Chapter Six

Through His Eyes

Entry #1

Sasuke-san brought this notebook last night when he returned from the village, he said that it would be good for me to keep track of time and that it's a good habit to have. He mentioned that keeping a journal when he first started his own travels was helpful so I will try and do the same from now on.

We'll be leaving this village tomorrow and head east to follow a lead that will maybe take us to an old Kara hideout that's supposedly not destroyed like all the others that we've searched so far.

Entry #2

We've been traveling for the last four days now, taking breaks at night to sleep as we take turns for lookout. I've been using my time as lookout to keep my meditation training since I have no time for anything else throughout the day but Sasuke-san says that once we reach the Hot springs country tomorrow night we can find a place to stay for a couple nights and I can train while he investigates the hideout.

I told him I wanted to go with him but he wouldn't budge, at least I got him to agree to take me to it once he makes sure that it really is abandoned and that it isn't dangerous or a trap somehow.

…

Entry #4

It's been three days since we arrived at the inn where we'll be staying while in the Hot springs country. I've been on my own for most of the time but I found a secluded part of the forest not far from our inn where I've been able to train.

Even though it's only been a couple weeks since I started the meditation training I can already tell there has been some improvement, I can train for longer before taking a break and my sensory abilities feel more accurate; I've wanted to train my jutsu but I fear that it might attract attention so I don't think I'll do that unless I find someplace where I know for a fact that no one will hear or see anything.

Entry #5

It's been a week since our arrival but finally I was allowed to go into the Kara hideout with Sasuk-san.

The place seemed mostly abandoned except for a few rooms that looked like they had seen some activity at least in the last month or so but I did manage to find two rooms filled to the roof with scrolls and books.

I stayed looking through the information that was there on my own, after a several hours I managed to find two scrolls with Otsutsuki information, it wasn't much but it explained in detail some of the inner workings of the Karma as well as some more disturbing results from tests done in the past which I can only guess are something similar at least to what Kawaki told me he went through when he got his Karma implanted.

Seeing so many books and scrolls I had hoped that we would find more than what we did but at least Sasuke-san found leads to possible locations where there might be remnants left by Kaguya in the last war so I guess that's where we'll be moving to next.

…

Entry #10

We've been searching around this cave system for a few days now, Sasuke-san says that this was left abandoned by Kaguya's nests of white zetsu but there are a few secluded rooms with very old scrolls that have some information on the Otsutsuki themselves and some weird coordinates that he won't tell me where they go to for some reason.

Even after reading all the scrolls here we couldn't find anything more about the Karma or my eye. We don't have any more clues to follow from here so we'll head back to the Waterfall country where the next Kara hideout on the list is located.

…

Entry #13

We're almost back to the Hidden waterfall village where we will stay for a couple days while Sasuke-san investigates, in the meantime on our way there we've stopped early each day and I've been getting more training in.

Sparring sessions with him are difficult, he leaves no openings for me to attack and half the time he's able to knock me down before the first minute of the match.

Aside from that I've trained a little with the Karma, it seems that for now I can still use it in stage one without any fear of Momoshiki, I thought that we would focus on attack power but instead he has me testing the transportation ability. Something tells me that he's keeping something from me but…I won't ask about it, I trust his judgment enough for that.

…

Entry #28

Amado's pills are running out, there's only about a quarter of the bottle now which might be enough for a few more months; It sounds like a lot but the way things are going and what's at stake I feel like I won't get much progress done with that kind of time limit.

Time is running out, I need to find a way to control this myself before anything happens or the next time that I get taken over could be the last…

…

Entry #36

I did it, I finally did it!

It took a long time but I can fully control the Karma's transportation technique at will. The coordinates we first found at Kaguya's cave months ago were for one of her castles in another dimension, that's why Sasuke-san never said anything about it until now.

He went in first to make sure it was safe but for five days we stayed in the castle looking through the mountain of scrolls that were there. Finally, after so long, I found a scroll that detailed the workings of the Karma.

How it was that the Otsutsuki had come up with this technique centuries ago in order to perfect their method of harvesting planets of their chakra, mainly they sealed a part of their consciousness inside the chosen vessel where at times they could exists in a sort of hibernation until the extraction process that occurs naturally is over.

Other times they freely resided inside their Vessel's mind fully aware of what was happening on the outside and, depending on the Otsutsuki itself and the quality of the vessel, they could forcefully take control from anything between temporal bursts to a permanent takeover.

From my own experience I guess that my case is somewhere in the second part since Momoshiki has taken over me a few times now.

We also found one more scroll that stood out, it spoke of a special eye that was extremely rare even amongst the Otsutsuki themselves, so rare that only five other members of the clan had awakened it with centuries in between. From this alone we could tell that these guys had been around for way longer than we had imagined.

The scroll mentioned that the Jougan possessed abilities derived from the Byakugan like the ability to see through chakra networks, find weak spots in enemies and the terrain as well as provide an ample spectrum of sensory-based view around the person. Aside from that the Jougan was rumored to be able to see through gateways in space and time as well as provide some degree of kinetic acuity and the detection of chakra currents.

I immediately remembered the incident with the class rep at the start of my days in the academy, I was able to see the "ghost" that was Nue's chakra current latching onto other people as well as see Nue's weak point when I fought him. During the fight Shinki and I had with Urashiki I was able to tell from where he would appear as a faint outline of the space-time rift appeared from where he was about to open the portal.

At the bottom of the scroll that detailed this information was another small paragraph that mentioned how those members of the clan that had awakened the eye had been quickly persecuted and killed for fear that the Jougan could be used against them, for this reason little is know about the extent of its abilities, the one thing that was clearly written after another warning to eliminate any clan embers that awakened it read that with the Jougan one could have the potential to bind another Otsutsuki's soul even within their own body.

I don't want to get my hopes up but if this is true then this could possibly be the solution I've been searching for. Granted this won't let me get rid of Momoshiki entirely but it'll prevent him from taking over my consciousness again. If only there was more information I could start testing things out but for the time being I'm happy enough knowing that there might be a solution for this after all.

In the end we only found another couple scrolls with important information but after reading so much on the Otsutsuki I think I realize another reason why the Karma method exists.

It's even more simple than the fact that it's their way to be reborn and continue to evolve and better themselves; way more simple.

The Otsutsuki are terrified of death.

In a time of need the Karma can be used to prevent one from dying, like it happened to me, there is very little that they fear but the concept of death and losing all that they worked to achieve by devouring the fruits and genetic data of entire planets is something they fear from the deepest part of their being.

This wasn't explicitly written anywhere but after reading so much and seeing some of the stories and legends this seems like a real possibility. I don't know how much use it could be considering it's not necessarily a weakness but I think that now at least we know a little more about our enemy than before.

…

Entry #46

We're stationed back at the cabin from where we first set out almost a year ago, Sasuke-san mentioned he would go get a report to the village and be back in a few days so I've spent my time training solely on the Jougan. This is the third time he's returned after we initially set off but I think he's planning on a long term leave once he comes back.

After some time I've managed to activate my eye on command but I can only keep it for a few seconds before it fades and I'm left feeling exhausted, almost as if it's draining my chakra by simply being on.

I don't know what's bringing this on now, this never happened the other times where I've accidentally used the Jougan. I must be doing something wrong but I can't figure out what could possibly be happening to make this happen.

Entry #47

I can't sleep, for these last two nights that I've been on my own I've had trouble getting any proper sleep. I feel anxious and my heart starts racing out of nowhere which I'm willing to bet it's probably just another sign that my Otsutsukification is slowly progressing.

I wonder how everyone back home is doing? I've asked Sasuke-san about them whenever he comes back from delivering a report but his answers are always short and bland or he simply waves me off completely. It makes me worried.

I just hope that everyone is doing well…

Entry #48

Sasuke-san finally returned from the village, he seemed worried at first vut after I pressed him enough I finally got it out of him.

It seems that the day after he got back to the village they were attacked by Code along with one of his companions, a woman called Eida apparently. He didn't want to tell me much but I eventually convinced him and from what he said it looks like this woman has an ability that allows her to enchant whoever lays eyes on her; to my luck it seems like both Kawaki and I are immune to it as we are part Otsutsuki and they are not affected by this.

What worries me the most is the fact that he took Amado with him, if he manages to use him to his advantage then Code could be a lot more trouble than he already was at the start. Right now we're in the edge of the fire country, following the most reliable lead to track Code in an attempt to rescue Amado until a hawk flew in this morning saying that Amado was on his way back along with the woman Eida and one other.

From what the message said it seems that they wished to defect to Konoha like Amado had in the past in exchange for information on Code, they also mentioned something about Amado having another plan on his own but before I could ready any more of what that was about the letter combusted into black flames in my hand. It was one hell of a scare but Sasuke-san refused to answer why or what the rest of the message said.

If there is something I have learned so far is that trying to get information out of him was near impossible so I have no choice but to give up on this matter for now.

…

Entry #52

Amado's pills have finally run out.

When I told Sasuke about this he gave me a metal tube full of small, white pills.

He explained that before we set off he took some of my pills to aunt Sakura and she managed to somewhat replicate Amado's recipe but since they don't have the exact ingredients or measurements he suspects that these might not be as strong as Amado's. I'll take an increased dosage in hopes that everything balances out but…just like Momoshiki had said, this is nothing more than a stopgap measure.

…

Entry #61

We've been traveling for over a year now, never stopping at one place for long and keeping to the shadows so as to not be seen.

We were staying at a small village in the Wind country and I had left my training area to get some food at the market but I had to leave that task when I sensed some familiar chakra signatures. It was Shikadai and his team who by the looks of it were here on a mission as a favor to the Kazekage.

I hadn't seen them in so long and I had to really fight the urge to go to them as I hid in an alley concealing my chakra as best as I could, they seemed happy and well enough which is good to know at least. I've missed home from the moment I left but I guess it faded into the back of my mind at some point until now because all I can think about ever since that encounter is wanting to go back.

I know I can't risk that, it's too dangerous to do at this point now that the Karma is progressing again, the best thing I can do is get back into training and hopefully be able to return soon.

At least this made me really get a hang of how much I've improved, I've gotten way better at sensing the chakra signatures around me and recognizing ones that I've sensed before. My ability to conceal myself must've improved considerably as well considering Inojin didn't sense me or anything suspicious since last I remember he was training to really hone in his sensory abilities.

…

Entry #66

Sasuke suggested that I train with Kenjutsu after a fight we had with a group of rogues a few days ago where I ended up taking one of the enemy's katana to fight. He seems to think that I could have some potential with it so I'll give it a shot.

Meditation training has really been helping me get better chakra control which in turn has allowed me to be able to train with the Jougan, I can activate it on command now but I can only keep it up for about a minute before it fades; at least I'm no longer getting drained whenever I use it which I think now that it happened because I was overthinking too much and using more chakra than needed for it. This was a tip Sasuke mentioned he had given Sarada when he was helping her with her Sharingan and some other tips from her training and his own experience have helped as well, I sure was lucky that our Dojutsu seem to have some similarities in that sense.

Entry #67

I've been taking the pills Aunt Sauka made for a few months now, they work but I fear that it's no longer stopping the Karma's decompression. The pains I used to get in my chest are back sometimes and my arm gets numb after a particularly strenuous sparring or training session.

A couple nights I've woken up having difficulty breathing and feeling like there's something pressed against my chest that won't let me take a full breath.

I need to focus and train to awaken the Jougan fully, that's the only way this might stop or at the very least I'll be protected from Momoshiki taking over again…

…

Entry #79

Aunt Sakura's pills ran out last week, I've ran out of time, I need to focus purely on the Jougan if I'm going to have any hope of suppressing Momoshiki with it. Even if it does work that'll only deal with the issue of him taking over, the problem with the Karma's extraction is another story and another bridge that we've been trying to cross for a while now with no success.

The numbness is getting worse, it happens at random times now and half the time I get terrible cramps afterwards. I've had a couple bad episodes where I get a pain in my chest that's several times stronger than the pressure that I used to have before and I've noticed that every time it happened it was after a long stretch of running or after a sparring match so we've had to slow down our travel pace and shorten the training sessions to prevent this.

Out of everything I'd say that these attacks are the worst part of this so far, I'm rendered useless for several minutes and should it ever happen in the middle of a fight I could be in big trouble.

I've made some more progress with the Jougan, I think my only problem now is endurance which I've been training to improve. I've only dared use the Karma sparingly whenever we hop through dimensions, I refuse to use it any other time for fear that extended use could shorten my already shrinking time before the extraction is complete now that the pills are no longer something I can rely on.

I asked why we couldn't get more pills and Sasuke explained that While Sakura had the ability to make more she didn't have the materials for them. Because the herbs and roots she needed for them were so specific and half of them were rare at best it was extremely hard to get a good number of them, especially if she wanted to remain inconspicuous about it all.

No use arguing then, I've had more than enough time and if I fail now then it would be on me for not being diligent enough and coming up with a solution sooner.

…

Entry #80

It's over…it's finally really over.

I don't remember much of what happened. We were fighting off a particularly big group of about fifteen rogues and holding our own until what I dreaded finally came to pass and I started having trouble breathing before I collapsed under one of my attacks…

-Flashback-

Boruto walked besides Sasuke as they moved through the northernmost forest in the land of fire, they were aiming to continue heading north following a reliable source that mentioned some suspicious movement in the land of snow so for a few days they'd been heading towards their next destination.

Sasuke noticed first but Boruto noticed the instant he tensed up and he expanded his sensory range. Thirteen shinobi were positioned amongst the trees around them, staying hidden from sight; the group was also decently skilled if they had managed to stay undetected for this long.

Boruto moved a hand over the handle of his sword which he had recently acquired from a pretty good smith they met in the land of valleys a few weeks prior, he had practiced a decent bit with it and was pretty confident but this would be the first time he really tried his skills with kenjutsu against a real enemy.

The first attack came fast, a bulky looking man dropped from high amongst the trees directly over Sasuke but he was quick to react and pull his own sword in time to deflect the blow aimed at him with the man's two kunai.

Two more enemies dropped behind the pair and Boruto pulled out his sword, holding it at the ready as he tensed up with his attention fixed for the slightest of movements that signaled an attack.

After Sasuke pushed off the first attacker and he stood a few steps away the rest of the group fell into the small clearing where they were, some of them remaining in the trees to accommodate for the lack of space in the clear patch of ground in the middle of the dense forest.

The silence stretched before the group jumped to attack, by wordless consent Boruto and Sasuke put some distance between them and split the group in one of their basic strategies that they'd set way early on in their journey.

Sasuke remained fending off eight of the individuals while Boruto stayed with the remaining five, they attacked alone with a couple exceptions which had made it easy for the blond to fend off the attacks and eventually incapacitate one of them for the remainder of their encounter. He could've had an easier time if he could use some of his jutsu but the last thing he wanted was give these men any hints or clues as to who he was so he resorted to using taijutsu and kenjutsu alone while at the same time being careful to keep his cloak over him enough to shield his face from the attackers.

Two of the men jumped at him simultaneously for a change and this time he was forced to jump back before pulling out his own set of kunai and throwing them at the two. They jumped away in different directions which allowed him to focus on one of them as he dashed forward and delivered a decisive blow to the back of the man's head, knocking him out instantly.

Readjusting the hold on his sword he focused back on the remaining three men who were looking at him wearily but with the same fire of battle etched in their eyes.

Since his journey with Sasuke started Boruto became no stranger to the occasional random ambush or attack from rogues and thieves, Sasuke's reputation and who he was in general painted a tempting target for those looking to get the abilities of his clan or to simply test their strength against an opponent rumored to be rivaled in strength only to the Hokage (A notion that Boruto himself found slightly amusing knowing that after witnessing it himself it was more than just a simple rumor)

He didn't know what this group was after between the two usual cases but he really didn't care, all he needed to do was knock them down so he and Sasuke could move on with their real mission.

Tightening the grip on his sword he took a deep breath as he prepared to jump into the air and start one last assault before his enemy had a chance to do so themselves. Getting ready to jump he suddenly felt the strength he had been building up in his legs drain and his breath got knocked out of him completely.

He dropped his sword as his hands clutched at his chest, struggling to breath under the deep pressure that was crushing his lungs. The three remaining rogues seemed taken back by the sight in front of them as their battle stances dropped and they began to look amongst themselves in confusion.

Their distraction was enough to allow Sasuke, who had just finished knocking out his attackers, to jump between them and Boruto and swiftly take care of them; kicking the first one against a tree, knocking the next one out with a quick hit to the head and putting the last one under a genjutsu for good measure.

Sasuke turned his attention to Boruto just as he fell to the ground, gasping for air and keeping his eyes tightly shut to deal with the pain that came from his chest and burned under his skin.

The Uchiha took a few steps closer and kneeled down, from previous times when this had happened he knew that there was nothing that he could do; after it became clear to them that these would be a recurrent situation they reached an agreement that should he ever see that the attack was becoming too intense he would force Boruto into a genjutsu to stop him.

And so with this in mind he kneeled close by, waiting and giving Boruto time to see if he would recuperate on his own or if the episode would pass after a minute which was about how long they normally lasted.

As the thought crossed his mind he noticed that he stopped shaking and that he was starting to sit back up with heavy breaths, standing up himself he took a breath and sheathed his sword "Are you okay Boruto?"

The blond stood up but kept his head down, taking a few deep breaths as he clutched at his head with a hand; Sasuke felt like something was off, he moved his hand to rest on his sword while taking a couple steps closer just as Boruto dropped his hand and raised his head; a Byakugan was occupying his right eye, a broken horn grew from his forehead and familiar smile was plastered on his face "Momoshiki…"

~ o ~

Boruto didn't know what was going on, one moment he was on the ground struggling to breath, a burning pain stronger than any other time he'd had an episode clouding his senses, then the next second he was standing over a film of water in a void faintly illuminated under a blue light.

The first thing that he thought about was that maybe it was all a dream but that thought vanished the instant he felt a dull pain in his chest and hand where the Karma was, the fog that had been swirling lightly around him rolled and condensed into a familiar figure that stood before him with a smug smile.

"What is going on now? What are you doing here Momoshiki?"

"Hello again lad, I just thought I would tell you since this might be one of the last times we will speak like this"

"Tell me?" a cold sweat enveloped him as his mind started to make assumptions as to what the meaning of everything he was saying could be.

"You see, the Karma's extraction is nearing completion, without those pills that you started taking after the ones the old man Amado gave you the progress has continued without a hitch. It is almost time for me to finally take over"

"Then if it's not done yet what are you doing here?"

He laughed, the sound echoing in the wide open space "It might not be completed yet but the progress is far enough so that if you're too busy outside, say fighting a band of other shinobi, I can easily trigger my own manifestation by pushing my will through the data in the Karma that has already been dissolved into your body"

"Any time you said?"

He smiled "Oh yes, but I wouldn't worry about it, there won't be a next time, after this there will only be a last time"

The laugh that resounded around him made his heart beat in his chest, a deep sense of fear settled in the pit of his stomach at this realization but more than that it was dread and disappointment that he felt more strongly. All the work he had done was wasted, all the hopes that he could get everything under control and return to a semi-normal life in the village…all of that would be gone, it was over.

"Well then lad it was a good talk but I'm afraid I must go, there is something I want to take care of now that I have a chance, I still haven't gotten my full payback against that Uchiha"

This made Boruto's attention snap towards him "Wait, no!"

The shape of the Otsutsuki disintegrated as the fog dispersed and he was left on his own once more. He fell to his knees and threw a punch at the watery ground as he cursed to the void over and over again, hearing the dull sounds of the commotion that was happening outside this internal plane of his subconsciousness.

He sat there for some time, who knows exactly how long since there was no way for him to tell the passage of time and he didn't trust his own calculations to tell him what was going on. In a fit of determination he stood up as he heard what he thought was the faint voice of Sasuke calling out to him.

He would not be giving up just yet, if Momoshiki said he still had time then he would make the most of that time or at the very least give Sasuke a chance to get all of this over with once and for all.

~ o ~

Sasuke jumped back and dodged another of Momoshiki's attacks as he continued to come at him relentlessly with the katana that Boruto normally used, it was a purely Kenjutsu battle and as far as he could tell they were both relatively evenly matched which told him that Momoshiki probably never had much experience fighting with a katana himself.

Deflecting a set of incoming slashes he failed to account for the Otsutsuki taking advantage of his unguarded right side and landed a strong kick that sent him flying against a nearby tree. Recovering quickly he stood up just in time to dodge another attack as Momoshiki launched at him with a Rasengan that all but splintered the tree he had been standing in front of a second prior.

The fight quickly turned to him being on the defensive side as he tried to call for Boruto whenever he was in close proximity of him but from what he could tell there was no visible sign of Boruto responding to his call…that was of course until the time when he was caught off guard by a clone throwing an invisible Rasengan at his back and he found himself barely holding his own Katana against Momoshiki's with his back against the ground; It was then that he finally saw Boruto open his eye and give him a sign that there was still a chance to stop this fight before it got any worse.

~ o ~

Everything was fuzzy, he finally managed to drag himself out of his internal conscious and into the outside world…or at least in part, because even though he was awake his vision was blurry and he couldn't control his own body; an experience he could only describe as bizarre while watching his own body move almost like in autopilot where he didn't have a say in.

He was weak and disoriented but eventually his vision cleared enough to discern that he was holding his katana against Sasuke's as Momoshiki fought him, a rush of fear and panic fully awakened him and he pushed his own consciousness against Momoshiki's.

Getting enough leeway to regain some control over himself he began to allow Sasuke to push him back as Momoshiki internally tried to push his consciousness away.

"Stop interfering child, just go back to sleep until I'm done"

"YOU go back to sleep, this is MY body you freak!"

With that burst of anger Boruto subconsciously sent a rush of Chakra to his eye that was currently showing Momoshiki's Byakugan, the eye flickered and morphed until it was his Jougan that was in its place still, albeit barely, but it was there.

Sasuke jumped away once he got enough space and watched as Boruto didn't move, staying in place where he was as he fought for control of his own body against the Otsutsuki until he finally turned a blue eye in his direction "I'm keeping him at bay for now, the Jougan is helping but I won't be able to maintain this for much longer…and to be honest I don't know how I'm even doing this" a darker shadow passed over his eyes then "Kill me, before he regains control again"

"You're pushing him back now, you should still have time before he-"

"There is no time…We tried everything, it wasn't enough" a small, sad smile crossed his features as he looked down while also visibly shaking from the effort that it was taking him to keep Momoshiki from moving them around any more "Everyone thinks I'm already dead anyway, no harm will be done really"

"Boruto…"

He looked back up to him "I'm sorry that I couldn't do enough, but please, for the sake of everyone else just do this for me"

The Uchiha tightened his grip on his katana, feeling only anger and impotence that there really was nothing he could do to help Boruto.

With a defeated sigh he took a deep breath as he lowered his gaze "I'm the one…who's sorry"

In a flash and before Boruto lost control and this one window he had managed to get for them closed he dashed forwards and swiftly did a clean pierce through the boy's chest.

Boruto let his control falter as he felt the piercing pain in his chest, the Jougan faded completely and his horn receded as he felt no more of Momoshiki's presence pressing against his consciousness. He turned his eyes up and saw the pain etched in Sasuke's own eye, for a moment he felt bad that he had to have someone else do this for him yet again but another part of him simply felt relieved that everything was finally over, that even though he had failed in his mission his friends and family would not be under any danger because of Momoshiki or himself.

Sasuke pulled out his blade and strangely enough he didn't feel any pain from it, that or he was already too far gone to even feel anything whatsoever. The strength in his legs vanished and he collapsed but before he could reach the ground he was caught by a single hand; Sasuke's sword laid some distance away where he had thrown it to catch him instead. Gently he was laid on the ground and all he could do was look up as the Uchiha kneeled down beside him.

Even as he struggled to breath he managed to pull out a small smile "Thank you, Sasuke-san"

"This is nothing you should thank, I'm sorry Boruto"

"Tell everyone back home that…I'm sorry…for not keeping my promise"

Sasuke closed his eye and looked away, feeling an overwhelming sense of guilt and impotence as he watched the consequences of his own actions in front of him once more.

~ o ~

At some point Boruto felt his own weight disappear, without him noticing he had become enveloped in darkness as he stood back in his subconscious; A thought occurred to him that maybe this was how one truly spent their final moments before death.

Oddly enough he felt relatively at peace, if anything there was a deep sadness as he thought about his own failure but nothing more, maybe since he had technically already died once then this was now easier to accept.

A minute went by as he wondered what was going to happen next until a deep, overwhelming sense of fear enveloped him, it was so strong that he almost felt like he couldn't move; He became increasingly confused and agitated until he finally realized that this wasn't his fear that he was feeling…it was Momoshiki's.

That very moment his mind went back to that one scroll he had read some time ago where it theorized that the Otsutsuki were cripplingly scared of death. Who would've thought that it was actually right?

Fog rolled around him until the familiar figure of the Otsutsuki that haunted him materialized, he was fuming with anger as he took a hold of the collar of his shirt and dragged him up to meet him.

He yelled curses and yapped about him messing with the order of things and his so called 'predestined fate' but he paid it no mind, simply taking in whatever he had to say to him since it didn't really matter anymore.

After his fit of anger subsided he dropped Boruto, turning away from him for a few seconds before slowly walking back to him, there was a strange calm to him now that made him terribly uneasy.

"You sure have a way to mess with my plans you brat"

"Sorry about that but I was not about to let you do whatever you wanted with my body, you should've stayed dead the first time"

"Tch, you insolent fool" He turned his back to him again and walked away a few paces, there was silence between them until Boruto heard a low content chuckle escape him.

"What's so funny? You're about to die and be gone forever"

Turning around he faced Boruto directly, a smug smile covering his face "Things won't be that easy for you, if you die now then I die with you and I can't have that happening; Not when I have seen the future that awaits you"

"What…?"

"You won't be dying here child. Your Otsutsukification has progressed to a 98%, lucky for you a stab through the heart doesn't require much to be healed"

"What are you-"

"I will use the remaining 2% of MY data to regenerate your cells and repair the damage done…"

"You wouldn't be able to resurrect anymore though, why even stick around?"

He approached him, speaking in a calm tone "Let me ask you something child. Why do you cling to your meaningless existence when you know that your future holds nothing but despair?"

The matter-of-fact nature in which he had spoken the question made Boruto's blood run cold "What…?"

"I told you before that you were going to lose everything…and that moment is rapidly approaching" bending down so he was face to face with Boruto he spoke in a cold tone "You will despair and lose your will to fight enough to want to escape this wretched world…and then, when that day comes, I will take over and live your life for you"

"What are you-"

"All you'll need to do is quietly stay in a corner of your psyche for eternity, I don't care about resurrecting anymore since that avenue has clearly been permanently blocked thanks to your recklessness. It's of no consequence though, possessing your body will yield the same result now that you are wholly Otsutsuki" Standing back up to his full statue he turned his back on him, after a few seconds of silence he turned his head back "It'll happen soon enough. No matter what form it takes you were always meant to be my vessel"

Boruto stood up then, clenching his fists "You bastard I am not in agreement with this!" he began to walk towards him "I'd rather die than hand myself over to you!"

This statement made Momoshiki fully turn to look at him, reaching out and grabbing him by the collar of his shirt with a single hand "I won't let you die, ever again. You are my precious vessel, my life, no one can have you but me"

Smacking his hand away he dropped to the floor "You're gonna shove my consciousness into a corner? That's fine if that's even possible…I'll make sure you can never emerge ever again and you'll be the one to despair in the future!"

With a smile Momoshiki turned away from him as his form began to dissipate with the fog "Run your mouth all you want…your fate has already been decided. I'll be looking forwards to it, Uzumaki Boruto"

Boruto launched towards him as the fog began to roll around him "Oi!" reaching out to grab him he found his hand simply going through the fog as Momoshiki's laugh echoed in the cavernous space and he began falling into the void.

~ o ~

Boruto awoke with a start, gasping for air as it finally filled his lungs, followed by a coughing fit as he failed to regulate his breathing.

After a few seconds he found himself sitting on the ground, clutching his chest as a hand rested on his back. It was then that he finally noticed the man that still stood kneeling beside him as he looked at him with weary eyes "Boruto?"

He looked back at him without answering, his mind flooded by the memories of what transpired inside his mind and his conversation with Momoshiki.

For his part Sasuke stood dumbfounded looking at Boruto, he was sure that his heart had stopped, for about a minute he was convinced that it was over until the boy sat up gasping for air. For the first few seconds he wondered if it was Boruto now in front of him or if Momoshiki had resurfaced again but the more he looked the more he became convinced that this really was Boruto.

He called his name but he still seemed out of it so he didn't press him to answer. He watched as he stared at the ground, his breath became labored and he curled his hands into tight fists before bringing them down in front of him "Damn you!" He continued to bang his fist with enough strength to start making dents on the ground where he hit as he continued his tirade.

He wasn't sure how long he was banging and cursing Momoshiki for this corner that he had been shoved into, all he knew was that by the end of it his hands and head hurt as he lay hunched down over the ground. He felt cornered, there was nothing that he could think of right now to get himself out of this situation, even after all the training, research and hard work that he had done for over a year now…clenching his fists he gave into the emotions and worries that he'd been bottling up for a long time now as he screamed into the empty forest, allowing his tears born by the fear and impotence within him to finally fall.

~ o ~

Ssuke was at a loss of words, not only because of what he had witnessed only hours prior but because of what happened after. He understood the frustration that Boruto was probably feeling and therein lay his burst of anger as he pounded the ground, after letting out one last scream into the air he collapsed.

He had to carry him and walk a couple hours to get away from the area where after such a big commotion between the rogues, Momoshiki and Boruto's outburst people were sure to go investigate; so now he laid in front of a small campfire, night fully painting the sky an almost black shade of blue while Boruto slept across from him.

He wondered what had happened now, how was Boruto alive again? He doubted that Momoshiki could just infinitely revive him but what was the limit? Where could he draw the line?

If he was to base it off of what he had learned from Boruto the first time he was brought back then Momoshiki had been able to rewrite his already decompressed data into Boruto's to heal his organs and everything that had been damaged by Kawaki's attack…if memory serves him right though that had only worked because of the pills which were preventing his decompressed data to get fully assimilated into his body, now that he wasn't taking those same pills he doubted that was still the case.

He had been taking a higher dosage of Sakura's pills but even if they had been effective to some extent, buying them time, they were not as strong as Amado's pills and he doubted that they could have the same internal effects that those did…so then, what happened?"

This was probably something that he would need to ask Boruto about once he woke up.

~ End Flashback ~

Everything is fuzzy, I don't really remember much other than some flashes of memory. The next clear memory I have is waking up this morning in a small camp with Sasuke…I'm confused, I should feel relieved that Momoshiki can no longer be revived through my body like before; I am no longer a ticking time bomb…yet for some reason I feel like a darker shadow is looming over me.

Of course that later once we started moving again he asked me what had happened and I explained to him the conversation I had with Momoshiki, as the day wore on I started to remember more and more of what had happened so I didn't have much trouble retelling everything in hopes that maybe if we were both in the same page we could come up with some sort of solution or plan of action to go with from this point on.

…

Entry #86

We've been taking the few days following the incident with a bit more calm, I feel like I can now control this power better but another part of me would much rather not use it for now…whatever the case I will need to learn to control it and use it properly before I can even start thinking about returning to the village.

Entry #87

After talking last night we reached the conclusion that our best and safest avenue for me to be able to use the Karma fully would be the Jougan, if I use them together I should be able to take full advantage of Momoshiki's power and abilities like I did against Code without the risk of him possibly taking over; We don't even know if he is even able to do that now that the extraction process is complete and I'm…technically a pure Otsutsuki, but we'll be working under the assumption that this is the case just to be safe.