Disclaimer: Naruto and all of its characters belong to Shueisha and Masashi Kishimoto. I own nothing but the original characters I create.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 335: The Call
Many years later
"Lord Hokage." A young lady with long black hair walked into the office and bowed politely. "I'm sorry to interrupt your work, but I have important news."
Sitting behind the desk was an elderly man with tired eyes. He was staring at a stack of papers with disgust.
"You know? When I was a kid, I always dreamed of being a Hokage. I thought it was the coolest job in the world. I wish someone had told me that it involved so much paperwork…" The old man huffed.
"Ehm…" The girl didn't know what to say. She had only started working as the Hokage's assistant very recently.
The old man chuckled at seeing the girl so troubled. "Don't mind this old fart's words. I'm just tired… I can't wait for the ceremony so I can pass this damned hat to someone else."
His turquoise eyes were still filled with life despite his advanced age.
"You said you had news. Hopefully, it's nothing too terrible."
"Right. I don't know if it is terrible or not. I have received a message from Lady Ino."
"My mother?" This got the attention of the old Hokage. They hadn't spoken in years. "What did she say? Is she sick?"
"She only requested me to deliver this letter to you, my Lord." She approached and placed the envelope on the table.
The old Hokage looked at the piece of paper with curiosity. He wondered what his mother could want now.
His parents had distanced themselves from society decades ago, and he had barely seen them since.
"Do you mind if—"
"I will leave you alone, My Lord." She bowed to him again and turned to leave.
The robes she wore displayed clearly the symbol of the Uchiha clan.
The old man opened the letter and read its contents.
"Oh…" He had not been expecting this.
"Time really flies… It's been that long already?"
The Hokage leaned back in his seat. His tired eyes were now looking at the ceiling, but his mind was wandering through the past.
He had lived a very long life already. And he probably still had a few more good decades left if he took care of himself.
The old man sighed. "It all went by so fast."
With a gesture of his hand, the piece of paper was destroyed. He didn't want anyone else knowing its contents.
He then stood up from his chair and walked to the center of the room.
"Mmm… I should leave a message at least."
For the time being, he was still the Hokage and couldn't just leave without a word.
After writing down a short message promising to return very soon, he moved back to the center of the room, closed his eyes, and concentrated.
He was sure that the marker had not been removed, and after a few seconds of searching, it was finally located.
"There." After saying that, his body became surrounded by yellow bolts of lightning, and then… he disappeared from the room without leaving a trace.
The next moment, he was standing near the entrance of a cave.
"This place hasn't changed at all."
He could no longer recall when was the last time he visited his father's cultivation cave, but he was sure it was during his early life.
His father brought him and his sisters here several times, and tried to pass on to them some cultivation methods, like the ones used by his mother and aunt.
Unfortunately, Shinobu didn't seem to have much talent for it. And the little benefits he obtained after being seated in meditation for countless hours were just not worth the trouble.
His younger sister was a different case, though…
He shook his head, chasing away unpleasant thoughts.
It did not matter in the end. He found other ways to become stronger, and eventually, he earned the title of Hokage, just as he had dreamed since he was a little child.
"Okay, let's go." Shinobu began to move his feet and walked inside the cave.
No matter how long it had been, he still recalled every detail of this place.
With no difficulty, he reached the rock wall that hid the real entrance to the chamber.
He placed his hand on the barely visible symbols, and the wall immediately reacted to his presence, quickly moving aside.
"He is finally here."
Shinobu could already hear the voice of his aunt, Hinata. She had probably already seen him since the moment he arrived.
This made him even more eager to see his family again and forced his tired feet to move faster.
The main chamber was massive, but despite this, it didn't lack illumination.
The moment he stepped inside, he could already see his mother, standing in the middle of the chamber.
Next to her were two more ladies.
Those were his aunt Hinata and his younger sister, Hana.
None of them had changed much since he last saw them.
His mother and aunt still looked like ladies in their late forties, just as they had for the past decades.
His sister Hana could pass for a woman in her early thirties, despite only being seven years younger than himself.
'The wonders of cultivation…' he reminded himself.
In fact, right now he looked like the oldest person in the room.
He was in his seventies, and he looked his age.
His eyes went to the person sitting cross-legged among the women.
His father was clearly on another level.
He had not changed one bit in the last sixty years or so.
The man could still pass for someone in their mid-twenties, just as he looked when Shinobu was a child.
Naruto was sitting with his eyes closed and was clearly meditating.
Or so he thought because a moment later, his father opened his golden eyes to look at him.
"Shinobu. Come closer, we need to talk."