What Was Lost: A Naruto Fanfic

Chapter 11

Harume balled his hands into fists, his mongekyo sharingan activating. After he and Sarada had said goodbye to ChoCho, they began walking home. Harume and Sarada talked over what they had heard from Naruto, and of course it'd turned into a heated argument.

"I don't care, Harume. We should be able to go!" Sarada whined. "I'm by far the strongest shinobi in the village! I have my sharingan!"

"And I don't give a damn about what you've got." Harume growled, his temper rising to a boil. "You're not listening to me! Hokage-sama is taking nearly all the adults to fight Kabuto over in the Sand. It'll be up to us to help defend the village, if need be. That's way more important!"

Sarada scoffed. "Think what you want. You don't know what you're talking about. I'm a more experienced shinobi than you. I'm a genin."

"I may not have ever held a title, but I've fought countless times over a wide variety of terrain, and many different types of enemies." Harume sighed. "Have you ever seen battle, Sarada?"

"I've seen plenty!"

"Have you ever fought in a battle? Have you ever taken someone's life?"

Sarada smirked. "No. We've got adults for that. You're saying you have?"

Harume bit his lip. He didn't want Sarada to get the idea that killing someone was something to be proud of. Harume sighed. While he'd killed many times before, he hadn't grown used to it yet. It still gnawed at his soul, haunting his nightmares. He didn't want that for Sarada.

"That's not the point." Harume answered, dodging her question. "The point is, children aren't meant to fight a war."

"I'm not a child, I'm almost grown!" Sarada wailed, sounding more like a three-year-old than a young adult. "Quit acting like you're older than me! We're practically the same age!"

"Well, technically I'm older than you by two minutes, but that isn't really much of a difference..." Harume shrugged.

"Ugh, whatever." Sarada blew him off. "I'm going to help the Hokage whether you like or not! I need to fight a war so that I can become Hokage!"

"Im pretty sure that's not how it works....."

"Oh shut up!" Sarada hissed. "You can't stop me!"

Harume gave an exasperated sigh. "Actually I can! Do you want me to trap you in a genjutsu? Cause I will if you don't stop! You can't become Hokage if you're dead!"

Sarada just stared. "What?"

Harume shook his head, his pink bangs falling in his eyes. "People die in war. If you die, you can't become Hokage, can you?"

"I suppose not....."

"Exactly, now," Harume frowned. "Shouldn't we go and tell Boruto that his father left?"

Sarada sighed. "Yeah."

Harume and Sarada walked in silence on the way to the Uzamaki household. Sarada couldn't help but think about what Harume said. Fear slid like ice cubes into Sarada's stomach. What if Naruto never came back? What if.....what if Sasuke never came back? Sarada hadn't had a great relationship with her father, and sometimes she told him she wished he was dead, but now that the possibility presented itself........Sarada wasn't sure she had the same feelings anymore. Even though she didn't like to admit it, Sarada cared deeply about both her parents. If they were to die......Sarada couldn't even imagine what that would be like, but it sounded awful.

The Uchiha siblings climbed the steps to the front door of the Uzamaki house, neither of them thrilled to present the news to Boruto. Harune rang the doorbell, and it wasn't long before Hinata answered.