Aoki Sora quickly packed his things.
As he worked, he couldn't help but think things through in his mind.
Living together with Kurenai… that shouldn't suddenly trigger any Kurenai Route-related video scenes, right?
After all, unlike several of the other routes, the Kurenai Route could originally lead to having a child in the ending. One of the reasons Kurenai confessed in the game was because after Jiraiya died at the Hidden Rain Village, the burden of fighting Pain fell to the protagonist. Facing such a powerful enemy, one that even Jiraiya couldn't defeat, Kurenai worried something might happen to the protagonist, leaving her with no chance to speak her feelings. So she finally confessed.
And not just confessed. She even tried to leave him an heir…
And it worked.
So, if this worked like Yugao's video trigger, then the trigger for Kurenai Route videos should only appear when facing a powerful boss or during some discussion about children.
As long as they stayed away from those topics, there shouldn't be any sudden Kurenai Route videos. Otherwise, if three women confessed to him in one day, the entire world would probably explode.
Although, honestly, it kind of already had.
Once his things were packed, Sora followed Kurenai to her place.
"By the way, Sora…" Kurenai said as she helped him settle in.
"What is it?" Sora asked.
"Between Hinata and Yugao, who do you like more?"
"…Really?" Sora thought.
Kurenai, are you gossiping now?
"Let's not talk about that for now," Sora said after a pause. "All I want to focus on is training."
Women would only slow down his cultivation.
And even if he did plan to go for a perfect route, could he just say that out loud?
"…Alright then," Kurenai said with a small smile.
It was good. He hadn't let two confessions go to his head. That was exactly what she wanted to see. After all, she didn't want Hinata to fall for a braggart who couldn't keep his feet on the ground.
Someone down-to-earth, strong enough to protect Hinata — that was best.
Sora settled in, and the days that followed were relatively uneventful.
Neither he nor Kurenai seemed to trigger any Kurenai Route-related video. As for the other women of the village…
Hinata and Yugao had already triggered their videos. Any follow-up wouldn't matter much to Sora at this point.
Sakura? He'd never even considered her.
Ino and Tenten? He hadn't made any videos for their routes yet. He'd always felt a mild appreciation for them, but nothing strong. Even in his "perfect harem route" plan, their videos were supposed to come after he'd done the more important ones.
Then… well, he crossed over before he could even make those.
As for his teammate Mizumura Shiranui (with her official art), she was technically a romanceable character too.
In the Boruto timeline, she would go on to be the mother of Sumire Kakei, Boruto's class rep. She had a solid 90+ appearance score, but since she barely appeared in the original and had no special story content in the game, she was just a side character.
She didn't have a solo route ending, but if her affection reached a certain level, she'd tag along in the "official (imperfect) harem ending," joining the other two heroines at the finale.
Because hey, if you're building a harem, what's one more?
In the videos, she only had one clip where Sora protected her during a major battle, and she looked at him with admiration. No big confession scene. Side characters didn't get that kind of privilege.
That covered the village's women.
As for the heroines from beyond the village… well, he'd deal with them when he met them.
And just like that, a few months flew by.
During that time, Team 7 battled Zabuza just like in the original story.
Sora's Team 11 and Hinata's Team 8 mostly took on simple D-rank missions, practiced walking on water, tree climbing, and honed their individual specialties.
Their teams trained together once or twice too.
Though Sora couldn't help but feel like the dynamic between Kurenai and Yugao was… complicated.
"Kurenai, I heard you had Sora move in with you?" Yugao said.
"Yeah, well, he's family, and both he and Hinata are so focused on their training they hardly have time to look after themselves. Don't worry, I'm just helping out. No ulterior motives."
"…Right…"
Was it just him, or did Yugao's tone sound a little off?
Aside from that…
"Sora, let's fight!" One evening, as Sora was running laps under the moonlight, Naruto showed up, challenging him.
After all, it was public knowledge now that Sora had been nominated for Sixth Hokage by the mysterious Fifth Hokage.
And Naruto couldn't take it.
"I'm going to be the Fifth or Sixth Hokage!" Naruto declared loudly.
Sora just stared.
Actually, in the original, weren't you the Seventh?
"I refuse," Sora said flatly. "Get out of my way. Don't waste my lap time."
What was the point of some random duel? Running laps was what really mattered!
He was Konoha's famous… Circle-Running Prodigy Aoki Sora.
And with every lap, every Genjutsu training session, his stats climbed higher.
Meanwhile…
"Let's go!"
In the Wind Country, at the Hidden Sand Village, a blonde girl with a spiky, four-clump hairstyle, a man with odd face markings, and a short boy with a giant gourd on his back and the word "love" on his forehead, his eyes ringed like a panda's — stood at the village gate, ready to depart.
--------------------------------------
Heyo everyone! If you're enjoying the story, please add it to your library, and if you feel like it, maybe drop a few powerstones too. Thanks a bunch!