Chapter Five

Truth and Acceptance

The pair entered their booked room, it was medium in size, had a pair of futon in the middle and a small table off to the side without much more for decoration. Once the door was closed Boruto relaxed somewhat, removing the cloak entirely and letting out a breath of relief.

Sasuke watched him walk around the room as he placed his bag on top of a table. He couldn't help but feel slightly bad for him. He was only thirteen but already had to face a situation where if it hadn't been for Momoshiki and the Karma he would be dead.

Speaking of…

"Boruto"

The blond immediately looked up to Sasuke "Yeah?"

"About your Karma"

Boruto's mood immediately darkened then, surely bringing back unwanted memories. His eyes turned to the ground as he spoke in a lower voice "What about it?"

"You mentioned before that it's the reason why you're even alive right now, what happened?"

"I…spoke with Momoshiki" this immediately piqued Sasuke's interest as Boruto sat on the floor by the futon. "He mentioned that since Karma was made up of genetic data he was able to manipulate some of his genetic data into mine to heal me. He said that the pills slow down the extraction process but they can't block the Karma completely or do anything about the data that has already decompressed in my body. Apparently it's because of those pills that he was able to even rewrite the data that had already decompressed into my body otherwise I guess he would need to use part of what was still compressed within the Karma to heal me"

Sasuke thought about this for a little while, it wasn't too outlandish a thought considering the nature of the Otsutsuki and the Karma itself "And you can't control his power on your own unless he takes over?"

"Well…not exactly" at this the Uchiha arched an eyebrow in question "Back then, before dad arrived, I got so…angry that I was able to control Momoshiki's power, somehow it allowed me to go head to head against Code until…" he stopped, turning to look back at the dark sky through the partly open curtain "Until I was knocked down by a really bad pain in my chest, I was having trouble breathing and the numbness on my right side returned worse than before" a bitter laugh escaped him "Funny enough I thought that was going to be the end…until Momoshiki showed up, it was then that I lost consciousness and he took over I'm guessing. I don't know if that happened because of the Karma itself or if it was a side effect from the pills from me trying to use the power"

This was new, personally he doubted that the chest pain and the other symptoms had been caused by the pills, it was more likely to him that it was caused by Momoshiki forcing his way out when Boruto still was awake and had a considerable chakra reserve, all other times before this the trigger for the manifestation was when Boruto was either knocked out or had ran out o chakra "Consequences aside you say that you were able to control it to an extent for some time right?"

"Not to some extent…it's hard to explain but that feeling…it was like I had full control over it for those few minutes" Some light returned to his eyes as he turned to look directly at Sasuke "Code mentioned that one of the reasons why we become so much more powerful while using the Karma's full power is that we acquire all of the respective Otsutsuki's battle experience, that's why there is an increase in speed, strength and abilities."

"So in your case you acquire all of Momoshiki's battle knowledge?"

"I think so, but only when I use it at its full potential like back then…after what happened I don't know if I could even attempt to do it again without risking him coming out again…"

Silence stretched between both until an idea came to Sasuke "What about your eye?"

"My eye?...I don't know how to control it, or even how to activate it" he pondered this for a minute and then Sasuke noticed his expression lighten up a bit, perhaps at the recollection of a memory "I remember, back when Shinki and I were fighting Urashiki, he mentioned my eye by name" Boruto turned his face up, staring at the roof as he struggled to fully remember the words of the Otsutsuki scout "I think he called it…Jougan"

"Jougan?" The Uchiha tried thinking back to scrolls and manuscripts he'd found in the past but the name was unfamiliar, he'd never heard of that name or seen it anywhere that he could recall.

Standing up from his place Boruto walked towards the window, peeking through the half closed blinds to where the moon hung above them "Years ago I had a dream, when I woke up that morning everything looked different and when I looked at myself in the mirror I saw my eye had activated, that was the first time I actually saw it and got any confirmation that this was real"

"Do you remember that dream?"

Turning back to Sasuke he nodded "It stood out too much for me to be able to forget it. I was in this large room, it looked like the ruins of some sort of palace and it was mostly dark; a guy started walking towards me, he kind of looked like an Otsutsuki himself but with the way he spoke it didn't feel like he had bad intentions. He called me by name and mentioned something about my eye as well. He warned me that I would shoulder the fate of the world with this eye and that it would guide me to the light that would dispel the darkness"

While Sasuke was impressed that he'd been able to recall such specific words after several years he was more concerned by this other Otsutsuki. If Boruto's description of the place was to be taken into consideration then he immediately thought back to Kaguya's palace. A thought occurred to him then, remembering the incident that happened with the moon some time after the great war, he'd heard some of the details about that later on from Sakura and he particularly remembered her mentioning a guy named Toneri, an Otsutsuki from the side branch of the clan who had chosen to reside on the moon; One of Hamura's descendants as well"

Perhaps it had been Toneri who had helped Boruto discover this power, warning him about an uncertain fate where he would need to shoulder the weight of the world. Had he been someone else he wouldn't be inclined to believe in things like prophecies or destiny like that but he himself had been part of something similar so in a way he was sure that what Toneri had told Boruto, if that was actually him, had at the very least some truth to it and needed to be taken seriously.

He looked back to the blond as he sat back on the floor, staring at the mark on his hand.

All things considered, he didn't think that it was too far-fetched that there was something even more special about Boruto from even before he got the Karma. Through his parents he'd received both Indra and Asura's chakra, with Naruto being the reincarnation of the latter he guessed that this inheritance could be particularly strong. Then there was what Momoshiki told him back when he first got the Karma, he had made it clear that Boruto had inherited the power of the Otsutsuki which was another way of referring to his lineage from both his parents and considering this was from even prior to the Karma being imbedded in him he suspected that his eye itself could be a result of his lineage alone.

With all of this information he started piecing more and more things together, mainly now how it was that Boruto just so happened to be an ideal vessel for Momoshiki. From what they'd learnt from Amado before, Jigen had struggled to find a suitable vessel for Isshiki and he didn't know what made Kawaki or Code special to be able to handle the Karma so well and survive the process but in Boruto's case it was clear that the reason why he had been a perfect vessel was once again due to his lineage.

With a sigh he walked back to where he'd left his bag, removing his cloak and placing it over a chair before turning to Boruto "You need to find a way to control that eye. If it's so special that it's a rarity even among pure Otsutsuki and enough of a threat for Urashiki to mention then there must be a way for you to be able to use it to superss Momoshiki"

"You really think it could work like that?"

"I don't know, but it's the best lead we have for now" he turned around and tossed some spare clothes to Boruto "You can change into those for sleep, you'll probably be more comfortable"

Taking the clothes he stood up "What will you do?"

"After going back to where I lost Code's tracks and see if there is anything else that I can take from there I'll return to the village to report. If all goes well then I'll come back and we'll look into old Kara hideouts for clues on Code and if we're lucky we might find something about your eye there or in some of the older ruins left by Kaguya"

Thinking it was probably their best course of action Boruto agreed to that plan, while Sasuke was away he would have plenty of time to test some theories he had about his eye as well as get back into training. If he was to have any hope of conquering Momoshiki and his power then he first needed to get stronger himself.

For that first week Boruto was mostly left on his own as Sasuke went out to try and get some leads on Code around where they initially fought, during that time Boruto managed to sneak out of the inn and into the forest surrounding the small village where he found a small secluded area where he had enough space to train. He repeated the basics for some of the techniques that Sasuke had taught him and later in the evenings he turned to meditating, something that his mom had told him years ago could help him with his chakra control and stamina in the long run.

His main focus here was control, he wasn't very good at delicate chakra control and he guessed that improving that would be a first step towards working to get control over his eye. With enough practice maybe he could get good enough to start figuring out a way to channel his chakra to his eye specifically and see if that triggered it to activate in a similar way that Sasuke had told him he'd do for his Sharingan.

That night Sasuke returned to the inn, while they ate the blond turned to his master with a question that had been burning in his mind for the last couple days "So, how long are we going to stay here? I thought we would be moving further away from the village"

"We are, but there is…something I need to take care of first before we can leave and I can take a long absence from the village"

With that answer Boruto had a feeling that there was something more, something he wasn't telling him, but at the same time he wouldn't question it, if there was a reason why he needed to return to the village again before they could really start moving then he'd believe him.

Three days later Sasuke was crossing the gates to the village, he'd gathered some more intel on Code, enough to warrant a long term mission for reconnaissance and intel gathering should it be necessary. He'd decide what to do fully after getting home and making sure that Sarada was doing okay.

Walking past the gates he headed straight for the Hokage tower, intent on giving Naruto all the information he'd gathered from a couple stray Kara outers about Code, right after he would head home and check on Sarada. At the thought of his daughter he couldn't help the little worm of worry that crept up his mind, he wondered if she was okay, knowing himself the real depth and toll of awakening the Mangekyo.

Stopping at the front of the Hokage tower he cleared his head, he could worry about this after his meeting with Naruto, right now he needed to give all the evidence and start planting the idea about a long term mission so that he could take Boruto further away and focus more on his special training.

A couple minutes later he was standing at the door to the main office, knocking once he pushed open the door when the familiar voice inside called him in. Shikamaru was standing by Naruto, it seemed that he had probably interrupted a previous conversation, he noted how Naruto wasn't looking too good either, dark circles adorned his eyes and his normally bright personality and demeanor were all but gone; despite that he seemed to perk up the slightest bit when his eyes finally landed on him with a spark of hope "Sasuke, you're back already?"

He walked fully into the office, stopping directly in front of the large desk "Ah, I found something of interest regarding Code. But first" closing his eyes he allowed his professionalism to falter for a bit, his gaze softening slightly "How are you doing?"

Naruto averted his eyes, first Shikamaru had caught onto him when he arrived earlier and found him lost in thought as he looked out the window and now Sasuke immediately picked up on his deteriorating state the moment he entered the room.

"It's…hard. But we need to move forwards with this, I still have a responsibility to this village and the work will not slow down for me so I can't afford to take a break now"

Sasuke spared a glance at Shikamaru who held a sympathetic look towards the blond as he threw a shrug his way. Thinking back Sasuke realized that Boruto's death was being kept secret, he doubted that the other Kage even knew about it yet, so Naruto had to keep up appearances and keep working like nothing had happened.

A little voice in the back of his mind screamed that he was responsible for the state his friend was in, he might not have been involved in Boruto's death or even been able to do something about it when it happened to prevent it but he was keeping the secret that the boy was actually still alive from him; in his mind he was also the cause behind how Naruto was feeling right now.

"I'm sorry" on the surface it was easy to understand that his apology was meant for Naruto's grief, but deep down he was also apologizing for what he was doing, even if that apology would only be heard by him.

The Hokage looked up to meet Sasuke, thankful for the support and understanding that both him and Shikamaru were offering him.

Taking a breath Naruto cleared his mind and pushed his troubling thoughts to the back of his mind for the time being, now was not the time to mourn, with new determination and hope to hear some good news from Sasuke he focused on the present once more "What did you find?"

With a nod all professionalism returned to the Uchiha as his eyes hardened and he recalled his findings.

"Managed to find a couple Kara outers near the north border, being outers they were kept in the dark about almost everything regarding the core members of Kara but they did know of a couple old hideouts that not even all the inners knew about. With some luck there might be a couple still intact where there could be some information about Code or other hidden locations where he might be taking residence for the time being"

Finally having something that could lead them to their main objective Naruto felt some drive return to him "You're going to investigate those hideouts?"

"I have 3 locations already marked, My intention is to go to those locations and if I find more leads there move from there"

The blond nodded, leave it to Sasuke to leave and return in just under two weeks with solid leads and a trail to follow "Thank you for doing this Sasuke"

"Don't thank me, I'm not doing this as a favor, or because I have to. I'm doing this because I want to get that bastard Code caught as much as you do"

Naruto took in the determined look in his friend's eyes, he guessed that this might have also been hard for him, Boruto had been his student for over a year now and he was a very close friend of Sarada.

That reminded him "Sasuke…how is Sarada?"

He closed his eyes "I intend on finding out as soon as we're done here, I'll leave to follow the plan I just told you as soon as I confirm that she'll be fine"

Naruto nodded "Go then, there's no need for me to keep you here"

With a thankful nod Sasuke retreated, leaving the Hokage and his advisor on their own.

A after a little while Shikamaru moved to the door, holding onto the doorknob as he half turned back to look at Naruto "You need to rest Naruto, I told you that I'd take care of things here as long as you need…you can't be pushing yourself like this"

Running a hand through his hair he leaned back in his chair, he knew that, but at the same time he couldn't just up and leave his duties "You know I can't do that"

"Yes you can, Naruto…working in this state won't do anyone any good; not to the village and not to yourself"

With that Shikamaru opened the door and walked out.

As he was left alone Naruto felt what little energy he had gathered for his previous conversation drain from him, he slumped down in his chair as he ran a tired hand over his face. Since everything had gone down he had trouble finding any sleep, his nights were restless and while he'd noticed that Hinata had also had some nights when she couldn't sleep he had managed to comfort her enough on a couple occasions until she finally did fall asleep.

He didn't know what to do, not sleeping wasn't even his main concern, he could deal with that one way or the other, the issue laid on the mental toll that everything had been taking on him.

The worst part were the spirals that he fell into every now and then, his mind would wander and then suddenly cling to a specific thing that happened in the chain of events that led to that night and he would think of every single possible way of how things could've gone differently for better or worse; like it did in most cases.

While lost in this spiral half the time he'd end up feeling a deep pressure in his chest and he'd be struggling to get full gulps of air through shallow breaths, memories would get mixed in with these fake scenarios playing out in his mind and he would be stuck in this loop.

In the span of the last week he had been caught by Shikamaru twice in the middle of one of said episodes and both times he'd practically commanded him to head back home after walking into the office and seeing him bent over his desk struggling for air.

He didn't know what to think or what to do, the loss of his son was still heavy on his shoulders, he felt the sadness, the anger, the impotence and he kept thinking back to that night, there must've been something that he could've done, there was no way that this was the only possible outcome.

Taking a deep breath he stood from his chair, walking around to face the window, he scanned the village below absentmindedly; even as no thoughts ran through his mind he couldn't help the tears that began building up in the corners of his eyes.

He closed his hand into a fist and slammed it down on the wall next to the window with a resounding thud that made the glass next to it shudder. He set his jaw as the impotence consumed him once more, wishing he could do more. He wanted his son back, if he could trade places with him he would do it in a heartbeat, he'd seen a lot and lived through even more…Boruto was still just a kid, a kid that had been forced to grow up even faster than he had back in the day as he decided to give his life for the sake of the safety of the village and those he considered dear to him.

A lone tear slid down his face as he felt his strength drain and he fell to the floor, leaning against the wall as he sat and looked up at the ceiling, wishing for the one thousandth time that this was all just a bad dream.

~ o ~

As he got home Sasuke found that Sakura was away, the only hint that he had that he wasn't alone was the faint chakra signature of his daughter in her room.

Leaving his cloak and bag by the entrance he removed his sandals before heading for her. He'd intentionally made some noise as he did this in hopes that she would hear and know that he was coming but even as he knocked on her door there was no answer.

Slowly he cracked it open, the room was in relative darkness except for the light that came in through the half open window which was now bathing the room in muted orange hues.

Sarada was half sitting on her bed next to the window with the wall against her back, she was awake and it seemed that him coming in had finally snapped her from her thoughts as she turned her head to face him; He noted the slight light that returned to her eyes as she saw him which contrasted with the dry trails of tears that still lingered on her face. "Papa…"

Walking in he sat down on the bed next to her, all masks down as he let himself show the worry that he'd been bottling up for her, concern etched deep in a pool of obsidian "How are you feeling?"

Turning her eyes back to the window she answered in a low voice "Tired…" there was a moment of silence before she turned to look back at Sasuke "Papa…miss him"

Seeing his daughter like this had him hating the fact that he had to keep the knowledge about Boruto to himself, this was something he wanted to avoid for Sarada from the very beginning, to protect her from the pain that came with the loss of someone that was close to you.

He didn't know what to say to help her, it was in moments like this that he wished he was better at expressing his thoughts, so instead he held Sarada's arm as he pulled her close to him, immediately she closed the distance and threw her arms around his neck, hiding herself against him.

He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and stayed there, trying to provide some comfort to her in a way that wasn't words. After a couple minutes she pulled back, wiping a stray tear before it fell from her eyes.

Before he could even formulate another word Sarada beat him to it, looking at him with attentive eyes "Papa…my eyes, mama said that you knew more about this and that I should wait until you returned to ask"

"Ah, the Mangekyo Sharingan" He took a deep breath, knowing that the can of worms that he was about to open would not be an easy one "This stage of the Sharingan is one that very few people in the clan awakened even when it was at its peak. When I was young it was only my father, brother and one other who possessed those eyes. The reason it was so rare was because in order to awaken it you need…to part with someone you love, or a very close friend" he paused and took a deep breath "For you, it was Boruto. The same thing happened to my brother, the loss of his best friend was what triggered his eyes to awaken"

Sarada listened intently, her father sparsely talked about their clan and more specifically their family so this was welcomed information, but still, something bothered her.

"Your eyes are different though, right? I remember it being called the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan"

Sasuke swallowed, he wanted to tell her everything, she had a right to know. But he doubted that right now was a good time, he would tell her the full truth soon…just not today "I got my eyes after the death of my brother, the Eternal is a variant, not another evolution, and to this day only one other Uchiha and myself have been known and confirmed to have gotten it"

"How?"

Sasuke stayed quiet for a few seconds, trying to think of an answer that would be enough for his daughter while at the same time making sure that he wouldn't give out any of the specifics "In a sense you can say that it was also because of my brother…I can't tell you everything just yet, but soon I will. That's a promise"

She was rather annoyed that after everything her father still wouldn't tell her what she wanted to know the most, about her family and her clan, but at the same time she understood. It was probably for the better to wait at least until she was in a better headspace; just going by the fact that not even the books held any details about what happened was enough to make her suspect that it must've been a big tragedy.

"Fine, I guess I can wait then" her mind then moved to the next set of questions that she had "Then…what is the difference between a regular sharingan and this one? I noticed that the pattern is different but other than that…"

Thankful that she understood Sasuke gave her a small nod, closing his eye he reopened it displaying his own Mangekyo "These eyes have been known to have a unique pattern depending on the person, you can see that even yours and mine look vastly different. As for abilities, they boost even further your kinetic acuity and will allow you to see through all genjutsu that you might face.

"Aside from that each one of your eyes has another hidden ability that you now have the potential to awaken. Like the pattern on your eye the abilities also can be different per person but I've found out that maybe at least one of the abilities might be hereditary"

This piqued her interest. "What do you mean?"

"Take my brother, he used to have the Amaterasu in one eye, the other one was a jutsu called Tsukuyomi, one of the most powerful genjutsu to ever exist" after this he brought up his hand, a second later a small black flame floated over his palm "I inherited the amaterasu as well, and before it became a Rinnegan from that eye I gained the ability to freely manipulate the shape of these flames with it"

"Can you still do that even after losing your eye?"

In response to this Sasuke turned his attention back to the small flame in his hand, on his command the flame compressed formed into a smoldering black sphere "I might've lost my eye but I retain these abilities, it was a rather useful discovery I made not long after that happened"

Sarada kept her eyes on the black sphere until it suddenly decompressed and fizzled out "So…does that mean that I'll have that power too?"

"It's a possibility but such few people awakened these eyes and even fewer had any lineage that it would be hard to tell, even if there were records, the chances of the son or daughter of someone who had awakened the Mangekyo getting to obtain it as well were slim at best"

That she could understand, now that she had all this information it was natural that the knowledge around these eyes was so guarded and sparse

"There is one more thing that I haven't told you, there is a third ability hidden in these eyes"

"A third one?"

"The Susano'o"

The name was familiar to her and it wasn't until a second later that she finally remembered, back when her mom had been kidnapped by Shin her dad had taken them all to his hideout while flying inside a ghostly chakra spirit "Is that what you used to take us to where mama had been kidnapped back with Shin?"

He nodded "The Susano'o acts as an extension of yourself, with enough expertise and practice you can even use your regular jutsu with it, amplifying its strength and size multiple times over"

If this was true then that would mean that as few as they were then those with the Mangekyo were incredibly powerful, what happened to all of them? How did the Uchiha die off like they did? "Wouldn't that make you extremely powerful?"

"Ah…but such great power comes with an equally great cost. The drawbacks of using the Mangekyo Sharingan's abilities come at the cost of the light in your eyes"

The light? Did that mean… "You…go blind"

Sasuke nodded "The more you use those eyes the more your vision will deteriorate, the nerves inside your eyes will start to fail and break down until you go completely blind"

"But…what about you?"

"Mine is a different case, because I have the Eternal Mangekyo, my vision won't be affected by my use of these abilities because of this same fact" he placed a hand on her shoulder then "Your case is different, and a dangerous one at that, the Eternal requires a specific set of conditions that were hard to achieve even back when the clan was strong in numbers, by now it's become nearly impossible, not to mention that the conditions themselves were…harsh and frowned upon by the clan itself"

She wanted to ask what he meant by that and if it was true then what had he done to get his eyes? She opened her mouth to ask the question but Sasuke stopped her raising his hand "And I will explain to you my case at a later date"

Closing her mouth she simply nodded. Taking a deep breath Sasuke continued "You must not use your Mangekyo, Sarada, no matter what. If you start to lose your eyesight there is nothing that can bring it back and I don't want that to happen to you"

She could see the deep concern etched in her father's eyes, he was being truthful and meant every word that he was saying, personally she didn't really want to go through losing her sight so it was an easy enough choice to obey what he said.

"Okay, I won't use it then"

He nodded "Keep this secret, You and I are the only people left with a Sharingan and if word gets out about this you might attract attention you don't want. I can afford the fact that people know about mine because of who I am, the things I've done in the past deterred most that would've wanted to come for my eyes before; I don't want you to have a target painted on your back like I do"

"Don't worry papa, I won't" this talk had distracted her from her previous downcast mood, getting all this information and answers lifted her spirits a small bit now that she'd finally gotten some real knowledge about her clan and heritage that she'd been wanting for some time now. With one small smile she looks straight at her dad "Thanks, for coming back and for this talk"

Sasuke smiled back "Don't thank me, this is something that you needed to know" he stood up, walking towards the door "Is your mom still working?"

"Yeah, she said this morning that she had some things to finish"

With a nod Sasuke walked out, soon exiting the house as well.

Sarada stayed in her room a while longer, thinking about her conversation with her dad; yes, she'd gotten many answers but at the same time some of the information she now knew only brought more questions to her mind.

At least he'd said that he would tell her everything, in time she would hopefully have all her questions answered and have more knowledge about her own family and clan.

Sasuke walked to the hospital as night started to fall, he was hoping to find Sakura there, hopefully she would be done with her work soon enough and they would be able to talk about the one favor he had asked of her. He wasn't expecting much but at least some progress on the pills he needed for Boruto would be good enough.

A small weight was lifted from his shoulders after his talk with Sarada, she'd taken all the information for what it was and accepted him not answering everything right away. He wanted her to know, to finally have no secrets kept from her, but he knew that this was definitely not the time for that, she was still dealing with the loss of a good friend; knowing how strong and sensitive some of the topics and situations that he would need to explain were he really didn't think that she would receive them properly, she needed a cold head and heart to listen to everything before she could make a decision for herself, a decision that he hoped would allow her to forgive him, his family…and the village.

~ o ~

Sakura hung her lab coat on the coat hanger that rested next to the window in her office, with a deep breath she let some tension slip from her shoulders. For the entire last week she had been staying late at the hospital, she regretted not spending more time with Sarada but whenever she was home she made sure to talk to her and make sure that she was doing okay.

As she had expected it would take some time for her to fully get back on her feet but at the very least she noted that the previously restless nights were decreasing, as it showed by the absence of the dark circles under her eyes.

Picking up her things and arranging her bag she pulled open a drawer and took a small metal tube that she then also put in the bag with the rest of her things.

Walking out of the hospital doors she came face to face with a dark figure walking in her direction, he stopped upon seeing her and she simply walked the rest of the way to him with a small smile "Welcome back Sasuke-kun"

He gave her a nod and a small smile in response before both began to walk back out towards the city.

Silence between both stretched for a minute before Sakura finally spoke "How was your mission?"

"Found good intel, will probably leave again tomorrow for a while to pursue said intel and take care of other things"

She nodded "Has everything been okay so far?"

He knew that now she was referring to Boruto, she probably guessed that this was also taking a mental toll on the boy seeing as it was one of her fields of expertise "It's been hard but…his will and determination are strong, he'll be okay"

Relieved Sakura looked up at the darkening sky "That's good"

"Any progress on that favor I asked of you?"

Looking down to meet his eyes again she gave him a slight nod "I've isolated some of the compounds but it's hard coming up with substitutes that we could use considering that by what Naruto told me once before Boruto began taking them Amado made these after discoveries he made through…dubious means"

He nodded, fully thinking of at least a couple of said dubious methods "Do you have an estimate of when you might be able to have something?"

"Hard to tell, maybe next time you come back to the village I could give you a better estimate but right now I couldn't tell. How long does he have until he runs out of his current pills?"

"Maybe a couple months, I would need to check with him"

She turned to look back up at the sky " just be careful and…take care of him"

"Ah, I will"

~ o ~

Naruto tossed and turned on his bed, unable to find any position comfortable enough to even attempt to sleep; Hinata had left the previous day to visit her family for the weekend with Himawari, first and foremost to give them the news, and second to get Himawari out and hopefully lift her spirits somewhat.

He was worried, her usual bright demeanor had been all but gone and even though he had seen her put on a face whenever she was around them and act positive he knew that she was struggling.

Kawaki seemed more quiet, he left early in the mornings after a quick breakfast and arrived late at night only to sleep. After his talk with him at the labs he supposed that he didn't really feel too comfortable hanging around too much. He kept to himself when in the house and continued to sleep on the study couch.

As for him? Well, work didn't slow down and with the fact that this was something that only his closest friends and officials were getting word of he couldn't simply take time off to process everything. He was barely getting any sleep and when he did then half the times he ended up waking up an hour later after yet another nightmare; it was true that he was no stranger to nightmares, it had been especially bad for the first couple months after the war, it stopped for a long time before they came back shortly after Boruto's birth.

He realized then that he hadn't had any recurring nightmares ever since, back then it was always different scenarios of something going horribly wrong and he would end up getting his family hurt or straight losing them. This time was different, because every time it was the same scene flashing before his eyes.

He was back in the forest, Code was holding Shikamaru and Boruto and Kawaki were facing each other before Kawaki would launch an attack to finish Boruto off, this was where things sometimes changed, one way or another he would manage to push Boruto out of the way and buy him a couple extra seconds before he either got got pushed back by Boruto as he took the hit or Kawaki would throw another attack to split them, using the chakra rods to create a barrier between him and Boruto before proceeding to finish him off the same way that he'd seen it happen that night.

He hated that the scene was so ingrained in his brain now that it even played on repeat whenever he had one of these nightmares, he didn't want to see it anymore, his greatest failure; a broken promise and the result of what he thought was his fault for not acting sooner, investigating the mark on his hand from the day that it appeared, maybe if he had done that then perhaps together with the research teams of the five villages they could've found a solution or a way to slow the process down from the very start.

If he had done that then perhaps he wouldn't be in this situation now…

With a deep breath he sat up, running a hand through his hair in an attempt to rub off some of the weight that had been heavy on his shoulders for the last two weeks. He'd never felt this way before, the closest thing he could compare it to was when he got news of Jiraiya's death, only this time everything was somehow amplified in one way or another.

A knock on the front door made him jump, startled. He half wanted to release a cynical laugh at the thought that a simple knock on the door had started him, a shinobi, the Hokage. With heavy feet he descended the stairs, taking a deep breath and straightening himself before opening.

He had to blink a couple times at the tall figure that stood before him "Kakashi sensei?"

Closing his eyes with his characteristic smile he raised a hand in greeting "Naruto. Sorry to bother at this late hour"

"Not at all, what's wrong? Did anything happen?" worry rose in the pit of his stomach, if Kakashi had come to his house in the middle of the night then surely there must've been something wrong.

"Nothing like that, relax"

Now he was confused, if there really was nothing wrong then… "Kakashi sensei?"

His gaze's previously carefree expression shifted to something darker "May I come in?"

Wordlessly Naruto stepped aside, letting the previous Hokage in and closing the door behind him.

They walked in and Naruto led him to the living room where Kakashi was starting to take a seat at the table, Naruto offered him some tea and he accepted so they sat in silence while he prepared it.

Once he settled a cup for each of them he sat across from Kakashi, the man in question picking up his gaze from the cup in his hands and turning dark eyes on Naruto, his gaze softer.

"I heard what happened…"

Ah, so that's what this was about "So you know too huh"

He nodded "Of the high ranking officials here in the village besides you and Sasuke only Sai, Shikamaru, Tsunade and myself know of this, and we will be keeping it as such. Outside of those I'm sure there is a select group of people that also know correct?"

"Yeah, They're all close friends of ours and Boruto, that's as far as we're going with who we want to know"

"A fair decision" He leaned back "But discussing formalities and confidentiality is not why I'm here" crossing his arms he stares squarely at Naruto "I hear that you haven't taken any time for yourself after everything that happened"

"I can't, the village needs me"

"No" he leaned forwards to make his following statement more punctual: "Your family needs you, and you need to take the time for them and for yourself. It's not easy when you lose someone close" his eyes took a sympathetic edge, probably thinking back to his own experiences "But I can't even begin to understand what losing a son must be like"

Kakashi turned his head to look out the window at the moonless night "He was a great kid with much potential, I saw much of your father in him too" that statement made Naruto jerk his head back towards him, if anyone was to know something like that it would be Kakashi seeing how close he had worked with his dad. Without looking back he continued, an edge of sadness tinting his words "It didn't take much more than a couple times training him to notice how much he really resembled the two of you"

The blond's eyes traveled over the picture frames on the wall as he stood up. Kakashi eyed him as he walked towards the wall, stopping at the shelf where several pictures stood.

He reached his hand out and picked up a single picture of young Boruto in a black sports suit being chased by a barely walking Himawari. He clenched his free hand at his side, this wasn't fair, it simply wasn't…his child had been robbed of most of his life and taken away many accomplishments that could've still laid before him.

He gritted his teeth as he let go of the picture frame, setting his hand down on the shelf with white knuckles. How many times had he dreamt of such accomplishments; he would never see him become a chunin, rise among the ranks and become the elite shinobi that he knew he was aiming to be, successes and failures with missions and just simply watch him grow as a person. All these shattered dreams and his own promise and hopes had been shattered in a single night.

Suddenly he found his legs unable to support his own weight as he tumbled to the floor, He heard Kakashi call his name as he stood from the table, he clenched his fists and slammed one on the floor and it cracked under the strength of the punch; cursing the heavens for this situation that he found himself in, for the cruel hand that it had dealt his son.

He felt a hand on his back as he kept his eyes closed, tears finally running free as he no longer fought to even try and keep his emotions at bay. He didn't care that Kakashi was there, he didn't care that Kawaki was probably hearing all of this upstairs, he didn't even care that by now his breaths were coming in quick and shallow spurts that barely provided enough oxygen to his lungs.

His head was pounding, his chest felt like he was being held under a pile of bricks and he didn't have any strength left in his body to sit up as he kneeled on the floor trying to get his breathing back under control.

Kakashi saw it coming the moment Naruto stopped at the shelf, the way his chakra had spiked for a fraction of a second as its flow became irregular.

He knew that his student hadn't taken the time to process everything and he was now doing the same thing Sakura did right after the end of the war; Throw himself into his work as much as possible so that his mind didn't have the time or energy to think and process all the recent events.

The moment Naruto collapsed he was by his side in an instant, a hand resting against his back in a small effort to provide some comfort. Hinata and Himawari were out by what Shikamaru had told him so this would be the perfect time for him to talk to Naruto and get him to face the situation and accept it once and for all; this was the first step towards moving forwards in a long and bumpy road that lay before him now.

The previous Hokage didn't leave the blond's side, once he had steadied himself enough to calm down and stop punching the floor he kneeled beside him, he was silent as he took deep long breaths to calm down. With some sadness he noted how his normally bright eyes were a shade darker.

After a few more minutes Kakashi helped him up, swinging one of his arms over his shoulder he led him up the stairs; Naruto didn't protest, or more like he didn't have the energy to do so as he had spent what little he had hitting the floor, cursing the universe and letting his bottled up emotions run free.

Back in his room Kakashi dropped him off at the edge of the bed, leaving and coming back a minute later with a cup of the tea he'd made earlier.

"Rest up, Shikamaru and I will handle your work tomorrow" Naruto opened his mouth as if to protest but his words quickly died before he could even let them out, closing his mouth again he simply gave him a small nod "Good, we'll take care of everything"

Leaving the cup of tea on the nightstand Kakashi turned to walk out of the room "I'll see myself out" he stopped at the door and half turned around, his eyes now dull with sadness "I'm sorry…that this happened, I truly am"

~ o ~

As Kakashi had told him he took the following day off, for the first time since that night he slept solidly through the night and he attributed it to Kakashi pushing him to finally face the facts that laid in front of him. He knew the man had gone through more than his fair share of grief so he truly appreciated the help he was providing now.

Sitting up he ran a hand through his hair, he was still wearing his regular day clothes seeing that he had practically collapsed last night so after spending a few minutes taking in his surroundings and the quiet sounds of morning he got up, picked a fresh set of clothes and headed into the shower.

After washing himself he stood there a few extra minutes letting the warm water run over him in an attempt to let it wash some of his troubles away. By the time he got out a part of him did feel refreshed so he was at least thankful for that.

Walking out of his room he noticed that Kawaki was already gone, with a deep breath he climbed down the stairs and stopped by the kitchen, making himself a cup of tea before walking out into his backyard where he sat at the edge of the step that led to the grass.

It was probably around 10am if he had to guess, the sun was fully out and the sky was clear of any clouds leaving a pure blue canvas for a backdrop against the one tall tree they had.

A cool breeze rustled the leaves above him and made the rays of the sun that filtered through dance on him.

He sat there for some time, even after he had finished his tea he turned to lean against one of the supports of the roof and sat there for longer, at some point he let his eyes close as he fully fell asleep there for about an hour until the chirps from a flock of birds flying overhead stirred him awake.

He was surprised that he had even fallen asleep, he must've really been far more drained than he had anticipated if a full night of sleep hadn't been enough to recover.

The rest of his day was spent in a similar way, he lounged around the house, did some chores to keep himself busy and by mid afternoon he found himself preparing a cup of instant ramen, something he hadn't done in almost three weeks now mainly because he barely had any appetite to stomach more than a few sparse bites here and there to keep himself functioning.

By the end of the day he was surprised by the fact that he was feeling much better than he had the entire last two weeks. Everything that happened since that night had been building up and accumulating until finally he couldn't keep taking more in and had to release it all. His outburst last night had been just that.

He hadn't recovered, not by a long shot, but this was definitely a step in the right direction to do so, he hoped that Hinata and Himawari visiting family would work for them the same way this had worked for him now.

That night he laid in bed, thinking that the following day he had the scheduled call with the other Kage, he had talked it out with Shikamaru and both him and Sai later had agreed that it was pertinent that the Kage should know about this considering that in the beginning Momoshiki had been a threat that preoccupied them all a great deal. All he had to figure out now was how to go about things when it came down to breaking the news.

~ o ~

The next day Naruto arrived at the Hokage tower a bit later than usual, he'd left the house just before sunrise and simply sat atop the Hokage monument for a while just taking everything in and figuring out how he would explain to the other Kage what had happened.

When he finally made it in his office he was surprised to find Shikamaru already there and going through the fresh pile of papers that had been brought in probably the previous day, the second the door opened he leaned back in the chair and rose his eyes to meet Naruto's "I'm surprised you're back already, I thought Kakashi told you to rest up"

"I did, don't worry I'm fine now"

He gave the Hokage a doubtful look before getting up from the chair and motioning for him to sit "When I got here and saw you were not in yet I was sure that you would take this day off"

"Took a detour, sorry about that"

"Don't worry about it" his eyes shifted, taking a more serious look "So…you'll be telling the other Kage about it today?"

"Yeah…"

"Where do you think they'll stand?"

At the question he failed to suppress a low, unamused chuckle "They might not say it…but I'm sure that at least a few of them will be happy about it, going from what happened last meeting we had. Why wouldn't they be? Momoshiki's resurrection was a big threat to all of them and now that's been…dealt with"

"You really think so?"

"I know so. Again, I doubt that they will show it or say it outright but the simple fact is that one of the major threats to the fragile peace that we've achieved is gone" He cast a glance out the window at the slowly waking village "Simple as that"

They discussed some more on the topic for another hour before the time for the meeting arrived; straightening up in his chair he took a deep breath before opening the program on the computer that all the Kage used to communicate in meetings like this.

Staring back at him were the faces of Gaara, Darui, Kurotsuchi and Chojuro. As was customary he broke the silence first "Welcome all and thank you for taking the time off your days for this meeting, there is much that needs to be discussed"

Kurotsuchi was the first to break the silence then "What is the issue now? You called this meeting a week ago simply saying that it was a matter that we all were concerned with"

He gave a slight nod "Yeah, it is" He took a deep breath before continuing, in doing so he noted the looks Chojuro and Gaara in particular were giving him gained a worried edge "It's about the issue regarding Boruto and Momoshiki's resurrection"

The mention of both names instantly made everyone give him their full attention, he noticed through that like before Gaara and Chojuro's looks were different "The threat of Momoshiki coming back to life in Boruto's body and wreaking havoc has been cleared"

To this the four Kage exchanged looks amongst them, some turning to look to who Naruto guessed were their advisors somewhere off camera.

He let them for a few seconds until Gaara finally spoke, words careful and with an edge of worry "Naruto…what happened?"

Sparing a quick look at Shikamaru, who simmply gave him a light nod, he looked back to the screen "A lot happened and I will get to that in detail the next time we have a call, once we have more information and a solid bases so that no one jumps to conclusions. Is that agreeable with everyone?"

After a minute they all conceded until Kurotsuchi spoke again "So what can you tell us then? I doubt that you would call a meeting just for that. Tell us how it is that you're sure Momoshiki won't be a threat anymore at the very least"

"Because…because Boruto is dead"

At that he immediately noticed all their eyes wide in shock, this was probably the last thing anyone was expecting. This time it was Chojuro who broke the tension "As much as I'd want to be happy that we no longer have to fear Momoshiki I can't help but feel like this time around the price was way to steep. I'm sorry Naruto"

He threw him a thankful nod, he knew that out of the other Kage Chojuro was the one who had treated with Boruto more in the past, the two times that his son had found himself in the mist he had personally helped the Mizukage so he wasn't surprised to see that he truly seemed to also regret that this was how things had ended up.

Darui spoke up then "How did it happen?"

"Code attacked. Before everyone starts asking questions I'll say that I can't say much about him until we have more information, this is what I was referring to earlier"

"Alright, proceed then"

"Code showed up, Kawaki and Boruto ran off to fight him. Shikamaru and I left after them but by the time we got there Boruto had been taken over by Momoshiki again. Kawaki, through Amado we suppose, has regained his Karma and used his power to protect Shikamaru and myself from Momoshiki" He noticed some of the weary looks after revealing that Kawaki had his karma back but he ignored them and decided to continue "Kawaki and Boruto fought while Code had Shikamaru hostage. Neither of us could do anything but watch until Boruto managed to get back control to an extent and…it was then that I realized he had a plan with Kawaki in which should he be taken over again Kawaki would kill him"

Looking away from the screen he directed his eyes to the wall as he struggled to keep his focus and professional facade up "Kawaki took the chance Boruto gave him and, even though I tried saving Boruto, I could not get him away from Kawaki's second attack…and he pierced a hole through Boruto's chest, killing him on the spot" he looked back to the screen then and saw that mostly from Gaara and Chojuro that their eyes had a softer edge of sympathy for him "I don't have clear memories of what happened after but Sasuke arrived a little afterwards, he told us that he thinks Code took Boruto's body for some unknown reason to us and left via his own transportation jutsu so the leads we have on him are scarce. Even now Sasuke is out and searching for any leads that could lead us to him so once I have more information from his results I can update everyone"

He felt a weight lift off his shoulders after getting the ordeal over with, hopefully they wouldn't ask too many more questions and he would be able to wrap up the meeting soon, he really didn't want to keep talking about the subject more than was necessary.

Gaara leaned back in his own chair as he looked down "I know I asked you some time ago if you would be able to do something similar to what Kawaki did now. Seeing where the circumstances led us I regret even asking, to think that the only way Boruto himself saw out of this was to give his life. I truly am sorry"

He closed his eyes with a small nod "I'm sorry too, that I couldn't do anything myself to help him"

To this Kurotsuchi spoke as she leaned in "This is indeed an unfortunate outcome, I wish that this could've been solved any other way but alas…don't blame yourself Naruto, I doubt that there was anything that you could've done yourself to help, this is especially true now considering the power Boruto harbored at the time"

For the next hour the discussion followed a similar fashion, only that this time there were more questions regarding Kawaki, Code, Amado and particularly about what was the Leaf going to do about what Darui had appropriately dubbed "Walking time bomb" that was Kawaki.

The kid was strong before but now he had full control of the Karma's power and even had the ability to access and use Isshiki's own abilities which on its own would make him a formidable enemy for even the strongest shinobi out there.

By the time the meeting ended he felt mentally exhausted, slumping down in his chair with a deep sigh he heard Shikamaru shift next to him as he too found the onslaught of questions and accusations that had been shot at them throughout the course of the meeting draining.

He turned to look at Naruto "Well you were right, about what you said before the meeting"

"It was only natural, I told you"

"Chojuro seemed particularly shocked"

"Well Boruto did help twice when the land of water was in danger and he is probably the one that had been in more contact with Boruto out of everyone"

"Yeah you're right" there was a moment of silence as Shikamaru looked him over "You should go home and take the day, it might do you well to walk around the village for a while"

"I'm fine, I'll get back to work where I left off the other day"

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, taking the day yesterday helped me clear my head a decent amount"

"Well…if that's the case I hate to be the one to bring it up but we have a problem in our hands"

This made him turn his full attention towards him "What kind of problem?"

"Relax, we're not in imminent danger, not yet anyway"

"What is it then?"

"Kawaki"

"Kawaki?"

"Specifically the fact that he has his Karma back as well as Isshiki's abilities. Naruto, he's a power beyond our control now and if by some whim he decided he's done with us how do you expect us to defend ourselves? I hate to say this but Boruto was the only one that could maybe have a chance against him if he managed to control his Karma but now…"

In all honesty Naruto hadn't even thought about the fact that Kawaki was, bluntly put, a big scale disaster waiting to happen. Him and Sasuke remained amongst the strongest in the village but even then he wasn't sure if they would be able to take Kawaki down should it come to a fight, not after remembering how badly they struggled against Isshiki. Even if Kawaki didn't have the same physical strength and speed his abilities alone were hard to deal with and counter "What could we do? Even if Kawaki has been more distant since this whole incident happened I don't think there is any immediate danger at least. All we can do right now is hope that the peace stays"

"Isn't that hoping for a little too much?"

"May be…but what choice do we have? Any word from Amado on the subject?"

"Not yet, I was planning on going down there myself tonight and make sure he tells us everything though, I'm sick of waiting for him as he takes his sweet time"

"Do that, just make sure you keep it cool, he is a citizen of the Leaf after all and we can't go harassing him"

"Yeah yeah I know that, what a drag" he began to walk towards the door "If you need anything or feel like you need to leave just tell me and I'll take over okay?"

"Yeah, thanks"

With one last nod he disappeared through the door, leaving Naruto in the silence of his office.

~ o ~

Code sat back in the couch as he removed his hand from his ear, a smile playing at his lips "Well well well…about time he went and meet with the old man"

Eida, who had previously been watching the whole situation herself turned an eye on him "What are you planning now?"

"Nara is going to go talk to Amado. I'm planning on making a bit of a visit"

"You want to go and transport to the middle of the village with the Hokage nearby?"

"He won't be an issue, neither of them will"

"And how can you be so sure?"

To this his smile widened "Because I'll have you"