Word count: 2917

Chapter 5

Shinachiku?

The name repeated itself over and over again in Naruto's head. He recognized it, but had no idea from where. Where had he heard that name before?

The boy, who was in the process of getting a package of instant ramen down from the kitchen shelf, glanced at Sakura. "Yeah mom," he said, shooting her a quizzical look. "That would be me." He gave a small laugh. "You two named me, remember?"

Naruto's eyebrows shot up and he glanced at Sakura. "We did?"

But Sakura was nodding quickly, as if this kid hadn't just said the most insane thing. Calling Sakura mom, calling Naruto dad, claiming they'd named him? What the hell?

"Oh yes, yes, of course," Sakura said smiling. "Sorry sweetie. I just woke up from a nightmare and it's… taking me a second to adjust." Shinachiku's brow creased with worry and he set his ramen on the counter. In a second, he wrapped his arms around Sakura and pulled her close, her head tucked neatly under his chin.

"I'm sorry, mom. I know those dreams have been bothering you. But I love you. You're the best mother anyone could ask for." Tears welled up in her eyes and she sank into his embrace as Naruto watched, awestruck, from the ground.

"Thank you, Shinachiku." He pulled away and smiled at her, a wide and sincere smile, and headed back to the kitchen.

"Hey, so I'm just grabbing something quick to eat before basketball practice tonight," he said, filling his package of ramen with water from the sink. "Don't worry about me. I should be home before dinner."

"Basketball?" Naruto repeated.

"Yeah, dad. Tennis ended two weeks ago, remember? It's basketball season now."

"Oh yeah, yeah, obviously," Naruto said, nodding. Sakura mouthed the word "Basketball?" to Naruto, who shrugged. Shinachiku just smiled and shook his head.

"Man, seriously, what did you and the guys do last night?" he said with a laugh.

"The guys, yeah… like, Shikamaru?"

Shinachiku stuck his ramen into the microwave and glanced over his shoulder. "Well, yeah. Shikamaru, Sai, Sasuke." At the mention of her husband's name, Sakura's eyes widened. "The guys."

"Right, of course. My best friends, right?" Naruto said, hoping to fish some more information from Shinachiku.

"Dad," Shinachiku said, pointing a pair of chopsticks at him accusingly. "You're being seriously weird. I don't know everything about your friends, they're your friends. You're the one who hangs out with them on your 'guy nights' or whatever."

"Oh yeah, I know," Naruto said, finally pushing himself to his feet. When he looked down at his clothes, he noticed for the first time he wasn't wearing his hokage cloak and ninja clothing. He was wearing some weird button up shirt and blue pants made of some coarse material that was shockingly uncomfortable. Who in the world would choose to wear this? What kind of genjutsu was this?

"You know your dad," Sakura said, clapping a hand on his shoulder. "Always drinking too much with those friends of his."

Shinachiku laughed at that, running a hand through his messy blonde hair. Naruto couldn't believe how much this kid looked like him, and like Bolt, too. He was like an older, softer version of Bolt, with Sakura's beautiful green eyes and big forehead.

"True enough," Shinachiku said as he shoveled ramen into his mouth. Naruto stepped into the kitchen, leaning against the wooden archway. He had to admit, this was a pretty nice house, with granite counters, a well-polished wooden table, clean and organized.

"So, quick question. Do you know anyone named Bolt? Or Himawari?"

"Bolt?" Shinachiku said, making a face. "What kind of name is that?"

Naruto laughed sheepishly, remembering when Hinata was pregnant with Bolt. She'd been so insistent on naming him Bolt—some weird, convoluted way to remember Neji. Naruto had suggested they just name him Neji, but she'd insisted, so when he was born, he was named Bolt. "It… doesn't matter. Anyway, you don't know a Bolt?"

"Nope, no Bolts," Shinachiku said.

"And… unrelated question but how's Hinata?" Naruto asked, catching Sakura's gaze. She nodded almost imperceptibly.

"Oh, Inuzuka-san? I don't know, she's fine, I guess? I haven't been over to their house since Kaito broke my Xbox." Naruto blinked. Did Shinachiku just call Hinata Inuzuka-san? That had to mean…

"Oh yeah, Hinata and Kiba are a really great couple, right?" Sakura said, stepping up besides Naruto. Shinachiku shrugged, his bowl of ramen now nearly empty.

"They're cool, I guess. They're just parents. But Kaito is a terrible traitor of a friend!" Shinachiku said, stabbing his chopsticks against the table.

"Right…" Naruto's head was spinning. This world was completely different. This kid, supposedly his son, kept talking about things he didn't understand. Basketball? Tennis? Xbox? And now, to top it all off, he knew all of Naruto's friends from the real world? Except that Hinata was married to Kiba. They had a son named Kaito. Naruto's son was mad at Hinata's son. Bolt didn't exist.

This had to be a genjutsu, but still… something felt off.

"Can I talk to you about something?" Sakura said, tearing him from his thoughts. "In private?"

"Oh yeah…" Naruto mumbled, still in complete shock.

Sakura grabbed his arm and started pulling him away, yelling over her shoulder, "We'll be outside if you need us, Shinachiku. We've got some important things to talk about."

"Hey, wait mom! Shouldn't you be at the hospital? I thought you didn't get off until 5:00."

"Oh, well I don't. But, I did today," she said, glancing at Naruto. Shinachiku raised an eyebrow.

"Oh. Well, okay." He didn't seem to believe them, but didn't say anything else. Sakura yanked on Naruto's arm and nearly dragged him out of the house, through the front door, and into the yard. Outside was nearly as shocking as the inside. The house had a beautiful green lawn with perfectly trimmed shrubs bordering its pink and yellow brick walls. The house was lined on both sides by other well-kept homes, each one with its own quirks and charms. A wide street stretched in front of them, with cars passing by every so often.

This was nothing like the Leaf Village.

Naruto blinked. "Wow."

"Okay, where the hell are we?" Sakura demanded. "This obviously isn't Konaha, and this obviously isn't our world! That boy in there shouldn't exist. We shouldn't be married!" She started pacing back and forth, waving her hands frantically in the air.

"It's got to be another genjutsu, right?" Naruto said.

"No, no, this is different," Sakura said, pacing back and forth. "I don't—" Her eyes widened. "Oh my gosh, Naruto, I can't sense any of my chakra."

Naruto's eyes narrowed and his hands flew together, forming the shadow clone sign. Even as he said the jutsu, he knew it wouldn't work. There was absolutely no chakra flowing through his body. He'd been so confused about what was going on that he hadn't noticed, but now, it was like he was empty. Like he was missing a part of himself.

"Sakura-chan…" he said, his voice quavering. "If we don't have chakra, I mean—I'm hokage of Konoha! I'm a hokage who can't even do the simplest jutsu because I don't have any chakra!"

"I, I don't…" she trailed off, her face pale. "I don't know what to do. I'm supposed to know these kinds of things. Lady Tsunade prepared me for this! But I don't have any chakra… I feel so helpless."

Even though he knew it wouldn't work, Naruto crossed his fingers in front of him and said, "Release!" Nothing happened. Swearing, he did it again, and again, and again… But no matter how many times he tried to focus his non-existent chakra and release the genjutsu, nothing happened.

"Nothing's gonna happen because you don't have any chakra," Sakura said, sitting in a daze. "But I'd think the hokage would know something like that."

"Shut up! I know it won't work, but…" And then all the fight seemed to extinguish inside him all at once. He slumped next to Sakura on the porch steps, staring up at the sun. Everything seemed so real. Everything felt real. He could feel the heat from the sun, he could feel Sakura beside him, he could feel the grass beneath his bare feet. And as disturbing as it was, he knew without a doubt this was not a genjutsu.

This place was actually… real.

"Sarada's still out there," Sakura mumbled.

"I promised we'd find her, and I still promise that."

"But this place, Naruto. You tried it yourself. This isn't a genjutsu. I guess it's possible that it's some sort of variation of the sharingan but… the only people alive now who have the sharingan are Sarada and Sasuke. Besides, being in the tsukuyomi? It's not like this." She shook her head in frustration. "I just have no idea what to do! It's like… we're trapped here. And we don't even know where here is!"

"Okay, well do you know how we ended up here in the first place? When I jumped down to you, you said there was a trap, and then all of a sudden we were surrounded by that light," Naruto said.

Sakura nodded. "Yeah… Sai woke me up and told me someone had been following us. When I went out to confront him, he somehow locked my chakra so I couldn't move, and placed some sort of barrier jutsu around me? It's like he was waiting for you to show up, so he could activate it, and send both of us here…"

"Is that who Nedashi is? The person you asked Shinachiku about?"

"Exactly. I thought maybe Shinachiku was involved at first, too, but I don't sense anything evil about him. I honestly think that in wherever this place is, he's just an innocent kid who…"
Sakura brought her gaze up to Naruto's. "Who's our child."

Naruto's heart started to pound, and for the first time it really sank in. Shinachiku was the child of Naruto and Sakura. Somewhere, at some place in time, they came together and created this new life. Even if it wasn't real, Naruto almost wished that this world, wherever it was, truly was real.

Before he could respond, the front door burst open, revealing Shinachiku standing in the doorway with a phone in his hand.

"Phone's for you dad," Shinachiku said, passing the phone over. "Oh, and by the way, Hanako is pissed."

Naruto and Sakura exchanged uncertain glances before Naruto cautiously held the phone up to his head.

"…Hello?"

"Dad!" the voice on the other end blasted, ringing in his ear. He pulled the phone away from his face instinctively. "Hanami and I have been waiting for like 30 minutes! Where the hell are you!"

In the background of her end, he heard a small voice saying, "Hanako, come on, don't be so mean to him!"

"Oh, my other child, I assume," Naruto said, glancing at Shinachiku for confirmation. Shinachiku just stifled a laugh, while Sakura stared at him as if to say, Seriously?! Another one? "Hanako, right?"

"Oh my gosh dad stop being such a complete dummy and come pick us up! You're the one who told us you didn't want us walking home all by ourselves any more because of all the weirdos on the street! We're just trying to be good daughters!"

"What's she saying?" Shinachiku asked, leaning closer to the phone.

"Oh, well, you're just… the best daughters! You really are. And I am a terrible dad for not picking you up?"

"Oh my gosh give me that," Sakura said, snatching the phone out of Naruto's hands. "Hello?" Muffled yelling sounded from the other line of the phone as Sakura listened. "Okay, I understand, Hanako. No, no. I get it. Yep, your dad and brother are going to go pick you up right now."

"What!" Shinachiku exclaimed.

"And I'm so sorry we kept you waiting," Sakura said, ignoring the interruption. "Yup. Oh, uh… yeah. I love you too. Bye."

The moment she hung up the phone, Shinachiku was already complaining. "Mom, I have basketball practice, I can't go with dad to pick them up!"

"Well, you know how dad is. He would probably get lost going on his own right now because his head is just, lost in the clouds. So you'd better go with him." Shinachiku grumbled an "okay" and shuffled back inside the house, presumably to put on some shoes. Once he was gone, it was Naruto's turn to grumble.

"Are you kidding me? Why are you making me go? That kid obviously thinks I'm crazy. You're way better at playing it cool and pretending like you actually know what's going on that I am!"

Sakura pushed herself to her feet, brushing off dust from her clothes. "Because I need to stay here and try to figure what's going on, and I want you to go out and scope the area." Naruto groaned begrudgingly, but didn't protest. "Besides, maybe you can get some more information from Shinachiku."

"Yeah… okay," Naruto sighed. The front door burst open and Shinachiku stepped out, dressed in baggy shorts, a T-shirt, and athletic shoes. It was like he was getting ready to leave wearing pajamas. Did people in this place have no pride?

"If we're gonna go we should go right now," Shinachiku said, hopping down the steps onto the front lawn. "I want to get back in time to make it to basketball practice."

"Okay, okay," Naruto said as he stood. "Let me grab my shoes."

As soon as they were both ready, he and Shinachiku started down the street together. Though Shinachiku had seemed a little put off earlier, soon he was chattering happily as they passed houses and buildings, making their way to way Shinachiku had referred to as the subway. Naruto wasn't sure what that meant, but pretended like he did, anyway.

"...and then Kyoko came over and was like, 'I think the way you do your hair looks good' and of course, I got all nervous and all I said back was 'Oh. That's nice.' So now I think she thinks I don't like her and my friends are making fun of me and I feel like such a loser!" Shinachiku sighed, shoving his hands into his pockets. "What I should do, dad?"

"To be honest, that sounds kinda like something I would've done when I was your age," Naruto said, chuckling.

"Well you still have more experience than me. You convinced mom to like you after all," Shinachiku said with a sly smirk.

Naruto's smile faded and he looked away. "Here, anyway," he muttered.

Soon they reached what Shinachiku had referred to as the 'subway.' It was some weird, underground machine that moved freakishly fast. Shinachiku seemed to know exactly what he was doing, threading his way through groups of people and once they got to a turnstile, Shinachiku pulled a card from his pocket, slipped it through a slot, and made his way through the turnstile. Naruto was about to say he didn't have one, when he reached his hand into his pants back and realized there was a wallet there. It was a simple, leather wallet, and when he opened it, his heart fluttered.

It was full of pictures, of Sakura looking radiant, him and Sakura posing together for family pictures, and three children. Shinachiku, and two adorable young girls who had Sakura's soft pink hair and oval face, and Naruto's blue eyes. The two girls so were so strikingly similar Naruto almost thought they were the same person.

"Dad, are you coming?" Shinachiku asked. Pulled back to his senses, Naruto found a card that matched the one Shinachiku had use and inserted it into the slot to pass through the turnstile.

Naruto followed Shinachiku down some grungy stairs, through hordes of slow-moving people, until they stopped next to a track and boarded a huge metal transportation machine which must've been the subway. The whole time, Shinachiku continued to talk and talk. Naruto had known this kid for less than 20 minutes and already felt like he'd spent more time talking with him than he had with Bolt in years. Now that he thought about it, that really was a problem.

"So, Shinachiku…" Naruto said as he fell into one of the seats. Only a handful of people were on the subway at the moment. Some were standing holding onto bars from the ceiling while others sat. Shinachiku took a seat next to Naruto.

"Yeah?"

"I was thinking, it could be fun to play a game while we're waiting to go pick up the girls," Naruto said, an idea developing in his mind. Shinachiku's face lit up.

"A game? Like a word game? You know how much I love word games," he said.

Naruto shook his head. "No, I was thinking, more like a how well do you know me game. And we can use the answers as examples to help you with your… Kyoko girl." Naruto worried that Shinachiku would think this game idea was suspicious, but he just nodded.

"Yeah… that sounds like it could be fun. Okay, let's do it!"

Naruto grinned to himself. He may not have ever been the smartest ninja in the village, but this idea was genius. Soon he'd have Shinachiku telling him all about fake Naruto from this place… and he might even be able to get some clues about how to get the hell out of there.