This is the rewritten version of Trembling Flames, hopefully those who were enjoying that story can enjoy this one just as much!
Notes: This is before the timeskip, this is also interfering with the new information being dropped by Oda about Sanji. In this story you can decide if the Vinsmoke part of him can stray into this still. Also, this interferes as well with Boruto's new manga being released monthly. So don't you worry, this is not exactly canon either. This takes place AFTER Thriller Bark as well, so Brook is here. Also in this story, Naruto gave up more time in the office to be with his children and this takes place AFTER the Boruto: Naruto the Movie.
Question of the Day: Have you ever replied to someone without thinking about it? (I did, when my teacher was asking who wasn't here I replied with, "You.")
I do not own One Piece or Naruto/Naruto Shippuden/Boruto: Naruto Next Generations. Please support the official release of these titles. Some of these scenes may be canon in their original stories.
Enjoy!
In some stories, the father is always succeeded by his son. In his, he really couldn't say much about it. All Boruto could think was that he couldn't top his father either way. His father was the Hokage, the leader of one of the great villages, Konoha. He saved the world from destruction with his sensei. He went to the moon and back to marry the love of his life. He created peace that had lasted longer than any other peaceful time. It was going without saying, his father couldn't be surpassed, even by him.
"Boruto?"
"Hmm?" He instinctively replied, snapping out of his stupor. The old man's smile grew soft at him, a bandaged hand patting his blonde locks gently. His dad's eyes dimmed a bit as the light flickered in the room once again. It was his room, he was packing up while his father's bags laid at the front door. His room needed some tiding up but he found everything he wanted to bring with him.
"Are you overthinking it again?" Naruto had suggested to him. His dad was going somewhere else too. The old man chuckled, yanking him into a hug that was careful, weary. Boruto bit his lip as he rested underneath his father's chin. The older blonde let out a hum, "Don't worry about it kiddo. It'll be a few weeks before I get back. Plus, you'll be out on your own mission, right?"
Bolt let out a breath he didn't know he was holding, "Yeah... I guess your right. Even if it may be to Kiri for you and Suna for me, a few weeks is a bit too long, y'know?"
"That's why Shikamaru-san is taking my position temporarily. Kinda like the war hawk and slug story I told you when you were six," The old man's cheeky grin was contagious, making his own smile come out. It was stupid to act childish, he knew, but the meetings his dad had were a big deal. Especially if Konoha is making better negotiations with Kiri for something new, "You faced even the stupid ogre before and you still are a child, y'know? I could ask Konohamaru to pick another escort mission if you'd like..."
"Nonono! Dad, it's fine. Plus, I don't want Sarada to yell at me!" Boruto protested.
That happened to make his father laugh, "Then it's alright. I gotta go out on that boat in a day or so, I'll need to leave tonight anyway. Make sure you have everything you wanna bright for tomorrow, y'know?"
"Yeah yeah, don't worry Dad, I'm fine." The younger blonde assured quietly, "You get going, I'll see you...?"
Naruto chimed in, "Next next Monday, two weeks from today. Don't worry. If I'm not back on that day, you have the right to reserve to punch me. Deal?"
"Deal." Boruto responded, letting a chuckle break from his lips, "Don't break that promise now dad!"
"I won't!" With that, the Seventh Hokage walked out with the nod of his head, his pearly white teeth beaming at the younger. Boruto let his body flop onto the bed, a soft chuckle breaking through him.
"Hurry back..."
"He isn't coming back." He snapped his vision towards his female teammate who glanced at him with a soft, pitying look. It had been over two months since his father was to head to Kiri. Shinobi investigated the scenes of what he was supposed to go through and deemed the case unresolved. The Mizukage cooperated fully in the investigation for he told the shinobi that his father's ship never made it.
Now his mentor, his Uncle, was stepping in to investigate the seas and he was being brought along, "I... I know. I think Uncle Sasuke has lost it... there can't be anything out there."
Sarada gave him a piercing look, "Hey hey, be nice with what you say. Idiot..."
"Sorry sorry," Boruto muttered, "But... I miss my dad. Hima-chan does too... but... he promised me. He never breaks a promise. In the stories he tells me he always kept his word..."
"Boruto..."
Boruto gave a look while covering his right eye, "Yeah yeah, your mother said not to get to stressed or else this won't scar pretty..."
Sarada bit her lip, "That's not what I meant. Picking a fight with Papa... now that was stupid."
"I know, I know..."
"Your upset and Papa knows that as much as you do. Mama does too, yeah? Their his teammates and they're just as affected as your mother and sister, as well as you. Hell, even the whole village has been silent since the Eighth Hokage was declared."
Boruto rolled his eyes, "Yeah yeah, reminding me that everyone misses my dad does what now?"
Sarada gave him a glare, "It shows that they think he's as dead as you think. I won't give up, my mom won't give up, my dad won't give up. Your mom and sister won't give up either. Don't think your alone. We all miss him... but we're the only ones left thinking that he's alive. So don't give up. Your father would be pissed if you did too."
The blonde paused, staring at his comrade, "You... idiot glasses girl...!"
The raven-haired Uchiha gave a smile, "Don't think your ever alone in the world, stupid fastener bolt."
His father would usually tell him stories when he wasn't Hokage at the time. He still could recall those misty memories in the back of his head...
"Have you ever heard of the All Blue?" His father hushed at him, the cerulean blue eyes glancing over him. Boruto swore he could see his own reflection in those clear blue eyes.
"What's that Daddy?" He chirped as innocent as a six year old could be. A bandaged hand ran through his wildly locks making him giggle in glee at the feeling of attention. He always loved attention one way or another.
Naruto pursed his lips, "It's a miracle sea where all the fish connect as one. It was once called my mother's home in a way... I remember reading about it on spare time. One of the many whirlpools around the sea lead to the land of Uzumaki. This place was called by the outside people, "All Blue". An author close to my own mentor before gave me a book about it. I... I wanted to always find my mother's home. Finding my mother's home was a goal for me after I confessed my love to your mom. It didn't happen though because you came to be announced right after our wedding."
Boruto felt his dad tickle his chin, forcing another sheepish giggle out of him, "Daddy..."
"I guess you could say I always wanted to see the All Blue."
"Are you okay with this, Boruto?" The young blonde glanced up, staring at the face of his mentor. His right eye ached when he kept it open but he wanted to keep sight in it. He didn't want to lose his sight... losing his sight would be another thing lost to the world of dangers.
"Yeah Uncle Sasuke... I'll be just fine on my own. After all, the sea can't hurt what can walk on it."
The old Uchiha gave him a piercing look similar to his daughter's before lightly replying, "Don't get caught up in your head... if you lose yourself to your thoughts, the real world slips by too fast enough for you to stop it." It was cryptic, as per the usual with his mentor.
Boruto saluted, "Aye aye, Uncle!"
The sea was as beautiful as it could get. The sky may have been changing into a dark grey color but the sea swerved and curled against the small rowboat used in the investigation in a calming way. Boruto always found Himawari and him always seemed to enjoy the sea. His mother called it a calling to their blood of the Uzumaki for Naruto always enjoyed the sea... even if it was rare moments like when he had to go to a turtle island (he begged his dad to take him there one day... it might not happen either).
In a way... the sea reminded him of a home he never knew of just like his father never knew. "Dad... where the hell are you?" He muttered quietly, staring into the sea that seemed to ripple as the oars clashed into their depths. His own reflection stared back at him, mimicking the sorrow coating his face. Boruto clenched his fist on one of the two oars that he held, ripping his gaze away... to be face to face with a giant wave.
He let out a loud shriek of surprise, abandoning his oars to get a better grip on the rowboat. How the hell did waves grow so fast like this?! The wave slapped down on the sea with a loud boom. For the reaction of that action... it was another giant wave that swallowed his boat whole. Within seconds, he was holding his breath in the angered sea while the waves above created impacts in the ground.
Boruto threw his energy into his arms and legs, struggling not to breathe the water in as he reached the surface. He panted, taking in new air for the few seconds as the salty sea air blew into his face with the rising wind currents. His hands slapped against the wide depths that tried to swallow him whole while starting to feel a itchy burn along the skin. His legs fought against the water that was making it harder and harder to move, why was it like this suddenly-?!
"In stories, some people cannot understand when it'll end." A voice had spoke out in the rushing waters. Boruto snapped his head left and right before crying out as the water swallowed him again.
Repeating the process of reaching the surface again, he cried out, "What-What?!"
"A child's story ending way to soon... even for fate to understand. You and your father will have to do to fix this... now won't you?"
"Where's my dad?! Who are you?!" He snarled, looking left and right for the culprit. This thing... it had to have taken his dad to know why the hell he was out on this sea.
"For you... young child... your story will have to change..."
"Come on, tell me what's going on!" He pleaded this time, feeling another wave trying to drag him down. Why was this thing rattling on to him if it had him in its clutches?!
"Complete the story that needs to be completed to find your father... only then, you'll return home."
Light exploded in front of him and Boruto instinctively twisted his eyes shut at the brightness in the storm. In his mind he could hear the raging winds, the slush sounds coming from the sea smashing into itself... but it was becoming quiet, too quiet. Within seconds a white whirlpool popped up from the currents clashing against each other. Boruto threw his hands in front of himself, trying to swim away but it turned out to be a fruitless effort. As it should have been... the whirlpool sucked him up before everything turned black.
His breath exploded out suddenly, his body raking in shivers. What the hell was that?! Did... did he die?!
"Hey kid! Are you alright?" Kid? The thought raced through his mind, making him glance down at himself... to luckily withhold a scream. Why the hell was he so... young? And, didn't people recognize him? It was hard to forget that he's the child of the Hero of the Fourth Great Ninja War, everyone had to have known about his children. All that he really could consider was that he was alive... that was all that mattered.
He shook his head, releasing a sigh as he finally caught his breath, "Where am I...?" That was the first question he really needed to answer, right now. Then to the nearest village leader to find a way home, hopefully...
"Well kid, we were in the North Blue awhile ago... then the Grand Line... now we're here!" The man let out an awkward laugh, grinning at him with other men on board. Boruto shifted the blanket along himself while attempting to dismiss the shivers that were spreading throughout his body, "Anyways, we're in the East Blue!" The man added, the chef's hat slightly tilted along his head.
"East... Blue...?" What the hell was this place?
"Crap! Didn't the doc say he wouldn't have amnesia or something like this for being in the sea for so long!?" One of them asked, the others nodding their head.
"Doc did say that... and his diagnosis usually wouldn't be messed up."
"Well, he has been slipping up with the passengers lately," The first one reminded, before kindly kneeling down towards him. How the hell would he have amnesia? Why wouldn't he remember what the hell was going on?! He was within the Elemental Nations, well, on the sea of Mizu no Kuni before the sea betrayed him and swallowed him away! Unless... he was moved somewhere else by the stupid random whirlpool and that crazy man speaking to him, it was like her father's Rinnegan... but different in several ways!
"Kid... can you remember anything about yourself?" The man with the biggest chef's hat questioned.
It was the perfect chance to start anew... until someone found him, then everything could be normal again... could it? "No..."
"Can you remember your name? Or your place of birth?" Boruto let his eyes roam around as his mind began to think about it.
He said the first thing out of his mouth as a reply as his thoughts raced, "My name... it's Sanji, and I'm from the North Blue," His voice responded, electric blue eyes glinting darker than previously seen. One cook beamed at him.
"Aw man! We were just gonna call you Mr. Whiskers if you had nothing better to name yourself or if you didn't give us one," He joked. Sanji scowled at him, "Just joking kid! Jeez, don't let your blood boil!" He laughed it off, allowing Sanji give out a slight chuckle, his two whisker marks on each cheek stretching out slightly to accommodate a smile.
"Fine, its fine," He coolly tried to play it off.
The three chefs looked at each other, "Anyways, wouldn't your family worried about you by now? Do you need a way to contact them or something?" The man questioned... and Sanji shook his head. Where ever he was, this wasn't near the Elemental Nations, it would be useless to find something like a phone around here and call his mom, mentor or someone close.
"We can always drop you off at the next island if you want?" Another cook added in.
"Idiot!" The one with the large chef's hat berated, "He has no memories, it would be stupid just to leave him to fend for himself!"
"What are you suggesting we do?"
"We're gonna teach him how to be a chef of course!"
"What if he doesn't want that either?!" The arguing cook sneered, making the hat wearing one perk up with rage.
"Hey hey hey!" Sanji called, raising his hands lightly. Both cooks wilted from their fight, making one of them whine as they had to set down a pan, "I can be a cook, okay? It'll be fine."
"Alright! Ha! In your face!" The chef mocked, making the other narrow his eyes in annoyance.
Sanji ducked his head, a sigh leaving him as both cooks smacked each other with pans. Why did he get dragged into this?
Months had gone by since "Sanji" had been introduced to this dimension, and so far... he was beginning to like this, "Hey kid, hand me the garlic." Sanji handed it off, flipping through a book he had purchased with his allowance while working on this ship, the youngest cook in training.
"Devil fruits..." He muttered to himself, flipping through the pages swiftly. They reminded him of chakra all to well... something he rarely used now! He could feel the pool within his chest aching to be released, but he was too afraid to draw upon it. What if he lost the last thing that made him a shinobi? His headband was gone to the sea, his whiskers were disappearing slowly everyday without much of a hint towards it, his old outfit was off and replaced with torn shreds when he woke up with the cooks, maybe some whirlpool-portal bullshit that tore it to pieces. And guess what? His eyebrows were curled and his scar on his right eye was gone!
That's right, his body was changing completely to his character and it was terrifying. He thought he could keep those whisker marks, and now all that he had left was the chakra within that kept him at ease, he was still Uzumaki Boruto... if he lost that piece of himself, it would feel like losing himself similar to losing his scar on his eye and his father.
He shook his head, going back to gaze at the book. The Clear Clear Fruit sounded like one of those ninja techniques, something he really couldn't remember... was he slipping from his ninja side too much?
He nodded sagely to himself, he better try to remember some things of the shinobi dimension, or else everything that made him "Boruto" would be gone, and all that would remain is a little piece, that would be "Sanji", the new him. He would rather avoid that situation, thank you very much.
After the first month had gone by, Sanji decided to learn about the world more than what the cooks told him about. The only thing that really stuck out to him was the way they mentioned the All Blue. It was a legend to them like it was a home to his dad... but the little tale was the same as it was before. A sea where all the fish in the seas (or four Blues here) collide into one. Once he heard about that, Sanji decided to find the All Blue. If it existed here... then it would prove that the "dimension" idea was bullshit and his home was somewhere else that he didn't know about.
As this happened, his instincts clenched together, a storm outside brewing. Should he be worried about the storm more...? Or the sick feeling spewing around in his stomach? Sanji perked up, hearing storming feet along the deck. The cooks all ran outside as soon as they heard screaming, it had to be that something bad was happening, maybe the ship had crashed and everyone was to die or something? Okay, why was he beginning to be so morbid to himself? Sanji grabbed two knives (they reminded him of kunai, he was trained with kunai so this shouldn't be that hard) for a just in case situation.
His body stormed up the stairs, knives at the side as he pushed the door open. His eyes connected to those staring back at him. He didn't understand, he didn't meet this man yet... and yet he felt compelled at the moment. Why? He didn't understand. He lower the knives' stance slightly, for the boat to jerk at the harsh pull, the waves booming forward and swallowing the pirate ship near the Orbit whole. Another followed along, making Sanji grit his teeth and stare at it with the best look of bravery he could muster. If he was to die today, and never get back home, then so be it... but someday...
"I WILL FIND THE ALL BLUE!" He didn't understand it, but "Boruto" and "Sanji" felt put at ease saying those words... those words of the last moment he thought he could have. Sanji charged at the pirates without much care in his words for he wanted to protect those on the ship... after all... losing those people would be like losing his dad. The man that he attacked was a nearby pirate, the pirate he attacked merely laughed at him and goaded him for attacking.
The captain, one "Red Leg" Zeff didn't like how Sanji fought when everyone else refused to fight. The young cook-in-training jolted as he felt the wind behind him quiver by a sudden appearance. Damn it... now this would be interesting now would it? But Sanji didn't react in time for a leg smashed into his body and he went flying to the ground nearby. That kick... he felt it would break his ribs... but he dealt with worse. He dealt with almost losing an eye, almost dying by lightning... he almost died at the hands of his mentor who he challenged without care... this was noting.
Sanji crawled along the deck before digging his teeth into the pirate's leg, feeling the knives slip out of his hands before he formed a hand sign he tried to abandon long ago. The old man's eyes widen in surprise a bit as two more clones popped out of the hard rain. They hissed, grabbing one knife each to charge at the old man... within minutes Sanji lost his clones and was sent flying to the ground once again. He growled softly to himself, hearing the cooks yell in horror at him for what he had just done... after all... no one who could have the powers he did in this world could swim... and yet he could swim without a care.
The ship was swallowed by waves that Sanji began to hate. He was swept into the sea that tried to kill him before... the ships of the pirates and the dining crew swallowed by the dark depths. That was it... Sanji knew it was the end... all until hands grabbed him and everything disappeared in darkness.
