Chapter Text
Naruto POV
Naruto trudged forward over the shifting grains of sand, feet sinking into the uneven terrain, even with years of elite shinobi training strengthening his gait. Each step weighed heavier than the last—cutting steadily at his impressive stamina. Sweat gathered under his jumper. He was sticky, hot, and tired. But most of all—
I'm bored, lingered on his tongue, the two words easily ready to meet the dry and dusty air. Unfortunately, judging from the way Sakura's hands were clenched tightly into fists, she obviously felt similarly. His head already rang with phantom pains of an over-powered punch.
Naruto swallowed back the phrase—he had some self-preservation after all.
The walk continued. The sound of wind caressing desert dunes, steady breathing, and footsteps—particularly from Guy and Kakashi's lopsided movement—was the only noise in the silence
Naruto scowled. His ears ached from the quiet. Or maybe that was the airborne sand? It would probably take a week of showers to free himself from the grains and their itch. He looked around, hoping to see if anyone else was feeling the effects of their nonverbal travel.
A glance to his left noticed Lee's square eyebrows determinedly, and an infallible grin stretched across the bottom half of his face. Next to him Neji, impeccable as always, looked similarly unaffected.
Bastard.
Tenten, at least, was frowning. A light dusting of pink colored her cheeks. From the excursion? Unlikely. She was on Guy's team after all. But the heavy weight of desert heat wasn't something you trained for in Konoha, and Naruto wasn’t surprised it was getting to her.
Naruto wiped sweat from his brow, and sympathized.
He nudged the toe of his boot with his next step. A shower of sand kicked up a foot or two. He did it again, watching the minerals scatter back to the carpet that rolled out over the horizon. His eyes ached at the sigh of the continuous sun-tinted red, and then gradually tan, dunes. Nothing except Team Kakashi and Team Guy all the way back to Suna—
"Everyone stop," Kakashi ordered abruptly.
They froze.
"What is it?" Tenten asked, already reaching for one of her scrolls.
Kakashi and Guy quickly caught up from where they were lagging slightly. His face tight with exhaustion—at least, the parts that weren't covered with a mask—Kakashi stepped away from Guy's support for a moment. "Neji, check for movement on the next ridge."
Neji stayed silent, but nodded and quickly sped through hand signs, activating his Byakugan. Veins bulged around the lavender moons of his eyes. He pinned his gaze to the distance and the frown seemingly fixed permanently to his face became more pronounced.
Lee and Sakura both kept their arms raised, half committed to a battle stance.
Naruto himself felt his fingers twitch with the urge to produce a force of shadow clones.
"We have company," Neji confirmed. "A little girl and an old man."
Naruto relaxed some at that declaration, but years as a ninja kept him from dismissing anyone as a threat.
"We can go around--" Sakura began hesitantly, but was quickly interrupted.
"There's something wrong...the girl, her chakra network is..." Neji's eyes widened. "Her structure is completely inflamed—and the amount of energy...I don't know how she's handling it. I don't know how long she can handle it."
Naruto frowned. That...didn't sound good. Tenten seemed to agree.
"Well, we need to help her!" The girl turned to Sakura. "You could do something, couldn't you?"
Sakura hesitated. "I'd need to take a closer look…”
Well. That wasn't a no.
Naruto straightened up and began sprinting in the direction Kakashi had pointed out, followed by multiple shouts of "Naruto!", "Wait for us!", and "AH, THE POWER OF YOUTH!"
He slipped some on the shifting sand, but bounded on regardless, and within seconds he was skidding to a stop at the top of the next rise, immediately zeroing in on the sight of a small form lying sprawled across the sand. An old man identified by his graying hair kneeled at her side, his bent fingers glowing and poised over her small torso, which rose and fell quickly, pulsing furiously with every breath.
Behind him, Sakura made a dissatisfied grunt when she saw. Quickly, she made her way in the direction of the duo.
And then the rest of the group was following, crossing the short distance to the pair, the old man barely sparing them a glance. Sakura knelt down beside them hurriedly.
"I can help," she told the old man. "I'm a certified medical-nin of Konohagakure."
Naruto noticed the little girl looked even worse up close. Sweat plastered dark hair against her forehead, her cheeks were flushed an angry red, her expression twisted and lined heavily. A coating of dark-blue chakra swam along the surface of her skin, her limbs shaking beneath the sheen.
The old man wasted no time. In a slanted way, pulling on vowels just a little too long and fumbling with the pronunciation of a few consonants, he spoke. "Thank you dear, anything at all—anything would be appreciated...but I fear," he paused as the strain of another chakra swell travelled from his arms to the small body of the little girl. "That the efforts of a medical-nin are not what she needs. It is...it is chakra that she requires now...so much chakra, and I-"
He trailed off, shaking his head.
Naruto frowned. "She needs chakra?"
"Yes, yes, she needs more to complete the technique she's already begun, without some, her body will be eaten away in an effort to satisfy it." The man’s voice shook nearly as much as his body.
"How much does she need?" Naruto asked. Kakashi and Sakura both sent him sharp glances at that.
The old man looked up, expression grave. "Too much."
Naruto ignored him and turned to Neji. "How much?"
Neji hesitated, training his Byakugan on the girl thoughtfully. "I can't be sure...but at the rate this...jutsu...is depleting her store, as well as his..." He shook his head. "You should have more than enough."
Naruto nodded briskly. He dropped down beside Sakura, across from the old man.
"I—are you certain?" The man asked. Naruto glanced up, noticing the man's frown deepen momentarily, before fading into surprise. Naruto offered a vibrant grin.
"Leave it to me old man! She'll be up and running around in no time, believe it!"
The man nodded, and with that, Naruto dredged up his chakra levels until blue energy became visible, tingling as it raced across his hands. He let the appendages hover over the girl—but just then the image of himself, Gaara, and Lady Chiyo in a similar situation flashed across his thoughts.
He looked up, making loaded eye contact with Sakura, who luckily seemed to understand. She carefully rested a hand on the man's shoulder, drawing him away from the little girl. "Naruto can handle this, sir."
"But I-"
"You'll only get in the way," Kakashi spoke up, not unkindly.
With the old man reluctantly pulled back. Naruto took that as his cue. He pumped the chakra out and it sunk into her system instead. Immediately, energy was sucked hungrily out of his fingers. Something inside of him lurched and it wasn't long until his vision began to blur and stretch.
Darkness circled at the end of his eye-line, and the image of red chakra oozing out of his hands and surrounding the little girl followed him into oblivion.
Sakura's POV
"Naruto!" she gasped, lurching forward to catch her teammate by his shoulders before he could finish collapsing forward. With half-lidded eyes he glanced up in her direction, chakra still connecting him to the girl.
"I—" he managed, before his head lolled, hands dropping to rest against the little girl's stomach as Sakura held up the rest of his weight. The chakra leaking from his fingers spluttered and turned red.
"Here." Lee quickly dropped to his other side and wrapped an arm around his back. "Wait, he's—he's still giving—"
"It's not so much that he's still giving her chakra," Neji explained impatiently. "She's just unconsciously taking it."
Sakura began checking the girl and Naruto's heartbeats, looking them over clinically as a rapid conversation switched between members of their group. Both had pulse points that flickered angrily under her fingertips.
"She's starving," the old man agreed. "This young man—Naruto you said? She'll suck him dry unless the connection is severed. Just as she would have done with me."
"No." Kakashi shook his head. "Naruto has extensive chakra reserves. He'll be able to settle this...jutsu, and have plenty more left over. Which brings me to my next point."
Kakashi, lounging against one leg, looked up sharply. "This technique she's begun. What is it? Must be something if it needs this much chakra."
Sakura glanced up at this, watching the old man shake his head and open his mouth to answer—but what he would have said she didn't find out.
The second chakra skin around the little girl began to fluctuate, the energy slinking back to flow in a circle around Naruto's hands, until suddenly it burst in a violent surge.
"Wha—!" But before she could even finish her exclamation the chakra expanded, engulfing them all in a haze that stole Sakura's breath and clouded her vision. She choked for a second, one hand gripping Naruto's upper arm—and then just as suddenly, it all vanished.
Shadows replaced sand, and chakra, and empty horizons. Water lapped at her legs where she was kneeling on the ground, and she quickly looked for the little girl, because she must have been completely covered-
But no, there was no little girl. The spot where she should have been laying was just more gray liquid. She did see a spot of orange though, and she hoisted Naruto's upper half upright where he had slunk down. Water poured from his slack mouth, but his chest soon resumed rising steadily, even unconscious. Lee was on his hands and knees a couple feet over. He must have moved away during the explosion.
Speaking of which—
"What happened?" Ino asked
What.
Ino?
Sakura's gaze shot up, taking in the disgruntled form of her part-time best friend, whose team sat in the water beside the blonde. Choji protectively held his potato chips and Shikamaru muttered about ‘troublesome’ elements of their surroundings. Behind them stood Asuma, chewing on a cigarette.
And to the left of the four—wait, what? Kiba and Akamaru? Shino? Where did they come from? And their teammate—Sakura whipped her head around, noting Kakashi and Guy's positions briefly before her attention was grabbed by the sight of Hinata Hyuga and her sensei, Kurenai. The older woman had a hand on the younger's shoulder, red eyes flicking across the water and distant stone walls sharply.
"You guys again? What did you do now?"
That sounded familiar.
Sakura turned to the voice and-yep. What in the hell was Kankuro, Temari, and Gaara doing here? What was she doing here? What were any of them doing here? Where was here?
She wasn't entirely sure she wanted to find out.
Tsunade POV
Shizune slammed a pile of papers down on her desk.
"Lady Tsunade!" She said forcefully. "These needed to be signed last week and you are unbelievably behind on reading through B-rank mission reports—"
"Aah," Tsunade leaned back against her desk chair and flicked her hand as though waving away her assistant's concerns. "Those can wait, Shizune. I need a drink."
"A drink? No! Lady Tsunade, I insist—“
"And I'm thinking of trying my luck again today...poker, maybe?" Tsunade mused.
Shizune stopped mid rant. "But Lady Tsunade, Team Kakashi and Team Guy are due back from aiding Sunagakure at any moment, and this paperwork—"
"Oh that," Tsunade said, ignoring the second half of her sentence. "I suppose I should be here when that lot shows up…"
She needed to stay. That didn't mean she couldn't do this…
"Lady Tsunade, please!" Shizune groaned as she watched Tsunade take a long drink from a personal flask, savoring the burn that crawled down her throat. Behind her Tonton snorted in agreement. "Just half of the signatures? I've already read through the propositions and selected the best candidates--it won't take more than half an hour—"
But Tsunade frowned, unconsciously tuning her apprentice out. How much had she had to drink? Because the lighting in the room suddenly seemed to take on a blue tint and—Yeah. This was not in her head.
"Shizune—!" She yelled in warning, rising to her feet. But she was only standing for a moment before something bright and intense filled her vision. Her head swam like her feet were being dragged out from under her. For a moment, she was suspended in nothing, and everything, and then her feet met something solid. Wet liquid coated her lower legs and she braced herself for an attack.
No attack came.
It took a moment or two for the bright splotches filling her vision to recede, and even then the lightheadedness remained, like cobwebs strung across her senses. When she was able, she looked around. What she saw didn't relax her in the slightest.
Team Kakashi, Team Guy, Team Kurenai, and Team Asuma were present in various states of disarray around the room—which a closer look deduced was actually a sewer. It seemed the Kazekage was also present, along with two other sand shinobi—the late Fourth Kazekage's other children, Temari and...Kankuro,if she wasn't mistaken. A lone leaf shinobi stood a little further, the chunin schoolteacher, Iruka. And beyond the trio of the sand stood two people she couldn't quite make out—but before she could look closer, the person standing nearest to her interrupted.
"Tsunade?" Jiraiya asked, turning to her in confusion. "Where—"
"I have no idea," she bit out tersely. Luckily, through the entire transition of whatever kind, she hadn't lost a hold of her drink. She stole another swig. Anything that included gathering together the people assembled in this room was not something she wanted to go through sober.
"I was just writing the next volume of Icha Icha—"
"Still wasting your time on that garbage?"
"Tsunade," Jiraiya protested, but before he could argue a high-pitched yelp sounded across the room. Tsunade looked over, immediately noticing a glowing light fixed to the front of Naruto's jumper. She sighed and made her way over quickly, making eye contact with Sakura, who held both hands over her hot-head teammate uncertainly.
"Lady Tsunade," Sakura acknowledged.
Around them came the sloshing of footprints as people began flocking in the direction of the light.
"Naruto?" Iruka asked. "Sakura? Wait, Ino? Kurenai—what are you all doing here?"
"I'd like to know that as well," Asuma agreed. Kurenai and her team had gathered next to him and his. Their conversation registered dimly, but Tsunade ignored them as they pondered the situation. Sakura had laid Naruto back to rest his head and upper body against her lap, the rest of him sprawled out in the gray liquid.
Tsunade hoped it was water.
She pushed that thought aside and focused on the light. It was white and circular, framed by both blue and red, and settled on his stomach just above where she knew the Kyuubi seal to be located. She eyed his hands, taking in the deep red flush that crawled across the tan skin. Light chakra burns.
"Sakura," Tsunade ordered, settling in the water next to the two and ignoring the way the cold soaked her clothes. Rock Lee edged closer behind them.
"We came across an old man and a little girl while returning from Suna," Sakura explained. "The girl was unconscious, suffering from chakra depletion. She was also still attempting to complete an unknown jutsu the old man told us would require vast amounts of chakra. Naruto offered to help."
"Of course he did," Tsunade muttered. And then, louder, "I'll bet that unknown jutsu is at the root of this."
She eyed the chakra orb. A small circle of his jumper had been burned away under the glowing sphere, revealing the spiral of his seal. Hmm.
"The old man agreed and Naruto started giving the girl his chakra, passing out during the process. Kakashi-Sensei asked the man for more information about the jutsu when we were interrupted and ended up here."
A moment of silence.
"So it's Naruto's fault," Ino Yamanaka summed up.
Shikamaru Nara sighed.
"That's what you think after hearing that?" Sakura spit. "He was trying to help."
"Well he didn't help me, billboard brow," Ino Yamanaka argued.
"Yeah!" Kiba Inuzuka added. "Akamaru and I were training! We were in the middle of perfecting a killer technique and he interrupted—"
"You were not." And there was Shino Aburame.
"Shino--“
"I was in the middle of eating," Choji Akimichi put in sullenly. The sound of crunching chips filled the air along with more voices as teenagers joined in arguing.
Konaha's future.
Tsunade took one last gulp and tucked her drink away. She had a feeling she would need more later.
But until then—it seemed the Kazekage wanted a word. He and his siblings had made their way over to the Konoha teams, leaving one of the strangers sinking further into the shadows behind them. Tsunade glanced at Jiraiya, who nodded. He would keep an eye on them.
Meanwhile, behind the Suna trio, a Konoha Anbu operative had walked over to stand next to Kakashi and Guy. Tsunade recognized him immediately as the one injected with her grandfather's DNA...She recalled him going by Tenzo between missions. Odd. When Tsunade considered the people present she wouldn't think of him first. So what was he doing here?
"Lady Hokage," Gaara of the Sand tilted his head forward, shaking her from her thoughts.
"Lord Kazekage," Tsunade returned. "It seems this event occurred in Suna's territory. Any light to shed on the situation?"
"Yes."
Alright then.
"The girl you met," the Kazekage's brother spoke up. "We think we may know who she is. For the last few months we've been receiving word of a travelling duo, an old man and a small girl who are followed by strange occurrences."
"Strange occurrences?" Tsunade's eyes narrowed.
"Minor chakra depletion in shinobi," the eldest child, Temari explained. "Rapid growth of crops, entire villages passing out at once. Minor details that add up when you see the pattern."
"We put some people on it," Kankuro continued. "They didn't find out much, but we gathered that the girl possesses a Kekkei Genkai."
"Of what nature?" Kurenai asked. It seemed everyone was finally focused. Good.
What wasn't good was the way Temari shook her head before she answered. "That was unclear. We understand the girl is able to manipulate chakra strangely, but not much else."
Tsunade turned back to Naruto. Had his chakra been...manipulated? Or was he simply exhausted from offering so much to the child? She began putting together medical tracks to pursue for either case—but, it seemed neither would be needed.
A groan echoed through the space.
The ball of chakra collapsed, slinking into Naruto's skin and the water, his seal fading away replaced by a tan complexion.
"Naruto!" Hinata Hyuga gasped. Unconsciously, everyone leaned closer as the blonds' eyelids fluttered.
"Ugh," Naruto groaned in response. He shivered some. And then, "Sakura?"
"Idiot!" Sakura scolded. "You reckless idiot--"
"What happened?" Naruto muttered. "Where-"
But it seemed he finally took in the surroundings.
"Oh," he said finally. Quieter than Tsunade ever wanted to hear the self-proclaimed future Hokage.
"Oh?" Kakashi echoed. And then stated with a resigned surety, "You know where we are."
Naruto sat up, listing some before Rock Lee reached out to steady him. "Yeah...I thin—" he frowned heavily, "—that we're in my mind."
Tsunade tensed at that.
Naruto's subconscious? Tense looks were exchanged all around by those who knew of Naruto's demon occupant. Tsunade herself turned to Jiraiya who for once wore a grave expression.
"Your mind?" Kiba Inuzuka asked. Then, to the room, "His mind? What the—How the hell do we get out?"
Akamaru yipped.
"I too would like to leave," Rock Lee agreed.
"And me!" That was Choji Akimichi.
A few other voices chimed in, agreeing. But then, above them—"
“Unfortunately, you cannot."
Tsunade jerked in the direction of the voice just like everyone else. With the number of talented shinobi ready to unleash their talents on him, it was a wonder the old man didn't quail away—but he didn't. He just looked back at them forlornly.
"And I really am quite sorry for that."
They all stared silently at him for a moment.
"You know what happened," Asuma inferred.
"Yes," the old man said simply. A million questions came to mind, but before Tsunade or anyone else could ask any the man went on. "I don't have much time to tell you what is happening, and what will happen, but you need to know as much as I am able to share before I must leave."
Tsunade rose to her feet, Naruto, Lee, and Sakura doing the same.
"As you've gathered, we are currently in Naruto's subconscious," the old man said. "By saving the life of Nozomi, he also completed the ritual which brought you here."
"Ritual?" Tenten asked.
"I believe you would know it as a 'jutsu'. However, Nozomi and I are from a place very far away from this continent. Herself and I hail from a clan where they are known as rituals, one specific ritual that everyone in our clan goes through to some degree, one I went through myself when I was her age."
"You see, our home clan celebrates--that is, celebrated—the energy of the world. We believed it bonded us to everything, including each other. And the ritual proved that."
The old man sighed, eyes gazing hundreds of miles away.
"The children of our clan especially were able to tap into the energy. And every year of their childhood their power grew and matured, until they were ready for the ritual—where the clan would gather and each offer them enough chakra to tide them through, because you see, the ritual is so taxing that without the aid, the child is unable to survive the process."
"And I must thank you, Naruto,” the old man said, bowing his head towards the teenager. "Without you I doubt Nozomi or myself would still be here."
Naruto sheepishly placed a hand on his neck, "Uh, yeah. No problem, old man."
The man offered him a small smile before continuing. "However, by aiding the two of us, I'm sorry to say you've intensely complicated your situation."
Tsunade withheld a sigh.
Of course he did.
"When the clan offered a child their energy everyone gave them a small piece at once and everyone was connected all at once. During this process a type of...sharing commenced. Memories were distributed within the group, subconsciouses were merged. The group became closer than ever."
"Unfortunately, you, Naruto, were the only one who gave Nozomi chakra in the climax of the ritual, and therefore it is your memories, your mind, your chakra that seeks to share."
"You don't mean—" Iruka began.
"I do. Naruto must share his memories in order to leave his subconscious. And since so few people were present at the time of the ritual end, it seems the energy has decided to gather more."
The man nodded in the direction of their group.
"It will likely pluck from your memories as well, in order to find reason and balance in the energy of his past."
"Pluck from our memories?" Shikamaru Nara repeated. "Sounds troublesome."
"Indeed," the old man agreed.
Indeed, Tsunade thought.
And then there was silence as everyone processed what the man had just said.
"And you?" Kurenai said finally, crimson eyes flashing. "You said your time was short, and yet you were there when Naruto gave the girl his chakra. Why don't you intend to stay?"
The old man shook his head. "I was not chosen to join by the energy. But although the majority of my powers were lost just as everyone else after my own ritual, I still retain seeds of my former abilities. Enough to give me a few minutes to guide you and answer your questions."
He looked around at them all.
"So I bid you to ask away in these final moments, as I will not remain for long."
"I've got a question," Kankuro spoke up. "How long do we have to stay here? Some of us have things to do back in the real world."
"Not long," the man promised. "Time works differently in the subconscious. While the time that passes may seem long to you, to the outside world it will be a short reprieve."
"Wait," Naruto said suddenly. Everyone avoided eye contact with him as he shook his head. "I don't—I don't want my memories...shared, I—" he glanced around, looking from Jiraiya to Tsunade to Kakashi to Iruka and around to more. "Is there any way I can stop it?"
To his credit the old man did seem remorseful. "I am sorry, young man. There is nothing to be done."
Naruto's mouth hung open, but there was nothing to say.
The old man's form suddenly flickered. "It seems my time here is coming to an end."
He reappeared in and out of sight once more.
"Good luck."
And then, he was gone.
Tsunade drew out her bottle.
She downed the whole drink.
Naruto's POV
He stared at the point the old man had disappeared from.
Whaaat.
His head was spinning around and upside down with everything he had said. Sharing his memories? In his subconscious? Just because he had shared some chakra with that little girl?
Naruto took note of the people standing around in the stagnant water. Some, like Iruka or Jiraiya for example...he almost wouldn't mind them seeing some of his memories. But others? Like Shino? Or Tenten? Sure they were classmates or fellow shinobi of Konoha, but he wouldn't say they were close. He definitely didn't want them poking around in his head.
And speaking of his head, what about the Kyuubi? He was down here in these sewer systems somewhere, Naruto recognized them well enough. What would happen if someone wandered off and found the cage?
He could've shuddered.
That wasn't something he wanted on his conscience to say the least.
"—aruto. Naruto!"
He shook his head, looking up when Jiraiya shook his shoulder. "Hey, you with us, kid?"
He nodded numbly.
"You heard the Yamanaka girl?"
He shook his head.
Jiraiya sighed.
"I said I'm going to try to get rid of all this water," Ino said, rolling her eyes. "Honestly, your mind is so depressing—haven't you ever heard the phrase ‘think happy thought?’"
"You mean get rid of the sewer? You can do that?"
"It's not that hard," Ino assured him. "Just stay still for a moment and don't try to fight me. Everyone else, stay back."
In unison the rest of the group stepped back a couple paces.
"Okay."
Ino raised her hands and completed a series of hand signs in quick succession before aiming her hands open-palmed at his forehead, the tips of her thumbs and pointer fingers pressed against each other.
And then, an aching jittery feeling like when you slammed an elbow on a hard surface swept over him alongside a bright, blinding light—only for it and the feeling to fade away, revealing a completely new space.
The water was gone, his ankles dry. Instead of stone walls and darkness they were in...well, a movie theater.
There were four rows of six seats, each raised higher than the one before, and facing the screen. Tables were pushed against one wall, laden with popcorn and other junk snacks. The wall opposite of the snacks was missing a section on the side away from the screen and beyond you could just see a hallway with doors branching off who-knows-where. Overhead lights gave off an achingly vivid glow.
But that wasn't what grabbed Naruto or anyone else's attention.
"...who are you?" Naruto demanded, looking back and forth between two people illuminated by the brighter light. One stood next to Kakashi, a man in an Anbu outfit without a mask, revealing large black eyes that seemed to devour everything they saw. The other was a male teenager alone in the corner of the room, dark haired and pale, wearing a gray crop top and a frown.
"This, Naruto," Kakashi rested a hand on the first man's shoulder. "Is Tenzo. An Anbu operative loyal to Konoha."
The man frowned. "Senpai, I told you to stop calling me that."
But Kakashi had turned to the stranger in the corner of the room. "You though...Who are you?"
Everyone waited for the stranger to introduce himself. But instead-
"I don't have a name."
And then, the stranger smiled. Frigid and forced and obviously fake.
Naruto sweat dropped.
What kind of smile was that.
Most of the other teenagers seemed to agree, but a couple along with the adults, looked thoughtful.
"Hmm," Jiraiya said. "A root operative?"
The stranger remained silent.
"Ah, that's right. You won't be able to answer that, will you?" Jiraiya shook his head. "Danzo, up to his old tricks...shame. For now though, I think we'll find your name right here." He pointed, and everyone's attention turned to the seats.
On each cushioned chair a nametag sat.
"I guess that 'energy' the old man was talking about has something to do with this," Temari pondered. She circled around to the top row. "Kankuro, Ga—Lord Kazekage, we're over here."
Her brothers slipped over to three of the closest seats.
"Ah! Lee! Tenten!" Guy wrapped his arms around Tenten and Lee's shoulders, exchanging an exuberant grin with the latter. "It seems we'll be experiencing this youthful journey together!"
He corralled them to their seats in the middle of the bottom row
"Well, I guess this would be us," Asuma gathered, looking at his team. Choji, Shikimaru, and Asuma made their way to the further side of the second row while Ino sat the furthest to their side on the first row. Choji, who had run out of chips, began eating some of the popcorn. Naruto didn't really know how the whole food in his mind thing worked, but he hoped the Akimichi wasn't chowing down on his brain.
That would kind of suck.
Kurenai and her team split up. Shino and Kiba joined the bottom row, closest to the side of the room with the snack tables, with Akamaru curling up on the carpet next to his partner. Hinata and her sensei found themselves in the second row, Kurenai in the middle next to Asuma and Hinata the second seat from the edge. The furthest seat was soon claimed by her cousin.
To Jiraiya's apparent pleasure and Tsunade's annoyance the two were seated not only on the same top row, but right next to each other. Temari, who sat next to Tsunade, offered the Hokage a half-bow and Jiraiya a hesitant nod.
Naruto found himself waved over to the third row by Kakashi lazily, seated between the jonin and Iruka, Sakura on Iruka's other side.
He reluctantly sat down, watching as the Anbu operative, Tenzo, and the stranger sat at the other end of his row. Tenzo muttered something about the stranger being a 'sigh' for this 'mission.’
Whatever that meant.
"Dude, keep your bugs to yourself," Kiba's voice carried.
Then came Kankuro's "Gaara, your sand is getting everywhere."
"Tenten!" Ino complained. "Control your kunai!"
Multiple other protests were raised, Naruto himself shoved against Iruka (who shoved back) to steal more space, but eventually the room settled down.
"So, we're really doing this," Sakura wondered aloud. She looked over and they made eye-contact. "Watching your memories."
"Yeah," Naruto agreed. "We're...really doing this."
For a second everyone dwelled on that statement, and then suddenly the lights flickered and when they turned back on (with the brightness lowered drastically) the screen was no longer blank.
Color exploded across the white surface and drew up images.
"We're gonna need more snacks."
"Choji."