Prologue

It starts like a dream. He always struggles to remember where he is when he first wakes up- or maybe he keeps reality at bay on purpose-sifting through past memories and lifetimes until he finally lands on the present time and location.

Is he at home, in Konoha, waking to the smell of Kushina's ramen? No. That's long gone. Did he oversleep and now has to go through a mountain of paperwork? No. You haven't been that careless in the years. Is he on the cold forest floor, to sleep away the cough that just kept getting worse, with Kakashi…

This is the point his memory always betrays his reality and he awakes, disappointed, covered darkness. Today should be no different.

'Wait. When was the last time I saw Kakashi...?

"BORUTO!"

However, today is different. The present just won't present itself.

"BORUTO! WAKE UP!"

His mind isn't syncing and it won't lift the cloud of sleep that always fades by now; for some reason he can't settle on his last memory. Academy, Team Jiraiya, Team Minato, Hokage all swirl together until he can't recall the actual timeline. What happen first…? 'Where's Kushina..?

'When did I last see Kushina? The more he tries to sink into the memory the fuzzier it becomes. Kushina's face is now just sand that sifts through his fingers the more he desperately tries to hold onto it; the harder he focuses on one, the less he remembers. 'Wait, do I have a wife ? Where is she?'

Yes. And the village. That's it. But where am I supposed to be…?

"BORUTO! WAKE UP!"

'But Kakashi. Where is Kakashi? The memories of Kakashi feel especially ancient and crumbling. I wouldn't leave Kakashi. A boy who was like a son to me, a genius, lost his father. Obito always late, but had a big heart, Rin, sweet and brave… Obito… Rin...'

"BORUTO!"

Right. It's piecing together now. He just saw Kushina most recently. But why? The fog clouds the onset of the memory but the fringes are there, singed by fire, but there. Kushina. She was in front of me- Where's Jiraiya? Where's Hiruzen?- No, focus. Kushina was there. She protected someone. But who?

"I NEED A MEDICAL NIN. BORUTO!"

'She saved a baby… but why? Why can't I remember… FOCUS. Kushina's face looms menacingly, in and out of focus. Wait. Didn't we fight… something… didn't I seal something away… Ashes of memory float down from the sky and freeze on his brain.

Wait. WAIT. me and Kushina di-

"-DEAD. BORUTO IS DEAD."