Here is a little something I just couldn't get out of my mind since I saw episode 13 of the Boruto series, and we finally got around to let it out with my friend Eleanor-Devil in a short RP. We thought it might be… interesting if the final battle of this arc took a turn like this and hope you enjoy it!

Ehm… song suggestion for this fic is "Ready for Battle" from the new Boruto OST.

...

"C'mon, class rep... surely you must know something about how to stop this... this monster!..." Boruto was trying not to let it show, how literally terrified he felt... Things just took a decisively worst turn... Sumire had a change of heart - finally... but not before starting the detonation process... they were bruised and battered from the battle previously, and even the three of them couldn't both hold off the Nue and try to close the portal at the same time...

"I'm sorry..." the purple haired girl genuinely sounded like she meant it. "Th... the Nue was not supposed to be stopped... once it is engaged, there is no turning back..."

"No... no, there has to-"

"There is a way." an almost... indifferent voice interrupted then, and both Boruto and Sumire turned to look at Mitsuki, who was just gazing at the monster calmly, as if the world as they know it wasn't going to end in a matter of time.

"Mitsuki...?" the blond muttered as he eyed the boy that just a few moments ago was only focused on ending Sumire's life... without muttering another word Mitsuki walked ahead of them just a few steps and his eyes never left the Nue's threatening eyes. The beast was growling at him but for some reason, it didn't raise its paw against him.

"Turns out there is another way to stop the Nue... without ending the user's life." He didn't turn to face them, Boruto felt sweat run down his face and his body... somehow grew cold when Mitsuki finally turned to look at him, still with those indifferent eyes. "Can you re-open the portal Boruto...?"

"I..." the blond started to say, but for a moment didn't continue, something about this... just didn't feel right, even though what his blue haired friend was saying was completely lost on him... Although then, it was no surprise, Mitsuki was indeed full of mysteries... A small frown came across his features. "What are you planning to do...?"

"Can you?"

"Answer me, Mitsuki." he said, his voice becoming slightly strained as he noticed how the blue haired boy just stepped aside his question. He didn't even notice his hands slowly curling into fists.

Mitsuki just continued looking at him for a few seconds more and then he turned back to look at the Nue... indeed what a great beast stood before him... ready to blow them all away... "I am going to seal it away... before the bomb goes off."

Both the other two's eyes widened at the words.

"But that's..." Sumire started.

"It's not impossible." He was stating facts, his tone didn't change.

"I don't care if it's impossible or not, you are not going to do that!" Boruto was loud... again... which just made Mitsuki smile a little...

"I'm just a clone, relax..." He... wasn't lying... technically speaking.

"C-clones... can't do everything the original can do..." Boruto said, although he wasn't exactly sure... his clones could use the Gentle Fist - well, as best as he could, anyway... but... to actually use the amount of chakra that's required to seal this beast...?

He turned around to look at Sumire, but the girl didn't seem to know much better than him...

"They can." came Mitsuki's voice right behind him then, and he put a hand on his shoulder... almost reassuring. "Of course the effects are not as strong as the original but... it will do." And then he gave one of his smiles... one Boruto was never sure if it was genuine or not... "Trust me."

Boruto looked between both Mitsukis... he wasn't... sure if he should believe this or not but the touch of the Mitsuki behind him felt as real as the other times he had done the same.

"There is not much time left." The Mitsuki facing the Nue quickly did the hand signs and put both his palms on the ground where a sealing mark appeared and spread through the place. A purple light started filling the marks. "Open the portal now, and go." It was pretty much an order...

Boruto gulped before taking a step back and hoping his eye would do what it had done back there... last time it happened right after he had contact with Mitsuki and Sumire at the same time... was that the answer to reopen it?

With the little time they have... he really didn't have any choice but to improvise. With a wordless nod towards Mitsuki's clone, he grabbed the class rep's hand, felt her tense slightly at the touch... he knew she didn't feel worthy of going back to Konoha... that made him only tighten his grip a little harder, he was NOT going to let go of her, not like this...

"Well... here goes nothing..." he mumbled as he closed his eyes for a minute, and his right eye shone momentarily with blinding white light as he reopened them...

Mitsuki's face softened into another smile as he saw Boruto, Sumire and... the other Mitsuki disappear through the portal... 'Boruto...' he thought, his mind suddenly, weirdly at peace as the purple light began covering the whole area now, engulfing the Nue and also himself... 'Sometimes... you just can't save everyone...'

Those words... although unheard by Boruto, made the blond feel his heart tightening... trying to tell him something as the light of the portal engulfed them and threw the three young students back on the top of the Hokage's monument with a loud thud.

Boruto quickly looked up and saw the same purple light from the seal shining through the now small opening of the portal until it disappeared in thin air. He was shaking... why though...? They were safe... the village was safe, the Nue had been sealed... so... why...?

He looked around, Sumire was getting up, she seemed fine. But when he looked at Mitsuki, expecting to see him standing up as well... he saw him turning completely white slowly... until it vanished into thousands of snakes...

And everything came to a stop... literally, the world stopped spinning as Boruto just stared at where his friend... was, is... he... he was there... he was supposed to be there...! A cold dread gripped his heart and he felt his breath getting caught in his throat as he tried to understand, to make some sense out of it...

He heard an almost inaudible gasp as Sumire too, no doubt glanced around.

"N-no, what...?" the words that tumbled out of his mouth felt so feeble... so weak... so unlike him, who felt so brave just minutes ago, facing that monster...

"No, no... NO!" he yelled, turning around, REFUSING to even think about any alternative... "MITSUKI!" he cried out at the top of his lungs, frantic, terrified... now truly feeling horror down to his very bones...

He breathed... or tried to breath, he had to find a way to go back in there! It wasn't even a matter of discussion, he HAD to go back in there no matter what... the problem was... his eye was not responding...

"Come on you stupid eye WORK!" he was yelling at himself at this point, he felt angry, sad, he felt in every imaginable way! He then turned to the purple haired girl. "Class Rep...! Use it, use that chakra, my eye will work on that!"

"Boruto-kun... I... I can't..." she stammered.

"What do you mean?!" he didn't mean to yell at the girl but he was just... so distraught right now...

The girl hesitated. "With the Nue gone... I don't have access to that chakra anymore..."

"No... God dammit!" Out of the sheer need to do something, Boruto brought his hands together. "Kagebunshin no jutsu!"

He wasn't in his right mind, he didn't even know if that would work, heck he didn't give two fucks! "Activate your eyes!" he ordered them, he didn't mean to sound harsh... but he just didn't care. "We are going to force open that portal if we need to!"

The clones just quickly glanced at one another, their expressions sad... it almost made the blond want to smack them, this was not the time to be sad, this was time for action!

"I'm sorry..." one of the clones, decidedly soft in contrast of all of the times he bickered with his replicas. "We... can't..."

"Yes we can!" Boruto reacted stubbornly, trying to ignore the stinging feeling in his eyes, in his throat... and in his heart too... "W-we can do it if we just put our minds to it!" His voice sounded even desperate, on the verge of breaking...

"I'm sorry..." another clone repeated, and his look was also one of sadness. "We can't use a jutsu you didn't plan ahead... we can't use that eye technique..."

"No! We have to!" he insisted.

The other clone shook his head. "We can't do that... he is gone..."

The feared words said by none other than his own clone... it made the original shake in fear as the tears finally came down his cheeks. His arms fell limp at the sides of his body, his teeth clenched... and the clones disappeared in clouds of smoke.

"No..." he whispered, Sumire didn't know what to say...

'You don't know the true horrors of battle...' The words told to him by his father echoed in the blond's head again and again... the true horrors of battle... was this what he meant...? Losing a friend...?

It was all too much... too much for him to bear... Boruto shut his eyes tightly, letting more tears fall down as his right hand clenched around his shirt, right where his heart is... it hurt... so much...

He let out a huge, loud cry of anguish as he fell down on his knees, and started sobbing, uncontrollably... Why...? How was this even fair?!

He didn't even notice the sounds of more and more people gathering around them... until he heard the familiar voice...

"What's going on here?!"

He had never felt more glad in his life to hear his father's voice...

Two ANBU surrounded Sumire, one of them holding her arms behind her back. She didn't fight back. "Sumire Shigaraki, you will be taken into custody for practicing crimes against the Hidden Leaf." She just nodded, she kept her head down.

"Boruto..." Naruto knelt down in front of his son and put his hands on the boy's shoulders, he was clearly worried... he was shaking...

"It hurts..." the boy whispered, his voice completely broken.

Naruto frowned. "Are you hurt...?!"

"He's gone... dad he is gone..." the boy just hid his face in his father's arms.

"What... who...?" Naruto was at a complete loss of what to do or even say as Boruto just shook his head, his seemingly endless tears started dampening his outfit... The hokage quickly looked around, there was no sign of the Nue, no sign of even his chakra... What had happened...?

"M..." his son choked on the word as he tried to speak, Naruto didn't remember the last time he saw him like that... "Mitsuki..." he whispered, his hands tightening on the hokage's robes. "H-he... sealed the Nue away... H-he's... g-gone..." and words were once again lost to the younger blond, he couldn't continue... he didn't know how to... how to deal with this crushing pain...

...

On another note, I swear I have nothing against Mitsuki XD Really 8D

Of course, favorites and comments are always appreciated.