After Anko Sensei had ended class Boruto met Sarada at the door. He had questions, not so much questions as they were self justifications. He knew most everything that had happened in that exchange, he could tell he had lost the initiative and he wanted Sarada to know.

"Hey how come you used something like that when Deep Forest Emergence is already a territory creation technique?" Boruto asked something he couldn't understand first. Sarada's Jutsu should have used more Chakra and handsigns than the alternative of just a flood of trees.

"Why did you use your Fox Form Taijutsu when something more normal would have succeeded?" Sarada said that showing no sign of anger on her face.

"... Oh, yeah I get it, but still it must have been hard. Doing something that complicated, you really are a genius in Ninjutsu." Boruto said half encouragingly half expressing some honest jealousy. He felt like he wanted Sarada to know that she had affected him as much as he wanted some reassurance. Though that thought was squashed quickly by him.

"You lost quickly because of that attitude. Yes my Kekkei Genkai is great and all, but you made the mistake of never going for the win when you saw my terrain control. You lost the initiative because you were trying not to lose." Sarada came to his own conclusion.

"How did you pull off a Jutsu on that scale anyway? Wouldn't that need a simultaneous weaving of three sets of hand signs?" Boruto asked something he really wondered about.

"Ehh... It's just a complex application of wood clone manifestation. It's like creating two more arms to make hand signs with. You understand? Just wood clones that are still connected to me." Sarada quickly explained. She seemed to not want to go into detail. Boruto let it go.

 

Boruto and Sarada met up with Himawari at the gate. School had ended a while ago.

"Hello Himawari, I beat your brother again today." Sarada immediately told her about the clash. She seemed happier telling Himawari about her win than about the win itself.

"Ehh... Big brother lost again?" Himawari was surprised that Boruto had lost the battle again.

"Yeah I lost again. You know Ninjutsu isn't my thing." Boruto said and immediately regretted what he had just said. Both Sarada and Himawari looked at him like he was crazy. He felt like the words had gotten out of his mouth before he had checked them.

"So... You wanna....?" Sarada said looking at him. Himawari was also looking at him.

"Sorry about that, it just came out. What I meant to say was you know Sarada is better than me at Ninjutsu." Boruto said. That seemed a more truer than what he just said.

"Yeah I am the one who is bad at Ninjutsu right. With my Chakra control I don't think I'll be able to do the stuff you do." Himawari said after a little time. They walked out of the school and down the road.

"How did you lose anyway?" Himawari asked Boruto.

"I pulled out a new Jutsu on him." Sarada answered for Boruto.

"Oh... Didn't he do the same thing to you with the Fox Form? Are you getting your revenge? I knew you wouldn't let that slide." Himawari asked looking at Boruto even more happy at his loss.

"No she wasn't. It was just that she wanted to show me her best, like I was doing that time in Might Guy Sensei's class." Boruto answered for Sarada quickly before they got into some kind of teasing pase. He emphasized that what they were doing was just putting their best foot forward for each other.

"Oh... But like that wasn't your best, isn't your best the Eight Trigrams Yin Yang Palm Formation?" Himawari seemed confused.

"I can't really control my speed and power with that so no it's not my best. I'll need the Byakugan to start using it in a spar. At best I could use it when you have your Cloak and Byakugan on, in a one on one battle." Boruto explained before Sarada misunderstood that he was holding something back.

"You really didn't need to explain. It's not like I used everything in our exchange today." Sarada answered to his hasty explanation.

"Oh yeah you always used it against Mom or Dad?" Himawari mad it sound like a question so Boruto explained further.

"Well and aunt Hanabi. I got the idea when aunt Hanabi was demonstrating the Sixty Four Palms and she helped me with it." Boruto said. In his heart he really wanted the Byakugan otherwise his proudest technique was going to go to waste. He never could perfect it without eyes like him Mother, Aunt, Sister and Grandfather.

 

"You going home this time Sarada?" Himawari asked when they got to the intersection. Boruto already knew what Sarada was going to say.

"Yes, I am going to see Mom and do stuff around the house, and besides Granny Tsunade is coming over to give me some lessons later." Sarada said already looking in the direction of her home.

"Alright then goodbye."

"Yeah see you tomorrow." Boruto followed up Himawari's goodbye with his own.

 

When Boruto and Himawari got home they saw Mom waiting for them at the door. It seemed she was not doing her exercises today. Himawari ran up to her and hugged her. Mom took her in her arms and spun he around a bit.

"You see my little princess is always running up to me. I have to catch her otherwise she'll just fly off won't she?" Mom already knew how Himawari would complain so she tickled her while teasing her for the fact that she always ran up to her.

"... He he he. But you said I am a big princess?" Himawari complained while laughing.

"Oh did I? I thought Dad said that, oh Boruto your Mom is always so forgetful could you please tell me who called my little princess a big princess?" Mom said bringing Boruto in a one arm hug still carrying Himawari. Boruto felt himself relax when Mom held on to him.

"Yeah it was Dad, and Himawari said she didn't want to be a big princess if Dad wasn't going to carry her?" Boruto said looking at Himawari whose face was turning red.

"Ehh... Mom you weren't there, did Dad tell you?" Himawari said remembering yesterday more clearly.

"No, I just know that my Hima is always so forgetful like her pretty Mom is all." Mom said going inside with Himawari in her arms and Boruto in toe.

Mom put Himawari down and started asking about their day.

"Sarada said she beat Boruto again today?" Himawari said not talking about herself at all.

"Yeah in a Ninjutsu spar. She used a new Jutsu and I couldn't fight her in it so I lost." Boruto said before Himawari started gloating.

"Sarada is really good at Ninjutsu isn't she?" Mom asked with an air of understanding.

"Yeah but that's not why I lost." Boruto felt like he had to explain the entire exchange.

"Want to explain to your pretty Mom?" Mom put more playfulness in her voice.

"I lost because I lost the initiative and was trying not to lose instead of trying to win." Boruto said. He was reiterating what Sarada said, but that was also his own thoughts.

"You were hesitant because you knew Sarada was good at Ninjutsu?" Mom said being a little more serious.

"Yeah. It's not that I wanted to loose it's just that I thought I wasn't going to win?" Boruto said putting his thoughts into words.

"Ah well, you know your Mom isn't that much of a fighter. I am a Shinobi and I can fight but I don't like attacking much too. I would much rather protect something dear to me, but if you want my own perspective on that I can tell you how I see fighting as a Shinobi." Mom said looking at Boruto as if to ask if he wanted her opinion on that. Boruto looked at her in expectation.

"I think that when fighting you shouldn't think of it as a win or loose but as an expression of who you are or want to be as a person. If you want to catch up to Sarada you should fight with the intention of telling her you want to catch up with your actions. When fighting on a mission to protect a person, you can see a fight as a shout from yourself that you are a protector and an assurance to the person who you are protecting that you will protect them. You understand?" Mom said seriously. They were sitting on the couch and Himawari was leaning into Mom while Boruto was sitting on another couch.

"Hmm... So Boruto had too much on his mind and that made him make mistakes?" Himawari said as Boruto was thinking about Mom's advice.

"Yes, l think so. Any way how did your day go Hima?" Mom said cuddling Himawari a little.

"Uhm... I can't control my Chakra all right and my transformation Jutsu is not improving." Himawari said looking a bit sad.

"You know your Dad struggled with his Chakra when he was younger too you know?" Mom said. Both Boruto and Himawari had heard all the stories about Dad. About how it took him some time to graduate and all.

"Yeah Mom I heard." Himawari said cheering up a little.

"And you know when I was your age I was not even half as good as you at the Gentle Fist?" Mom said brushing Himawari's shoulder.

"Grandpa told me." Himawari said smiling.

"I am proud of how strong you are and Dad is too, both of you. There is no need to be good at everything you know."

"Yes Mom." Both Boruto and Himawari said.

"How about I ask Dad to train you for graduation and help you with your Chakra control Hima?" Mom said after they cheered up.

"Yes!!" They both trained with Dad but they were always excited to train with him.

"Alright in that case grab some lunch so we can do a little session before we cook." Mom said leaving them to themselves while she prepared the training mats.

 

Boruto was happy as Mom had prepared curry today. Himawari also liked is so she didn't complain. When they were done they washed their dishes and went to into the yard to start their training.

"So first we'll do some forms only to get that lunch in your tummies digested?" Mom said when they got there.

"What form are we doing Mom?" Himawari said preparing by taking of her jacket. Boruto was in his white shirt as he had taken of his jacket too.

"I was thinking Boruto's Yin Yang Palm Formation." Mom said making Boruto feel proud with his invented form.

"Okay." The both said getting into position.

When they started Boruto finally put the loss out of his mind. He understood Mom and felt like it was similar to what Uncle Sasuke told him about sparing. Although they said different things about fighting he thought he could see what both of them meant.

His Eight Trigrams Yin Yang Palm Formation was something he had been inspired by Kurama Sensei's explaination about Six Path Senjutsu. He had thought that if he completed his own Eight Trigrams Art then the Byakugan would have no choice but to appear in his own eyes. Sometimes when he followed the form he felt blind and other times he felt like he could open his eyes anytime. As he followed the form with the rhythm of his breath and Chakra in sync he felt like for a moment he could see Mom and Himawari behind him following his movements.

 

After they had finished the forms Boruto and Himawari spared. Then the both attacked Mom together in another spar. When the finished they then prepared dinner with Mom. As Mom was cutting the vegetables she stopped and put the knife down.

"Dad is back." She said moving across the house towards the door. Himawari who was washing some of the vegetables put them down quickly and ran outside. Boruto saw that she had put some of them on the edge so he put them back in place before they fell. He turned around and went slowly to the door.

'Mom is really just like Himawari. One of these days she gonna run up to Dad like Himawari does.' Boruto sometimes didn't understand why Mom and Dad always met each other at the door every single day.

When he got there he found Dad holding Himawari in his pale hand and hugging Mom with his normal one. Sometimes Boruto forgot that Dad's arms where different. Today he just found his eyes moving to the arm looking at the black circle on the outside of Dad's palm. He knew that was a mark of Six Paths Senjutsu, Dad's right arm was more aligned with the Sage than his left.

"Hey Boruto how about you come and give your father a hug?" Dad said after seeing his spacing out.

"Hello Dad." Boruto said after hugging him.

"Dad Dad... Boruto lost today." Himawari said after being put down.

"Oh.. how?" Dad said looking at Boruto. Mom gave Himawari a look and put her hand on her's head.

"How about we go finish cooking and let Boruto tell Dad about his day?" Mom said already leading her to the kitchen. Boruto was a little relieved that Himawari was not going to interfere again. Boruto went to sit down.

"Sarada is really great at Ninjutsu so I lost in a Ninjutsu spar it isn't really a big deal?" Boruto said sitting down Dad just behind him. Boruto wanted to leave it at that and go help Mom and Himawari cook.

"Yeah she is very good from what I've seen of her grades and what your teachers tell me, but still I don't understand how she beat you. You are pretty much the strongest in your class, aren't you?" Dad said and Boruto felt a little embarrassed. He had almost always lost to Sarada in any clash of Ninjutsu, Dad knew this, so he couldn't understand why he was bringing up the strongest in class thing.

"Dad, Sarada has always been better than me in Ninjutsu and I don't think I am that much stronger than everyone in class." Boruto felt his face heat up. He felt proud that his Dad had aknowledged him while also feeling more embarrassed by his loss. Had Dad really believed he would win?

"Yeah I know that Sarada has always been good at Ninjutsu but you are way better than her at Taijutsu than she is better than you at Ninjutsu. Other than that you are that much better than your class, your Fox Form, your Eight Trigrams Yin Yang Palm Formation and your understanding of Senjutsu. I am having trouble putting you in a team even now." Dad said rubbing his head. Boruto felt like his eyes were burning. He made sure to look down otherwise he felt like he would cry. Dad had told him he was doing good in his studies, but this was the first time he said that he was the best at something. Dad had even recognised his own Taijutsu forms.

"I lost because I was afraid of losing badly. I defended myself from a bad loss and didn't go for the win." Boruto said after a while of thinking about the reason he lost.

"So you kind of gave up the win to defend from a bigger loss?" Dad said trying to understand. Boruto felt a sting when Dad said 'gave up'. Dad always talked about not giving up and believing in yourself and Boruto felt like he had betrayed what Dad had taught him a little. Boruto just stayed quiet.

"I understand it a little. Sarada is your friend and you don't feel like you felt like you knew her enough to know you were going to loose." Dad said. Boruto felt that Dad only understood a little.

"No it's not that, I didn't know I would loose. It's just that I knew I could loose very badly if I tried too hard to win. Beside that Sarada had a new Jutsu. It was something I had never seen before." Boruto said feeling like he should defend himself.

"Hmm... So your will to fight was not burning like it should?" Dad said after thinking about it a bit.

"Yeah I think that is it." Boruto felt like that was a fair explaination.

"So Dad how do you fight when your will to fight is lower?" Boruto said seeing that Dad didn't know what to say.

"Well I have always been lucky that I have had friends around me that reminded me of my reason for fighting. Even now I fight carrying so many people's will that I don't think I'll ever loose the will to fight." Dad said looking a little distant.

"What do you mean by carrying people's will to fight?" Boruto didn't understand that.

"Well I am the Hokage. Every Shinobi that has died protecting the leaf, every Gennin, every Chunin, every Jonin and even the past Hokage are looking at me from the Pure Land. Every one of their wills to protect the village is burning inside my heart." Dad said looking at Boruto.

"The Will of Fire." Boruto felt like he understood a little bit more of what those words meant.

"Yeah, you know I didn't understand it until Granny Tsunade told me when she passed the seat of Hokage to me?"

Boruto didn't believe that and it showed on his face.

"I really didn't. I always fought to protect my own Shinobi way. I fought to protect the Shinobi way of my Sensei, sometimes to protect my friends and my home. Granny Tsunade told me that the Will of Fire is about protecting the idea of the village. The idea that all Shinobi died and continue to die for. That idea is the boat that carries the wills of those Shinobi into the future. Well thinking about it I understood it a bit but I could never put it into so many words." Dad said getting up. He brushed Boruto's hair and went into the kitchen.

Boruto could hear the message in Dad's word. That he wanted Boruto to become the kind of Shinobi that has a Will of Fire.

After a while thinking about what Dad had told him Boruto went into the kitchen to help with dinner.

"So how was work today dear?" His Mom said stirring a boiling pot.

"I got a mission report from Hanabi." Dad responded taking out plates and bowls.

"Hm... So Hanabi, she's on the hunt for the terrorists right? I didn't think she would respond that quick. Hima sweetheart help your Dad with the plates." Mom said realising that Dad didn't know which plates to take out.

"Dad not those ones, those ones are for Fridays." Himawari said taking out the correct ones.

"Well the twins helped, Hanabi said in her eyes even if the mission is a failure they qualify for promotion to Jonin... Why do we have so many plates anyway?" Dad said helping Himawari put the plates back.

"But Dad... They are so much fun. We can have a theme throughout the week. You get three days because it's you and Kurama Sensei, Mom gets two because she's the best and me and Boruto get one because we are the youngest." Himawari said explaining what she had told Mom to do last month. She wanted the plates to reflect the days of the week that belong to someone in the family. Boruto didn't like it but Mom and Dad always indulged Himawari. He didn't even understand how she spit the days.

"I understand Hima, I just forgot the plates." Dad said brushing Himawari's black hair.

"Dad you said the twins were becoming Jonin, does that mean their whole team?" Boruto asked when he heard something about the twins.

"Well no, maybe Special Jonin, it's just Aunt Hanabi's recommendation in battle. I'll see the full mission report before making a decision about their whole team." Dad helping Himawari with the plates she wanted said.

They had just finished eating dinner and where talking about the terrorists. Mom and Dad sometimes talked about Dad's work with Boruto and Himawari close by to help them understand the direction the world was moving in.

"Hanabi's report says that the terrorists seem to have made contact with the Cult of the Moon." Dad said while drinking some water.

"I would have thought they were sister organisations from the beginning." Mom said looking suprised.

"No... From the reports, it seems that they were there in the creation of the Cult of the God Tree, but never the Cult of Dreams."

"Oh so when the cults came together they got access to a larger group of people?" Mom said sounding serious. Boruto didn't understand much, but dad said all these organisations were formed in response to the Infinite Tsukuyomi during the war. Dad said that most of the cults see Madara Uchiha as a deity who came down from the Pure Land to free the world of suffering.

"Yeah if they are able to convince that many people to participate in their forbidden Jutsu it might be bad for our Shinobi." Dad said afterwards.

"Hey Dad what's that forbidden Jutsu these terrorist guys use anyway?" Boruto felt curious about the Jutsu they use.

"Well there's actually two. One is Demon Soul True Transformation and the other is Human Blessed Seal. I can't tell you what they do until you graduate." Dad answer Boruto.

Boruto could imagine what they did. He didn't want to think about it. He wanted to ask Dad if the other villages ever used the Jutsu but decided against it as he felt like that was asking what the Jutsu did.

Mom and Dad kept talking until Boruto and Himawari were sleepy.

"Okay seems like it's time to go to sleep. Remember not to speak about your aunt Hanabi's mission to your friends alright?" Mom said when she saw them being sleepy.

Boruto had dreams about fighting alongside his dad with his Byakugan in his eyes.