“Take that boy!! That oughtta teach you to mess with us grown-ups!!” Ogasugi laughed before leaving the area once more.

‘Is this it?’ Shinachiku thought as his green olive eyes dilated. Everything felt like it was all moving in slow motion as he watched the paper bomb slowly go off, and the resulting explosion slowly enveloped him. Shinachiku moved his arms over his face in a futile attempt to block himself from the incoming explosion.

“SHINAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!” Aika screamed as the smoke blocked him from her vision.

A bright flash of light left Shinachiku momentarily blinded as he shut his eyes and felt himself falling. It was several seconds until Shina felt his back hit the ground hard, knocking the wind out of the young Genins’ lungs. He stayed in his position for a moment to catch his breath, only jolting back to his feet when he felt the ground shaking and moving, and he realized that he had reappeared on some kind of a moving vehicle that seemed to be moving on metal tracks.

Blinking, Shinachiku at first saw some sort of ceiling with a massive hole just above where he had been lying. The next, he saw what looked like a row of seats surrounding him, followed by two other boys he didn’t recognize. One with black hair tied in a top knot and wearing blue clothing, the other with blonde hair in black and red clothing. Shinachiku realized the boy in black and red clothes and blonde, spiky hairstyle was in the shape of a leaf and that this boy had the same whisker marks as his father did. But how could that be?

“Who are you?! What’s going on here and…. and what happened to my squad members, Aika and Kei!?? Where are there? What is this place?!” Shinachiku demanded in concern as he stared at the two boys looking back at him with confused expressions.

“Who-?” The boy with the blonde hair had started to ask when suddenly the three boys felt that the shaking had stopped, and the next thing they all felt was the vehicle jolting and bumping into something, and then the next, the sense of falling and weightlessness again. However, Shina’s and the other boys' feet were still on the “ground” of the vehicle.

“Wh-what the!?” Shinachiku was startled as he reached forward and grabbed a handrail nearby one of the seats. Outside the windows, he saw that the weird vehicle they were on was no longer on the tracks and was flying wildly through the air. Shinachiku then looked up through the window and saw they were headed for one of the faces on Hokage Mountain. Or rather…. more specifically, the monument of his father!?!?

  “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUGH!!!” Shinachiku and the two boys screamed as they watched helplessly as the front of the vehicle they were all trapped in was careened straight into the colossal statue of Naruto on the mountain. There was a massive explosion and the sound of crunching metal as the boys lurched forward from the impact of the strange vehicle crashing into the mountain, with Shinachiku and the other boys only managing to barely survive by being launched into the soft cushioned chairs surrounding them.

Shinachiku slowly began to sit up, groaning as he placed a hand over his forehead before coughing due to breathing in the dust and debris still covering them.

“Oh good, we made it….” Shinachiku heard the voice coming from one of the boys nearby. Shinachiku then noticed the boy in black starting to climb out of the shattered glass windows on the side of the train and climb onto the roof of the strange vehicle. From where Shinachiku was, hundreds or maybe even a thousand feet below where they had crashed the vehicle, he could see a crowd of people beginning to surround the Hokage mountain. Before Shinachiku could climb up to get a better look at the crowd of people and gather intel for himself on where he’d landed, just outside this strange vehicle, he could hear the boy wearing the black clothing proudly proclaim as loud as he possibly could “BORUTO UZUMAKI HAS ARRIVED ON THE SCENE, DATTEBASA!”

‘So his name’s Boruto, huh….? Wait… like, bolt?’ Shinachiku thought and wondered when he finally heard the boy in black and red’s clothing's name. ‘And wait… what does he mean by ‘Uzumaki?!? A-And that verbal tic…!’’

“Agh… Boruto….” Shinachiku heard several other voices in that huge crowd slowly gathering around him, causing Shinachiku to gasp when he saw Naruto standing center stage of the crowd in his all-too-familiar orange clothing. Still, unlike the Naruto, Shinachiku remembered, this one was wearing the white Hokage cape, which also added to Shinachiku's confusion. 'Huh? Is that Dad?'

“Damnit, Boruto… Well, I guess that’s one way of embarrassing your Dad…” Shinachiku then heard a boy speak wearing green clothing who looked odd and a lot like Shikamaru. 

‘This place just keeps getting weirder and weirder….’ Shinachiku thought as he saw someone who looked like Konohamaru suddenly teleport out of the crowd. Shinachiku heard a fight on the vehicle's roof before stopping suddenly. ‘Why isn’t Konohamaru dressed in his Hokage attire? And why is Dad wearing it instead?? What's going on here!?’

“OW!!! TIME OUT!!!!” Boruto cried, and Shinachiku guessed this Konohamaru lookalike had caught him. “UGH, I’m sorry, big brother Konohamaru.” 

“Hmph, funny you say that when you don’t even look just a LITTLE bit sorry! Oh, and by the way… Starting today, you’ll call me ‘Sensei’ from now on!!” Konohamaru lashed out.

“HUNH!?!?” Boruto gasps, sounding in shock. “That’s so weird, though!”

Shinachiku then noticed the other boy wearing blue starting to climb out of the vehicle's roof, and after deciding he’d seen enough from the window, he should climb out as well. Besides, after some thought, it didn’t seem like these strangers didn’t seem all that dangerous, AND he needed to get some answers!

As Shinachiku took his turn to climb out, he heard Boruto addressing the other boy as ‘Denki.’ He’d also caught something about the boy Boruto mentioning an ‘Entrance Ceremony.’

‘So… these kids, I assume, aren’t even in the Academy yet?’ Shinachiku thought as he pulled himself out of the weird metal vehicle and let out a heavy and confused sigh. ‘Seriously, what in the world was going on here?!?’

“GAH!! BORUTO, YOU DRAGGED TWO KIDS INTO THIS MADNESS, EH?!” Konohamaru gawked with his mouth open in rage when he saw Shinachiku and Denki climb out of the train.

“So whaaaaaaaat??? We’re fine, see?! No one’s hurt! What’s the big deal!?!” Boruto proclaimed in his carefree attitude as always.

“What’s fine about any of this?!”

“Ah, shut up already, dattebasa!!!”

Shinachiku then looked up at Boruto as he tried to kick himself free. However, Konohamaru had a pretty good hold on him, as Boruto and Konohamaru continued to argue. Shinachiku glared at the boy, not out of anger but more curious than anything else. ‘Boruto Uzumaki, huh…? What an interesting character this kid is….’

“B-Boruto...what the hell did you just-!?!” says a familiar voice that interrupted Shinachiku from his thoughts.”Wait until your mother hears about this, dattebayo!”

Shinachiku immediately turned around at that voice, his eyes widening when he saw his father standing before him, looking just as he remembered, only with a waaaay too short a haircut from what he remembered. “Huh?” Shinachiku gasped, unable to stop his voice from escaping in awe of the Kage. ‘It can’t be…!’

Menma looked in the direction of the voice, his deep blue eyes locking onto the green eyes of Shinachiku. Upon noticing the boy, Menma saw that he, too, had short unkept spiky hair that drifted to the side as if the boy had tried to brush it and make it neatly, but the hair refused to lay flat on his scalp. Menma also considered Shinachiku’s oddly large forehead, hidden behind the red, hitai-ate forehead protector headband with the Leaf symbol. For a moment, Menma thought he saw himself in Shinachiku’s features somehow though he couldn’t quite pinpoint why. He didn’t know this boy after all, yet…. why did he seem so familiar???

“Huh… who could you be? Are you a genin from this village? Who and where are your parents?” Menma asked Shinachiku, and the question seemed to knock Shinachiku in for a loop for a split second.

“Wh- haha… funny prank, Dad! Come on, you know me. I’m Shina! Shinachiku Uzumaki!! I’m your son!! ” Shinachiku explained, his eyes widening in shock. ‘How could this be?! Naruto… He doesn’t know me, but why?’

“Hunh?!” Boruto and Menma reply at practically the same time as they both stare at the boy.

“What the hell are you talking about? He’s MY Dad!!” Boruto argued, now struggling even harder against Konohamaru’s hold. “And if you’re an ‘Uzumaki,’ shouldn’t you have red hair like Auntie Karin or Grandma Kushina?”

“Y-You don’t have red hair either-tenaro!!” Shinachiku growled before he blinked when he caught the name ‘Kushina’ dropping out of Boruto’s mouth, as his mind immediately thought of his father mentioning how his mother was also named that. ‘Waitaminute… Is this Boruto kid talking about the same grandma Kushina? What the-?! How does he know of that name????’

“Exactly…” Menma proclaimed, “I only have one son, Boruto. And a daughter named Himawari. Besides Karin and my mom… there are no other living Uzumakis’ beside us, technically. Although, I will admit that it IS odd how much we look alike, AND how much you look like my son Boruto. It’s almost like I’m staring at one of my Shadow Clones….”

His answer seemed to puzzle Shinachiku even further as he closed his eyes to think. Hundreds of thoughts ran through his mind. ‘What the hell happened after that fight?’ Shinachiku began to wonder in shock and worry, ‘We were fighting that rogue Shinobi for that C-rank mission… I got separated from my friends because of that paper bomb, and then………? Could this be… some type of genjutsu?’

His eyes immediately opened. Menma, Boruto, and Konohamaru jolted when the boy suddenly performed hand seals right in front of them, with Menma immediately going onto the defensive when he’d assumed the worst.

“Release!” Shinachiku shouted with eyes closed tightly, hoping everything would return to normal as soon as he opened his eyes again and he would be back safe at home. Or in front of his sensei, Sai, and his teammates, Kei Inuzuka and Aika Uchiha, again.

Shinachiku re-opened his hopeful green eyes, only to see nothing had changed. He was still in this strange world, with this strange-looking version of his father, this weird ‘Boruto’ kid, and Konohamaru standing atop this strange vehicle that he still had no idea what it was.

“What?” Shinachiku gasped in alarm. ‘Did the Jutsu not work….? Impossible!’

“Release!” He exclaimed. Once again, closing his eyes to concentrate.

“Release!!!” Shinachiku tried again, but it still didn’t work.

And again.

And again.

  “Release!!!!” Shinachiku tried again, tears forming at the corners of his eyes as his thoughts began to spiral with the idea that he might never be able to return home again… ‘Just what the hell was even going on?! Why can’t I go back?! What is going on here?!?’

“Whoa, whoa. Hey!! Knock it off!!” Menma cried out before suddenly reaching out and grabbing the boy by the hands and startling Shinachiku out of his spiraling thoughts in alarm. Menma continued to tightly and firmly hold the blonde’s hands together. He suddenly felt very anxious looking at this strange 10-year-old face full of desperation after his failed attempts. He did look a lot like himself at that age…

“Please stop. You shouldn’t stress yourself.” Menma looked at Shinachiku and gave him a comforting smile. Shinachikus’ eyes, which looked eerily like his own, minus the coloring, were full of unshed tears. “Look, I’m sorry. I’m sorry that I don’t know what you’re talking about. But I need you to calm down, alright? I’m sure we can figure this out somehow, okay?”

Shinachiku glanced at the man claiming not to be his father. It seemed like such a cruel, hard-faced lie when the man standing before him looked exactly like his father, Naruto Uzumaki, but then said he was not his father. That was a bitter pill to swallow. Did Naruto get amnesia or something? But that didn’t explain how Boruto looked so much like Naruto then, even down to the whiskers on his cheeks and blue eyes. Though Boruto’s blue eyes were a bit deeper than Naruto’s, still…

“O-Okay…” Shinachiku replies with a shaky voice as he practices his breathing exercises to relax.

Eventually, after calming down some, Shinachiku did what Menma told him and composed himself. There were still a lot of questions that popped into his mind that added to his head and body aches. However, he’s right. He needed to calm down for now. Throwing a fit won’t do him, and wasting away his remaining chakra certainly wouldn’t do him any good after all…

“So, uh… anyways. Can you tell me again your name and where you’re from?” Menma spoke softly. as Konohamaru and Boruto stared at the boy intently.

“I’m Shinachiku Uzumaki, and I’m from Konohagakure. The village hidden in the leaves.” Shinachiku offered weakly, trying his hardest to keep his body from shaking.

“And are you sure your last name is really ‘Uzumaki?’” Menma asked.

“Wh- OF COURSE IT IS DATTENARO!!!” Shinachiku shouted out in frustration and without thinking, only to immediately blush and slap his hands together over his mouth when his verbal tic reared its ugly head.

Now, it was Menma’s turn to look confused. ‘That verbal tic…! But….’

“Huh?! You even do the thing me and Dad do!!! Dattebasa!” Boruto blurted out, now ALSO looking just as confused as everyone else.

“...............Tell me…. Shinachiku, was it? Who… Who’s your mother?” Menma asked slowly, as a faded memory from years ago started to pop into his head as he got a slow idea of what could have happened here. “If you’re saying I… I am your father, then…!”

“Huh? Oh…  I’m the son of Sakura Uzumaki. And… you.” Shinachiku says point-blankly. “And you can just call me “Shina” for short. You don’t have to say ‘Shinachiku’ all the time.”

Menma’s eyes widened in realization, but something told him he still needed to make sure. “And your father’s name?”

“Wh- It’s Naruto Uzumaki!!” Shinachiku yells out in frustration. “Y-you know, YOUR name!”

‘What the hell was he getting at?! How many times must I explain this crap?!?!’ Shinachiku thought frustratedly.

‘Naruto Uzumaki… Wait, why does that name-?’ Menma thought before he gasped, as an audible gasp escaped his lips when he all at once remembered that other boy with the blonde hair who’d looked exactly like him. AND who helped free him from Madara’s Sharingan control.