A Different Kind Of Journey

Author"s note: Hey there Readers!, Looks like we"ve finally entered Arc 3! I Hope you guys enjoy! I would also like to thank you guys for the Reviews. Favorites, and follows :) Thank you for also sharing your tips and thoughts for the story.

Thank you for Understanding :)

Expect Grammar and Spelling mistakes

Arc 3:

Chapter 2: More Surprises

The sound of hot tea being poured into a cup could be heard inside a quiet tea shop which was located a few walks away from the hospital, that a certain white haired spiky man was currently admitted into.

Jiraiya currently observed his surroundings as the man found himself in a scene that He had never seen before. Who knew that his former teammate would liked to have a cup of tea at the moment. It seemed that she was trying to change her lifestyle for a bit and drinking tea over a bottle of Sake is already surprising for him.

Tsunade drank and enjoyed her hot tea as she fully relaxed herself on her chair. This was actually the first time that she had done this alternative way of enjoying besides the usual gambling and getting herself drunk stuff. This was different.

Jiraiya stared at his former blonde teammate. He was surprised to see her away from the usual things that plague her life such as being lonely and depressed all the time. He was also glad to see that she was enjoying herself right now.

"So I guess you loved to drink Tea now. Did something changed you?" Jiraiya asked. He also took a sip of his own Hot tea which He also enjoyed.

"Oh." Tsunade said. She placed her hot cup of tea on the table and grabbed a tissue to clean her lips.

On the other hand, Jiraiya waited for her response. Before that, He asked himself on why she would want to talk to him privately right now? What was to talk about? Was

it something important?

Tsunade casually smiled." Well, There"s really nothing to talk about. I just thought maybe we could have a nice cup of tea for awhile." She simply explained as she drank her tea.

In truth, She just really wanted to take the time and enjoy herself. She really have to thanked Sarada and Himawari for giving her advice and tips of how to stay away from the stressful life that had plague her for a long time. The lavender haired teen advice her to stay away from the drinking and gambling stuff while the Uchiha girl told her to take someone that she considered a loved one to a nice cup of hot tea at any shop.

The only person that came up into her mind or that she could think of was none other than her former spiky white haired teammate, who was in front of her and giving her a weird look.

Tsunade blushed for a bit when she realized that she considered Jiraiya as a loved one and indeed He really was a loved one. She considered herself as being a single for life since Dan pa.s.sed away many years ago that really destroyed her spirit. From that day on, she never really knew what loved felt until her former teammate brought some it back. In fact, It was Jiraiya that helped her get through all of it for all those years and she considered him as the most truthful and caring friend that she had ever met despite his perverted and knucklehead nature.

Jiraiya on the other hand, was just giving the another weird looked once again. Apparently, Tsunade had gone back to her daydreaming yet again as she just began to randomly smile and stared at the blank s.p.a.ce.

"Hey Tsunade are you alright?" He asked. However, there was no response coming from her. She was still in her daydreaming state.

"You"ve got to be kidding me." Jiraiya muttered. He was a bit weirded out. He tried to come up with a possible explanation for her sudden changed in personality and He deduced that the blonde Hokage had somehow met someone that she never told him about.

"Tsunade!" Jiraiya called her name once again and this time it worked.

Tsunade immediately snapped from her thoughts as she blinked a couple of times before meeting the eyes of the other. There was silence for a few seconds as she stared right into his eyes before finally shaking her head.

"Sorry about that, I"m just really tired." She simply said. She would go on to explained that she just recalled the tips and advices that the two girls gave to her and she was applying it right at the moment which actually works.

"Oh, the three new kids that you told me about." Jiraiya said. He was aware of three newcomers but He really had never seen or met them in person before.

Tsunade simply nodded. She also wondered on what will the latter"s reaction be if He meets the trio, especially the Uzumaki siblings. So far she guessed that her former teammate would be in a state of disbelief upon learning the big revelation.

"So speaking of the three, what"s their story by the way?" Jiraiya asked. He was curious about their backgrounds, How come they were instantly accepted as Shin.o.bi that fast? Should they first undergo some kind of Chuunin exam first?

On the other hand, Tsunade was already prepared to tell him the usual fake story that the trio had but since It was the toad Sannin himself, the most trusted friend that she ever had, So why not tell the whole story and truth to him?

Jiraiya on the other hand waited yet again for the blonde woman"s response in between the silent the moment, He took another sip from his cup of tea.

Tsunade took a deep breath and sighed. Was she really gonna do this yet again? and If yes, then she might as well start from the beginning until it reached towards the current situation today.

"Well to start off the story, The three kids are not what they seemed to be." She simply explained.

Jiraiya kept silent as He continued to listen as her story progresses. He had this smile of interest that remained on his face. He would then learned that the trio were oprhans and came from a faraway village that was destroyed by bandits and raiders.

He would then also learned that three had nowhere to go so Tsunade had them taken in the village to lived as normal citizens.

The white haired Sannin gave a sad looked as He began sympathized while Tsunade then took a deep breath yet again.

"Did I mention that they"re actually from the future?"

(IRUKSENSEI)

All of his years as a teacher or an instructor in the school, He could consider that He was always going to be the mediator everytime there"s fight or commotion happening in the academy. He could say that He was already used to these kinds of things. Although, This situation was a bit different than the rest of the commotions that He handled in the past.

Iruka observed and gave a stern look at the two boys that were wrestling each other just awhile ago. Both of them were looking down with guilty faces. They should"ve reconciled way before rather than continue the wrestling match.

There was silence that took over right at the moment. Iruka waited on who was going to speak up first before the two and apologized. Coincidentally, both of them turned their heads up and spoke at the time.

"I"m really sorry for what happened just now Iruksensei!" Both of them exclaimed in unison.

Iruka could only sighed." Alright, Just tell me what really happened? He said. He then would go on to learned that the fight started because of a simple broken alarm clock and an impatience from the black haired boy.

"I promise that I will buy a new clock that works Iruksensei!" Konohamaru said. He a.s.sured the man that He also won"t staying up late again.

"I promise that I won"t be impatient anymore Iruksensei!" Kenta said. He promised that He will wait for the third"s grandson if He"s this late again.

"Just please don"t put us into detention!" They both exclaimed in unison. They really don"t want to sweep the leaves again.

Iruka sighed once again. Surely, He will let this pa.s.sed by because of a misunderstanding. His eyes then darted towards the three newcomers who were sitting on the wooden stands.

"They really looked familiar." Iruka muttered. He began to wonder about the three. It seemed so strange that He felt that He met them before but He just couldn"t put his finger on it.

(MEANWHILE)

The time travelling trio sat down on the wooden stands of the soccer field. They felt that they were being lined up for trial for the crime of preventing the commotion to escalate just awhile ago. They were also currently in their own thoughts, thinking about on what was gonna happen next.

Boruto thought of being put into detention for the first time since he was at the academy. He recalled those good old times of being caught after he perfomed series of creative pranks on some wannabe bullies. He gave a smile as he fondly remembered on he pranked one of them just to save a bully victim.

Himawari on the other hand, had never been into a detention before. She just sat there wondering on what will detention be like. Would they be cleaning every room in the academy or will they just write a number of sentences on the chalk board?

Sarada thought of being in her first detention ever of her life. She really had never been into detention before. She had these streak of perfect attendance and good conduct. She wondered on why she was going to be put into detention when she is already a teenager and not a kid anymore.

A little while later, A certain someone finally entered the scene. All three then looked up to face Iruka himself and all eyes were on him now. There was silence that took over as the trio waited for him to speak.

Iruka then sighed." You guys don"t have to apologized. The two boys told me that you were the ones that prevented their fight from escalating." He explained. He was glad they were here to break up the fight.

"So I guess I"ll be the one to apologized." Iruka said. He would go on to explained that situations like this would often happened in the academy especially.

All of the trio"s eyes widened their eyes in surprised. They didn"t expect that the future princ.i.p.al of the academy would be the one apologizing to them.

"You know, you three kinda looked familiar, Have we met before?" Iruka asked. He really felt that he had seen them before.

Boruto, who took up the role as the spokesperson of the group yet again and smiled.

"I"m pretty sure we have sir." Boruto replied. He was secretly referring to Iruka who was a very close friend of the Uzumaki family back in the future.

"Really?" Iruka wondered as He scratched his head recalling if the He had really met the trio before.

A few moments later, He finally recalled that he indeed seen or met one of the trio and it was none other than the blonde himself that he was talking to right now.

"Are you the ones that came from the faraway village that Lady Tsunade told me about?" Iruka asked. He finally remembered that time when he had met the blonde at the Hokage office.

Boruto simply nodded." Yes sir and I supposed that this will be our second meeting." He said. It"s been a quite awhile since he had last seen his Uncle Iruka, who would be the future princ.i.p.al of the academy in about 20 years time.

"Oh well then, you don"t have to call me Sir or Mr. Umino, Just plain "Iruksensei" would do the job." Iruka simply explained. He didn"t really like being called in a very formal way. He was just not used to it.

Boruto then smiled." Well, it"s very nice to meet you Iruksensei, My name is Bolt, and this is my little sister, Himawari and friend, Sarada." The teenage blonde said as he introduced the two girls to the latter.

"h.e.l.lo." Himawari greeted with a cheerful smile while Sarada shyly waved her hands on the future princ.i.p.al.

With all of the doubts and questions aside. It was safe to say that the door for a conversation was finally opened. As for Iruka, He would really liked to get to know the trio more.

(A SHOCKING TRUTH)

Jiraiya was at loss for words. He didn"t really knew what to say right now. In fact, He almost dropped his cup of tea as he was placed in a state of disbelief right at the moment. He began to repeat the blonde woman"s statement inside his mind.

"They are from the future."

The white haired Sannin really couldn"t get over what she had said to him. He was pretty sure that she was just trying her best to cracked a joke but then again, Was she serious about this

"So you"re telling me that these three kids are from the future?" He asked while the other just simply nodded.

"That"s a nice joke Tsunade, I guess you"ve finally invented time travel huh?" Jiraiya slightly chuckled. He tried to go with the flow but He suddenly sensed that the blonde woman was actually serious about this.

Tsunade on the other hand, didn"t wasted her time as she then presented a brown envelope which contained the full evidence which were none other than the DNA results of the time travelling trio.

Jiraiya grabbed the envelope, He then first examined the thing and noticed that "Top Secret" was labeled on the very middle of the envelope. He then opened its contents and drew out a number of doc.u.ments which contained some kind of evidence to prove that the trio were from the future.

As He began to read the doc.u.ments, His eyes slowly widened in shocked as he just realized that this was indeed true. By just reading the DNA test results which were authentic, this was really starting to get crazier as he reads the rest of its contents and when He got to to testimony section of the doc.u.ment, He would then go on to learn their names and their real backgrounds.

He first learned that the main leader of the group, known as Boruto, was actually the future son of his student while the other girl, named Himawari was his daughter. So that would be mean that they are siblings and that would make himself the unofficial G.o.dfather of the two.

The other girl was known as Sarada, and she was actually the daughter of Sasuke Uchiha, and that would make her automatically an Uchiha which was stranged because there were only a couple of Uchihas left since the night of the ma.s.sacre that took place many years ago.

The most compelling evidence of all of this is none other than the DNA test itself which perfectly matched Naruto and Sasuke"s DNA.

Jiraiya sighed as he placed the doc.u.ments on the table. He had already read too much information and He felt that his brain was gonna explode at any moment.

"Alright, I believed you but there is one thing I want to know, Who did Naruto end up with?" He asked with full curiousness in his eyes.

Tsunade just sighed and shook her head." Well, if you want to know, you gonna have to find out by yourself." She simply explained as she drank her tea.

Jiraiya on the other hand made a face. Curiosity had him fully taken over. He really wanted know more about the trio especially, the Uzumaki siblings.

The white haired sage had to admit that He was living in a world full of surprises.

There was another silence that took over yet again. Both of them neither said a word until something came up into the blonde woman"s mind.

"So pulling this aside, How"s everything so far with your intelligence network, Any new cases to investigate?" Tsunade asked.

Jiraiya sighed." Well, if you are asking me about the Akatsuki, then there"s still no lead yet on who is their true leader, I still have to search for new real evidence." He explained. So far the organization itself is getting more craftier with the hide and seek game.

"I just hope that I don"t get myself killed by one of them." He added. He knew that this was going to be life risking.

"So what about you? Any new Hokage stuff lately?" Jiraiya asked.

Tsunade then took a deep a breath." Well, I"am going to a.s.sign a team soon for their next mission." She said as she was referring to Team Kakashi.

"I"ve already found a replacement instructor for Team Kakashi on this mission." She added.

Jiraiya raised an eyebrow in confusion." So what"s the mission all about?"

Tsunade took another deep breath again as she began to explained the details of the mission to him. Apparently, Sasori of the sand village had told Sakura about the location of a spy which formerly worked for Orochimaru, and through the spy, they can finally know the whereabouts of the missing nin, Sasuke Uchiha.

"Oh I see, Looks like former Akatsuki member is living a normal life now, How"s that even possible?" Jiraiya asked. He just can"t believed that this was happening. A former criminal repenting from his past.

Tsunade sighed." Well, that"s what we call "Life", You either see yourself lose hope or lived one day to see yourself getting redeemed." She explained.

Jiraiya then smiled." Well, Hopefully I would like to see myself living a peaceful life when all of this Shin.o.bi stuff is over, I really gotta focus myself on the creative side of things." He slightly chuckled.

He really wanted to continue his life as a writer and novelist after when retirement finally arrives.

(BONDING)

The day continued on uneventful as noon finally came which meant that lunch time had arrived. Somehwere in a certain ramen shop, Iruka found himself eating the delicious ramen that he grew up with along with the three teenagers.

Iruka smiled as he would soon discover that these three were actually fun to hangout with. Fueled by the Uzumaki siblings" humour, He could say the conversation was getting better. It felt like He had known them for a very long time even though, He had just officially met them.

"I"m really sorry about Konohamaru, He is just the Kid that He is to be." Iruka explained. His student was an exact carbon copy of Naruto when He was a kid.

"No worries Iruksensei, Konohamaru is actually a great kid, I think He just needs real friends." Boruto said. He noticed that his young sensei was being looked down all the time.

"Is that so?" Iruka asked.

"Yup, I think He really needs someone to hang out with, Bolt is the perfect candidate I guess." Sarada slightly chuckled as she winked at her blonde teammate.

Boruto could only sighed. He began to wonder if his young sensei do have parents. Because He really never saw anyone at his sensei"s house besides the fact that he was the only one there when he visited the latter during his genin days.

"Well, to be honest, Konohamaru would often keep secrets from anyone, When I asked him about his parents, He would just say that they are out of town." Iruka said. He began to recall the time he visited the boy"s house only find out that He was all alone living there.

The only information that he knew was that his parents were both Elite Jounin that were part of the Konoha Anbu Division.

"Iruksensei, do you think that Konohamaru could be an Orphan?" Himawari asked. An idea had came into her mind.

Iruka sighed." We might never know, but if you guys want to find out more, you can just visit his home." He explained.

(SURPRISES)

It was a very tiring day at least for Konohamaru himself. After the commotion that happened in the field, All things went back to normal and He went through the daily rituals of studying and learning in school.

It was about pa.s.s noon when school was finally dismissed. He found himself currently walking along the streets of the village as he headed towards his home which was situated in a very quiet area of the village.

The boy had been already used to this. Walking alone was just the usual stuff for him. In fact, He considered himself as just an ordinary normal kid even though He was the third"s grandson. Of course, like many kids, He had parents of his own but the only problem is that they were not always around for him.

In fact, He had never actually met them in person. The only thing that he knew so far about them was that they were elite jounins from the Anbu division and they would go into this dangerous missions that were considered life-risking.

He was raised by his uncle Asuma for most of his life. As for his parents, He didn"t even received a message or letter from them thus He began to suspect that they are never ever going to come back.

A small tear fell from the boy"s eye. He began to wonder on what would it be like if to have parents. A loving mother that would be waiting for him in the house or a father that he would like to spend time with.

As Konohamaru reached a certain area, He suddenly stopped his tracks as he found himself in an area that was deemed dangerous for kids to go to. The area was revealed to be a an alleyway which was locally dubbed as " The Alleyway of Death." It was also a shortcut to the boy"s home.

The name came to existence when people going through this alleyway find themselves being attacked by aggressive stray dogs that resided within the area. No one would really dare to go though the area or else they were gonna get free rabies.

Konohamaru took a deep breath. He wasn"t afraid of any stray dogs or whatsoever because He was a shin.o.bi himself. Although, He already had an experience of being bitten by a dog once but He did not get the experience of being chased and bitten by multiple aggressive dogs at once.

As the boy took the first few steps, He felt the atmosphere around him was slowly changing. The alleyway itself was already scary and add it with agressive dogs, things could get more worst.

As time pa.s.ses by, Shivers began to ran down his spine. He had never been into this kind of place before and this was in fact the first time. He would always take the long cut but He now found himself taking the scary shortcut.

As He finally neared the exit area, He stopped his tracks as He stumbled upon a group of sleeping stray dogs in front of him.

Konohamaru widened his eyes in shocked. He truly never expected this to happen. They were just so many of them sleeping. Although, the good news was that He can easily pa.s.sed by them if he were to remain quiet as possible.

Not wasting anytime, the boy immediately made his move by not making any sound or whatsoever. It took him about a couple of minutes before he finally pa.s.sed all of them and He was finally on his way towards the end of the alleyway.

He could feel his heart beating fast evem though He was almost out. However, fate would intervene when He accidentally stepped on an empty can of soda that made the only sound that instantly woke up the dogs.

"Oh c.r.a.p." Konohamaru muttered as he began to hear the angry growls of the dogs.

He slowly turned his head around only to face the recently awaken angry dogs that were growling at him.

Konohamaru could only give a nervous grin as He knew that he just screwed up.

He took a few steps back until he finally turned around and bursted away from the scene and at the same time, it also triggered the dogs to chased him down all the way towards the end.

Panic and Fear hindered Konohamau from using his jutsus. He was just so focused on running that he unknowingly stepped on something and tripped down on the ground.

The boy cringed in pain as he hurt his knees. He stayed on the ground as he darted his eyes towards his front to see the angry dogs finally reaching into him.

Konohamaru could only closed his eyed as he waited for whats to come to him. But suddenly another presence had unknowingly entered the scene.

The sounds of the barking turned into frightful noises. The boy then opened his eyes only to be greeted by a new presence in front of him.

Konohamaru widened his eyes to see some kind of furry animal in about the size of the dogs. It had nine long swiping tails. It has red-orange fur with black fur around its eyes that stretches to its ears, red irises with black slits for pupils and the upper-body structure of a human, complete with opposable thumbs on its clawed hands. Its overall appearance was leaner and softer while less-defined in shape with a rounder face, akin to a some kind of cub.

He then began to realized that animal itself was some kind of fox. But He wasn"t on what kind of breed was it. Meanwhile, the dogs scrammed away from the scene. In fact, they were all instantly scared or even afraid of the fox.

Konohamaru then slowly moved and grabbed his bag, by the time he stood up, the fox had turned around to face him. The boy was shaking in fear. He really hoped that this fox won"t bite him.

There was a brief silence between the boy and the fox. Konohamaru observed the cute animal as it appeared to be weary and exhausted from everything.

He was about to open his mouth to thank the fox when it suddenly spoke.

"Are you alright kid?" The fox spoke which really freaked the boy out.

Konohamaru was taken over by surprised." Yeah I"m fine and...Wait You can talk!?" He exclaimed. He was freaking out right now.

The fox, which appeared to have male raspy voice spoke." Of course I can talk, never heard or seen a talking fox before?" He sarcastically asked.

"No not really." The boy replied back as he then began to observed his surroundings and realized something.

His eyes widened in surprised. "Cool! is this where you really lived?" He asked.

The talking fox sighed." Well, not necessarily because I prefer moving from place to place." He explained as he proceeded to leave the area.

"Hey, where are you going?" Konohamaru asked.

"To somehwere where I can fill my empty stomach." The fox replied.

"You can come with me to my house, There"s a lot of food there you can eat!" The boy replied back.

The fox"s ears lit up and He stopped its tracks as He turned around to face the boy again with an eyebrow raised." Tell me, What"s your name kid?" He asked.

"It"s Konohamaru, what about yours?" The boy replied back.

There was a brief moment of silence yet again. The fox closed his eyes for a short while before opening it and giving the boy a smirked.

"You can call me Kurama."

CHAPTER ENDS

AN: Thank you for reading the chapter :)