Full Summary: Uchiha-Uzumaki Boruto was the grandson of the 4th Hokage, great-grandnephew of the 5th, godson of the 6th, the son of the 7th and the husband of the 8th. He was also the apprentice of the 7th Hokage's Shadow: Uchiha Sasuke, who was also his father-in-law. He was the 8th Hokage's shadow, and the future head of the Uchiha Clan (by marriage).
When his sister, a prophesied child of great miracle or utmost destruction, was kidnapped and thrown into the loop of timeless dimension, he knew he had to save her. Not without being told by his wife who was staring at him pleadingly that he was about to be a father.
"Stay safe, Boruto. Stay safe and stay strong. For both of us. Your child and I. Please. Come back to us."
IMPORTANT: AU/AR. Canon, yet not. So, facts you knew in the manga will be different. Time-travel. Canon pairings, mostly. AU/AR. AU/AR. AU/AR. Honestly, if the Japanese terms are in kanji, you'll find that they would refer to a specific cause. Eg. Kaa-san can either mean mother or mother-in-law depending what kanji are used. But oh well, I'll try to make them look specific. I'm not a pro in Japanese anyway, just as clueless. Yosh, I'll try my best
Disclaimer:I do not own Naruto and any known characters.
This story is dedicated to xeniarunex, my irreplaceable best friend who brought me to this fandom
He was breathing heavily and loudly, assessing the situation through the exploding building and scorching fire. He wiped the sweats on his forehead with the back of his gloved hand, leaving streaks of blood which were not of his own.
He twirled the kunai in his finger twice and gripped the handle hard before throwing it with a surge of wind chakra and a whisper of 'Sharingan.' A small seal beside his left eye began to glow and his blue eye began to swirl. The implanted eye, which had once belonged to his father-in-law's older brother blazed to life and he felt the throbbing strain on his left eye. With a flick of his wrist, the kunai impaled through the head of five men and knocked over a speeding kunai that was heading towards his male teammate's left ear. The loud clang started the frosty blue haired man and he saw the kunai embedded on the enemy behind him. No grateful words were muttered on the battlefield.
The blond-haired man hissed in pain, momentarily massaging his aching head before powering his jump with just a wisp of his plentiful chakra. How the sixth Hokage had lived for many years with an unmodified implanted Sharingan and had tolerated the throbbing headache that came with it was a wonder to him. Hatake Kakashi—his godfather—had his utmost respect. He reckoned that was the reason why the man read those booksback during his jounin days: for distraction. His father had said that ever since Kakashi's Sharingan was gone, the book was occasionally seen and was only there for teasing.
He nearly missed the sharp swing of a wakizashi plunging towards him and with a swift grip on one kunai from his pouch, he met the blade with a loud clang and manoeuvred the descending blade to the side. His opponent snarled with bursting vexation, a second enough for the blond man to evaluate his opponent's weak point and struck a resolute blow to the bleeding wound. The enemy cried aloud in agony before he was choking on his own blood from the swipe of kunai to his throat.
He hated this. Uchiha-Uzumaki Boruto, Uchiha by marriage to the only heir of the clan, hated to kill. He hated the warmth of his opponent's blood ran down his fingers and cooling as they coated his hands. He hated how easy a person's life would just slip away with only a flick of a hand and a well-aimed strike on certain weak points. Didn't his father during his reign as the seventh Hokage had instilled the importance of life over mission so blatantly? Hadn't his wife as the eighth Hokage continued her predecessor's legacy and skilfully fusing technology with shinobi-related to minimise fatality and increase success rate during missions? He clenched his jaw as he struck a kunai on a chest and heard a pained whimper from the rapidly dying body.
Today wasn't supposed to turn out this way.
Today was supposed to be a day of celebration. A day of remembrance of many events from different times. Today was supposed to be the day of remembrance for the heroic fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato—his grandfather, who was a war hero. Today was supposed to be the day of remembrance for those who had won, survived or died, from the fourth shinobi war. Today was supposed to be the celebration of another war hero, Uzumaki(né Namikaze) Naruto's 45th birthday.
They were careless. Konoha was careless. They weren't prepared for the sudden invasion or any kind of invasion, only because today was supposedto be a day of joyous festivity. This invasion, however, was especially perplexing. Only because they were attacked by a clan everyone believed had long perished, especially after the death of the revived matriarch during the fourth Shinobi war: Ootsutsuki Clan. He spared a confused glance at the insignia headband of the clan and witnessed the amount of foreign shinobi with the same insignia around him, fighting against his comrades. The traits that made them look a part of the clan was either their very fair skin or pointed eyes or both. There were many and various designs on their arm, which to Boruto's fascination, looked a mixture of seals masked on aesthetic tattoos. Their skills were at least of jounin-level, but only so. He had yet to find anyone who was at Kage-level yet. So, to an accomplished shinobi like Boruto who was known to be the dark shadow for the eighth Hokage—also, a diligent apprentice of the former shadow, Sasuke, for the seventh—and the head of the Hokage's personal guards found himself gracefully fighting through the invasion, almost with ease. 'What the hell is going on here?'
"I don't know either," Mitsuki spoke audibly as he appeared beside him as if he had read Boruto's mind. His golden eyes too were regarding the situation around them with palpable confusion for a moment before he kicked the ground with sufficient chakra to jump high and far and landed in the middle of the fight that he calculated needing his help the most.
The twenty-four years old man heaved an irritated sigh and was about to jump away when an enemy of slightly different clothing appeared near him, slicing the air with unyielding strike where Boruto's arm had once been if he hadn't dodged it at the last second. A long trail of a red line appeared on his arm and just as it was about to bleed profusely, his quick regeneration—a blessing of being an Uzumaki and son of a powerful jinchuuriki—kicked in, and he was starting to heal steadily.
Boruto had tried to ask questions to the invaders ever since the invasion started, but he soon learnt that none of them were willing to talk—not even a hint of their motives. However, this man in particular, who was smirking at him over the clashing of the man's wakizashi and his kunai, seemed like someone who would talk to him about it. The man's pointed eyes shone with mirth and derision as he chuckled at Boruto's serious look, countering each blow and clash with precise ease. Boruto began to put more effort and strength into each hit and his opponent also increase his effort to match Boruto's own.
Suddenly, Boruto heard a battle cry—more than enough to motivate others who had heard it and gave hope that they would survive through this—and Boruto's heart plummeted. His father was supposed to be sleeping, resting in the hospital, not out here to fight against this invasion. He knew his father well, and despite how sickly and bordering death he would be, Naruto was known to stand up and help out whenever he could. His father was a hero, a beloved idol, through and through.
However, his father was deathly sick. His usually tanned skin was pale white and his once sturdy body was looking thinner and fragile than he was two months before. That was why his successor, Sarada took his place as the eighth Hokage and everyone prayed that their beloved hero would be healthy again. From his mother-in-law's assessment, his father was poisoned with a very lethal yet-to-be-known herbs. Sakura had tried everything she could, along with his mother, Uzumaki (née Hyuuga) Hinata in the hospital to create an antidote for him and they had yet to find one. Boruto thanked Kurama every single day for his profuse effort in keeping Naruto alive. He just hoped that Kurama was able to keep him alive even after this invasion ended.
"He just doesn't know when to give up," the manww suddenly piped up as he dodged a chakra laced punch from Boruto and giving his own which Boruto gracefully ducked. "He was supposed to be dead the second the poison was in." The man then gave an exaggerated sigh of exasperation, and then gave Boruto a sly look over their clash of kunai, "No one ever survived it, not even this long." His gaze shifted briefly towards Naruto and the man grinned knowingly as he met Boruto's azure eyes, "Not for long anymore. Heh."
Boruto eyes widened in revelation, and he sent a blow with barely restrained fury towards the man. He sailed to the air and landed hard on his back. The sound of his broken rib mollified Boruto's anger a little and without giving the enemy a chance to gather himself, Boruto quickly formed a repetitive practice seal that he didn't need to chant the jutsu aloud anymore. In just a second, three kage bunshin appeared and shunshined: two beside the man and another was power-jumping towards Naruto, who even was poisoned and dying, looking gallant and sending powerful punches in his bijuu mode. A momentary burst of chakra and the bijuu mode disappeared. Naruto crumpled at his feet and screamed in pain. Boruto's azure eyes widened in horror, gasping a breathless "Tou-chan," and he quickly hiraishined towards his father as he activated the seal on his father's lower back. He caught his father just right before he fell to the ground. The older blonde man was writhing and gasping in pain. Boruto was horrified how light and delicate his father felt in his arms. Why must his father be so goddamn stubborn?!
"Tou-chan!"Boruto shrieked, chanting "Oh, please, please, please, please," under his breath. "Kurama, please keep tou-chan alive. I'm going to bring him to Kaa-san(in-law)!" He closed his eyes and tried to probe the hiraishin seal in the hospital when Naruto tugged on his sleeve. When he saw chakra swirled in those blue eyes, he knew his father was receiving information back from his only kage bunshin. The horrified look accompanied with it was ominous, and Naruto met his son's eyes disbelievingly.
"Find Hima-chan! Find your sister! Quick!" Naruto's raspy voice growled with heedless desperation. The befuddled look from his son angered him and Naruto pushed his son forcefully, crying in pain as he did so, and he fell on the ground."GO!" Naruto growled through gritted teeth.
"NO!" Boruto screamed back, taking his father in his arms again and activated the hiraishin seal placed in the hospital. Naruto groaned aloud, feeling vexed and pain. "KAA-SAN!" Boruto bellowed, searching frantically for his mother-in-law. His blind blue right eye swiftly shifted into Byakugan, minus the usual Byakugan eye muscles strain, and he saw everyone in chakra vision. 'There,' he saw Uchiha (née Haruno) Sakura's chakra moving around a large room filled with new patients that were coming in.
"Boruto…" Naruto whimpered, refusing by will alone to not slip into unconsciousness, "Please… Himawari…" Even as a kage bunshin, Boruto could feel the hair on his neck raised with pending premonition. He knew something was wrong because his father was being desperate about his only sister. "Hima-chan… danger… Boruto…" Tears ran down Naruto's pale face. Right before Naruto finally crumpled into oblivion, he whispered his only beloved daughter's name. His voice was laced with sorrow and pain and that worried Boruto greatly.
The only reason that made Boruto not to run hastily to his sister was his acknowledgement of his sister's ability and strength. Uzumaki Himawari was a powerful jounin with a frightening reputation especially when her Byakugan activated. She was dubbed as the 'Black Habanero,' a mirror-image of their red-haired Uzumaki grandmother.
"Kaa-san!" Boruto ran towards Sakura, who swivelled and gasped in horror to see her teammate looking so dead in her son-in-law's arms.
"Kami-sama, Naruto!" she inhaled deeply, praying inwardly why God had made this man excruciatingly stubborn. She hoped that she would be able to fix him somehow. The Head of the hospital couldn't believe that she had forgotten to check on him the moment the invasion had started. Of course, the reckless idiot would be the hero to save the village instead of staying put on the hospital bed, like all good patient should be. They both ran towards Naruto's designated room and the kage bunshin placed Naruto gently on his bed.
"Stay alive, idiot! Kurama, please help me," Sakura muttered beseechingly as she began to inspect him.
Seeing that his father was in good hands, Boruto was about to dispel himself and send information back to the original when a surge of information from the dispelled kage bunshin came rushing towards him instead. His eyes widened in horror at the new revelation.
The man the original Boruto was fighting with had spoken of their motives with a dark glint in his eyes, "A prophecy was made a month ago,shadow." Boruto's infamous nickname that he inherited from Sasuke was uttered with disgust. "A woman of powerful background, dark yet bright, with eyes all seeing and white, is the perfect medium for Kaguya Ootsutsuki. Falling through the dimension of time will bring out the goddess, and the Ootsutsuki clan will rise again."
"Hanabi-sama!" the original Boruto had gasped. The man threw him an offended look.
"You're as stupid as your father, I see," the enemy snapped, throwing a batch of chakra-laced shiruken towards three Boruto who sidestepped and threw kunai and punches at the man.
Boruto then remembered his adorable yet devastatingly beautiful sister who came to him four weeks ago and told him about a seal that suddenly appeared at her back when she activated her Byakugan. Boruto had sniffed pitifully and pouted at her when she said that she was still upset for his unnecessary meddling with her recent blind date. His overprotectiveness was annoying her. Her nii-chan had an obsession for the sealing art, just like their father's parents did. Boruto's Uzumaki blood tickled excitedly upon learning the art. He had exhausted every known means to learn the seal art and was proud to be known as a seal master. No one was as good as Boruto had been, not until he saw the worrisome complexity of the seal on his sister's back. He had yet to decipher any of it. Through his studies, he had never seen those seals before, but he couldn't help to think that he had overlooked something important.
"Himawari…" Boruto breathing hitched. He didn't see the incoming kunai and a descending sword coming his way and both his kage bunshin had taken those blows for him, disappearing with a 'poff'.
The kage bunshin in the hospital froze at the revelation and a heartbeat later, he hiraishined to his sister's side. He punched the two enemies that had managed to catch his unconscious sister. Why was his sister out cold instead of fighting like she usually was? When the original Boruto appeared beside him, body all bloodied with enemy's blood, then he realised that his sister's body was filled with seals.
"Oh Kami, Hima-chan!" both Boruto had cried out. The original Boruto grabbed his sister from the kage bunshin, holding her cold cheek in his hand. "Hima-chan, wake up," he patted her cheek lightly, "Hima-chan!" She didn't even rouse from his loud calling and gentle patting. His kage bunshin was fighting vigorously with the enemies and Boruto made another two to assist it. He breathed out the word, 'Sharingan' and he watched and memorised the seal on his sister's body. He activated his Byakugan to see how the chakra was flowing and he was horrified to see that Himawari's body shone brightly with chakra. It was then he realized—as his modified sharingan had slowly split the layers apart with ease now that he could see the relation to each of them—what those seals on her body were.
"Kami-sama…" Boruto hissed, "No, not my Hima-chan, not my imouto, no, no, no." He hugged his sister's unconscious body, praying to God why this was happening to him. First, his father, now his beloved, adorable little sister. He couldn't help the sob that came after the first two streams of tears on his whiskered cheeks.
"Boruto!" he heard his wife had shouted and she shunshined beside him. "Things are under controlled. We're winn—Honey, what's wrong? What's happening to Hima-chan?" Her sharingan eyes were blazing as she took in the sight of the steadily glowing seal on her sister-in-law's body.
"She's—she's—she's disappearing, Sarada. She's going away. She's—she's about to leave," Boruto sobbed, his face was still buried at the junction of his sister's neck and shoulder.
"What are you talking about, Boruto? She's here. Do something with the seal, anything. It's doing something weird now," the eighth Hokage said placatingly, knowing how silly and doting Boruto could be when it came to his sister. It was one of the reasons why Sarada had fallen in love with him. She knew that he would be a great lover, a kind husband, and a loving father to her future children.
"I—I can't. It's—it's too late, too complex to break," Boruto wept, and soon, he helplessly saw her getting transparent with each second.
"BORUTO! DO SOMETHING, YOU MORON!" Sarada screamed, grabbing her husband by the collar and shook him fiercely.
"I can't…" Boruto whimpered sadly. Suddenly, there was a blast of chakra wave pouring out from Himawari's body, ripple by ripple, and she was practically floating in the air. Boruto quickly made a modified tracking seal on her wrist and another repression seal on the back of her hand. Himawari inhaled sharply and her Byakugan eyes were wide opened as she breathed in desperately, thrashing in agony.
"No... Hima-chan!" Boruto cried out, trying to hold on to his sister who was floating higher by the minute. There was a chant of "The Goddess almighty!" from the remaining few enemies who were smiling and unflinching as they were killed by the Konoha nins.
Himawari swivelled and locked her gaze to her brother's, "Nii-chan! Help me." She whimpered in pain again, "Don't let her get me. Please. Save me." She tried to reach for him and their fingers barely grazed on each other.
"Stay strong, Hima-chan. I'll come for you, I promise, dattebasa!" Boruto screamed over the loud chakra outpourings and violent gust of wind. He heard Sarada yelled Himawari's name in helpless horror. In just one blink, Himawari disappeared and everything became still. Boruto gasped a soft cry of 'no' and he fell on his knees, downcast eyes. He saw his wife knelt before him and hugged him firmly. He hugged her back sturdily, breathing in her scent as her dark hair brushed his face. "I failed her, Sarada. I failed my sister," he cried into her shoulder, shaking with grief.
Sarada held his shoulders and pushed him out of her embrace, forcing him to meet her determined gaze. "No!" she scolded him as she too wept silently, "No, you didn't, Boruto. You have to go help her." Her gaze faltered for a moment, "You—you can do it, right?" Her tone became slightly uncertain. "You promised," she said without breaking their eye contact.
Boruto's hesitation was very telling and worrying. He gulped aloud twice before he spoke, "I think I can do it. But—but I'm not sure… because-because this is almost unheard of. Deliberately like this, of course."
"What do you mean 'deliberately'?" Sarada stared at him, feeling confused. She ignored her subordinates who appeared beside her to inform the current assessment of Konohagakure. Boruto took this chance to prolong the conversation, nodding at the ninja to speak.
"The citizens are safe, but a quarter of the village is destroyed. There are few casualties on our side and anyone who is injured currently receiving treatment. Only three enemies survived and are under T & I unit's custody," Boruto belatedly realised that it was their ex-classmate, Nara Shikadai who was reporting to them.
"Thank you, Shika," Sarada said with restrained fury, her gaze was still transfixed on her husband's face. The Nara heir hesitated, calculating if he was allowed to ask of his superiors well-being, but the sudden spike of the Hokage's paralysing sakki (killing intent) made him gulped and he nodded before he disappeared. "Uchiha-Uzumaki Boruto," Sarada snapped, forcing the hesitant Boruto to meet her livid-sharingan-blazing gaze again, "What do you mean by 'deliberately'? Can you do it or not?"
Boruto closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. He met his wife's eyes with a new resolution. "I believe I can, and even if I could, I'm not sure if Hima-chan and I can come back together, or even survive this. Maybe I can send just Hima-chan back, but I-I don't know if I'll make it out," he said, his eyes staring at her apologetically. Sarada's eyes widened in horror.
"W-What do you mean you don't know you'll survive this, Boruto? What's 'this' you're talking about!? Where is Hima-chan?" she asked, holding his whiskered cheeks in her palms.
"She's travelling through time, Sarada. She'll be travelling and appearing through different periods of time. I can feel her. I made a seal on her that would connect her to me. She's still falling in the space-time dimension. She's time-travelling," Boruto spoke slowly because he himself knew how impossible the concept sounded like to anyone.
"W-what?" Sarada stuttered, staring at him incredulously. After a moment of staring, Sarada decided to ask another question, "Why can't you come back together?"
"Because… even an Uzumaki's vast chakra born with a streak of kyuubi's power isn't enough to break that seal on her and then, travel through time with a company back to a specific time again," Boruto said calmly, caressing Sarada's tearful cheek.
"B-but… can't you wait to replenish your chakra again after you break the seal?" Sarada asked, feeling glad that her intellect mind came up with the probability. Boruto stared at her with a pained expression.
"I wish I could… but two of those seals wouldn't allow it. Once she descends down the timeline, she'll only have one chance to do it, going one period to another. Those two seals wouldn't allow her to return to the previous timeline she has passed by and she will end up in this timeline, whether Kayuga taking control of her body or not. However, if Kaguya doesn't take control of her body, the seal will disintegrate her body within two minutes. You must remember, Sarada. Tell the other seal-masters to put design 24 from chapter 6 of the second volume, White Blossoming Cress, exactly 45 degrees above those seals. Make them practice it every single day," Boruto hesitated when he saw her ashened face. He gave her a soft smile when she began to hiccup, "I have no choice, Sarada, I have to go to her and break the other seals first before she reaches here... I willtry."
"Then-then, you have to do it waaay before you reach here again. You can do it, Boruto. You must bring both of you here safely and alive. You're a hero, Boruto. Your father is one too. Your grandfather was too. You're able to wing it somehow. Like Naruto-shishou does. He's like that, and you both are so alike that way," Sarada was feeling desperate, but she quelled it with a determined look. She was trying to find the spark of hope in his blue eyes. "Honey, please…" she choked and she couldn't control her tears anymore.
"I will try, love," he whispered gently, taking one of her hand from his cheek and kissed her palm lovingly.
"No," she breathed out miserably, "you have to do it, Boruto. You have to do it,… for us. For both our child and I," she cried, watching carefully how Boruto's eyes bulged out at the news. She didn't want to tell him about her pregnancy this way, but she had to. His gaze shifted from her face to her abdomen, which was still flat, reaching a hand to caress and activating his single Byakugan. He gasped when he saw a small chakra concentrated there and his face wrinkled in pain. "For us, Boruto. Come back to us. Your child needs you, Boruto. I need you. We need you."
Boruto swallowed painfully, holding back his tears and cursed his fate.
Today wasn't supposed to be this way, dammit.
To Be Continued
A/N: This has been bugging me greatly. Now that the plot bunny is laid out—and unbetaed, obviously, I can concentrate on other work. I hope you enjoyed that~ :)
Erm, what do you think?
-Aya