6 Love at First Smell

A kid who looked to be around 14, stood in the middle of a forested plain as his fingers began to flash through hand signs.

Snake → Ram → Boar → Horse → Bird → Clap

"Wind Style: Gale Palm," He said as wind chakra began to whirl around his hands violently.

He took advantage of his successful jutsu and used as much strength as he could to smack his hand against the nearest tree.

Unfortunately, the wind around his palm dispersed just before his hand slapped the tree, dealing no damage to the tree and giving the kid some splinters.

"Tch... Boruto managed to learn this easily, so why is it so hard for me? We both have wind chakra nature..." He said, annoyed by how much more talented Boruto was compared to him.

"I hate geniuses..." He muttered to himself.

Suddenly, a shiver ran down his spine as he sensed a snake-like, cold-blooded chakra wander near him.

'Hmm... Orochimaru?...' Akuto thought as he stared intensely at the spot where he had sensed the snake, the chakra suddenly spiking in surprise as it vanished into the woods.

'No, Orochimaru wouldn't have run away, that was probably Mitsuki,' He thought as he shook his head, turning back to the tree and continuing to weave hand signs.

'Right now, I'm weak and very easy to beat. The way I beat Sarada relied heavily on her not being used to getting hurt and me being unpredictable. That strategy may work in the beginning but the problem with unpredictability and pain is that you can get more and more predictable and get used to pain.'

'So I have to get stronger on a basic level... Ninjutsu, Taijutsu, the whole nine yards.'

'I may be powerful in the sense that I can literally expel aphrodisiac out of my skin, but I don't think the quest will perceive that as getting stronger. And besides, I would feel much more comfortable walking around with a solid amount of strength than if I was just a perverted twig without any abilities.'

"Wind Style: Gale Palm," He said once again as he, again, slapped his hand against the tree, his chakra control finally staying precise and impacting the tree with force as his palm planted itself into the wood.

'Finally!'

He'd been trying this for around 30 minutes and was beginning to get tired.

Deciding that he could practice later, he then moved on to one of his more pressing concerns that he had been ignoring. The Jougan.

He had been ignoring it simply because he didn't know how to activate, or rather, unseal the Dojutsu.

He knew that in the original canon, Boruto could barely control it and that it would only come out when it sensed danger or something strange, but he didn't know how he could activate it by his own will.

"System? Want to help out?" He asked as he sat on the ground and bandaged his cut-up hands.

[Hint: Who was there every time Boruto activated the Jougan?]

Akuto stared intensely at the notification as he tried to recall the events of the anime.

'The first time we see the Jougan in the anime was...'

Kawaki.

'Second time was with...'

Momoshiki.

'Later on, there was...'

Urashiki.

'Then there was the time with Sumire...'

Nue...

'Most of these encounters have one of the Otsutsuki fighting Boruto... Do I really have to have an Otsutsuki nearby to activate?'

'But then, what about Nue? It wasn't an Otsutsuki, so...' Midway through his thought, an idea suddenly struck him.

'Didn't Toneri and Sasuke say something originally about Nue's dimension being near Kaguya's?' He thought to himself as the system confirmed the conclusion that Akuto had come up with.

[That is indeed correct. The Jougan, being a rare Otsutsuki dojutsu, usually reacts to another Otsutsuki being near, there are other cases, of course, such as when the original Boruto first awakened the Jougan, but the link to the Otsutsuki usually makes the dojutsu come out of hiding]

[Finding out how to control the eye by your own will is up to you, however]

A frustrated expression crossed Akuto's face as he decided that he had done enough today and prepared to leave the forest.

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[Back in the village]

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"Sarada..." said a pink-haired girl with vibrant green eyes.

The girl she was speaking to had black hair, wore red-framed glasses, and donned a dejected expression as she sat in front of the pink woman.

"Ms. Aburame told me what happened..." Sakura continued as she moved over to sit next to Sarada.

Sarada looked at the ground, disappointed in herself, "What, um- what did you hear...?"

"Well, Shina told me that you and Boruto got into a fight. Do you want to tell me what happened?" Sakura asked with a soft expression as Sarada opened her mouth to speak.

"I'm sorry... I just got upset and took things too far..." Sarada answered as Sakura kneeled in front of her.

"This isn't like you, Sarada, you're a responsible and good kid, so what caused you to get so upset?"

Sarada simply stayed quiet as her lips began to quiver.

"Ok, if you don't want to tell me, that's fine. But, me and you are going to visit Naruko's house and you are going to apologize, okay?"

Sarada's head quickly turned to Sakura, wanting to deny the offer of going, but one stern look from her mother caused her to go silent, "...Okay," Sarada grudgingly replied.

"Good. Now, let's go. And please don't get into any more fights," Sakura said as the two women got up and left the house together.

Sakura sighed to herself as she and Sarada walked through the paved streets of modern Konoha.

After a few minutes of walking, however, the two women eventually spotted a whiskered blond kid of abnormal height walking out of the forest with bandaged hands, the boy's appearance garnering Sakura's curiosity, "Sarada? Is that one of your classmates? He looks rather familiar."

Sarada looked over to where Sakura was pointing as an annoyed expression crossed her face, "Don't you remember? That's Boruto's brother, Akuto..."

A look of shock overcame Sakura's face, "THAT'S Aku-chan? He got so big... The last time I saw him was during Boruto's birthday and I don't remember him being that tall," Sakura said in disbelief as she looked at Sarada for answers.

Sarada understood the look and responded, "I don't know. He just showed up like that one day and said that it was puberty or something."

"I see..." Sakura muttered to herself as she sucked in a deep breath, "Aku-chan! Over here!"

As the loud cry reached Akuto's ears, he turned to the two in confusion before recognizing who they were and approaching them with a neutral expression, "Hello, Sakura-san. What's going on?"

'His voice also seems different,' Sakura noted to herself as she opened her mouth to speak, "Me and Sarada we're just going to visit your mom's house."

Akuto's eyes widened in surprise, "Oh, really? Well, I can take you there if you'd like. I was on my way there anyways"

Sakura smiled sweetly, "I don't see why not. Thank you, Aku."

Akuto nodded as the two women walked slightly in front of him, Akuto taking the opportunity to gaze at Sakura's ample butt and surprisingly curvy figure.

Her breasts, though decently sized, weren't all that impressive when compared to the likes of Naruko's.

Akuto continued to admire her figure but quickly stopped when he saw Sarada looking at him in shock. Noting that she looked disgusted by him, Akuto raised a finger to his mouth in a shushing motion as he closed one eye in a friendly manner.

"Come quickly. It's still early, but if we don't go soon, we'll miss mom," he said as he sped up, the two women following closely behind him.

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[Few Minutes Later]

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"Mom, I'm home! And I brought guests!" He called out as he held the door open for Sakura and Sarada to enter.

Hearing Akuto's shout, a curious Naruko stepped out of the kitchen with two lunchboxes in her hands, "Hm? Sakura and Sarada? What are you guys doing here?" Naruko asked with a cheery grin as she placed the boxes aside and went to hug Sakura who reciprocated the gesture.

"I just thought that Sarada and Boruto should make up after their little fight," Sakura replied with a chuckle as Naruko backed away from the hug, sighing.

"Speaking of, where is Boruto, anyways?" Sakura said as she glanced around the house.

Naruko didn't respond and simply walked to the first step on the staircase as she proceeded to shout into the upstairs hallway, "BORUTO! Wake up!"

As soon as she finished yelling, everyone could hear the sound of something hitting the ground as a yelp of pain echoed throughout the house.

After a few seconds of waiting, a disgruntled Boruto slumped down the stairs with a sleepy expression, "...What do you want...?" She said before snapping to attention at the sight of Sarada.

"What are YOU doing here?" Boruto asked in a hateful voice, still upset over how mean Sarada was being.

Sarada didn't respond as Sakura pushed her forward, "She came here to apologize. Right, Sarada?" She said as Sarada reluctantly walked over to Boruto with an apologetic expression, Boruto's expression shifting into one of surprise as Sarada expressed her regret.

"I'm really sorry, Boruto... I was dealing with something that day and even though I know that doesn't excuse what I did... I hope you'll forgive me..." Sarada stated with genuineness as Boruto began to look even more shocked than before.

Boruto's mouth opened and closed for a bit without any words being spoken before Naruko lightly smacked her in the head causing her to snap out of it.

"Uh, Well... I guess it's alright..." Boruto said in a very tsundere-esque way.

Hearing the words, Sarada's expression brightened as she extended her hand for a handshake, "and for the record... Your choker does suit you," she said in an equally as stubborn way as the two shook hands.

"Choker? When'd you get that?" Naruko asked, confused by how Boruto could afford it.

"Oh, it was a gift... from Akuto..." Boruto said shyly, fiddling with the dangly part of the necklace.

Surprise flashed on Naruko's face, "Really?" She turned to Akuto who nodded, "Oh, you two are just so sweet, you know that?" She said, proud of her kids taking care of each other.

'A sight so sweet it could make a grown man cry,' Akuto thought to himself blankly as he continued to eat out of his lunchbox, not minding the fiasco in front of him.

However, the friendly moment between the girls was suddenly disrupted by an alarm coming from Naruko's watch, "Ah! I got to get to work, I'm really sorry! Love you, Boruto, Akuto, I'll see you tomorrow! Bye Sakura, Sarada," Naruko said in a rushed frenzy as she stole the lunch boxes that Akuto had been eating out of and sped out of the house.

Sakura chuckled at the sight and turned to the two blondes, "Well, now that that's over, why don't we have some fun while your mom's at work?"

"I was thinking the same thing..." Akuto said in response, the words having a slightly different undertone compared to Sakura's.

"What do you have in mind?" Sarada asked.

Sakura was about to answer but Akuto responded instead, "How about we do a two vs two hide and go seek game throughout the village?" He said with a strange glint in his eyes as Sakura clapped her hands together in joy.

"Oh! Great idea, Akuto, I'm in! What about you two?" Sakura asked as the two little girls agreed.

"Yeah, seems fun," Sarada said.

"I'm in and I'm gonna win!" Boruto boasted.

A smile grew on Akuto's face, "Alright! Let's do this; Me and Sakura-san vs Boruto and Sarada. I and Sakura-san will be the seekers, agreed?" He asked as the three women nodded in agreement.

"You have 2 minutes to get as far as you can... 1..." Sakura began to count down as Boruto and Sarada ran out of the house, going far into the village.

While Sakura was busy with her counting, Akuto began to initiate the crux of the plan...

'Activate [Love Aura]...'

This was going to be fun.