Boruto Light Novel 4

Part 1 (Girls Talk)

Double update today! Code arc hype~ Make sure you don't miss the chapter before this!

Everyone was in high spirits from the moment the field trip started. First, they got on a train that ran the length of Konoha until it arrived at a port. Outside of the windows, they could see the sea sparkling in the light of the sun. From there, they climbed aboard a boat and began to make their way towards the Village of the Mist.

Excited chatter scattered across the deck of the ship. Even though they hadn't reached their destination, they were enjoying the journey to the fullest. Sarada was no exception.

The ship was a huge luxury liner that even included a swimming pool. Sarada was up on the top observatory deck with Cho-Cho and Sumire, all of them taking in  the beautiful oceanic scenery. As expected of a luxury liner, the view was unrivaled.

With the wind gently ruffling their hair, Sarada noticed that Sumire's eyes were not on the view, but their classmates in the pool area below.

Even without her saying anything, there was no mistake that a lot was going through Sumire's mind. Sarada didn't know what had happened to her. All she knew was that a little while ago, due to some incident, she stopped going to school for a period of time. But she could still ascertain something important had happened in light of her own life experience.

"What's wrong?"

Sumire, noticing Sarada's gaze, turned to her with a smile. "Ah... It's nothing."

"What's with that answer," she said, sparking laughter in them both. Just that simple shared moment was enough for Sarada. As friends, she understood there were things that were supposed to be left unsaid, and things that were supposed to be left unasked. That was why, just like Cho-Cho was her best friend, Sumire was also someone that Sarada considered to be a precious companion.

. . .

"Ugh, having too much luggage is the worst." A carefree voice sounded.

Sarada and Sumire turned around to see Cho-Cho rummaging through her bag chocked full of snacks, and it seemed like she was looking for something specific.

"It is, isn't it..." Sarada replied, staring at the mountain full of sweets with a bit of a cringe.

After a few moments of searching, Cho-Cho's face lit up with a smile. "Found it!" Procuring a chocolate bar from her bag, she held out one to Sarada and Sumire. "Want some?"

This was one of the things Sarada liked about Cho-Cho. She usually ate her snacks alone, but that didn't stop her from sharing them with other people.

"Thanks."

After expressing their gratitude and taking the chocolate bars, the girls returned their gaze to the sea.

"It's amazing."

"What is?"

Sarada had let the words slip out of her mouth without thinking, but Cho-Cho was quick to follow up.

"Beyond this endless expanse of ocean, there are countries, and even more villages." She couldn't help but marvel at how wide the world was. Konoha aside, the Land of Fire was already huge. And the land of fire was only a small piece of the map.

In that wide world, the hokage, Naruto, and all of the shinobi were working together to obtain peace. Naruto was constantly thinking about everyone's well-being and held a strong will for everyone to get along.

Just how troublesome—and how rewarding, was that goal?

"It really is amazing, isn't it?" replied Sumire. Perhaps she understood what Sarada had been thinking about.

"Compared to the vast amount of knowledge in existence, we only know a little bit." As she said the words, Sarada recalled how just a little while ago, she had been targeted by Uchiha Shin. The existence of such a creature would have never crossed her mind had she not come into contact with it. She thought the Uchiha clan was practically extinct after all, with her father and herself being the only remaining survivors.

The world would never truly be peaceful. That was the reason for her father's current classified mission. There was still so much she didn't know. By not knowing, he was synonymously protecting her... But that didn't change her desire for knowledge.

She didn't want to be protected anymore; she wanted to be the one to protect someone else.

Cho-Cho turned to Sarada with a smile. "Isn't this exciting?"

"Invigorating," she joked.

Sarada was excited. She knew that knowledge lead to protecting people. Learning is how you get closer to your dreams. It was precisely because she knew these things that she was looking forward to the trip.

"By the way... Why did you pick Boruto to be the class field trip representative?" Sumire's question took Sarada by surprise.

"Huh?" She hadn't considered that anyone would ask.

"Yeah," replied Cho-Cho, seemingly interested in her response as well. "It could have been anyone, right? Why Boruto?"

She thought carefully of how to explain why she had chosen him. It wasn't like it was hard to say, there were just multiple reasons. She needed to think carefully about how to phrase them. "You see, he—"

Just as she had gotten the words prepared in her mind, the door to the upper deck opened with a click.

"What are you saying about me?"

The person that appeared was none other than Boruto himself.