A/N: Zero excuses for this late, late, late update. I was lazy. I was procrastinating. Yup, that's it.
On another brighter note, I did manage to acquire a lovely beta Emocean :D
They needed to return to Mount Myoboku for recuperation - Sakura and Kakashi had decided that it was an absolute necessity. Yet prior to all of that, they needed to re-connect with the rest of their struggling comrades still engaged in their respective missions.
Fully aware of the risks of interception, Sakura still gave the order to send out messenger birds, having concluded that the enemy seemed to possess uncanny knowledge of their activities and whereabouts anyway, possibly through internal moles. The messenger scrolls contained a single order to meet in a small town in the Land of Fire, one that is adjacent to the location of Sayuri's bookstore, a portal to their safe haven. And so it was there that Sarada was reunited with Mitsuki (and Konohamaru and the rest of their unit.)
She leapt into him with such force and fury that he was taken aback. They shared a warm embrace, both relieved to be in each other's company again.
"Mitsuki… So, so much has happened. I'm so glad there's finally someone I can tell it to," Sarada said, feeling relieved and comforted by the presence of someone from her own world.
"Me too, Sarada," Mitsuki concurred, before whispering, "I've got the scroll."
Sarada's eyes widened in surprise and hope.
"All we've got to do," Mitsuki continued speaking, "is to get Boruto."
"That might be a little more difficult," Sarada grumbled, being reminded of her friend's incarceration by the Hokage.
"What's the matter?"
"He's captured by the regime. The Hokage holds him ransom, at least that's what I've gathered." Mitsuki noticed Sarada found it very difficult to spit those words out. "But I suppose before that," she continued. "I should first update you on what had happened."
Noticing the furrowed brows, the agitation etched on Sarada's somber visage, Mitsuki's expressions darkened, fully expecting a new string of ominous news.
"We're in trouble," Boruto immediately blurted out. "What the hell do we do?"
For a moment, the man in front of him looked shaken, disorientated and vulnerable. His dark black eyes, now that he had deactivated his dojutsus, were hollow and they seemed to be peering into nothingness.
"Hello, Sasuke," Boruto said, waving his arms for emphasis, "You're not just going to do nothing, right?"
"No, Boruto," Sasuke answered after blinking multiple times. He looked so tired all of a sudden, so exhausted, so drained. "No ... I'll confront them. It's the only way."
Taking a deep breath, he recollected himself, got up from his desk and strode towards the door. If he was afraid now, he certainly made no indication of it. His expressions resumed their usual impassiveness.
"Let me come with you!" Boruto called after Sasuke, hurrying behind the man. "You'll need my help! You can't do this alone!"
Sasuke turned around and stared into Boruto's eyes, bemused and amused. "You can't do this alone" wasn't something he would usually hear – no, he hadn't heard those words for 17 years. 17 damned years. Without warning, he pulled the boy up close, fixing his hands firmly on Boruto's shoulders. He kept staring, not uttering a single syllable.
"So...?" Boruto broke the silence awkwardly.
"Those two," Sasuke noted grimly, "they're very dangerous. I am… not sure I'd be able to make it out alive, truth to be told. I must admit, I never expected this – not in- never mind. Point is, Boruto, I understand you want to help. That's fine. I want you to show me the scene where you actually defeated them. Afterwards, I want you to leave."
"What?! But- "
"Leave this dimension immediately. Take Sarada and Mitsuki with you. It's far too dangerous for any of you to stay. This business with Momoshiki and Kinshiki is nothing you should concern yourself with." For once, Sasuke appeared genuinely disturbed about the welfare of others. There was almost an air of pleading about the way he conducted himself, or so Boruto noticed. Was it panic that coursed through her cold, coal-black eyes?
The boy took all those words in and thought about it all. It felt strange listening to them, for they sounded very similar to some twisted form of self-sacrifice. Boruto couldn't exactly pinpoint his own feelings. They were far too confused, distorted, befuddled. Before he could refine his ruminations properly, twin kaleidoscopes were already peering into his soul, sifting their way through his memories.
They were in the town centre when the apocalypse dawned. Clear skies became overcast in just an instant. Birds fled the scene in droves, screeching, suffusing the air with suffocating panic.
It was those two again, Sarada realised, palpitating with horror. Those two unnatural, ethereal men. Momoshiki and Kinshiki.
They made their way through quickly dispersing crowds. Spectators cowered.
Kinshiki grabbed a member of the ANBU, holding her close to him and began an interrogation.
"No," Sarada gasped, her eyes wide open. She resisted the urge to collapse into the grown in fear, onto her knees, again. She will not allow herself to do this.
"You know those two?" Sakura whispered, feeling just as unnerved.
Sarada nodded reluctantly. "They attacked my world too, a while ago." She turned around to see Mitsuki, who appeared afraid too. He turned and threw her a look that almost said not again.
She began contemplating the scenario before her. Why now? Why did those two have to show up no? Why not earlier? Why? Questions fired themselves through her head. Right, she theorized internally, in her own dimension, the two had attacked a year ago. Her father there had encountered them whilst traversing through different worlds. A fight took place and the fight itself catalyzed their appearance. Here, however, Sasuke - being a dictator is, needless to say, rather time-consuming – never managed to hop through all the different worlds and encounter Momoshiki and Kinshiki. This, then, thought Sarada, may have pushed back the day of the attack.
"What are we going to do?" Mitsuki hissed in her ear. "We're no match for them. And Boruto's not with us so we can't escape now."
"Wait," Sarada replied tersely, shooting a quick look at Sakura, Kakashi and the remainder of their companions. "They must be after the Kyuubi. They don't know where it is, yet."
"Lie low," Kakashi said, nodding in acquiescence. "Don't attract too much attention."
"No, I want to go with you," Boruto rebutted Sasuke defiantly after the man pulled out of his memories.
"You could die," Sasuke replied coolly. "Does that not trouble you one bit?"
"You could too, you know…" Boruto's voice trailed off. "We all could. Besides, I've fought them before. You haven't. I may have shown you what happened last time, but still, I'm better than nothing. You'll need my help – I just, I just know it."
"Boruto," Sasuke's voice turned steely. "I don't know whether I'd be able to keep you alive. They're after the Kyuubi, which is… Never mind, where it is doesn't matter-"
"It does! They're after it! And stop thinking you can do this all alone damn it!"
"Hn."
"They're going to go after it, the Kyuubi. It's-"
"- in the Land of Fire. Not too far away from that bookstore Hi no Ishi uses. They'd never realise it, of course. One should always expect the unexpected. It's a world's difference from the rest of the esoteric hiding places."
"Then we've-"
"No, not we. You are, for the last time, not coming with me," Sasuke declared with adamant resolution. The two locked eyes.
"I don't care if I might die, Sasuke. Do you take me for some kind of coward? Every shinobi faces the possibility death every time he goes into battle. It's going to take more than that to put me off!" Boruto's complexion was livid with frustration. Surely, Sasuke did not seriously believe that he would be content to stay here and wait while the rest of this world burns. He was the son of Naruto Uzumaki, a shinobi of Konohagakure.
"You're just like him," Sasuke merely snorted with what Boruto believed was fond disdain. "Fine. But remember, I'm under no obligation to protect you. Understand? If you die, it's your own business." His words were curt, but Boruto thought they betrayed a hint of worry. Not that this Sasuke would ever, ever admit it.
Boruto nodded while rolling his eyes.
"And fix your attitude, kid," the man added didactically.
Ignoring Sasuke's words, Boruto asked, "So, where do we go?"
Sasuke sighed. He seemed resigned to the reality before him. Purple concentric rings emerged and engulfed his eyes, giving them an inhuman quality. "Follow me," Sasuke simply replied as a portal emerged.
"I- I don't know where it is…" stuttered a mortified ANBU member.
Kinshiki drew the man closer, peering into his eyes with a menacing glare.
"I really don't!" The ANBU member was on the verge of tears. With a sensation of mild revulsion bubbling within, Sarada realised he had wet his pants. "Please – please – spare me – please-"
"Enough!" Momoshiki interjected as he whipped out that accursed hand with a Rinnegan engraved on it.
Momoshiki will suck out his soul, the horrifying prospect dawned on Sarada.
The man's screams pierced through the air, reverberated throughout the streets, sending chills down the marrows of men and women. A pale humanoid whisk left the man's body and gravitated towards a giant demon's mouth. The King of Hell.
"No luck," sighed Momoshiki after a moment of processing. He flicked the carcass of the soulless man aside.
Then, in the split of a second, he turned around and fixed his eyes on Sarada's, noticing her Sharingan. His lips gave an intrigued quiver. With horror, she realised he was making his way towards her. The crowds parted before him as ordinary citizens scrambled aside in fear.
Within seconds, Momoshiki was facing her, holding her up close. "Maybe she can tell us something useful," he sneered as he addressed his companion.
"Leave her alone!" Sakura yelled as she tried to punch Momoshiki. He deftly dodged her attack and Kinshiki gave her a vicious kick, sending her flying on her back.
"I know nothing," Sarada said as she bit her lip, glaring at him defiantly. "I will never give you what you want."
"The Kyuubi…" came Momoshiki's silky voice. "We'll see if you're lying or not." He opened the King of Hell again. Sarada felt a strange sensation coursing through her, like some unexplained source of gravity was trying to extract some unexplained essence that resided within her. Her soul, of course. Momoshiki wanted her soul.
"Nooooooooo!" Kakashi yelled as he charged at Momoshiki with a palm coated in purple lightning. Momoshiki nonchalantly absorbed whatever jutsus he launched with a condescending glee, like a child playing with toy soldiers.
She grunted, twisted in pain as she fought the pull. She will not die like this; she cannot die like this. In another world, another universe, her mother and father – not their broken equivalents here – were at home, waiting for her.
Then all of a sudden, it all stopped. Momoshiki, to her surprise, was knocked aside.
"Get the hell away from Sarada you creepy bastard!" That boisterous, familiar voice resounded through the pavements. "No one, no one harms my friends!"
Boruto. He must have used the vanishing Rasengan, she concluded.
"Boruto!" she cried out in relief.
Mitsuki, in spite of their dire situation, couldn't suppress a grin. "You made it, buddy," he congratulated his friend.
"I did! Long stories, friends, it was a long story," Boruto remarked, allowing himself to smile splendidly for just a moment. He then lapsed into seriousness. "Momoshiki and Kinshiki are here… they're after the Kyuubi."
"We know," Sarada said.
"We've got to defeat them," Boruto declared. "By all means necessary."
"You cut off my horn – how dare you?!" roared an enraged voice. It was the giant oafish ogre Kinshiki, fighting with-
"What's he doing here?!" Sarada exclaimed, flabbergasted, as she gestured towards the clashing figures of Kinshiki and Sasuke Uchiha. Her mouth hung wide open.
Boruto coughed a little. He had accidentally inhaled some dirt from the pavement. "Like I said, long story. All you guys need to know is, we all need to work together to stop these two."
Beside them, Kakashi Hatake was stunned into silence. Konohamaru shifted in discomfort. Other members of Hi no Ishi just stood there, petrified, unsure of what to make of the current situation.
Sakura, recovering from the unexpected attack, glared at her dark-haired ex-teammate with pure hatred in her eyes.
A/N: A very short chapter, I know. But we are reaching the climax of this story. Things will get heated. Everything is being staged up for a confrontation of epic proportions. People will die. That's all I'm saying.
In the next few weeks, I do plan on going back and editing some of the older chapters to polish the grammar and style. I will do my best to be consistent with updates. I'll be off to college soon and I really do want to get this finished before then. As of now, if I do manage to adhere to my planned notes, there are approximately 5 chapters left.
Right now, this story is my most followed AND most favourited story. It's also my second most reviewed story (let's try make it first by putting in some extra effort, shall we? ;P) and I have you guys to thank! Seriously, you guys have no idea how many times I was considering on dropping this story indefinitely only to return to it after a kind, encouraging barrage of supportive reviews. I love you all.
On another note, what do you guys think of this chapter? The course of this story in general? Predictions for the ending are still on! :D
Please leave your thoughts/comments/criticisms in the reviews!
:)