Boruto stumbles out of his hospital room only to see his 13-year-old sister covered in bruises and bandages, holding onto a woman with dark hair.
He stops.
"Himawari!"
She looks up from her position hugging her mother, the voice of her precious oniichan alerting her.
"Oniichan!"
They run up to each other and hug, ignorant of their back pains. They cry, promises never leaving the other again, 'I miss you's and 'I love you's being exchanged hurriedly. It's as if one is scared of the other disappearing forever.
A heart-warming sight for everyone present, even Tsunade. It's still a headache for her, but at least she won't have to separate the siblings. Their reaction to seeing each other again ensures there will be hell to pay if they get separated.
But she is Hokage, and they could be dangerous to the village.
Boruto then notices something off. His mother is unconscious, but she's bleeding. He can't help but shout, "Hima, you killed kaachan!"
Baachan face palms, then mumbles something about sake. His touchan stares at him, but something causes Boruto's vision to shift to the man next to him.
His Uncle Neji is there. His very dead Uncle Neji. The man who's grave he had visited nowhere near as often as his sister, but often enough to know he should be dead, in the ground, buried-
He passes out from shock thirty seconds later.
(He was cursing his mother's genes in his mind)
Needless to say, he isn't happy when he wakes up to a face that looked almost exactly like his. "You never answered my question, kid. Who are you and why do you look like me?"
Boruto grunts, turning away from his not-yet dad. He's still pissed at him for not helping their mother, but knowing him he was busy with paperwork.
"Oi, kid! Why won't you answer me, 'ttebayo?"
Boruto snaps.
"You want to know why? When some guy starts chasing your children and your best friend's child for their eyes, you're supposed to help! Not sit in an office! I thought Himawari was dead, until I saw her! I watched her fall off that cliff, watched Sarada's eyes start to bleed, watched as kaachan broke down, but where were you! In your office. Hima's body was floating in the river. Floating. You know, the way bodies float when they're dead? I found out Hima is alive, but what about Sarada? Now the girl I love is out there somewhere or dead, for all I know. Piss off, and take your stupid paperwork with you."
With that, Boruto turns away, his tears falling at an alarming rate. It's not fair!
His dad-
Wait that's not-
Now he's sad and embarrassed. Mistaking some guy for his dad like that!
"Don't worry kid," he says, stellar smile on his face, "I'll help you find your girlfriend!"
For the first time in a while, he allows himself to properly smile that Uzumaki smile, the one that made his grandma and dad so attractive, the smile that attracted Sarada to him, the smile that can fill anyone up with hope.
Boruto suddenly feels a pull on his chest.
Tears flow freely down his face for an unknown reason. He doesn't know why he's crying again, but it must have something to do with Sarada.
Sarada.
His heart is hurting, but why? If him and Himawari are alive, why can't Sarada be?
Another pull.
Dread washes over him in waves as he stares at the ceiling.
Sarada... she isn't dead... right?
Oh, but his instincts, the ones that let him know when his sister is hurt, instincts that have never lied to him, they say she's dead.
His throat closes up, the pain, her 'I love you's, their energetic spars, Mitsuki's teasing, Uncle Sasuke's rage when he caught them kissing, the secret moments in each other's rooms while their parents were out, gone.
Utakata no yume to wakattemo, (Even knowing this dream is fleeting)
"You're an idiot, you know? Papa won't be happy if he sees us like this."
Anata to ikiteitai no sa! (I want to live my life with you)
"I'm going to kick your ass, shannaro!"
Ushinau tsurasa wo shittemo, (Even if I learn the pain of loss)
"Damn you Uzumaki and your attractiveness!
Anata o aishiteitai no sa! (I still want to love you)
"Don't you dare touch my favourite Hyuuga's eyes, you paedophile!"
Sayonara,
"Damn it! Stop moving, you fucking eye thief!"
Sayonara,
"I love you."
he breaks.
The small seal that the two had drawn on each other as a form of promise to one another had shown up on his inner wrist, meaning that Sarada is dangerously low on chakra. Thank god he learned about his Great Aunt Mito's seals and studied his jiichan's hiraishin or else Sarada would be dead somewhere.
He marks his bed with a three pronged kunai and leaves.
He arrives in a completely destroyed field. 'Her work,' he thinks, a wry grin on his face.
He looks to his left and sees a girl with long, black hair, falling, falling...
"Sarada!"
He runs as fast as he can. He doesn't catch her. She falls to the ground, landing on her side instead of her back or stomach. There's a hole in her stomach, her eyes are glazed… She might truly die. For a second, he is met with a familiar Sharingan, before the owner Shunshins away.
His breath hitches. He only knows one person with a Sharingan like that.
A red head, Uzumaki, from what he can tell, runs up to her; this effectively shakes him from his thoughts. She takes her hand and forces Sarada to clamp down on her hand, gasps of pain leaving her mouth every so often.
A kekkai genkai of his clan? He doesn't have near enough chakra as his dad, nor his grandmother, but he can still help.
He knees down and forces the Uzumaki to remove her hand from Sarada's mouth, quickly replacing it with his own.
Within a minute, he feels drained. Boruto now has a new appreciation for medics, not that he didn't before. He removes his hand and sits down properly, trying not to pant.
He fails.
"Who are you?"
"A fellow Uzumaki, even if it's only a quarter, 'ttebasa."
She looks at him, and it's then he realises. Those are Sarada's glasses.
Speaking of Sarada, she isn't as pale as she was. She looks better.
Better is good.
He puts her on his back, gently as to not worsen her injuries as well as his own. His back still isn't fully healed either, but it's enough for him to carry her.
Before he leaves, he has to know.
"Why did you help her?"
The Uzumaki (he should know his clan member's name, damn it) curls her hands up into fists.
"She has my glasses. Her chakra is familiar and she has my glasses. The first time she woke, she treated me with nothing but kindness. Orochimaru only woke her to get information from her, which he did, then he drugged her tea. She trusted him, for some odd reason. Said he was her teammate's parent. Sarada Uchiha, she said was her name. She looked so much like Sasuke, yet not like him. She was so happy, so energetic, yet I felt an edge of darkness in her chakra. Keep her safe, please. Swear on the Uzumaki clan, even though you don't have red hair!"
He smiles, then he recognises her. Karin Uzumaki, Sarada's godmother.
"I swear on my baachan's clan that I will keep her safe. See ya, dattebasa!"
A quick burst of chakra later and Sarada is unconscious in his hospital bed. She's breathing properly but the seal and her collarbone is orange, so she should be safe, Especially with their Tsunade-baachan and Himawari and Aunt Sakura in the hospital. Yes. Sarada will be safe.
he crawls onto the hospital bed where Sarada lay, falling asleep next to her.
Uchiha Sarada has experienced many things. She thought an Uzumaki distantly related to the Hokage was her mother, she ended up leaving the village to find her father and took her best friend with her, ended up dating her blonde teammate, had a weird old man try to steal her eyes...
She's been through a lot. So when she felt the katana enter her stomach, barely missing her abdomen, she cried. Her Sharingan recorded her Papa's eyes shift from normal Sharingan to Mangekyo Sharingan, the moment forever to remain in her head.
She choked on her blood as she went down, her stomach bleeding at an alarming rate that she knows will be impossible to heal soon.
Sarada tried to stay awake, but she couldn't. Black spots dot her vision, the metallic scent of blood clogging her senses. Green medical chakra splutters to life, a small flicker of green on her palm instantly soothing the pain in her stomach. She tried she really did, but she couldn't. Another bloody cough sends her to her knees, her eyes roll back into her head as she falls. The last thing she hears is a cry of her name. Boruto? He came for her. He's here, with her.
"Bo... ru... to..."
She no longer feels any pain.
Himawari felt two bursts of chakra with an approximate ten-minute interval.
Boruto. Her niichan.
Wait, and is that?
She sends a quick burst of chakra to her eyes, activating her Byakugan.
She gasps, causing her parents, Uncle Neji, Tsunade-baachan, Aunt Shizune and Aunt Sakura to look at her.
Without caring, she runs into her brother's room to find him asleep, a black haired girl in his bed.
Were they at home, she would have teased them endlessly, and Kakashi-jiji would have gotten a good old kick from Sakura for corrupting her favourite niece (but Auntie, I'm your only niece, she would have said. You're still my favourite, auntie would have responded) while she made perverted jokes and quoted Icha Icha.
Instead, she cries.
She cries while trying to heal Sarada's stomach, she cries while healing her brother's back, she just cries.
"Oh my god!"
Aunt Sakura helps her with her brother and Sara-nee's backs, especially since Himawari has to heal her own back and use her Byakugan to spot any and all possible injuries.
Sakura's shout causes Tsunade herself (who is really just here to avoid doing paperwork and because Naruto seemed worried about some weird kid who is related to him) and Shizune to rush into Boruto's room. Sakura is looking at his hand where a bite mark lays, one that was done by a human. She tries to heal it, but she can't. Himawari takes Sakura's hands away from her brother because she's seen this, seen this on her Aunt Karin, and knows it's permanent.
Himawari pumps her chakra into her brother's system, since he stupidly depleted it. It might be only a minor case, but long distance Hiraishin coupled in with the Healing Bite could have killed him. For now, Himawari will have to wait for him to wake up before beating him up.
Unconsciously, Himawari's waist length hair begins to stand and form nine tails. Sakura freezes up the second she senses the killing intent this tiny 13-year-old is leaking, effectively shutting her up.
Tsunade would laugh if the situation hadn't been serious.
"The Red Hot-Blooded Habanero has been reborn into a little Hyuuga girl. May the lord save us all."
Up in heaven, Mikoto Uchiha and Kushina Uzumaki are literally dying of laughter- if the dead can die of laughter.
"Kushina, that granddaughter of yours is too much like you," Mikoto says, laughing in between her words.
"Hah! She's gonna be known as the Black Death soon, 'ttebane! She'll start talking weird like I do, dattebane!"
Mikoto stops. She stares at her best friend, a deadpanned look on her face.
"Kushina."
Kushina stops laughing and looks at Mikoto.
"Yeah?"
"Himawari has purple hair."
"Purple Death doesn't sound threatening though, 'ttebane."
Himawari forces herself to calm down and deactivates her Byakugan. Eye strain is not fun to deal with. "Ugh, Himawari?"
The Uzumaki-Hyuuga cracks her knuckles. Her brother pales as he sees the familiar Byakugan and nine tails of his sister. He stands up, tries to run, but he falls. Gold chakra chains tie him to an IV, and he screams.
"Oniichan, you absolute idiot!"
The rest of the hospital cringe at the screams, except for Tsunade, who is just laughs.
Hinata had locked herself in her room. She had only left a few times if she wanted to eat or drink. It had been a week. One week since she lost both her babies. Naruto hadn't been home since. It was no secret about how the children of the Hokage and Sasuke Uchiha had been hunted for their eyes, eventually leading to their premature deaths. If only she wasn't so out of practice, if only Sakura had access to her strength, if only their husbands got their sooner, but that didn't happen.
Ha, being out of practice is no excuse. She's a retired chunin who barely qualified. If it was Hanabi there, or Neji-niisan they would be safe. All three kids would be safe.
If she was stronger, if she could have done something-
No point. A retired chunin who had her role as heir passed to her younger sister can't be strong enough to fight them of all people.
A strange influx of memories with her kids from when she was younger popped up two days ago, but she ignored them. Himawari and Boruto are dead, dead as Neji, dead as her mother, dead as Naruto's parents...
Himawari always wanted to meet her paternal grandparents and her uncle. Boruto always wanted to learn about Konoha's Yellow Flash and Red Death, his legendary grandparents. She laughs bitterly. They'll get to meet them now...
Her doorbell rings. Hinata knows she looks like shit, she hasn't been able to do anything without seeing Himawari, her little girl, gazing back up at her. Same reason she hadn't been able to look at Naruto. She answers the doorbell anyway. Standing there is Tenten, along with Ino, Sakura and Temari.
"Hinata! You look like shit! Have you looked in the mirror lately?"
Hinata winced. Ino was as loud as ever. She wanted them to leave, to stay away from her and leave her to be depressed alone. "Himawari really did look too much like me. Boruto really did look too much like Naruto," she said, willing herself not to cry.
She failed.
It was too much. First her mother, then her cousin, now her children! Why must all her treasured family be taken away? Her and Naruto's marriage had already been strained due to him almost never being home, but now it's worse. With her kids gone, they can't look at each other, not without seeing their ghosts and it's all too much-
She broke down.
2532 words
The song lyrics during Boruto's section are from Sayonara Moon Town, the second ending. I love it so much, plus that song is a song that fits Sarada and her family so well,
I also would highly recommend listening to My Lover by Not3s because it's such a good song.
Au revoir!