"Naruto-san?" Sarada asked, surprised. There he was, the sixteen year old Naruto Uzumaki, standing right in front of them. She was struggling to not call him 'Uncle Naruto' or 'Nanadaime' or 'Lord Hokage', but she knew it was best that they didn't know. He was staring at them confusedly, holding a piece of wood that he had picked up earlier.

"Shitty ol--" Sarada clapped her hand over Boruto's mouth before he could finish the insult.

"Yeah, I'm Naruto, who are you?" Naruto asked, walking closer and narrowing his eyes. He lifted the stick up, and prodded Sasuke in the stomach with it. Sasuke snarled. "And why are Sasuke-teme and Itachi tied up? I mean, I don't blame you, they're both jerks, but I don't know you."

Sasuke glared at him and then turned his glare to Boruto. Boruto got the message and undid the gags so Sasuke could speak.

"Watch who you're calling teme, dobe." He spat, turning his glare back to Naruto. Boruto sighed. This is what he wants me to untie him for? Guess nothing really changed...

"We're not enemies." Sarada smiled at Naruto, trying to reassure him. They weren't, they were just from a different time. Not that she could mention that, yet.

"I can tell. You have the Leaf headband." Naruto said, then looked back at the brothers who were tied up and sitting next to each other. "Itachi Uchiha, wanted for murder. Sasuke Uchiha, wanted for, well, you know. How did two," He looked the children up and down, "Chunin catch them both? I've been trying to catch them for years, 'ttebayo!"

"They must just be better than you." Itachi replied conversationally, sitting with his back against a rock. Sarada frowned, coming to a stunning realization. They were no where near their level, meaning Itachi and Sasuke were letting them catch them. No- Sasuke was just sticking around because this was where Itachi was, but Itachi hadn't escaped yet. Why?

Boruto snorted. "I wish, but no way are we better than you guys. We just had the element of surprise. I guess we get it from our parents." He snickered, making Sarada clench her teeth to keep from giggling at the irony of what he had just said.

She let loose a few giggles, making the three men look at her strangely. "What? Oh, sorry, inside joke." Itachi had a wistful expression on his face like he was reliving a comforting memory, and Sasuke looked like he wanted to commit murder. Naruto just looked confused.

"Who are you, anyway?" Naruto asked, breaking the silence that settled after Sarada said that. Sasuke perked up a bit at the chance to make Naruto look like an idiot.

"Sarada Uchiha and Boruto Uzumaki." Sasuke recited, gesturing his head at the two in turn. He spoke up to remind them that he was still here.

"So you were paying attention to our introductions. Not just trying to kill me and Itachi." Sarada smiled triumphantly.

"You're lucky, I'm only nice on Tuesdays." Sasuke said sarcastically. He didn't miss how Sarada laughed, and looked away. Sadly, he wasn't quick enough to look away before Sarada caught his mouth twitching a little. He didn't feel the urge to smile at all, especially not after he left the village. He wasn't quite sure what was up with him, but he hated it.

"Boruto Uzumaki?" Naruto narrowed his eyes at the younger blonde, who was shuffling awkwardly at the sound of his name. "You actually look a lot like me. And that last name..."

"I know." Boruto rolled his eyes. He hated being compared to his father. "People have been telling me that since I was a baby." He muttered so only Sarada could hear it (Itachi picked it up too, making him close his eyes, thinking).

"And you," Naruto turned to Sarada, stabbing his stick into the ground. "The Uchiha are all dead. Just ask Mr. Grumpy over there and Itachi." Mr. Grumpy. Sasuke's eyes flashed, his Sharingan briefly bubbling to the surface before the chakra restraints kicked in.

"Not all of them." Sarada couldn't resist a smug smile at the Nanadaime. "Wow, you look really different..." She muttered, looking the Nanadaime over. He didn't seem nearly as regal and put together as he did in the future. His jacket was askew, and longer hair was all over the place. She turned to her father and nearly gasped. She hadn't had much time to study how different he was in the past, as she'd been with trying not to be killed by her Papa, but she was genuinely shocked. Sasuke of the future often had the shadow of a smile behind his eyes when he looked at his family and friends- this one seemed to radiate hatred and bottled rage. Not to mention, he was oddly good looking. Sarada almost smacked herself as soon as she thought that. Ewwwwww- "You both do."

Boruto elbowed her, and Itachi's eyes narrowed further. Naruto and Sasuke just mentally shrugged it off, not having a single clue what she was talking about. Naruto looked at Sasuke, and grinned. Finally, he was holding still enough that Naruto could talk to him. Normally, they were fighting viciously- too immersed in that to actually talk. That was only when Naruto saw him. He'd been hearing about his friend's actions, but not really seeing him.

"So, teme, are you gonna come back to Konoha?" Naruto asked, plopping down on the ground next to the tied up Uchiha. "Now that you're all tied up, I guess I can finally talk to you."

Sasuke glared more heatedly than humanely possible and remained silent. He wouldn't grace that idiot with a reply if it was the last thing he did. If Naruto truly was his 'friend', he'd be able to tell the answer.

"Or, not. I guess I'll talk to Itachi and the kids then, since you're so antisocial." Naruto said, looking the two kids up and down. "Sarada you said your name was? You look a lot like teme and teme's brother."

"It's just the Uchiha genes." Sarada shrugged at the younger Nanadaime. "Black hair, black eyes, the usual. Most of us look like that." She tilted her head, and snorted. Not that there are any left...

"No, I mean your features. Sure, some Uchiha may look alike in those ways, but they're all different. And you look specifically a lot like teme and his brother." Naruto stared at her more intensely, and hearing that, Sasuke and Itachi both studied her closely as well, wondering what he was talking about.

"You actually do..." Itachi muttered, then his eyes widened briefly, before they narrowed. "That couldn't be possible."

Sarada and Boruto exchanged an extremely panicked glance that was not missed by the other people. We're so screwed.

Sarada sent Itachi a pleading stare. If he didn't snitch on them, they would be able to make it through this day, and maybe figure things out. Itachi nodded once and stared off into space, thinking. Recollecting. It was the same wistful gaze Sarada had seen on him earlier, and on her father occasionally.

"So where are you two from, then?" Naruto asked, plastering a smile on his face. He wished he remembered the subtle interrogation tactics that Kakashi had taught them about a long time ago, but he hadn't been paying attention. They didn't look like a threat (even though they somehow managed to wrangle down two of the more powerful people Naruto knew, but who cares about that?)

"Konoha," The two replied at the same time. "I live with my mother and father, but my father is gone a lot." Sarada said easily, because it wasn't a lie. The more information they gave, the more true their stories seemed. "So if you go to check for him, you probably won't find him," she added, because if anyone tried to investigate, they'd discover that technically Sarada's father didn't exist yet.

Boruto seemed to get the idea, and opened his mouth to provide information as well. "I live with my mom and dad, but my dad is always busy and never makes time for me and my little sister." Boruto pouted, then exhaled, not quite catching the real reason Sarada mentioned her family. "So, that's tough."

"Man, that's gotta suck!" Naruto said, getting a sympathetic look in his eyes, "I don't have parents, but if I did, I'd want them to hang out with me all the time." Boruto looked at him oddly, but Naruto dismissed it. Boruto had known his father's parents had died the day of his birth, but he hadn't known that Naruto was still hurting about it while he was a teenager.

"I do," Boruto sighed, trying not to be mean to this Naruto just because of his real dad. "My dad has a very important job, and he's wanted it his whole life, so he doesn't normally have much time for us."

"Really?" Naruto raised an eyebrow at Boruto's words. "I have something like that, I've wanted to be Hokage my whole life. I'm sure once I'm Hokage, I'll make time for my family though." Boruto looked like he was about to laugh at the irony of that statement, and Sarada discreetly placed her hand on his shoulder to provide support. Boruto cracked a bitter grin.

"Hang on a minute." Sasuke looked at Sarada suspiciously. "So, if you have parents, that means there are more Uchiha?" He sounded excited for a short moment, then it disappeared behind a mask of pain and rage. "That's impossible. He killed them all." He gestured weakly at his biological brother.

Itachi kicked his brother with what mobility he had, causing Sasuke's intense hatred to flare up again. "Stop asking the girl personal questions, Sasuke. That's rude."

Itachi-jii just saved my skin... Sarada sent a silent thank you to her uncle, vowing to get to know him better after this. She liked the idea of meeting her uncle before, and even more now that she realized he wasn't a snitch. He would probably be the coolest thing ever.

"Okay, now that this is over, we should probably get teme and Itachi back to Konoha." Naruto started to say, standing up. He looked at his stick, then decided against taking it again.

"No!" 4 people chorused when Naruto reached over to lift Sasuke up by the underarms. Itachi muttered it, while Sasuke bit it out, and Boruto and Sarada yelped the word worriedly.

"Huh?" Naruto looked at the two children. "What are you talking about? Isn't that why you caught them?"

"No." Sarada said, looking at Boruto. They couldn't hide the truth for much longer. "We might not be being completely honest with you, but trust us when we say that you cannot take them to jail."

"Huh?" Naruto said intelligently. He and Sasuke looked at the two kids, completely confused. "'Not being honest'? What's that supposed to mean, 'ttebayo?"

"Well," Sarada and Boruto looked at each other again, trying to decide whether or not to tell them.

Luckily, they didn't have to.

"NARUTO, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?" Sakura came running up the side of the mountain. "You baka! Do you have ANY IDEA how worried Hinata is? And Kakashi---" She froze, looking at Naruto's company. "What the hell is going on here?"

"Sakura. Nice to see you again." Sasuke said, acknowledging her existence for the first time in forever. Sarada raised her eyebrows at Sasuke's icy tone. He never talked like that to her mama in her own timeline, she'd kick his ass.

Sakura glared at him, then her glare moved to Itachi, and to his tied up hands. She narrowed her eyes. "What are they doing here, and who are these kids?"

Sarada almost teared up at the sight of her younger mama, and almost broke right there, just like when she saw her father and uncle. Family members were always the hardest to just 'ignore'. How Boruto was managing so far was beyond her.

Boruto gripped her arm, noticing the change in attitude, bringing Sarada back to the real world. Luckily, no one noticed their little breaks in dialogue. They didn't see the kids getting themselves back together.

"Thanks." She muttered to him, allowing a look of gratitude towards her blonde friend.

He just nodded in reply.

"I'm Sarada Uchiha, and this is Boruto Uzumaki." She inhaled deeply and prepared for the same questions that Naruto had given them.

"Okay, I'm not going to ask you anything about this, because I think I already know what's going on." Sakura's eyes widened like she'd just gotten a ridiculous idea.

Boruto and Sarada exchanged a worried glance, wondering what Sakura could've come up with. "What?" Boruto asked skeptically.

"You're Sasuke and Naruto's kids from the future, and you've come here by accident and found these bakas." Sakura said seriously.

Sarada clapped her hand over her mouth to stifle her scream, and Boruto exhaled sharply. How did she figure it out so quickly?

Sakura started laughing. "Oh you two, I'm just kidding. I was just joking with you because of how much you look like the Uchiha," She pointed at Sasuke without looking at him, "And Naruto." She actually looked at Naruto, this time, but her nose wrinkled in amused disgust. A small smile tugged at her mouth.

Itachi started laughing quietly. Sarada didn't quite understand what was so funny, since this whole thing would've been ruined if Sakura had found out before they told them. Sakura looked at Itachi like she regretted ever opening her mouth if what she said would make this monster laugh. Her blatant disgust and suspicion made Sarada uncomfortable.

Sarada remembered how to breathe and began to do so, inhaling and exhaling, while Boruto just closed his eyes and wished he could lay down.

"That's not what's happening, right?" Sakura asked seriously once she'd stopped glaring at Itachi, who had stopped laughing now.

"No, no of course not." Sarada smiled, relieved, then looked at Itachi. He had the opportunity to speak up, and she had to wonder if he would break his silent oath of silence and tell the others what was really happening.

The older man opened his mouth, then shook his head and closed it. Sarada liked the decision he'd come to. Since apparently he was smart enough to figure out when silence was necessary, Sarada was reminded of the old stories she'd heard about her genius uncle- how he made ANBU Captain at age thirteen, and was a prodigy all the way through the academy and his Chunin years.

Then, her moment of relief was over. "Sarada-san, can I talk to you alone?" Itachi asked, looking at her seriously. Whatever amusement he'd been feeling was swept away.

She knew she didn't have a choice, so she helped the man who had his hands bound up, and left Boruto to explain the whole mess to Sakura. Not the REAL whole mess, but the whole mess they'd told Sasuke and Naruto. They had to keep up the story somehow. Hopefully he wouldn't slip up in the storytelling, because that would be another long time to explain.

"To start," Itachi said as the two walked further away from the group. "Who are you really?"

"I think you already know who I am." Sarada sighed at him, gesturing back to her parents and Naruto. "But yes, we are from the future."

"I know. I never spared anyone except Sasuke, which is where your story is flawed." Itachi informed her, only confirming the story her father had told her- her uncle had been the one to eradicate the clan. "So who's daughter are you? Mine or his?"

She smiled at him. "Who do you think it is?" She asked, making him guess. Itachi frowned in concentration, his brilliant mind working backwards.

"His. I saw the way you looked at him, for one, and two, I was supposed to die today, I'm sure of it." Itachi looked past her and at his younger brother. "Sasuke was supposed to kill me, now, I suppose."

"Yes." Sarada nodded, tilting her head to the side slightly. "In other words, you're my uncle."

He looked back at her and smiled, making her smile back. "So are you gonna give your uncle a hug?"