Pre-Battle Confessions

Boruto

Heh... Boruto fell against the ground in the pouring rain, blood leaking from his open wounds. I guess this is it...

He closed his eyes, feeling the cold droplets against his numb skin. I did it... I saved them... Despite the numbness spreading through his body, there was pain in his chest. I wish... I could see her... One last time...

He knew he was out of chakra. Out of time. And so he let everything go limp.

Brat...

He no longer had the ability to suppress Momoshiki. But it didn't matter. He was going to die soon anyways. There was nothing... Nothing he could do.

He lost consciousness.

.  .  .

Momoshiki opened Boruto's scarred eye, karma lines spreading across his body and up his neck. Two of his fingers raised, and off his lips tumbled the words, "that stupid necklace will come in handy."

In an instant, he was teleported. And appeared in the bed of Sarada Uchiha.

She jerked back and nearly fell over the edge, but one look at Boruto's broken and tattered body and the tears that were already dripping over her eyes multiplied.

"If you don't want him to die," Momoshiki muttered, "get your mother."

Sarada had the ability to cast aside her emotions to make quick decisions. That was one of the things Boruto liked about her... And one of the reasons Momoshiki despised her. But in this moment, he crinkled his nose. "To think... I would have to be thankful... To an Uchiha..."

.  .  .

Boruto felt like he was stuck in a long dream. He'd fought too long... Too hard... And now, he was tired.

Suddenly, he was in a bright space, enveloped by a field of pastel flowers. Standing off in the distance was his master.

"Sasuke-san?"

"Boruto."

He ducked his head, letting the wind blow his cape to the side. "I'm sorry... I made you wait."

Sasuke was silent, staring off into the distance. "Did you protect her?"

He lifted his head, blue eye staring at Sasuke's silhouette. "I..." He took them out. Everything. His fight wiped out the landscape of the entire village... All to prevent the worst possible future from taking place. But in the end... "I think so."

He protected her. He saved Sarada. With him and Kawaki gone... The divine tree wouldn't be able to grow. Momoshiki wouldn't be able to hurt anyone. There were minimal casualties in the village, thanks to the efforts of the other ninja. Ninja like his sister... Shikadai. Inojin. Cho-Cho.

"Good."

"Hey, Uncle Sasuke."

"Hm?"

"I'm... I'm dead, aren't I?"

Sasuke turned around, heaving out a sigh. "Come here."

"...?"

Boruto took a few steps forward until he was standing in front of his master, a lonesome and worried expression tugging his whiskers down.

Sasuke reached out. And he tapped the konoha symbol on the navy blue headband tied around his head. "You're not dead. Not yet, at least."

He blinked a few times at the strange gesture of affection. "...I'm... Not?"

"I had a feeling, that if you got injured enough... Sakura would have to be the one to save you. So I added a little bit of my chakra to this headband, and made it so it would only bring your conscious here if it interacted with Sakura's."