Prologue

"Happy Birthday, Sarada!"

Inside the house of Uchiha, young Chunnin Sarada blew out the candles on her birthday cake. Her mother, Sakura, and her best friend, Chou-Chou, applauded afterwards. "Here you go, Sarada," Sakura said, giving her daughter a card. "It's from Dad," Sarada said, reading it. "I'm sorry. But, your father is in the middle of a mission. He won't be able to come today." "I'd figured as much..."

A knock came at the door seconds later, Sakura went and answered it. Opening it, she noticed two people she was very familiar with. "Hinata! Himawari!" she said smiling. "We're here!" Himawari said, being excited. "Himawari!" Sarada said, seeing her friend. "Sorry, that we're late," Hinata said, "Boruto waited at the last minute to get Sarada her present."

Hearing that, Sarada walked out the front door and saw Boruto Uzumaki leaning on the wall of the house, slightly blushing. "Boruto..." she said. "Can we talk?" Boruto asked, "Just the two of us...?"

Walking through the quiet streets, in the dead of night, Sarada followed her teammate, who stopped in the middle of the road, away from their own houses. "What is it, Boruto?" Sarada said, getting irritated. "I heard that your dad isn't coming home," he said, keeping his back turn towards her. "Mine and yours both." Sarada then placed both of her hands behind her back, looking at the sky. "I'm use to it already," she then said, "With both of our fathers, being high-level Ninja, I'm not surprised." "Well, I wanted to tell you alone," Boruto said, turning around to face her, "Startling tomorrow, I'm going to be training with your father. So I won't be on Team Konohamaru for a while."

Boruto, then, held out a small box in front of her, diverting his eyes every few seconds while blushing. "Here," he said, "This is your birthday present." Taking it from him, Sarada looked it as Boruto began to walk away. "Ah, Boruto!" Sarada said, "Where are you going?" "I'm going to talk to my dad. Tell my mom and Himawari for me..."

After taking a few steps, Boruto stopped again. "Hey," he said, "Are you still planning on being Hokage? Even when you said it...two years ago?" "Of course!" Sarada said, being confident of her choice. "Then, I'll keep my promise: I'm going to be a strong Ninja that protects the Hokage." He then turned his head to look at her. "If you do become Hokage, I will protect you!"

The strength of his words pierced through Sarada, who was taken aback and started to blush. As he turned to walk to the Hokage Office, Sarada opened up the box and revealed to be a piece of jewelry made out of bronze gold. The insignia on it happened to be the Uzumaki Symbol.

'A bracelet?' she thought, picking it up out of the box.

Boruto: THE NEXT ~ "The Next Generation. A New Promise."

Chapter One

*Eight Months Later*

In the middle of the woods, through heavy fog, two mysterious people stood above few fallen Ninjas who look like their eyes are missing from their sockets. One of them was tall as he threw the object he was holding to the ground.

"They don't have the same eyes, either," the tall one said, "This has been the fourth group of people we have come across." "Then we have no other choice, but to travel to the Village Hidden in the Leaves," the smaller one said, "Chances are, that's where Sasuke Uchiha will be..." "Are you sure about this?" "I've never been so sure! Our tribe's negligence has kept our hidden power under wraps for far too long..."

"What about these Ninjas?" the tall one asked. "Let them be," the small one said, "Eventually, someone will come to pick up their corpses..."

Sasuke Uchiha was walking through the sun and shades of the woods. He stopped after twenty steps; his eyes wondered around and quietly listening. After a set of leaves ruffle in the grass, he looked up as something was about to attack him. The impact was direct, but it caused dust to move due the crater that was created. The person inside the crater was Boruto Uzumaki, who tried to use the Rasengan against his teacher.

"What?!" he breathed. Boruto looked around to spot Sasuke, until he spotted a shadow from the corner of his eye. "Got you!" he shouted, throwing shuriken at a quick pace. Unfortunately, it hit the trunk of a tree as the shadow moved out of the way. Boruto quickly followed it as he ran through the woods. After running for a good while, he lost track of it. He started looking for it again.

"Above you!" a voice said. Looking up, he saw Sasuke pounce on him as he pinned him. Boruto struggled to get free, but is was no use. "Looks like you're still an idiot," Sasuke said, "You can try all you want, but you're not getting free..." "Is that right?" a voice said. Sasuke shifted his head a little bit to notice that a kunai knife was at his neck; apparently, Boruto's Shadow Clone was right beside him. "If I'm such an idiot like you said," he began, "Why are you the one playing around with a Shadow Clone?"

"Hmph," Sasuke breathed as Boruto continued to smirk, "Looks like I've misjudged." "Good." The Shadow Clone disappeared, and the one that Sasuke pinned down disappeared as well. "Two Shadow Clones?" "Sasuke-sensei..."

Sasuke stood up straight and noticed the real Boruto leaning against a tree. "You should have known that I was hiding behind this tree," he then said. Sasuke kept silent for a second, turned his back his pupil and said, "I already did." 'You're lying!' Boruto thought with a weird look on his face. "I will admit, that your skills have dramatically improved over these few months. However, you're still lacking in certain areas." "Like what?"

"For starters," Sasuke began, "your eyes still wonder around; you are second guessing to where your opponent is. If you want to be a High-Level Ninja, you'll have to learn to know where he is. You're not of my bloodline, Boruto, so you don't have the Uchiha's Kekkai Genkai. But, you are of lineage; you should be able to perform the Byakugan." "Sorry, but only my sister has it. The only thing that I got from my father was his good looks..."

"Don't kid yourself..." Sasuke said immediately, nearly destroying his pupil's self-esteem. The Sharigan User then smiled and said, "You do deserve some time off from training. Come on, we're heading back to the village now."

"Um, Sasuke-Sensei!" Boruto shouted causing him to shout, "Can I ask you a question?" Sasuke stopped and turned his head. "What is it?" His pupil started to get embarrassed at the question he was about to ask. "I was wondering if it was okay..." he said above a whisper, "...You know, that maybe..." "...No..." Sasuke plainly said, then walked off. Boruto got angry afterwards. 'I don't believe it! He didn't let me finish! How did Sarada's mom and my dad put up with him?'

[A Few Hours Later...]

Back at the Village Hidden In the Leaves, Sarada and Mitsuki were working hard under Konohamaru's training.

"CHAAAAA!" Sarada shouted unleashing a powerful punch to her teammate. Blocking the punch, Mitsuki slid in the grass. "That's enough!" Konohamaru said, "That will enough for today; both of you have trained well for four hours. Go on and get some rest." "Yes, Konohamaru-sensei," Sarada said as Mitsuki bowed in respect.

Leaving the Training Grounds, Sarada and Mitsuki walked the streets of the village. "Hey, Sarada!" someone said waving. "ChouChou!" Sarada said as she and Mitsuki walked towards her. "I was wondering if you were free, we can get something to eat..." "You two go on ahead," Mitsuki said, "I'm going to rest at home."

The two girls started to walk together. "So," Sarada said, "What's going on with you, ChouChou?" "Haven't you heard?" ChouChou asked, "Boruto and your father are back home." Sarada, immediately, started to blush as she heard her teammates' name. "Boruto is back?" she said, trying to hid her embarrassment. "What's wrong? I thought you would be happy in seeing him again..." "Don't get it twisted, ChouChou! I mean, it has been eight months since we talked..." Sarada couldn't get the words to come out right as ChouChou was looking at her.

"This is such a drag!" a voice said. The girls looked up and saw Shikamaru's son, Shikadai, walking around. "Shikadai, what's the matter?" Sarada asked. "I wanted to see if Boruto could hang out since he came back, but he stuck up at the Hokage's office again..."

[Hokage's Office]

Sasuke and Boruto met up with Naruto Uzumaki, the Seventh Hokage as Sasuke was giving his report.

"So, how did he do?" Naruto asked. "Well," Sasuke began, "aside from a lack of awareness, Boruto's movements are on point. Not to mention, he can control the Rasengan to an extent. He's definitely not the strongest of his generation, but he is close..." "Looks like you've grown strong, Boruto!" "Thanks, Dad," Boruto said.

"But, I think it's about time you learned more about teamwork. Starting tomorrow, you'll be put back on Team Konohamaru. But, for now, get some rest; go on home and say hello to your mother and sister." "Just me? By myself?" Boruto asked. "Don't worry. I just need to speak with Sasuke for a minute." "Okay..."

The moment Boruto left, Sasuke said, "What is it?" "I've been getting a lot of reports as of late," Naruto replied, "As a matter of fact, I've received a long stretch reports everyday for the last two weeks. And they all come from different village." "What is it about?" "At least thirty, or more, Ninja were killed. To be precise, their eyeballs have been removed from their sockets." Sasuke began to think back all those years ago; before he knew the truth, Itachi, his own brother, tried to remove his eyes the same way.

"Sasuke," Naruto continued, "with these on-going reports, we can't afford to start a panic. I need you to stay in the village for the time being, just we are attacked again." Sasuke nodded in agreement.

Unbeknownst to the whole village, the two mysterious people reappeared on in a tree. "We're finally here," the tall one said, "Sasuke Uchiha has to be here...somewhere... Where should we start looking?" "We'll wait until nightfall," the short one replied.

"Why wait until then?" "Let's not forget... Naruto Uzumaki is the Leaf Village's Hokage; he is just as strong as Sasuke. We don't want to cause any unnecessary alarm..."

Many hours passed; nightfall descended upon the village. Some people were still trying to enjoy the nightlife. Boruto was walking in the streets, minding his own business. Someone else came upon him and they both bumped. In a quick haste, he grabbed the person's wrist. "I'm sorry!" the person said, "I didn't see you there!" "No, it was my fault!" Boruto said, "My mind was somewhere else..." Looking forward, he saw a pair of eyes that looked very familiar to him. He was holding on the wrist of Sarada Uchiha.

"Sarada?" Boruto asked. "Boruto..." Sarada breathed. Then, she looked down to see his hand grab her wrist. She, immediately, turned red. "G-G-G-Give off me, you idiot!" she shouted, punching him in the face. "What did you hit me for?!" Boruto then shouted, "This is the warm welcome I get from coming home after eight months!?" Then, he looked down and saw something on her wrist. "Hey," he began, "You're wearing the bracelet I gave you for you birthday..." Sarada still felt embarrassed, but didn't say anything.

Several minutes later, they were both walking down the street together. However, both of them were silent. But, in truth, it was Sarada who was trying to say something; her eyes kept going back and forth, to and from Boruto, who kept on diverting from looking at her. Throughout the full eight months, he was definitely taller than her. There was no doubt that there was something between them... Ever since, Boruto promised Sarada that he would protect her if she became Hokage.

"So, uh..." she began, "...How did training with my father go?" "I did manage to improve all lot," Boruto said, "But, according to Sasuke-sensei, I still have a lot more ways to go before I'm at his level. I'll be back on the team tomorrow." "That's good. I want to see how much you improved..." "Well," Boruto said, stopping, "You'll have a chance to see tomorrow. I'm going to head home; looks like I'm already tired." "Okay, I'll see you tomorrow," Sarada said as she left.

'I never felt more awkward than that before!' Sarada thought, breathe out a sigh. She looked at her bracelet, but stared at the Uzumaki insignia engraved on it. "I didn't even get a chance to thank him for the birthday present..."

Suddenly, she stopped walking after she heard somebody behind her. "Who's there?" she said turning her head. Two people appeared behind with their eyes closed. Sarada turned around all the way to look at them, but did not approach them. "i smell the blood of an Uchiha..." the tall one said. "Excuse us," the small one said, "Are you related to Sasuke Uchiha?" "What if I am?!" Sarada said back up a little.

"Let's just say, we want to...see...him for a moment."

Two mysterious people have encountered Sarada, who seems to be nervous. Who is these mysterious people? And what do they want with Sasuke Uchiha?

Boruto: THE NEXT ~ Chapter 1 Ending: Kimi to Taiyou ga Shinda Hi

Title Translation: The Day When You and The Sun Perished

In this never-ending world,

Oh, the profusely blooming last words,

Sneer at the despair!

We will no longer turn back

Bellow at the top of your lungs!

The usual everyday scenes are now bursting open

On the day when you and the sun perished.

Unaware to anyone, I'm slowly being swallowed

Into a whirlpool of unwanted noises.

Do not forget the sound of my voice

Until the day when we reunite.

The pain in my snatching hands

Endlessly multiply on and on.

Shattered glass,

Elusive truths,

And flowing black tears...

Oh, the scattering seasons

Lead me towards despair!

There must be some hidden meaning

To this already-begun karma, so

Decide, and get my way. Yes, be yourself,

Shatter your hesitation, and advance forward!

Farewell. I'll get going now,

Towards the Beginning of the end.

(Kimi to Taiyou ga Shinda Hi ~ The Day When You and the Sun Perished by Kurosaki Maon)

A/N: Here is my latest fanfiction, starting Boruto and Sarada.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, H.O.T.D., or the song by Kurosaki Maon.