Chapter Text
"Get back here!"
Boruto ran like the wind as Sarada shouted after him.
Frustrated with his karma and lack of control over Momoshiki, Boruto had been getting into more trouble than usual. He couldn't train for fear that he would awaken. Even with the pills, there was still the looming dread that he would hurt someone.
But he couldn't deny the fact that he wanted attention. Desperately.
Sarada just so happened to be nearby watching when he dropped into a freefall off of hokage rock for a bit of a thrill. Unfortunately, while he did catch himself, he landed rather roughly in a poor man's cabbage cart. If he wanted Sarada to chase him, a brief apology was all he could offer. So he lured her into pursuit, leaving just enough of a distance between them that she would follow. Not close enough to hurt anyone, not far enough to feel lonely.
With Sarada, this whole luring business took considerable effort. He imbued chakra into his feet and ran down the side of the train, startled passengers gawking from inside. The conductor leaned his head out the window and let out a stream of choice words, but Boruto leapt off and landed perfectly on a thin pole before the newly added security guards even got a chance to step outside.
"Boruto!"
She was right on his heels. And he couldn't help but smile. This was exactly what he needed to feel better. But... He needed a diversion if it was going to go on any longer.
Reaching into his ninja tool bag, he pulled out a smoke bomb and threw it at the ground. It was a risk. She'd either give up and leave, or get into that rare Sarada mode where she actually acknowledged his pranks and games of tag with his dad were a form of training... And participate.
"Jeez!" Her Sharingan activated, wandering the dispersing smoke. "Forcing me to get serious... If I gave up from something this simple, there's no way I could become Hokage."
Boruto snickered to himself as he climbed into the open window of an old building. He peered over the edge and watched as she searched the ground. But when he turned his attention inside, his eyes widened.
Piles and piles of old scrolls towered past his head, dust swirling about from the simple disturbance of his silent entrance. One scroll in particular stuck out from the wall, the original deep purple color faded to lilac from the light of the sun.
"What... is this?" Decrypted writing was scribbled all over its surface. He unrolled it and spread it out on the floor, fanning away dust. "Ani... Anima... Animation? Hm? Or maybe it's debunk... Or purple monkey? Geh, I don't know which code they used to encrypt it... But I can't take it to any of the adults..."
As the clouds shifted in the sky outdoors and brightened the room, a metallic gleam caught the corner of Boruto's eye. He shielded his face and stepped closer, pulling it from the stack and engulfing himself in another temporary dust cloud.
After further inspection, he deduced that it was an old version of the console he had. A really old version.
Wonder if it has a power switch... Ah!
The machine sounded as if it were going to explode at any moment, but the screen reluctantly blinked to life. The resolution was so bad that he could hardly make out the picture. But from what he could see, the display read, "Once Upon a Time."
"Isn't that the opening to all of Himawari's princess stories? Who would wanna play a cruddy princess game..."
Just then, Sarada climbed through the window. "I found you!"
He had been so concentrated on his discovery that he had completely forgotten about Sarada. Her sudden presence scared him so bad that he dropped the console.
The next three seconds went by in a blur.
The console hit the scroll at his feet. A bright light enveloped the room. Boruto found himself getting sucked into something. He tried to grab Sarada's arm as a means to stay in the land of the living, but the force was too strong. He accidentally pulled her in with him.