It felt like a dream—a good dream, one I hadn't had in a long time.In the dream, I felt warm, like basking in the winter sun.
"Sunlight? Did I reincarnate back home?"
Naruto's consciousness began to stir, but something felt strange. His body was moving on its own—running, in fact.
Wait… this isn't home. So where am I?
Suddenly, he heard his own voice.
"Hey, Kiba, how's it going?"
The tone was rushed—urgent even. Naruto thought to himself:
That's me speaking? I sound… anxious.
"Don't interrupt me! I'm trying to track Sasuke's scent. I need to concentrate!"
Ah!That was Kiba's voice.Right—he had just asked Kiba a question.Tracking Sasuke's scent?
Naruto's soul, now fused with his younger self, began flipping through his memories like the pages of an old book. And in an instant, he locked onto it—this specific moment in time.
I've come back to the time when we were searching for Sasuke!
The realization hit him like a bolt of lightning.His soul suddenly came into full consciousness.
At that exact moment, Naruto's body—still mid-jump—abruptly froze and collapsed from mid-air.
Kakashi, who was behind him, immediately noticed something was wrong.
"Naruto!"
Naruto dropped like a stone, but before he could hit the ground, Kakashi caught him safely.
Haruno Sakura, Akamaru and Kiba, Shino Aburame, Hinata Hyuga, and Captain Yamato quickly rushed to gather around.
Sakura knelt beside him, her voice laced with concern."What just happened? He was fine a second ago!"
"I don't know," Kakashi replied. "He just passed out all of a sudden."
"Let me check him."
Sakura, trained in medical ninjutsu by Lady Tsunade herself, asked Kakashi to lay Naruto flat on the ground. She immediately started examining him.
Hinata watched anxiously, her pale eyes full of worry.
Inside Naruto's unconscious body, the soul that had returned from the future was fusing with the present version of himself.
Finally, just as Sakura began CPR—and was about to ask Kiba, Yamato, or even Kakashi to assist with mouth-to-mouth—Naruto's eyes fluttered open.
The first thing he saw was a man's face, leaning down, eyes closed, lips puckered…
Is that… Kiba?!
Naruto blinked, confused. "Kiba…?"
Kiba's eyes shot open at the sound of his name. Their gazes met—and Kiba recoiled in horror.
"I-I can explain!" Kiba stammered, ears turning beet red. "You fainted, and Sakura asked me to do the mouth-to-mouth. Kakashi-sensei and Captain Yamato wouldn't do it, and I didn't want to either, but someone had to—"
As Kiba babbled in embarrassment, Naruto sat up and looked down at his body.Yes—this was his younger body, before he turned sixteen.
Kakashi sighed in relief."Glad to see you're okay. You really scared me back there... So, what happened?"
Naruto suddenly threw his arms around Kakashi. Tears streamed down his cheeks.
In the battle against the Ōtsutsuki, Kakashi had died—sacrificing himself to protect Naruto.
Now, seeing him alive again filled Naruto with overwhelming emotion.
"Kakashi-sensei… I missed you so much."
Kakashi froze. He didn't understand what was going on, but he gently patted Naruto's back.
"Alright, alright, I know you admire me. But if we don't get going, Sasuke's going to disappear again."
Naruto quickly wiped his tears and let go.He nodded—right now, finding Sasuke was still the mission.
Seeing that Naruto was okay, Sakura suddenly yelled, "Idiot! Don't scare us like that again! You collapsed out of nowhere!"
She'd checked him earlier—no injuries, nothing life-threatening.So she opted for CPR first, not mouth-to-mouth. No way she was doing that in front of everyone.Kakashi and Yamato wouldn't do it either. So Kiba got volunteered.Luckily, Naruto woke up just in time.
Jumping up, Naruto shouted with joy, "Sakura!"
There was a deep warmth in his voice—a familiarity that surprised everyone.
Then he began greeting them one by one:
"Hey! Shino!""Haha, Captain Yamato!""Kiba, what were you mumbling over there?""Akamaru, good boy, come here—lemme pet you!"
He greeted them like they were long-lost friends.
Sakura turned to Kakashi, whispering, "Are you sure you caught him when he fell? I'm starting to think he hit his head…"
Kakashi scratched the back of his head sheepishly."I'm… reasonably sure I did."
As Sakura stared at Naruto suspiciously, he walked up to Hinata.
She looked at him shyly and said, "Naruto-kun… I'm so glad you're okay—"
But before she could finish, Naruto pulled her close——and kissed her.
Right there in front of everyone.
He held her tight, their lips locked in a kiss full of longing and love.
Hinata froze.Was this real? Was she dreaming?
Then, from the corners of Naruto's eyes, she saw tears—hot, heartfelt tears.
Something inside her heart cracked open, and slowly, she closed her eyes and returned the kiss.
Silence.
Yamato, Shino, and Kiba all stood slack-jawed.Akamaru let out a soft whimper, as if confused.Even Kakashi's ninja hounds, summoned and loyal, were stunned speechless.
Kakashi's mouth twitched as he muttered, "Okay… now I'm really not sure I caught him. Maybe he did hit his head."
Sakura's face flushed bright red. Then her fists clenched.
Bakayaro!You idiot!
I always thought Naruto liked me! What's he doing kissing Hinata right in front of me?
She stormed over and shouted, "You jerk! Let go of Hinata!"
WHAM!
To everyone's shock, Naruto calmly caught her punch.
Still holding Hinata with one arm, he caught Sakura's fist with the other.
With a gentle smile, he said, "Sorry, Sakura. I won't let you hit me anymore."
Hinata, still in his embrace, blushed even harder. She lowered her gaze and clutched her hands near her chest, overwhelmed by the moment.