Chapter 18: Boruto's Tale

Boruto screamed in repulsion and hid behind his arms. "Ugh! Why? Why?! Why would you do that to me?"

"Did it freak you out?" asked Inojin.

"Yes!"

"That's why."

"Ugh! Why would you have me kiss you in your story? That's disgusting. It's awful. It's…"

"Scary?"

"Yes!"

Inojin threw his arms into the air in victory. "I win!"

"What?!" Boruto asked angrily. "You're saying you threw that in just to gross me out?"

"It's scary," Inojin defended. "You think I would go for that kind of thing? I told you a scary story. I would be scared and freaking out if that actually happened. I told you the scariest story I could come up with."

"Did you have to put me in it and make me do that?"

"If it scared you, that was the point."

Boruto scoffed and leaned against the log behind his back. "'Scary', he says. Depends what you mean by 'scary', you know." He frowned. "Do you really think I'm like that?"

"Like what?"

"You made me a bully in your story. I don't treat you that way. How could you make me like that?"

"It was a story. I made it up," Inojin told him.

"Which I'm guessing you lifted from Chocho's vampire novel," Shikadai said with a smirk. "The one she had us read on that one mission."

"I didn't lift. I was inspired by it."

"You complained every step of the way. Said it was too flowery to be a vampire novel."

"Yeah, so I changed it to something better. Sure, both characters were working in a restaurant where they were being bullied by their coworkers, but the rest was all my idea." Inojin started to blush. "But it was better than my other one, right?"

"Longer, too."

"It was good except for the part where you made me the bully. And had me kiss you."

"Well, I wasn't going to kiss Shikadai."

"I didn't know that was on the table," said Shikadai.

"And you had me have a thing for Sarada!" Boruto added. "That is so-ho-ho not true. Why would you put that in there?"

"I made it up. Come on, it was a story. I changed a lot of you guys. I mean, Shikamaru's not that big of a jerk. Right?" He looked in Shikamaru's direction and his face grew concerned. "Shikamaru?"

The adult wasn't moving, staring straight ahead, over Inojin's head.

Inojin crawled closer and waved his hand to get Shikamaru's attention. "Shikamaru…?" He was getting worried.

"At your command, my vampire master," Shikamaru said in monotone, keeping his eyes fixed straight ahead.

Inojin scoffed and sat back down. "Very funny."

"Dad, knock it off," Shikadai said, nudging him with his elbow. "It's embarrassing."

Stretching out his arms like a zombie, Shikamaru took hold of his son and pulled him in close. "Must feed on son. Vampire master commands it." He pretended to bite Shikadai's neck without having his mouth get anywhere near his skin.

"Dad!" Shikadai started laughed and kicked wildly. He may not have been biting him, but Shikamaru was tickling him. This explained why he wasn't bringing his face any closer in case Shikadai's thrashing got too violent. "Dad! Stop it! Hahaha! Stop tickling me! Stop! Ah-hahaha!"

"Alright," Shikamaru said nonchalantly, dropping the act and his son. He picked up his skewer and held it over the fire, twirling it in his fingers. He was already bored of his practical joke.

"It was a good story, though," Sai said, trying to be encouraging. "I liked it."

"That's because you weren't in it acting weird," Shikamaru pointed out. "Once again, I'm the victim. I think I'm getting used to it. What next?"

The boys were still discussing Inojin's story, so the two adults had their own conversation.

"I don't think you are a bully. It just fit in the story. The characters were totally different from us."

"Not all of us completely." Boruto frowned. "Still. Sarada? Couldn't you have picked a different girl?"

"You don't like any of the ones in the village. Sarada fit."

"Why? Because she's my teammate?"

"You would have thrown a fit if I made it Chocho."

"Why didn't you have Shikadai in there instead of me?"

"I already said why." Inojin groaned. "Come on, I went in confident with this story, too. Don't tell me you hate it."

"I didn't say that."

He looked up. "Then you did like it? Better than my first one?"

"Well… it was long and didn't really feel like a scary story in the beginning… but, yeah, I liked it better." Boruto scratched his cheek. "And if you were going for the fear factor and creepiness at the end there, you accomplished that. It was weird and gross and made me cringe… so I guess it was a good scary campfire story."

Inojin looked at Shikadai. "Even though you could tell I was inspired by Chocho's stupid novel?"

Shikadai nodded. "Nothing wrong with being inspired by something. Everybody does it. Besides, you gave her dumb novel the ending you wanted. Nothing wrong with that."

Inojin rubbed his neck sheepishly. "Yeah… And I actually wasn't sure what to name the characters at the restaurant. I sorta made it up as I went along. I figured I couldn't keep calling them 'the waiter' or something. Since there was more than one of them and all. Get too confusing."

"Ah, it's cool," said Boruto, no longer upset. "But the ending was really the only part that felt like it was a good scary story. The beginning had a different feel, you know."

"I was working on it."

"For making it up as you went along, it was pretty good."

"As long as I redeemed myself from my first trainwreck, I'm good."

Boruto grinned fiendishly. "Of course, I've got a perfect story to tell. One that has the campfire vibe all throughout and is a true story."

"Aw…" Shikadai and Inojin groaned, sitting back skeptically.

"What? It is."

"You're just saying that for the dramatic effect."

"Nuh-uh," Boruto said childishly. "It was a mission we had gone on not that long ago."

"Let me guess," said Shikadai. "It happened outside the village so nobody can verify?"

"Still better than his last one that took place in the village and we somehow had no idea what was going on," commented Inojin. "You'd think we would have noticed zombies walking around."

"Come on! Just listen and you'll see." Boruto looked at the two adults. "Right, guys?"

"But the security team came back with negative results," Sai was telling Shikamaru. "There was nothing to report in that area."

"Maybe, but the squad we sent to that region reported the same thing the first team witnessed. The investigation isn't priority but it's still worth checking out."

"The data for that one isn't ready yet. It's still in the experimental stage. Pushing it wouldn't yield the results you want any faster."

"I'm not asking for that. I just wanted to know where the team was in its research. If we could get…"

"Hey!" Boruto shouted at them. "No business talk while camping!"

Shikamaru and Sai stopped. "Sorry, sorry…"

"We're supposed to be having fun and taking a break, you know."

"Sorry. We'll save it for when we're back." Shikamaru glanced around the trees. "Out of this deep, dark, secluded forest."

They knew he was being sarcastic, but didn't say anything.

"Who's next?" Sai asked. "I don't think I have any ideas for a story…"

"That's ok. Boruto's got one." Shikadai gave Boruto a sidewards glance. "One based on a true story," he said in a spooky tone.

"Shut up."

"Well, tell it," Shikadai urged. "What's this mission you went on that counts as a true terrifying tale suited for a campfire story?"

Boruto rubbed his hands together gleefully. "This is a story about a mysterious sword. That's what we were told, anyway. You see, Sarada, Mitsuki and I went on a mission not long ago where this mysterious sword was up for auction and we had to get it. Rumor had it that a thief was looking to make off with it. And why, you ask? Turns out, this sword was famous for its power. But we didn't know what power they meant until the mission began…"