A/N: This chapter is really long, but only cause it's the prologue
~Flashback~
Boruto and Kawaki walked through the streets of Konoha while the stars shined brightly in the sky. Both boys walked in silence, feeling no need to talk. Recently they had gotten closer, Boruto even started referring to Kawaki as his brother, which Kawaki did the same for him. They both stopped suddenly, their eyes scanning the area as they heard some rustling from a bush. They both exchanged concerned looks as they activated their karma at the same time, both finding that it is easier to control when they both have it activated.
"Who's there! Show yourself!" Kawaki hissed, his fists clenched and his eyes narrowed, waiting for whoever was out there to appear.
Suddenly, a man with messy half white, half black hair, appeared in front of them. His cold icy blue eyes staring at them both. The man smirked at them, leaving both boys confused.
"Well, well, I see you've been marked with the Karma seal as well, hmm?" He asked them.
Boruto blinked twice, "Yeah, what's it to you, old man?" He said hesitantly, keeping a good distance away from the man.
The man extended one hand toward them, "Come, come with me. I'll show you the power of the karma seal, I'll give you power. I'll turn you both into the most feared shinobi of the world."
Both boys eyes widened in shock, both not knowing what to say to him. Boruto did want to know the power of his karma seal since he didn't know much about it, but he didn't want to abandon Sarada and Mitsuki, and his parents and sibling. Kawaki on the other hand, was considering it, he was all in for the power, though he looked at Boruto and saw that Boruto was hesitant.
"Kawaki, be careful, we can't trust this man. We barely know anything about him." Boruto said, his eyes cold as he met eyes with the man.
"My offer still holds till next week at night fall. Until then, I will wait for you once you make your decision out in the hidden leaf forest." He told them, before vanishing within a blink of an eye.
Not wanting to be outside any longer, Kawaki and Boruto made their way back home as quick as they can. Not even bothering to stop to take a breath.
~End of flashback~
"Boruto, you seem to be troubled. What's the matter?" Mitsuki asked as he and Boruto walked together to where they were going to meet Sarada to train.
He shrugged, "Oh, it's nothing, Mitsuki. I've just been wondering about my karma seal, what's it's true power, you get what I mean?"
Mitsuki nodded, letting Boruto know he understood. Boruto appreciated Mitsuki because of how understanding he was. Though he knew that Mitsuki was most likely suspicious of his odd behavior since he would normally be talking the whole time rather than staying quiet and only talking when spoken to.
"Hmm, now that I think of it. Surely there's a book in the library that could give us some information about the karma seal, right?" Mitsuki asked.
"You may be right, but the library is boring. Reading is boring in general." Boruto replied.
Mitsuki laughed, "Oh come on, just accompany to the library real quick, I'll even do the reading for you."
"Look, there's Kawaki walking toward us!" Mitsuki said, a wide smile on his face as he waved at Kawaki.
Kawaki looked at Mitsuki and awkwardly waved back at him, causing both Mitsuki and Boruto to chuckle.
"Mitsuki, mind if I borrow Boruto for a moment?" Kawaki asked with no expression on his face.
Mitsuki was hesitant to answer, knowing that Sarada would be angry if Boruto didn't show up for training, "Well you see..We were on our way to t-"
"You can tell Sarada that it's important." He replied quickly.
Giving Mitsuki no chance to respond, Boruto was dragged away by Kawaki to a place where no one was and no one could overhear their conversation. Boruto raised an eyebrow at Kawaki, a annoyed look on his face.
"What was that for, Kawaki, Sarada will kill me if I'm late to training." He whined.
Kawaki sighed, and Boruto could tell that he was deep in thought. The blonde put a hand on Kawaki's shoulder and smiled at him, hoping it would help with whatever was troubling him.
"So, what's troubling you?" Boruto asked him.
The black haired boy looked away, as if he was ashamed of what he had to say, "I was considering.."
"Considering..." Kawaki trailed off yet again.
"Considering what?" The blonde asked, now getting concerned of what Kawaki was trying to say.
"I was considering going with that man." Kawaki stated firmly, his face full of confidence as he met Borutos eyes.
Shocked, Boruto stumbled back, having no words to say. He too, had been considering it for the past two nights, but he knew he couldn't leave. His family needed him, team 7 needed him, and his promise to Sarada..
"Kawaki..You can't possibly be thinking of leaving.." Boruto said sadly.
"You can come with me, remember?" Kawaki reminded him, "Boruto, do you know what this means if we go with him? We'll be able to harness more power, and isn't that what you want?"
Suddenly, Boruto felt frustrated at Kawaki. He didn't know why. But he did in fact feel frustrated. He narrowed his eyes at him, his gaze cold.
"No, I don't want power." He answered coldly.
"But why? This is an opportunity of a lifetime!" Kawaki reminded him.
"I understand that, but I'm still not going either way. My family is here. My home is here." He paused, "Leaving my family and friends just for power? It doesn't settle right with me, Kawaki."
"But we'll come back." Kawaki replied.
"It's not that easy, Kawaki. We'll be known as rogue ninja's. We won't be able to just come back and say 'We want to become Leaf Ninjas'."
"Again, I'm not going. End of story." Boruto added
Kawaki took a step forward, his teeth gritted in anger, "Think about Sarada! You want to protect her when she's Hokage, you want to be her right hand man when she's Hokage! How can you do that if you're not strong enough to protect her!" He yelled, though making sure to not yell to loud that others can hear.
Boruto stopped and thought about what Kawaki said. He had a point, in order to protect Sarada when she's Hokage, he'll need to be strong enough. But the risks that come with it, didn't please him. He would become known as a rogue ninja, his family would be shamed because their child became a rogue ninja.
"I know you well enough Boruto to know that this is our opportunity for greatness. You don't have to come with me but...I'm going." Kawaki stated.
"Kawaki, think about the people around you! Himawari will be hurt! Dad will be hurt! Mom will be hurt! Everyone you've made friends with will be hurt!" He reminded him, turning back around.
"You don't think I know that, Boruto?! I'm aware of what I'm risking, and I'm fine with it! You know why?" He paused, "Cause in the end, we'll be able to protect Konoha! We'll be able to protect everyone!"
"I don't care if you come with me or not Boruto, but I'm going, whether you like it or not. Nothing can stop me from doing this." He continued.
"I know I can't stop you. But at least try to consider what you'll be leaving behind before making a life changing choice." Boruto replied.
Boruto sighed, "I'm gonna go, we can talk about this tomorrow morning, okay?" Without letting him answer, Boruto walked away.
Instead of going to the training field to meet with his teammates, he made his way back home. Wanting time to himself to decide whether or not he wanted to take this opportunity. Kawaki had said he was well aware of the risks, and he himself was too. But he couldn't imagine leaving everyone behind just for power. He sighed, his teeth gritted as tears started streaming down his face at the thought of having to leave everyone behind.
'You'll need power to be able to protect your dear friend when she's Hokage.' A voice told him.
He looked around to see who had spoken to him, but no one was there but people walking by, doing their usual stuff. Shaking his head and wiping his tears, and ran the rest of the way home and up to his bedroom, keeping himself locked in.
~A day later, they have four nights left to decide~
He walked down the stairs, his eyes not having their everyday spark. His mother and sister greeted him before he went off to go meet up with Mitsuki and Sarada, the two waiting for him at the front of Sarada's house. He forced a
smile and waved at them as he ran up to them.
"Morning, Boruto." Mitsuki greeted, his normal chill smile on his face.
"You're late, again." Sarada pointed out, her arms crossed as she glared at him.
Boruto laughed nervously, "Sorry, Sarada, I was up late last night, it won't happen again."
He wasn't lying, he was up late last night. Thinking about what he should do. What choice was right for him. What choice was right for everyone. He knew the pro's and con's of what would happen if he and Kawaki were to leave without reason. And he was starting to believe that it would be best for him. He understood the consequences and he would take them on, no matter what.
"Boruto? Hello?" Mitsuki waved his hand in front of Boruto, catching his attention, "You spaced out for a minute. Everything alright?"
"Everything's fine, let's just go train before someone gets mad at me." He replied, sending a glare at Sarada who in turn rolled her eyes at him.
The three set off to the training grounds, walking in silence. Boruto shoved his hands in his pockets and went back to thinking.
'I have to do this..it's for the greater good. Sarada's safety as Hokage depends on it. I know mom and dad will be disappointed in me if I leave, but they'll be proud of me again when they seeme when I'm much stronger than before.'
'The risks I'm taking will all be worth it...at least, I hope they'll be worth it.'
"Boruto, get yourself together! The training grounds is this way!" Sarada yelled at him, snapping him out of his thoughts.
He rubbed the back of his head, "Right, right. My bad."
He caught up to them and continued to walk with them. He looked at Mitsuki and wondered how he would feel if he left Konoha, would he be sad? Would he feel betrayed? It wouldn't surprise Boruto if Mitsuki felt both sad and betrayed, especially considering how he saw Boruto as his best friend. He then looked at Sarada. He knew well enough that she would feel annoyed and angry rather then sad. He wondered if she would even miss him at all, recently the two had been on bad terms because of the Chuunin exams. Even after several apologies, Sarada still hadn't forgiven him. Her mother, Sakura, had told him that she'll forgive him soon enough and just give her time. Snapping himself out of his thoughts, he noticed that they had arrived at the training grounds.
"How about we start with some sparring, shall we?" Mitsuki asked, "Fist to fist, no jutsu's, no weapons, just your fists. And your feet and legs of course."
Sarada grinned, "I can certainly do that," Though her grin faltered as she sent a glare at Boruto, "I don't know about him though."
"Oh come on! I apologized so many times!" He whined.
"Tch, whatever. Let's get this over with, me against Boruto, whoever wins goes against Mitsuki." She murmured, going to the center of the training ground.
Boruto followed her and was a few steps away from her, the two glared at each other, both more ready than ever. They waited on Mitsuki to tell them 'go!' so they could begin.
"1...2...2 and a quarter...2 and a half...2 and three quarters..."
"Hurry up!" Both Boruto and Sarada snapped.
Mitsuki chuckled, "3...go!"
The two ran at each other, once close enough, Boruto went for a punch in the gut. Sarada read his movement, even without her sharongan, and dashed to the left, making him fall over. He quickly got up and glared at her, trying to see a opening. He grinned and dashed toward her, he looked at her gut, aiming to punch their. She rolled her eyes at him, before caught by surprise when she was knocked over. Mitsuki looked at them from where he stood, laughing at how Boruto had outsmarted Sarada.
'He made her think that he was aiming for her gut again, which would make her think it would be easy to evade. But he instead went to the ground and tripped her over with his foot. Smart, Boruto.'
Sarada got up and jumped backward to put some space between them so she could at least have a moment to think. Boruto stood where he was, waiting for her to make her next move. Seeing that she had finally come up with something, Boruto narrowed his eyes and prepared for her attack. She dashed toward him, her speed faster than before, her onyx eyes glaring into his blue ones. Without a chance to dodge her sudden attack, she punched him with a strong force, sending him flying backward into a tree. Left in shock, Boruto stared ahead of him. He slowly stood up, his whole body trembling from the impact of the hit. He looked at Sarada and ran toward her once again, though at a slow pace, he went for a kick, but missed miserably as she easily dodged his attack and ran behind him. She kicked his back, making him fall forward onto the ground.
Mitsuki only watched, his concern growing. He noticed that Boruto was more weak than he was before the hit he got from Sarada. He wondered if the impact was that bad.
He stood up once more, even though his left arm was in pain. Sarada grinned, seeing that she was winning against him. Boruto backed up a little and tried to find a opening, he analyzed the situation, his brain working better than ever, which was a surprise to him. Unfortunately he caught no opening and due to being lost in thought for too long, was sent backward once again. This time, he fell up against the rocky wall, he screamed as pain surged through his body from the impact, his fists clenched and he winced.
Seeing that she had most likely taking it too far, Sarada ran towards him, worry on her face. Mitsuki followed close behind, worried about his friend as well. They looked at Boruto and saw a little blood trickling down his left arm.
"How'd he get this?" Sarada asked Mitsuki, seeing a somewhat deep cut on Boruto's arm as she lifted his jacket sleeve.
"No idea, but we should probably take him to your mom, considering she's a medical ninja and all, right?" He answered.
She nodded and helped get Boruto onto Mitsuki's back. Boruto looked at her and gave her a weak smile before he felt too tired and went to sleep.
"We should probably hurry." Sarada told Mitsuki, "I don't want it to get infected."
"Right."
The two sped up, rushing to get back to Sarada's household. A few friends of theirs tried to talk to them along the way, but the two were too much in a rush to even acknowledge their presences.
"What are they in a rush for?" Inojin asked, his eyebrow raised.
"Don't know, don't care. Let's just go home, this is such a drag." He muttered.
Inojin chuckled, "You think everything is a drag." He said as he and Shikadai walked off to Inojin's house.
Sarada ran ahead of Mitsuki and opened the door so that they could get Boruto in as quickly as they could. Sakura looked over at Sarada and saw her panicked face.
"Sarada, everything okay?" She asked worriedly.
"Boruto has a cut, it looks deep, could you take care of it, Ms.Sakura." As Mitsuki unknowingly appeared behind Sakura with Boruto on his back.
"My goodness, Mitsuki!" Sakura yelled as she jumped in surprise, "Don't go around scaring me the life out of me like that!"
Mitsuki laughed nervously, "Sorry miss, I was in a hurry." He paused, "But could you take care of Boruto? He got beat up pretty badly when sparring against Sarada."
Sakura raised an eyebrow at Sarada, "And you went that far Sarada?"
"I didn't cut him myself! It was a no weapon or jutsu spar!" Sarada explained, "I wouldn't go as far as cutting my own teammate mama!"
"Alright, I'll take care of him. You two go on ahead and have some burgers or something while you wait." Sakura said, handing them some money for food.
"Thanks, mama!" Sarada replied as she and Mitsuki took off.
-An hour later-
"Alright, Boruto. You're good to go, just make sure to change bandaging every few hours, alright?"
"Yes, Aunt Sakura. Thank you!" Boruto yelled as he rushed out the door.
Suddenly, someone appeared in front of him, catching him by surprise, "Hey."
"Kawaki! Jeez, don't scare me like that!" He yelped.
Kawaki laughed lightly, "My bad, I heard from Sarada and Mitsuki that you got hurt during training. Your mom wanted me to get you home once you were done being treated."
"Y'know you can call her mom too, right? You're apart of our family."
"Oh," Kawaki said, "Well, we should hurry, she seemed kinda angry when telling me to get you home."
Boruto's shoulders dropped as he heard what Kawaki said, he was definitely going to get a good yelling from his mom when he got home. He sighed and walked with Kawaki as they headed back to the house.
"So..Have you decided?" Kawaki asked hesitantly.
"Yes." Boruto replied.
"And..?"
"I'm going. Losing to Sarada today showed me how weak I am, so I'm going to push myself to become stronger. And the only way to do that is to go with that man." He chuckled, "And who's going to make sure you stay out of trouble, hm?"
Kawaki gawked, "I don't need you to make sure I stay out of trouble, I'm older than you, idiot!"
Boruto grinned, "We'll see."
"Hey! It should be me looking after you!"
"Ehh, I can take care of myself, but you on the other hand, probably can't." He replied
"You suck!"
"You're just mad that I'm right." Boruto said.
"Tch, whatever. Let's just get home. Yo- I mean mom, is probably expecting you soon."
"Aw man, I don't wanna get in trouble!" He complained, "I'm so gonna be dead, she'll be so mad at me!"
"Sounds like a You problem, Boruto." Kawaki said, laughing.
"Oh my precious baby, are you okay?" Hinata said as she looked to see if he had anymore injuries.
Kawaki gaped, "Wha-how-"
"I'm fine, mom. Relax." Boruto told her.
'This will probably be our last day with mom before we leave'
"As long as you're okay, then I'm okay. Why don't you and Kawaki go get Himawari for lunch, she's with Sarada and Mitsuki."
"Sure, we'll be back soon."
He and Kawaki ran off to find them, they first went to the Inn that Himawari liked, no sign of her there, they then looked at Himawari's favorite clothe shop, no sign of her there, they then looked for her at the lake that Sarada liked to take her to whenever they hung out, no sign of her there. Finally, they decided to look for her at Sakura's house.
"Big brother!" Himawari called out to him from the living room of their house.
Sarada sat with her, a book in her hand. She looked over at Boruto and smiled softly. He could tell from the look of her eyes that she didn't hold that grudge against him anymore, he'd finally forgiven her. But on the worst day possible since he was leaving tonight.
"Whatcha readin'?" He asked Sarada,taking a seat beside her.
Kawaki went to Himawari and the two shared a hug, though Boruto noticed that Kawaki was starting to tear up. Both boys realized this would be their last day in Konoha before they took off.
"Sorry about today, I took it too far." Sarada told him, "I'll be more careful next time."
Kawaki and Boruto shared a look.
'There is no next time, Sarada. Take care of Himawari, I beg of you. You're like a sister to her. She'll need you most when I'm gone. When me and Kawaki are gone. Take care of everyone, please. I'm entrusting you to this because...'
'I love you, Sarada Uchiha. I always have. I'm entrusting you to all the people I love because I love you, I know you, I know you'll take good care of them. One day, when I'm ready, when I'm back, I'll tell you how much I love you.'
Exactly at midnight, Boruto and Kawaki had their bags ready and packed, snacks, water, food, clothes, everything they need for their trip. They both made their way to the door, preparing for their life changing decision that was about to happen.
"Ready?" Kawaki whispered.
Hesitantly, Boruto looked at him, "I-..I'm ready." He whispered back.
Together, they walked out the door and went to the gates of Konoha. Each step Boruto took, the more hesitant he was to leaving. He was having second thoughts about this. Maybe he shouldn't go. Maybe he should stay. But he couldn't turn back now, he was already all his stuff prepared, and he didn't want to turn back on Kawaki now. He sighed, tears starting to flow from his blue sapphire eyes.
"Boruto, you alright?" Kawaki asked, though he himself, had tears falling as well.
Boruto nodded, wiping his tears, "Yeah..Let's go and quickly."
"Listen, if you wanna turn back, do it now."
"No, I'm doing this. We're doing this." He replied.
Kawaki nodded and the two ran ahead to the gate. Both stopping to look back at what they were leaving behind. Boruto looked at Kawaki and could see the sadness on his face. He put a hand on his shoulder and smiled in hope to reassure him.
"We got this." He murmured to him.
Kawaki smiled back at him, and the two walked out the gates of Konoha. They were now officially rogue ninja, due to running from the village without consent from the Hokage. They went fo the forest, where the man said he'd wait for them. They hopped from tree branch to tree branch, waiting for a sign of the man.
Until they heard rustling from behind them. Thinking that they were caught, Boruto prepared to explainwhy they were leaving, while Kawaki brought out a kunai and prepared for battle.
"Ah, so you two have decided, hm?"
They both turned and saw the man standing on a branch, his hair blowing from the wind. He leapt over to them with ease, a grin on his face.
"Yeah, we have." Kawaki said, "Now what's next."
"Surely we should introduce ourselves?" The man asked, his eyebrow raised.
Kawaki stated at him, a cold look on his face, "We don't have time for that, we need to go now before someone notices we're gone. Quit wasting our time." He paused, "We can introduce ourselves later."
The man raised his hands in surrender and leapt to a branch ahead of them, "Keep up, kids. We got a long journey ahead of us."
"Big brother and Kawaki are gone!"
Naruto and Hinata rushed to where Himawari was, and she was right, Boruto and Kawaki was gone. Almost everything in their room was gone. Naruto and Hinata exchanged worried looks.
"Naruto.." Hinata trailed off as tears started to fall, "You don't think.."
"We'll find them, I'll send out search teams to retrieve them." He assured her, "I won't let our son, I mean sons, go off without a fight."
Within a hour, search teams were sent out. One team being Sarada, Shikadai, Mitsuki and Shikadai, who were more ready than ever to receive their friends.
Sarada though, was the most worried out of all of them. The second being Mitsuki since they both were close to Kawaki and Boruto.
'Kawaki...Boruto...wait for us, we'll find you!'
