Under this blue sky
A story by The Alternate Writer
Disclaimer:
I do not own Naruto and all relative official works and products. All rights reserved.
Boruto and Sarada walked slowly along the dirt path. It was early in the morning, and the sun was rising in the horizon. Soon, the forest trees left the space to a vast plain of grass, covered with small water bodies. It meant that they were very close to the border with the River country.
"Sarada-chan, how long will it take to arr..." Boruto didn't finish his sentence, as two kunai, with pieces of papers attached on them, embedd on the ground, two meters ahead of the couple.
"Watch out!" Sarada shouted, then her words were followed by two explosion and a vast screen of smoke.
The two jumped backwards, reading their weapon. Sarada was carrying a tanto short sword, while Boruto was armed with a chakra blade.
"BYAKUGAN!"
"SHARINGAN!"
The two young shinobi activated their clan dojutsu, and their eyes shifted colors: hers were red with tomoes on them, while his became surround with thick veins.
They started scanning the smoke screen, looking for potential enemies hidden in it, but it wasn't necessary. It rapidly dissipated itself, showing two figures in it.
Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sakura.
"Dad?"
"Mom?"
The two teens were surprised of their parents' presence.
'Damn, they're fast!' Sarada thought.
The Hokage cleared his throat, then spoke up.
"Boruto. Sarada. What the hell is wrong with you two?" He sternly said.
The couple flinched at their names being called out.
"Sarada. Don't you know how worried sick I was?" Sakura spat angrily.
Seeing the two holding a fighting stance, Naruto smirked.
"Aren't you too young for a love escape?" He casually said.
Boruto and Sarada were stunned for a second by his sentence, blushing red.
'Now!' Naruto suddendly sprinted in their direction, taking advantage of their moment of distraction.
Indeed, the two fleeing ninja were taken by surprise, as they saw the Hokage coming at them.
"Sarada! Run! I'll hold'em!" Boruto cried, while throwing a shuriken to his dad.
It was a useless move, given the fact that even an average shinobi can deflect or avoid 95% of thrown weapons and Naruto, just moved two centimeters aside and let it flew past him.
What he didn't expect was the shuriken to poof, transforming itself into a Boruto clone, who did a 360° spin and throwed two kunai with paper bomb towards Naruto and Sakura.
'You truly are my son/daughter eh?' Both of the parents thought, recalling the memories of about twenty years before, when Sasuke and Naruto used this tactic with Zabuza, during their first real mission.
They jumped in the air, avoiding the explosions then landed a few meters away, watching Sarada trying to convince Boruto to escape with him.
"C'mon, Boruto-kun, let's go!"
"I can't Sarada-chan, they would pursue us and they're faster than you and me. I'll try to hold them. You! Run!"
"I don't want to leave you!"
She moved to his side.
"If we have to fight, we'll fight together. If we have to die, we'll die. Together."
Boruto smiled warmly at her then they prepared their weapons.
Meanwhile, Naruto and Sakura, who listened and watched their dialogue, were shocked by what they heard.
'My, my. They grow up so fast' She softly smiled at the couple.
Naruto, on the other hand, was not happy about this situation.
"You two. Stop saying stupid things and come back with us. You already caused enough trouble to be punished for weeks." He took a step forward.
"I am not asking this as your father..." he looked at Boruto.
"...or as your godfather." then he directed his gaze towards Sarada.
"I am ordering this as the Konohagakure no sato Hokage. And you two, as Shinobi of the Leaf, will abide to my orders!" He angrily shouted.
Sakura was worried. He never saw his teammate like this. He was always that smiling and goofy ninja in her mind. But not a serious, if not scary, shinobi like he was right now, even considering to take down his own child.
"Dad. We will not surrender that easily." Boruto spat back.
Naruto didn't said nothing. Instead his right fist suddendly glowed blue with chakra. It wasn't a Rasengan, rather, it was a chakra-fueled punch. Then, without further words or notice, charged towards them, literally flying above the ground.
His primary target was Sarada, as he thought that if he took her down, his son would not be able to fight back anymore.
"Naruto, wait!" Sakura cried helplessly.
His fist was going to collide with Sarada's stomach.
Five meters…
Four meters…
Three meters…
Two meters…
The Kage's punch was going to hit the young girl. She watched the event without moving, as she knew it was useless and already too late to avoid the hit.
What they all didn't expect was Boruto suddendly putting himself between his father and his girl, in harm's way.
Naruto didn't have the time to stop.
Sakura ran towards the three in a futile attempt to block his friend.
Sarada only shouted his name.
"Boruto!"
Then, Naruto's punch crashed against his own son's body. He watched with terror his child receiving the hit, then spitting blood from his mouth, his eyoung eyelids half closed.
It was like everything was in slow-motion: Naruto stepping back with his arms raised above the head and palms open, Boruto falling on his knees then his body backwards, Sarada catching him from behind, her eyes wide open, starting to form tears and, then, Sakura who rushed to check Boruto's conditions.
The Hokage was frozen shock by what just happened: he had hit his son with a seriously damaging (but not fatal) punch. He harmed him.
Boruto was now lying on the ground, with Sakura's hand on his stomach glowing green due to the healing chakra.
"Why did you do that, baka?!" Sarada cried at him, with tears falling on from her eyes. She was kneeled above his head, her face above his, and the water drop fell from her eyes to his forehead.
He weakly smiled at Sarada, then lifted his right arm, touching her face with the hand.
"Because..." he blurted "…father always taught me..." Naruto and Sakura were listening at him "...that those who broke the rules are trash..." he smiled at her
"...but those who abandon their comrades..." his eyes fixated with Sarada's ones
"...are worse than trash."
The three of them were utterly shocked. It was what Kakashi taught to Team 7 at the beginning of their shinobi lives and what they then teached to their children.
"Boruto..." She touched his hand, that was against her cheek.
Meanwhile, Naruto fell to his knees, his fist grabbing the dirt. He was angry at himself.
'What's happening with me?!' he clutched a chunck of the ground's terrain
'What's wrong with me?! I just nearly killed my own son!'
Sakura continued healing the boy, while watching the interaction between him and her daughter.
'Sarada-chan...' she mused and smiled by herself.
'...you really choose the right one'