The two of them walked along a suspended bridge made of thick steel, crossing the gaps between the massive towers of the Roran Kingdom. White steam hissed from the pipes around them, masking the sound of their footsteps on the metal. Amidst a journey colored by awkward silence and the rhythmic hum of the city's machinery, Shion's curiosity began to gnaw at him.
As someone who knew the exact historical trajectory of this world, he desperately wanted to know the extent of the "butterfly effect" he had created in the future.
"By the way, Naruto," Shion called out softly, breaking the silence with a casual tone feigned specifically to hide his interrogation. "I'm curious... Who is the Hokage in your village right now in the future?"
Hearing the question, Naruto, who was walking ahead, immediately looked back with a wide grin. "Oh! The current Hokage is—"
Just as Naruto was about to say the name, his eyes suddenly bugged out as if struck by an electric shock. His hands moved like lightning, clamping his own mouth shut so tightly that his voice was muffled into incoherent mumbles.
Shion furrowed his brow, staring at the blond teenager in confusion. "What is it? Why did you stop talking?"
Naruto slowly removed his hands, looking at Shion with an expression full of regret mixed with vigilance. "That was close! I just remembered, Mom... I mean, the Mom from my timeline gave me very strict orders before this mission. She said if I were thrown into the past and met a teenage version of her, I must not tell any details about the future—especially about who the Hokage is! If I break the rule, Mom said she'd give me a terrifying punishment when I get home!"
Hearing this blind obedience, the vein at Shion's temple throbbed hard.
"Tch!" Shion clicked his tongue, unable to hide his annoyance.
'Since when did this big-mouthed, hyperactive brat become so perfect at keeping secrets?' Shion's mind writhed in frustration. 'Why are you so obedient to your Mother?! What kind of loyalty is this?! Are you Black Zetsu dedicating your entire existence to your mom?! Come on, just leak a little bit of info to me!'
However, seeing Naruto's face so resolute in keeping the secret (out of sheer terror of the future Shion), Shion finally let out a long sigh and gave up. He didn't want to waste time arguing. There was still one great mystery that was far more important to him personally.
"Fine, fine. I won't force you to answer about the Hokage," Shion said, crossing his arms. "But I have one last question, and this is purely about myself. Surely you can answer this."
Naruto tilted his head, slightly wary. "What question?"
Shion raised his right hand and swept aside the long brown bangs that had always covered his forehead. In the middle of his smooth, pale forehead, a dark green curse seal in the shape of a manji was revealed. The Caged Bird Seal: the mark of absolute servitude for the branch family of the Hyuga clan.
"Does your 'Mother' in the future... have this mark on her forehead?" Shion asked, his gaze piercing straight into Naruto's blue eyes.
Naruto squinted, leaning his face in to see Shion's forehead more clearly. His blond eyebrows knitted in confusion. "What is that mark? Is it like a small tattoo?" Naruto asked innocently.
Hearing that ignorance, Shion's heart beat faster. "Do other Hyuga clan members in the future not have marks like this on their foreheads? Your friends from the Hyuga clan, for instance?" Shion pressed.
Naruto looked up, staring at Roran's steel ceiling while trying to rummage through his memories. He visualized the faces of Hinata, Neji, and other Hyuga members he frequently saw in the village.
"No..." Naruto answered confidently, shaking his head. "I've never seen a mark like that on anyone's forehead. My friend Neji's forehead is perfectly smooth. Mom doesn't have any marks there either. Is it some kind of old makeup trend?"
Shion's breath hitched in his throat. He slowly lowered his hand, letting his bangs once again cover the curse on his forehead. His eyes widened in silence. The desert wind sweeping the balcony no longer felt cold compared to the storm raging inside his head.
'Future Shion... what on earth did you do?!'
Freeing oneself from the "cage" of the curse was something he could imagine if he utilized the System's power one day or made a crazy deal with Orochimaru. But the other Hyuga clan members didn't have it either?! That meant, in the future, the main and branch family systems of the Hyuga clan had been completely destroyed!
Did his future self lead a bloody coup against the clan elders? Did he crush a centuries-old tradition with absolute power?
"Mom? You okay? Why is your face so pale?" Naruto prompted, snapping Shion out of his heavy reverie.
"Forget it. It's nothing," Shion cut in quickly, shaking his head to dismiss those wild thoughts. His sharp eyes suddenly caught a strange silhouette on the highest tower across from them.
Shion's focus instantly snapped back to the mission. He pointed straight toward the sky with a slender index finger. "You'd better focus on that. Look, isn't that your mission target? It looks like she's falling from the top of the tower."
Naruto turned, following the direction of Shion's finger. In the distance, a girl with long red hair wearing royal robes was in a free fall through the air, plummeting from a lethal balcony height.
"Whoa! I almost forgot my mission because I was too busy talking!" Naruto yelled in panic. His hero instincts exploded instantly. He jumped onto the steel balcony railing. "Wait here, Mom! I'll be right back after I save her!"
WHOOSH!
Without waiting for a reply, Naruto shot off like an orange bullet, leaping from one pipe to another with the agility of a top-tier ninja.
Left alone on the balcony, Shion stood frozen. The vein of his patience twitched once more. His hand clawed at the empty air.
"Please... don't call me 'Mom' that loudly in public, you idiot brat," Shion growled under his breath, covering half his face with his palm to hide his shame.
A few moments later, Shion leaped down to follow Naruto and check on the situation. As he landed silently on a lower platform, he was immediately greeted by a classic scene exactly like the plot in his memory.
At the edge of the platform, Naruto had successfully caught the Queen of Roran. However, instead of a romantic thank you, what followed defied heroic expectations.
SLAP!
The sound of a sharp slap echoed loudly, bouncing off the metal walls around them. Naruto's head was whipped to the side, a red handprint clearly printed on his cheek.
"You insolent stranger! How dare you touch me so carelessly!" snapped Sara, the red-haired Queen of Roran. Her face was a mix of fear, confusion, and royal arrogance.
"Ow! That hurts! I just saved your life!" Naruto protested, rubbing his poor cheek.
It was then that Sara's eyes caught the other figure standing not far away. Shion stood with a firm posture, his gray cloak fluttering to reveal a hint of his strange Miko outfit.
"Who is she?!" Sara asked demandingly, pointing straight at Shion with a trembling finger. "Is she an accomplice of yours trying to kidnap me?!"
Seeing the situation starting to spiral out of control, Shion let out a professional sigh. He stepped forward gracefully, intending to clear up the misunderstanding. He prepared his best diplomatic lines as a secret agent.
"Calm yourself, Your Majesty. We are not your enemies. Allow me to introduce myself; I am an official Kunoichi from the Hidden Leaf Village—"
However, before Shion could finish his polite and cool sentence, Naruto quickly stepped forward, puffed out his chest proudly, and interrupted with a voice that drowned out the roar of the city's steam engines.
"Don't be afraid! She's not a kidnapper! She's my Mom!"
A deadly silence instantly descended upon the steel platform. The sounds of the city's machinery seemed to vanish. The blowing desert wind felt frozen in place.
Shion: "..."
Sara: "..."
"M... Mom...?" Sara repeated with a trembling voice, staring at Shion, who clearly looked like a beautiful teenage girl who might even be her peer. The Queen's brain experienced a total short-circuit.
Just at the moment Shion felt that the ridiculous situation on the steel platform had reached the absolute peak of his suffering and could not possibly get any worse, the universe once again proved him wrong.
Three silhouettes flickered and landed silently around them. Shion reflexively reached for his weapon, but his tension eased when he saw who had arrived. It was the special operations team from Konoha: Minato Namikaze, the large-bodied Choza Akimichi, and the quiet, mysterious Shibi Aburame.
Minato's presence should have been a great relief for Shion, but considering there was a blond brat from the future constantly calling him "Mom" right next to him, the arrival of the Yellow Flash made Shion's stomach churn in panic.
A few moments later, after a brief introduction and an incredibly chaotic flash-explanation, they moved to a safer location.
They were in a palace corridor decorated with massive, stunningly beautiful stained-glass windows. The afternoon sunlight pierced through the colored glass, reflecting warm gradients of color across the marble floor.
While Sara sat alone near a window with her knees tucked in, the Konoha shinobi and the "guest" from the future gathered at the far end of the corridor to discuss.
Minato stood leaning against the wall, arms crossed over his chest, his eyes fixed on Naruto, who was sitting cross-legged on the floor.
"So... let me get this straight," Minato opened in a calm tone typical of a commander analyzing an absurd situation. His eyes flicked toward Shion, then back to Naruto. "This shinobi from Konoha... truly comes from the future?"
"Well... at least that's what he says," Shion answered helplessly, letting out a long sigh that made his shoulders slump. His Miko outfit rustled slightly in the silence.
Next to Minato, Choza, who was chewing on a calorie pill, stared at Naruto with wide, amazed eyes. "Truly incredible. I never expected that time travel was actually possible in this world."
"Well, in the end, we live in a ninja world. As long as there is chakra and proper seal manipulation, I suppose nothing is truly impossible," Shion replied pragmatically. He gave a soft shrug. "Even someone as genius as Orochimaru-Shishou is still constantly learning, experimenting, and searching for the absolute truth of ninjutsu every day."
Hearing the legendary Sannin's name, Minato nodded in agreement. "You're right, Shion-san. Space-time jutsu phenomena indeed hold infinite mysteries."
Feeling the atmosphere becoming too tense and the conversation still focused on the concept of the future, Shion decided to change the subject. He didn't want Naruto to leak any more strange things, especially about "who" he was in the future.
"By the way, Minato-senpai," Shion called out, looking at the spiky blond man. "I heard rumors a few months ago that you managed to create a powerful new jutsu?"
At that, Minato's serious expression instantly melted, replaced by a bright smile and eyes sparkling with enthusiasm.
"Ah, you heard about it?" Minato answered, scratching his cheek awkwardly yet proudly. "Yeah, I actually designed the concept and created it three years ago. But because condensing pure chakra into a perfect rotation is so difficult, I only truly managed to perfect it recently."
Minato raised his right hand, letting a small blue swirl of chakra about the size of a tennis ball form for a moment before fading it away.
"Its name is the 'Rasengan'," Minato continued. However, a second later, the Yellow Flash's handsome face pouted slightly, emitting an aura of childish disappointment. "A shame... Kushina and Jiraiya-sensei forced me to use that short name. Actually, I originally wanted to name it 'Kōrin Reika Hakki Tsumuji Jiraiya Sōshiki no Gan' (Halo Frozen Fragrance Eight Demon Whirlwind Jiraiya Style Sphere)."
Shion: "..."
Choza: "..."
Shibi: "..."
Shion stared at Minato with half-lidded eyes, a perfect deadpan gaze.
However, amidst the awkward silence caused by that horrific jutsu name, Naruto, who had been staring at Minato's face in silence suddenly bolted upright. His blue eyes widened as if he had just solved the greatest mystery in the universe.
"Ah! I remember now!!" Naruto suddenly shouted, his voice echoing through the stained-glass corridor.
He stood up and pointed right at Minato's nose. "You! No wonder you felt so familiar! Your face, your hair... your face looks exactly like the face carved on the Fourth Hokage's Rock Monument in my village!!"
SLAP!
A sharp sound rang out. Shion facepalmed. He dragged his hand down his face in a movement of utter desperation.
'Good God... Why on earth did my future self want to adopt this idiot kid...' Shion groaned internally, feeling as if he had aged a decade.
The startled Choza immediately waved his hands, laughing heartily. "Hahaha, no way, kid. You must have seen wrong. Our village currently only has three Hokage, and Lord Hiruzen is still very healthy."
"But, Choza," Shibi interjected in his usual flat, logical tone, adjusting his sunglasses. "If this boy truly comes from the future as he claims, then deductively, what he said is very likely to happen."
Hearing Shibi's analysis, the atmosphere in the corridor suddenly became tense again. Choza's eyes widened slightly, while Minato went silent, processing the information that his future self might actually inherit the title of Kage.
However, as a wise team leader, Minato immediately raised his hand. His expression hardened into a serious one once more.
"Stop discussing the future," Minato ordered in a tone that allowed no argument. His gaze swept over Naruto, Choza, Shibi, and Shion. "If we all know too much about what is to come, our actions in the present will be affected. The future will change, and the consequences could destroy the world this boy comes from."
Hearing the firm tone from the man who was (apparently) the Fourth Hokage, Choza and Shibi immediately nodded in obedience. Shion also let out a sigh of relief.
However, Shion's relief lasted only for two seconds.
Naruto, having been lectured by Minato, seemed to nod in understanding. Then, the blond teenager tilted his head, staring at Minato with overflowing curiosity, then shifted his gaze to Shion. A question completely unrelated to the future, yet extremely personal, slipped from his mouth without any brakes.
"By the way..." Naruto's face carried a suspicious innocence, "What exactly is your relationship with my Mom? When I saw you two talking earlier, you seemed really close. Are you... dating?"
CRACK!
An invisible bolt of lightning seemed to strike right in the middle of the corridor. Time stopped. Gravity felt non-existent.
Minato: "...Mom?!"
Choza: "...Mom?!"
Shibi: "...Mom?!"
The three elite Konoha shinobi repeated the word in simultaneous shock. Slowly, very slowly, the heads of Minato, Choza, and Shibi moved to follow Naruto's pointing finger.
At the end of that finger stood Shion. A beautiful teenage girl wearing an extremely skimpy Miko outfit.
Shion said nothing. He could no longer find the words. He had turned his back to them all, crouching slightly, and covering his entire face, which had now turned as red as a boiled tomato with both palms. Imaginary smoke was almost visible billowing from the top of his head.
'F****k!'