Boruto Light Novel 4

Part 3 (Come Back to Me)

"Over here!"

Hachiya led Sarada into an underground training facility. It wasn't entered very often because ordinarily, one needed permission to use it.

Right in the middle of the facility, Boruto was laying, passed out.

"...!!"

The moment she laid eyes on the body of her childhood friend, all of the blood in Sarada's body seemed to freeze. Boruto was unconscious, covered in cuts and bruises. Upon seeing him in such a state, Sarada nearly crumpled to her knees from shock. But she encouraged herself forward and ran to his side.

Her sharingan told her that the flame of life in his body had not yet been extinguished.

"Shaaannaroo!"

Pulling herself together, she focused her chakra on his heart and lungs and acted as a cardiopulmonary functioning device.

"Mm...." The sound of breath leaked from his lips.

Sarada felt a pinprick of relief. It seemed as though she could reclaim the faint life he was clinging to. But as to whether or not he would actually regain consciousness was another thing entirely. She couldn't tell how much damage he had taken under the surface.

Either way, the task before her remained the same.

"Hey you! Hold Boruto's legs. I'll take his upper body. I need to carry him to a place that's easier to treat him!"

"G-Got it!"

With the help of Hachiya, Sarada moved Boruto to a more suitable location for treatment. There was a possibility that the seven ninja swordsmen or one of their followers would return, after all.

For the time being, they would remain as hidden as possible while Sarada looked over the rest of his broken body.

It was probable that the water style hit Boruto took was considerably hard in pressure. If left untreated, the wound could take his life.

Sarada immediately began using medical ninjutsu. Now was not the time to be complaining about how unskilled she was at it.

While taking his vitals into consideration, Sarada began treating Boruto's wounds one by one, giving priority to the ones with the most severity. Hachiya brought a first aid kit from somewhere, so she made as much use of the bandages and medical equipment as she could.

She tried her best. She tried until she couldn't try anymore. The rest was up to Boruto's stamina and chakra.

If all went well, Boruto's chakra would speed up the rate at which his body was healing, and he would recover from 80 percent of his injuries. But that was only if everything went well.

Medical ninjutsu wasn't just a simple cure for everything. And to add to that, Sarada wasn't even good at medical ninjutsu.

"........."

Sarada gazed at her childhood friend with eyes full of melancholy. At the sight of his beaten form, the remembrance of Sakura's death in her dream came floating into her mind.

Boruto... Please, come back to me.

Sarada struggled to keep her mind from being crushed by anxiety. As her thoughts raced, she realized she had several opportunities to stop him. Yesterday, when she went to call him after he was late for roll call. This morning, when he was called out by Kagura and left with him.

So many chances that passed her by.

As a ninja, Sarada should have done what she knew was right. Without overlooking the situation. But because she didn't, Boruto was in front of her, suffering the consequences.

When she was going around and listening to people's stories in her studies to become the hokage, she remembered something a higher ranking ninja had said. He said that the quality of the new generation of ninja was declining.

As if it was an insult, Sarada was vehemently opposed to his idea. As far as she was concerned, the level of ninjas was rising every year. The level of Ninjutsu that she learned with her fellow students at the academy was very high.

But.

It wasn't about that. Sarada finally understood what the higher level shinobi was trying to say. It was true that the techniques the current generation was learning surpassed the old. However, those who were born in a time of peace and learned ninjutsu without the urgent need to fight or be killed had a different resolve than those who have lived through the age of Shura.

Perhaps that was what Shizuma meant. The age the Bloody Mist that existed in the past. The strength and pride that the village had. It was something that was won by the ninja who survived the battlefield, where one could kill or be killed at any time.

And this was something that could only be achieved under the oppressive regime filled with harsh discipline and fear in the pursuit of strength.

Of course, Sarada would not tolerate that. Sarada did not want to accept strength that could only be gained through war and the shedding of blood.

Because Uzumaki Naruto, the Seventh Hokage, whom she admires so much would deny it.

Because she was saved by him and admired his way of thinking. 

Because Sarada wanted to become like the Naruto who denies bloody wars and fights for true peace.

That's why...

"That's why you need to come back to me, Boruto. If you don't... A war will seriously start."