A/N: Enjoy this chapter!
The richly flavoured vapour from the kitchen wafted through the entire ramen stall. The warmth was peculiarly satisfying, Boruto thought, even if the humidity it brought about was slightly suffocating. He paused for a moment to bask in the smell. It made him feel at home. Boruto, bizarrely, tried licking the air to catch a trace of the tonkotsu broth he so desired, which drew puzzled looks from Sasuke and other customers. He simply grinned brilliantly back at them.
"So, remind me again, why are we here?" Sasuke interrogated the boy accusatorily, having so vehemently complained against ramen for dinner. He relented in the end though, much to Boruto's incredulity. "I recalled you saying you hated ramen. I hate it too. This makes no sense."
"Well, you asked me what I wanted to eat and I said ramen. I came and you came along," Boruto justified himself sheepishly. He received his bowl of hot tonkotsu ramen from the store owner and stuck his tongue out in delight at Sasuke. "Besides, I kind of miss eating ramen. My family would go out for ramen at least twice a week." His tone immediately took a nostalgic turn.
"Why am I not surprised…" Sasuke muttered.
"I mean, you can always just starve yourself and not eat anything while watching me eat?" Boruto suggested sardonically. Now that they were in their disguises – he was now a flamboyantly dressed boy with bright red hair while Sasuke was a young adult with a plain black t-shirt, blue jeans and brown hair – he thought he could afford to act a little more cheekily and conspicuously, for public attention did not hold the same level of inconvenience it otherwise would have.
"No thanks."
"Just sit back and enjoy the meal!" Boruto declared triumphantly.
The owner of the ramen stall gave Sasuke his bowl. He gave the owner a nod and uttered a polite word of thanks.
"See? It's not that bad," Boruto insisted. "Sure, it's pretty unhealthy. The flavour can be too strong at times and consuming it on a daily basis can really strain your sanity and –"
"Hey I'm not the one complaining about the taste," Sasuke quipped with a deadpan. "But here we are, slurping on the food of the heavens." The last few words were stressed with a tinge of displeasure, borne out of an inexplicable attempt of masochism. Because ramen, in his opinion, was truly garbage.
Boruto could tell that the man next to him was cursing internally and he snickered loudly. For a brief moment, his entangled web of consternations was dispelled. Much to his own surprise, he felt… nice.
"You know, you're not that bad of a person," Boruto blurted out before chastising himself mentally. He hadn't planned this at all. That and, so he reminded himself, he still had a lot of work to do – notably, finding his friends and bringing them back whilst doing something about the situation of this world, which would most likely involve dealing with the man next to him in a manner that is not entirely non-hostile.
The sheer abruptness of it all caught Sasuke off guard. He almost choked on his ramen. It made everything worse.
"… Thanks?"
The sound of explosive kunai's in the distance triggered her sense of awareness, causing adrenaline to course through her veins. Sarada, burst out of her room and launched herself into commotion.
She dodged a kunai that flew in her direction before deflecting a couple more shurikens. A group of enemy shinobi encircled members of Hi no Ishi (there were none that Sarada recognized), who were being plucked off one by one. Yet a sea of enemies stood between her and them. She punched the floor, creating a large fissure and sending a few enemies flying off their backs, temporarily disarming them. This gave her a moment, however fleeting, of respite, which allowed her to examine her surroundings.
Chaos reigned supreme. Dead bodies lay prostrate on the floor, blood seeping out of them. Small, blue slugs – Katsuyu's detachments – were abound, frantically attempting to heal the wounded. Slowly, but surely, Sarada was coming to grips with reality. This was an absolute massacre.
"Sarada!" It was Sakura. The woman was charging towards Sarada, agitated, with their last icy conversation well banished to the back of her mind.
"What's going on?" Sarada asked, not exhibiting any particular indication of remorse, though mainly because the hectic situation meant remorse was the last thing on her mind, paling in comparison to the more rudimentary impulses of survival.
"The prisoner we captured earlier was a deliberate ploy set up by the enemy. He somehow managed to find a way to-" She paused to sidestep an explosive kunai, pulling Sarada away from harm in the process."- to get our location out. I'm not one hundred percent sure how that worked. But this had to be the case. And now the forces of the government, mainly the elite Hyuuga unit, are out to exterminate us. They've already done some pretty severe damage."
Sarada noticed that. The corpses around them were disproportionately comprised of Hi no Ishi members.
"Experience the flames of YOUTH!" Lee bellowed as he kicked away the last member of the enemy forces. As he deactivated his Seventh Gate state, he immediately collapsed onto the floor out of sheer exhaustion. His muscles and tendons have all been strained till breaking point, roaring with a sharp pain that threatened to consume his consciousness at the very moment. He fought back the desire to pass out, biting his lips with a vigorous zeal. "Tenten, the rest is up to you! Unseal the Hachibi, quick!"
His companion inclined, unfurling her vast inventory of seals and scrolls. They were in a tenuous situation, in spite of having just extinguished their enemies, for they were both fatigued by hours and hours of fighting. Any more reinforcements and their survival would have been imperilled. She had not a moment to waste.
Boruto slurped the remaining tonkotsu soup from his bowl and sighed in delight. Sure, it was way too flavoursome, too salty, too creamy for his taste but, inexplicably, it made him feel so satisfied. His stomach was full and bulging, perhaps for the first time in days.
"So, what are you going to do?" He asked Sasuke, who was also finishing his ramen.
"What exactly do you mean by that?"
"I mean, what are you going to do afterwards? Not just work, but … you know… what do you plan to do with your… life?" Boruto struggled for words. He didn't exactly know how to phrase 'so are you ever going to let me go and find my friends and return home' in a polite way. He winced, realizing just how vague his question was. In all likelihood, he probably made things worse with it. "Okay, what I wanted to say was what do you plan on doing? And errr what are you going to do with me? I'd really appreciate some clarity on that matter."
Sasuke looked taken aback; he hadn't expected Boruto to abruptly insert an inquiry like that. "Come on, Boruto, let's go."
"Don't-"
"I'll tell you on the way, how about that? We're not really in the most ideal location to be discussing sensitive information." Whatever semblance of Sasuke being at ease had evaporated instantly.
"Fine." Boruto pouted.
"Good."
Sarada dodged the deadly blow of the gentle fist just in time. She weaved a few hand signs and sent a giant fireball hurling in her opponent's direction. He easily blocked it with his juken, scoffing arrogantly at Sarada for the juvenile nature of her attack, only to realise that she was right up close. She concentrated a strong pool of chakra in her right palm and punched his stomach, all in quick speed, retreating before he could attempt to seal off her chakra pathways. He fell to the floor and coughed a few drops of blood, glaring at her with venomous cold pearl eyes.
"Leave her," a familiar icy voice commanded. It was Hanabi, striding towards Sarada, her eyes gleaming with excitement. "Find someone else to finish off – she's mine." The other Hyuuga man scuttled off in search of another opponent, in partial relief, all while Hanabi fixed her gaze on Sarada like a nefarious predator. Sarada, even after their last deadly encounter, still found it difficult to reconcile the menacing, ambitious woman in front of her with Boruto's laid-back, affable aunt. The other woman had baked cookies, gave Sarada cheeky relationship advice and frequently imparted to Boruto snide, snarky remarks that he would later try (and fail) to regurgitate during their missions and training sessions. Perhaps the past has simply diverged too much. Sarada braced herself for another fight, this time opting for her opponent to strike first. Sarada drew a defensive stance, much to her opponent's amusement.
The Hyuuga were a defensive bunch, the kind that would wait for their rivals to attack, falter and then counter with a deadly precision. Sarada had learnt her lesson from last time. In terms of physical strength, she had the definite advantage. But she had to deal her blows sparsely and carefully, for Hanabi possessed the ability to seal off her chakra. And being a kunoichi that relies a lot on chakra-enhanced strength, she knew that once her chakra is sealed, she'd be virtually incapacitated, helpless against a ruthless opponent.
"What's the matter, afraid to fight?" Hanabi's voice sounded taunting, almost goading Sarada to attack. "Did last time scare you a little too much?"
Sarada ignored the woman's words, focusing instead on her opponent's every stance and gesture, waiting for an indication of an attack.
"Capturing you alive last time didn't yield the desired results," Hanabi remarked with mock disappointment. "The Hokage gave that brat Boruto an order to release you. You won't be so lucky this time."
"No," Sarada refuted the woman in front of her, suppressing the internal urge to impulsively punch the ground. "You're the one who won't be so lucky this time.
And with that, Hanabi went on the offensive as her fists, laced with chakra on their tips, targeted Sarada's vitals. The girl somersaulted backwards; her Sharingan saw those movements just in time to avoid being hit.
She breathed a small sigh of relief.
She shifted the bulk of her chakra on her right foot and gently kicked the floor, opening a few cracks and sending off a blast wave in hopes of knocking Hanabi off balance. The woman evaded the trap delicately, with gracefully light and lethal footsteps.
Not enough, Sarada analysed, ignoring Hanabi's eyes and the bulging veins that surrounded them. Hanabi attacked again, this time targeting her arms, seeking to cut off the chakra supply there. Sarada shunshinned away and began weaving the necessary hand signs for a fire jutsu.
"Phoenix flower jutsu!" She yelled as swirls of fireballs propelled themselves at her opponent, who dispelled them with ease. Without even a millisecond of respite, Sarada threw a giant shuriken laced with explosive tags at Hanabi, using the few seconds Hanabi spent deflecting the weapon to formulate hand signs that conjured the chidori.
She charged at her opponent, the sound of a thousand birds fuming in her right palm.
"So," Boruto broke the silence again, revealing signs of irritation at being kept in the dark about his own fate. "What do you want with me?"
"The real question is, Boruto, what do you want to do?" The man's reply only served to rile Boruto even further.
"Me? I think you already know. I want to find my friends, find that scroll and go home. But, you know, you've been keeping me at your house for a couple of days now, so I was just wondering, what was the point of it all?"
"The point of it all… I suppose there is no point, other than keeping you away from Hi no Ishi, kid."
"Why though? My friends are there, so it's the only logical place I'd go if I wanted to find them!" Boruto complained. That was mostly true, although he left out the part about wanting to do something about this world.
Sasuke's face bore a stony expression; it was hard to tell what he was thinking.
He started speaking: "But that's not how they think of you Boruto. You're one of the children of the prophecy. They'll use you as their soldier, their tool. And… my sources say they were originally planning on making you the new jinchuriki of the Kyuubi. That is now out of the equation, of course. Now you may think I'm just making this all up. That's fine. But if you think for one moment that they'll let you go without any requirements, you're wrong."
"Wait, what?! Me? The hell are you talking about?!"
"There aren't many Uzumakis left in this world, kid. In fact, I don't think there are any at all, apart from you. Uzumakis have a speciality in dealing with the Kyuubi. This is what my spies have told me."
"Spies? Yeah, how on earth am I supposed to believe-"
"The same spies that have leaked the location of Hi no Ishi's base in the Land of Grass. The same spies that have informed me of the prophecy. Don't bother finding out who they are, Boruto, for they're just nameless shinobi. Probably too insignificant for the upper command of Hi no Ishi to even bat an eye."
There was something chilling about the way Sasuke spoke, the way his coal-black eyes pierced through Boruto. This was the man whose very name struck fear into the hearts shinobi and civilian all over the continent. Boruto was rudely reminded of that – it was something he had forgotten over the past few days. He felt himself shivering all of a sudden, petrified, nerves frozen.
"Boruto, are you going to just stand there?"
"I'm coming…" The boy muttered.
She missed, barely, slicing off a portion of Hanabi's hair, leaving the woman visibly annoyed.
Hanabi initiated the Eight Trigrams Sixty Four Palms formation. Sarada knew this meant trouble; she recalled reading about its ability to completely seal off an opponent's chakra if successful.
She dodged the first blow by substituting herself using the henge jutsu. She read her opponent's moves just in time. A head on confrontation might not be the best idea, Sarada reflected internally.
Sensing another attack, she leapt far, far away from Hanabi.
The Hyuuga were great short-distance fighters, Sarada concluded. Best if I use more long-range jutsu, even if the likelihood and effectiveness diminishes due to their defensive capabilities. Seeing that Hanabi was about to close in within attack range, Sarada bolted again, spitting out a major fireball jutsu in the process.
She turned around and Hanabi was behind her. Crap, Sarada cursed mentally. The woman had evidentially used a shunshin to get close to her. Her left arm avoided an attack in the nick of time, yet the suddenness of her movements caused her to lose balance. Sarada tumbled onto the ground. She quickly brushed off the dust and steadied herself, only to be forced back again by Hanabi's onslaught.
Slam.
Sarada looked around quizzically, surprised at her turn of luck. It was Sakura.
"Careful Sarada, she's one of the most difficult ones out there," Sakura warned, with concern etched into her visage.
Sarada nodded, this time gratefully. Regardless of her muddle sentiments towards the woman in front of her, for this time at least, she was thankful of Sakura's timely intervention.
Hanabi got up from the floor, noticeably frustrated at the deterrence of her assault. She had a cold, murderous gaze fixed onto the two of them, both Sakura and Sarada.
"Looks like we're in this together," Sarada noticed, frowning in concentration.
"Looks like we are."
They were back in Sasuke's house and Boruto dreaded the impending boredom as he crossed the threshold.
"Hey, out of curiosity," Boruto began initiating conversation, because he was always the one who did, "when are you going back to your actual office?"
"Why do you ask?" Sasuke responded as he took off his sandals.
"I mean, aren't people going to feel a bit worried or weirded out at least if their boss isn't in the office? Don't get me wrong but from my experience at least, Hokages never leave the Hokage Tower-"
"Boruto, enough," Sasuke commanded bluntly.
"What a jerk. I was just asking you a question."
Sakura had activated her byakugou seal and purple laces were spreading throughout her body.
"This should help neuter some of Hanabi's advantage," she explained tersely to Sarada. "The massive chakra storage within the seal should at least negate some effects of the gentle fist, that is if Hanabi did strike a few successful blows. Oh and," she added as she placed a small slug on Sarada's left shoulder, "Katsuyu's detachment should help heal you and restore some of your chakra if need be."
"Thanks," was all Sarada could muster before Hanabi attacked again. She sidestepped a blow aimed at her heart, only to suffer another one on her left arm. It came rapidly, mercilessly. To say it hurt would be a mischaracterization, it was numbing yet at the same time disseminated a piercing deadness. Her arm felt heavy, useless. She could still raise it, move it, but something was off. There was no chakra flowing through it anymore.
Fortunately, Sakura managed to deflect another attack from Hanabi, throwing the woman off her feet.
"Are you okay?" Sakura called with a hint of worry.
Sarada nodded. She drew close to Sakura.
"We need a plan to finish her off," Sarada whispered.
"How good are you with genjutsu?" Sakura asked.
"Slightly above average," Sarada replied.
"Do you reckon you can distract her for just a few seconds?"
"I'll try."
And with that, Sarada switched places with Sakura, facing Hanabi in front while Sakura stayed at the back, waiting for the right opportunity to intercept.
"Oh poor Sarada," taunted Hanabi. "Unable to-"
Sarada slammed her other fist, the one still able to access chakra, into Hanabi's gut. Her opponent didn't seem too disturbed, largely dodging the attack and waving it off as a mild form of nuisance – it hurt at the side, but it was by no means fatal. Hanabi capitalised this as an opportunity to seal off the chakra pathways to Sarada's other arm. Not wasting a single instance, Sarada looked at the woman straight in the eye and cast a genjutsu.
Hanabi froze, dazzled. Sarada had designed the illusion such that it showed Hanabi a version of the end of their fight, one with Sarada lay defeated and dead on the ground. The woman's expressions revealed delight, relief.
Out of the blue, before their opponent could recover, Sakura kicked the woman in the face, causing her to crash into the ground, and, before she could react, aimed for her heart with a chakra-coated palm.
"A disaster," Kakashi concluded grimly after surveying the array of dead bodies around them. Indeed, Hi no Ishi had lost many men and women that night, with less than a quarter of their base members surviving. They were depleted and diminished, at least in the Land of Grass.
Sarada winced in pain as Sakura healed wounds all over her body.
"I'm afraid the chakra pathways to your arms are sealed off for the moment," Sakura observed. "Give it a few hours and it will unblock itself naturally. You'll have to stay safe for the moment though."
Sarada nodded in acknowledgement. Just as Sakura was about to turn away and direct her efforts towards other shinobi, Sarada uttered the words: "Thank you, Sakura. I would have died back then without your help."
"There's no need for that," Sakura replied as her mouth contorted with an unreadable emotion. "I would have done it any day. We were comrades in battle, after all."
Unable to search for the right words, Sarada merely smiled back at her. The girl still felt awkwardness creeping up upon them but her previous feelings resentment had faded. This woman was by no means her mother, nor is she some familiar acquaintance, yet she was still fundamentally human, Sarada thought. She has her own set of goals, her own sources of motivation, all shaped by the divergences of the past. She lived a hard life and she became cynical and better because of it.
She was by no means a bad person, Sarada concluded. At the very least, I can offer her some sense of understanding and respect.
"We better leave here soon," Kakashi cautioned, jolting Sarada back to the urgency of their situation. "Enemy forces will know we are here. This base is as good as gone."
The next day
Boruto languished on the chair, half-asleep and agonizing from sheer boredom. Sasuke was on the other side of the room, at his desk, working on more paperwork. It was mid afternoon, a few short minutes before dusk settles in, meaning Boruto had been in Sasuke's office for hours and hours. He tried reading, he really did. But in no less than ten minutes did words stop registering in his mind – they became an array of blots and symbols that meant nothing and told of nothing. It didn't help that they were all mediocre, government-sanctioned and sanitized texts.
"Hey, I'd really appreciate it if you'd just let me do something fun!" Boruto moaned, expecting to be shot down, as was what regularly happened in the past few hours.
He saw Sasuke's brows furrow and quiver in discomfort. Without warning, the man activated his Rinnegan and Mangekyo Sharingan, the spinning, kaleidoscopic eyes making Boruto jump out of his chair in fright.
"Hey! I was just asking, there's no need to overreact!" He defended himself frantically.
"No, Boruto, I sense a strange presence in this land," Sasuke whispered, shocked. For the first time in this world, Boruto thought he saw anxiety in the man's eyes. "A disturbance. Boruto, you were right."
Chomei, Shino and the remaining members of the Hi no Ishi unit breathed in relief as the last of their enemies were defeated. It has been a long, draining fight that lasted more than a day, straining and testing one's endurance, perseverance and resilience – and chakra supplies. Shino knew Hi no Ishi would have lost if it weren't for Chomei's vast pool of reserves.
Yet the sense of fatigued jubilation was interrupted by dark swirling clouds in the skies.
Two celestial beings, with ghostly pale white skin and empty pearl eyes descended from the heavens, though Shino could tell they were no saviours. One of them was large, stout and bulky in his physique, resembling a giant ogre with his horns. The other was thinner, more regal in appearance, striding towards Chomei with a lethal grace.
"We're in luck, Lord Momoshiki."
A/N: So, Sarada takes a bit hit this time, getting severely chakra-blocked. She and Sakura semi-reconcile but there still remains a strange feeling of distance. And Hanabi is... dead. I sincerely apologise for the subpar fight scene I just wrote. I'm just really not the best person to write fight scenes. Oh well, each to their own.
As for Boruto, he's feeling a bit mixed right now. He's frustrated at his inability to do anything at the moment, but he's also starting to see Sasuke as a person who never completely let go of the past. He's also essentially trapped because Sasuke wouldn't let him go anywhere.
And Momoshiki and Kinshiki make their appearance. That's all I'll say for now. It took me a while to decide on this - but I've decided on this a long time ago.
Once again, thank you all so much for your kind and helpful comments. You're all amazing people and you all make my day!
Please leave your thoughts and comments on this chapter in the reviews! Ending predictions are still on :D