Only Time Can Tell

HEAL

CHAPTER 48

HEAL

BORUTO UZUMAKI

Everything seemed to be moving. Swirling around me. It was dark and I couldn't see to find my footing, my equilibrium was all off. I couldn't seem to stay straight. It was like gravity had disappeared and I was the last human on earth just floating through space, spinning for eternity, nothing to slow me down. In that moment I felt light, like all materialistic things had been stripped from me, that I was just air, without an anchor, nothing to keep me tied down to earth.

"Boruto..." That's different. The void made a noise. I couldn't move to acknowledge it. It was the strangest sensation, being completely light yet unable to move on your own. The darkness suddenly became black. I could see the color. "Boruto..."

Then I moved. Something tightened and then released, and then I realized it was my eyes. I was blinking. Immense light flooded through into my little world, and slowly everything became clear. I was staring at the sun. I don't remember the sun being so bright. "Boruto." It called again. That's strange...can the sun talk?

"No, you idiot, the sun doesn't talk." Neji. I blinked again and the clouds in my vision disappeared. It was my dad. He had tears in his eyes.

"Boruto..." He said his voice cracking.

"Dad..." I reached out to him, my whole body feeling like an overcooked noodle. I was swathed in his warm cold.

"It's okay, it's okay..." He murmured. "I have you now. I promise I won't let go."

"Please..." My voice sounded choked. "Don't let go."

He tightened his grip around me. "I'm so sorry, Boruto. I'm so so sorry. I should have been here sooner, I should have fixed things, I could have protected you, and everyone." The bright of the world was so overwhelming. Everything was so vibrant. There wasn't cold only warmth, and for a moment, for the first moment in forever....I felt my heart melt. I didn't feel heavy anymore, and something that had always kept me from feeling...this kind of happiness, it was gone. I felt...complete. I'm awake.

I look over my dad's shoulder and see that Neji is supporting Sasuke, supporting his back as he starts to wake up and feel his heartbeat again. I watch as his eyes turn to horror as he looks down at his daughter, her hand still in his. He brings her hand to his cheek, and tears start to fall. I look past them, the body of my friend and captain, covered, the light of morning beginning to hit him. It's just his vessel now. Sai is free.

"Sai...He was your friend..." I said weakly, my breathing still shallow.

"Yes, Boruto." He said holding onto me tighter. "He was. And he is. You...were so brave." He sobbed.

"Dad..."

"Yes?" I pulled away from him and looked him in the eye to see that he was holding in tears. "It's okay to cry." His face crumbled before me and his shoulders shook with sobs. I reached out to him slowly, resting my hand on his shoulder.

"Sai-" He sobbed. "How could this happen?!" His body curled in on itself, his body seemed to be almost devoid of hope. I had never seen him like this. Somehow I know that I will never see him like this again.

Then something amazing happened. I don't know if it was because I was in my weakened state, or being without chakra, but I saw his ghost. Just a fragment of him, he smiled, touching my father's shoulder- that's right. This fool, this sobbing wreck, he's my dad. And I'm his son.

Sai looked up at me and smiled. His hand touched mine that rested on my father's shoulder, binding us together and a chill passed through me. He was never gone. He's always there. He knew that we would overcome, he...always believed in me. The screw up idiot that I am, and he lead me to this moment. Warming in the arms of my father, the sun falling over the clearing, the dust settling around us. The silent sounds of Sasuke's tears.

"Heal."

This...is where the healing starts.