On the same note, there was another part which, although he still found Menma ending up with someone that was NOT his mother in this world to be weird, another part of him did enjoy staying here. Boruto and Himawari seemed like good kids after all, and Hinata wasn’t all that bad, all things considered. Though Shinachiku did wish he could learn more about why Menma was not around as much. Shouldn’t Dads always be there for their kids?

It was then that Shinachiku made a vow in his heart that, for so long as he could stay in this world. He would use the time waiting for someone to send him home to maybe hopefully fix this Uzumaki family in some way or another, or at least get Menma to come home more often so Boruto and Himawari wouldn’t be so lonely or feel abandoned by him.

Shina smiled softly to himself as they made their way home that day. He felt that, as the older of these Uzumaki children, it was his mission to play the role of big brother and help support these children after all, it was the least he could do as thanks for Hinata and Menma agreeing to let him live in their house. A stranger who came from another world after all… Who was also technically Menma’s son as well in some way.

Shina smiled, before silently leaning back with his head to nuzzle the boy’s hair behind him, causing a giggle to erupt from Boruto’s mouth. Yes, he would definitely do all he can to help his half-sibling. That’s his promise…

It had been at least four years since Shinachiku accidentally found himself in Boruto’s world. During those four years, there had been no sign or anything of how to send him back home from either Menma or anyone else. Shinachiku didn’t mind, though. He still felt homesick, but his stay with Hinata and Menma’s family wasn’t bad. He and Himawari often played together, waiting for Boruto to finish his homeschooling. Then Shinachiku and Boruto often ate at Thunder Burger and trained daily during Boruto’s suspension. This continued even after Boruto could finally go to the Ninja Academy.

Training only stopped, however, when Boruto and the other students went on that school field trip to the Hidden Mist village in the Land of Water for a couple of days. During that time, Shinachiku mostly stayed home and helped Hinata and Himawari around the house. The only time he ever left the house was when the girls had to go grocery shopping. Then, Shinachiku would tag along to help them carry their groceries. Still, without Boruto around, Shinachiku felt uncomfortable exploring the Leaf Village alone. However, he would if Himawari or Hinata went with him.

When Boruto came home after the trip, the two began training again as Boruto prepared for the Graduation Ceremony to become Genin and finally earn his very own hitai-ate headband. Shinachiku was sure to give Boruto some tips, such as how to succeed in the bell test, and teach him all about teamwork, which immensely helped during the exams. After a whole 24 hours, Boruto finally made Genin level.

The boy was ecstatic to be a Genin, just like Shinachiku finally. With Boruto now a Genin, their training sessions could be more equal. Boruto felt like he could eventually catch up to Shinachiku now. The two got even closer when he came back from the trip. Their bond was so strong that they almost became like actual siblings, making Shinachiku have to disguise himself by wearing those blue contact lenses or not being allowed to wear his cherry blossom hairclips out in public, feeling like it was almost worth it. However, he still wore his sakura pendant beneath his clothes, even when Hinata and Menma kept telling him not to. It was his mother’s gift to him, and Shinachiku felt that he needed this thing that reminded him of home to get through the days.

It felt odd having to parade himself as Hinata and Menma’s third child… While also being forced to call Hinata “Mom” or refer to Sakura as “Auntie,” it felt like he was betraying his real family. However, they insisted on this, and Shinachiku didn’t want to cause any trouble for Boruto’s family, especially after the Hyuga/Uzumaki family had to add an additional guest bedroom for Shina after they felt that his staying living in the Uzumaki’s living room wouldn’t give Shinachiku enough privacy.

Not to mention how odd it looked when guests came to visit, like Sarada and Sakura on the day of Boruto’s birthday or Himawari’s sometimes- If they wanted to convince people of Shinachiku being Hinata and Menma’s third child, he needed a room of his own, just like Himawari and Boruto each had their bedrooms too. So they had the extra room built around after Shinachiku’s first couple months of stay with them. The room was finally finished about four months later.

They’d even bought him extra clothes when they noticed Shinachiku was growing out of his old ones or whenever they got torn or too dirty to wash during his and Boruto’s training sessions. Menma honestly did want Shinachiku to feel like he was a part of the family, and Hinata as well, even though Shina sometimes felt like Hinata hated him for being Sakura and that other Naruto’s child instead of hers and Menma’s. 

At least he didn’t have to wear those blue contacts at home. He could just be himself around everyone in the privacy of the Uzumaki house, which served Shina extensively. Although even then, Shina did still try and make it a habit to call Hinata his “mother” so that he wouldn’t accidentally get mixed up when out in public.

Finally, Himawari’s birthday had come around. After Boruto’s mission, Shinachiku met Boruto after he went out of the Hokage’s Office with Squad 7 to report on its success. While Boruto was in the office, he spoke to Menma about not missing his kid sisters’ birthday today. Boruto forced him to make a promise, man to man, not to dare miss it on his life. If he kept the promise and attended Himawari’s birthday party, Boruto would forgive Menma for missing his birthday last week.

After the events within the Hokage’s Office, Shinachiku met with Boruto, and the two headed to Thunder Burger to meet up with Shikadai and Inojin for their usual luncheon. There the boys all played some video games on their handhelds for a bit while relaxing and eating their food.

“Ah, yeah! I just stopped that boss’s attack with just one hit, dattebasa!!” Boruto cheered, and Shina smiled amusingly.

“Heh, you’re so cool, Boruto. Congratulations!” Shina smiled before taking another bite out of his burger.

“Hey, wait, how the hell did your character become super strong all of a sudden? Somethings’ not right…” Shikadai then responds with a wary expression, and he gives Boruto a suspicious look. Then, as Inojin hits a few buttons on his handheld, he looks up at Boruto sitting across from him at the booth.

“Okay, Boruto, I’m ready whenever you are!” Inojin calls out, still not noticing something odd with Boruto’s stats for his character in-game.

At the same time, Shikadai takes a closer look at the small screen in front of him and finally notices that in the RPG game they are all playing, Boruto’s stats were all of a sudden all filled to the max compared to a few days ago.

“Okay! Sorry about that!” Boruto grinned cheerfully, pausing his gaming for a sec to take one last bite of his burger before playing again.

“Grrr… Hey Boruto! You used some sort of a cheat code, didn’t you!?” Shikadai accuses, glaring at Boruto from across the table.

“Agh, what? No way….” Inojin groaned in disbelief while Shina curiously peered over Boruto’s shoulder at his character.

“Yeah, I did, so what? If I use it, it makes it super easy to battle all those big bosses! Like, the one we fought yesterday and had trouble against!” Boruto grinned. “Look, I’ll share with you guys my data so that way, and if we have trouble again, you guys can use it too!” Boruto then looked down at his handheld and mashed a few buttons as he prepared to send the data from his game over and onto Shikadai’s and Inojin’s games.

The two boys sitting next to each other hear a confirmation beep, and both look down at their screens. “Ugh, seriously, Boruto? I don’t want this cheat!!” Inojin exclaimed, barking annoyed one minute before the next he seemed almost enthralled when he saw his stats get boosted thanks to the cheat that Boruto sent over, “That IS a pretty impressive level, though.”

“Told you! See, Inojin gets it!” Boruto smiled.

Shikadai didn’t look as amused as he again looked up at Boruto with the same dirty look as before, “Alright, I think I’m done for the day. Honestly, this game is only enjoyable because I get to sneak away from Mom to play it.”

“Huh, you’re leaving already? And aren’t you kind of overreacting to a video game?” Shina asks, seeming sad that Shikadai’s going now.

“Yeah, come on, Shikadai! Don’t be so boring all the time, man!” Boruto cheered gleefully. “Isn’t it a real drag sometimes? I mean, why even bother playing anything if it’s not to win?”

“Exactly,” Shinachiku smiles, not understanding what the big deal is for a cheat over a video game all that much. From the corner of his eye, however, he notices a flyer being passed over to Boruto.

Boruto and Shinachiku wondered as they glanced at the sheet of paper in front of Boruto’s face. From what the boys could see, they noticed the article had the words “Chunin Exams Consent form” written right over the top. Upon closer inspection, they see the words, ‘I, Konohamaru Sarutobi, nominate this genin to participate in the upcoming Chunin Exams tournament,’ along with another line on the bottom for Boruto to sign it.

“Whoa, the Chunin Exams are starting already?!” Shinachiku gasps as he leans over Boruto to take a better look at the paper, nearly shoving Boruto out of his seat.

“H-hey! Watch it, bro!” Boruto laughs before grabbing Shina by the shoulder with one hand and pushing him down again, the other still holding onto his console.

“Sorry.” Shina apologizes before sitting down again to sip his Menmatonic water.

“So, not only are you excellent at your ninjutsu, but you’re also an expert on video games, too, huh, Boruto?” Mitsuki compliments, holding out the flyer for Boruto to take. “I brought an application for you. Here.” Mitsuki then sets the paper down gently in front of him as Boruto turns back to his game and snorts at the flyer.

“Hi, Shina!” Sarada greets while Mitsuki does this, and Shina gives her a little wave.

“Whaddaya want, Mitsuki? I already told you guys, I ain’t doing that!” Boruto rejected as he continued to mash buttons on his handheld grumpily. He fought a couple of monsters alone and beat them easily with his character.

“Wh-”

“Boruto, are you for real?”

“You should go!” announced Shikadai, Inojin, and Shinachiku simultaneously as they berated Boruto.

“Yes, I understand that,” added Mitsuki calmly.

“What is going on with you today, Boruto?” Shikadai asked as Shinachiku looked worriedly at his technical half-sibling in concern.

‘Something must have happened again today between him and his father.’ Shinachiku thought quietly to himself.

“If that is truly what you wish, then that’s fine. I don’t care for the Chunin Exams myself, either way.” Mitsuki acknowledged honestly, as Sarada had put a hand to her hips and was now glaring at the two of them passed her glasses. “However, I’d like to ask if that’s how you feel. After all, if you don’t go, then we cannot either. We all have to make this choice as a three-person cell.”

Boruto continued to say nothing as he focused on his game, not even paying attention to either of his squad members. Thus, when Sarada suddenly reached over to grab Boruto by the collar of his coat and yanked him up, it surprised the boy as he looked at Sarada with a sour expression.

“Of course, it’s not okay!!” Sarada snapped, even as Boruto gave her a wide-eyed look of surprise, unfazed by his expression, “We were worried about you all day, so we came here to check on you, and this is how you choose to behave?! And Mitsuki is being useless right now too! Listen to me right now, Boruto. My dream is to become the future, first-ever Uchiha Hokage! Are you serious in telling me right now that you will destroy my dreams?!”

‘Yup, something definitely happened again between Boruto and Menma,’ Shinachiku thought as his hands turned into fists in anger. ‘What happened? How can I help this situation???’

“GAH!!” Boruto snarled, gritting his teeth as he pulled Sarada’s hands off of him. “Get off me! If I said I’m not going, then I’m not going!!!

“You can’t keep wasting my time, you know?! I can’t just sit here and be a Genin my whole life because you want to continue being a brat!!! I have to take the Chunin exams and pass if I want to become Hokage!” Sarada reprimanded, and Shinachiku thought she saw her sharingan flash for a second, making him shiver.

“Sarada, you make it sound like it’s going to be so easy to become Hokage!” Inojin frowned, watching the two argue.

“Yeah, I know, right?” Mitsuki agreed, glancing over at Inojin as Boruto kept his eyes closed, his hand held down on his lap.

“So, anyways. What’s it going to be, Boruto? Are you going to help me or not?” Sarada glared threateningly, ignoring Mitsuki and Inojin.

“Look, I don’t care if you want to be the next Hokage, alright? I’m not standing in your way or anything….” Boruto glared back, sounding just as annoyed as Sarada felt. “I just don’t give a damn about the Chunin exams. You can do whatever you want. Be Hokage for all I care… You will only ruin your family unless you stay single so you don't inconvenience everyone around you like my Dad does….”

“Did you listen to us or our sensei and Lord Seventh? We need a full three-person team to participate!” Sarada shouted.

“Well then, find someone else!! Like- why not take Shinachiku with you guys? He’s a Genin, too, after all!” Boruto dismissed as he turned back to his game. “And he doesn’t even have a team! I’m sure he’d love to go instead of me for once!!”

“Oh yeah, that’s a great idea!” Inojin replies, grateful for the idea, especially since the arguing seemed to be slowly escalating.

“Huh? Oh yeah, didn’t you tell us that his former squad was killed on a mission?” Shikadai asked, remembering Boruto explaining all that to them about four years ago when Boruto had suddenly brought his ‘big brother’ with him once to Thunder Burger for the first time to meet his friends.

Apparently, from what Boruto had told them, Shinachiku had gone missing for a few years while on a mission to some faraway place and had only just recently come back to the Hidden Leaf Village. He also mentioned that Menma and Hinata had assumed that Shinachiku had died on that mission, so they only mentioned him afterward.

Besides that, no one else knew much about Shinachiku, and there weren’t even any records about him in the Ninja Academy or when he’d graduated. And that wasn’t even including all the rumors that everyone, including himself, could have sworn they saw Shinachiku fall from the sky so randomly!