Naruto: Passerby and Returnee

Chapter 105 "Outsiders"

Everything here feels both strange and familiar.

Since leaving this place for the first time, the streets of my childhood have remained forever in my memory. The rebuilt village could never completely restore the old system. The gate is no different from before, but all the shops on the street have been renovated. The missing corner tables and chairs of the teahouse are gone, Ichiraku Ramen has expanded its storefront, and Dangoya has moved to a different location, and the taste is no longer as cloyingly sweet as before.

Nothing in this world remains unchanged unless we go back to the past.

"Mr. Sasuke, I really don't understand your taste in clothes..." Boruto Uzumaki couldn't help but complain while wearing a strange red vest. He just couldn't stand wearing such flashy clothes.

"Just bear with it. You weren't even born in this era yet. You can't let others see you wearing a headband." Sasuke, who was experienced in infiltration, also changed his clothes to try to conceal his ninja features.

"Okay...I understand..." Boruto replied weakly, but when he thought about how this was to protect his father when he was a child, he couldn't help but endure it.

"Seriously, where are all the fathers in this era?"

Sasuke casually comforted the child, his gaze constantly sweeping around. When he saw the roujiamo (dumpling shop), his eyes softened slightly, remembering his older brother whom he often caught there. And not far away was Ichiraku Ramen, where Team 7 spent most of their team-building time…

Wait, did he just see something orange?

Sasuke's gaze shifted, quickly meeting a pair of bright blue eyes. To his astonishment, he saw Naruto Uzumaki, a self-proclaimed "salty party" member, eating three-colored dumplings!

The dumplings are incredibly sweet! It feels like they've added a lethal dose of sugar! I really don't understand why the Uchiha clan members are so obsessed with this shop; most of the things they write about as the first thing they do after being reborn is to go to the dango shop and eat their fill.

Adhering to the principle of not wasting anything, Naruto slowly ate his food, enjoying the comical scene of Sasuke silently pulling Boruto back after discovering him. But… does he only have one hand? What is his future self doing?! And Boruto's appearance—didn't he already decide not to bother Hinata anymore?! Could it be that the future hasn't changed at all? Did Hikaru's efforts fail? Or are Sasuke and Boruto who arrived here not from this future world, but from his original world…?

This kind of mentally taxing work is definitely not suitable for him at all; he's already starting to get confused!

"Hmm? Doesn't that kid look a lot like you?" Jiraiya suddenly said while drinking tea. The reason he discussed this with Naruto was because Naruto had proven himself to be a ninja with brains, strength, and skill, not just a hot-blooded, naive young boy with a single-minded mind. There were some things he didn't need to hide from him.

Naruto swallowed the last of the dumpling, and although he was in a bad mood, he still answered, "His chakra is biased towards lightning."

It's lightning? Neither Minato nor Kushina have lightning attribute, so it can't be their child. It couldn't be that Minato had a romantic entanglement, could it? That henpecked guy… and the kid clearly has the same long beard as Naruto.

Unable to draw conclusions from Boruto, Jiraiya's gaze naturally shifted to the adults beside him. The more he looked, the more familiar the young man in the hat seemed. His pale skin, his delicate features—even with only half his face visible, he was exceptionally handsome…

Jiraiya gasped and whispered, "The guy next to him looks like Sasuke."

“That’s all-attribute chakra, and the eyes have a special chakra flow…it’s a characteristic of the Uchiha clan,” Naruto replied, wiping his hands without looking up. He was currently in a mental whirlwind, frantically questioning the path he was on, and simply didn’t have the energy to give Jiraiya a perfunctory answer. At the same time, he didn’t think such a clumsy disguise could fool the intelligence master, so he decided to be direct and save both sides the time of mutual suspicion.

Jiraiya was unusually shocked. The shock of seeing someone from the future was so great that even he was stunned for a moment. In that short time, Naruto got up and went out.

"Wait for me!" What's this kid up to? Is he going to take the initiative? It's a good idea, but isn't it a bit too sudden?

Not only Jiraiya was taken aback, but Sasuke and Boruto were too. They were still arguing about tailing versus close protection when Naruto suddenly walked towards them, startling them so much that they thought they had been exposed and they didn't know whether to stay or leave.

"Good morning, you two," Naruto greeted with a smile. "You look unfamiliar, and you've been wandering around for a while now. Do you need any help?"

The other three present breathed a sigh of relief. Jiraiya knew Naruto didn't intend to confront them directly, and Sasuke and Boruto believed they had done a decent job of disguising themselves. Both sides were relieved by this outcome.

"We're street performers, wandering the streets looking for the best spot," Boruto said nervously, swallowing hard. Sasuke, however, uttered the excuse he'd already prepared. The moment he saw Naruto, he knew running away was pointless. Konoha was undoubtedly in its most tense period and wouldn't let strangers like them wander around freely.

"Street performance?" Naruto was genuinely curious. It sounded very strange coming from Sasuke's mouth, especially since he'd never actually seen Sasuke in his infiltration mission state. Did he always put on such a perfunctory act? At least make his face look a little more ordinary!

Sasuke took out a red ball and demonstrated the "Heavenly Maiden Scattering Flowers" technique. He explained it with a straight face, but the three people present all knew his identity. It wasn't obvious from his appearance, but their inner thoughts were quite interesting.

Boruto naively thought Sasuke was incredibly versatile, even knowing how to do this. Naruto and Jiraiya, however, were trying hard to suppress their laughter. Seriously, isn't it funny to see a cold, aloof Uchiha seriously performing for money?

Jiraiya coughed a few times. As an excellent ninja, controlling his emotions was an essential skill. He immediately shifted the topic to recent events. Despite the peaceful atmosphere of Konoha, there were quite a few plainclothes patrols on the streets. This was due to the serious impact of the kidnapping incident, which had led to a significant increase in the village's security. He had already spotted people heading towards the Hokage's Building.

Do you know what's been happening in our village lately?

"Huh? I don't know." Boruto genuinely didn't know anything; his confusion wasn't feigned.

"A genin has been kidnapped and taken out of the village."

As he said this, Jiraiya glanced meaningfully at the person who resembled Sasuke, while Naruto, seemingly looking at Boruto, had actually activated his super senses and was keeping a close eye on Sasuke from both his appearance and his emotions.

He clearly "saw" that Sasuke's doubts were not feigned; he was genuinely puzzled by this strange statement.

"Kidnapping...? Leaving the village without permission is desertion, isn't it?"