Author's notes: Hey! This is the second chapter of this series. Not much to say. Just hope you'll like and will give me some feedback so that I can continue to improve. Oh! And if anyone might be interested I'll be posting the next part tomorrow.
"First of all, I didn't fall in love with her… She made me fall in love with her. Forced me, actually..." Sasuke casually explained as Sakura's rose hair made him lose track of his thoughts, once again.
Having received a response much different from the one he was expecting, Boruto nervously smirked, worried the rest of the story would follow the same candid tone of his master's opening line.
Having grasped a hold of his thoughts, Sasuke continued."I used to not care for her in the slightest. For no reason and without knowing me at all, she would repeatedly declare her love for me. But, the only reason why she cared about me, or even paid any sort of attention to me, was because she thought I was 'cool'. And for that, I hated her. In my eyes, she was someone who didn't understand what true love was, and who treated it like a game she had to win."
Boruto's left eye had been continuously twitching with irritation due to the disappointment he had felt at the casualty with which his master was making his love confession
"Then, we got placed in team seven along with your father, and…" Boruto's twitching stopped midway, hopeful his master would finally mention some of what he had expected to hear.
"It just got worse from there." Sasuke continued as did Boruto's eye twitching.
"She always wanted to be around me for no other reason than to be around me. It was extremely annoying. I would often make that clear to her. But, that just made her try harder." Sasuke smiled, amused by the memories of Sakura's approaches.
"And since she was almost always around me… she eventually started to see me hurt. Those moments were what made me realize she truly loved me." Boruto's eye immediately ceased its twitching, and instantly widened. He was stunned by what he'd just heard.
Every time I was in pain, whether it was physical…" Sasuke's mind instantly transported him to a blurry sight of Sakura crying over his bloody body covered in long, sharp needles.
"... Or emotional…" Sasuke's mind shifted from setting once more. This time, he could see himself sitting in a hospital bed, reflecting on his lack of strength as he continued to ignore Sakura's attempts to cheer him up.
"She was always there.
Instead of running away to avoid feeling the same pain I felt, she… stayed."
Boruto's eye returned to its original state, and then slightly shut as he turned his sight to the floor. Boruto was no longer in shock. It all made perfect sense to him. Love being conveyed by one's willingness to feel the pain of those one cares for… Boruto saw truth in that. That's why he'd suddenly fallen in mood. He had never considered himself to be someone willing to endure the pain. Rather, he thought of himself as someone who had had no choice but to endure the pain that had come his way. He had never been prepared for the pain he'd experienced so far, and was sure he would never be ready for the pain that was sure to come. And for that, he thought himself a brat.
"Just like she had no reason to love me, she had no reason to want to share my pain. That's what I thought. It didn't make any sense to me. But then, I realized... my failure to understand her reason to choose to suffer was so because I had not seen such display for me from anyone in so long. She was the same as my older brother… Always with me... always looking after me…"
Boruto's previous thoughts were immediately replaced by curiosity. It was the same curiosity that was invoked in him whenever his master mentioned his older brother.
"There it is, again…" Boruto thought as he returned his attentions to his master.
The way with which his master had talked about his brother, the killer of the Uchiha… it was the same tone with which he always spoke with. That's what estranged Boruto so much. There were no signs of anger. Not even a slight change in tone. Whenever this happened, Boruto was always given the first impression that his master did not hold any terrible resentment towards his brother, but he would quickly dismiss that idea as an implausibility, just as he'd done now. Instead, he would replace it with the more believable and likely scenario that after so much time, his master had moved past his pain.
"But, due to that, I was always reminded of my brother whenever I saw her. I had finally come to care for her, but the rage I was reminded of every time I saw her always overwhelmed any pleasant feelings she caused in me.
Not just Sakura… team seven… they were all a reminder of what I had lost. I focused on that instead of what I had. And finally, rage, and the desire for vengeance became all I could think of.
One night, I left the village, and then headed for the darkest path. She followed, like always...
She was willing to sacrifice her life for me, but I couldn't let her do that. I had intended to come back to her and team seven once I made my revenge a reality. I thought that was what I was going to do, but as I kept moving further into the darkness, I lost sight of that. Finally, revenge truly became everything I had.
I grew so detached from them, that when we finally met again after so long, I no longer recognized them as friends. I saw them as nothing but obstacles in the way of my goal. It-" Sasuke was stopped mid sentence by Boruto.
"Uncle… you don't have to say anymore… datte-dattebasa." Explained Boruto, both eyes closed now, trying his hardest to keep himself from crying in front of his master. Even though his master had maintained the same emotionless expression for most of his speech, Boruto thought there was no way his master wasn't hurting as he continued to talk about those heartbreaking chapters from his past.
Boruto shut his eyes even harder. Crying started to seem like the only way to make that suffocating pressure on his chest go away. Again, like so many times before, Boruto had not been ready for pain he couldn't help feeling, and was simply trying to manage it.
Boruto turned the entirety of his face in Sasuke's direction. "I know you always cared for them." Commented Boruto, an immense smile on his face.
Boruto had figured that if he acted as if he was happy, then he would feel happy, at least until they were ambushed, and his mind was forced to concentrate on that instead of the emotional ride he was going through. That's what he had figured would happen, anyways. However, a river had emerged from each of Boruto's eyes as he broke into tears in front of his master. Realizing this, Boruto didn't make any further attempt at hiding his feelings. His master had already seen him, so he figured there was no point in trying to conceal his feelings anymore. Though, he did turn his head away from his master. He found it weird to face someone when crying. .
"It's fine. It doesn't hurt anymore." Sasuke explained, both eyes closed and a smile directed to Boruto.
Still with that smile, Sasuke turned to the sky, trying to remember where he'd left off.
Sasuke's words had only further saddened Boruto. Boruto assumed his previous assumption to be correct and that, like his dad, his master had gone through so much pain to the point of being immune to it.
"Will I be the same?..." Boruto melancholically reflected as he wiped the left over tears hanging on to his eyes only for more to emerge.
"Anyways, it was much like a restart." Sasuke continued.
"Again, I was a kid, acting 'cool', and once more, Sakura became someone whom, I believed, loved me for no reason, and whom I hated because of that.
But she continued to love me, no matter how much pain I kept causing her.
Over…" Sasuke saw himself in front of Sakura, his right hand enveloped in the lightning produced by his Chidori, closing in to her heart.
"… And over…" Now a kunai on hand, he was tearing through the fabric of the lone red jacket protecting Sakura's heart.
"... And over." His hand alone had reached Sakura's heart, and crushed it as he listened to her pleas for him to stop following the dark path he had been following.
"She never stopped loving." Upon saying those words, an image of Sakura smiling kindly at him took over all the space in his mind.
Boruto observed as his master did something with his face he had never seen him do before.
Sasuke's right eyebrow had risen, and the right corner of his mouth had reached heights Boruto had never seen it reach before. And then, his dark eye began to shine as did his perfect teeth. Boruto thought his master had formed a smile comparable to that of his dad's. He still couldn't see the left side of his master's face, but Boruto figured it had to be the equal opposite of his right profile.
His stoic expression back, Sasuke turned to face Boruto.
"Ignoring her had become harder. And after you father defeated me, I just couldn't ignore her anymore.
After that, every time I saw her, I felt this sensation, and I knew what it meant. I knew because, it was something that I used to feel." Sasuke instantly envisioned all the people important to him.
"It was something I felt whenever I was close to someone I loved.
I was mistaken when I told you, she forced me to love her. In reality, she's still forcing me to. Love is something which you never stop feeling. Otherwise, it's just another memory from the past which doesn't have any effect on you anymore." Right after Sasuke concluded, he offered Boruto another slight smile, which Boruto returned.
Moments later, the five taints of chakra Boruto had earlier sensed had reappeared, and were becoming easier for Boruto to perceive. Boruto instantly took on an expression ready for battle.
"Boruto." Sasuke mentioned with the same expression Boruto bared.
Unlike Boruto, Sasuke could not sense the chakra of his enemies. But after having taken part in so many battles, Sasuke had acquired the ability to notice any sort of change in his surroundings. He could feel it. A chaotic power getting bigger.
Sasuke turned to Boruto, and Boruto replied with a slight nod. Afterwards, Boruto slightly turned his head. Just enough for his eye to be in plain view of his master's right eye.
Immediately, Sasuke slightly fastened his right eye.
His right eye now reflecting his heart, Sasuke sought to make the reflection stronger, and widened his eye as much as he could. His Sharingan responded by commencing a rapid counter-clockwise rotation. The strong shades of red and black began to mix, and the slightly softer red of the veins on his eye began to make their way to his volatile pupil until a unique hexagram pattern appeared in the epicenter of his eye.
"Mangekyou Sharingan: Tsukuyomi!" Sasuke exclaimed in his mind as he concentrated his visual prowess on Boruto's eye.
Not a second later… "Got it." Said Boruto.
And not another second later, Boruto swiftly began turning his entire body towards Sasuke, his firm palm leading the way, heading straight for Sasuke's swinging katana.
Just like the last time he'd suddenly turned to face Boruto, Sasuke's hair had again swung over to the side, and uncovered his Rinnegan.
Sasuke widened his left eye, causing his pitch black pupil to contract before expanding back to its original size.
Just as Boruto's palm and Sasuke's katana were about to clash, both destructive forces disappeared from the other's path.