Chapter 5:

Sarada woke early the next morning, prompted by the promise of a fun mother-daughter day. She sat in front of the open door, getting her shoes on in the dim light of early morning. The air smelled damp and cold and other than a few birds chirping and crying, all was quiet. The sun had barely risen but the stars had all been chased away by this time.

"Ready to get started?" Sakura asked. They had to get around early for the day they had planned. Sakura had her bag on her shoulder and a clean outfit on, but her hair was sticking up on one side, making her look like she had just rolled out of bed. No matter how hard she tried, she could not comb it out and gave up.

It was actually Sarada who had woken her up that morning for their day of bonding. Sarada was still tired from keeping an eye on Boruto all day yesterday but it wasn't nearly as busy as the day Sakura had had at the hospital.

After making sure Boruto was keeping his word to her, Sarada felt confident she could enjoy her day with her mother.

Sarada smiled and nodded. "Yeah. All set."

Boruto had set out even earlier to make sure he got to the meeting location first. The sun had not risen at all when he headed out of the house with his bag on his back. He moved as fast as he could through the trees, ready to get started.

"I'm ending this before it begins."

Boruto pushed off from a branch so hard, he flew farther than he had intended and nearly missed the next branch, recovering by swinging from a different one with both arms.

Nothing was going to stop him.

Naruto left before breakfast to join Shikamaru on the road. Hinata had packed both of them a meal to eat on the way to the meeting, unsure what it was about but knowing it must have been important. Naruto apologized for leaving so early, gave Hinata a kiss and told her he'd try to be home for dinner. Hinata smiled and wished him well.

Naruto had already left the village behind when Hinata called her two children for breakfast and only one joined her at the table.

Naruto and Shikamaru went over the plan one more time before they got too close to the area. Shikamaru knew the king would expect an answer for everything, even if they didn't have one. Answering his question with a question would probably infuriate the king, so they had to do that sparingly when they could.

"Even if we have no results for the Kai thing, he'll expect something for the shinobi thing," Naruto reminded him.

"Stick to what we talked about. As long as we stick to our plan, Boruto and the others will be safe. The king won't find them and won't throw them in his prison."

Naruto sighed. "Boruto's a lot like me in a lot of ways. And in a situation like this, I would have acted on my own… Though, there's not really much I could do."

Shikamaru nodded. "I thought of that. Especially after the outburst in the office the other day. You saw him last night. Had he calmed down at all?"

"He still looked mad but he was calmer, I think."

Shikamaru smiled. "He's smarter than you in some ways. Maybe after going off on you like that, his friends set him straight and he was able to realize any action on his part would not help matters."

Naruto frowned. "He's dumber than me in some ways, too."

"Don't worry. He has no idea where we're meeting the king and I checked," said Shikamaru. "We're not being followed. Boruto won't know where we're going unless he's following us, which he's not."

Naruto nodded. "Yeah." He faced forward with confidence. "Ok, let's go."

Boruto arrived at the meeting area and found it deserted. "Good, I'm early." Boruto jumped down to where the king's men had come from and ran across the vast land of grass and stone. "Dad will be coming from that direction and the king would be coming from this direction. So I only have to set up around here."

Getting enough distance between himself and the meeting area, Boruto removed the bag from his back and unzipped one of the pockets. He took out several exploding tags and started placing them on different rocks, rigging them to explode in a specific order. These tags were different and would not explode as quickly, making them perfect for sneak attacks.

There was an open field beyond the rocks which looked like a good place to position an army for battle, so he decided to set up some traps there. If he had the time, he would have dug a deep trench in the field to keep the army at bay. Instead, he settled for burying a few explosives in four different locations which would scare then steer the army away from Naruto and the Leaf.

As for the men's weapons, that he would have to wait for and snatch up after throwing a smoke bomb or two. He would sneak around and take what he could before the traps went off and confusion took over.

Satisfied with how things were looking so far, Bortuo looked around the open field for a good place to hide. He had to travel pretty far before finding a cluster of trees and hid in the branches for his chance.

An hour later, he heard the rumbling of wagons moving across the grass and prepared to jump.

It wasn't much of an army. Just something the king brought for show. He counted five wagons in total in a five-point formation, protecting a decorative car pulled by four horses. Judging from its location and luster, this was the king's carriage. It seemed he couldn't stand to be out of sight, making sure everyone knew where he rode, even assassins.

Avoiding that carriage, Boruto watched to make sure no one behind the wagons saw him, marching with their spears held high. Waiting until the last of the men marched away from the trees, Boruto sprang to the nearest wagon, tucking and rolling behind the marching men and grabbing the bottom supports of the wagon, holding on as the ground passed beneath his back.

It wouldn't be long before they stopped their wagons in the field and drew all their attention to the king. Boruto waited for his chance as the marching feet stomped rhythmically around him like drums.

The wagon rolled to a stop after what seemed like an hour and the men all stopped, stomping their feet one last time to rotate and rest the bottoms of their spears on the ground with a loud thump.

Boruto could not make a move with so many men standing with their weapons in hand. He had to wait several more minutes before the men were at ease and moving slowly around the area, facing outward to keep watch for any sneak attacks.

Boruto could only see legs from his vantagepoint and couldn't tell where in the field they were, but they must have been close to where he rigged the explosives. He had to gather as many weapons as he could and break them or hide them. He also had to find the donkey Kai and get him away from here.

He started to lower himself to the ground when the back of the wagon opened and the stomping of several pairs of feet jostled him and sent vibrations through his hands, holding on to the wagon's wheel supports.

Several legs went different ways after leaving the cart, all in uniform. One pair of legs was considerably shorter than the others, moving fast to keep up.

"But, Dad," came the whiny voice of a young boy.

Boruto gasped. He didn't realize there would be children among the king's army.

"No buts," said a man. "This is a very easy mission. All you have to do is sit and observe. No need to do anything."

"But this is boring. When you said I could sit in with you at work, you didn't say it would be only sitting around. This can't be all you do. Can I at least hold your spear?"

"This isn't a plaything, Sota. And you should consider yourself lucky things are so boring. You're not ready for the big stuff yet. You haven't even completed your training."

"How will I know this is what I want to do if you don't let me do anything?"

"Protecting the king isn't as glamorous as you think it is. A lot of it is standing around."

"Then why train? If all you do is stand there, why learn how to fight?"

"Just in case there's danger and you need to."

"How often does that happen?"

"You need to be ready."

"That's not an answer, Dad."

"Just stay here while I take a look around."

"But, Dad-"

"You're not a soldier yet, Sota. You're not even supposed to leave the wagon. Just stay put."

"But-"

"Please."

Boruto heard the boy sigh and his father walk away after a pause. He saw the thin pair of short legs pace the wagon before wandering away. Boruto started to lower himself again when he saw the legs return along with an irregular thumping.

Something kept landing in the grass and on occasion, bounce off the wagon with a clang. It wasn't long before Boruto realized the noise was Sota twirling a spear and dropping it repeatedly; and not just because he heard a soldier tell Sota to stop playing with it.

Sota dropped the spear again, the tip rolling slightly under the wagon. Sota's shadow moved closer, bending down to reach it. Boruto pressed himself against the underside of the wagon.

"Huh?" Sota peered under the wagon, thinking he saw something but when he lowered himself to the ground for a better look, there was nothing there.

Boruto ran and hid behind anything he could, trying to get away.

Having a child with the army was a big hit to his plan but hadn't derailed anything yet. As long as Sota remained on the far side of the field, he would be fine. Boruto hadn't predicted such a thing and wondered who would bring a child to ride along with an army. Then he realized the irony of shinobi becoming recognized ninja at the age of twelve which was still considered to be the age of a child. However, it sounded like Sota hadn't been trained, whereas Boruto and a good many shinobi were at that age. It seemed a little irresponsible.

Boruto tried to salvage what was left of his mission by taking as many weapons as he could, which was going to be difficult, seeing as how most were holding on to theirs. He counted only a couple resting against wagons or in the grass beside their owners.

Boruto managed to gather just two spears before having to hide once again, the men moving around almost constantly. When he prepared to take a third resting beside a man using a rock as a chair, Boruto realized something.

The wagons and soldiers covering the field had impaired Boruto's mental map of where exactly they were. Only after seeing the rock being used as a chair did he realize that they were actually a lot closer than he thought they would be to the rock formation. He had planted the explosives to go off in front of the army to scare them back the way they came, but if they were this close, it meant that they were currently resting on top of the traps. One footfall could set them off and seriously hurt someone.

Boruto wasn't sure what to do. If he alerted them to the danger, how would he explain himself? He could make himself bait and lure them away, but the entire army might not follow him and would risk setting off the traps by having them run.

He still had a job to do, too. If nothing else, he had to locate the donkey Kai and get rid of him.

Instead of meeting in the small clearing between rocks, the two leaders met among the stones to discuss business while unwittingly standing amidst the hidden exploding tags scattered throughout.

King Nita stood before Naruto expectantly, flanked by two guards as before. "Well?" he said in a haughty tone. "It's been two days. What have you for me?"

"In regards of the shinobi in question, there are several in the village with similar descriptions and there's no record of any of them going to your kingdom in their reports."

The king was not pleased. "Then someone is lying."

"Can you prove they were from the Hidden Leaf? Do you recall their names? Anything would be helpful."

King Nita huffed. "I already told you. They said they were shinobi on a mission."

"Did they say they were from the Leaf?" asked Naruto.

"Honestly, I don't recall." King Nita shook his head. "But they did look familiar. I believe one of my allies hired them for something not long ago. But he would never hire them to attack me. And this wasn't an attack."

"Then why punish them?" asked Naruto.

"Beg your pardon?" asked the king.

"You said you wanted to deal with them, but from everything you've told me, they've done nothing illegal. They did not attack you and the two incidents are coincidental," said Naruto. "The item that disappeared could have been dangerous, in which case they did you a service. As far as Kai goes, there's no proof they were responsible for what happened."

"His bag, several witnesses, missing Kai. Do the math."

"If Kai took it, he might have used it himself without knowing what it was. In which case it was an accident," said Naruto. "Unless one has an understanding of what something is, they can easily make a mistake. This was not the shinobi's doing."

"We've been over this. It belonged to the shinobi and Kai-"

"Took something after being told repeatedly not to probably because it was either dangerous or they knew it could be misused in the wrong hands and were trying to warn him," said Naruto. "I know we've been over this. What I'm saying is that if the shinobi were locked away when Kai vanished, it's hard to pin the blame on them. The servant did as Kai told them and went to find the shinobi when he thought something wasn't right. There's a big gap between events."

"Yes, but-"

"Your Majesty," said Naruto, cutting him off without raising his voice. "If I were to tell you to take a random object off my person right now and use it, would you be able to do so?"

The king stared at him, intrigued but caught off-guard by the question.

Naruto lifted both hands above his head as if surrendering, his elbows pushing his cloak up and away from his torso to reveal his belt and shirt. "The items I carry on my belt," said Naruto. "Can you identify them?"

King Nita looked closely at Naruto's belt while his guards kept their attention on Naruto and Shikamaru, wary. "I see a pouch and a dagger, it seems."

Naruto smirked. "The dagger is actually a kunai and I have several on me. My pouch, though. Can you tell me what it contains?"

"Why, no. It's closed."

"Then can you tell me if it's dangerous or not? If you were to take it from me right now and it did you harm, am I to blame?"

"Well, if it were dangerous, you should tell me. Warning would be nice," said the king.

"If you snatch it from me and I'm locked in a vault, how could I tell you it's dangerous? If I'm unconscious on the ground and you take it from me, how could I warn you?"

The king was silent.

"I'm sorry for whatever happened to Kai, but I believe there was no malicious intent. It could have been an accident. The shinobi could have been trying to warn Kai only he didn't listen." Naruto lowered his arms and his cloak covered his body once more.

King Nita didn't say a thing, keeping his eyes on Naruto's now covered belt.

"Your Majesty," said Naruto. "I don't think this is worth going to war over. If you feel insulted in any way, I apologize on behalf of the shinobi. I do not believe they meant to harm anyone. I think Kai made a mistake and when the shinobi tried to warn him, he felt insulted and locked them away so he wouldn't have to hear them anymore."

The king chuckled slightly. "Kai was always a bit on the arrogant side. When his mind is set to something, he goes all out, even if it's foolish."

"Then please do not repeat his mistakes. Instead of being deaf to those around you, I implore you to listen and not lock them away. What happened to Kai could have been prevented if only he had heeded their warning. They might not have known what Kai was going to do but knew he did not know what he had and could misuse it which was what they were trying to prevent. It might not have been dangerous at all, but knew he could turn it into something dangerous."

King Nita looked at the ground and nodded slowly. "Hokage…"

"Yes?"

"When I was a lad, I had this ball I loved to play with," the king told him. "It bounced so perfectly and was my favorite color, felt good in my hands. One day I tried to jump off it to launch myself and snapped my ankle. After that I developed a disliking for it."

The king looked into the distance as if seeing the memory play out before his eyes. He chuckled and shook his head, looking back at Naruto.

"It was not dangerous, but became dangerous when misused. I know all about that."

Naruto nodded slowly and grinned. "We learn from our mistakes."

"Yes," the king said distantly, thinking about something. "Though I grew to dislike my childhood plaything, I could never bring myself to be rid of it. I kept it for many years."

He hadn't thought about that incident in so long and now that he remembered something unpleasant from his childhood, he actually thought of it fondly. Something about Naruto drew these memories from his past to the front of his mind and helped him gain perspective.

Naruto was unlike so many leaders he had spoken with over the years. He didn't judge and his charisma made it easy to talk to him. Somehow, unlike two days ago, the king found Naruto to be wise beyond his years.

"It would be foolish to go to war over this matter. I withdraw my threat."

Naruto smiled. "Thank you, Your Majesty."

He extended his hand to shake the king's but he did not take it.

"Kai, however…"

Naruto lowered his hand to his side, realizing this wasn't quite over yet.

"I would still like him back. Regardless of what he's done."

Naruto wanted to know why but didn't ask with things going as smoothly as they were.

"Your Majesty," he told him, "I would like to help you, but I'm not sure I know how. Only Kai and that one servant seemed to get a good look at whatever it was in that bag and I'm not even sure it's related. I'm afraid I don't know how to help you."

The king looked at Naruto. "There must be something. I refuse leave no stone unturned on the matter."

They were wearing the king down on several matters. The item, the shinobi. This was the one thing he refused to bend on.

"Why?" Naruto could no longer help but ask. "Why is Kai irreplaceable to you?"

The king sighed. He looked away, looked at the ground and back at Naruto.

Naruto stood before him, asking out of curiosity, not pressing. It was an innocent question that the king found hard to refuse. Something about Naruto made him feel comfortable enough to tell him almost anything. It could have been the innocence in his eyes or the nonjudgmental vibes he was getting from the Hokage. Whatever it was, the king found it hard to resist. He wanted to tell him.

The king locked eyes with Naruto. "You see…"

BOOM!

The ground shook violently as earth was hurled into the sky.

"What was that?!"

The guards pressed close to their king to protect him. Shikamaru looked in all directions for the threat but couldn't see anyone in the field of stone and grass.

Another explosion caused the tags to detonate all around the sea of stone, sending chunks of rock skyward. One after another with deafening booms and cracks.

Shikamaru shielded his head from the falling rock and soil, still trying to find the source of the threat.

A large piece of broken stone hurled towards them among the smaller pieces coming from all directions. Naruto cloaked himself in the Nine-Tail's power and used his tail-like arms to shield himself and the others from the falling debris. "Stay close!" Shikamaru shouted over the noise, huddling close to Naruto's body along with the king and his guards.

Rocks clattered to the ground and the dust began to settle. Naruto waited until the last of the rocks stopped clacking to lower his altered form to conserve chakra. He and Shikamaru looked around for the enemy but there was no one in sight.

"What was that?" the king asked, looking around, but his guards blocked most of his view.

"I have no idea. I don't see anyone," said Naruto.

"Those were exploding tags," Shikamaru said to Naruto, still surveying the area. "There could be an enemy shinobi nearby."

"Like the third party we discussed?"

Shikamaru nodded in answer.

They heard a commotion coming from the wagons in the open field, prompting everyone to go check it out. They did not get far when a group of guards came with weapons drawn, throwing someone before the king.

Boruto couldn't see a donkey anywhere and believed it was inside one of the five wagons. He started opening them to check inside, but only managed to peer into one before the first explosion sounded. Boruto ducked down as a wagon down the field went airborne and crashed behind the fleeing soldiers.

Another explosion and another. Men shouted and rushed to protect each other and search for the enemy. Boruto ran between the men, using the dust for cover. When several guards cornered him, he threw a smoke bomb at the ground to escape. Escaping into the cloud, he heard a boy's voice calling for his father. Having just escaped the cloud, Boruto turned back in time to see chunks of rock and wagon descend upon the smoke cloud and those struggling to find their way out. Several cried out in pain, pummeled by the falling debris.

When Boruto tried to go back in to help, he found himself tackled from behind and pressed into the ground. He was held in place until the smoke began to clear and the rain of rock subsided.

Once it was safe to move, the soldiers dragged him across the field and towards their king. They threw him at the ground, telling their ruler, "We caught this one sneaking around the wagons when the explosions went off."

Naruto saw his son being detained by the soldiers and gawked at him in disbelief. "Boruto? What are you doing here?"

The king looked from Boruto to the Hokage standing beside him. Rage morphed his face into something truly ugly and Naruto realized his terrible mistake.

"That's the shinobi who came unannounced to my kingdom. Then you do know him."

Naruto was frozen.

Boruto struggled against the men holding him in place. "Dad, I-"

The king rounded on Naruto at once. "'Dad', he says? Now it becomes clear. You knew it was your son all along and were trying to protect him."

"I-"

"This was all a scam! A trick! Lies!"

Naruto shook his head. "It's not like that. I couldn't be sure and that doesn't change the-"

"This was an assassination attempt! I should have known the Leaf could not be trusted!"

"No, it's not-"

The king pointed at Boruto. "Chain him and throw him in the dungeon! Let him rot in a cell in the kingdom the Leaf tried to deceive!"

Naruto shook his head and tried to plead with the king. "Your Majesty, please wait-"

The king spun to glare at Naruto, feeling betrayed. "You can consider our would-be agreement over. I will not declare war, but this boy with answer for his crimes."

"But-"

"And be held accountable for what the other shinobi have done."

"But we agreed that they didn't-"

"How can I possibly believe that now?" asked the king. He scoffed and shook his head at Naruto. "How can I believe you?"

Naruto stared wide-eyed at the king, his words cutting deep.

He hadn't lied to the king. He was trying to help.

"War may not move you, but perhaps your son's life will."

A chill ran down Naruto's spine. "Your Majesty-"

"Kai for your boy! That is our new arrangement. And you better not keep me waiting."

Naruto began to shake. He could not accept this. Instead of the village, the king was now threatening his son. This was wrong. He had to stop this.

If he attacked the king, he could force them to return Boruto in exchange for their ruler. He could fight them all and take Boruto by force. He was strong enough to do it. It would be easy. He could blast them all away, snap their necks, unleash the full power of the Nine-Tails. For the sake of his son, he would do anything. Even-

Naruto grabbed his own wrists to calm himself down, realizing he was already reaching for the king. He could not resort to that. These people didn't do anything. They were following orders from their king. Many hadn't even heard the orders and were laying injured on the ground or tending to others. They had families. They didn't deserve this. The king saw what happened and made a judgement call and from the look of things, he couldn't blame him.

Things were going so well.

How did this happen? Why did this..?

"Take him away," ordered the king.

Naruto looked from the king to Boruto. He rushed over to speak with his boy. "Boruto," he called, fighting to get the whole story before he was dragged off. "Boruto, why? Why did you do this?"

Boruto pulled against the soldiers to answer him clearly. "Because you were going to let the king attack the Leaf. I had to stop him."

Naruto's breath caught in his throat. Did his son truly believe he would have allowed such a thing? Knowing his views? Knowing his family and most of what he loved lived there? Did Boruto have no faith in him?

"Boruto, I was never going to allow that."

"But it was going to happen. I know it was. If he threatened it, that means he was going to-"

"Boruto, he admitted he was never going to do that. He was even going to forgive you for coming to his kingdom."

He scoffed. "You're just saying that. No, he wasn't."

"Yes, he was," said Shikamaru, overhearing the conversation. He even used his shadows to hold the soldiers in place while the two talked. "Boruto, the king was going to look the other way on this and let it go."

"He said there was no real harm done and that Kai was foolish. He said it was no longer considered an issue. We agreed that you were only there to help." Naruto shook his head. "Now you've convinced him otherwise. Boruto, why couldn't you have just listened to me?"

"Because you were going to bring Kai back and I couldn't let you. He's too dangerous."

"And what you did wasn't?" asked one of the soldiers. "You could have killed us, boy. Including your father."

Boruto saw the scratches in Shikamaru's body from the falling rocks and the one on Naruto's cheek. "You weren't supposed to be there. Last time, your meeting was…"

"Boruto, you…" Naruto didn't know where to begin. His son's assumptions were all wrong. He calculated everything, relying on the idea that everything would be situated just as before since he wasn't aware of the full conversation. He only knew so much and assumed the rest.

"I was just trying to stop you from bringing back Kai because it was the wrong move and you were too stupid to see it."

Naruto gritted his teeth and glowered at Boruto. "I was never going to," he told him firmly. "I was never going to because I couldn't. I cannot change Kai back because I don't have the power or knowhow to do it."

If only Boruto had trusted him.

Naruto shook his head slowly, his glare softening as the stakes set in. "Now I'm going to have to. To get you back."

Boruto's face was overcome with stunned fear and worry. Either Naruto would have to do the impossible or he was never going home.

Shikamaru's shadow shrank back to his feet and the soldiers resumed their order.

Boruto felt the strength in their arms carry him off and he pulled against them once more, only this time to reach his father. "Dad?" He was starting to panic. "Dad?" He needed to know what would happen. "Dad? Dad!"

Naruto followed them until he was stopped by the king's guards.

Boruto kept calling, not understanding why his father wasn't stopping them. "Dad! Dad!"

"I will find you," Naruto called between the guards. "I will find you. Just hold on. I love you, Boruto! Just hold on!"

"Dad! Dad!"

Naruto stood and watched the men take his son away. Through a clenched jaw, all Naruto could ask was, "Why didn't you listen to me?"

Boruto was pulled past the damage and made to look at the results of his impulsive actions. Several men were bleeding from minor cuts but some had dislocated shoulders from where they were struck. Some lay on the ground after being pulled from under fallen wagon pieces and rocks. Boruto's stomach churned, seeing Sota being treated for a head wound while his father stroked his unconscious body. Able to see Sota clearly for the first time, Boruto realized the boy was no older than Himawari.

Boruto was tied up and thrown into an undamaged wagon, his bag and tools confiscated. They locked the door, sealing him inside. From there, Boruto slumped to the floor and curled up, overwhelmed by what he had done.

"I didn't mean to," he said into the floor and pressed his eyes shut.