Saruto | The Bloodline Prophecy (Part 1)

Chapter 24: Spiraling Tree

All of us were circled up in front of the doors to the Hokage office. I waited eagerly for Naruto's arrival. While I was good at composing myself under pressure. I found this specific thing to be extra hard. Lost in thought, the conversation between Kakashi, Inojou, and Shikadami washed itself from my mind. Thoughts raced in my head. Should I just let Kakashi speak for us? That might be what was best. The blistering heat of the day didn't help with the mood of the area. Keeping my eyes glued on the horizon of the downtown streets, I searched for a head to peak up and head towards this way. No doubt it would be Naruto, so I had to be on alert.

Only for a moment I found myself turning away and towards the conversation between the three of them. It wasn't until that I saw Kakashi glance over to the downtown streets that I knew he was here.

Their conversation died down as we all turned our attention to Naruto. I never thought to realize how we would all act in his presence. After all in our time he was the Hokage and the highest official in the village. In the Anbu we were taught to formally address him. Even as his grandson I honored that well-rounded rule. Should I act oblivious? I think that best I could do was to stay quiet and only speak when spoken too. But were Inojou and Shikadami on the same page. And with the cue they both looked to me and I gave them a look of complacency. They understood my gameplay and nodded.

Turning my attention back to Naruto I observed how he wore a manoeuvrable prosthetic arm fully wrapped in the bandages. I completely forgot how behind in technology these times were. His arm was shaped the same as his other but lacked a sort of realism to it. From the distance that he walked towards us in was obvious how tall he was with his short blond hair and black elastic forehead protector. I have never seen him with a leaf shinobi forehead protector before. As hokage, he hadn't worn it so I only knew the appearance from pictures, never in person. Over his pants and sandals, he wore a black uniform jacket with an orange zipper and buttons on the waist and sleeves, which could be folded upwards. He wore a red armband with an Uzumaki crest on his left arm.

Soon he got close enough for me to see his face. It was so young, he had no sign of white hair that he did back in my time. His features were so lively and strong. It scared me to the point that he looked so much like me. I mean my mother always told me that beside the black Uchiha hair, I had the facial features of an Uzumaki. On his cheeks were the signature dual whiskers that defined his characteristics well. His eyes. That was a dead giveaway. They were just like mine. It was like looking into a mirror. I knew it better than ever knowing that it was best to let Kakashi do the talking.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto waved as he hurried his way over to us.

He was more than polite not to give us a stare about our apparent awkward presence next to Kakashi. He seemed to patiently wait for Kakashi to introduce us. But in an ordinary Naruto fashion, he rambled.

"Sorry, I was late," he acknowledged as he swung his hands behind his heads, "I had to stop by home."

Home? For what? And then I saw it. A ring on his finger. He was married. So did he go see Grandma Hinata?

"Ah, yes. How is Hinata?" Kakashi casually wondered.

Naruto nervously laughed and scratched the back of his head.

"Well," he pondered, "Pregnancy sure isn't treating her well, y'know?"

Kakashi nervously laughed with him. Pregnant? So that means...

"Thank god Gaara sent for me in Sunagakure, Hinata is a handful y'know? Anyways, he told me to give this to you." Naruto spoke.

Handing over a message, Kakashi nodded and then slipped it in his pocket. As we stood in silence, Kakashi shook his head and then gestured to us.

"Right! I almost forgot," Kakashi awkwardly laughed as he scratched his head with one of his hands, "This is Saruto, Dami, and Jou Uzuchiha. They are umm... old friends of mine."

As we all stared at Naruto to see if he had bought it, the nervous tension in the air grew stale. I observed as Naruto's eyes suspiciously narrowed. His eyes locked on mine. My grandfather was trying to read me, but I remained to have an oblivious and unknowing face. Suddenly he burst out in a delighted manner.

"Ha! Any friend of Kakashi-sensei, is a friend of mine!" he grinned and then pointed his thumb to his chest, "My name is Naruto Uzumaki!"

It was weird seeing so much of this side of him. After the death of my father and the start of the shinobi war, he seemed to lose that side of him. Maybe it was the fact that everything was great for him during this time. He was married to the love of his life, was going to have a child, reunited with his Sasuke, his best friend. Everything in his life was perfect and the shinobi world was at peace.

"Nice to meet you," I smiled.

This signalled for Inojou and Shikadami to bow in unicense. Naruto bowed back before turning his attention back to me.

"So what brings you to the Village Hidden in the Leaves?"

This is where Kakashi interjected before I could speak out. I didn't fight it.

"They will be accompanying me to the Land of Valleys, we have some business there." Kakashi vaguely responded.

This didn't seem to bother Naruto who seemed to have a maturity to him besides the fact that his personality was very lively. He wondered with patience as Kakashi went into a little more detail.

"Hey, isn't Sasuke and Sakura there?" Naruto spoke out ignoring what Kakashi had just implied.

Kakashi nodded and I could tell that Naruto wanted to go with us very badly now. After all, Sasuke was his best friend and during this time Sasuke was very active outside the village. Probably barely crossed paths with Naruto. And Sakura was there too. His old teammates, plus Kakashi meant that it would be a team 7 reunion. I understood is restless more than ever now.

"I-I don't know..." Kakashi stuttered before I interjected.

"That would be perfect," I confirmed, "we could use your help."

Kakashi gave me a confused side look and I thought this action might be justified because Naruto and Sauske had key roles in the prophecy, maybe having them both in our sights were for the best. And guilty as charged, I wanted to spend some time with him and observe him during his timeline. He was about my age so maybe I could learn a thing or two about him.

Naruto smiled as he seemed delighted with my decision to let him come with us.

"Alright," Kakashi jokingly sighed, "we leave at high noon."