"And then there's Young Miss Ino from the Yamanaka Flower Shop, lively and beautiful in personality."
"She seems to get along quite well with Naruto too. Sometimes when they meet, they tease each other. I've seen several times how she looks at Naruto with an especially happy smile."
"Sometimes the two even exchange flowers."
Wait, this isn't right!
Ino Yamanaka, isn't she Inojin's mother?
Boruto's eyelid twitched.
She actually had feelings for Dad when she was young... Teuchi continued, "Oh, and there's Sakura Haruno from his same team, that cute girl with pink hair."
"She also showed signs in that direction, though she seemed quite shy about it."
Sarada's mother?
Aunt Sakura!
Boruto felt his brain was struggling to process this.
Teuchi's revelations weren't over yet. He mysteriously added another line, "And even... I think the second young lady of the Hyuga Clan, Young Miss Hanabi, also seemed quite special towards Naruto."
???
Aunt!
This time, Boruto was truly choked up. He quickly gulped down some soda to recover, staring wide-eyed at Teuchi, his face clearly saying, "You must be joking."
Teuchi, however, mistook his shock for the ordinary surprise of an outsider from another Village hearing that both young ladies of the Hyuga Clan were interested in the same person. He continued analyzing on his own, "Young Miss Hanabi is very attached to Naruto. She's probably the most proactive after Young Miss Ino."
Boruto's mouth hung open, not closing for a long while.
He didn't even notice when the char siu on his chopsticks fell back into the bowl.
Hyuga Hinata, Ino Yamanaka, Sakura Haruno, Hyuga Hanabi... These four names buzzed in his mind, each corresponding to a future, important female elder he knew well.
They... in their girlhood, all had feelings for the young Uzumaki Naruto?
"B-boss... you didn't see wrong, did you? Or maybe it was just ordinary friendliness?"
Boruto stammered, trying to confirm.
Teuchi seemed to see through the doubt in his eyes. He put away his smile, becoming very serious, even with a hint of "how dare you question the accuracy of my gossip" expression, and said, "Customer, I know you might be very shocked hearing this, finding it hard to believe."
"But, I, Teuchi, have been running this shop for decades, greeting and sending off countless people. I've seen and heard many things."
"What I just told you about that kid Naruto and those young girls is based on my personal observations and feelings."
"What I say might not be the whole picture."
"You should just listen and not spread it around, okay!"
Still a young man from another Village, with no composure at all. I haven't even mentioned the matter of Princess Fuun yet.
If this kid finds out that even a daimyo liked Naruto, his eyes would probably pop out!
Teuchi indicated that his eyes were like a ruler. Naruto only brought Fuka Yukiyuki here once or twice, and Teuchi could tell.
He made a gesture of secrecy and turned to attend to other tasks.
Boruto: What on earth is Uncle Teuchi talking about?
Teuchi: I know you're shocked, but everything I said is true.
This was too much information!
It completely overturned all his understanding of his parents' generation's emotional relationships!
Boruto had never imagined that upstream in time, the streams of emotion had once flowed so intricately and turbulently.
Those familiar, respected female elders of his, in their girlhood, had their gazes, more or less, focused on that idiot Dad.
This was just... too subversion!
After finishing his meal and paying, Boruto, feeling dizzy, lifted the warm curtain and walked out of the small shop filled with the aroma of ramen and explosive gossip.
The afternoon sun shone on him, but he felt a bit dazed, his steps somewhat unsteady.
The names and descriptions he had just heard scrolled through his mind like a barrage of comments.
It was truly, too sensational!
Boruto couldn't help but cover his face with his hands, feeling his cheeks slightly warm. It was both a subtle shame and shock at Dad's "glorious" past, and also the thrill and embarrassment of glimpsing the "past" that the elders absolutely wouldn't want Juniors to know.
He walked to an empty corner and took a few deep breaths, trying to calm down.
Dad... I misunderstood you all along!
He silently said to his father far away in another time and space.
I never expected you had such a "turbulent" emotional history when you were young!
I admit, I was immature before, Dad!
It was my fault for asking Mom why she took a liking to you. I truly didn't expect you were this impressive back then!
I didn't understand your difficulties before, nor did I realize how amazing Mom was.
After I return, I'll definitely cause you less trouble and teach Himawari well too.
So you can feel the happiness of family when you get home.
You working hard now, being a good Hokage and running around for the Village every day is right!
You must keep it up!
You must not rekindle old flames with the aunties!
While Boruto was having a mental storm, Sasuke encountered an acquaintance.
Just as he was passing through a relatively quiet residential area near the edge of Konoha's green belt, a faint but cheerful sound of conversation from below made him instinctively stop, hide in the shadow of the eaves, and quietly peer down with half his head.
Below, on a small path, two people were walking side by side.
One of them was tall and slender, with striking silver-white hair and a black mask covering most of his face.
He wore casual dark blue clothes, not Anbu or Jonin uniform, looking very relaxed.
Those eyes, always appearing lazy and half-closed, were now slightly curved, revealing clear amusement.
Kakashi Hatake.
Sasuke recognized him at a glance.
This era's Kakashi seemed to have less of the aura and weariness of being the Sixth Hokage from future memories, and more of the casualness of youth, even... a rare, unclouded ease?
But what truly made Sasuke feel stunned was the person walking beside Kakashi.
It was a woman with a graceful figure, her dark green hair loosely tied back, a few strands brushing her cheeks.
She was looking sideways at Kakashi, a gentle and bright smile on her lips, as if saying something interesting.
She wore light-colored everyday clothes and carried a cloth bag with vegetables, looking as if she had just returned from shopping.
This face... Sasuke frowned tightly, a corner of his deep memory stirred.
It was definitely not a common face in Konoha, but he had indeed seen it before.
After much thought, he remembered the female spy he encountered before participating in the Chunin Exams.
Sasuke had forgotten her name.
But he remembered that at the time, he, along with Naruto and Sakura, had been following them. Then Naruto fell from a tree and landed on Kakashi, causing the two to kiss through the mask.
Was this world's Kakashi different from the one in his own world too?
Sasuke had investigated the Uchiha clan grounds. They were empty, with only his own family living there.
So far, all the changes Sasuke had detected were related to himself.
In this period, he had covered his eyes, his parents were revived, and Kakashi, who had been single his whole life in his timeline, seemed to be in a couple-like relationship with a woman.
Moreover, most people here seemed to speak of Naruto with great caution. From their attitudes, Sasuke could sense they held awe, not disgust, towards Naruto.
Sasuke could roughly infer that this was not his original world.
Then, would Urashiki really come here?