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"Class Rep, you okay?!" Boruto questioned loudly, barreling into the hospital room the girl was placed in.
Her and her team had been injured in the incident.
Metal went flying to the ground since he was leaning on the door before the blond barged in.
"I brought fruit!" y/n cried, holding up a basket with a large array of fresh produce.
"Boruto. y/n." Sumire was surrounded by a few other kids from their class, along with Shino.
"Are you okay?" Boruto repeated, walking up to the girl's bed with y/n in tow.
"I'm fine!" Sumire assured with a soft smile.
"Are you sure?" y/n questioned in an unconvinced tone, setting the basket of fruit down on a table.
"I'm not okay..." Metal mumbled, his shaky body sprawled out on the floor. After speaking, his face went blue, and his body went limp.
"I totally..." Boruto started, his face showing how sorry he was.
"Don't worry about me. It's really just a graze." The Class Rep stated, trying to ease the boy's worry.
"I'm sorry, Class Rep!" Boruto bowed quickly. "If I'd been more on the ball-!
"You're not responsible for this, Boruto." Sumire smiled, still trying to get the boy to stop blaming himself.
"No, you're wrong!" Boruto yelled out.
"Come on... You're scaring the Class Rep." Wasabi stated, her hands resting on her hips. Both her and Namida were in hospital gowns with bandages scattered across their bodies.
"No, I just..." Boruto started, putting his hands out in defense.
"Come on, no loud visitors allowed!" Sarada stated, taking the blond by the back of his coat to drag him out of the room.
Boruto just let her, his eyes still showing the regret and sadness he held.
y/n walked over in front of the girl like her friend had done and bowed. "I'm... sorry that I couldn't be there to protect you." The Uchiha's hands were clenching the sides of her clothes tightly.
Sumire looked at the girl with the same soft smile from before. "This isn't your fault either, y/n."
"It's my fault you're hurt! I'm just not good enough!" y/n shot her head up, looking at the girl. But she froze when she realized she'd raised her voice.
Everyone's eyes widened a little, not used to y/n having sudden outbursts like that.
Before anyone could say anything, y/n turned and started to walk out of the room. "I should... go make sure Boruto's alright. Get better soon, Class Rep." She slid the door shut, not looking back at the guests.
—
Boruto was sitting on a bench in the hall with Shikadai and Mitsuki standing in front of him.
"Don't blame yourself like that. It's not all your fault." Shikadai was trying to console Boruto, his hands stuffed into his pockets like usual.
"It's not that. If I hadn't delivered the mail so carelessly... we could have had all of today to patrol. Then maybe we would've noticed something happening at the water purification plant, right?" Boruto questioned, staring down at the ground.
Shikadai and Mitsuki shared a look. "That may be right, but..." Shikadai was cut off at a sudden voice.
"Boruto." The blond turned to see his father approaching with y/n. The Hokage held a stern look on his face as his son stood up.
"Dad, what are you doing here?" Boruto questioned.
y/n was silent, her eyes trained on her shoes. The Hokage had found her in the halls and told her to follow him. Which she did, obviously.
"We heard you rescued the Class Rep and the others. Thank you." Shikadai bowed to the man.
"You're after the ghost too, right dad?" The blond asked, his eyes wide. "If you know something, let us in on it!"
Naruto's eyebrows were downturned. He reached his hand out and gripped onto Boruto's ear.
"Ouch! Ouch! Now's not the time to be pulling on my ear!" Boruto complained, as his dad dragged him away with y/n following.
"Just come with me!" Naruto stated like the kid had a choice.
The Uchiha turned back to the other two and motioned for them to follow as well.
—
"Oww! That hurt's ya know!" Boruto was still complaining as they reached a different area of the hospital. Naruto finally let go of the kid's ear and continued walking forward.
"What the hell...?" The blond stopped when he peered up to see what was happening on the other side of the glass in front of them all.
"Look carefully." Naruto stated, standing next to the window.
"...Mom." y/n mumbled, stepping closer so she could see what the woman was doing.
"That's..." Boruto started, seeing a mop of pink hair using medical Ninjutsu on a frail man. Other medical-nin surrounding the table.
"The person who attacked your classmates." Naruto confirmed. "The Chakra in his body has been almost totally depleted. Listen, it's sheer luck that you've been safe all this time during these incidents, that's all. This is no longer a matter for kids playing detective."
Boruto's eyes widened at the man's last comment and he turned to look at his father. "I know that!"
"No. You don't know the true horrors of battle, just ask y/n." The girl's eyes grew sad and she looked down at her hands. "First, graduate from the Academy. Then we can talk."
"That's not fair!" Boruto fought back.
"Getting workplace experience..." Everyone turned to see Shino standing in the doorway, his arms crossed. "That's all Boruto and the others were doing. They were doing as they were told, by me. Right, Boruto?"
The boy said nothing, he just peered away. "Shino, he's still a kid. He's too young to be able to make that distinction." Naruto stated, his voice calm.
"Maybe so. But there are times when a child can show us that they can do more than an adult. If they're treated like an adult. As you were saying, y/n's a good example of that." The man walked into the room, standing in front of the kids.
"Shino Sensei..." Boruto and y/n mumbled together, their eyes wide.
"Furthermore... As his teacher, I have a clear idea of what Boruto can, and cannot do." Shino continued, his sights moving over to his friend of many years.
Naruto smirked. "Since you're so convinced, I'll leave it up to you." Right after that, he poofed away. Another Shadow Clone.
The kids ran up to their teacher. "Sensei..." Shikadai started.
"We'll solve this case, no matter what!" Boruto assured.
"Don't take this the wrong way. I don't recall telling you lot to solve anything." Boruto and Shikadai looked down at his statement.
"Having said that... You four saved me, so I'm not going to treat you like children anymore." Shino smirked and the group smiled, relieved he wasn't mad.
"Sensei!" y/n exclaimed happily.
—
"We owe Sensei one now." Shikadai stated, resting against a locker. The group had put on their mailing gear.
"We can't let Shino Sensei lose face. We'll take care of our on-the-job training first, then catch that ghost." Boruto stated, resting a hand on his armband.
"Bring it on!" y/n smirked, adjusting her mail band to make sure it wasn't crooked.
—
"But won't the Bureau Chief be mad at us?" Mitsuki questioned, as the kids walked through the mailing room.
"I forgot about him..." Boruto admitted, his eyes going white and his face going blue. "If we're assigned menial jobs again, we won't be able to do our patrol."
"Are you still dilly-dallying around here?" Komame's familiar voice made the group turn to see the short man standing behind them. "You should have started your deliveries ages ago!"
"We can deliver the mail?" Shikadai questioned, and y/n quickly kicked the side of his foot.
"Shut up! He might be going senile." The girl muttered under her breath.
"Thank Tayori." The man stated, turning to look over at his worker, who was grabbing mail with a smile. "He begged me to let you deliver the mail with him."
"Tayori did?" y/n questioned, her head tilted.
"Deliver carelessly again and, even if this is workplace experience or whatnot, you'll be fired!" Komame warned, pointing at the group.
—
"You have our gratitude, ya know!" Boruto stated, bowing with Shikadai and y/n to Tayori. Mitsuki just remained standing.
"You chose this job for an important reason, didn't you? It's not a flashy job. But if there's anything I can do, I'm glad to help." The man smiled.
"Yes, yes! You'll be a great help!" Boruto confirmed with a wide smile of his own, holding a fist up in front of his face.
—
"Today, we'll be in charge of route #2." Tayori informed, pointing at the map up on the wall they were all standing in front of.
"It's different from the last time?" Boruto questioned.
"It may be called a village, but it's very vast. Our postal system is divided into four teams, and every day, we take turns delivering mail along four routes." The man explained cheerily.
"So, other than this route, the rest are blind spots." Mitsuki stated, looking over at the Nara standing next to him.
"But without Boruto's eye, we can't see the Ghost." Shikadai mumbled, a hand resting on his chin.
"I didn't think I'd ever say this... but we need more Boruto's?" y/n informed, a defeated look on her face.
"What are you talking about?" Tayori asked, looking over at the kids.
Without warning, Boruto put his fingers together, and just like that, there were three more of him.
"How's this?" The blond asked with a smirk.
"No way, no way, no way." One of the Boruto's stated, waving their hand side to side.
"We can't put that much distance between you." Another stated, resting their arms behind their head.
"Yeah, we have to be able to see you." The last one shrugged, shaking their head.
"What? Don't you know the saying, 'where there's a will, there's a way?!'" The real Boruto yelled, pointing at one of his creations.
"There he goes with his can-do attitude." A clone muttered, his eyes drooped.
"What's impossible is impossible."
"Exactly."
With that, the Boruto's poofed away on their own.
"What weird clones..." y/n mumbled, already thinking about having her own meeting with clones of herself to see how it goes.
"You're so useless!" Boruto cursed his own Jutsu with a clenched fist.
"Did you know? That's some boomerang effect." Shikadai stated, his hands resting behind his head casually.
In the end, Tayori and the kids split up, delivering mail to the houses on their route.
Boruto taking care to make sure he got the envelopes into every mailbox.
—
"Okay, break's over!" Boruto announced loudly.
The group was stopped at a bench so they could rest up before going back to delivering again. Well, except Mitsuki, he wasn't there.
"Y-Yes." Tayori stuttered. "But shouldn't we wait for Mitsuki to come back from shopping?"
"I wonder how far he went." Shikadai mumbled, looking to the side of him.
"Knowing him, it'll probably be a minute before we see him." y/n stated, resting a hand on her hip after tossing her drink out.
"Mitsuki, come on!" Boruto complained, crossing his arms.
"Listen, Boruto..." Shikadai stated, catching the attention of the child. "No matter how impatient you get, if a ghost doesn't show, it's not gonna show. Just suck it up."
"Shikadai... always so doubtful." y/n sighed, looking over at the kid.
"y/n! Boruto! Shikadai!" Mitsuki swung down to the group using his arms. "Look's like the Ghost's appeared again."
"Where's the location?" Boruto questioned quickly.
—
The friends pushed through the crowd that had gathered up. Once again, the police had arrived before them. The only difference was that this time, they were still investigating.
They watched as two ninja carried away the culprit on a stretcher. Boruto clenched his teeth.
—
y/n's p.o.v
I've been running for so long, my legs feel like led. So heavy and hard to lift.
I was dirtied with blood. It was on my outfit, my shoes, my hands, my hair, even some on my face. Every time I tried to wipe it away, more appeared.
None of it was mine.
I turned around to see a hoard of people chasing me. Each one had injuries somewhere. Their head, shoulders, legs, feet. All of them were the same...
Dead.
That's when I realized it, they're the enemies I've killed... each and every last one of them.
When I turned back around I was shocked to see I was approaching a cliff.
Before I could stop, my body was falling down it. I shut my eyes tightly, bracing for impact.
In the end, I landed on something... squishy? I opened my eyes a little and looked down, coming face to face with a dead man's face.
I shot up quickly and looked around to see where I was. There below my feet was a mountain of dead bodies.
My hands wouldn't stop shaking as I watched the bloodstains grow on them. The warm crimson liquid dripping down onto my feet.
My eyes went wide and I could feel my entire body starting to shake now.
Suddenly, through all the darkness, I could see a bright light ahead. When I looked closer, I realized what it was...
All of my friends were gathered together, smiles on their faces as they talked with each other. Not a care in the world.
"Guys!" I tried to call out for them, but my voice was gone.
"Boruto!"
"Mitsuki!"
"Sarada!"
"Shikadai!"
As each name 'left' my mouth, I felt more and more tears well up in my eyes. "Help... me..."
Out of nowhere, the darkness started consuming them, and the light, their happy images slowly fading away.
"No! Don't take them from me! Please! They're all I have!" I tried to run for the kids, but the bodies below my feet suddenly whipped their hands up, grabbing onto my legs.
"Stop! Get off me!" I watched my vision going dark as they all dragged me under.
—
3rd person p.o.v
y/n shot up in her bed, a cold sweat dripping from her face.
She looked around quickly to see she was in the safety of her room. The girl let out a sigh, burying her face into her hands. "Not again."
—
The four kids dropped down, all of them dressed back up with their mailing 'uniforms'.
"Damn it! Late again!" Boruto cursed, seeing the group of onlookers walking away from the crime scene.
"This is the fifth time." Mitsuki stated.
"It always occurs just a little off the route we're on. And it happened again. Why is that?" He wondered, resting a hand under his chin like he usually did when he thought.
"It's like... they know our moves." y/n muttered, continuing to look at the alley the the ninja were investigating.
"y/n... your hunch could be right." Shikadai stated one of his eyebrows quirked.
—
The group was standing in front of the route map that had four small red pins stabbed into different destinations.
"It's amazingly way off." Boruto confirmed.
"Looking at this, I get a feeling we're being watched." Shikadai informed, his arms crossed.
"You mean, by the Ghost?" Mitsuki questioned, looking over at the boy.
"Right now, we're just speculating." Shikadai mumbled, not taking his eyes off the chest map.
"But if you're right, in order to erase the blind spots... we have to go around every route at the same time." y/n stated, basically bringing them back to square one.
"Damn it! If only I could make Shadow Clones like my dad!" Boruto complained, referring to how his dad made multiple clones a day that worked amazingly. Even when they were out of the man's sight.
"I figured that, so... I called for help." Shikadai turned around with the other three.
"I don't like being called, 'help.' Personally, I'd prefer to be called, 'Lord Savior.'" Iwabe stated as he approached the group with a smirk.
"You seem to be sneaking around and having fun." Inojin smiled at the four.
"After the Class Rep got hurt, we can't just sit by idly." Metal announced, clenching a fist in front of his face.
"But... what about your workplace experiences?" Boruto questioned the new group.
"We finished our report ages ago." Denki smiled, holding up a thick stack of papers.
"We're not like you guys." Inojin continued to smile like he wasn't saying something mean.
"So, what are we supposed to do?" Cho-Cho asked, looking at her nicely painted nails.
"Tell us your plan"! Metal smiled, grabbing onto y/n and pulling her into a side hug.
"If you insist..." y/n smacked her hand against the map behind her. "I want all of you to split up and cover every postal route. And if anything strange happens, let us know immediately." She explained quickly.
"How do we notify you?" Mitsuki asked with a small smile, everyone listening to the girl's words closely.
"Iwabe, did you bring that thing I asked about?" Shikadai turned to the boy.
"Oh yeah, I got 'em from the fireworks factory. How are they?" Iwabe questioned, putting a bag of small handheld fireworks on the ground.
"Perfect." Shikadai smirked, grabbing some of them. "If anything happens, use this instead of a smoke signal."
"Hey, this is starting to feel like a real operation!" Boruto cheered happily.
—
Everyone had on their own armbands, showing they were with the postal service. Along with receiving their own mailbags.
"Guys, I'm counting on you." Boruto smiled, pumping a fist out towards the kids, and the four actual mailmen that were standing with them.
"Leave it to us." Denki stated, clenching his fists in front of his face with a determined look.
"Right! Let's move out!" Boruto announced, pumping his fist into the air this time.
"Yeah!" They all cheered, copying Boruto's action. With that, they all ran out of the building.
"Hey, hey!" Komame yelled, chasing after them. "What's the meaning of this?! I let them have one more chance and the minute I turn away, this happens!" The man sighed, turning back around.
"What do young people think rules are these days?" He questioned, walking over to the sorting boxes that were full of mail.
"Oh my! I always tell them to be careful in separating these. What's this doing here? It's no wonder deliveries get delayed..."
A figure suddenly walked behind the man. "Huh? Is someone there?" Komame turned around slowly.
A thick purple blob snuck up behind him, taking over his body. The Chief turned back to the mail sorting.
"The stamp is crooked. The ink on the receptionist's name and address is too light. How many times must I remind people to keep postal codes inside the lines?!" The man started pulling out all the mail, letting it fall to the ground.
"I do my job with the utmost care and dedication! And yet..." Komame started to walk down an aisle, pulling more out as he went.
"This one too... and this... and this! I'm sick and tired of this job!" He cried out, mail swarming around like a mini tsunami as his body radiated purple.
The person that had possessed him appeared behind him with another thick purple line.
"We finally found you!" y/n's voice could be heard loud and clear. The person looked up to see y/n, Boruto, Denki, and Iwabe, along with the trusted mailman, Tayori.
"How did you know?" Komame questioned, looking up at the group, speaking for the culprit.
"It's simple." Boruto smirked, looking down at the Chief and cloaked figure. "Once we figured out that our moves were being monitored, it had to be a person manipulating the Ghost."
"So, we made them believe that our friends were positioned on every route and that the entire village was being watched." Shikadai continued the explanation.
"Which means the only blind spot left is right here, the post office." Denki smirked.
Meanwhile, Iwabe's face was contorting with confusion, his eyes going white.
But, when it seemed like it was his turn to speak, he smirked and crossed his arms. "There you have it."
"And you appeared just as we expected." y/n smiled, placing her hands on her hips.
The cloaked person just pulled the purple Chakra, making Komame grow even angrier.
He let out a yell, his eyes going white with spit in his mouth.
"Bureau Chief!" Tayori cried, his eyes widening.
"I don't know what's going on, but we can go after him, right?" Iwabe questioned, leaning over the metal bars that guarded the balcony they were up on.
"Yeah. Once we capture him, things will become clear." Shikadai confirmed.
"We're gonna end this today!" Boruto stated, jumping up into the air.
Komame let out another yell, his eyes and mouth going wider if even possible. Envelopes went flying towards them all.
Everyone that was still on the balcony blocked their faces from the attack.
Boruto landed on the ground and his smile faded as soon as he looked up. The figure was gone, and all that was left was the Chief. But, it wasn't long before he smirked once more.
—
The Chief seemed to only be getting angrier as time went on. Envelopes were warping around him, and his yell was starting to sound more like a beasts growl.
"This is bad." y/n mumbled, her, Boruto, and Shikadai, hiding behind a pillar on the ground together to avoid the flying mail.
"Yeah, and it's dangerous for Mr. Komame being forced to use a crazy Jutsu like that." Shikadai agreed with the girl.
Boruto ran out from behind the pillar. "We'll go for him all at once!" He announced, jumping up into the air as he made three clones of himself.
They each threw kunai at him, but Kame used a shield of envelopes to block them. Sending spikes of the mail flying towards the boy as his counter attack.
The blonds landed, and the paper began to hit them. The clones disappeared immediately, and Boruto put up his hands to block the paper.
"Boruto!" Shikadai ran over to the boy, using the side of his body to block them.
"Earth Style: Mud Wall!" Iwabe smacked the ground with his hammer and a large wall appeared in front of the kids, blocking the oncoming attack.
"Thanks." Boruto stated, all of them crouching behind the Jutsu together.
"If we can't get close, we can't do anything." Shikamaru complained.
"Hear me out. What if... I used a fire Jutsu? Now I know we're in a confined space with a lot of paper, but I'm gonna let that idea float in the air. If we're in a pickle, just remember it's there." y/n stated, looking between all the members of her group.
Some of the envelopes and packages fell onto the ground, catching Tayori's attention.
"Weren't you all about the spirit of organization and neatness?" Shikadai questioned loudly.
"A worthless job like this deserves minimal attention. Who cares if I mess it up!" Komame yelled out in response to the child.
An envelope sliced a package up, and Tayori's eyes widened before he started running for the object. He fell over it, blocking it with his body.
"Mr. Tayori!" Denki yelled after the man.
"It's dangerous, come back!" y/n stated, her eyes wide.
"I-It's not worthless! There's someone waiting anxiously for every piece of mail!" Tayori defended, still blocking the package from further attack. "That's why... That's why we must never cut corners!"
Komame flinched a little, his white eyes getting slightly smaller, the attacks growing weaker to the point they basically stopped.
The blond stood back up. "Okay! We can do this!" Boruto and Iwabe started to run for the man.
Denki jumped up, throwing shuriken towards the Chief. The weapons actually landed this time, slicing the man's jacket.
As the two boys ran, y/n cut through the middle of them. "Sorry, but I want some of the action too!"
The girl quickly ran forward with a clenched fist, punching the man in his stomach. He went flying, landing roughly in the wall behind him.
y/n turned to her blond friend and smiled. "I finally got to deal a proper finishing blow!" Boruto looked at the girl with wide eyes, his cheeks getting a small pink tinge to them.
"We did it." Shikadai smirked, putting his hand out. Denki smiled, smacking his own hand against the boys.
Boruto's eye activated and he watched as the purple stuff left Komame's knocked-out body.
But this joy didn't last long. The purple grew larger, forming a sort of black hole in the middle of the room, two glowing red eyes peering out of it.
"We're not done yet. Don't let your guard down!" Boruto warned the others loudly.
"Can you see something?" Iwabe questioned, looking over to Denki.
Since to the other kids, there wasn't anything happening.
"N-No, nothing..." Denki confirmed for the boy.
The red eyes were slowly growing smaller as the hole went away. Boruto's eyes widened a little. "I won't let you get away!"
He quickly took out a kunai with a paper bomb attached to the end, throwing it at whatever he was looking at.
The weapon looked like it went in just as the hole disappeared. When it exploded, it created a strong wind that the kids had to block themselves from.
"What's that?!" y/n questioned after everything slowed back down. When they all uncovered their faces, nothing was there anymore.
"Was that... what you guys were pursuing, Boruto?" Denki asked, walking up to the kid.
—
The small group watched as a worn-out Komame was carried away on a stretcher.
"Bureau Chief!" Tayori yelled, running over to the man. The two ninja carrying him stopped, allowing them to speak.
"Your hat is crooked." Komame stated weakly through his cracked lips, looking over at the man.
Tayori let a slight smile grace his lips before he fixed the issue. "Pardon me."
"Looks like we don't have to worry about him." Boruto smiled, watching Tayori walk with the ninjas and the Chief.
Metal and Mitsuki dropped down next to the five. "Boruto. I'm sorry, he got away on our side." Mitsuki apologized with his normal relaxed face.
"I'm sorry." Metal mumbled, his head dropped. His hair and outfit was actually... soaked?
"No, same her." Shikadai stated, resting a hand on his chin. "But, it provided us with some results."
"Turns out someone is manipulating the Ghost." Boruto stated quietly like it was a secret.
"I don't want to think it, but whoever it is, they could be close to us..." y/n admitted, imagining about the worst-case scenario for who the enemy could be.
"Close to us?" Boruto looked down at the ground with sad eyes, and everyone else went silent.
When y/n realized that her comment had brought the group down, she smiled, resting her hands on her hips. "Okay then... Let's finish up our work!"
"Work?" Shikadai questioned, his arms back to being crossed.
"Take a look around! If we don't do something today, we might get yelled at!" y/n informed, holding up an envelope she grabbed from the ground with a large smile.
"Oh well, what the heck..." Shikadai gave a wonky smile of his own, him, Mitsuki, and Boruto, all walking over to help their friend.
"C'mon, don't just stand there. We have to hurry guys, or this won't end!" Boruto announced, looking back at the others that were just standing there.
"Eh?!"
"Why us too?!" Iwabe questioned loudly.
"It's fine. Let's join in. Come on, this is a race!" Metal announced cheerily.
"Yeah Iwabe, you cry baby!" y/n laughed out, already holding a small stack of envelopes.
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It a chapter... woo!