Something's Changed

Kawaki was being helped by his brother. They struggled towards the road hardly knowing where they were going. He was almost battered and could scarcely breathe. When Boruto had found him, he was being pressed by the double doors and hanging on for dear life, defying the doors to close as they ought to and shut them all out. The cave was crumbling and rocks were falling. Kawaki had fallen into a faint when Boruto finally pushed him out through the door.

Outside, Boruto regained his power and helped Kawaki up.

"What happened?"

He had asked.

"Dad was here," Kawaki replied. "But they got him too."

"Who?"

Kawaki coughed blood then he looked at his brother for a long time.

"After you entered the portal, some invisible beings came out of the caves. They're chakra suckers. They're invincible. Don't let them get you. They… They… I don't feel so good."

He fell to the ground breathing heavily. His entire limbs seemed useless and his whole body was on fire. Worse still, he could not sense a lot of chakra left in him at all. From where he lay wheezing on the bare ground, he studied his brother for a long time again.

After the invisible beings had come upon him, they started pushing him around, hitting him to the ground, and finding other convenient ways to drain him of his chakra. They flung him outside many yards away from the door and the door creaked to a close when Kawaki ran back and held it together, taking all the pain and feeling the chakra drain out of him. He started screaming as the door pressed against his feeble strength but he kept it open with all of his reducing energy while the strange being sucked his chakra, pulling and pushing against him strongly.

Suddenly, they left him and started quickly towards the outside as if something else had caught their attention. Kawaki noticed that while he could not see them, they still had a sought of shape and physical presence which one could see by concentrating well. Then he noticed what had attracted them away from him.

It was Naruto. He appeared suddenly and they were upon him. Kawaki was shocked to realize that fighting was useless. They seemed to hold him down and start plunging at him as well. He watched his father being held down by the invisible creatures and made to rush to him but he could not leave the doorway.

"Dad!"

Naruto finally caught sight of Kawaki.

"Kawaki," he cried then he tried to fight them off. But the more chakra he released, the more they absorbed it. They started increasing their numbers.

"Dad, get help!"

"I can't leave you here."

Again, Naruto tried to activate some jutsu but everything he did seemed to be feeding them.

"Dad," Kawaki cried. "Get out of here. You're making things worse."

"I can't leave you alone!" Naruto started pulling himself closer. The beings were getting stronger. They hung on to him like leeches.

"Come out of there, Kawaki. Are you stuck? I'm sorry. I'm in a bit of a fix right now but I'll get you out of there."

"I can't go yet, Dad. Listen, I'll be fine. Pull yourself together and go towards the village then dispel and let Dad know what's happening. You're a clone now, aren't you?"

"I can't leave you here!" Naruto repeated. He tried again to move his limbs but he could not.

"I'll be fine. Do as I say. You're feeding them as it is and they're growing stronger. Get out of here now!"

Naruto and Kawaki locked eyes.

Naruto was wedged to the ground now as the monsters had multiplied overwhelmingly. He felt the chakra leaving his body in massive amounts.

He looked into his son's eyes then with one great push he got some of them off him and started pushing his way forward. Then he looked at Kawaki again. "I'll be back son. Give me a moment. Just a moment. Promise me you'll be fine."

Kawaki laughed. "I won't die just yet, dad. It's only getting interesting. I can sense a bit fight coming and I'm all fired up."

"That's my son," Naruto replied. "I'll be back dattebayo."

Kawaki nodded. The door was close to crushing him. He tried to keep a straight face to not show how much he was exerting just being alive.

As Naruto disappeared, the invisible beings did not come after him. They seemed to start forward instead like they wanted more of the chakra they had been tasting. As Kawaki grew dizzy with the pain and pressure crushing against him from the doors, he suddenly felt someone standing behind him and turned to look. By now, he'd been hearing more rumbling behind him as the entire cave seemed to be falling gradually upon him.

He turned to look and found Boruto staring at him. When had he come back?

"Boruto,"Kawaki strained. "Come on, let's get out of here."

But Boruto just stared at him standing there in the middle of the caves with the stones falling dangerously close.

Kawaki felt his arms were almost going to burst with a mixture of blood and bones. Already he was shaking from the exhaustion of keeping those doors apart.

"Boruto!"

His brother rushed towards him quickly and shifting his weight against him, slowly, moved Kawaki away and they both came through.

Kawaki fell into a faint at that moment.

He'd woken up only few moments before. Again, Boruto had been sitting over him, staring but not seeming to see at all.

Now as he tried to get up, he wondered about the strange thoughtfulness of his brother. But now was not the time to care. Those beings had been headed for Konoha.

"Let's get back home," Kawaki told Boruto. His twin silently helped him up and they started the slow journey towards the hidden leaf where the celebrations were still in full swing and none tone was aware that their doom was there.