so last week after the scans came out i came up with this headcanon of sarada being really uncomfortable with having to wear glasses and aunt karin coming to visit and cheering her up about it and i really liked that idea, so i wrote it, and hereeee it is
i don't own naruto! but i AM planning to steal sarada away forever sorry sak&sauce
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Sarada looks down at the frames in her hand (plain black, with an Uchiha fan decorating each stem near the lens) and sighs, lifting them to her face and sliding them on. Everything around her becomes crystal clear, allowing her to see Boruto annoying her dad in the garden outside, while her mother sits nearby and laughs, one hand on her swollen belly and the other hand twisting her rosy hair into a knot on top of her head. It is nice to be able to see, she supposes—she just wishes she could do it with her own eyes, like she should be able to. She's an Uchiha, after all; she should be able to see perfectly, be able to use the eyes that her clan is so famous for. Instead, though, she got these... flawed eyes, imperfect and unable to see clearly without assistance.
She sighs again and slides them off, tucking one stem over the neckline of her sweater. Better to see blurred and not have the glasses than to have everyone see how flawed she is.
The kitchen door bangs open behind her, and she turns, expecting to see one of her many adoptive cousins, all of whom commonly come barging in with no warning whatsoever. The person coming through the door this time, though, is a redhead with her hair flying all around but still managing to look good, lavender dress swirling around her knees, and arms and legs bared for all to see, littered with bite marks. She breaks into a smile and runs to meet her halfway—Aunt Karin almost never comes to visit, but when she does, it's always a good time. She spoils Sarada, with hugs and presents and kisses, saying that until she and Suigetsu get around to having kids of their own, she's adopting Sarada.
"Aunt Karin!" she squeals, wrapping her arms around her aunt's waist. "I didn't know you were coming to visit us!"
"Neither did your parents," Karin tells her, grinning down at her adopted niece and lifting her into the air. "This wasn't going to happen at all, actually, but I need your mom to check something for me."
Sarada's charcoal eyes widen, and she lowers her voice to barely more than a whisper. "Aunt Karin. Do you think you might have a baby?"
"Shhhhhh, Sarada. I'm not telling you, and you're not gonna get it out of me, so don't try, 'kay?"
Karin sets her down, and her glasses clatter to the floor, shaken off by her aunt's hug. Sarada's cheeks flame, and she hurriedly reaches for them, only for her aunt's hand to snatch them up first.
"Ooooh! Sarada, are these yours? Taking after me, I see." Karin laughs and unfolds the glasses, attempting to slide them onto Sarada's face, and she turns away before they can slide over her ears.
"They're not mine," she mumbles. "I'm just... holding them. For a friend."
"Sarada. You know that I talk to your mom, and to Naruto, and to Ino a lot, right? Even when I'm not here? I know I remember hearing something from one of them about you needing glasses."
Karin takes her shoulders and steers her over to the mostly unused kitchen table, sitting her down and then sitting herself. "Now. Why aren't you wearing these, like you should be? Is there something wrong with them?"
"No," she mumbles, just on the edge of Karin's hearing. "There's nothing wrong with them."
"Then why aren't you wearing them, hon?" Karin prods.
"Because!" Sarada bursts out. "I don't want to. Then everyone will know there's something wrong with me, because I can't see perfectly like everyone else from the clan, and then they'll make fun of me for having to wear glasses and... I can't wear them, Aunt Karin, I can't." She pulls her feet up onto the chair, wrapping her arms around her knees and burying her face in them.
Karin clucks her tongue, and scoots her chair over to sit next to Sarada, putting her arms around the younger girl. "Sarada, I'm sorry if this hurts your feelings, I really am—but that's ridiculous, and you know it. I know you do. Do you really think Boruto, or Inojin, or any of your other cousins would make fun of you for wearing glasses? No way would they.
"Besides. Just because you're the only one in your clan to wear glasses doesn't make you weird, or mean you have something wrong with you." Karin takes off her own glasses, dark red frames with a hint of black, and waves them in front of Sarada's eyes. "Having glasses just means that you're cooler than they are, like how I'm cooler than all your other aunts and uncles, because of mine. It makes you special, you see?"
Karin tries to get the frames back onto Sarada's face, and, this time, she lets her, looking up at her aunt with wide eyes. "But... how?"
"Because I say so, silly." Karin laughs and pokes Sarada's nose. "And I'm the best, because I wear glasses, just like you do."
Sarada smiles at her. "...Thanks, Aunt Karin. You're a really big help, you know? Thanks." She launches off of her chair and onto her aunt's lap, hugging her with all she's worth, and before Karin can react, she's jumping off and running outside.
Karin watches her go, and laughs when she hears Sarada call out to Boruto, "Hey! Boruto! Look at me! I've got glasses, so I'm cooler than you!" That starts a fight easily, and she continues to watch as they bicker back and forth, Sarada eventually winning. She parades around the garden, head held high, and glasses shown off.
She smiles, and slips off her own frames, pulling the case out from her bag. She slips them inside, then grabs one of the markers littering the table and a piece of paper, scribbling down a note to her niece. She tucks it underneath the case, stands and stretches, and leaves—she's got an appointment at the hospital, and she absolutely can't be late.