The Dead Lands

Chapter 1

"Grab my hand!" The ship was going down and Boruto fell to the ground due to the rumbling of cannon fire. As he was about to reach for her hand, time slowed and all that could be seen was a white flash before wood splintered in every direction.

The ship had been blown in half.

Oh God, Oh Shit

That was all he thought before his vision went black and he was swept under the waves.

Sarada, Mitsuki, Konohamaru, what happened to them? His family?

No I can't think about that. I have to take care of myself first.

His father's lessons for being a ninja took over. One of the most important rules was to take care of yourself before worrying about others or you'll likely get someone killed. He inhaled, then exhaled and opened his eyes to find it was unbelievably dark. As he got on all fours, the second thing he noticed was his arms; they were bone thin and very pale. The third thing he noticed was his hair reached the floor.

What the hell, how long have I been under?

He looked up into the room he was in, illuminated by the single screen of a terminal as his eyes adjusted to the dark.

Abandoned, but there's power.

He attempted to stand, legs weary, he let himself regain feeling in his legs before even thinking about moving. After two minutes he went one step at a time while using the wall as a support. He didn't want to trip and break something here. He doubted he would get medical support in the middle of nowhere. After about a minute he reached a desk and searched for the handle to a drawer. After thirty seconds of searching he finally found a handle and pulled. A screeching noise echoed throughout the room. He felt through the contents of the drawer, finding pencils, pens, notes, nothing of use. He searched through two more drawers before coming upon a lighter.

Yes! Lucky day... Now let's see if it works.

He moved his thumb from the top down to the flint. He gave it a spin, nothing. He tried it again. Again. Again.

Come on, I need this.

With one final spin, sparks flew as the flame sputtered wildly before settling and growing in size. Boruto audibly sighed in relief. He looked around the room. Desks covered in papers and writing supplies while charts and graphs lined the walls. He looked down to his legs and saw he was only wearing some sort of boxer shorts made of a wet-suit material. The glowing screen near the big iron doors turned off.

Perfect timing I guess.

He walked over to the doors near the terminal and inspected them. He pushed with all his might. Nothing. He tried again, this time using his other hand and pushing even harder. With great effort and a loud creak the doors swung open, leading down a hollow hallway. He looked at his lighter as the flame swung slightly to one side.

Wind, There must be a way out of here then.

He walked down the hallway, past locked doors, abandoned rooms. From hallway to hallway following the flame using the walls as support. Seconds turned to minutes as he continued to trudge down the hallway hoping to find an exit. After one more turn he found a light at the end of a hallway. The smell of the sea wafting into his nostrils. He dropped the lighter and ran as fast as his legs could carry him as he felt the air in his face.

He turned the corner, shielding his eyes from the light. As his eyes adjusted to the light, he saw he was in a huge room with a door fifty feet long, shaped like a gear. It was open and Boruto did the only thing he could, he took a deep breath of air and crossed the threshold. Boruto wondered what he was getting into.

If only he knew.

_______________________________________

The guards at the gate, sensing a massive energy, looked in the direction it is coming from. They see a lone man walking down the road with a cloak over his head. A sword sheathed in his side. The guards look at each other in fear.

"Hey you, stop there!" one of the guards yelled. The man continued walking down the road towards the gate. "I said stop!" This time, the man paused just a few yards from the gate. The men sighed internally in relief.

"State your business."

"I'm going to go see the hokage." From the tone in his voice, the men could tell he wasn't asking.

"I need to see some papers first before we can even consider letting you enter the village." The mysterious man started to walk forward again crossing the threshold. "Don't come any closer or we'll attack!" He continued walking.

As the guards were about to attack, the man looked up revealing his right eye. A white pupil with a black sclera. All four guards instantly dropped to the ground.

Having sensed the massive chakra signature; Sarada, Sasuke and the hokage himself, Naruto, appeared at the gate looking at the figure who had just knocked out four Jonin level guards in less than an instant.

"State your business in Konoha! Why did you attack the guards" screamed Naruto. He noticed the signature's chakra is different of that of a normal shinobi. It feels different, darker, not too different though. Slightly warped.

"Hey that's no way to wish someone a happy birthday," the figure chuckled as he took off his cloak revealing the rest of his features. "They annoyed me that's all, they'll only be out for an hour max"

Sarada's eyes widened in realization at that hair, the whiskers, and those blue eyes. She also noticed so many bruises and marks and scars all over his body. His right arm looked like it had the outer layer shed. And to complete his look, a scar over his right eye.

"Bo-, Boruto" She ran towards him with tears forming in her eyes.

"Sarada, get back!" yelled Sasuke, but Sarada didn't care. She kept running towards him and when she finally got to him she hugged him, holding onto him for dear life so he doesn't leave again.

"I-, It's really you."

Now the rest of the story is going to be Boruto recalling his story while telling Naruto what had happened to him. And then there will be fillerish episodes with Boruto experiencing everyday life while I contrast that to his time in the dead Lands. Thanks for reading! Updates should be every 4 days with 2 chapters being uploaded.