He never really gave much thought of losing someone he cared for or loved. How could he? He never even really thought that he would come to care for the boy, for Akeboshi. Though the memories were not his, it was painful anyway. Akeboshi had used what Sarada had said to hurt him, what was it again? He doesn't remember what she had said. All he remembered was that it was a bad thing. Something that made his heart ached like putting salt and hot chilly on a fresh opened wound. But that's not all he remembered. He remembers what made him forgive the boy in the first place. It was that Akeboshi was like an angry child, wanting to hurt everyone when he had the chance. He wanted to hurt because he wanted everyone to feel his pain.
He doesn't know what, why Akeboshi had changed his path. Changed his attitude and even go so far as taking him to the Green Lands. But then, he doesn't even understand himself. Why? Why would he let himself get sealed forever? Why would he care if Oro gets his hands on him? It doesn't matter. None of this does! Why would he want to do well? And where is this other Boruto? He has been thinking all day in silence, in between all his sleepless night. That perhaps, there is no two Boruto. There is just one, and here they were. Here he was.
And here, he cared for Akeboshi and would give anything to see him stand. See his red eyes glimmering with a sarcastic and suspicious look. Lips frowning, lips twitching, and hair all over the place.
"Come on Akeboshi, we are not there yet." He said under his breath. Boruto tied the ripped piece of clothing harder on Akeboshi's arm, hoping it would stop the bleeding. Akeboshi's face had gone pale and sweaty. Giving his very last force of power to keep on breathing, pumping oxygen into his body. He was breathless.
"Boruto, he can't go on like this. He'll die." Sarada took a small tea bag dipped in warm water, tended to stop the bleeding. Gently she pressed the small bag on his arm and he pulled away in pain. Shizuka held his head and shoulder, shaking. From the poisoned arm came out strange white smoke. As if two chemicals met. Akeboshi screamed.
"Oh God." Shizuka squeaked.
"Do you have anything else? I've tried everything it's not working." Sarada looked up to Boruto whose voice was trembling. She took a small medical book from her back pocket, searching helplessly for anythings he might have missed. Perhaps there was a small list to treat poison she had not read or forget. But she had not forgotten and missed anything. This was the minimum medical knowledge a ninja should have to treat a fallen comrade in battle and she had read every single one of them.
"I have nothing." She said in despair.
"Can't you try to take the poison out instead of healing it?" Shizuka tried.
"With what Shizuka? We don't have the right water or liquid, we don't have the knowledge for that, and using the traditional way is just too risky." Sarada said. Boruto gritted his teeth. "What should we do then? Let him die?"
"Do you have any better idea? Letting this kind of poison in your mouth when you don't know what the side effect are? What if it kills you as well?" And then, "Please don't tell me you're planning on sucking it out yourself." Sarada said one hand on her face. It was a gesture he knew well. A gesture she would show only when she knew there was just no other way, a dead end. Or something out of hand, something beyond fixing. She was one to know these things, while he on the other just won't give it a rest.
"I'll do it. What more can we lose? If I die Oro won't get my powers and he'll live."
"I won't let you do it!" Sarada insisted. Stomping both hands, demanding to be heard.
"And keep me for how long? He still has a future! I'm just-"
"I'll do it!" Shizuka interrupted. They both looked at the pale shaking girl. She was on the edge of tears and breaking. Her hands were shaking, but her eyes were determent.
"I knew him longer than any of you. I'll do it." She said.
She didn't give a chance for Sarada to say anything and pushed Boruto aside. Opening the wound, interrupting a perfectly shaped puddle of blood. Boruto and Sarada watched in silence as the girl looked down to the wound where it had turned blue from the poison. Moving up, no doubt about to take over the whole body. She doubted herself for a moment but then took a mouthful from it. Spitting the first amount of blood. They both grabbed hold of him, making sure he didn't move.
Worriedly, they realized Akeboshi did not move an inch. Exchanging a look after a minute of sucking out poisonous blood, Shizuka looked like she was going to faint as well.
"Shizuka stop. He's... breathing normal again. That much I can tell." Sarada checked his pulse. Shizuka sat back in shock while Boruto ripped another piece from his shirt. Wrapping it around his upper arm which bleed less.
"I've seen Oro cured wounds before! Boruto you could close the wound in no time!" Shizuka bounced next to him, gripping his arm hard enough that he moved away in pain. He shook his head.
He too had seen Oro cure broken bones and failing hearts, leaking lungs and opened stomachs. It was sickening to see that, but the results were no doubt relieving. How many times had he thought that he would lose a comrade? Just to see them later, bragging about their small adventure outside the village. He was glad about that one thing, that he knew Oro would always be able to fix any physical problems. Things were always fine no matter how bloody the mission was, at least if they managed to come back alive.
The idea once occurred to him that perhaps other black chakra users could do that too when he tried to help a wounded female dear. A small jaw trap was all they needed to break the poor things front leg. Boruto tried and watched in amazement as he did what he did. The bones were attached again and it began to stand, walking away gratefully. When her legs started to shake, stiffened as if dipped in wet cement. In the end, he had to kill it from its suffering.
"What?" Shizuka asked hysterically.
"No." He said. Thought it was less the bleeding still went on. Soaking the fabric with fresh red blood that he only wished that nothing out there would smell it. He remembered stories from Konoha where some of the ninjas did not survive the mission they were sent to even thought they finished it because they lost a lot of blood. Something like losing blood seemed less scary than being stabbed in the chest or shot on the head, but it had the same effect. Death.
"What do you mean 'No'?" Shizuka demanded. "You saw what Oro could do, I don't have black chakra with me but you do! Why won't you help him!?"
"Shizuka! Boruto must have a good reason not to do that. But... if there is a possibility that you can heal Akeboshi..." Sarada glanced at him. "There is no harm in trying." Shizuka nodded thankfully for the support. Boruto looked at them both, to Sarada and to Shizuka and to Sarada again. They looked like a puppy guessing that he could magically do something about it. Hope. He thought with guilt. If only he could do it, he would.
"There is harm in trying," Boruto said. "I know what you mean Shizuka. But I tried once and it didn't end well. I had to take... its live to safe if from suffering."
"What do we have to loose? He's dying!"
"And I will not be responsible for it!" Boruto barked.
"You won't be. Shizuka is right; we don't have time for this Boruto he'll die."
The silence afterward was awkward but heartbreaking. Boruto knew if he waited any longer than Akeboshi would die for sure. Slowly he placed his hand just above the wound, focusing on his energy and wondered where the another Boruto was. Because somehow he felt so alone in this. Taking a slow deep breath, he let out his power slowly and in the back of his eyes he could see what his chakra was going thru. Like a second eye, he saw what he needed to do. It was strange, he thought. He felt like a child after breaking his toy on purpose because he knew what he needed to do to fix it.
He gritted his teeth. The power he had been a bit too strong for him to control and it went far beyond Akeboshi's arm. The unconscious boy moved in pain, pulling away from Boruto.
"No..." He whispered.
"Hold on to him," Sarada said. Shizuka took his shoulders while Sarada took the opposite side from Boruto. Don't loose focus. He thought desperately.
And then it was over.
His eyes flung open, to Sarada's large eyes. Shizuka shrieked, holding Akeboshi's closed wounds. Sarada smiled, throwing her body at him and gladly he returned her care. For a moment all he could feel was joy and warmth of their body. Taking a deep relieved breath, he hoped he would not suddenly turn stiff.
"See? You could do it." She said to his ears.
"Yes... I can." As he looked up, all he could see in the darkness were million of stars scattered in blue, purple, and pink, touched by the lights of heaven earth. And if there were any way of describing how he felt, it was what he saw in that sky.
"Beautiful." He said. Sarada gazed at them too, enjoying the touch of wind. While Shizuka was too busy taking care of Akeboshi who was struggling to wake up.
"Look who's finally back online again. I started to miss your edgy attitude."
"So you do care for me," Akeboshi said and sat up. "Aren't you supposed to be resting?" Shizuka said to him. She gently put her hands on his shoulders.
"It is nicer if I had your lap instead of stones, so I guess I'll just..." At that Shizuka blushed. Boruto looked surprisedly at him and thought perhaps his chakra may have done something wrong. If Akeboshi was something he was not the flirting type or someone who would say something like that. When Akeboshi saw him staring at him, he winked.
"Are you sure you Ok?" He asked.
"I am. Now, we should get going." Taking out a piece of paper from his belt, he unfolded it. Seriously studying his path.
"Don't you think you should be resting. I'm sure Shizuka wouldn't mind lending her lap for a moment." Akeboshi glanced up. "Don't try to tease me. I'll get you back for that."
"Well, you better hurry because you don't have much time left," Boruto said. Everyone said nothing. Shizuka peeked at the map awkwardly while Sarada just simply looked down to the pool of blood. It was meant to be funny, he thought, starting to regret what he said.
"Forget what I said; just tell me which way we should go."
"Straight in the forest. This whole place is like giant stairs. On the top is the green lands."
@*@*@
"Hokage-sama, the teams sent to the East end had given their reports. They say Oro had built a small army and made preparation to travel. The device is run by Black Chakra and ready for use." Said one man from behind. Naruto was standing next to the window, lights showering his cold body, illuminating his figure. He didn't look back but simply was keeping the silence he needed to think. He had read all the reports, all that Mitsuki had to send him in just a few seconds. Leading him from one assumption to another. All assumptions, like mixed pieces of different puzzle games. They belonged somewhere. Surprised that not one of his manor Gaara's was caught by Oro. Almost as if she let them know. Making things seemed even more suspicious than it already has.
"Thank you, I will have to think about this." He said. The man nodded quickly and left the room with no sound. Only a small click of a door closing. Shikamaru was filling up some papers when he finally looked up.
"What do you think she's up to?" Putting down the papers he filed perfectly. "It's either really small or really big in this matter."
"It's small." Naruto turned to him. "I think this has something to do with the machine she had built. She needs the same amount of power to light it and Boruto is the key."
"But he's on the way to the Green Lands." He paused. "Then that's why..."
"We have to go after Boruto. She's going to get to him herself." He said. It was the only conclusion he could come out that made sense. And the only one he would like to see in the end. He wanted to see Boruto for the last time, to say his goodbyes face to face.
"I'm sorry if I'm poking to your personal space Naruto, but what is going on with Boruto?" There was a pause there. He didn't answer because he didn't want to, but simply because there was something holding in his throat. It pained him.
"You remember when he became stone and we thought that he was dead?"
"Yes. How can I forget?"
"Well, he wasn't. He was alive inside and transferred into his subconscious. There he saw his inner demon. The one that tells you what you need to do and what you have to do to get what you want. It's rare that someone could see their own inner demons. But once they do, there are two possibilities. Either they leave their inner demon be or set it free." Naruto said. He pulled his chair and took a seat.
"What happens to... the person that breaks it?" Shikamaru asked worriedly. He knew Boruto well, though he doesn't know how well. Because of even Hinata, his own mother never really understood what he was looking for. Then he thought that perhaps no one ever really knows who Boruto was.
"Depends on the nature of the person. There are some possibilities. They could become one of their inner demons, a neutral ending, or they could be demanding, brutal, and out of control do a certain memory or wishes. Or they would commit suicide due to stress from a constant war in the mind... I... don't know what Boruto will become." He said bitterly. And stood again, pushing his chair back until it nearly fell. The topic made him restless. Pushing his body to keep on moving, anything to make his worry and bitter thoughts away. It did not work.
"Hokage-sama!" Suddenly the door swung open. They both turned in surprise.
"Watch your action!" Shikamaru warned.
"My apologies. The team sent their latest report. They said Oro had murdered some men from her former ANBU, she's moving. Now." He said.
"Names?"
"Uhm... one of them were named Kuroy. I think, please, check in the reports Hokage-sama." He gave the reports and stepped back formally. He must have run all the way here because his body sweated like someone had poured a bucket of water on him. He waited in silence while Boruto opened the report. It was a small scroll paper, written neatly in Mitsuki's handwriting. He looked up.
"Have Gaara arrived?" He asked.
"He is almost here." He answered. Boruto exchanged a glance with Shikamaru, sending him out with a small nod. The man waited for his order.
"Hokage sama?" He hurried him.
"Sasuke and Itachi Uchiha, Sakura Haruno, and Shikamaru are coming with me. Take your best men. We are going when the Kazekage arrives."
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