Sorry for the wait, its been a busy week for me. I'm moving abroad in the next few days so the next chapter might take a long while and I'm sorry for that. Please put headcanons in the reviews, THANK YOU!

"Your time starts now." Konohamaru said into the mic. Everyone shot forward into the thick forest of traps and danger.

Boruto and Sarada kept at a steady pace in order to preserve energy for a longer run. First thing was to find the flag. It was obviously going to be difficult. Well hidden. Then they had to protect that flag, and keep it safe for the 5 days that they had to survive. Animals were also placed around for hunting purposes, and each forest division had one source for water. They just had to find it.

Sarada's Sharingan activated as soon as they crossed the safe marking. They both slowed to a stop before proceeding into the denser areas. "Listen, we need to spread out just to scan the perimeters. Then we rendezvous back here. If you're in trouble then I'll be able to find you." Boruto said, tapping his scarred eye. Sarada looked at him blankly, "I doubt I'll need help from you. Lets go." she said. Boruto nodded and they dispersed. Boruto to the right. Sarada to the left.

Boruto made sure not to miss out a single detail as he traveled the right section of the layout. After they finished the scanning, they would retreat to the rendezvous point, and check out the midpoint together. Boruto jumped down from the branch he traveled on and began to search from ground level. He came across some simple booby traps and trip wires but found nothing that was really dangerous.

Sarada's speed was incredibly compatible with her eyesight. She was able to finish scanning the first two quarters of the left section before Boruto could. Basically the same simple traps, that slowly got more dangerous as she neared the end. She deactivated all the genjutsu traps she found, and set off all the small ones. Sarada finally reached an open patch. She slowly stepped into it, keeping her guard up. The patch was 1 kilometer in diameter. Meaning, if she stepped into the center, she wouldn't have any trees for protection or support. Still she underestimated the attacks and stepped, thinking she could face whatever they had in store.

Boruto slowly and carefully checked out the entire field. He finished one third and was moving forward. He decided to check if she was fine. He activated his dojutsu (visual jutsu) and searched through time space until his vision landed upon Sarada.

Sarada gasped as about seventy needles, coated with a blue solution, shot out from all around her, including above. In an instant she had her kunais out and was deflecting every single one. She flipped around and before she could hit the ground, another round was fired. This time, the needles had three points. She kept going, until the load was getting too much and she couldn't keep up.

Boruto's eyes widened as saw Sarada through clouded purple. His eyes widened even more when she got slightly cut by one. And then out of the blue, some mechanical robot dummies began closing in. He cursed and sped through the trees right across the mid section.

Sarada yelped as she got cut on her shoulder and thigh. And right when she thought it couldn't get any worse, three mechanical bots began to surround her. They were slow, but looked dangerous. She couldn't even perform any jutsus because she was too busy stopping the needles. Sarada was still too stubborn to admit that she needed Boruto's help.

The sun was already setting and Boruto was already starting to hear the clang of metal against metal. He accelerated and finally made it. Sarada was fending off the needles, with only two wounds and the metal bots already 10 feet away.

Boruto jumped in, nimbly dodging the needles and slamming his foot into the bot. It went barreling back with a loud discordant grunt. He used a rasengan on the other two went to Sarada. Now back to back with the kunoichi, he fought off the needles, not being scarred once. They abruptly stopped, and Boruto didn't waste a second to grab Sarada around the waist and take off.

Dark was closing in and they had to find a place to camp. Boruto jumped across with the injured shinobi in his arms until he found a concentrated area, that he had already scouted for traps. He set her down gently against the tree.

"Where have you hurt yourself? I saw that those needles were coated with poison. We need to treat them or you won't be able to fight much longer." Boruto said. Sarada stared into his eyes. She could already feel the numbness growing. "My right shoulder, and left thigh."

He leaned forward, his expression stern, and unzipped her shirt half way. She didn't shriek or react because she knew what he was doing. He pushed the fabric around her shoulder away and proceeded. The wound was purple and slightly swollen. He took out his kunais and slid them against each other until they generated enough heat. He sliced across the wound with the hot kunai and leaned close.

This was a technique he learned when he came across a village during training. It was to remove the poison that had been injected in the blood before it spread anywhere. He brought his mouth to the wound and sucked the blood, then spit it out to the side. He continued doing this until her blood felt the right consistency. Sarada bit her lip to hold in the yelp. He took off his jacket and tore along from the center. The Uzumaki sign ripped in half. He wrapped it around her shoulder and quickly zipped up her shirt.

Then he moved on to her leg. The fabric had split where the needle hit. He cut off the fabric and repeated all the steps he performed before with her shoulder. After wrapping up her leg he stood up and wiped the sweat from his forehead. "Sorry about that." he murmured. She didn't reply. "Can you move?" he asked. Sarada sighed and looked up at the branches. "Yes." she said attempting to get up. Her injured arm was still slightly numb and she collapsed. Boruto didn't hesitate to scoop her up and jump on to a tree. He placed her on a thick, sturdy branch.

"Wait here. I think I passed by the lake while we I was looking for you. I'll go get some water and food." and he was off.

Sarada looked down at her wound. Why did he do that? Jump in and protect me. Why doesn't he despise me like the others? Why is he so...so...selfish? Its so unusual I feel its fake. Maybe it is. Just a trap. Like what that boy did to me last year. Probably. I shouldn't ease up because he's kind. No one's trustworthy. No one's real.

Boruto returned with a cask full of water and four fish, fresh out of the water. They set up a fire and put on their fish to cook.

Boruto turned his stick and the fire began to cook the other side of the fish. "So, whats up? Why don't you like...talk to anyone ya know? Friends?" Boruto asked, his eyes averted from her. Sarada didn't answer until at least 2 minutes had passed. "None of your business." she replied, her eyes showed nothing but emptiness. Boruto frowned, "And why is that?"

She glared at him, "Because I don't want you to know." Boruto's eyes widened as she said this. She actually sounded vulnerable. A bit like a child. And the first time she showed a bit of emotion. They finished their meals in silence. The moon was high when Boruto lit out the fire. "Do you want me to carry you to the tree orrr..?" Boruto asked, scratching the back of his head.

Sarada gulped. She still felt weak, and a bit dizzy from the poison's after effect. "I think I can manage." she said, pushing herself up. She stood still on wobbly legs and a limp body. She took one step and fell forward. In a flash, Boruto was before her and was steadying her from under her arms. He quickly found a good, hidden branch and set her down gently. He stayed near her for a second longer. "I'm sure you'll be fine tomorrow."

The sun rose and a stone hit Boruto on the nose. He sat up and let out a groan. His vision finally focused to behold a tall, slim, girl in dull red. Her long hair was unbound and fell down in silky strands. A bit tangled of course. "S-Sarada? You're alright now?" he asked standing up with ebullience. "Lets get going. We can't procrastinate any more than this. We must find that flag and then survive." she said, ignoring his concern. "Alright."

Its short but, it was taking too long and I couldn't keep you guys waiting any longer. Please review for a quicker update!

1/15/2018

word count: 1578