It was totally Boruto's idea, Sarada insisted to herself. He thought it would be fun to sneak into his father's office and prowl through the array of forbidden scrolls - just because he can and just because he fancied irritating his father. Ever the trouble-making, petty, persistent rebel. The incident during the chuunin exams may have smoothened the relations between him and his father but old habits die hard.

Mitsuki decided to tag along, because, well, he was frankly a little annoyed at being left behind by the other two in his team, now that they are beginning to exhibit rather strange signals to each other. Strange signals of affection.

Naruto was off to the Gokage summit in Kirigakure and along him went Shikamaru and several other senior figures within Konoha. Hence, Boruto figured that now was the ideal time to execute their 'mission.'

It was late at night – but not too late. Sakura was still working in her hospital shift (good.) Many office workers have already left (also good.) And a couple of ANBU guarded the Hokage towers (maybe not so good.)

"I've come here to retrieve some of dad's stuff for mum," Boruto lied lamely. "You see, dad barely washes his Hokage robes – instead he keeps a dozen of replicas. But the thing is, it's been at least 2 weeks since he last-"

"Just go." The ANBU guards shuddered, deciding that they would rather not hear the Hokage's son recount his unsanitary habits.

Sarada internally groaned. Of course, Boruto would use this as an excuse; it was believable enough. Nevertheless, listening to her role model and hero being dissed in such a manner irked her a little. Just a little.

It happened in somewhat of a blur. They managed to finagle their way into Naruto's secret compartment. Mitsuki was babbling about how his father/mother talked about space-time scrolls, Sarada was awed by the vast collection of literature in front of her and Boruto decided to be his own reckless self. Holding up a scroll littered with indecipherable scripture and atavistic symbols, his eyes gleamed. It looked positively illit, so, in other words, just what he was looking for.

"Mitsuki! Ever seen something like this in your parent's place?" Boruto yelled. (Collectively, the three decided to refer to Orochimaru as Mituski's parent due to his unverified gender.)

"Boruto, shut up!" Sarada hissed.

Mistuki took one look and shook his head.

"Man, this is so weird! Maybe dad or uncle Sasuke would understand this!"

"I'm not sure you should be telling either of them about- Boruto what are you doing? Take that scroll out of your pocket now!" Sarada scolded him.

"Oh come on! You've already agreed to come with me Sarada, stop trying so hard to follow the rules!" Boruto groaned. Thinking it entertaining to witness Sarada's vexed expressions, Boruto started unwrapping the scroll.

"Boruto – stop!"

"This is really cool! Ah-choo! Ah-choo! Ah, crap! There's a lot of dust here!"

"Boruto, put down the scroll now!"

It started off with a strange chill that buried itself into their marrows. Then, the scroll began to emit an eerie, luminescent glow – one as cold as the moon, distant, ominous and otherworldly.

"Boruto, Sarada, I can't move!" Mitsuki exclaimed, shock ripping off his usually calm and composed exterior.

"Me neither!" Sarada yelled. It was as if her physical self had frozen in time, leaving only her metaphysical conscience to float helplessly in the realm of the living. The scene in front of her bore resemblance to a slow motion car crash. Disaster was looming, yet its participants were relegated to the role of powerless spectators.

Soon, they could no longer speak, their internal sentiments becoming completely detached from the outside. The ground beneath them rustled. The ceiling above them creaked inauspiciously. The fabric of their surroundings started swirling – Naruto's shelf was disfigured, warped. Out of the blue, emerged shamanistic chants that did not belong in Konoha, or this world.

Sarada felt her vision fade: the things that lay before her eyes were being erased bit by bit by some nefarious cosmic entity. Soon, she – no all three of them it seems – passed out.

It was late in the afternoon. The ailing sun spilled red blood on the horizon and crows croaked in the distance. All around them was an air of sleepiness, with the shops being just about to close, with the children returning to their homes, and with the pavements emptying themselves of their daily hustle and bustle.

They were still in the Land of Fire. Sarada was sure of it. It was the same village where they subdued the panda-bear on a mission. Yet she could not help but feel that something was amiss.

As they ambled through the streets, Sarada wondered just what on earth had happened. Judging from their surroundings, the scroll had transported them elsewhere, but not somewhere too far away, evidently. But perhaps the more pressing question is why was that scroll forbidden at all. Teleportation, though a highly ranked skill and asset, is nothing dangerous.

"Sarada… Mitsuki... I think we're back there..." Boruto muttered.

Both nodded in reply.

"Well," Sarada snorted. "What are we going to do?"

"I suppose we can just take a train back to Konoha – we are not that far away," contemplated Mitsuki.

"Sure thing," agreed Boruto. "But first, I want to go to the games arcade. This village has some pretty niche games that you wouldn't find in Konoha – "

"Boruto!" Sarada exclaimed. "This is serious, we need to get back!"

"Come on Sarada! We're off missions for at least a week and dad's away. Mum is busy with family affairs and-"

"Fine," Sarada resigned. "No more than an hour. Boys like you are so annoying."

"What do you mean you don't know what an arcade is?!" Boruto was baffled. "It's where you play video games! Uh, you know, for example, the one where you fight evil gorillas to save the princess? Surely, you have to be from another planet to not know that…"

The teenage girl, whom Boruto was gazing inquisitively at, was still clueless as ever.

"But there was supposed to be one there!" Boruto argued.

"… I'm sorry… you must have been mistaken. My father's bookstore was always there – I – I – really can't help you. I'm sorry," the girl explained rather apprehensively.

"Oh well guys, let's go in anyway!" Boruto said.

The girl stopped them, trying to block the entrance with her body: "Did the Hokage send you?"

"No," Sarada answered. "And we won't be going in. Sorry to have disturbed you. Boruto – we're leaving!"

"Sarada! What is it with you?" Boruto complained.

"What is it with me? What's wrong with you?! We're far away from Konoha because of your goddamn stupidity, our friends and our parents would be worried sick and you're acting like nothing wrong has happened!" Sarada was getting a little angry.

"Seriously! What the hell is wrong with you?! Stop overreacting over everything. Why the hell did I ever consider liking a bossy bitch like yo-"

"Enough guys! Calm down," Mitsuki interjected. "We're scaring her."

Boruto looked a little embarrassed by his outburst, his arms were crossed and his face a little crestfallen. Sarada was still fuming; in her anger, she had accidentally activated her Sharingan.

The girl took one look at it and all the blood drained from her face.

"You know what Boruto, let's take a look anyway. No more than 10 minutes. Afterwards, we're heading back to Konoha," Sarada muttered. She started walking in. The girl was too terrified to stop her, crumbling away from the door and trying to concoct a deferential attitude.

"Yeah whatever…" Boruto muttered as he followed suit.

Mitsuki trailed behind and offered the girl an apologetic smile. "My friends can be rather hot-headed sometimes. Sorry if we seemed threatening."

She was still trembling.

"My name's Mitsuki," he smiled again and held out his hand.

She shook it tentatively and replied rather quietly: "Sayuri – nice… nice… to meet you."

"Mitsuki, Sarada! Look at this! This is really weird – the history section and nothing about my dad!" Boruto yelled.

"Oh Boruto, maybe you just didn't look hard enough!" Sarada snorted. "There, the History of the Fourth Great Ninja War. He's bound to be in there!" She started flicking through the pages.

The introduction was a little vague – it didn't really explain clearly why the war had started. Nothing about the tailed beasts. Nothing about Naruto or the Kyuubi. Nothing about the Eye of the Moon Plan. Just a few vague sentences about Madara and the Shinobi Alliance.

This book, she decided, was terrible. If someone had used it to study for their graduation exams, they can kiss goodbye to their shinobi career.

"Sarada – look! This newspaper says your dad is Hokage!" Boruto called for her.

"What?!" A perplexed response was all she could muster. Nothing made sense. "Are you sure this is not a joke? Show me!"

There were a few satirical newspapers within the Shinobi World that Sarada read all the time, the Daily Ramen being her favourite. Boruto, however, had most likely never even heard of them because he had never been the biggest reader around the block.

She grabbed the paper from Boruto. It was the front page. There, a short edict from the Hokage read:

Anyone who has witnessed any activity of the treacherous Hi no Ishi terrorist group is advised to make a report to the Hokage's office.

Anyone who has any positive association with Hi no Ishi is urged to reflect his or her own consciousness and make the morally respectable decision to aid us in our struggle against them. Anyone who continues to support Hi no Ishi despite repeated warnings will be convicted as an enemy of the state and an enemy of the people of the state, receiving his or her due punishment.

We will defeat them and our revolution will be victorious.

Sasuke Uchiha, the Hokage

"The hell?!"

"Okay, we need to find out just what is going on," Sarada said. "Why the hell is Naruto's name not in the history books, why the hell is my dad the flipping Hokage and why the hell is Hi no Ishi the name of a terrorist group?"

Boruto shook his head in confusion. None of this added up.

"We should ask Sayuri," suggested Mitsuki.

"Alright, she's the girl at the counter right? I'll –"

"Let me do this," explained Mitsuki. "She seems… afraid of you."

"Okay, whatever. I'm coming with you though."

"Just, let me do the talking. I'm the only here who hasn't scared the crap out of her," Mitsuki chuckled.

"Agreed," Boruto conceded.

As they made their way towards the counter, Sarada couldn't help but glance at the title of all the books around her. 1001 Ways To Arrange Your Flowers, Icha Icha Paradise, To Love A Man... And then onto the less fluffy content: The Crooked Shinobi System, The Lies They've Told Us, What Really Happened in Konoha…

How peculiar, she wondered.

"Sayuri," Mitsuki smiled at her again. "My companions and I… we're a little confused about what's going on here. We were just wondering if you could lend us some help."

Sayuri snatched a glimpse at Sarada and Boruto suspiciously and hesitated.

"Look, I don't know if you think we're some sort of crazy secret police or something but we're not. I promise you. We're just… kinda… lost," Boruto burst out. "Please, help us with this. We'll help you in return, anything you ask –"

Sarada gave him a kick.

"What?! I'm sick of being viewed as some scary criminal when both you and me know we've never done anything wrong! This girl is acting as if we live under some tyrannical regime from The Search for Freedom!"

"I'm surprised you've read that. No, I'm surprised you read at all," Sarada chortled. Then she lowered her voice: "she's probably just terrified – we did scare her when we were arguing."

"Stop whispering! She deserves to know that there is absolutely nothing wrong with us!" Boruto rebutted.

"Boruto! Let Mitsuki talk!" They both stopped talking.

"Anyways, Sayuri, can you at least give us a recount of what happened in the past, say twenty years? It doesn't have to be anything personal. Just say whatever you're comfortable with saying," Mitsuki addressed her calmly.

She gazed at him, sighed, and started speaking: "I wasn't alive them – I was born 2 years after, but 17 years ago, there was the Fourth Shinobi World War. And… My father, who was only a young shinobi then – he was, I think, about twenty – said he fell into a dream. It was the best thing that ever happened, as he would often recount to my brother and me. He had everything he wanted, love, a family, happiness, and wealth. He quit his job as a shinobi and started a lucrative company in printing. He lived his life with his one true love and they were growing old together.

"And then all of a sudden, he woke up. Everything changed. The system that had existed ever since he was born was no more. I'm sure you all know that there used to be five Kages each governing over a different elemental national. But when he was awake there was only one: the Hokage. And, well, since then, all of us have been one big nation. It's not necessarily a bad thing. Really. We haven't had a single war for 17 years. I know I came across as paranoid, but my family and I are decent, law-abiding citizens-"

"For the last time, there is nothing to fear from us!" Boruto interjected.

"Have you ever heard of a … Naruto Uzumaki?" Sarada inquired.

Sayuri looked taken aback and then prompted to shake her head vigorously.

"You're a pretty bad liar. I hope you realise that," Sarada raised her eyebrows.

Sayuri muttered something – it was too muffled for any of them to understand.

"It's alright, no pressure at all. Anyways, it was good talking to you, but we've got to go. Oh – and when it's been ten years and still no 'secret police' or whatever organisation that terrifies you so much, maybe you can finally admit that we meant no harm," Sarada shook hear head as she left the bookstore with Boruto following close behind.

Mitsuki was left with the girl. "My apologies Sayuri, for disturbing you. It was good meeting you."

She gave him one long, hard, impenetrable look: "likewise."

"They have arrived, Sakura. My spies have just informed me. Apparently, one of the young boys looked just like him."

"It's about time," the tired woman sighed, sipping bitter tea as the residual dregs stung her tongue. "Please, bring me Kakashi and Shikamaru."

A/N: Okay, I'm busy as hell so I really shouldn't be on fanfiction. At all. That being said, this plot bunny started nagging me a few days ago and I was surprised that no one wrote about it (or at least none that I can find.) Let me know how you feel about this in the reviews :)

Edit: There have been some complaints that I did not put any pairing tags in this story.

Here's the thing - this story is largely Gen. There's only some MILD BoruSara, which is not the focus of the story at all and can easily be ignored for those who want to. Pairings, in general, are not the focus.

Further update: I've decided to re-edit this story, add a few paragraphs and maybe smoothen out the writing. I'll try and make this a regular thing.