A/N: Aaaaannnndd new chapter is up! :) I'm really getting into the flow of writing regularly now that I have only 1 exam left (way at the end of next week.)

The scroll was gone.

That was the second thing Boruto noticed.

For a moment, he couldn't feel anything. His senses were suspended in disbelief. Only moments ago was he engulfed in ecstasy, fuelled by his belief that he would soon be home, with his friends and away from that godforsaken world. Only moments ago, he believed that he had finally done something right this week after his incredibly stupid decision to sneak into his father's office.

He blew it. He had done something even stupider.

He abandoned his friends in the other world and there was no way for him to return to them. More than that, there was no way for them to come home.

The full weight of reality crashed down on him and he collapsed onto the floor, weeping, wailing, and howling with frustration and self-loathing.

Vignettes of his time with Team Konohamaru flew by, swirling around his mind, overwhelming his vision. Their first mission as a team. Sarada scolding him about pranking their sensei. Mitsuki's scandalous revelation of the identity of his parent. Taking the chuunin exams together. Them saving him from falling down the pit in the first round. Them pulverizing bandits together. Them visiting candy stores together. Them having barbecue on Saturday nights. Mitsuki professing his belief in Boruto, Boruto's integrity and grit. Sarada calling him a hero after he had defeated Kinshiki and Momoshiki.

Boruto grunted cynically; they would never think the same of him again. He was disgraced, an apathetic bystander, a person with no principles, a reckless and irresponsible adventurer who landed his best friends in a mess they could never escape.

And they were gone. Gone from his life.

He sobbed, uncontrollably.

The portraits of Konoha's past Hokages seemed to surround him and eye him with scornful, unflinching gazes, chiding him.

They can lambast him all they like. His friends, his family in this world can call him a dishonoured coward. He didn't care because it was true, too true.

Those who break the rules are scum. Sneaking into the Hokage office late at night and lying to the ANBU guards about it? Check.

Those who abandon their friends are worse than scum. Leaving his friends behind in that dark, oppressive dimension (albeit accidentally)? Check.

Those who have no concern for the feelings of their friends are even worse than that. Telling Sarada that she is being a fool for caring about that other world and acting like an opportunistic jackass about it? Check.

He had violated every single teaching his father and his sensei have tried to install in him.

No – there was still more. Those who walk by evil and treat it with a shrug are the worst of them all? Check.

Boruto had never hated himself more.

Mitsuki witnessed the situation in front of him with a state of utter bewilderment. He couldn't believe what just unfolded before his eyes.

Sarada had forcefully, with her super strength, hauled him away from Boruto with her.

You did nothing, Mitsuki mentally berated himself. You did nothing while the other two argued. It should have been you. You should have interfered and solved everything. But no, all you could do was stand there and watch. What good are you?

He had failed. He had failed to be the Moon to Boruto's Sun. Boruto was gone. No – Boruto would never just leave them like this. He had wanted to take them with him. Mitsuki was sure of it. Boruto had tried grabbing Sarada's arm before she slapped him, disorientated his attention, set a temporary genjutsu and substituted her and Mitsuki with a clone.

Mitsuki had been too stunned to react.

And the Sarada in front of him was distraught.

"How – how could he?!" She screamed in front of him. "How could he just- just decide to leave? Does nothing here matter to him?!"

She plunged into him and sobbed.

Mitsuki took a deep breath. She needed his assurance – he had always been the one to provide that in Team Konohamaru. Both Sarada and Boruto depended on his calm their fiery passions. He was like a solid rock, a large one. He was the Moon that balanced the Sun.

He said nothing and watched her cry into the night.

Boruto trudged along the streets lethargically. His eyes were blood red from the tears and from exhaustion. It was around three in the morning. Not a soul budged in the dark.

He decided that he needed to get back to his house, find his parents and come up with something to do about this, even though Boruto didn't know what he could do.

There were no lights in his house; Boruto guessed that his parents were fast asleep.

He sneaked in through the window, careful not to wake his parents up. He didn't want to shock them in the middle of the night.

His room was still the same as he had left it. He was only gone for less than a week, but it felt like eons.

His Gameboy was still on his desk, which was still littered with a stash of comics. His favourite posters were still on the wall, staring down at him. His bed, however, a previously haphazard amalgamation of blankets and pillows, had been made neatly by his mother.

His mother. Boruto felt guilt surging through his veins like poison. She must have been worried to death about him.

As if on cue, came Hinata's voice by his door, baffled, pleasantly surprised: "Boruto, is that you? Boruto?"

She looked haggard (by her standards). Dark circles blackened her eyes, the result of many sleepless nights.

"Mum?" Boruto's hoarse voice cried out.

"Boruto?!" She gasped.

"Mum!" He leapt into her arms. "Mum…"

"Oh Boruto! I've been worried to death about you!" She began sobbing. "I… I thought you were gone forever! I haven't slept for nights."

"I'm so, so, so sorry mum!" Boruto's tears started again. "I messed up so badly… I …. I sneaked into dad's office and-"

"Boruto?" Naruto's weary voice sounded by the door.

"Dad!" Boruto exclaimed. "Dad – I'm so sorry. I-"

"I know what happened," Naruto said as he sighed. "You broke into my office. My ANBU have already informed me."

"No, it's not that – I-"

"Boruto, wipe your eyes. Let's go to the living room with your mother so we can discuss all about this. Don't worry," Naruto comforted Boruto while gently nudging his wife and son out of the room. "It looks like none of us would be sleeping tonight anyway."

Boruto nodded, still in the clutches of Hinata, not wanting to leave them for the first time since he was a young academy student.

Sarada wept and wept and wept.

It was not just disappointment she felt over Boruto's actions, it was a sense of betrayal. It was a betrayal of the Boruto she knew.

Mitsuki stood beside her as they walked back into the inn. He hadn't said a word, offering her only a look of tranquillity and composure.

"Mitsuki… don't you feel anything?" She asked, trying to gauge a reaction from him.

"Boruto… Boruto will come back for us," Mitsuki said as he did his best to appear convincing.

"Mitsuki, it's okay to voice your worries. We… I mean, I guess we can't do much about Boruto," Sarada muttered, staring at the ground ahead of her. "We'll, we'll have to try and trust him, though I'm not sure how I feel about him anymore. He's… not like himself."

"Sarada… I'll be honest about my thoughts," Mitsuki admitted, swallowing something before continuing, "Boruto… all he wanted for us to go home. And now you can disagree with his view – I'm personally uncomfortable with his zeal about it all. But he means well for us. He cares deeply for us in his heart and he's doing what he thinks is best."

Sarada was silent.

"Both of you are not wrong. But both of you are not right either…" Mitsuki paused. "What's happened happened. We can only put our trust in him to come back – unless…"

"The scroll!" Sarada spoke what was in his mind, judging from his look of acquiescence.

"It's disappeared, but it's got to be somewhere in this world," Mitsuki nodded.

"But… we can't go just yet," Sarada said.

"But we need to try and locate it so we can get back when we want to," Mitsuki noted.

"We don't know where to start," Sarada sighed.

They were almost at the inn.

"We'll have to wait and see-"

"No," Sarada said. "I'll talk to Sakura about this… We'll be completely frank and honest with her. She's one of the few people here we can trust."

"Dad…" Boruto heaved a deep sigh. "This will be hard for me to describe…"

"It's okay, do your best Boruto," Naruto gazed at him empathically. It made him feel slightly better.

"I took a scroll from your office – one from the forbidden section. I was curious and I was being stupid," Boruto started. "And then something really weird happened. We – me, Sarada and Mitsuki - were transported to this alternate world, where everything was different. Everything. You and mum were both dead, uncle Sasuke was Hokage, aunt Sakura was head of this rebel group called Hi no Ishi, all the countries in the Continent were incorporated into one all-encompassing regime, there was a secret police and most of my friends turned out to be, apparently, children of rebels."

Boruto paused for a moment to recollect himself.

"We arrived at this village that would be a few hours train ride away, except there were no railways in that world. The technology was, in some areas, pretty backwards. So we took a while in walking back. I… I took a gamble and decided to go to Konoha myself – Mitsuki had conjectured that the Hokage's office was probably where the scroll was located in that world. I met a merchant and his cousin on the way – they offered to take me there and I spent the night sleeping in their carriage. When I got to Konoha, I discovered there was a job open for the Hokage's office: they needed an extra errand boy. So I took another gamble and auditioned for it."

Naruto nodded, absorbing everything Boruto said attentively.

"It went… I thought it went well, but then the assistant of the interviewer turned out to be Sasuke in disguise. He offered me the job. He was suspicious about me, but I had no idea. He started testing me immediately after I started work. He threw a kunai at me, I deflected it and he knew I was a shinobi. He found where I was staying, saw this head-band," Boruto stopped as he scrambled for the headband in his pockets. "He then put the pieces together and figured out I was your son from another world. So I told him, I told him that I got here by a forbidden scroll. For some reason and to my surprise, he just offered it to me.

"He gave it to me next day, but then, afterwards, I found out that my friends were at the suburbs and fought with the secret police there or something. Sarada was captured, Sasuke recalled me to his office and ordered me to release her and take her back to this world. Coming to think of it, he was very determined to get me to leave…

"But anyways, when we finally got out of there and arrived at this inn that was a secret Hi no Ishi base. Except Sarada didn't want to come back and … I totally messed up! She wanted to help that world; I just wanted to leave it. I was so desperate that I opened the scroll and I thought I got her and Mitsuki, but they substituted themselves with shadow clones…" Boruto couldn't finish the sentence and choked on his tears. "I can't believe it! Why, why am I always screwing things up?!"

None of his parents looked angry, even though Boruto suspected that they were internally pretty vexed about his rashness and stupidity.

Breaking his silence, Naruto finally spoke up: "I see Boruto. So what your saying was that you ended up in a world… where Sasuke won our final fight?"

"Yes. I think so," Boruto concurred.

"I see," Naruto nodded gravely. "How was that world?"

"Shit," Boruto said.

Naruto looked a little sad.

"Poor Sasuke…" Those words slipped from his mouth. His eyes had acquired a suddenly inexplicable forlornness.

"Poor Sasuke? He was crazy," Boruto reminded his father. "Not our Sasuke, but that Sasuke. More importantly, what the hell are we supposed to do?"

"That scroll you took," Naruto explained patiently. "Was one that Sasuke acquired on one of his travels. He warned me it was dangerous, and thus I stored it in the forbidden section. He warned me to never open it, so I never did."

"From my experience, the scroll vanishes every time it is opened," Boruto added.

Naruto nodded: "I see."

"We need to find it in this world. I have to go back and get my friends. I was a total jerk – I – Dad I… you would have been so ashamed of me… Mum, I disappointed you too, I'm nothing like Dad when he was young. I was a coward and an asshole." Boruto lowered his head.

"Boruto, you've made your share of stupid mistakes, but so have I in the past. We all have," Naruto commented thoughtfully. "I know you're not a coward, I know you're someone who ultimately knows what's right. Reckless? Yes. But so was I. Heh. What matters is that you recognise your mistakes and do something to fix it."

"Your father is right Boruto," Hinata said as she smiled encouragingly at him. "No matter what happens, you're still my baby boy and a brave one who managed to help rescue his father and this world. What matters is that we find the scroll, get you back there so you can do what's right and bring your friends back."

Boruto looked at both his parents, both of whom were smiling at him.

"How can both of you be so… understanding?"

"We love you Boruto and, more than that, we believe in you," Hinata said kindly.

Boruto yawned and then realised just how tired he was. He nudged closer to his mother on the sofa and his father moved in from the other side.

Slowly, sleep dawned on him. He felt safe in his parents' arms.

Sasuke Uchiha was in his office when the forbidden scroll re-appeared on his desk. It was midnight, but he barely sleeps anyway.

He chuckled as he noticed it and carried on writing.

Things were finally back to normal.

No.

He could still sense her. Her and the other boy.

Sasuke Uchiha was travelling through the Earth Country when he noticed a disturbance.

There it was, the forbidden scroll right before his eyes, situated near the window of a closed shop. It was the scroll he acquired when he wondered through the ruins of Uzushiogakure. The one he warned Naruto about.

He used his Rinnegan to transport himself in there, pocketed the scroll and promptly transported himself out.

He needed to get back to Konoha. Soon.

Something was wrong.

"… and Boruto was gone. He's back at his own world," Sarada finished describing what just happened to Sakura. "I… I want to find the scroll. I know that you want me to say until this regime is defeated and I will, I'll try my best, I'll try whatever I can. But I need to get my hands on that scroll too. At the end of the day, I belong to the other world."

"I understand, Sarada," Sakura whispered gently and pulled the girl close to her. "Boruto, he's misguided, yes, but he cares about you. He cares a lot about you and Mitsuki. He was willing to go very far for both of you."

"I know," Sarada sighed. "I…"

"Don't worry Sarada," Sakura said in a comforting voice. "In fact, we might have a sliver of hope in the scroll Shikadai gave me. I'll explain it to you later tomorrow when we're back at Mount Myoboku. Right now, you need sleep."

"Yes… mama," Sarada tried smiling.

"I've always loved it when you call me mama," Sakura said, her expressions bittersweet. "I'll miss you when you're gone."

A/N: So, how did you guys find this chapter?

I've received comments saying that Mitsuki is a little... underdeveloped and I concede that it is the case. I've focused primarily on Boruto and Sarada because I see them as the chief protagonists of this story and Mitsuki as a supporting character. However, I'll try my best to correct that :)

What do you think is going to happen? Leave your thoughts in the reviews!

p.s Reviews = cookies and even faster updates

p.s.s. On another note, this story has reached 30k+ words. That's like, more than anything I've ever written in my life. What, being 80 pages on a Microsoft Word document and all that :P

p.s.s Any Beta offers?