BORUTO'S MASTERS – REMAINING IN DANGER
The Camp
Sasuke's words echo in Boruto's mind as he watches his master and Sakura disappearing into the night. They are going to find his father, exactly what he feared they would do. Long ago Boruto fought alongside the two of them, alongside Naruto and Sasuke. Back then he learned to appreciate how much they had accomplished in their lives. What he yearned for as a child was acknowledgement and attention, the same thing that the two of them had earnt more of than anyone else. They are the two people who have told him they are disappointed in him and they are the two people who it hurt most to hear it from.
"Don't feel too bad his judgement Boruto," Tsunade says.
Boruto doesn't even look in Tsunade's direction. The two of them have each grown into public roles in the shadows of their much greater ancestors, but it isn't the same, not at all. Tsunade has reunited with the person she is closest to in this world and Mitsuki stuck with her all the while. Who has stuck with him? It would seem that Shikadai is the closest such person, and he is amongst the people Boruto is letting down with this latest judgement. Tsunade has walked towards her family, Boruto has walked away from it.
"Their minds were clouded from the start. I like Sakura but that doesn't mean that she was right," Tsunade continues, "They were Naruto's teammates. They've flown so close to the sun that it's impossible for them to be undamaged."
Boruto snickers at the metaphor. A burning hot sun who burns anyone who comes to close, is that really the way to describe his father. Almost everyone he has met from the village would describe him as a sun shining brightly, keeping everyone warm and safe. Only these two are different, only the Senjus Hashirama and Tsunade.
"You know Tsunade, I'm not sure you see my father the same way I do."
"I see him differently?"
"You talk about him with scorn, as if he corrupts people, as if he bends them to his will. You talk about him as if he is a cunning enemy."
"Is that not what he is to our cause? An enemy who keeps pulling the village deeper into Homeworld's trap?"
Boruto throws his head back and laughs, walking a short circuit before standing dead in front of Tsunade, looking her angrily in the eye.
"Is there a problem?" Tsunade asks.
"My father is naïve idiot, a hero who believes that we can all go home together and smile," Boruto admits, "But he is the naïve idiot I'm doing all this to protect. He is a beacon of hope, acting in the light for the betterment of the village. I'm a Shadow Hokage, I'm here to operate in the dark, to get rid of our enemies so that he can bring us to another golden age."
"Can we not bring forward another golden age?"
"When we chase away our best shinobi? When we talk like this about the 7th Hokage, about our greatest hero? No, we are not capable of causing another golden age. All we can do is lay the stage for people like him."
Hashirama and Boruto share a glance, the former surprised to see something different in Boruto for the first time, defiance. Since Boruto became Hashirama's student, they have agreed on most things, on the way forward for the village, on the threat that General Clyde presented, on how to deal with Homeworld, but this is different. For the first time there are significant differences between them. Hashirama knows exactly who is to blame for this, it's that fool Uchiha Sasuke. Boruto believes the words of his master, he picks his masters meticulously and wisely, but when he has two conflicting voices heading his way, then he truly starts to think for himself.
"Let's all be calm, shall we?" Tao Ma chuckles, changing the atmosphere, "Boruto, I know this situation has caused you a great deal of distress. My lies are to blame of course. I hope you will forgive me for my cover ups."
"I wish you had told us in the first place," Boruto admits.
"People don't like the idea that I'm invading their minds," Tao Ma says.
"If you had told us the truth in the first place, Tsunade would have had a choice. My master may not have left in those circumstances."
"I don't misuse this power, but people will always be suspicious. What good would it do to turn away willing fighters who want to make a difference? All because I might do something wrong. We all have the potential for evil Boruto, but I can assure you that I don't use it."
Boruto reluctantly nods his head, "Yeah, I know."
Boruto tries to rationalise the situation in his head, to generate some level of sympathy with Tao Ma but he struggles. He has been lying all this time because it is hard to work with people when they afraid of you. All he has done is stop people trying to be afraid of his power. Have his lies really done any harm? There is no proof that he has done anything wrong, only the suggestion and a lack of plausible alternatives. Can he really doubt Tao Ma under such circumstances, can he leave this group with Shikadai because of that?
"Take responsibility," a voice echoes inside Boruto's head.
He recognises that voice, the voice of his father.
"Those in positions of power have to take responsibility for their mistakes," Naruto's voice tells Boruto.
Boruto looks into an empty space, hopeful that he may see some kind of image of his father, but he knows that he won't in the back of his mind. This isn't really Naruto speaking to him, this is a part of his own subconscious. Perhaps it is his conscience, wearing the face of his father to better reach him.
"He did nothing wrong," Boruto tells the voice.
"You are a leader Uzumaki Boruto, not a ruler. Your job is to submit to the will of those you protect, not to tell them how to feel."
"Tsunade doesn't have a problem with it."
"Tsunade is the 5th Hokage, she is not your responsibility," Naruto's voice says, "Your responsibility is to the Hidden Leaf Village. Don't let Shikadai go unheard, help him! That is your job Boruto."
"The truth is important."
"The truth is that Tao Ma lied."
"There is no proof that he arranged that assassination attempt! All I need to do is keep Shikadai and the others safe."
"And how long can you do that?" Naruto's voice asks, "He was supposed to be a leader too Boruto. How many lies must he tell before he takes responsibility?"
A question Boruto doesn't want to answer. He shakes his head, vanishing all thoughts of his father from his brain. He sees Shikadai, with the others behind him, running back over from the hut, looking frantically around for Sasuke. Other than Boruto, Sasuke was the only one who could keep them safe in this environment, given the hostility shown by Hashirama, now they are only relying on him. If he fails to protect them, if he fails to maintain his suspicions about Tao Ma, they will die.
"He's gone to find my dad," Boruto tells them.
Boruto gestures to Hashirama who creates a chair for him quickly. It's not ideal on this ever-shifting dune, the second Boruto sits on the wooden seat it sinks a foot down into the ground, but he doesn't care. He rests his head in his hands and breathes deeply, the pressure on him is increasing by the second. He can tell that Hashirama is disappointed in his actions too, by his suspicions of Tao Ma, however slight they may be in comparison to Shikadai's.
"Boruto," Mitsuki kneels down in front of his friend, "Boruto."
"What is it?"
"I'd like to say something to you, about your father and about my own."
"I'm not stopping you."
"Did you know that the two of them fought before? Surprising isn't it? I know that my father was considered an enemy of the Hidden Leaf Village, that for many years he was our most infamous enemy, but your father was just a teenager at the time. He came running to my father's lair looking for Sasuke, swearing that he would bring him back to the village. He ended up succumbing to the nine tails' rage, using his chakra to battle against my father.
"After that battle was over, my father continued to be considered an enemy until eventually Sasuke killed him. Or appeared to kill him at least. My father's actions inspired Kabuto, a man who used to be his subordinate, and others too. The destruction and power that he brought against the village did not stop for such a long time. He was acting against the Leaf until the war. It was at that point he stopped acting against the village, he wanted to see what Sasuke would do.
"Anyway, after the war was over, do you think that the village was willing to forgive my father? Of course, they were not, they viewed him with suspicion for the rest of his life, even after my two teammates became the leaders of the village. However, during that time I became a shinobi next to you, I trained with you, befriended you, fought with you.
"Do you know what else I would do while I was in the village, such a long way from home. I would come around to your house for dinner, I would see you there talking with the 7th Hokage as if it was nothing special. To me those dinners always meant something important to me. There I was, eating with the Hokage and his son when the village had hated my father. I was there because of your father, because he wanted us all to be happy together. The shinobi that is Mitsuki exists because of him."
"So, what are you saying?" Boruto asks.
"I'm saying that I came here for Tsunade, that I will stand by her no matter what. However, I still believe in the philosophy of the 7th Hokage, of your father. I think Lady Sakura and Lord Shadow 7th were right to leave."
Tao Ma laughs quietly and shakes his head. "I'm fed up of being insulted by those who claim to be my allies."
Boruto notices something different in Tao Ma for a moment, a rage, a rage that he has never seen before. Tao Ma has always been kind to him, he has been generous to a fault. Tao Ma has followed Hashirama's recommendations and treated him respectfully as a leader, and minus lying to her about his abilities, Tao Ma has appreciated Tsunade's resolve to fight Homeworld. Perhaps, Tao Ma's mask slipped for just a moment, and he showed his true self.
"Do we have to watch our back if we are rude now?" Shikadai asks.
"It won't be a problem Shikadai, I won't let anything happen to you," Boruto reveals.
"Then we will stay Boruto. But you should know this, ChouChou, Inojin and I have only ever been here for you. The moment you get out of here we are leaving too."
"Tao Ma's mind is a maze and his genius appears as a form of insanity," Hashirama admits, "But he is my comrade. He is exactly the kind of person we need in our battle against Homeworld. I will not betray him, no matter what."
"That's a suspicious level of trust," Shikadai says, receiving no reply.
"I agree with what Tao Ma has done," Tsunade says. "If I were him, I would have lied to me too. Frankly we are at war with an enemy more terrifying than any we ever encountered back home. Emperor Furst will hold nothing back against us and we must hold nothing back against him. My right to chose was a worthwhile sacrifice, just like this pain in my head is, for the power to win against him."
Mitsuki shakes his head at Tsunade. Sasuke is not the only master to have been disappointed in his pupil today. He has seen how Tsunade has suffered during this ongoing conflict, how she has tortured herself with her own inability to make a difference. In his mind nothing justifies that. There are some prices that are not worth paying, even to take down this enemy.
He sighs, telling Tsunade, "No matter what, I will stand by you."
Later that night, Boruto's Residence
Shikadai approaches Boruto.
Boruto is resting his head in his hands, and his elbows on the table as he closes his eyes and whispers to himself. Shikadai can hear just a few things of what his friend is saying, mentioning his mother's name. He realises that Boruto is speaking to his mother, asking for her advice.
Shikadai rests his hand on Boruto's shoulder for a moment before taking a seat across the table from him.
"Are you alright?" Shikadai asks.
"I've had better days."
"… I'm sorry that I doubt Tao Ma so much. I'm sorry that it causes problems for you. I'm honestly grateful to you for protecting us Boruto. I know that your heart is in the right place."
Boruto nods. "I understand your passion Shikadai. I've always trusted you and I know that Sarada used to rely on you a great deal as the Hokage. Even now I promise that I'm watching Tao Ma's every move like a hawk, but I can't do anything until I have proof that he is behind the assassination attempt. I can't treat an innocent man like a criminal, I'm sorry."
"You're a good man Boruto."
Shikadai is still on the alert himself. Still keenly aware that this protection will be temporary at best, even if Boruto remains suspicious of Tao Ma for the rest of their lives. He is looking for any loose end that could help him to out Tao Ma for his lies and help bring Boruto to the right conclusion. Even a perfect liar cannot escape the truth their entire life.
"So, did you ever have any headaches?"
"Headaches?"
"From this hive mind of Tao Ma's. You use 'death', did it never give you any headaches?"
"Ah, I should explain something to you," Boruto begins. "Do you remember the captained-six contest? I'm sure you do, that final day when the captains battled each other. That was the day I almost killed Sarada, all because I hadn't told her the truth earlier. I was possessed by a strange energy back then. I lost control of this 'death' energy and almost killed her. Back then I didn't really fully understand it, but 'death' energy was with me long before Tao Ma arrived."
"So, you wouldn't have experienced headaches, because unlike the others this power was always yours."
"I felt all kinds of pain back then, all of it agony. I hid it from everyone though, I didn't want to burden them with it. There was only one person I ever told and that was dad. Thinking back to it now, I probably shouldn't have burdened him with the knowledge. I was good at hiding it."
Shikadai groans. To think that Boruto was always trying to protect everyone else from the burden. For a long time, while Sarada was shoring up the village's defences and working out how to counter the enemy, Boruto was on the front lines. Boruto witnessed more of the war with Clyde than anyone else, he saw his friend's slaughtered, often the only one left alive to tell the tale. He knows that Mirai struggled with what she saw, and that Boruto saw worse atrocities still. He was trying to keep everyone else from going insane. What an iron will Uzumaki Boruto possesses, in that sense he is just like his father.
"You really should have told me that you were struggling, I could have helped."
"You were busy planning our counterattacks, it was such an important job that-"
"Don't give me that. You could have told your mother or your sister."
"Not about that."
Shikadai understands not wanting to tell them.
"Then what about Mitsuki, or Inojin or ChouChou. Come on Boruto, we were all there for you, you should have told somebody."
"… I didn't want anyone to let Sarada know," Boruto admits.
Understandable. Shikadai didn't know at the time the deep connection between Boruto and Sarada. Perhaps even Boruto himself didn't realise it back then, but they have always been tied together by more than their heritage. They are tied together by an inevitability, a bond that cannot be shaken no matter the conflict or strife. At least that's what he hopes is true. He wants to be there when this is all over, he wants to see his two friends unite once again.
Boruto smiles, "I promise I'll be more transparent with you in the future OK. No more secrets between us."
"Good."
"And that means you tell me if you have any problems as well. I don't care if it's about my father, about Tao Ma or about Homeworld, you come to me, got it Shikadai?"
"Alright, I've got it."
Boruto nods, "In that case I'm going to bed. I've set the traps so that if anyone tries to enter, I will know about it. If you get worried about anymore assassination attempts wake me up. Your safety is my responsibility."
Boruto walks out of the room, leaving Shikadai to his thoughts. The room is silent, minus the creaking of the wooden ceiling in the wind. The Nara clansmen gazes into the light and reviews all today's revelations in his mind, searching for the weakness in Tao Ma's excuses, searching for the loose thread in this lie that he has sewn.
His thoughts keep coming back to these headaches that Tsunade has been experiencing. He can understand why the others have not mentioned them, they were with Tao Ma well before coming to their pocket world. He can understand why Boruto has never felt them, having never been part of the hive mind in the first place, but that leaves an important question in his mind.
'What about Lord 1st?'
Author Note
Hi All,
Answering questions below the chapter certainly seems to have generated a response last time, so I'll keep doing it.
Please let me know if you don't want me to do this, otherwise I'll have no way of knowing.
I will return with the next update on Monday if everything goes according to plan.
Stay safe everyone, and thanks for reading,
Me
In Response to sarada chan san's Question
About the relationship between 'life' and 'healing' energy
Yes, the relationship between 'life' and 'healing' is similar to the relationship between 'cold' and 'ice'.
In both cases the former is one "level" stronger than the latter.
There are more fundamental differences but I fear I can't say more without giving spoilers.
In Response to till74's Question
About why Sasuke and Sakura have appeared now
If my notes are right, Sarada made a botched attempt to bring her parents to the future to bring back Boruto in Chapter 118 (Name: Boruto and Sarada).
Because of this botched attempt, Sasuke and Sakura didn't appear immediately, instead first appearing in Chapter 163 (Name: The Return).
In Response to jenuzumaki's Question
About Hinata's battle class
During the battle with Mars, Hinata was a class 6 warrior.
In Response to 's Question
Regarding Naruto and the Biju
Currently Naruto only has access to Kurama's power. I can't comment on any future developments without giving spoilers.