BORUTO ALTER: NARUTO NEXT GENERATIONS

BORUTO saw stars.

No, it would be more correct to say he felt them.

Boruto floated upon nothing. He felt himself moving- moving through something he couldn't quite discern.

What is this?

To the touch, it was like water. But when it passed over him he didn't feel wetness or pressure, he felt memories. He saw the lives of horned beings he didn't understand.

They seemed cruel. Arrogant.

Violent.

Boruto tried shutting eyes already shut as the visions became more brutal. The horned people began eating each other. They cackled and yelped, circling wounded and crying innocents before they were devoured.

Suddenly, the rush of feeling stopped.

Boruto looked down. He saw nothing, not even his own body. Ahead, a white moon lazily hung behind a fog of black mist.

There was.. something underneath the white moon. Boruto saw it, but his eyes seemed unable to register the being in a way that made sense.

It was speaking. At first.. the words were echoed. Jumbled. But they repeated the same uttering chant until finally it became a discernible, beating moan.

Cursed Eye...

Boruto's left eye began to feel as if it was being ripped from its socket. He screamed, throwing himself in his bed. He could feel himself moving, but he couldn't wake up.

The visions became erratic. Boruto saw two beings dressed in white robes. They floated amongst crumbling earth as a creature bearing flowing white hair descended upon them with a roaring shockwave.

Then he saw thousands of humans kneeling before a glowing idol-

Burning bodies.

He then saw the white moon once more, but now it seemed to be embedded within a pupil surrounded by blackness. The eye shifted its gaze as the searing pain dug deeper into Boruto's skull.

At the height of the burning Boruto heard a voice as tears streamed down his cheeks. He thrashed wildly, attempting to wake himself from the torture.

Boruto Uzumaki...?..

yes..

within him..

Venture forth..

bring him...

to..

No name was uttered. But Boruto could see it within his mind. It was that same.. featureless horror that hung underneath the moon. Seen but unseen. It..

A second wave of pain rocked Boruto's body. This time he did wake to the sound of his parents shouting his name.

Boruto sat up in his bed, dazed as sweat dripped down the sides of his face.

He covered his eye with his hand. He shook.. until finally..

Boruto jumped. His bedroom door flew open as Hinata stormed into his room with Naruto in tow. Boruto looked at both of his parents as they stared back at him silently.

"You.. stopped screaming. We were calling you, Boruto!" Hinata said. She rushed to Boruto.

"Are you alright? What's happening?" She asked.

"I'm.." Boruto trailed off.

Hinata looked away from her son and to Naruto.

Naruto sighed. Boruto heard the floor crease as his father walked closer beside him. Naruto knelt downwards, meeting Boruto's halfway averted gaze.

"You were screaming Boruto. It sounded like you were in pain." Naruto said softly.

Boruto shuddered.

I'm scared.

The emotions he felt- the dream.. it was too much.

I'm scared!

Naruto rose, understanding the look on Boruto's face. He delicately pulled Hinata away.

"Boruto..." Naruto said. Boruto met his father's eyes.

"With everything going on.. things are changing. It's getting more dangerous. I.." Naruto stopped. Even from his bed, Boruto could tell Naruto was close to tears.

"I know I don't have to tell you that." Naruto finished. Hinata held Naruto's arm in comfort.

"I don't want you.. anyone of us.. to feel alone. And I know that I have to do better.." Naruto said.

Boruto looked away.

"It was nice talking to you earlier. I.. I can try to be better too. For Hima." Boruto clenched his blanket.

Both of his parents seemed happy then. Boruto wished them good night, then listened to their footsteps as they retreated back to their chambers.

His bed was positioned next to the window. He looked outside. The moon was in the air. Bright, powerful.

As he looked at it his mind drifted back to the vision.

Boruto held himself, crossing his arms.

How did you do that?

Sarada's question reverberated within Boruto's mind. Her expression.. she was shocked. No, beyond that. Beyond even the horror they faced..

Something about me scared her. Something she saw.

Boruto knew he had cast a jutsu.. a jutsu that seemingly was able to be cast upon the beast's body, despite Boruto himself standing several meters away.

But it was beyond that.

Boruto furrowed his brows.

I saw Himawari die. I saw the future.. then I saw the future turn back upon itself..

And it was when the future was being rewound that Boruto's senses urged him to cast a jutsu- the perfect one to save his sister from immediate death.

Boruto turned his attention to the reflection that was staring back at him.

Within the light of his eyes, he felt he could almost see the visions from his dream- the horned beings.. their cannibalism and cruelty.

Was that.. real?

Boruto shook.

He settled back into bed.

I need to get some rest.

Boruto's thoughts drifted to his sister.

We're counting on you.. Sakura Uchiha..

Boruto fell into an exhausted, dreamless sleep.

SASUKE careened into a deep chasm.

The wind blew above, tousling onyx black hair across his forehead. Sasuke leapt from side to side between the chasm's walls, using chakra to affix to the smooth and glasslike surface.

He narrowed eyes as he descended, tapping lightly onto the chasm's floor with a clink.

Sasuke strode forward.

This was one of the realms belonging to the Ōtsutsuki. Long ago, it had been one of their temple worlds. Now, all that remained were crumbling statues and scriptures written by half-mad sages.

Sasuke discovered that even his Rinnegan couldn't decipher some of the writings left behind, leaving him to believe that amongst these strange beings, there were eyes beyond that of even his own fabled dojutsu.

Despite this, the lone Shinobi was able to discern some basic things.

The Ōtsutsuki themselves were a solitary race.

They had no central city, no village. They simply existed. Often, the only other Ōtsutsuki they'd come across would be their forebear, the one that consolidated a portion of their chakra to create life.. and the one that would, in the end, be devoured by that same very life in order to progress their evolution.

Sasuke left the chasm's serrated mouth. Along the right of it, a small cliff edged to a wider path that traveled across a wide abyss. Further, a secluded temple sat opposite of him. It was unremarkable, save for an inscription of the Rinne-Sharingan that loomed on the mountain faces above it.

As he made way for the temple, his thoughts returned to the Clan.

They seemed to separate themselves into two distinct groups.. not dissimilar to the Hyuga's former branch system. However.. with the Ōtsutsuki.. it seemed to be different.

Deciphering the wording was difficult- no, almost unintelligible. Though Sasuke did recognize some things.

The symbols for consumption, death, and rebirth.

And of course.. the linchpin of Ōtsutsuki's culture..

The divine tree.

Beyond these things, all other knowledge was lost to him. Sasuke frowned as he walked across the stony bridge that led to the temple. He didn't look down at the abyss as he passed, scanning instead the tops of the cliff faces above.

He sharpened both the sharingan and Rinnegan-

Violent chakra exploded from below him. A hail of stones rose and fell as Sasuke's bridge lurched forward into the darkness of the mists below. He reacted instantly, jumping from rock to rock until safely landing on the temple's rocky precipice.

"Hmph," Sasuke narrowed his sharingan eye, bangs parting as he lifted his sword.

As the remnants of the bridge fell apart, smoke shifted-

Sasuke twisted immediately to his right, sword clanging against a strange bladed arm. His attacker wore sable robes. It bore two glowing red gems in the place of eyes. It was machine-like, and nearly two and a half meters.

Despite its size..

It's fast.

Sasuke disengaged from the being's blade. He advanced with a raised sword, Rinnegan flexing as the Uchiha accessed its ancient power.

The air around them snapped as the being was drawn closer to a black orb of gravity summoned in between it and Sasuke. The orb vanished, throwing the automation off balance.

A flashing sword cut down for the machine's neck-

A third arm burst from the cloth of the automation. Fingers fashioned into the shape of a dagger before stabbing at Sasuke's stomach.

An ethereal, glowing bone curved from Sasuke's body. The machine's hand broke against it. It recoiled, attempting to skip backward-

Another ghostly limb rose from Sasuke's back. With a howl, a skeletal arm vipered forward and gathered up the machine between its cruel fingers.

Sasuke crushed the automation with a satisfying crunch.

As the cadaverous fingers unfurled, a mask fell within a rain of metal limbs and torn cloth.

Suddenly, the automation's limbs rose into the air.

They combined into an orb of chakra, before reforming around a rising mask.

The automation's body snapped into motion.

Then, it charged.

A crack split Sasuke's ears.

A second puppet?! Sasuke felt his new attacker, senses alerting him to what vision couldn't.

It's even faster than the first one.

Sasuke smirked.

How dull.

Sasuke dropped his sword.

The Uchiha formed a jutsu sign close to his chest. A black cape billowed at Sasuke's shoulders. The new puppet, a feminine-shaped machination similarly armed as the last, spun itself into a tearing spin for Sasuke's back.

A shadow passed over them. Chakra hissed in the air as smoke flew from the ground.

Sasuke's Rinnegan glowed ominously from behind a hazy shield of upturned rock and dirt.

A giant hawk with a snakelike neck curled around Sasuke. It bore two Rinnegan that sat underneath a pair of twisting horns, while a sharp black beak clicked excitedly.

Despite having access to all six paths, one bearing the Rinnegan still had to train how to actually utilize them.

Sasuke had mastered the Deva and Animal paths..

But I'm still nowhere near Nagato's level.

The hawk flapped massive wings against the ground. Gusts of wind yelped from it as it rose. Within its talons it held both of Sasuke's attackers. The automations writhed almost as if in pain as the hawk's sharp claws dug into their chests.

Sasuke called his sword back to a gloved palm.

Some time ago, he had added fuinjutsu seals to his blade. Among other things, it allowed him to cast jutsu by channeling chakra through its edge.

Simply put..

It was the perfect weapon for a man with one arm.

He-

Sasuke rushed forward.

Wait...!

Sasuke's summon shrieked aloud in pain. It crashed to the stone ground, flaying its whiplike neck about as the automations scurried amongst its feathers.

The machines dug their claws into the hawk's flesh as the beast howled in agony.

Sasuke could feel the summon's chakra being absorbed by the puppets. The strength he lent was now coursing through whatever willed the mask bearers movement.

Sasuke's summon let out a dying gasp as the last of its chakra was leeched. Both automations boldly strode forward, each one brimming with newfound strength.

The automations vanished.

They were fast-

Sasuke's sharingan moved underneath the shadow of his brow. It glowed as Sasuke sprinted forward, ducking underneath a slashing arc from the larger automation.

The faster one immediately flipped before Sasuke as he slid on the ground. It rose three bladed arms that suddenly elongated into sharpened spears-

Then shot for Sasuke's torso at close range.

Sasuke frowned.

Shinra Tensei!

An orb of chakra and air bellowed from within Sasuke, curling into a cutting vortex as it expanded from the Uchiha. The impact sent the spears flying back into the smaller puppet, lifting it into the air as its wounds cracked it open.

Its companion immediately rushed for Sasuke as he launched himself back on his feet.

Sasuke shifted to the right, a hooked arm passing his bangs by mere centimeters.

His sword cut into and through the puppet's chest. Sasuke held onto the sword's hilt, jumping slightly into a rounding kick.

Aided by the generated momentum, he sliced through the puppet's waist, curling back around in the same motion. He threw his sword at the feminine puppet's mask as it rose to reform.

It punctured the mask-

However, the automation's reformation process didn't stop.

Sasuke smiled.

He formed a jutsu sign-

I'll only have a moment. But.. I know where you are now!

By utilizing the summon's absorbed chakra, Sasuke was able to create a trail discernible to both his dojutsu as to where the automation's controller was.

It was a simple trick.. one that wouldn't work on someone aware of the possibility. But in the heat of battle..

Sasuke summoned another creature as he instantly swung his body in the opposite direction, calling his blade back to a waiting palm while dashing across the ground.

A two headed slink with slimy purple skin focused its rinnegan eyes hungrily at the automation's now-reformed bodies.

The slink threw both heads to the stone, wide mouths slurping up the puppets. However, at the very moment that the automations began to absorb the summon's chakra-

Sasuke dispelled the jutsu.

The air snapped as smoke billowed from the now empty space taken up by the massive lizard.

Sasuke landed, running forward then pointing his sword at a wall of stone before him. Lighting shot out into a shrieking spear.

Rock crumbled away violently as Sasuke dragged his brilliant weapon across the stone face. Several layers of rock sloughed away, causing plumes of smoke to rise from their fall..

However...

Sasuke furrowed his brows.

They're gone.

Another gust of wind blew through the valley.

Sasuke's long hair crossed his face as he sheathed a smoking sword with a flourish.

His eyes rose.

He regarded the Rinne-Sharigan inscribed before him. Then, he gazed upon the temple.

While the being that attacked him was able to escape.. there was no doubt in Sasuke's mind.

The chakra that Kaguya possessed.. it was unique. Strange.

Alien.

It was a feeling that Sasuke would never forget.

And.. despite their brief linking..

Sasuke felt the very same chakra from whatever fled him.

It's time.. I return to Konoha..