Arc 2:

Chapter 25: Sacrifices

"Mama, Mama!" Young Sarada stared at her mother in wonder.

Mama turned to her and smiled. "What is it?"

"How'd you get this scar?" Sarada pointed at the diagonal white scar located at Mama's abdomen, faded pink over the creamy skin of her body.

Mama's smile dimmed. "It was a long time ago, but I got it in one of the hardest fights in my life."

Sarada frowned. "But- you're super strong, right? How could you have gotten hurt if you're you?"

Mama's expression morphed into amusement and she laughed, the sound reminding Sarada of bells. Her mother lifted her up in her arms and hugged her. "Sarada," she said, "even I get hurt in fights once in a while. Being strong does not mean I'm invincible."

"But I don't want you to get hurt!" Sarada pulled away from Mama's embrace to pout.

"It's not up to us," Mama shook her head. "But I promise you, I will do my best to never get hurt again. How's that?"

Sarada crossed her arms. "Do you promise?"

Mama poked Sarada's forehead with two fingers. "I promise."

Sarada giggled. "And what about Papa? Do you think he'll promise too?"

Mama's eyes widened at the question, but her smile stayed. "Of course he would, Sarada. Your father would want you to be happy."

"Really?" Sarada's eyes practically sparkled. "That's great!"

Mama laughed at her daughter's enthusiasm and offered her her pinky. "Pinky promise," she said.

Sarada intertwined their pinkies together. "Pinky promise!"

Years later, when Sarada stood staring at the burning building that took her mother away by exploding with her in it, all she could think about was that her mother was a liar.

Everything hurt.

Sarada's whole body felt like it was on fire, but at that point she couldn't even tell whether it was from the poison, the bruises loitering every centimetre of her skin, the wounds and cuts on her limbs, or that damned sword Sasōri shoved into her stomach.

That last one probably hurt the most, though.

The blade ran her through the abdomen and existed from her back, dripping her blood to the ground.

She panted, her head fuzzy from pain. Her eyes were burning, the overuse of the Sharingan taking its toll on her whether she liked it or not, and by the warm liquid on her cheeks, she was either crying (hopefully not the case), or bleeding from her eyes (weirdly preferable at the moment). Deciding that whatever option it is shouldn't keep her from lowering her guard, she pried open her eyes slightly to check what was going on, since her ears were filled with a mask of static noise.

Immediately regretting her decision -her eyes were burning even harder now, most likely resenting her for even thinking about using them- she fought to open them, finding the scene in front of her almost morbid.

In front of her stood Sasōri (who still had his blade in her gut, thank you for your interest), glaring at her with a frozen surprised face, like he planned to be glaring at something and then got blindsided by something else, also an accurate description of Sarada's latest addition to her growing list of 'Things I Should Really Think About Before I Act'.

Behind her were Chiyo and Sakura. Chiyo, aside from the obvious poisoning and wounds, seemed fine, but it was Sakura's condition Sarada really sought.

But what she saw was worse than a thousand swords to the stomach.

A terrified expression latched to Sakura's face, her pupils dilated and her hands were shaking. To any outsider, it would look like she was shocked from Sarada's sacrifice. But as her future daughter, Sarada knew better. She looked deep into Sakura's jaded eyes and found what she was looking for. Scared and hurt, that's what Sakura felt. Scared for her own life, Chiyo's life, and Sarada, but also hurt, because in Sakura's eyes, the person who Sarada knew from stories always felt that she needed to catch up to others and stop being saved, it seemed like Sarada just stepped in and saved her, believing she is too weak to be able to save another.

And the fact Sakura really believed that was what Sarada was doing, hurt Sarada more than any sword could ever try.

So she smiled. She smiled at Sakura and tried to show her she did it for her own, selfish reasons, not because she believed Sakura was weak. She wanted to tell Sakura then and there that after witnessing her die once, even seeing her get hurt pains her, so when she saw the blade that was coming to cut her down, Sarada jumped in and took her place, because seeing Sakura die again will kill Sarada.

The double pun was not intended.

"Sarada…" Sakura spoke up, her voice but a whisper. She winced then, clutching her side where Sasōri had cut her.

"Sakura…" Sarada tried to ignore the bubble of blood forming at the corner of her mouth. "How are you holding up? Can you still move?"

"Oh?" Sasōri tilted his head to the side like a curious pigeon. "Still worried about them even with a sword to your gut?" He pushed the blade even further inside, making Sarada cry out in cold sweat as she felt the cold metal move through her body. Her legs shook, begging her to allow them to collapse underneath her, but she stood strong.

I'm definitely running a fever, she made a mental note to herself to have Sakura look over her later. The poison is eating away at me, but I guess my cells are giving it a bit of fight.

"If you're a medical ninja, then you should understand exactly how dire the situation is," Sasōri commented, his cold eyes so detached from any emotion it was like looking into a blackhole. But Sarada Uchiha caved to no opponent. She forced her eyes to meet his and gave him the best Papa glare she could muster. "Tch," she clicked her tongue at him. "You're annoying."

Unfortunately, that only made him chuckle. "You're quite a courageous girl," he noted with interest. "But how much longer can you really hold on?" He slid the blade even further in, and she bit her lip until she drew blood in order not to make a sound more than necessary.

Ignore the pain, she told herself. This is nothing. Focus on healing. Use every ounce of chakra left in you to heal.

It seemed to be working, channeling all of her chakra towards that major wound was no easy task, but she was able to pull it off.

"Sakura, you need to listen to me," she told Sakura between laboured breaths, "I want you to take the antidote and give it to Chiyo-sama, she needs it more than me."

"But-"

"Don't worry about me, I'll be fine," Sarada tried to assure her, but it felt like a million tiny Sarada were running around in her mind screaming that she won't be. Psh, what do they know? "Just give Chiyo-sama the antidote."

"Sarada…" Sakura looked like she wanted to argue, but Sarada cut her off by coughing up blood, feeling it stream down her chin.

"It appears the poison is starting to take effect," Sasōri chuckled again, and if Sarada didn't have a sword so close to her spine she'd probably have shuddered. "You see, my sword was also coated with poison just in case."

What's with this guy and poison? Sarada thought to herself in anger. It's like his only move! Be more creative!

Her fingers twitched, and she felt like a million small needles were pricking at her skin all over her arm. My body's going numb with the poison, the healing aura around her stab wound flickered for a moment before steadying again. I'm losing control of my chakra.

"Hurry! Give Chiyo-sama the anti-" Sarada's sentence was cut short by the feeling of a needle stabbing her calf. At first she thought it was just her leg becoming numb as well, but when she looked down, it wasn't from the numbness.

It was Chiyo injecting the antidote into her.

"What- what're you doing?!" Sarada stared in shock as the last of the antidote made its way into her circulation and disappeared from the tube. "Why didn't you take it?!"

Chiyo collapsed next to her legs, having used all of her energy to deliver the cure for the poison.

"Chiyo-sama!" Sakura leaned next to the elderly woman. "Are you okay?"

Sarada's hands were trembling. Why were the adults around her so quick to give up their own lives for her?! Was she cursed? Why must Chiyo suffer because of Sarada's incompetence?

No, a voice in her head said. A voice sounding suspiciously like her late father. We do it because you're the future. The one who will fix our past mistakes and truly bring peace.

That's quite the task you're dropping on a sixteen year old! She wanted to say back, but she understood. She herself would put her life on the line again and again if Boruto or Himawari were in danger. She can't blame others for wanting to save her when she would do the same for them.

That's why I can't die here, determination streamed throughout her body, making her feel lighter. I can't let all of the sacrifices they made be in vain.

She could already feel the antidote working, so while it was still lodged in her gut, she reached out and placed one hand over the blade, and then another, wrapping her hands around it. She could tell Sasōri was shaken by her sudden move, and tried to use it for her advantage. It became a vicious tug-of-war, with Sasōri struggling to keep the blade in her while she did her best to pry it out.

It hurt like hell, but she tried to endure it. It took a lot of concentration, to pull out of you a sharp weapon without hitting any major blood vessels or internal organs. She gritted her teeth. "I won't give up," she told Sasōri. Told Sakura. Told herself.

Chiyo's condition was clearly getting worse, and Sakura was fretting over her. "Come on! Hang in there!"

Suddenly, Sasōri's upper arm disconnected from the forearm, pulling away to reveal another blade attached to his stump. She tensed, but he jumped away before she could do anything about it. He ran towards her again, or maybe it was towards Chiyo and Sakura. Either way, she instinctively activated her Sharingan despite the pain and the burning sensation, catching the look of shock Sasōri's eyes had in them once he saw her do that. Understanding overtook his features, and he aimed his blade at her, ready to strike-

Only for Sarada's ears to pick up on the hollow sounds of two wooden puppets flying in their direction.

Slash. Splatter.

Purple blood splattered over the rock they were on, as Sasōri stood still a few metres from them, his heart pierced by two of Chiyo's puppets; Mother and Father.

"What…?" Sasōri's disbelieving tone was labored. "No…" he turned to look at the faces of the puppets to enveloped him.

Sarada's Sharingan told her that they were now standing inside a seal before it deactivated, making her eyes burn even more in the process.

"You lowered your guard at the last moment, Sasōri," each breath Chiyo took sounded like someone was shaking a paper bag full of coins.

"What…?" Sasōri's eyes wandered around them, before he coughed some blood up.

"And now you can't move anymore," Chiyo's voice was shaking, but Sarada couldn't tell whether it was because of her injuries or because of what she had just done to her only grandson. "Even though your body is now that of a puppet, you still need a human element to control chakra. That's your weakness." Sarada's eyes wandered over the place where Mother and Father's weapons penetrated Sasōri's chest. "I couldn't help but notice that this is the same part from the last puppet's chest. You must have done it quickly, just before the jutsu was completed. A simple switch to a different puppet." It was at this point Sarada noticed she still had a blade inside her gut and began to try and pull it out gently. "All of these puppet bodies, they're just a collection of dolls. But your true nature, that is that part in your chest that produces chakra."

And Sarada would have loved to hear the rest, but in her half-conscious endeavours to pull a sharp object from her body, it seemed to have only made it worse, making her collapse to the ground.

"Sarada!" Sakura turned her to her side and inspected the wound. "This doesn't look good…!"

She held Sarada's hand. "Sarada, can you handle me pulling out the sword?" She asked her.

Sarada gritted her teeth and tried to fight her body's urge to shiver so that it wouldn't move the sword too much. "That would be really appreciated."

Sakura nodded and got to work, slowly pulling out the sword whilst healing the wound. Sarada winced, biting her lower lip so hard she tasted iron in her mouth. "Hngh!" Her forehead was covered in sweat and grim.

"Stay with me," Sakura tried to comfort her.

Sarada was in so much pain she couldn't even think of a comment to that. She just clenched her fist tightly and shook, trying to prevent any noises from escaping her mouth. She's a goddamn Uchiha and she can get through this!

"Finished!" Sakura declared as she threw away the sword and focused both hands on healing the rest of Sarada's wound. "You were great, Sarada."

Sarada slumped in relief. With the sword gone and the antidote working, she was already feeling better.

"Hmph," Sasōri chuckled. "That just won't work. Even without the sword and the poison, she lost too much blood. It won't be possible to save her."

"You… wanna… bet…?" Sarada glared defiantly at him and then closed her eyes. Okay, Mama, if there was one thing you gave me was the ability to heal faster. So I could really use that right now.

Focusing, she took a deep breath in and out, even though it hurt so much she suspected she at least cracked a rib or two. Gently, she took all of her chakra and distributed it around her cells, using medical ninjutsu to speed up the process.

"Hey, it's working!" Sakura exclaimed in relief. "It's almost like your cells are helping me."

Not almost, exactly like it, Sarada thought. This ability was great, but when it was forced, Sarada knew there was a big price to pay.

"Life is not a game we can toy with, Sarada," Mama used to tell her daughter. "We're not gods. And each time we save a life, there's a cost."

"What about the times we save our own lives?" Sarada asked her. Mama's face turned grim.

"Sarada, there's a reason me and Tsunade-sama don't use our Byakugō often," she said and tapped her forehead, where the purple diamond Sarada has known since birth was adorned. "It shortens our lifespan. It is only to be used in emergencies. It has a similar effect to regenerating cells by force. It'll make you weaker and more disoriented for a few weeks, at best. At worst, it can cost you years."

Sarada nodded and made sure to write down to only forcefully regenerate when there's an emergency.

Now this was not any mind of emergency, so Sarada only gave a slight nudge to her cells to start naturally work with Sakura, not forcing them to regenerate all the way. She'll probably deal with exhaustion for a while, but it was alright. She could take it.

But she will never, ever, use the forceful regeneration technique without a damn good reason.

Feeling stronger now, she pushed herself up on four using her arms, trying not to shake from the weight she put on them.

"Sarada!" Sakura's light touch on her shoulder and worry in her eyes basically told Sarada exactly how bad she looks. "Are you alright?"

"I'm okay," she gave them a tired smile. "How are you two?"

"We're hanging in there," Sakura told her, both her and Chiyo looking relieved to see she was alive.

"Great," Sarada nodded. "Now, Sakura?"

"Yeah?"

"About the other thing," Sarada looked Sakura in the eye, trying to communicate her thoughts through their eye contact. "Wanna take the first try?"

Sakura's face turned serious and she nodded. "With pleasure."

The sound of a fist cracking wood was heard when Sakura suddenly turned to Sasōri and punched in the face hard enough to crack his cheek.

"That's pointless," Sasōri almost sounded bored. "This puppet body of mine can't feel any pain. The only thing you'll hurt is your own fist." Sarada felt the anger and pent-up frustration radiating in waves from Sakura and hoped that Sasōri would keep talking just so her young mother would punch him again. "But come to think of it, you all seem to love doing such pointless things." He chuckled. "Even if a relative, my own grandmother, died right here I wouldn't feel a thing. My heart is just like this body," hollow? Sarada was tempted to ask. "Over the years I've killed hundreds, thousands of people. She'd be no different from the rest. Things are much simpler than you might think."

"You… what do you think human life is?!" It was Sarada who asked him that, and it was Sarada who was glaring at Sasōri now like she wanted to rip his head off his body, which she really, really, wanted to do. "What is family to you?" She shouted at him. Pictures of her parents at dinner, or her friends hanging out, of the village bustling with life flashed through her mind.

"Hey, is that really how a shinobi should talk?" Sasōri asked her, not as fazed by her outburst as Chiyo and Sakura were. Sarada kept glaring at him, but she no longer spoke.

"How dare you?" Sakura jumped in. "How can you treat people this way?!"

"Girls…" Chiyo's tired voice shook them out of their rage. "That's enough."

"But he-"

"The teachings and costumes of Sunagakure did this," Chiyo looked so lonely and broken at that moment. "We all share the blame on how he is today."

"But Chiyo-sama-" Sakura tried to talk to her.

"Deep down inside, don't you want to be like me?" Sasōri's question made Sarada freeze. "If you do, then I'm sure you'll understand just a little of what I'm talking about."

Be a puppet? Not feel pain? Emotions?

Sarada scoffed. "Don't make me laugh," she glared at him even harder, focusing all the burning sensation she was feeling in her eyes into a fuel for her rage. "Getting hurt and feeling emotions is what being human is all about. What being alive is all about. If you take that away, then you're really nothing but an empty, dead shell."

"Then I am neither dead, nor am I alive," Sasōri said with a smile that didn't reach his cold eyes. "The end is near, but first, I'm going to do something pointless too, think of it as a reward for defeating me; you wanted to know about Orochimaru, didn't you?"

Sarada froze while Sakura gasped. Orochimaru. Orochimaru and… Sasuke. Could she really meet him? Her father from the past? But… he was a different person back then, wasn't he?

"Go to the Tenchi Bridge in Kusagakure ten days from now at noon," Sasōri wasn't looking at Sakura, he was looking directly at Sarada and smirking. Was it because he saw her Sharingan?

"Why?" Sakura asked him. "what's there?"

"One of Orochimaru's henchmen is working for me as a spy, and that's where I'm supposed to randevou with him. However, I don't think…" he quieted down all of a sudden, and the hollow sounds his body made went away.

Sarada stared at the body of the puppet master Sasōri, while both the Mother and Father puppets fell down to the ground. A metal clinck was heard from next to Sasōri as his scratched forehead protector fell from his grasp to the rock.

Sakura turned gently to Chiyo. "Well, Chiyo-sama, it's finally over. You did it."

But Chiyo didn't answer, staring at the three puppets who were once her family with eyes that were not there.

"No dear," she spoke at last. "The wrong person was defeated in battle today. It should've been me instead." Sakura gasped softly, and Sarada looked down, knowing how Chiyo was feeling better than she let on. "Just like he had done before, Sasōri anticipated my final attack. But for some reason, he didn't even attempt to dodge it. He chose to let his defences down."

"You mean that he," Sakura looked at Sasōri. "Wanted this?"

Chiyo stayed quiet, thinking, so Sarada answered. "Nobody really wants to die unless the heart beating in their chest is doing only that." It was something she had learned the hard way.

And so did Sasōri, it seems.

Naruto turned to Kakashi. "Kakashi-sensei, ready yet?"

Kakashi looked up. "My preparation is complete." He moved his fingers from his Sharingan eye, revealing that odd pattern Naruto only ever saw in Itachi's eyes, and even then it was slightly different than Kakashi's.

"So that's what you were telling me about?" He asked.

Kakashi nodded. "That's right, my new Sharingan," he turned to Boruto, who seemed unfazed by Kakashi's sudden change of Sharingan pattern. "Are you ready Boruto?"

"I'm at ninety-percent capacity," he told them. "By the time we catch up to him, I'll be ready."

"Alright," Kakashi nodded and turned ahead. "Let's go, Naruto!"

"Right!"

Sakura walked slowly, trying not to reopen her wounds as she made her way through the broken terrain around them. Chiyo and Sarada walked behind her, both of them limping slightly from their different injuries.

A thumping sound from behind her made her turn and see Chiyo on her knees, her body giving up. Sarada was already checking on the woman by the time Sakura reached them, frowning. "Chiyo-sama…" the bespectacled girl inspected the wound on the elder woman's back. "It got infected."

Sakura removed her gloves and gently placed her hands above the cut. "Here, let me heal you."

As she worked, Sakura noticed that Sarada was trying to wipe off some of the blood on her face and felt compelled to ask, "Sarada, did your eyes bleed?"

Sarada froze mid-movement, the back of her hand against her cheek as she tried to clean the trails of still-fresh blood left there. She bit her lip. "A bit?"

Sakura frowned. "How did it even happen?"

"I don't know," Sarada shook her head, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose. "I guess I strained them too much."

Sakura wasn't satisfied with that answer when she noticed the wound under her care closed, effectively stopping the bleeding.

But this is only temporary, she thought to herself. It won't save her. I still have to do something about the poison that got into her system.

Chiyo's breaths were laboured and slowly, her whole body radiating fatigue. Sakura's gaze was drawn to the empty antidote capsule Chiyo injected Sarada with, laying disposed and empty on a rock. All of the antidote I made in Suna is gone, and I can't make more since I used up all of their herbs. Maybe if I can arrange the herbs to be transported to Suna quickly enough…

"Sakura," Sarada looked at her knowingly, and somehow Sakura knew the girl was thinking something along the same lines. "It won't work."

"I know, but still," Sakura looked at Chiyo, who was suffering from the pain of the wounds and poison. "Maybe if we…"

"Maybe is not good enough," Sarada shook her head. "I'm not saying we need to give up, just to try and look at it realistically."

Sakura also shook her head, but this time it was with defiance. "No, I know I can do it!" Crouching next to Chiyo she spoke, "hurry, you and I need to get you to Suna, and then-"

"No…" Chiyo's response came. Sakura drew back, confused. "Why not, Chiyo-sama? We have to get back and neutralise the poison quickly. Our job here is finished. We beat him."

"But more than that, there's something I must do," Chiyo shook her head. "My job isn't done… yet."

Sakura wanted to argue, but it seemed like Sarada understood what she meant. The girl's eyes turned sad as she looked at the woman, and her expression was of a person who came to terms with an uneasy fate.

Of a person who had lost so much they accepted that nothing was for them to have.

Naruto stared at Kakashi. A new Sharingan, huh?

Kakashi noticed his gaze. "What is it?"

Naruto turned his head back on the target. "Kakashi-sensei, don't sweat it if this doesn't work," he told his teacher. "'cause if it doesn't I'll make sure to settle things once and for all!"

"Don't think I'm just going to let you go after him yourself," Boruto told Naruto, jumping next to him. "If this doesn't work out I'm coming with you to beat the crap out of that guy." He hit his open palm with his fist. "He's been pissing me off ever since we met him."

Naruto nodded, grateful for the support.

"Yeah, I'm sure you will if it comes to that," Kakashi noted.

Sarada ran after Sakura and Chiyo, her leg injury slowing her down.

To her dismay, her vision was blurry even with her glasses on thanks to the overuse of her Sharingan. When she gets home she suspects that Boruto will force her to wear that stupid cloth to prevent eye-strain.

Exhaustion plagued her entire body, making her limbs feel as heavy as lead. In front of her, Chiyo stumbled from the tree trunk she tried to jump onto and would have fallen down if Sakura didn't grab her hand at the last minute and pulled her up.

Sarada bit her lip and looked away, knowing what she was doing was stupid. It felt like she was watching a person walking to their deaths, and it was pretty much the case with Chiyo. Sarada studied the history of all famous Kages around the Elemental Nations ever since she was in the Academy. One of the most well-known stories of the Kazekage is the one where Chiyo sacrificed her life for him. At the time, Sarada thought it was a noble act and viewed Chiyo as a hero amongst heroes, but now?

Now she just wanted the woman to live. She was tired of seeing people dying around her. Tired of being reminded she's not strong enough to protect them.

She glanced at Sakura from the corner of her eye and then back at the sky where she was staring at. Why must her young mother be so careless? Sakura cared so much about the people around her she sometimes forgot to take care of herself, and it was that trait of her Sarada both adored and loathed. Because it was what made her mother so amazing, but what eventually brought Sarada misery.

Chiyo pushed herself up shakingly, Sakura helping her lean against her body for support. "I'm sorry," Chiyo looked down in shame.

Sakura shook her head. "Here we go," she said, jumping to the next trunk. Sarada followed them, her eyes trained on the back of Sakura's uniform, where a white circle insignia was proudly shown. The Haruno Clan symbol. It felt wrong to see it there, so Sarada closed her eyes for a moment and tried to imagine it was the Uchiha Crest instead, like the one her mother always had on her back ever since Sarada was born.

Yeah, Sarada allowed herself to smile slightly. This looks right.

Himawari's eyes started to hurt a little, her body's way to tell her she's been using the Byakugan too much, but she didn't deactivate it. Especially since Neji's team had just entered the outskirts of her vision. She noticed they were all bruised, but none injured too severely, which was a relief.

Focusing her attention on her brother, she saw he was almost done preparing his seal and frowned, knowing what using it means to him.

Hopefully it'll be worth it.

"Alright," Kakashi glanced at the boys. "You might want to fall back a little."

"Right, Sensei," Naruto nodded, moving back. Boruto followed him, his only eye narrowing at Deidara. "Got it."

Kakashi focused his sight at the man on the bird. "Mangekyō Sharingan!"

Immediately, he felt a burn in his eye as the space around Deidara warped to his will, beginning to suck in his body. Kakashi ignored the strain on his chakra as the jutsu fought to be suck in Deidara, a sweatdrop rolling down his face.

Now it was Naruto's turn.

Naruto climbed up the rock face of the valley they were in, glancing up at where the space was warped around the clay bird. What kind of jutsu is this? He wondered. Incredible.

Deidara tried to escape, but to no avail, Kakashi's ability keeping him in place.

Naruto prepared for his part, but it seemed like Kakashi was having trouble with Deidara's struggling. The warping seemed to have focused on one spot; Deidara's other arm, the one that was still in his sleeve, and tried to suck it in.

With a sickening noise, the warp cut of part of the Akatsuki member's arm, sucking in the rest, and making Deidara cry out in pain. The warped spaced disappeared, leaving the blonde man crouching down on his bird.

Boruto stared at the future Sixth Hokage, impressed.

"I'm still not very good at controlling this size, or the position of the barrier space." Kakashi said in frustration as he covered his eye before he moved it. "But I'll get it right this time!"

Boruto's hand tingled, informing him that it was ready. Since he hadn't used that technique for several weeks, it took a while to activate it, but now he was locked and loaded, ready to blow up some blonde bastard from the sky.

The space around Deidara warped again, indicating Kakashi was back in action, but Boruto knew how straining using the Mangekyō Sharingan is. For years he watched his master almost collapse after using Amaterasū. And as a non-Uchiha, Kakashi had less of a compatibility with the Sharingan, meaning they won't get much more chances to catch Deidara.

The Akatsuki member was being sucked in, but it was clear that this warp was less strong than the one before, Kakashi making struggling noises as he strived to close it. He managed to deflect Deidara's course from a straight line and into the woods, Boruto and the jōnin following after the bird.

Boruto's seal begged him to use it, and his fingers twitched. Soon, the moment he'll have a clear shot at him.

Deidara almost disappeared completely within the warped space before flying out again, like a boat pointlessly trying to escape a whirlpool only to be sucked in once again.

Boruto jumped down from the trees to the ground, hitting it while running after Kakashi, who was a few steps ahead of him. The jōnin kept trying to suck in Deidara's head, making the Akatsuki member dive lower, closer to the ground. Boruto gritted his teeth. Just a little lower…

There!

"Kakashi-sensei, move!" Boruto yelled, aiming his Karma at the white bird. The sensei barely got a minute to jump out of the way before Boruto unloaded all of his frustration and anger from the past month into his palm, all of the sadness from his loses and the hatred of himself he carried in his chest, and then he released.

At the same time, two Naruto appeared in the sky, a Rasengan between them, ready to strike at Deidara from above. Deidara jumped away and fell through the woods, the sound of his crash echoing through the near woods, as he barely avoided Naruto's attack, only that Naruto wasn't aiming for him in the first place.

The chakra that Boruto had stored inside his seal broke free from his palm, amplified from the time he had absorbed it and soaring through the air, hitting the bird in the stomach just as Naruto jumped forward.

"RASENGAN!" Naruto shouted as he severed the bird's head from its clay body at the exact moment Boruto's attack obliterated the remaining parts, leaving Boruto's arm with smoke frills coming out of it as he panted. He may be able to activate and use his Karma, but it didn't mean that it didn't hurt when he did so. Collapsing on his knees, he clutched his burning arm and watched as two more of Naruto's clones popped into existence and grabbed the bird's head as it fell down.

"Nice one, old man," Boruto smirked, breathing heavily. Pulling himself up to his feet, he walked towards the place they landed with his hand on his arm, slightly limping. He mightve overestimated his ability to use the amplification technique with going through a couple of weeks without practice. He reached the tree where Naruto's clones placed the bird's head on a low branch just as the real Naruto landed on the branch himself.

"Gaara!" Naruto hurried to try and dig into the clay bird's mouth.

Another clone landed behind him, next to Kakashi who was panting heavily as well after the long use of the Mangekyō Sharingan. "Kakashi-sensei, are you alright?"

Kakashi's exhaustion was eminent in his voice as he answered, "yeah, I think so."

"What about you, Boruto?" The clone asked him. Boruto blinked in surprise and turned to them, rubbing his sensitive arm. "I'm good. This is nothing."

The sounds of crumbling clay was heard from where the clones and real Naruto were digging into the bird in their attempt to rescue Gaara.

"Don't worry Gaara, we'll get you out," the original Naruto talked to the bird just as he made the final crack and punched a hole through the clay. "Hey, Gaara!"

Boruto knew what was going to happen because he heard of it in a history lesson once, and yet he couldn't take his eyes off the scene.

Sakura jumped on the next tree trunk with Chiyo, Sarada following her. She was worried about the others, Chiyo, and herself. How were they all doing? They haven't heard from Team Guy in a while, and when they went out of the crater (formerly a cave), Himawari was no longer there. Sarada suggested she might have taken off with Kakashi and the others, but Sakura wasn't sure given how severe the girl's injuries were.

Trying to find something to distract herself from those morbid thoughts, she turned to the girl next to her. "Sarada," the girl in question turned to her. "Have you ever heard of the Tenchi Bridge?"

Sarada's shoulders tensed. "I'm not sure…" she pushed her glasses up her face to keep them from slipping down her nose. "My parents might have mentioned it once or twice. Is this about what Sasōri told you?"

"Yes, it is," Sakura bit her lip in thought. "Someone I knew… someone very dear to me has gone missing a while back, and I think the bridge is the best way to find him."

Sarada nodded, smiling at her. "They must be really precious to you, huh?"

Sakura nodded, thinking of him. "Yes, he is."

"Then I hope you'll find him soon," Sarada said, her smile turning a bit sad as she looked ahead.

"Me too," Sakura said sadly. Me too.

Sarada pointed ahead. "They've definitely been through here," her finger was pointing at a broken tree trunk in an otherwise undisturbed area.

"They were probably following the one who had taken Gaara away," Sakura remembered how hurt Naruto looked when he saw Gaara's body, how his voice turned even more gruff than usual, sounding like what an animal would sound like if they could talk. His growls were definitely inhuman.

"We must hurry," Chiyo's voice cut through Sakura's thoughts.

"Right," she nodded at the woman. "But please, you must tell me if you're feeling unwell at any time, alright?"

Chiyo hardened her expression. "I will."

"Let's keep going then," Sarada told them both. "I have a bad feeling about this."

"Kakashi, are you there? Come in, Kakashi!" Neji listened to Guy trying to rendevouz with Kakashi through the radio line they'd set up with no avail.

Guy sighed. "Guess the radio's out of range," he turned to Neji. "Neji, can you see what's going on with Kakashi and the others?"

Neji activated his Byakugan and looked, seeing that everyone were heading towards the same place. "Yes, I see them," he informed his sensei. "They're still engaged with the enemy. It appears they've recovered the Kazekage. However…"

"However?" Guy promoted.

Neji didn't answer as he was distracted by a person who should not have appeared in his view at all.

What was Himawari doing so close to the Akatsuki member?

Boruto watched as the clones were finishing digging out Gaara from the clay, knowing it was helpless.

Finally, they broke the surface and brought Gaara's body out into the open. "Talk to me," the original Naruto said. "Hey, come on, Gaara!" He shook the unresponsive Kazekage's shoulder.

Boruto saw how Naruto's shoulders slumped, how he started trembling, and wanted to do nothing more than grab him and pull his young dad into a hug. But he couldn't, because Naruto wasn't his father yet. As much as it hurt Boruto to admit, he and Naruto didn't have that kind of bond yet, so he couldn't comfort him.

"GAARA!" Naruto cried out his friend's name in anguish. Boruto closed his eye and looked away, gritted his teeth.

Loss was something Boruto was familiar with, especially losing friends. He wanted to reach out to Naruto, but his still-sensitive arm won't budge, like a sign from above he shouldn't.

"You will pay for this!" Naruto growled, his body standing completely still.

The voice of the Akatsuki member came from a few trees away from them. "Yeah, yeah," he laughed. "Maybe someday I'll give you a rematch, kid."

Boruto seriously wanted Kakashi to rip out that guy's arm again.

...Or he could just do it himself.

"You've let down your guard," Kakashi told Deidara just as Naruto appeared behind him, his punch ready. Deidara barely managed to turn around before Naruto's fist collided with his face, sending him flying down from his tree branch.

Boruto waited down at the bottom of the tree, jumping up high enough to kick Deidara's body right back to Naruto like an odd game of catch.

"Yes!" The clone standing next to Kakashi raised his fist into the air.

"Dropped your guard, didn't you?" Kakashi inquired, clearly entertained.

The original Naruto ascended from above as Deidara's body flew towards him, making a hand seal. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Four more Naruto clones appeared around the Akatsuki member, each grabbing a corner of the man and pinning him to the ground as soon as they crashed into it, breaking the earth around them. The original Naruto dropped with his knee to Deidara's gut, his fist immediately going for Deidara's face. The power of the punch made the mini-crater the clones created deeper, dust and small rubble particals flying up from the force.

Naruto continued to ruthlessly punch Deidara like he was in a trance, not noticing that the man's face were already bloody and bruised, or that his knuckles were covered in blood. Boruto watched in frozen shock, not recognizing the person in front of him. His father wasn't like that… angry and violent. It wasn't him.

"Dad…" he swallowed hard. "Naruto… Naruto!" But Naruto didn't hear him, too engulfed in his rage and sadness to listen. The enraged blonde reached out his hand, having one of his clones help him make a rasengan.

"Wait!" Boruto yelled in panic. Was he going to kill that man? "Stop!"

But it was too late, Naruto thrashing his rasengan straight into Deidara's stomach, and Deidara exploding into clay.

"A substitution!" Kakashi exclaimed.

All four of Naruto's clones disappeared in a poof of smoke, leaving the original Naruto crouched over the clay body.

Boruto stared as Naruto's body shook, his fists clenched so tight the knuckles were turning white. He could feel the anger radiating from Naruto like waves of heat, and it scared him. He's never seen his father so… out of control before. Naruto sat in the crater, his head down and looking at the clay body of the man who helped kill his friend. Boruto swallowed.

"Naruto?" He took a hesitant step forward, before he noticed something odd.

An odd substance, looking like a red bubble, began to rise out of Naruto. First, it came out of his shoulders, covering them, and then it came out of his lower back, like he was growing a tail.

"Is that-" Kakashi sounded worried, mirroring how Boruto was feeling. What was this ominous air?

Author's note (written July 2nd 2020): remember when I said this arc is going to be 16-20 chapters long and yet it seems like we're gonna finish it in three chapters or so? Yeah, me neither.

Anyway, next chapter is the conclusion of the fights! Also prepare your pitchforks to witch hunt me because next chapter I'm doing something so devious at least a few of you will resent me for. What did you think of the Sasōri fight? The Kisame fight? The sort-of Deidara fight? It was my first time writing battle scenes so I hope I did alright.

I can't believe we're almost at the Sasuke arc! I've been waiting for it ever since I started this eight months ago. Wow, can you believe it's been eight months? In October we'll be celebrating this fic's first birthday!

Welp, I've got nothing more to say other than thank you for reading my fic! Your continued support is amazing! You guys are awesome!

See you next time,

Quwarichi, out!

Written September 9th, 2022: I can't remember if I ever mentioned how I wrote this fic. What I did was take my phone (didn't have a laptop at the time), set an episode of Naruto on my dying tablet, and listen to them, watch the episode, then write it down. It involved me rewinding nonstop, and usually took 8 hours. Not very healthy.