Chapter 10:

Boruto's mouth fell open. "What?"

"That's why you were so willing to help us after all that talk before," said Shikadai. "You wanted the items for yourself."

"It was never about helping us get home. It was about what you wanted to use it for," said Sarada.

Boruto clenched his fists and glared at Shikamaru. "Seriously? We can fix everything. Sai won't be brainwashed, you'll have a family and there will be peace among the shinobi villages. Just what are you planning on using that scroll for?"

Mitsuki shook his head. "Not him." He pointed. "Him."

Sasuke glared at the finger pointed at him. "Tch."

"Come on, it was obvious," said Shikamaru. "I never trusted you from the start."

"Why would you want it?" asked Sarada.

"A scroll that can grant any one wish?" said Shikamaru. "Take a guess."

Sasuke glared at Shikamaru. "You knew all along what my intentions were and you didn't try to stop me. Why not?"

"I had no proof," explained Shikamaru. "And I couldn't take action against something you hadn't done yet. That was one of Danzo's policies I never agreed with. Punishing shinobi for something they might do, not something they have done. I've seen too many shinobi get locked away for potential, not guilt. Konohamaru, Kiba…"

"He went with his gut. Something a shinobi has to trust. You can't second-guess yourself in battle. You have to make split-second decisions."

"And if you act too quickly and you're wrong?"

"You're smart. You suspected I would do this and did nothing about it. You made a bad call. You could have stopped me and you didn't."

"I gave you a chance to do something different," said Shikamaru. "I had hoped you would think it over and decide to do something else. If you had done that, I would have attacked for no reason."

"But I didn't," said Sasuke. "And neither did you."

Sasuke reached for his sword but Shikamaru's shadow reached him first. Sasuke struggled to overpower Shikamaru, his body shaking against the shadow's grip.

"I gave you a chance, Sasuke." Shikamaru gave him an angry and pitiful look. "You can still stop."

Sasuke bared his teeth at Shikamaru's remark. "You know I can't do that."

"I didn't want you on this mission for that reason. The lengths you're willing to go to. They thought you would be an asset, but I see you as a liability."

Boruto looked at the two quarrelling adults. "I don't get it. Why does he want the scroll?"

"To revive my clan!" Sasuke broke free from Shikamaru's shadow and drew his sword. Shikamaru blocked with his kunai and jumped back. Sasuke and Shikamaru stared each other down, keeping a generous distance between them.

"Are you still on that?" Shikamaru asked. "After all this time, all these years, you still haven't swept that from your mind?"

"You have no idea how I feel! You could never understand!"

"My father, my sensei, countless comrades… Of course I know-"

"My clan was wiped out by my older brother Itachi! I looked up to him more than anyone and he betrayed me! To this day, I have no idea why he did it!" Sasuke's sword rattled, shaking in his grasp. "You have no idea what I feel! What I've been through!"

Shikamaru changed tactics. "It's been years and you're still obsessed with reviving your clan. You think this is the answer?"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes dangerously. "I thought killing Itachi would bring me closure, but it didn't. You're right. Revenge didn't change a thing. It didn't bring them back. But this… Being allowed one wish fulfilled… This is the answer."

"Sasuke, it…"

"I can undo what Itachi has done! I can bring them all back! I can make sure it never happened!" Sasuke took a step closer to Shikamaru but kept his sword pointed to the side towards the ground. "If such a thing exists, why wouldn't I use it? This is my chance! I can change things for the better! I'll finally get what I want!"

"Will you?" asked Shikamaru, raising his voice slightly to be heard.

"Of course. This scroll grants any wish written on it, right? I'll write my desire on the scroll and change everything."

"But it might not be what you want."

"I know what I want, Shikamaru! This is the answer!"

"Listen to me," said Shikamaru, pleading with Sasuke. "Using something like that scroll is dangerous. It backfired for these kids. It could backfire for you."

"I know what I'm doing."

"We don't have all the answers, Sasuke. Any wish-granting item is wrought with dangers and poor execution. It's a genie in a bottle type of situation."

"What are you talking about? This is completely different. This isn't a genie but a scroll."

"The genie thing isn't the point," explained Shikamaru. "It's the principle. Your wish could be twisted into something you hadn't intended, based on the phrasing."

"I'll be specific," said Sasuke.

"But how is an item supposed to know what you mean? We're not talking about a malicious genie but an object. An object, Sasuke. How is an object supposed to know or understand the intentions of a human being? It could interpret whatever wish is written upon it differently from what you intend."

"That's the problem with wish-granting magic items," said Shikadai. "How's it supposed to know what you mean? You can't communicate with it or explain either."

"Exactly," said Shikamaru. "If you wish for your clan back, for instance, what condition would they be in? Will they come back as they were before? As zombies? Will it send everyone back in time? And if you do wish for your clan back, what does that mean? Just the family you know of or the people from years ago? Your ancestors? Every Uchiha that has ever existed? And if you do wish them back, it would also bring back Itachi. Might change nothing."

"I have to try!" Sasuke shouted. "I can't waste this chance!"

"We need it to get home!" Boruto began. "That was-"

"Shut up!" Sasuke screamed with such fierceness, it made everyone flinch, even Sai. "You wasted it already. I deserve this more than you! It was just one person."

Boruto recovered from his fright at Sasuke's remark and gave way to a new emotion. "Yeah. One person. And it changed everything."

"One person cannot be that important. Cannot change the world as much as you say."

"But it did," said Boruto. "If I can make this right, you won't have to worry about all this. In my world, you're happy."

"I don't believe you!"

"In my world, you have a family! A loving family! You have a daughter. She's right there and-"

"I don't care!" shouted Sasuke. "She means nothing to me. I don't want that damn brat; I want my clan! To fix what Itachi destroyed!"

Sarada flinched at his words and felt the tears burn in her eyes.

She could never live here with this man. They had to get back home. They had to change this.

"You cannot use that scroll!" yelled Sarada, building up her nerve to speak to Sasuke. "It's ours!"

"Using such a thing didn't grant these children their wish," said Shikamaru. "And it won't grant yours. Not the way you intend. The scroll is an object without thought or emotion or understanding. It won't get it. It will perceive it differently."

"And I told you, I have to try!"

"When will you let go of your hate?"

"Never!" Sasuke glanced at Sai and back at Shikamaru. "Sota, get the scroll from Shikamaru!"

Sai moved to obey, then hesitated.

"Do it!"

"Sota," said Shikamaru. "You know what the mission is."

Sai nodded in affirmation. "To secure and protect the scroll and second item. To bring them back to the Leaf."

"Does that allow Sasuke to use it for his own purposes?"

Sai looked at Sasuke. "It does not." Sai drew his own weapon. "Sasuke, surrender. And hand over the items you took from the cave."

"Sota…" Sasuke warned.

"The mission is for us to bring the items to the Leaf. Not to use them. If you use them before we get back to the Leaf, the mission will be a failure. I cannot have that."

"This is what's best for the village," said Sasuke.

"You are letting your emotions cloud your judgement. Surrender the item from the cave."

"You're a fool," spat Sasuke. "Ganging up on me like this. The Leaf won't use it the way it must be used."

"That's not your call."

"You're seriously siding with these strange brats?"

"I'm not," said Sai. "I'm carrying out my mission."

"I know what's best for this!"

"That isn't our mission."

"Sota…" Sasuke warned again. "Don't even…"

Sai focused on Sasuke. "There is only the mission."

That mantra had gotten him this far, drilled into him from a young age. It justified him abandoning his comrades, turning on those who put their trust in him and killing countless people. It was the way of the shinobi, at least where he was from. If asked to kill his own teammates, he would without hesitation.

He wasn't doing this because he felt Sasuke was in the wrong. He wasn't doing this because he sided with the children. He was doing it because this was his mission, and right now his mission entailed him battling Sasuke for control of the item he had taken from the cave.

Sai dashed forward and clashed blades with Sasuke.

"Stop!" Sarada shouted, knowing this wasn't going to end well. She took a step forward and Shikamaru held out his arm to stop her, pushing her and the other children back away from the fight.

With malice behind every swing, Sasuke battled Sai for control of the items in his hand. Sai never tried reaching for them, intending to immobilize Sasuke before attempting such a thing and he could do that one of two ways.

Sai knew Sasuke wasn't going to make this easy. A formidable opponent like him would probably require Sai to use lethal means to secure the items in his hand. He had no issues doing this. If he killed Sasuke, he could easily be replaced by another shinobi. Losing his particular skills would be a massive blow to the village, however. No one else had the sharingan, for one thing. Sai would probably be reprimanded for taking such action but if Sasuke left him no choice, he was almost certain he could get the higher-ups to agree with his decision.

As they clashed blades left and right, pushing each other back with each blow, Shikadai looked up at his father. "Use your shadow to stop them."

Shikamaru shook his head. "There's no point. Sasuke's in another one of his rage fits. He won't see reason and he won't stop. I already tried to restrain him and he broke free. Trying it again on two people would be bad."

"How? It can slow them down, right?" asked Sarada.

"If Sasuke breaks free first, he'd have the perfect opening to kill Sota, since he'd still be trapped. Even if he is not a threat, Sasuke will likely kill Sota because he knows he would try to bring the items to the village and not let him use them. I won't let him have that opportunity."

"He'd seriously do that?"

"He's trying it now. My shadow won't change that. He'd probably dodge anyway, now that he knows my intentions."

Sarada shook her head. "So, we just let them fight?"

"It's too dangerous to get in the middle of that, and Sasuke still has the other item. There's no point running or fighting at this point."

Shikadai disagreed. "But if we leave with the scroll, Sasuke can't use it."

"And he'd chase after us and kill whoever's holding it. Sasuke doesn't care if you're kids. You see what he's doing to a teammate."

Crying out, Sasuke forced Sai backwards with a mighty thrust and moved in to finish him off but Sai dodged, hitting Sasuke in the temple with the hilt of his blade. It wasn't enough to knock him out, but it did stun Sasuke. He took a wide swing, hoping to slice Sai's stomach but Sai jumped away to avoid the strike, which allowed Sasuke more recovery time.

Sai took something from his belt and threw it at the ground. A cloud of smoke engulfed the group, giving Sai cover for another attack. Sasuke expected this and lowered his body to make it harder for Sai to find him.

Listening to the crunching gravel on the mountain path, Sasuke could hear Sai coming.

From multiple angles.

Several Boruto clones had come to help retrieve the items in Sasuke's hand, attacking from above and below. Sasuke spun, releasing several kunai as he did.

Outside the smoke, Shikamaru pushed Sarada out of the way of one of the kunai which had missed its mark and kept going. He glared into the smoke. Sasuke was too reckless. Then again, he didn't care who he hurt. He never did.

"Rasengan!" Boruto attacked from above and below at once, aiming for Sasuke's head and his legs, hoping one would strike even if he dodged.

Sasuke bent backwards and spun like a corkscrew, dodging both as they passed above and below at the same time. He slashed the clone above his head as he passed by and stomped on the one under him, popping them both.

"You are out of your league, kid!"

As he landed on the clone, his sword just barely out of the one above, Sai emerged from the smoke with his sword pointed forward towards Sasuke's stomach. He had no time to dodge. He looked straight into Sai's eyes as he came.

Sarada kept moving her head, trying to see past the smoke. "What's going on in there? Something's not right."

Mitsuki looked at Sarada. "Should I clear it? It seemed to be working in Sai's favor before."

She shook her head at Mitsuki's statement, not his question. "Something's wrong. Get rid of the smoke."

Mitsuki used his Wind Style to blow the smoke away, keeping the gale controlled so as not to blow them off the mountain.

The group gasped at what they saw.

Sasuke stood above Sai on the stone path. Sai was on his knees with his own sword in his stomach.

Petrified, Boruto stared at the two men without a word or whimper.

Blood oozed from Sai's mouth as he spoke. "Sh… Sharingan...?"

Sasuke looked down at him with contempt. "You never had a chance against me."

He moved to pull the sword from Sai's stomach, effectively killing him faster, but something forced him back.

Sasuke's mind was lagging a second behind. All he knew was that Boruto was wrapped around his torso, screaming something.

"You idiot! Don't!" Shikamaru yelled, but it was too late.

Sasuke felt Boruto's attack before he saw it. He had no idea what was happening. He just felt pain in his stomach that took all the wind out of his chest.

Reacting to the pain, Sasuke prepared to bring his sword down on Boruto next.

Shouting his name, Mitsuki raced to help. Sarada did the same.

"Stop!" Shikamaru shouted. "You're no match for him! You're going to get yourselves killed!"

They weren't blinded by rage. They were trying to save their friend. They were trying to help.

Unlike Sai, they weren't trying to win. Just stop him from going too far.

Sasuke saw them coming and, deeming Mitsuki the most dangerous, targeted him first. He swung his sword and Mitsuki dropped to the ground. His snake-like movements were fast and daunting. Sasuke stabbed straight down to stop him, but Mitsuki's fluid motion allowed him to evade, springing up as Sasuke tried to pull his sword free of the ground and grabbing him from behind as before.

Boruto, rather than go for the sword, grabbed Sasuke's left leg, swung himself around and kicked at Sasuke's right leg with both feet, effectively forcing it out from under him and to the side where he didn't bend.

Off balance, this was Sarada's chance to strike. She charged straight for Sasuke who, with all his strength and speed, thrusted his blade forward to meet her.

At the last second, his arm moved sideways. "What-?!"

Shikamaru and Shikadai teamed up to used their combined jutsu to overpower Sasuke. Just his arm, which was much easier than trying to control his whole body.

With the sword aside, Sarada threw her fist forward.

Sasuke didn't anticipate the strength of this girl being so monstrous. He had never felt anything like it before. It was like getting hit with a cannonball.

Sarada held nothing back, no longer seeing this man as her father in any way. To her, he was just a stranger disguised as Sasuke.

Mitsuki dug in his nails, signaling Boruto to get clear. "Snake Lightning."

That was the finishing blow that rendered Sasuke immobile on the mountain path.

Shikamaru stared in disbelief at what he had just seen. These children worked really well together, had skills he hadn't seen used in combination quite that way and managed to bring down Sasuke without killing him. He doubted they could have done this if Sasuke had been expecting their strength to be what it was, but Sasuke had a habit of overestimating his own abilities. These kids knew they weren't stronger than him and came up with a split-second strategy instead.

"If Sasuke weren't so prideful, they might not have pulled this off…"

"Are you ok? Shikamaru, he needs help!"

Brought from his thoughts, Shikamaru turned and hurried to Sai's side. He was still alive but his wound was a mortal one. Without a medic, he doubted Sai would survive.

"Help him," Boruto pled, looking at Shikamaru in desperation.

"I'm not a medic."

Sai struggled to breathe. "It's ok. Get the… other… item. The mission."

"Forget that!"

Sai looked at the worried faces gathered around him. "It doesn't matter," he said quietly. "If… what you say is true… I'm not real. I'm an alternate… version."

Mitsuki peered down at him and said, "That won't stop Boruto from trying."

"You're real enough," said Boruto. "We can't just leave you."

Shikadai looked at the sword still sticking out of Sai's gut. "If we remove it, he'll bleed out. But we can't leave it, either. It's our best option, but… None of us know medical ninjutsu."

"There's no way he'd make it down the mountain, either," said Sarada. "And we can't call for help. It won't get here in time."

Mitsuki looked over at his friend. "The scroll, Boruto. Use the scroll and reverse everything."

"Huh...?"

"If you undo your wish, this would never have happened. Sai would be alright. You can save him with your wish."

Boruto looked down at the items he had taken back from Sasuke after his defeat. "Yeah… But…"

Mitsuki looked at Shikamaru. "Unless you want to stop him."

Shikamaru didn't move.

"That was why you wanted to come on this mission, isn't it? You knew it would be too dangerous to use the scroll so you wanted to come along in order to destroy it. That way no one could use it."

"What?"

"Is that true?"

Shikamaru sighed. "I did." He watched Sai's chest move up and down as he explained. "I meant what I said. About how wishing for something using magic can backfire because you never know how your wish will be interpreted by the magic itself. It's too dangerous."

"That's why you came," said Shikadai. "You knew Sasuke would try to use it himself and wanted to be here to stop him."

"He was assigned after I was," said Shikamaru. "My thought was to find the scroll and destroy it and tell the village it was lost during the mission. Since it didn't fall into enemy hands and isn't floating around out there somewhere for someone to find and use, they'd accept this since no one could use it."

"You never intended to help us at all, did you?" asked Sarada.

Shikamaru didn't answer.

"We wouldn't be wishing for anything new," she told him, leaning forward. "Just undoing the previous one."

He still didn't say anything.

"We just want to go home. We'd only be using it to change things back to the way it was before. Just like we've been telling you."

Shikadai looked at his father. "That's the problem, isn't it? You don't want things to change."

Shikamaru lowered his head in answer.

"As messed up as this world is, it's the one you know."

"Even after everything we told you about the world we're from where there is no war going on and we have allies and families and you're happy?" Sarada told him.

"The parts you told me, yes. But your world can't be that perfect. After all, this one wanted to make a wish." Shikamaru pointed to Boruto.

"Only to get the other people to stop fighting for the thing."

"You still used it."

"I was desperate and made a mistake! I'm sorry! I'm trying to make it right."

"By using it again? Because it worked out so well before?" Shikamaru huffed. "It's foolish and dangerous."

"You're just scared," said Mitsuki.

Shikamaru looked up at him.

Mitsuki explained as if Shikamaru's gaze were a question. "You're scared of how your life might change. Even if this you won't see it happen. The unknown worries you. As hard as your life in this world is, you're afraid of it changing even more. There are things we told you about you don't want to have happen because of what you know in this world. But that's not our world."

Shikamaru nodded. "You're right. Like being married to that horrible woman. Maybe she's different in your world, but in my world, this is the version I know and that's what I'd never want to marry."

Shikadai rolled his eyes. "You're so gutless, your marriage is what's stopping you? All the great things in our world that happen to you you're willing to forfeit just because you don't want to get married to someone who says they love you?"

"This one never said that."

"This one I know did and still does. You even got her a present for her birthday this year and wanted to get my opinion on it first."

"Clearly I don't know her all that well if I needed to ask you what she'd like."

Shikadai sighed. "I don't think that's why you did it…"

"Just undo the wish, Boruto," said Mitsuki. "We came all this way."

"Sai doesn't have a lot of time," added Sarada.

"Probably won't matter, if everything changes once we…"

Boruto shook his head. "I… I don't know if I can."

"Why not?"

Boruto gave them a confused and worried look. "Because my wish is still on the scroll."

Shikamaru pulled the scroll from his vest and opened it, revealing Naruto's name written hastily upon the scroll.

"Everyone says once it's used, it can't be used again." Boruto hung his head. "But I don't get it, you know. If we already used it, it shouldn't be here. It was still at the temple where they were guarding it, so it wasn't used. But my wish is still on it, so I don't know what's going on."

Mitsuki looked at Sai and back at Boruto. "The monk was trying to tell us something, but…"

Sai nodded slowly. "I was careless. It could have helped you after all. I'm sorry."

Boruto looked at Mitsuki with wide eyes. "The monk guarding the scroll was trying to tell me the same thing, I think. How the scroll could only be used once. That there was something else we had to do to change a wish… But Sasuke killed him before he could tell me how."

Sai wheezed. "The monk… was saying it wasn't what you think. I don't think they meant… the scroll itself or… how to change things. I think… it was the scroll's purpose."

"What makes you say that?"

Sai shut his eyes a moment and opened them weakly. "Experience, I think. We were trained in… what a person says is just as important as how they say it… The monk's phrasing… That's why I think it's something else."

"I told you we didn't need to kill the monk," said Mitsuki. "He was trying to warn us of something important."

Boruto gripped the sides of his head in frustration. "Does this mean we can never get home? Sasuke just about wiped out all the people who could tell us. That was super important and now… How are we supposed to use this thing?"

He couldn't make another terrible mistake. Their very existence was at stake.

"I'm so sorry, you guys. I didn't know and now... I was desperate and… I'm sorry. And I'm sorry I don't know how to fix this."

No one said anything. No one tried to comfort him. Not because they didn't want to. They weren't sure how.

Shikamaru flinched. Fearing Sasuke had recovered, he spun around, but it wasn't him.

A woman stood on the stone path, looking down at the group. The same woman they met before.

She looked at the bleeding shinobi in front of them and over at Boruto, wrinkling her nose in disgust. "So, it's you again."

Boruto's eyes widened. "You… you know me?"

She nodded. "You used the scroll."