Fade Out

Boruto has his hands cuffed in front of him as he walks up to Konoha's gates. Sasuke, Sarada, Mitsuki, Shikadai, Inojin, Daiki flanked him while Kenta and the other girl trailed behind them. He could see his father waiting at the gate with a gaunt face. He knows there's a storm coming, he left everyone and disappeared into the night, he expected an emotional assault, mostly one of disappointment and anguish, but then, life seems to like shitting on him more than usual of late.

There's a soft, audible rush of wind behind the group. They turn, Boruto does too. A girl, roughly his height, unhealthily pale skin, lavender hair simply walks into existence, no portal, no nothing. Yep, that witch did decide to show her face after all. "Nae-sama" is all he says. Biologically, he's 100% Otsustuki, so yeah, she might as well be his elder sister.

Legs apart, she dramatically swings her arms downwards, pointing squarely at the group, "I can't let you steal my Otouto."

His friends or rather, his prison-guards settle, arms drifting towards kunais, shuriken, katanas, nanjatos. "What are you going to do about it?" It is Sasuke-san who speaks.

"Kill you all and steal him back of course!" the girl chirps happily. Bolt wouldn't call her possessive, she was more motherly in nature, but her protectiveness over him always put him on edge.

"Good." Sarada stiffens when she hears her blond teammate, Boruto notices the horror in her face as she glances at him. Sasuke-san glances at him too, that alone says enough.

Boruto takes a deep breath letting himself fade, letting his thoughts fade, letting his surroundings fall aways . . . until there is nothing left. He's intensely aware of everything. The Jougan is inactive. He does not feel his own weight on his feet or the cuffs around his wrist. He wasn't using chakra to enhance his perception, he was falling back on primal apparatus - the unconscious, reflexive mind prioritizes, processes and responds to everything that does not need conscious attention and does it faster and more precisely while he could plan through what matters. He can see nothing but the attacker, he can hear absolutely nothing because none of the sounds are of any importance.

The girl has her blade drawn and swinging in the blink of an eye, straight at Sarada's throat. Boruto is leaning into her swipe, his handcuffs in the blade's path. He knows nothing of this, it is not important. He needs to put space between this girl and his friends, whether he could still call them that or not never crosses his mind, that thought is crushed and thrown aside by the older survival-driven parts of his mind. With his hands now free, he doesn't leap back or duck or attempt to block the blade that is now swinging towards his throat, a fact that is again locked out of his thinking perceptions.

Sarada's eyes widen, will she lose him? fail the mission at the gates?

Boruto extends his arm, reaching out as far as he can, his fingers-tips touching the lavender blade-wielders stomach. Her blade draws close to his throat. His fingers now rest on her stomach. He has moved forward enough that the part of the blade near the hilt touches the skin on his neck instead of the outer edge. His palm makes contact "Wind Style: Gale palm," he whispers as he sends her flying. The momentum of her swing has her blade cutting into his neck as she flies backward. Boruto of course doesn't even feel this.

They fly into a clash. Sarada and Sasuke keep up because of their Sharingan. The others see a blur, they can easily follow where each combatant is and what they're doing but the details are lost in the speed. Boruto's body moves of its own volition. It's the most expressive Sarada and the others have seen him since the beginning of the journey. The expression that his face flies through aren't refined. They're raw and primal, one second it's anger, the next it's fear, the next it's concern. It feels artificial and freaky how fast he flips through emotions.

Boruto is oblivious of it all. In his sleep-deprived, chakra-drained, weaponless state, he can't get past nae-san's nanjato. He doesn't have enough chakra to pull off a jutsu that would hurt her, that is why he needs to end this fast - either stab her, snap her neck or chop her up. If it was the Jougan carrying out his will, he would have wondered how long this fight has gone on but his primal instincts decide that such a consideration is not worth the attention of his conscious mind at this point. It floats him an inkling of an idea instead. Freed up from needless nonsense like processing visuals, sounds, smells, and fighting back, he quickly expands on and finalised his attack plan.

Just like that, he is aware of himself ducking below a swing of the nanjato, he can hear the air turbulence in the wake of the blade with perfect clarity as he straightens up grabbing at her long lavender hair. He's aware of her sword arm reversing direction seeking to hit him in the temples with the hilt, maybe knock him out. Nae-san is not here to hurt him. He will not let her hurt his friends. He glides around her effortlessly, as if he were on Ice, away from the approaching hilt. Facing her back, her hair now around her neck like a shawl, he grabs the base of her hair with his other free hand, and now holding both ends, puts his foot to her lower back hard. It forces her neck down against her hair. This is in the preview of his attention and he is forced to gulp down every horrendous second in full detail. The way the awkward grip and extreme force causes her hair to rip away from her scalp, pulling the skin with it here and there, the way hair bites into her neck, cutting like a blade just as much as it is tearing through flesh, the firm thump as the makeshift noose cuts past her windpipe and stops against her spine, the sputtering as she tries to breathe as blood leaks all round and into her windpipe.

The fight is finished, the threat dealt with.

Boruto is out of his trance, he feels everything now, he sees and hears everything too. His hands feel warm. He looks down. There's blood on his hand, dripping from all over the place. The thin strands of hair have cut into his palm with a thousand tiny cuts. He is still but his palm trembles, every one notices that, he is sure of it. With nothing holding his thoughts at bay, the horror and brutality of his actions flood his mind. What have I done? What will Sarada think? Mitsuki? Sasuke-san? What will mom and Himawari think? I don't really care about this, just what others think, I'm really a monster aren't I? . . . This wouldn't be the first time he's felt this particular brand of mental and emotional assault, it wouldn't be the last. Naturally, he goes numb and drops the body.

With the same blank face he's kept all day back on, he walks toward his jailors and holds out his hands.

It is Sasuke who speaks "You could escape."

"Yes."

"But you're not?" the Uchia asks, this tone gives nothing away. He has the same bland expression as usual.

"No."

"Then you don't need cuffs." the raven-head declares.

They walk the last few meters to the gate. Naruto never moved. If anything, his more grim than before. Father and son stand facing each other, "Just tell me one thing. Why did you leave?"

"I had a mission" Boruto replies, looking into Naruto's eyes daring as if daring his father to challenge him.

"Why. Did. You. Leave?" Naruto asks again, anger barely contained.

"I. Had. A. Mission."

Sarada drily notes that that the first non-mono-syllabic reply Boruto has given since they met.

The next second has everyone in shock, and Boruto has 5 fingers firmly planted on his cheeks. "Cut the bullshit!" Naruto roars.

Hinata is standing to the side of the entrance and Boruto hasn't seen her yet. That is maybe for the best because it looks like her heart just shattered.

Boruto gazes past Naruto at Kakashi as he draws up to the pair, "Ask Kakashi."

"It's the truth," Kakashi cuts in before anything else can happen.

Naruto turns to face Kakashi so fast it's surprising his neck didn't snap. He has a . . . Damn, I couldn't describe his expression even if I tried.

"Before all of that, could you decide whether you're sending me to T&I or solitary confinement?" It's not that Boruto didn't understand the emotional bomb he just dropped considering how close Naruto and his sensei are, nor was he an insensitive jerk, he just didn't have the time, patience, or sleep for this. "Slap a chakra restraining seal, no, two chakra restraining seals and lemme go to sleep. Haven't slept in a week."

Naruto has no clue how to reply, the others don't dare cut in, other than Sasuke that is, "Two seals would probably kill you."

Blondie shoots back, "Better safe than sorry. At least, no one can say you didn't try." The annoyance is clear in his voice.

Boruto looks expectantly at his father for an answer. Thirty seconds. A minute. It's dead silent, you could hear the wind. A minute and a half. "Fine, I'll just head to solitary."

Boruto flicks his hand, the Karma seal growing active, as ANBU move into action. He opens a portal to solitary, It's not completely black, the corridor leading up to solitary is visible clearly beyond that. The ANBU still, but continue to scrutinize Boruto with eagle eyes. He steps through as if nothing really happened. "I'm booking into solitary and slap two chakra restrictors on me," he says for the benefit of his father as well as the guards staring at him not knowing what to do.

"One's enough, don't wanna kill him," Sasuke calls behind him.

If not for the charged situation, Sarada would be wondering about the absurdity of it all and how the hell her father and Kakashi seemed so calm and casual about it all.

With everything moving, Naruto can't just let things drift, "Sasuke, guard his cell. Kakashi, to my office. Now."