A young toddler with silky black hair waddled into a storeroom piled high with scrolls: most, if not all of the scrolls had an aura of mystery, and the toddler wanted to touch them. The toddler's name was Minato Uzumaki Uchiha, and at 2 years old, he was overly curious about everything, and these scrolls were no different. Mummy wasn't watching, so Minato was free to wander. As his chubby little hand reached up for the nearest scroll, he slipped, falling to the floor. Surprised, young Minato started to cry: this was most definitely not fun. Upon hearing his cries, a young man of around 15 dashed into the storeroom, a pink - haired girl and a masked boy behind him. Minato, recognising his brother, reached out for him just as a scroll on the uppermost shelf tumbled down.
"Minato!"
In the next second, the three intruders were gone, leaving only a confused and crying toddler.
***
Menma Uzumaki Uchiha woke up in a field of grass, the delicate stems brushing against his skin. He bolted upright, black hair in its usual disarray as his blue eyes scanned his surroundings.
"Ugh, what happened Men'?" A lilting female voice asked. Relieved, Menma turned around and saw his best friend, Memory Haruno Hyuga, sitting upright dazedly.
"I'm not sure, Mem'," Menma replied, pulling a kunai out of its sheath. Memory copied as another groan alerted them to their third member's presence: Houki Hatake Umino. A year older than them, Houki was not on their genin team: but their third member, Mitsuki, had taken sick so Houki had joined them. The three of them had just been returning a report to Menma's mum - er - dad when, on the way out, they'd heard Minato's cries. Then the scroll has fallen and...
"Look, it's the scroll!" Memory suddenly said, sheathing her kunai to pick up the scroll. The parchment was aged and yellowing at the edges, definitely one of the older scrolls the Hidden Leaf Village had. Houki, who had finally gotten up, was adjusting his mask carefully, though both Menma and Memory had seen his mouth before: it was definitely a trait Houki picked up from his Papa.
"Can I see that, Memory?" Houki asked a second later, hand held out patiently. As the Chunin of the group, and soon to be Jounin, Memory had no choice but to hand it over, pale white eyes meeting Houki's black ones. As she turned around, Menma stifled a giggle: there were some dandelions caught in her hair.
"What?" Memory said irritably.
"You've just got some..." Menma said, picking at her pink hair. "This is why you should cut it."
"And be like Mom? She's beautiful and all, but I like my hair this way."
"It was just a suggestion!"
"Guys," Houki interrupted. "This is one of the forbidden scrolls."
Menma rolled his sky blue eyes.
"Duh, it was in the storeroom."
Houki, looking very much done with everything and very much like his Papa, sighed.
"This one has a special seal. I don't want to open it again so Memory, could you look at it with your Byakugan?"
"Sure."
Menma watched as veins ran up the side of Memory's face and her eyes sharpened. Having seen his teammate use her Byakugan multiple times, Menma decided surveying the surroundings would be better. Ignoring the other two, the whiskered boy ran up the nearest tree, his eyes meeting a massive rock cliff. There were seven faces carved onto the cliff, and beneath it was a sprawling village that Menma knew like the back of his hand. The Hidden Leaf Village. Konoha. And yet something wasn't right.
Kit, I think I know-.
"Menma! Come down here!" Memory yelled.
He dropped like a leaf and landed softly next to Houki, who didn't even bat an eye.
"What did it say?" Menma asked eagerly: his gut was telling him they needed to leave.
Memory flicked her long hair.
"It says "Dimension Meet Jutsu" and then lists a bunch of conditions. Apparently, we switched universes."
Both Houki and Menma were silent, until Houki asked:
"Does it say how to get back? Or anything about the universe we are in? Or is it complicated?"
Memory sighed. "It says its only one way. So I'm guessing if we want to get back, we have to find this dimension's scroll."
Menma groaned, face palming. "That's gonna be impossible!"
"Don't be such a quitter," Memory scolded.
"I'm not! It's just gonna be really hard is all!"
"So not impossible?"
"Gah! Don't twist my words Pinky!"
Menma knew he'd made a mistake when Memory reactivated her Byakugan. She's almost as scary as Aunt Hinata, Menma thought before throwing up his hands in surrender.
"Jeez calm down Mem'."
"Menma, Memory," Houki said warningly. Menma had heard the stories of Houki's father, the Sixth Hokage, in his prime: his prowess with the Sharingan. And Menma had a feeling that they'd both be in a genjutsu if Houki had inherited that eye.
Houki rubbed his forehead, brown and silver hair looking fluffier than ever. Then he looked at Menma.
"Do you know where we are? If this is another dimension, it could be that we didn't actually leave the Leaf."
Menma nodded and pointed behind him.
"Just a little ways back there is the training field that Konohamaru Sensei took us to to train. I could see the brook and wooden logs from the tree."
"So we are in the Leaf," Memory muttered, reactivating her Byakugan to check. "Should we go down to the village?"
"I'm not sure that's a good idea," Houki said, his pointer finger resting on his chin. "What if we encounter ourselves?"
"Somehow, I doubt that would happen," Menma murmured. A breeze swept through the little clearing, tousling the hair and clothes of the three dimension travelers. Houki sighed.
"We have nothing better to do. Let's go check it out and steal the scroll."
***
"Big Brother Konohamaru is late!" Boruto whined, his hands behind his head. The young Uzumaki was bursting with energy, but with no sensei, they couldn't go on a mission. "They" being his teammates Sarada Uchiha and Mitsuki (he had no last name: Boruto assumed if he did it'd be "Orochimaru"). Sarada, who was irritated and tired from their previous mission, shot Boruto a look. He only stuck out his tongue at her, squeezing his blue eyes shut and wrinkling the whiskers on his face. A light laugh came from behind the two as Mitsuki watched their antics, amused by their rivalry.
"Go off on your own if you're so bored," Sarada said, pushing her side fringe to the side. Boruto pouted.
"But it's no fun alone."
"I don't care."
"Saradaaaaaa."
"Baka Boruto."
"Hey!"
"Guys," Mistuki interrupted, wanting to stop the two before it got heated. "Why don't we go train?"
Boruto's eyes lit up and he nodded eagerly. Sarada, seeing she had no choice, only sighed and consented. The three headed off towards the small brook where generations of shinobi had once trained.
"Ok ok, I'm going to practice my Rasengan!" Boruto declared, a big grin on his face. Sarada smiled despite herself, and moved over to one of the standing logs. "I want to try Shadow Clone jutsu: I've been working on it for a while," Sarada said. Boruto stopped his hand signs, eyes sparking.
"I'm not going to lose to you, Sarada! I'm going to make more clones than you ever will!"
"We'll see, Baka Boruto!"
And off the two went. Mitsuki, not really wanting to participate, sat down under a tree, pale blue robes spreading around him like a pond. It was nice and cool in the shade: Mitsuki's snakes liked it after the relentless heat of Konoha summer. But just as he was relaxing, a tingle went up Mitsuki's spine, and his golden eyes flashed open.
"Boruto, Sarada, do you feel that?"
The two stopped bickering as the chakra signatures Mitsuki had sensed before became clearer. A lone white snake wove up his arm and poked its head out, sniffing the air. Boruto gave Mitsuki a confused look.
"I can sense chakra, but there isn't anything hostile-."
"MENMA YOU JERK!"
"HOUKI HELP!"
"You're on your own dumbass."
"That's not fair 'ttebaki!"
Team Konohamaru remained silent as three teens walked out the woods - er - ran out of the woods. Even from this distance, Boruto could see one of them had vibrant pink hair: she was chasing a young boy with spiky black hair and sword strapped to his back. Behind the two was-.
"Houki?" Boruto called. He knew the Genin - now Chunin - from their days at the academy, but this just didn't seem to be Houki.
Not - Houki looked up, and Boruto saw that his eyes weren't the usual purple - blue: they were black, like Sarada's. At his movement, the two chaotic ninja stopped, turning slowly towards Team 7.
***
"Oh shit," Menma swore into the silence.
"Menma!" Memory bonked him on the head.
Standing in front of them were three achingly familiar faces: but Menma had seen their clan symbols. Uzumaki. Uchiha. Not together. Houki seemed to have realised this too, as he raised his hands placatingly, calling,
"I'm not Houki. My name is actually Izumo," Houki lied.
"We just heard your companion call you "Houki"," the girl who looked exactly like Sarada deadpanned. Menma, knowing his cue, brushed his hand behind his head in embarrassment.
"Hehe, nah, I know someone called Houki, and I was just panicking. His name was the first that came to mine," Menma lied smoothly.
Memory placed her hands on her hips.
"Are you guys here to train?" She asked politely, flashing a sweet smile.
"Uh, yeah," the boy who looked like Boruto mumbled, scratching the back of his head. "Why were you guys in the forest?"
"We were practicing our tree climbing," Memory tucked a wayward strand of hair behind her ear, eyes sharp.
"You can't do that yet?" Not Boruto asked incredulously. Menma was starting to see the similarities clearer and clearer.
"So my name is Izumo," Houki said into the silence. "As you know. Beside me are Memory and Menma."
"I'm Boruto Uzumaki, dattebasa!"
"Sarada Uchiha, nice to meet you."
"Mitsuki."
Thought so, Menma thought. As the awkward silence descended again, Menma, never one to stay still for long, grabbed Houki and Memory's hands.
"We were just heading back, so you guys can train here with no problems! See you some other time!"
"Wait."
Menma stopped in his tracks, gritting his teeth as Boruto tilted his head curiously. The blond Uzumaki then asked Memory:
"Are you from the Hyuga Clan? You have the Byakugan."
"Oh, uh, yeah, I am," Memory said. Boruto grinned.
"I've never seen you before, but my family often visits the Hyuga compound. What branch of the family are you in?"
Menma concealed his surprise with effort: why would Boruto go to the Hyuga compound often? Memory seemed to be thinking the same thing, because she replied nonchalantly.
"I'm in the main family."
"The main family?" Sarada cut in questioningly. "You should know Boruto then: his mother is Hinata Hyuga, eldest daughter of the main branch."
We fucked up, Menma realised.
***
Sarada was curious about these genins, especially the pink haired kunoichi. Sarada had only ever seen such pretty pink hair on her mum, and she was sure her mother had no siblings. So could the girl - Memory - have dyed her hair that colour? It didn't seem likely. And the Byakugan was strange: claiming to be part of the main family when Boruto didn't know her? Something suspicious was going on and Sarada was determined to find out what. Memory and the dark haired boy - Menma - seemed to realize they'd made a mistake and shared a quick glance.
"Oh, um I thought you were asking what branch you were from, hehe," Memory said, unconvincingly.
"It's fine, 'ttebasa," Boruto assured her before Sarada could call out the lie. Sarada shot Boruto an irritated look as Izumo started dragging his teammates away.
"Where are you going?" Mitsuki suddenly asked, sleeve raised. Izumo's mask shifted and Sarada could only assume he was flashing them a smile.
"Back to the village: our sensei is waiting for us."
Unable to find any legitimate reason to keep the other teens there, Mitsuki nodded and backed away. In a matter of seconds the three strange genin had disappeared into the foliage. As soon as they were gone, Sarada whirled on Boruto.
"They were obviously lying, why'd you let them go?" Sarada demanded. Boruto met her dark eyes with his blue ones, and Sarada was forced to fight the blush off her cheeks.
"It's ok Sarada. I let them go because even if they try to escape, they won't have a chance after we inform my old man. Besides, that black haired kid gave me a weird feeling."
"That is true," Mitsuki piped up, always on the side of his sun. Sarada cracked a small grin at the two boys. "Then let's get to the Hokage office, shall we?"
Naruto Uzumaki was just about done with work. Why oh why was there so much damn paperwork?! Himawari had been pestering him to train her recently, and he hadn't spent nearly enough time with Hinata or Boruto. Sighing, the number 1 knuckle headed ninja started to turn back to his work when the door to his office swung open with a bang.
"Oi Old Man! We found some suspicious ninja out in the forest!"
"Boruto, I told you to knock. And I'm working, so that's Lord Hokage to you!"
"Did you listen to what I just said?" Boruto demanded, golden hair bouncing around his face in agitation. Behind him, the other two members of the new Team 7 stood ready to back up Naruto's son. It made him happy that Boruto had made such good friends.
"Oi, I'm talking!" Boruto fussed.
"I know, dattebayo."
"Hmm? Boruto? Sarada? Mitsuki?" A new voice asked. Shikamaru Naara, the Hokage's number 2, stood in the doorway, arms crossed. Behind him, Naruto saw a man clothed in all black, one eye covered by his long fringe: Sasuke Uchiha.
"Shikadai's dad!" Boruto said. "There were some suspicious nin-."
Sarada seemed to have had enough of Boruto and swiftly punched him. The young boy flew and hit the wall with a resounding smack and Naruto winced in sympathy: like mother like daughter.
"Nanadaime, what Boruto was trying to say was we encountered a suspicious genin team out near the training grounds."
"Suspicious how?" Sasuke asked, moving into the room with barely a sound. Seeing her father, Sarada straightened almost imperceptibly.
"There was a dark haired boy with scarred cheeks, a girl with Byakugan and pink hair, and a boy who looked like Houki, one of our classmates," she listed carefully. Meanwhile, Boruto had peeled himself off the wall and had gone to stand beside Mitsuki.
"Pink hair?" Sasuke asked, raising his one visible eyebrow.
"Yes, it was exactly like Mama's too."
"And this girl had the Byakugan?" Shikamaru asked. Naruto could practically see his mind whizzing around.
"Yes."
"I asked her what branch of the Hyuga she was from," Boruto cut in, "and she said she was from the main branch."
"What?" Naruto asked in surprise. Sarada nodded, pushing her glasses up her nose.
"She backtracked when I told her she should know Boruto, considering his mother, but it was very obviously a lie."
Naruto looked up at Shikamaru, who nodded.
"I'll go and see if Hiashi Hyuga knows any Hyuga of that description after this."
***
Shikamaru was back in a number of minutes, shaking his head.
"No Hyuga fits that description."
Boruto's dad turned back towards Team 7 again, gesturing for them to keep going. Not planning on letting Sarada take all the spotlight, Boruto launched into an explanation about Izumo.
"So Izumo - the one that looked like Houki - you know who Houki is, right?" Boruto asked.
Naruto and Shikamaru nodded, so Boruto continued, "He looked exactly like him, except maybe a year or two older with silver streaks in his hair. And his demeanor was different from what I remember of Houki: he was polite but reserved."
"And he said his name was Izumo?" Shikamaru checked, gloved hands steepled together.
"Yes, though the third nin did call him "Houki" at one point."
Sarada frowned as the adults processed this.
"Was his chakra energy the same?" Sasuke suddenly asked.
"Uh..." Boruto and Sarada shared a look: they hadn't been thinking about that.
"Mostly," Mitsuki piped about, face impassive.
"Ok, and what about the last one? The dark - haired boy?" Naruto asked.
"He actually seemed the most normal, aside from his scarred cheeks," Sarada said. "He had three of them on each cheek: it actually looked kind of like yours and Boruto's whiskers."
"Actually, I believe the boy was the most troublesome among the three of them." Everyone turned to look at Mitsuki, who was fiddling with one of his sleeves.
"What do you mean?" Sasuke asked, frowning.
He's so cool, Boruto thought.
"His chakra energy was very strange: it felt suppressed, as though it was hiding another presence inside him. And his chakra reserves seemed very deep, almost unnaturally so."
The office fell silent.