awkwardness hanging in the air.