Disclaimer: Don't own the Naruto franchise, nor any of it's characters.

Rating: T

As mentioned in the summary, this fic is a semi-retelling of Boruto: Naruto the Movie, 'semi' because the changes begin at the mid-point of the movie, and also because the core events are overall the same. For those who click on this fic without knowledge of 'Hamura's Gift' though, I'd recommend reading it first - it details the overall differences applied to a certain character, and adds some context as well. Sure, it's not a necessary read or anything, but it would help a lot with any confusion.

With all that said, enjoy ;)

Chunin Exams

For the third round, the arena was well-packed with spectators - from her seat, Hinata could see much of the crowd, and a clear view of the arena floor down below. If she looked closely, she could also see a lot of familiar faces, close friends included: on one of the upper levels, Kiba and Tamaki leaned against the railing while an elderly Akamaru dozed nearby; Sakura was together with Ino and Temari, having just taken their seats; Kakashi stood together with the wheelchair-bound Guy, Konohamaru, and Iruka. Moreover, she knew many of the others - Sai, Shino, Tenten, Choji, Karui, Kurenai, Mirai - were no doubt watching the exams as well (or at least having the results relayed), interested to see how they'd do even if some of them couldn't be here in person. Behind her, she saw the five Kage seated at the table, particularly Naruto with Shikamaru at his side- even though she wasn't directly looking at him, she smiled.

Part of her still remembered back though to what happened recently... mmh, she truly hoped Boruto would understand one day. She understood his desire to have Naruto around more, as she shared it, but his duty as Hokage was important as well.

From behind her, she and Himawari could hear Shikamaru say "All right, it's almost time."

"Yeah."

Himawari soon looked at her, closed-eyed grinning with excitement- she couldn't wait. Hinata returned the smile, noting that like her brother, Himawari kinda took after Naruto with the grins - she didn't mind that at all, loving it herself.

Down below, Rock Lee walked up on cue - as usual, his voice carried enough enthusiasm that he could easily be heard. "As I'm sure you are all aware-" he spoke, loud enough to carry throughout the arena, but also addressed to the genin before him. "-Round Three consists of individual matches! You may even face a teammate who already knows your skills. You will have three matches, and then the winners in Blocks A, B, and C, will battle in a three-way final. Are you ready?"

"Yes!"

Even as Lee spoke, Hinata observed the four teams for a little while: Team Yurui, composed of Tarui, Toroi, and Yurui himself - she didn't know much about them, other than being from the Hidden Cloud; Team Shinki, composed of Yodo, Araya, and Shinki himself - Hinata didn't know much about Araya, but Yodo and Shinki themselves were of some interest, as from what she'd heard Gaara was essentially a father to both of them, either by blood or adopted. Having considerable more knowledge of the other two teams, she smiled as she beheld Team Moegi, ie Inojin, Chocho, and Shikadai, all of whom were much like one of their parents, yet still having traits of the other. And then of course, Team Konohamaru, where Boruto stood along with Sarada and Mitsuki - she was proud of Sakura's daughter, though admittedly she had some curiosity about Mitsuki, as he seemed an odd one.

Not exactly creepy, but odd, kinda like Sai.

By the time she came out of it though, the board had lit up with the first match: Boruto Uzumaki vs. Yurui.

"And now, Round Three of the Chunin Selection Exams begins! Challengers, step forward!"

Himawari raised her hands. "Good luck, big brother!" she called down, which nearly made Hinata giggle.

It still seemed like not that long ago, Himawari had been angry at Boruto for ripping her bear- heh, how time flies.

The first match began quickly, with Boruto and Yurui going at it with their kunai - Yurui soon proved himself a little arrogant, with Boruto refuting his words. They seemed even enough at hand-to-hand combat, but Yurui soon forced Boruto backward with his bubble gum bubbles, which surprisingly exploded- thankfully Boruto was only stunned by this, to her little relief. He soon had to face dozen's of Yurui's bubbles, but after a quick glance up at the Kage's box, quickly had him reach for his pouch - however, he instead did some vague motion with his right hand instead, and threw a Wind-style shruiken at him. At first it looked like it was gonna miss, but then it spun faster and changed direction, cutting across Yurui's currently-being-chewed bubble... which exploded in his face, knocking him out and the others soon harmlessly popped.

"The winner is the Hidden Leaf's Boruto Uzumaki!" Lee announced, even as Boruto grinned, raising a fist.

Himawari soon jumped up from her seat, bouncing a little. "Yeah, he won! He won!" she cheered, looking straight at her- feeling warmer, Hinata returned the smile. "He's pretty good, mommy."

"I certainly think so, Himawari."

...

The matches all seemed to go by quickly, just like with Boruto's.

Sarada vs. Tarui was almost a joke; she beat the guy with one Chakra-Enhanced-Strength punch, which sent him into the far wall; Hinata was sheepish, wondering how his clan and village would react to that. Sarada looked quite pleased with her win, but Sakura's arena-wide cheer ("Ah yeah! That's my girl! Alright!") seemed to make her a little sheepish hehe- probably embarrassed too, as mothers like them do. Mitsuki vs. Toroi went by less sharply, as it took a little more time, but the result was still in the Leaf's favor... Toroi was clearly strong - wielding the giant shuriken as easily as they might a kunai - but Mitsuki had been too quick for him, and unable to dodge the latter's more 'stretchy' arms. After that though, things started to tilt the other way: Inojin vs. Araya and Chocho vs. Shinki, both of the Ino-Shika-Cho members ultimately lost despite their skills. Hopefully though, knowing those kids they'd get stronger for the next time - and besides, if the fight was good there was no shame in losing.

Things changed considerably for the next match however...

"Seventh match, begin!"

Boruto and Shikadai went at it, all over the place - Hinata quickly noticed Naruto walking to the front, to see his son at a closer distance. She smiled a little, seeing what happened next just as he did. "Huh, Shadow Clones?" he breathed, surprised - she felt similar, but then remembered he mentioning training under Sasuke; maybe he'd taught her son?

Ahh, but that brings back a lot of memories.

Shikadai kept his cool; he manipulated his shadow across the battlefield, tracking the real Boruto as closely as he could, including one who got behind him. Several of his clones dodged it, then just when it seemed to get to one, Boruto used that clone as a jump-off point and went straight toward Shikadai- he dodged underneath the strike, but Boruto quickly turned around, about to land another Gentle Fist-style attack.

His opponent quickly changed his hand-sign - Boruto's strike never touched Shikadai.

They struggled under his Shadow Field Jutsu, but the clones were unable to stay for long, and soon as they vanished Shikadai immediately focused his jutsu upon the real Boruto, making it 'just' a line between. "It'd be great if you gave up soon" he said knowingly, holding out a kunai just in case.

Hinata made a sound, knowing Boruto almost had his opponent there- but then again, Shikamaru's son was equally a genius even without his clan's signature jutsu. Knowing their intelligence, Shikadai probably had a number of countermeasures if Boruto had done this and/or that, so she guessed it was just a little bad luck to have faced him.

On the field though, Boruto did something with his right hand again... and then suddenly, much to all their surprise, at least a hundred Shadow Clones popped up. Shikadai warily observed this for a bit before looking at the real one, then made a sound and dropped his kunai, hands raised- "The hell with it. I'm giving up."

At that, Hinata felt a little smile come up; he's definitely his father's son - in fact, a quick glance behind her showed Shikamaru not surprised whatsoever, merely shrugging with a little smile. She then turned to Naruto, but quickly noticed he seemed still, intent upon something down below... and it stayed that way for several seconds, which started to worry her even as Himawari cheered for her brother.

She quickly stood up. "What's the matter, dear?"

Naruto slowly glanced at her. "Hinata, around his arm" he breathed, voice faint. "Use your Byakugan."

Hinata jolted, feeling something's really wrong- she nodded though, turning toward the arena. With barely a motion she activated her Byakugan, feeling the veins 'strain' against her face - her vision encompassed the entire arena, and if she'd wanted she could have seen everyone all at once. Instead she focused upon Boruto, seeing his chakra points and everything seeming to be normal, as did his equipment- wait, what was that? On his right hand, something was attached almost like a bracer, and aimed so that it's open end was aligned with his palm.

"Well?"

"It's some ninja tool. He has it attached onto his arm" she breathed carefully - but as soon as she finished, Byakugan fading, a thought entered her mind. "*gasp* Is that how he-?"

Naruto's brow furrowed... and before he could answer, had already jumped down from the Kage box.

Hinata could only stand there, feeling her heart grow heavier- first his issues with Naruto's Hokage duty, and now this? Below, Boruto excitedly greeted his father at first, asking if he saw his match and even holding up his arm for a fist bump... but instead, with motions as forced as she'd ever seen, he instead grabbed Boruto's arm, revealing the Kote.

"Go on; explain yourself."

Boruto had no answer, or at least none she could hear from up here.

"This is prohibited in the Chunin Exams" Naruto continued- it had to be hard, yet he still spoke with disappointment. "Using a ninja tool instead of your own chakra, defeats the purpose of this event, to nurture new shinobi. ...Lee, Boruto Uzumaki is disqualified; please change the winner to Shikadai Nara."

Even as Lee did as instructed after a moment, the board reflecting this, Hinata could almost feel the palpable change in the arena's emotions- peripherally, she could hear Himawari confused as well, wondering what's going on. The Kage said something behind her but she heard little, just focused upon Boruto and his uncharacteristic silence... even as Naruto pulled off his headband.

"You're no longer a ninja either."

Beside her: "Mom?" Himawari asked, still confessed- Hinata half-turned toward her. "What happened to Boruto? Did he do something bad?"

She couldn't even bring herself to answer- mmh, she just held Himawari closer to her, looking back down at the arena, at her son. "Boruto..."

What Naruto said next, she couldn't quite make out... but whatever it was, Boruto slapped his father's arm away (and his words weren't quiet).

"Really? You'll 'talk to me later'? Yeah right, like you actually make the time to do that dad. If you'd talked to me before all this, I- then I... I wouldn't have ended up in this damn mess!"

Hinata almost felt little tears coming on- oh Boruto... she knew he'd been having trouble without Naruto, but she didn't think it'd drive him this far. But almost as quickly as silence reigned over the arena, another voice spoke then- after a few seconds she saw him below, speaking to Naruto and having some cameraman follow him.

She didn't recognize him or his voice right away, but from the way Naruto regarded him, she slowly thought he must be that Katasuke guy she'd heard about... what is he doing though?

He began to speak to the arena, with the video feed changing to focus upon him. "Listen, everyone. Yes, it's true: Boruto used a Scientific Ninja Tool. I know such things are prohibited, but there's no denying that this tool made it possible for him to reach this point."

Naruto spoke his name, clearly a little angry; Katasuke ignored him and continued speaking, something about the Kote's demonstrations. Already Hinata found herself strongly disliking this man, not just for his dismissal of Naruto - his superior and the Hokage - but because of Boruto's reaction; he knew him, and it'd been clearly said the Science Ninja Weapons Team had developed the Kote, which she knew Katasuke was leader of.

It wasn't hard to put the pieces together-

-as soon as she thought this though, something - someone - landed on the arena floor with an audible-if-low-key boom. Of course the arena's attention was on this event, but it took several seconds for the smoke to clear... quickly, Naruto placed himself in front of Boruto, and by instinct Lee and Shikadai stepped back a distance. At the same time that was going on, wary, Hinata activated her Byakugan again and focused upon the new arrival-

He was a big man, seeming to be about two meters tall, and his hands were abnormally-large. Whatever she registered of his style, her gaze was instead drawn toward several more distinguishing features: his pale-white skin, a single horn (stubbed for some reason), and the distinctive irides of Byakugan.

-her blood chilled a little: the Otsutsuki Clan!

An image of Toneri flashed into her mind, but how could this be? He'd said he was the last of his clan... unless this one wasn't a descendant of Kaguya? Just as soon as this thought finished, Hinata registered that below, Katasuke was stepping forward and addressing the intruder despite Naruto's warning-

-and he payed for it.

The intruder's blow was tremendous; gale-force wind slammed into everyone nearby, Naruto shielding Boruto while Lee managed to grab Shikadai. Just as quickly the blow rang through the entire arena, destroying much of the ground and the supports, bringing sections of the roof down- even as Himawari yelped, Hinata reacted instinctively, grabbing her daughter and jumping down from the Kage's box. She wasn't alone: the other four Kage, along with Shikamaru all jumped free from said structure, grabbing everyone they possibly could in the process. Landing nimbly, Himawari clung to her out of instinct, but soon as they landed Hinata instantly saw the roof above their heads also giving away - her only options of getting her daughter to safety meant down to the arena floor, to another section, or just fly up. One held the stranger, the other sections still had falling roofs, and up above appeared another figure in the sky; none were good options.

So instead, Hinata instantly reached deeper - her irides changed, going from Byakugan to Tenseigan(-with-Byakugan-veins); this had been awhile. Letting go of Himawari, she focused her chakra - it'd be easy enough, but it had to be done so that no one else was caught in the shockwave.

Mentally: "Almighty Push!"

With a great rush, the falling roof splintered from the gravitational force, and then the pieces were dashed against it even faster. In less than a second they then crumbled into dust particles that floated upward... most people had no idea what just happened, but that didn't matter.

It was the same situation across the arena; people running in terror and threatened by the pieces of ceiling that fell. Nearby, Sakura had punched up her section, and the pieces were then blasted away by Temari - Ino seemed to have simply moved away, somewhat close to her and Himawari now. On another section, helping protect Lee, Shikadai, and the other civilians, Gaara had his Iron Sand hold up the falling debris without much effort. At the same time, all the other ninja were busy helping out; the likes of Kakashi, Konohamaru, and Kankuro were helping people out of danger, as were the other four Kage in their own ways. Even Sarada and Mitsuki were helping with the hurried evacuation, but it was complete chaos and she knew they were all in danger.

In her vision, Hinata saw the other figure descend from the sky, floating in mid-air; male, albeit longer-haired as it reached down to his waist in a ponytail, and what seemed to be bull's horns. It was harder to tell from the side, but she guessed he also had the Byakugan, for in her vision she soon saw distinctive veins appear on the side of his face.

At the same time, Himawari had only just now registered what she'd done. "What the-? Mom, what happened to your eyes?" she asked, feeling so much at once. "And what's going on!?"

She knew that's her fault; she'd never really said she had the Tenseigan (unless you counted vague references), or even that they existed (been planning on saving that till they were older)- but now wasn't the time for explanations.

"Ino!" Hinata called. "Take Himawari and go!"

It turned out she'd been right to so; by the time she finished, the newest stranger had appeared behind Naruto. Before he could do more than turn around, the stranger had kicked him into/through the far wall-

-she instantly vaulted over the railing.

"Mom!" Himawari called after her, but after that Ino had already grabbed her, and they disappeared.

The stranger barely seemed to notice Boruto at all, but the moment he took a step forward, Hinata redoubled her speed. He stopped upon sensing her, not moving as she took up a stance in front of her son... his brow furrowed slightly as he looked at her, seeming intent now- Hinata remained ready for anything.

"I don't recognize those eyes" he said, as if vaguely interested, before a small grin appeared. "But the veins are unmistakably Byakugan. An unexpected bonus."

Hinata remained stone-faced, but inwardly her mind was racing a bit; he didn't recognize the Tenseigan - whoever these two were, they clearly hadn't developed it at all. She supposed it's plausible, as the first one of Kaguya's line to develop it had been Hamura, and even that was a long time ago- if they weren't aware there was a stronger variant to the Byakugan till now, then she saw no reason to give them any more information than necessary.

From behind her though, due to his fear, Boruto instantly took aim and - before Hinata could say a word - fired a Lightning-style jutsu from the Kote. The stranger dodged easily but his transparent 'sweeper' wasn't so lucky, as the jutsu tore a small hole in it; the stranger's brow furrowed even deeper, and he discarded it while staring coldly at Boruto-

-who was shaking, but he still kept his hand up.

"Boruto, stop!"

Too late; he'd already fired a Fire-style jutsu-

-the stranger held up his right hand, and she saw the styling of a Rinnegan on his palm.

Red though it was, it nonetheless worked like the original, absorbing the jutsu without so much as a blink. In Boruto's desperation, he kept on firing ("I said stop it! Boruto!") before he finally registered his failure and her voice, 'helped' by the Kote clicking empty after the fifth consecutive jutsu.

...

Even in his haste to get to the arena, to warn Naruto, he'd been too late; they'd already struck. Sasuke quickly noted most people were evacuated, the various shinobi helping, and this included many of the hopeful genin- yet soon as he came upon the scene, his eyes beheld several things at once. One being that at the moment, Naruto had been knocked out of the arena (soon to get back), and right now Hinata guarded her son- dangerous, but she could handle herself. And two, not all the genin had evacuated; Mitsuki and Sarada were still there, helping those were still trapped in the debris.

He felt a brief touch of pride, but immediately noticed a falling piece of rubble that they hadn't.

Sasuke moved immediately-

-the rubble fell, briefly stunning Mitsuki, who called out for Sarada in concern until he registered things.

"Oh, dad!?"

"You don't seem to be injured" he merely said, quickly landing upon the arena floor - yet as soon as he did, the big guy was there, glowing weapon already in hand.

"Here's payback for before!" he rumbled, already swinging-

-Sasuke prepared to move, but it was unnecessary; a very distinctive shadow engulfed the hulking brute and his weapon, immobilizing him. Sasuke briefly glanced over, seeing that Shikamaru also managed to catch the other one, which led him to briefly smirk.

He moved himself and Sarada over in that direction.

...

Hinata tensed as the stranger started to move forward, but she didn't have to intervene; Naruto came up from behind him. The stranger dodged the attack, and Hinata took that opportunity to quickly grab Boruto, dashing back a good distance- at the same time, she saw the efforts of Shikamaru had immobilized the first stranger (a quick check showed that applied to both).

Meeting up at nearly the same time, Naruto soon joined her as did Sasuke - behind them were Boruto and Sarada, both of which she intended to protect. "Boruto, are you alright?" Sarada asked, her son answering that he's fine.

Ahead of them, the stranger just closed his eyes. "How trivial" he said, bored, while in his right hand the Rinnegan glowed red... and absorbed Shikamaru's jutsu easily, making them all tenser. "Kinshiki."

"Right."

Together they both floated upward, and they all looked upward at the two.

"We can't use our powers right here" Sasuke said, a little grim. "Everyone will get dragged in."

"And it seems I'm the one they're after" Naruto breathed, equally such. "I'll try to lure them away."

"First things first though, gain as much information as possible" Hinata said, low before louder: "Tell us, who are you guys?"

"I am Kinshiki Otsutsuki" the bigger one said, "and this is Lord Momoshiki Otsutsuki."

"Just what do you want with me?" Naruto asked, taking over from her.

"We'll turn the scattered chakra into one fruit, and finish what Kaguya failed to do on this seedbed."

Hinata instantly knew this had to do with the Divine Tree, which absorbed chakra from others to produce fruit- did it never end?

"The scroll said these guys would come to steal the chakra from the fruit of the divine tree" Sasuke continued, still grim, "This is why Kaguya was amassing an army of White Zetsu."

Naruto grunted. "First Kaguya, and now this" he said, almost echoing her thoughts. "And this fruit stuff?"

"A kind of medicine."

"That's right" the one called Momoshiki stated; he was smugly confident even as he raised his palm, where little red seed-like things resided. "As long as we have this, we remain young, immortal, and invincible. You poor, awkward humans- unless you trained and perserve endlessly, and pointlessly, you get nowhere at all. But me? Just watch; with these medicine I can acquire true power, instantly with no effort whatsoever."

"Don't speak such nonsense" Hinata called up, fist clenched. "That's not how one becomes stronger at all!"

Somewhat unnoticed by her, Boruto jolted at those words- which continued as they all talked.

"She's right; don't make me laugh" Naruto continued, determined himself. "True power is something you have to earn!"

Sasuke made a motion. "Most of the time; some of us are born with skill" he mused, but lighter. "Yet even still, that doesn't just make us invincible- one wrong move, one kink in your armor or your determination falters, and it's over."

Neither of them had much reaction, but overall it was Momoshiki who was unimpressed. "Vulgar creatures such as you wouldn't understand" he merely said, as if he hadn't heard a word. "I didn't want to sully my cloak, but it seems I'll have to. I'll rearrange this seedbed and make it beautiful, despite these annoying nuisances" he continued, before instantly downing all his tiny fruit seeds.

The reaction was immediate: with her Tenseigan activated, she immediately saw that his chakra - already swirling around both their points in a consistent pattern - increased exponentially. Without it she could've infiltrated their chakra systems from this distance, but with such a current it'd be wasteful to even try... and moreover she knew with such a fast stream of chakra, it'd cause difficulty with her Gentle Fist style. After all, if she hit a point that already had chakra flowing through it, the flow could forcibly re-open the blocked point in an instant. The stronger the chakra the more likely it'd reopen too, in addition to the increasing difficulty that she could close it with such a flow, let alone keeping it closed.

Momoshiki held out his hand, Rinnegan-palm up. "Here's the jutsu I acquired earlier" he spoke, before a total of six jutsu burst from his palm - five of the basic change-in-chakra-natures, but the sixth was unmistakably that of a Tailed Beast Bomb! Even as they watched in increasing horror, the latter expanded in size until it was the size of a house... and then finally, hovering overhead, the size of the arena itself! Behind her, both shaking from the fear, Sarada briefly fell to her knees while Boruto just stared upward- the Tailed Beast Bomb cackled with power it shouldn't normally have, including electricity and all the other elements. It struck outward with such force, blasting sections of the rubble yet again and causing explosions, and causing yells from the few people that still remained.

Behind her, Boruto saw Sarada's fear and it seemed to galvanize him- he quickly formed a Shadow Clone.

Perhaps Momoshiki saw this, for he said "It's meaningless!" and launched something resembling a fiery phoenix at them-

She and Sasuke tensed, ready, but Naruto was the fastest.

-it exploded against them, destroying a section of the arena, but they were completely unharmed. Around each group of civilians, Naruto's Shadow Clones all had an area enveloped by his chakra cloak, while around them a growling version of Kurama's head sat. Boruto and Sarada were stunned, wondering at what they saw even as the former looked at his father- just like Himawari with the Tenseigan, Boruto hadn't seen either of them at full power. At the same time: "I'll get all the civilians to safety" Hinata said to them both - that was their top priority, and she could do it while they stalled/protect everyone - glancing at Sasuke to help Naruto, who nodded.

"Mom! It's too dangerous!"

She paused, before looking straight at Boruto- he was worried, but then slowly registered the fact that her eyes were entirely different.

"I'll be fine, Boruto" she reassured, determined.

He seemed stunned, but there wasn't time- quickly, Hinata moved out of Kurama's head... exuding chakra from every chakra point, she quickly formed a Palm Rotation around herself. It was well she did, considering Momoshiki's subsequent attacks and enjoyment of the suffering he caused, but the laughter at this was the absolute worst.

...

Naruto grunted, trying to keep Kurama's head intact even as Momoshiki hit them with a giant lightning bolt- all the attack needed was a dragon's head, and it'd be exactly like Sasuke's Kirin technique. His clones had an equally hard time, but they kept at it to protect the people until Hinata could get to them, even as extremely powerful elemental bursts rained down upon them, essentially psuedo forces-of-nature.

Beside him Sasuke raised his hand, purple chakra appearing. "If the real you goes down, we're all finished" he said, determined.

"Thanks for the help, Sasuke."

Even as he spoke, Kurama was enveloped by Sasuke's Susanoo, which formed head-only around his form. Yet still the elemental attacks continued, including the likes of water spouts, lightning storms, tornadoes, and even giant shards of ice... all the while Momoshik was just laughing, clearly enjoying his sense of power as well as the suffering he inflicted. He was powerful; the attacks splintered sections of Sasuke's Susanoo, and even caused small cuts inside, such as across Boruto's jacket. Naruto grunted, teeth gritted as he fought to keep them all safe for awhile longer, but with all the civilians still being evacuated he couldn't go all-out, and neither could Sasuke or Hinata.

Momoshiki continued laughing with a grin. "After this, it's over!" he called, doing a throwing motion. "But you must not die, demon fox."

Kurama growled his anger at that old title, but the biggest problem was much more immediate: the Tailed Beast Bomb descending from on-high.

Naruto stilled - there was no longer any choice.

"Sasuke" he spoke, quiet. "Take care of them both" he finished, slowly looking at his friend... Sasuke was carefully inscrutable as usual, but his eyes changed slightly.

"Understood."

They both knew it might end badly, yet it had to be done - they should be able to defeat these enemies, but they couldn't do so without destroying the village in the process. They wanted him specifically for Kurama, and they needed him alive to do it; that meant that in order to take Kurama's power, they'd take them him away since that's all they really wanted, and away from the village so they could do it without distraction. Once that happened, Naruto knew Hinata, Sasuke, and the other Kage would all come for him, wherever these two went... and there they could truly fight at full power. It was a risky plan he knew, but it had to be done - he could easily be unconscious until he finds himself in the enemy's grasp, but that didn't scare him. They would use just enough power to protect everyone, and it'd cost them, but no more than that...

All that he'd managed to implicate to Sasuke, who grasped things faster than he could've ever explained out loud. He's just sorry there isn't more time to warn Boruto, to try and mend things... he'd made such a mess of this, and he'd never been aware of it until now...

Yet it'd have to wait; he hated to do it, but it's necessary - a rush went through him, his friend implicating not to get distracted now that he's chosen the plan.

Naruto clasped his hands together, ready. "Let's do this, Kurama!" he exclaimed, "You better not be out of shape now!"

"Hah, don't be an idiot! I'm always ready to go!"

"Right!"

With a yell, Naruto and his clones - finally free of civilians - all surged with power, chakra cloaks growing larger and larger. Around the arena's perimeter, even more chakra swirled up, adding and combining with those produced by his clones until they resembled flame-like tails- nine in total that rose high above, surrounding the Tailed Beast Bomb and the arena in a complete circle.

"RRRRRRAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!-"

-together, they roared as Kurama's entire body-minus-tails formed, just keeping everyone inside his body - in an instant he pushed against the Tailed Beast Bomb with both claws. The impact jarred them both, but they held fast as it continued to bare down... around the arena, all nine tails soon converged above the Tailed Beast Bomb, forming a full barrier.

The explosion was as strong as anything he'd faced in the War, and yet time seemed to slow during the flash-point. In that moment, Naruto turned toward his son... he wasn't sure what Boruto was feeling besides fear, at least not this quickly, but still he smiled- he's sorry for the mess, and hopes he'll forgive him someday.

He thought he heard "Dad, no!" before the shock-wave's force knocked him out.

...

Slightly earlier

Just like the others, the people yelped as they rushed down to the ground at high speed- however, only Hinata felt the strain as they landed, like a feather even, even if they didn't understand it.

"Please go on; it's not safe here" she told them, about to turn back before her vision shifted-

-the floating Tailed Beast Bomb started to descend.

Horror engulfed her, knowing if that hit without resistance, the entire village could be destroyed!

"Everyone, get away!" Hinata yelled, the urgency seeming to startle him into doing so. "As far as you can!"

Even as she spoke, the arena rumbled with incoming forces, both the descending Tailed Beast Bomb and the nine telltale flame-like tails that surrounded the arena; Naruto's work. She had faith in her husband, yet still she held her hands outward, starting to work her chakra while floating upward- even if the explosion was contained, she wanted to make sure the shock-waves that resulted were minimized.

Worse-cast scenario, the chakra cloak would flicker before the explosion expended itself, and that force could leak out; not on her watch.

"Tenseigan: Palm Rotation!"

Underneath her direction, the air around the arena began to swirl around at high speeds, augmented by her chakra- soon there was a circular dome that over-layed Naruto/Kurama's chakra cloak, ready for it. The explosion itself almost deafened her, the barriers doing everything they could to contain the explosion, with only the pressure allowed to seep out the top - she barely focused upon that in her strain, and the waiting was the longest seconds of her life...

...even afterward, her vision had difficulty seeing through the thick black smoke that'd resulted.

"Naruto! Boruto!" she thought, instantly flying toward the debris - partway through, another figure emerged from the smoke.

Time seemed to slow somewhat as this registered; Hinata saw Sasuke, unharmed, holding Boruto and Sarada in his arms. The latter two were unconscious, but their chakras were stable... Sasuke himself registered her, where she was going and why; he didn't attempt to stop her.

Only gave her a non-verbal 'good luck'.

Then they passed each other, and Hinata let out a relieved breath; Boruto was safe, as was Sasuke and Sarada. That's a weight of her chest... but now it's time to go after her husband, and bring him back...

The trip through the smoke was difficult, as she could barely make things out correctly- then suddenly she came upon a clear space. The two Otsutsuki members were there, with Momoshiki seemingly using a Wind-style technique to keep the debris/smoke from touching them; neither of them had a speck on their clothes. She had a brief flash of his cold reaction when his clothes were damage, and figured he must care a great deal about his vanity - that in addition to his behavior during the attack all spoke of someone used to power, someone who never worked hard in his life and just wanted everything now. Thus far it's still only a theory, but she's leaning toward it...

Her heart throbbed a bit; Naruto was a distance away from them, laying face-down- 'just' unconscious but even still.

At the time, he was already walking toward Naruto- but the moment they sensed her, he stopped. She didn't try to attack them upfront, and merely just planted herself in front of her husband, at the ready for anything.

"You again" Momoshiki spoke as if slightly irritated, but it soon vanished. "Kaguya's Byakugan were probably stolen by some late ancestor of yours. Yet your survival now is proof your eyes are powerful, whatever they have become. I shall be glad to add them to my collection, perhaps even my personal use, after I've extracted the demon fox."

Her voice was almost a hiss: "Like hell you will."

His expression furrowed, and she could read it easily: 'Did this creature just talk back to me?'

"It's inevitable" he merely said. "Kinshiki."

"Right."

The big guy moved so fast that without the Tenseigan enhancing her eyes, she wasn't certain she'd have seen his form blur, let alone that he appeared right in front of her. Having seen his strength, she avoided the direct blow and instead flew up a bit, having to twist her body to avoid the bladed weapon- just as his arm descended, she directed a small blow to a chakra point by his elbow. As predicted, due to the chakra surging through his pathway system, the blocked point was soon forcibly re-opened; even a single half-serious blow was undone 'easily'. His blow cracked the ground below his fist even as she moved away, but Kinshiki was soon on her again... going by his reaction, he hadn't expected her to be this fast, but had soon adjusted to that fact.

Moreover, he hadn't noticed his chakra point being blocked at all... in fact, neither he nor Momoshiki even had their Byakugan activated! The arrogance and hubris of it all stunned her, but she'd still use it against them if possible.

They moved/fought all over the arena, though Kinshiki seemed to keep his blows lower-key so that they wouldn't threaten Naruto- Momoshiki just watched dispassionately. Not having tested Kinshiki's full strength yet, Hinata didn't know how she compared exactly, but she could already tell it'd be difficult for her to beat them one-on-two in her base form, without the freedom to use her full strength here. Kinshiki alone, possibly given time and effort, and Momoshiki as well considering that that while his Rinnegan made ninjutsu out-of-the-question, that didn't stop her from using taijutsu. Yet Kinshiki was still a problem, as every blow with his fists or his spontaneously-created weapons made her hard-pressed to return the favor, not helped by his speed.

Yet even still she managed quite a few, hard enough to push him back when she got a good one in. After a few seconds, she managed that once again, skidding the big guy back near Momoshiki while she stood near Naruto - she let out a small breath, the effort of the small battle showing but nothing truly exhausting, while Naruto seemed to stir beside her.

She hoped he was waking up.

"Just like the other one" Kinshiki spoke to his 'lord'. "Though she doesn't have the Rinnegan, she's as fast and strong as him."

Hinata hesitated a bit, if still on the lookout for any more blows- they must mean Sasuke. If he'd fought these two before, or perhaps just Kinshiki since Momoshiki seemed to avoid direct battle, that explained why his horn was stubbed.

"Obviously" Momoshiki spoke, as if irritated. "But this is taking too long. We'll take the demon fox and come back for this creature's eyes later" he spoke, aiming his left Rinnegan palm at her (she noticed that distinction, as he'd held up the right Rinnegan to absorb attacks). Then just as suddenly, a Lightning-style jutsu sprang at her-

She reacted instinctively, turning into a circle. "Rotation!"

-her jutsu managed to repel Momoshiki's attack, but just as she was spinning, there was a flicker of movement from Naruto. Just as suddenly, a cloud of white smoke engulfed him to her small surprise- but she yelped, as something broke through her Palm Rotation, not helped by her own half-distracted state in that moment. In an instant, Kinshiki was there, aiming at her currently-turned-back... it took a lot of speed, but Hinata just managed to turn herself toward the attack, putting her chakra into the block- the impact still jarred her bones. She was sent skidding until she collided with the mass of rubble of the arena, but he'd been holding back; it was meant to wound her, not kill.

Her body hurt, but nothing was broken and she saw what happened; somehow Naruto had created two Shadow Clones, probably half-conscious in doing so. But even in her dazed mind, she noticed something was off about where they were placed... what was...?

Back to the Otsutsuki's, Momoshiki observed the clones with distaste. "A futile distraction" he spoke, creating chakra receivers - he threw them, and a single one impaled all three in the lower leg, each groaning at impact. Two instantly vanished, but one remained- "There" he spoke with satisfaction.

Trying to rise from the rubble, Hinata saw all this happen. "N-Naruto!" she cried out, coughing - yet before she could do much more than stand, they were already flying off. She was preparing to go after them, or even use Universal Pull instead, when something like a portal suddenly opened up and they flew into it, the jutsu instantly closing on itself afterward...

Her breathing was heavy, heart equally weighed-down and yet she quickly grunted. Okay... okay, so he's been captured; that just meant she had to get him back, as they would all do - can't just let herself cry over this. Even as she had these thoughts though, something still didn't strike her right- when Naruto had created those Shadow Clones, his positioning had been off. The two clones farthest from him were one thing, but the Naruto the Otsutsuki members had kidnapped had been five whole feet away from where he'd been lying... and where that spot was, lay a piece of rubble that was mixed in among the others...

Slowly, carefully, Hinata went over to the spot - she had to check this out.

"They're gone" she spoke faintly.

Several seconds passed... then another cloud of white smoke appeared with a poof, the rubble having transformed into the real Naruto!

"Naruto!" she called in relief, quickly bending down and transferring her chakra to his. "You're okay."

He barely moved, and his sound was so faint she could hardly hear it; this effort had taken a lot out of him, though according to her Tenseigan, he still had plenty of chakra left (a great deal of that from Kurama). However something was wrong; Kurama's chakra wasn't flowing throughout his body, and in fact wasn't doing anything right now, leaving Naruto weak. When she glanced up though, remembering the Otsutsuki duo were here for Kurama, she realized why; they were going to try and extract him. Kurama had to conserve his chakra to resist their influence, and that meant he couldn't send any to heal Naruto - assuming that dimensional gap would even allow it, though admittedly she didn't know much about those nuances.

No wonder he wasn't recovering quickly; he'd always had Kurama's help there.

"It's gonna be okay, Naruto" she breathed gently, holding him close, stabilizing his chakra enough for short-distance travel. "We'll get you help."

His eyes were closed, but still he stirred. "We gotta... go after them, after..." he breathed, before he slipped into unconsciousness again- it hurt her a little, but he's okay and she's gonna make sure of it. Plus she knew why he'd said it; eventually Naruto's deception would be exposed, and they'd come back to the village - after Naruto's healed up enough, they were gonna have to intercept them before that happened.

Thanks in part to Hinata having the Tenseigan, that made it fairly easy to change the result of her trying to get Naruto back. Initially I would've made it not a 'complete' failure, but after awhile, I came up with this little twist hehe ;)

Of course, this is still a semi-retelling - more is to come.

And on a side note, Momoshiki being able to use Ice Style - ie the ice shards during the arena attack - is a nod to the novel version of the movie.