Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own anything related to Naruto or Boruto aside from some pieces of merchandise. Writing this fan fiction is purely done as a hobby. Also, a warning: this story will include spoilers for the Boruto manga and anime. If you're not caught up on either, you're reading at your own risk.

x-x

Chapter 1: End of an Era

Boruto Uzumaki sat atop the ruined village gate and stared out into the Forest of Death, arms resting on his legs as the events of his adolescent years played out over and over in his mind. It was like a horror movie he couldn't get out of his head, and this was one movie Boruto wished had never been green-lighted.

Konohagakure no Sato, the first and arguably greatest of the shinobi villages, was reduced to an abandoned ruin. Almost everyone he'd ever cared about was dead, some of them slain by his own hand. But Boruto had grown numb to most of the deaths, and apathetic towards the suffering of all except the two precious people he still had. His sister was a shell of her former self and the best parents he could ever ask for were gone forever, and as far as he knew, only one of his friends was still alive after all the carnage. Boruto had had enough of it. What few goals in life he'd had were never grandiose or anything of the sort; he'd been content to just enjoy his life and do anything he could to help others. But fate had not been content to leave him be. He was hopelessly caught in its wicked machinations, becoming both helpless bystander and active participant in the destruction of all he held dear.

"Those blue eyes will take everything from you," the prophecy Momoshiki spoke echoed in his mind. A prophecy which, despite all his efforts to fight it, had been fulfilled in just a few short years. He looked down at a puddle on the ground and let out a bitter chuckle as he focused on the reflection of his scarred right eye.

"Fate had nothing to do with it… It's because I was weak…"

"What are you doing out here by yourself, Boruto-kun?" a kind voice asked him.

Boruto looked up to find Sumire standing atop the gate beside him. Seeing she was still donning her old Root outfit, complete with the blank white mask and gray cloak, indicated to Boruto she had just finished her patrol. "Nothing, really… just thinking," he whispered.

Sumire sighed deeply as she sat next to him. "You do that a lot lately. Well, at least more than you used to."

"Not much else I can do…" He looked at the Karma mark on his palm and clenched his fist. "When the whole world thinks you're the bad guy who killed the Seventh Hokage and his son…"

Sumire sighed again. "You weren't always this cold…"

"I was naïve." Boruto shrugged again. "We all thought Tō-chan was invincible. But I learned a lot of horrible truths that day…" When his voice trailed off, Sumire tossed a small book at him, making him frown at her. "A bingo book? Who still has that kind of authority?"

"Just read it," Sumire said, exasperated.

Boruto's frown deepened as he opened the bingo book and turned to the page Sumire bookmarked for him:

Name: Boruto

Place of origin: Unknown

Designation: S-rank

Known Crimes: Several thousand counts of murder, including the assassination of the Nanadaime Hokage, Rokudaime Mizukage, and the daimyō of the Lands of Water, Earth, and Lightning

Boruto is considered to be an existential threat to the entire world. His abilities exceed those of all human shinobi, both living and dead. Do not approach alone.

"Ordered by the Raikage," Boruto grumbled, briefly glancing at the top corner of the page. "Of course it was." Scowling, he sent a pulse of chakra through his hand that caused the book to instantly burst into shreds, giving the torn pages another harsh glare as they crumpled and scattered in the wind.

"I told you killing the daimyō would lead to this," Sumire scolded him. "And killing Chōjūrō-sama really didn't help your case."

"Don't really have much choice when they constantly send their armies and assassins at me. Soon the Raikage will be just another statistic like the rest of 'em." He looked off into the rain and scowled. "Besides, how many of them threw themselves at me, how many of them used their lives as sacrificial bait just to kill me?"

"It just sounds to me like you're looking for someone to blame now that Kawaki is gone," Sumire said flatly, receiving a harsh glare from Boruto.

"I don't need lectures from you. I've got Hima for that. And Kawaki was a mistake, we should have never taken him in. I treated him like my brother, like family, only for him to take mine away. I'll never forgive him for that. And you know, I might have even been able to forgive him for that, if not for his final act being to spite me one last time," Boruto said in a dark tone. "He kept Tō-chan and Kā-chan sealed which would have been the only way to prove my innocence all while claiming he was protecting them. And then there's Hima…" Boruto's voice trailed off and Sumire felt his chakra pressuring the air all around her. "He made her have to play his little game all that time, hoping her useless big brother would save the day, only to come to this…"

Sumire sighed a third time. "I'm sorry. That wasn't fair of me… but it's not your fault. Besides, it's not like you ever listen to Hima, either. You're rarely ever home. She knows you're avoiding her."

Boruto turned his empty gaze back to the ravaged forest, seemingly unable to look his one remaining friend in the eye any longer. "What would I say to her? I'm a useless big brother who couldn't protect our parents. I was barely able to protect her… I just can't face her."

Sumire followed his gaze as she pulled her legs up to her chest. "You can't blame yourself for that, it happened out of nowhere. Who can possibly fight someone who changes a person's perception of reality?"

Boruto let out a long winded sigh of his own as he got to his feet. "In the end, Eida was just Kawaki's pawn too, so I don't blame her, and thankfully for whatever reason Himawari wasn't affected by it…" He fell silent for a moment, gazing towards the general direction of their home before asking, "She's still trying to learn jutsu by herself, isn't she?"

Sumire threw up her arms, a gesture reminiscent of the girl she'd used to be before their world ended. "I swear I haven't taught her a thing, Boruto-kun. But she is your sister. Your very stubborn sister."

Boruto's gaze fell back onto the puddle next to him, and he fixated on the reflection of his eyes. While once they had been bluer than his father's, all of his accumulated trauma had dulled them considerably. Now they only served as another constant reminder of all he had lost. "I guess it was naïve of me to think she would never get the hang of it. She probably trained while I was away too, so I guess I can't really blame you. But she won't ever get a chance to use that training. I'll make sure of that. I'll end this before she can get dragged any deeper into it."

"Don't you think you're being a bit too overprotective? Even your mom was okay with Himawari-chan becoming a kunoichi. She isn't as helpless as you think," Sumire argued, feeling it was necessary to remind Boruto that his sister would be just as capable as him if she was only allowed to receive proper training.

"That's exactly why I can't let her ever see a battle again," was Boruto's reply. "Himawari isn't meant to fight. She doesn't have the willpower to hurt someone… much less kill them. The one time she saw a real battle, Kawaki didn't hesitate to go for the kill. I won't let that happen again."

"Good luck with that. You're going to have a hard time restraining her. With her brute strength and chakra, I'll be lucky to get off with a draw," Sumire said with a frown. "I'm actually surprised that Kawaki didn't kill her. Even with her latent potential, Kawaki should have killed her instantly." She paused and examined the scar over Boruto's right eye, carefully tracing her finger across it. "Are you used to it yet?"

Boruto nodded. "It's hard to control him when I do, but it's nothing I can't handle. I probably shouldn't be using it as a supplementary Byakugan, but it's too useful. Haven't tried moving the moon out of orbit yet though."

Sumire chuckled at his awful attempt at a joke. "Still can't get Toneri-san out of that seal, though?"

Bourto shook his head. "Guess they really thought of him as a threat…anyway…if he learned Kā-chan was gone…I think it would break him…he's better off being stuck like that for now."

"That's pretty understanding on your part. If he had had his way back then, you and Hima wouldn't exist," Sumire pointed out.

"I guess Himawari's attitude has rubbed off on me a little over the years," Boruto said with another shrug. "Toneri did some horrible things, but those were nothing compared to what the pureblood Ōtsutsuki have done. Momoshiki, Isshiki, Kawaki, Code… or me, I suppose."

Sumire took his hand in hers as the rain pelted them, giving his hand a gentle squeeze, "Boruto… you've done nothing wrong…"

"Tell that to the nations and their rulers who keep trying to kill me. Self defense or no, Sumire…I've killed a lot of people." Boruto's simple statement to her response threw her off guard.

"You did that to save your parents and protect Hima."

"Maybe at first…but somewhere along the way, my goals stopped being so noble. Fighting your friends, begging them to see that you're not the bad guy…it wears on you…"

Sumire hung her head as the rain made her hair cover her forehead and eyes. "You mean Shikadai and the others?"

Boruto looked down at his clenched fist and slowly nodded, the pain on his face told Sumire more than any words could that the happy cheerful Boruto she once knew was dead, "I…I killed my own friends, Sumire…not because I wanted to, but because they gave me no choice…but I still killed them…" he paused again before shaking his head as if he didn't care. "Face it, Sumire. I'm no hero…" He looked so tired and defeated even though he could destroy the entire planet on a whim. The only reason he didn't was because he had something to live for. She stood up and hugged Boruto from behind, burning her face in his cloak.

"You don't have to do this, Boruto-kun…I'll take care of the Raikage and anyone else you want me to. You just have to tell me…you don't have to be a killer…"

"Yes I do, because no one else will. They wanna keep thinking I'm the villain? So be it. I'll play the part they expect of me and finish off what's left of the shinobi system while I'm at it." He saw Sumire's look of disapproval and sighed a third time. "Don't get the wrong idea. It's not like I'm out for revenge. But if they refuse to get the message, then I'll do what I have to."

"Is it worth losing your soul?"

Boruto smiled while looking at her, the rain around them made her realize that the smile was genuine, something Sumire hadn't seen from Boruto for a long time. "You and Hima are what's left of my soul. I don't care what happens to the rest of me," he whispered before he vanished.

Sumire reached out for him but her hand fell as the water soaked her hair. "We care, though…"

x-x

Himawari hummed as she moved about the kitchen, wondering what else to add to the evening's dinner. She smiled when she heard the front door open and rushed out into the hallway. "Onii-chan!" she happily cried. Her disappointment skyrocketed when she saw it was only Sumire who was taking off her wet sandals.

"Boruto-kun won't be coming back for several days, Hima-chan," Sumire told her.

Himawari sighed, not in the least bit surprised. It wasn't uncommon for Boruto to rarely be home at all these days, something she never thought she would have to deal with. "Do I even want to know the reason this time?" she asked.

Sumire shook her head as she followed Himawari to the kitchen. "Probably not. But you can take a guess."

Himawari angrily grabbed a cutting board and madly started chopping vegetables. "Did you encourage him again?" she asked bluntly, and almost wilted under the harsh glare Sumire gave her over the accusation.

"He doesn't need any encouragement. You know that better than I do."

Himawari stopped chopping with the last movement slamming the blade down loud enough to echo into the living room. "I know… I'm sorry, Sumire-nē-chan. I just hate seeing him like this. He never comes home. He's deliberately avoiding me. Even when he does come home, he always does it when I'm asleep. It's not fair…"

Sumire smiled and hugged her head compassionately, not unlike Hinata would use to. "He hates seeing you sad, Hima-chan. He blames himself for it. That's probably why he can't be around you."

"Then he needs to stop. I'm sad because he never talks to me anymore!" Himawari yelled, her eyes filling with tears.

Sumire patted her head tenderly. "I know, Hima-chan. Boruto-kun will come around in time. He just has to forgive himself first. That's why he never tells you where he's going. He doesn't want you to know what he's doing to protect you."

"I already know what he's doing. I know what you're doing, too. Who is Onii-chan murdering this time? You and Onii-chan assassinated Danjō-sama and Tekkan-sama last month. Which daimyō is he locked onto now?"

Sumire let go of Himawari and sighed. "What do you want me to say, Hima-chan? The world thinks your brother killed your parents and countless others that were actually Kawaki's fault. Need I remind you of how Sarada-chan died?"

Himawari shook her head and wiped away her tears. "No. I'm sorry again, Sumire-nē-chan. If Onii-chan would just talk to me… even when I do see him, he just runs away as fast as he can before I can get a word out…"

Sumire stretched out on the couch and threw her swords unceremoniously on the floor, then she drew Himawari into a hug and sat her in her lap. "It hurts for me too, Hima-chan…"

Himawari nodded. "I know… Anyway, I found the generator Mama hid away, so at least we have electricity and water again."

The two were silent for almost an hour as Himawari went back to prepare the food. The rain hitting the glass windows and door was the only sound going through the house. "Nothing has really changed…" Himawari said softly.

Sumire gave her a concerned look, "Hima-chan?"

"It doesn't matter, though. As long as Onii-chan needs me, that's all I care about," Himawari said more to herself than to Sumire.

Sumire nodded and placed a hand on her shoulder. "He probably would have killed himself if he lost you too, Hima. Don't ever forget that. You help keep him going."

"I'm not as good as Mama, but someone has to feed him," Himawari joked.

The two girls giggled heartily as Himawari served dinner, and continued to talk long into the night.

x-x

Boruto narrowed his eyes as he scouted the area in front of him. Given the location, he had expected bad weather, but without his dōjutsu active he couldn't see a damn thing through the thick mist and heavy rain. He scanned the bridge ahead of him and was startled to see the small glow of a chakra signature. His Jōgan worked better than any Byakugan, but ever since he received the scar from Kawaki there were always risks whenever he used it, part of those risks stemming from his lack of knowledge on the workings of the dōjutsu. Almost a decade since he first awakened the eye, and he still hadn't figured out what he needed to know. However, that was something he would have time to address later. His sight clear now, he took his time crossing the bridge, deactivating his eye as he did, after all while his chakra reserves were quite large now, he still got headaches when using it too much. He heard the sound of equipment running and slowly approached a group of construction workers who were busy replacing some of the rusted plates on the bridge. He was stopped in his tracks, however, by a crossbow bolt landing a few centimeters away from him.

'A warning shot,' Boruto observed. Whoever had fired it intentionally missed. That was the only reason he hadn't already drawn his own weapons to strike that person down. "Show yourself," he demanded as the workers fled. A few seconds later, a dark-haired man who was about the same age as his late aunt Hanabi would have been walked up from behind Boruto. The mist would have concealed him from those with only ordinary vision. But Boruto's vision had never been ordinary.

"Stay right there or the next one goes through your eye," the man said through the mist.

"If you were here to kill me, you'd already be dead. But feel free to try, Inari-san." There was a flash through the mist and Boruto caught the next bolt which had been aimed at his face and crushed it in two. "Did you really think you could catch me off guard when I have this eye? This mist is nothing to me."

Another bolt shot at him and boruto caught it again causally, "If you insist." He turned the crossbolt around in his hand and imbued it with lightning chakra before firing it back at his attacker. His ears were greeted with the all too familiar sickening sounds of metal piercing through flesh and howling in pain. "Stop playing dumb with me, Inari-san. You know why I'm here," Boruto growled in a dark voice. "I don't wanna kill you, but you're seriously making me consider it."

"I can't even begin to think of what you are talking about." The bridge builder replied, the crossbow bolt boruto had thrown back impaled in his ankle.

"Fine, I'll find him on my own." Boruto said, stomping past him.

"Committing more murders won't bring them back, Boruto," Inari said as went past.

"You think this is some petty revenge?" Boruto asked. "I'm doing it to protect the only two people I have left in this godforsaken world."

"It doesn't matter how you justify your actions. Word's out that you murdered three daimyō, two Kage, and a lot of other people. What did you think was going to happen?" Inari asked Boruto.

"I won't bother answering that question, since your perception of reality is warped," Boruto growled.

Inari sighed and scratched his head. "The reality I see is you're about to commit more murders."

Boruto scoffed. "That's just the type of excuse I'd expect. Putting aside the fact that those daimyō helped get Tō-chan and Kā-chan killed, what makes you think they'll spare Hima and Sumire if I'm not around? I don't care what their reasons are. They put a target on me, so I will show them no mercy."

Inari glared at him with the same glare everyone who recognized Boruto gave him. "You're no longer welcome anywhere, Boruto. Not after all you have done. It didn't take you long to kill the Mizukage and his daimyō after the hidden villages were destroyed. The people don't take kindly to that. It took years to rebuild our nation and you destroyed all our efforts in a day. And you have no right to refer to Naruto like that, not after you betrayed him."

That caused Boruto to raise an eyebrow. "The only traitor I see here is you, Inari. You betrayed everything Tō-chan stood for, and the worst part is you can't even see it," he muttered walking past him.

Inari grabbed his wrist and, with his limited strength as a civilian, managed to pull Boruto back for a brief moment. "You're not thinking clearly, Boruto. Forget the fact that the entire world has collapsed already. This path you're on will kill the only friends you still have. You don't want to do this."

Boruto slowly turned around his karma blistered across his face, "You know, for a guy who's deluded into believing I'm the cause of everything bad that's happened to the world, you sure talk a lot." He pushed Inari off him and into a stack of metal hard enough to make the man fall to his knees.

"Heg!" Inarri used one arm to support himself while he checked his injury. He looked up at Boruto who had a raging aura of blue chakra and shuddered "I don't know why I'm acting like this myself. You killed Naruto in cold blood, I have nothing to say to you and yet…" for a moment Inarri looked as if he was trying to recall something but gave up on it after a while, "Nevermind. Do what you want, but get the fuck off my father's bridge first. You don't deserve to walk on this bridge."

Boruto shrugged as he walked away. "As if I needed it."

Boruto would have been content to leave it at that. He really would have, but Inari just had to get in the last word, and they would indeed be the last words - that Inari ever spoke:

"Naruto was an idiot taking an ungrateful brat like you in."

It happened so fast that Inari didn't even register the katana slicing through his neck till his head was on the ground separated from his body. The last thing his mind registered before shutting down was the haunted expression in Boruto's eyes. One final glimpse into the fragmented soul of a fallen hero.

"Maybe Tō-chan was an idiot…" Boruto whispered as Inari's lifeless body collapsed in a heap. "But I'd support any decision that idiot made..." He whispered sheathing his blade and walking away from the dead bridge builder. "I won't lose anyone ever again…" his voice lingered in the air as continued past the bridge his father had fought so hard for so many years ago.

x-x

Ikkyū looked out the blinds nervously and sighed when all he saw was the rain. "You can calm down, Tō-sama. I don't even think the Raikage knows where we are."

"It's not him we have to worry about, though he's on our side," Ikkyū reminded his son who was sharpening his sword.

"If only Kawaki was still around," Tentō said.

"He gave Boruto a run for his money, but it wasn't enough to defeat him, I heard," Ikkyū said. "Though information is so sparse these days, it's hard to know what to trust."

"If you think those bodyguards outside will help against Boruto, you're sadly mistaken, Tō-sama," Tentō said bluntly.

"The Raikage is making his move, so hopefully, that won't be-"

Crash!

A second later a body flew through the room and crashed into the wall leaving a hole through it.

"Already making his move, is he? And what move would that be?"

"Boruto!" Tentō yelled, jumping to his feet and pointing his sword at the blond. Boruto was wholly unimpressed by the threatening posture.

"I'm not here for you, Tentō. I'll only give you one warning."

"Boruto, for the stability of the world, I must insist you stand down," Tentō said, ignoring him.

"That's quite a noble goal you have there, Tentō. But if I were you, I would probably consider who you're putting a bounty on before hiding behind such lofty ideals."

"At least he has his ideals. What about you, Boruto?" a scaly but familiar voice asked. Boruto drew his sword a second later just as an orange-haired man with tanned complexion and gills on his neck lunged at him.

"Ikada… How the hell are you still alive? I thought Kawaki killed you," Boruto said, both impressed and slightly annoyed seeing his old friend.

Ikada narrowed his eyes at Boruto and said, "You very nearly did. It was only thanks to my tribe I survived. That's the thing about being a god. Lesser men always try to kill us at some point, but we Futano tend to be very hard to kill." He looked at the headband attached to Boruto's belt and shook his head. "And I see you're still under the delusion that all of this was Kawaki's fault."

Bortuo pushed Ikada away making him skid across the floor as he pointed his sword at him, "Hiring pirates now, Tentō? Do you have any idea how much trouble this guy's clan caused for me and Kagura?"

"That was quite a long time ago, wasn't it? Almost six years now, but that's not an answer to my question," Ikada said.

"I told you I didn't kill Tō-chan or try to kill you," he saw the water whipping about Ikada like tentacles and spears and commented, "That being said, you are acting a lot like you were back then. You should have let me drown that day, you would have been doing me a favor."

"Still playing the delusion, Kawaki nearly died to stop that war and I'm sick of you insulting him," Ikada said.

"Lecturing me on subjective morality now?" Boruto growled darkly. "You were going to start a war with no regard to how many innocents would lose their lives. I don't care what mental gymnastics someone goes through to reach conclusions like that. You lost all credibility when you became the aggressor. The only thing that's changed between now and then is I'm not protecting Kirigakure, I'm protecting what's left of my family and I'm not going to let you just kill me like I was willing to then."

Ikada sighed as he looked at Boruto's eyes, "I know that look in your eyes. It's no different from when we first met. It's full of hatred and bloodlust. I was the same once. I wonder what could have broken you so completely? What would cause you to kill the man who took you in and the best brother you could hope for?" He didn't speak for a moment before rasing his arm, "Water Prison Jutsu!" Boruto felt himself get lifted slightly in the air and a circle of water enveloped him. Normally he would have been able to break out of it with ease but the chakra was now enforcing it, making it far stronger than a normal jutsu. "Water Style: Imminent Danger!" A blast of water erupted from Ikada's hands and struck the ball of water with Boruto inside it, making it explode as he was thrown out of the safe house and back into the rain.

Boruto coughed catching his breath and looked up at Ikada who was coming out of the house, "Damn he knows those jutsu too?"

"My clan did horrible things. They thought they were being oppressed because of the new trade laws and that fool Araumi was both a martyr and a leader for them to rally behind. But it wasn't enough, all they did was try to create a system of their own which would have been the same as it always has." Ikada stared coldly at him. "You don't even do that much. What exactly is your goal? Kill everyone until there isn't anyone left?"

"Shut up. Don't act like you know me, I'm nothing like you," Boruto spat.

"Really?" Ikada asked. "I wanted the Mizukage dead as well, though our motives were different the end result was the same. I could say the same about this situation…" he muttered as he weaved several hand signs together. "Water Style: Roaring Water Vortex!" he shouted, conjuring a massive tornado of water towering in the sky, which then quickly reshaped itself into the form of an even bigger jellyfish.

"Does he even know that jutsu too?" Boruto growled looking at the massive construct before him.

"Funamashi only scratched the surface with this jutsu, but now that my chakra is enhancing it, for everyone you mercilessly killed…this is where you will die, Boruto!" Ikada rored from the top of the jellyfish. The jellyfish's arms started slamming the ground around Boruto who was forced to dodge to avoid being crushed. He looked at the craters it made as he ran around Ikada's blind spot and shuddered at how deep they were.

"Was Ikada always this strong?" Boruto wondered. He looked up just as Ikada turned around and sent another arm his way. "But it doesn't matter." A second later he flew into the air and hovered almost in slow motion as Ikada looked at him in shock. "Rasengan!" Boruto yelled, blowing into Ikada and sending them both crashing into the earth as the giant jellyfish exploded.

x-x

Sumire sat on the couch reading a book while Himawari cleaned the kitchen. She realized Boruto would likely not be home for another day at least so there wasn't much point in straining herself, and she didn't want to worry Himawari either.

With the village mostly destroyed, it was a wonder that the Uzumaki household was still standing. So it wasn't like they could go out and do anything either and that was assuming it wasn't raining like it had every day the past year. The unnatural weather Sumire had concluded was just an aftereffect of Boruto and Kawaki's fight which had almost destroyed the planet.

"Do you want something to drink, Sumire-nē-chan?" Himawari asked from the kitchen.

"No thanks, Hima-chan," she called back. As she went back to her book Sumire couldn't help the cold feeling she had in her gut. It felt like someone was watching her. Sumire normally trusted her gut in these situations but who could possibly want to start a fight now that most of the known shinobi were dead?

"Hima-chan… You said you're powering the house with a generator, right?"

Himawari put her index finger to her chin as she looked across the counter over at Sumire. "Hmmm, yeah. Mama never thought we would need it though. Why do you ask?" The instant the question left her lips, the lights abruptly shorted out, startling her enough to make her drop the kitchenware she was holding.

"That's why. You kept the generator outside, didn't you?"

Himawari waited a few seconds before channeling chakra to her eyes. The white irides of her Byakugan glowing in the darkness. "I can't make anything out. My vision's being distorted," she informed Sumire.

"Bastards came prepared," Sumire cursed. "But how the hell did they find us?"

"Do you think they're after Onii-chan?" Himawari whispered.

"Most likely. He's in the Bingo Books," Sumire reminded her. "S-rank. Kill on sight and all that."

"But who has the manpower to send assassins?"

Suddenly the roof of the house caved in and Sumire heard voices yelling at each other before she felt killing intent right behind her.

"Lightning Style: Forked Lightning!" Sumire was already bracing herself to absorb the attack with her Shinobi-Ware, but it proved unnecessary as Nue quickly pounced on the attacker, blocking the attack and latching onto him with its shadow tendrils. The attacker roared in pain and collapsed onto the debris seconds later.

"Thanks, Nue!" Sumire praised her partner. Nue roared and its tail grabbed the limp body of the man who'd tried attacking her, hurling it towards his comrades.

"What is that thing?" One of them yelled.

"Don't let it distract you, we outnumber them!"

"As if numbers will help you," Sumire spat.

"You should have kept your pet around!" one of the men yelled as he swung his sword at Sumire.

Sumire pulled a small white object from her pouch that ensued into a poll arm and dodged the man's blow before impaling the poll into his midsection. "I've always wanted to try this. Even I don't even know what it does." Sumire said before pressing a button on her weapon. The weapon sparked and a moment later the man's body was pelted with electricity. He spasmed on Sumire weapon before his body steamed and was still. Sumire allowed herself a smirk at the successful "test" of this feature.

That was a deadly mistake.

That split second of pause was all that was needed for another assailant, this one donning a tengu mask, to fire off a clean shot with a pulse rifle. Sumire howled as the shot shorted out all of her cybernetic implants, rendering half her body dead weight and forcing her to her knees.

'Dammit! They know about that, too?!' she raged in her head as Nue rejoined her. While she had anticipated that someone would eventually try to use an EMP weapon against her and had tried to upgrade her Shinobi-Ware to resist it, she was still basically useless for the next several minutes until the implants started regaining functionality.

"Put the weapon down and call off your pet," the assailant in the tengu mask commanded her.

Sumire very slowly forced herself to turn around and drew her kunai when she saw Himawari on her knees being restrained by the other three attackers. "Nue!" Sumire called. The chimera tensed up and readied itself to lunge at them.

"I said call it off!" the man roared, digging a kunai into Himawari's neck to draw blood.

Nue froze and landed a few feet from them growling the whole time. "Nue don't do anything." Sumire said slowly.

"Smart girl. Now who is this one?" The man asked the others.

"Uzumaki Himawari, apparently she claims to be the target's sister but if intel serves right, her brother was the late Kawaki," one of them said.

"Is he using some sort of mind control on her?" the men looked at Himawari to try and gauge her reaction or demeanor but she kept her face hidden with her hair.

"Hmmm possibly what about the girl with the pet?"

"I have a name you know," Sumire growled.

"Yes, you're rather notorious yourself, Shigaraki Sumire. Your bingo entry claims you have about as many crimes to your name as Boruto himself," the man who looked like the captain said.

"Its kinda odd though," one of the others said.

The captain turned to him and asked, "Why is that?"

"Well think about it, if Boruto really was mind controlling this girl, why is his assassin holding her blade for her safety? She's become a liability now, and as far as I know Boruto doesn't tolerate liabilities," he replied. This made the captain pause along with the other member of the team,

"It also begs the question of why keep her alive in the first place since he killed her brother," the other man said.

"Enough talking. Restrain these two before they try to make things difficult for us," the captain said. Sumire cursed as she knelt with her hands behind her head.

'Damn it! This isn't good. Forget about myself, if I don't get Himawari to safety I'll never be able to face Boruto-kun.' As the sealing tags and chakra chains were being placed on her, Sumire felt like the options were running out every passing second, but then she saw Himawari wink at her and tilted her head in question. The next second, Himawari started crying loudly.

"Where am I? Who are you people?!"

"Captain, we have a problem here!" one of the subordinates yelled.

"I want Kawaki-onii-chan! Where is he?!" Himawari cried and Sumire realized immediately it was all an act, but the ninja surrounding them didn't know that.

"Maybe we were a bit too rough with her? Might have knocked her memory back into place," the subordinate said. The captain walked over to Himawari and kneeled down to meet her face,

"Maybe, but…"

"How can you possibly treat the Hokage's daughter like this? If Kawaki-onii-chan were here he would be very mad," Himawari whined.

"Alright, let her go. She didn't put up much of a fight anyway and the reports said she adored Kawaki," the captain sighed.

Surprisingly Himawari kept milking the act and Sumire could only imagine she had gotten very good at it over the years, "Adored…? What happened to Kawaki-onii-chan…?"

There was a flash of lightning and for a moment the captain looked somber, "I'm sorry…your brother and mother and father…they're all gone." Just as he spoke the shackles on Himawari's hands were loosened and the subordinate turned away from her to go help the captain and his teammate. Himawari rubbed her wrists and hid her eyes again and suddenly Sumire felt a very dark presence protruding from the normally kind and cheerful girl she knew. There was an unnatural sound of flesh piercing flesh and the subordinate who had been holding Himawari looked down to see her palm thrust through his chest,

"Yes they are…and you…all of you took them from me!" Himawari screamed.

"What the hell?!" The leader yelled but he was silenced when Himawari's palm slammed into his gut,

"Eight Trigrams: Air Palm!"

The attack felt like a sledgehammer had just been rammed into his midsection and he was sent flying through the walls of the house and back outside.

"Shit! Where's that chakra coming from?!" one of the others cried, reaching for his weapons. But Himawari was already up in his face, her speed making her vanish from sight for a moment before she began slamming her palms into the man's torso.

"Eight Trigrams: Thirty-Two Palms!" The man felt his chakra being cut off with each strike and before he knew it, he was just a limp rag doll at Himawari's mercy. Himawari's final blow sent him crumpling onto the ground and she allowed herself a moment to relax - which was one moment too many as the last one came up behind her and pressed his blade against her neck.

"You let your guard down. Rookie mistake," the captain said behind her just before a kunai jetted through his heart. He looked behind him bewildered to see Sumire had escaped her bonds and thrown the weapon with pinpoint accuracy despite her movements remaining sluggish.

"So did you," Sumire retorted. Too late, her assailant noticed the paper bomb attached to the kunai and screamed as it exploded, forcing Himawari to roll away so as to not get caught in the blast.

She coughed as she shakily got to her feet. She saw Sumire standing over the body of the one she had knocked unconscious, her tantō drawn. "Sumire-nē-chan, you don't have to kill them!" Himawari cried.

"Boruto-kun was very specific. Anyone who tries to hurt you dies," Sumire told her before plunging the weapon into the man's skull.

Himawari gasped as Sumire followed the wreckage of Himawari's first attack towards the leader. "Sumire-nē-chan, please don't!" Himawari begged her. Sumire ignored her and knelt down to examine him, frowning.

"This one's already dead," she whispered.

"What was that, Sumire-nē-chan?" Himawari asked.

Sumire shook her head and severed the captain's head anyway. "Boruto-kun is the only reason we're still alive. His orders are final," she told Himawari.

"Why do I get the feeling that's not the only reason you're doing this?" Himawari muttered.

"Save your lectures for someone who might listen to them, Himawari. We'll have to abandon the village now that the house is toast," Sumire scolded her. "Also, you shouldn't have killed that guy. I could have-"

"I needed to do it, Sumire-nē-chan," Himawari said and Sumire felt a chill go down her spine from the coldness in her voice. "I don't know where you and Onii-chan get this idea that I need protecting, but I don't. If Onii-chan wants to talk about it, he can do it himself, after I kick his ass for ignoring me," she muttered the last bit under her breath and walked past Sumire defiantly.

Sumire and even Nue could only stare at her in shock as she rummaged through the rubble for anything they could salvage. "Was Himawari…always this dark?" Sumire asked her partner. Nue let out a meow and tilted its head indicating that it didn't know any more than her. "You dont think…ive been a bad influence on her?" she asked the chimera. Nue licked its paws and shrugged, drawing a heavy sigh from her. "Very helpful, Nue," she muttered as she started to look through the rubble herself. Still, if the two dead Anbu were any indication, Himawari was right, she obviously didn't need protecting, but that only made Sumire more worried.

"They certainly are siblings, aren't they?" She said mostly to herself. She doubted Himawari could actually pull off her threat against Boruto, being honest nobody could, but it was both terrifying and ballsy of Himawari to make the declaration anyway. She let out another sigh as she looked up and the darkened sky. "What am I going to do with these two?"

x-x

Back in Kumogakure, Darui gazed down from the roof of his office at what was left of his village and sighed as he flicked the butt of his cigarette out into one of the valleys below, his facial expression a perfect match for his namesake. As he exhaled the last puff of toxic smoke, his mind dwelled on the catastrophes that befell the shinobi world over the past few years. The Fifth Raikage, now the last living Kage, had never been an idealist like some of his contemporaries. True peace was something he did not believe the human race would ever be able to achieve. The petty squabbles between human identity groups simply continued to open unbridgeable rifts. That was all there was to it. Humans inherently fell under an "evil" alignment and their nature could not be changed easily, if at all, to bring them under a "good" alignment. 'Though some individuals and groups certainly fit under the "evil" alignment better than others,' he thought to himself, remembering the atrocities of some of their world's worst villains as well as the atrocities that had allowed those villains to be created in the first place. Each day brought to him a deeper understanding of how such groups as Akatsuki and Kara were allowed to rise to prominence, terrorizing and laying waste to their society.

In someone else's mind, Darui could be seen as evil, he had certainly killed no small number of people in service to the village and if the relatives of those fallen were unlucky to be alive in what was left of the world, he doubted they would take his help even if he offered, though it was unlikely any of those people were alive. Most people who were still around had a new target for their disdain, though that was mostly through propaganda from the daimyō. Darui was certain if Boruto wanted to destroy the world, he would have done so by now. The remaining daimyō didn't understand the situation at all, and it further confirmed that the memories in his head were lies though he didn't know how far they went.

Darui sighed realizing Naruto was turning over in his grave right now, he wouldn't say he was close with the Hokage. Not like his subordinates or friends were, but Darui had appreciated Naruto's positive outlook on life.

"Raikage-sama," he heard his attendant/bodyguard Omoi call out to him.

"I really don't need any more bad news, Omoi. But what is it?" Darui asked.

"It's the Land of Fire's daimyō and the assassins we sent… they've yet to report back."

Darui let out another sigh. "I knew that kid wouldn't make it easy. Still, that's impressive even for him to take them all out so quickly."

"Are we sure that's the case?"

"Contrary to what my memories tell me, I know exactly who and what Uzumaki Boruto is. The true son of Naruto, turned into an Ōtsutsuki and the world's enemy against his will. Quite frankly, it disgusts me that I have to put up this dull charade of ignorance around the rest of you," Darui spat at his bodyguard as he rose and adjusted the Cleaver Sword strapped to his back. "This is well within the capabilities of a shinobi of his level. Looks like I'll have to face him myself."

Omoi glared at his superior as if he was crazy. "With all due respect, sir, I don't think you are mentally fit to fight an opponent like Boruto."

"Why? Do you think I won't have the guts to kill him if I have the chance?" The Raikage's question was blunt and not only directed at his second in command but everyone else in the room.

"That's exactly what I think, sir," Omoi said just as bluntly. "Supposing for a moment I believed you and Boruto really is Naruto's son, who would kill their own father like that?"

"Our perception of reality is often misguided, Omoi. Uchiha Itachi could explain that better than anyone if he were still alive," Darui said.

"Sasuke's brother? The one who supposedly wiped out his clan in a single night?" Omoi asked.

Darui nodded. "It's not like it's classified information these days, so I may as well tell you. Itachi only did what he did because a man named Danzō saw the Uchiha Clan as a threat to Konoha and wanted them exterminated - and indeed, the can would have rebelled and thrown the Land of Fire into civil war had the Massacre not gone down. My sources tell me there were ways to prevent that but in the end, to save more lives, Itachi killed his own clan and became a villain to go along with the part. All at the request of the late Sandaime Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen."

Omoi was silent for several minutes along with the rest of Darui's subordinates as they realized the meaning of what he said when their perception of reality was misguided. Still Omoi returned his gaze to the Raikage and asked the question Darui knew was coming, "If all of that's true and Boruto is innocent, why are we still trying to kill him?"

"That's something you will know the answer to when you wear this hat," Darui dismissed Omoi as the door to his office opened, revealing Boruto's other primary target: the Kara defector, Amado.

"I trust you will honor our agreement, then?" Amado asked Darui.

"That will depend on if these toys of yours actually deliver," Darui muttered. "Are your drones in position?"

Amado nodded and the lights in the office went out and a screen appeared on the wall. Darui focused his artificial eye as the screen displayed two fighters, one was of course Uzumaki Boruto, the other was someone Darui had little to no knowledge of. "Who is that?"

"I believe his name was Ikada of the Futano clan. They caused quite a commotion some years ago in the land of water. The Mizukage almost had a war on his hands, but of course Boruto managed to stop it," Amado said as the two figures clashed on screen.

"He's quite impressive, that's not a normal jutsu is it? He is managing to push Boruto back," Darui noted.

Amado nodded, "A rather rare ability among the Futano. They have a strong connection with the sea and it enhances their water jutsu, but to control the water in the atmosphere as well? I'd argue that's an ability that most humans shouldn't have."

"But will it be enough? If I can avoid fighting him myself, that would be a huge help," Darui said.

Amado sighed and shook his head. "Look at the way Boruto is fighting. He hasn't used his Karma. He's blatantly restraining himself to only a fraction of his full strength. He can kill Ikada at any time he wants."

"That's not terrifying at all," Darui muttered while taking another puff of his cigarette.

"Should we continue watching? It will be a while before his sister crosses the border, and I'm not certain if we can glean any further insight into his combat abilities or mindset."

"That reminds me, the other Anbu team we sent never reported back either. From what we know, Himawari should be the only other person close to Boruto that's alive, shouldn't she?" Darui asked.

Amado shrugged. "It's hard to say. Any drones I've sent near the ruins of Konoha short circuited when they got too close. I can only assume his chakra acts like a protective barrier of some sort from automated technology. Though I doubt he thinks of it like that, for all we know anything is possible. No one's been inside that village for years."

"Make you wonder how they have survived this long," Darui commented.

"If Himawari wasn't affected by Eida's ability, then it stands to reason at least a few others weren't as well. I imagine Boruto has at least one friend helping him," Amado concluded.

Darui sighed as he lit another cigarette. "That just makes what we have to do even worse…"

x-x

A/N: Here we are with the other "main" story that was mentioned in the notes for one of the more recent chapters of SP. This one was supposed to have been posted long ago, but there were a myriad of problems that wreaked havoc on my motivation and pushed it back until now. Anyway… I adopted this bunny from my editor with his permission, and changed quite a few things from his outline. This story assumes that almost everything that could go wrong for Boruto in the OTL for Boruto: Naruto Next Generations has gone wrong, and that he and the very few people he still has have gone dark.

While I would like to go more into Himawari's backstory or training ASAP, that will have to be saved for later. Poor Hima… She is the character with the most wasted potential in the entire series, bar none. Which is another reason why I'm writing this. Though I, like many others, still hope that this issue will be addressed eventually (even as determined as the writers are to dash all of my hopes), but as far as this story is concerned, most of the development as a ninja she might receive in canon will have come too little, too late.

My editor and I discussed it at length and we feel that if any of the Kage survive against Kawaki, Code, and any other Ōtsutsuki Clan members or rogue cyborgs that are out there, given a worst case scenario happens in the manga, Darui has the best chances. I'm sure if you have been keeping up with the series, you can take a guess as to why Darui wants Boruto dead, especially since he is (reluctantly) working with Amado. And while this story is mostly an Uzumaki family story, it will have elements of BoruSumi later on. While BoruSara may be the more popular het pairing by far, as far as we're concerned that ship was sunk by the end of the Futano clan's arc, even though the manga continues to tease it at the expense of Sarada's character. That irks me to no end - not so much the shipping, but rather, the repeated failures by Kodachi and Kishimoto to treat Sarada respectfully. Had they handled it better, it's likely we wouldn't have anything against that pairing. (Their toxic fandom, however, is another story altogether, one we have no wish to go into at this time.) That aside, it's unlikely Sarada or Mitsuki would have survived in a worst case scenario like the one in this story.