QUEEN INO'S QUARTERS;
The queen lift her head from the pillows and stood in a sitting position. When the shadow reached way too close, the queen couldn't help but release a breathless, "Who's there?" But she didn't have a necessity to ask, because the man's yellow hair became finally visible to her eyelids. The queen gave a shocking gasp.
"Who else is it going to be, mother?" her son's seething voice cut in like lightning in the dark.
They stared at each other for a couple precious seconds, until the queen's eyes cleared the view in front of her.
Her son was covered in blood all over his face and body. His clothes were torn and she noticed that droplets of blood were falling down his cheek. The queen backed away with a loud gasp when he threw his bloody sword right between her – blanket covered – legs.
"How…" she started, only to be interrupted by Boruto's mocking laugh. "What? Didn't hear you correctly!" he said, still laughing mockingly. "Let me guess. How dare I come here? How dare I do that?" he motioned with his hand at the sword on her mother's bed. "Don't feel so disgusted, mother. Don't you even want to know what I've done, only for you?"
She had a guess, a frightening one at that. "I made sure no one could kill you," he began, confirming her doubts. "I erased all traces of you." he finished in such a slow motion that the queen felt almost scared. Even if the sword was near her, she was no match, no match for any soldier and certainly, no match for her son. No prince was a match for him.
"Wh… what are you saying? I cannot understand you at all." she said, and his only response was a roll of his eyes. Such arrogance!
"Let's see, you and Kawaki used the assassins from the temple to kill the Crown Prince during the Exorcism Ritual. Since you thought that failure was not possible, given the fact that Kawaki was fighting too, you didn't care for the fact that it is You the one who manages the temple, right?" Boruto stopped briefly when his mother's eyes went wide, and snorted.
"But, as always, you overlooked one important detail… Me. Now, normally, given the situation that you don't know anything important concerning me, I don't blame you, but now that everything is out, it wouldn't hurt to say that none of my brothers are a match for me. Are you on the same page as me now, mother?" Boruto started shaking his head at his mother's stillness. What is wrong with her?
"I've burned it all down… the temple I mean. That blood is the only thing that remains from your assassins. Well… until it's washed away. I know that my methods are a bit… disgusting, but, at least nothing will lead back to you, mother. You can sleep at ease now. Wouldn't want Queen Tenten to surpass you in beauty, would you?" he asked teasingly.
His mother, possibly either very tired, or very tensed, didn't catch on his tone and only asked, "You… you didn't kill them all, did you?"
"Why shouldn't I? They only lived because of you, didn't they? I am sure they are not going to curse you in their afterlife."
"Oh God!" Queen Ino said, bringing up a hand to her mouth. Looking at him in the eye, she said, "As you said, I manage that temple. Did you think I'd tell you that you did a good job? Or did you want me to ask if you had injured yourself? You're like an animal… Leave!" she ordered loudly. "You stink of blood and I cannot sleep."
"Enough now. I did it for you, Mothe –"
"Mother, mother, mother." She interrupted him. "Hearing you call me "Mother" makes my skin crawl. I do not wish to see you, so go! Go now!"
He stared at her, even though she averted her gaze from him, looking down at the bloodied sword instead. "You know…" he started in a low, shaking voice, "I have always been curious about why didn't you ever felt any pity for me? If you were my mother, at least you would care if I were injured, even if you don't love me. I've always wondered about why you don't even look back at me, like you're doing now."
"You are not my son." She said, finally looking up at him in the eyes, in his blue, tear-filled eyes. "You are the son of the Otsutsuki."
Boruto chuckled in misery. "Otsutsuki?" he asked, his eyebrows raised, but only one was visible. "You sent your own son to be a hostage, on the pretext of a goodwill present. You sent me, instead of the one they asked. Kawaki." At the queen's widening of her pale blue eyes, he added. "They made sure to tell and show me each day how much they resent me. Telling me that I was staying in Kawaki's place instead is like… the first thing they informed me about."
After a pause, filled with a haunting silence as mother and son stared at each other unblinkingly, Boruto finally asked. "Is it because of my face? It is, isn't it? It is only because of this scar that You left on me." He said with a loud voice, as he swayed his right hand in the mirror hanging on the giant cubicle pillar at his right with so much force that the said object fell down the floor, shattering to small pieces, each of them scattering afterward.
The queen looked shocked, her mouth hanging open and her heart was racing rapidly.
Boruto bent on his knees and looked down when the first tear finally fell down his bloodied cheek. His previously injured hand hurt like hell now that new wounds opened because of the mirror.
"Do you have the slightest idea how my life was with them?" he asked, lifting his head to look at her, "Once, they threw me into the biggest wolves den in all of Kiri. I spent all night fighting the animals with their gnashing teeth. Then I burned down the entire mountain. I burned and killed… all of it. And I lived. When I saw their faces again… Momoshiki, Kinshiki…"
He looked at her with a smirk, even though another tear was making its way down, "those two were the first I slaughtered." he informed her, "I wonder how the news got to Saikyo so quickly though, and poor Inojin thought that I don't have the skill. I'd wish to hear him say that now."
His eyes focused on the sword, still residing in her mother's bed. "You just said that I stink of blood… this is nothing compared to back then… the revolting stench of burning flesh was still on my body." And he laughed, a maniacal laugh that was born out of pain and misery, out of every scar, every ill word.
"That crazy Kaguya," he continued, "she wouldn't let me out of her sight, thinking I was really her son. Then, she'd come to her senses, would beat me and lock me up somewhere, whether be it a dark room, a small cage, whatever occurred to her." He chuckled tearfully. "One would think that I'd developed a fear of dark and small places but no… they're my closest allies."
He took in a deep breath and looked back at his mother, who was still averting her gaze. "She would demand to know where her son was. Asking why there was an unsightly monster… it could be three days, sometimes four… I wouldn't get not even a sip of water, and nobody would come and check on me." He laughed again, "and Kawaki had a gal to say that I am a lowly-looking prince. What prince? I wasn't even treated like a human, much less a prince."
"What about it?" her voice alone was enough to scar him worse than the sword resting in her lap. "A mother only recognizes a son who will make her shine." Her long averted gaze finally fell on him as she said, "You are my shame, disgrace, and flaw. That's why I sent you away. Then again, thanks to you, I felt a sense of love and justice from the king, since he didn't lose time and want another son for the one he had lost. I will thank you for that."
Boruto hanged his head down and closed his eyes. With a deep breath, he opened them again and rose up. "Tomorrow…" he began, "Gaara will probably tell the King that the temple belongs to you and Kawaki is the one who does your errands… we'll see how proud will you feel when you see him bowing down like a cockroach. And have the decency not to look so shocked. He is just as greedy as you. It's only natural."
"What do you mean?" she asked him huskily.
"I mean, that I'll make sure you remember this night. Tonight, you threw me away, but I won't leave."
"Wha – "
"From now on… you will have to look only at me. It will be hard, yes, but you will have to endure it, just like you have endured it for years… the fact that the king never felt for you what you feel for him."
"Nonsense!"
Boruto turned away, making his way toward the door with slow, faltering steps. His moving speed was enough for him to hear all of his mother's talk from behind him. Words that he did not acknowledge with an answer.
"If you do something like this once more, you'll never step foot in Saikyo again!"
After he exited and even made sure to close the door, Ino, still looking at the door's direction said – in a low voice – to herself, "You impudent boy… why would I be worried about you?"
She looked at his bloodied sword and took a hold of its handle with her hands. She brought the sword up and looked at her reflection in it. "You can take care for everything on your own, anyway!" she said with a little snort.
SEVENTH PRINCE'S RESIDENCE;
Why?
That cursed little word rang inside his head as he walked toward the direction of Mitsuki's house, with faltering, drunk steps.
Why?
It's not as if he wanted his mother's pity, or any of his brothers' for that matter. Nobody had went through what he had, and what had happened to him was not their fault.
No. If anyone was to be blamed, it would be her… and him too. His father. His king.
He felt rage building up inside of him when he came across the Stone Fountains that needed to be passed in order for him to go to his room.
Boruto stood there in the middle, surrounded by stones of different shapes and sizes with candles at the top. Two of the piles, each holding two pairs of candles that were still lit, were standing taller than the others. Boruto could easily conclude that those were made by the queens. And the tallest one would be hers… and he had no place in it.
He came to stand before his mother's fountain and exhaled a breath, which became visible due to the cold air outside. With a sound that probably came out as animalistic, he destroyed the top first.
The lit candles lost their flame when they made contact with the hard ground below, and their bodies got crushed when the stones fell above them.
But Boruto didn't stop there. He kept ruining it, and scattering the stones everywhere around him.
When he had reached almost the middle of the object, he stopped in his tracks when he felt hands on him.
Boruto looked down at the pair of arms which were locked around his waist, imprisoning his hands in the process. Those were no man's hands and yet, even with all the delicateness they bore, they still seamed… hard.
"Stop it, please." The female voice said, her warm and slow breath tickling his neck.
Why was she here, Boruto didn't care to know. He didn't care to ask. He didn't care to remove her hands from his own either.
He lifted his head high and the back of it came to rest in something soft and yet headstrong. Probably her forehead.
"Move!"
"You… you're bleeding?" She stated questionably, completely ignoring his previous order.
"Yes, I am bleeding. It's the blood of those I killed today for her." he said in a low voice and after a short pause, he removed his head away from the girl's forehead and motioned with it toward the ruined piles of stones. "Mothers build this for their children, right?" he chuckled, but only for a short moment, before raising his voice. "Let me go. I have yet to destroy it completely."
"No, stop it. I said stop it." The crushing grip she had on Boruto was surprising even to him. "Stop it, you're injured." The prince glanced at her from above his shoulder causing their eyes to finally meet.
Upon staring onto those blue eyes that were encircled by red, Sarada couldn't help but release a low gasp. "and in pain too." she added.
Sarada removed her hands, but only to take his and examine them. They were covered in blood. And not just the blood of others. It was his own too.
She looked at him closely, the only illumination coming through thanks to the candles who had yet to be destroyed, and the moonlight above them. He didn't seem to have any more serious wounds, but a quick look into his visible left eye, that had turned red from crying, told her a completely different story.
Just about now, he felt so… vulnerable. He felt like a glass waiting to be pushed down and shatter.
She didn't know who had hurt him to that extent, but what hurt her was that… there would not be anyone to help him.
Sarada was startled when the prince removed his hands from her grasp, and brought them up to clutch on her upper-arms. "Injured? In pain? I told you that I just killed a dozen of people." He said and he seemed to be searching for something in her eyes. Demanding something.
"Don't tell me that. Tell me why you did it, that's more reasonable. I won't judge you for it. I've killed too, you know. I did it to save your life… because you deserve to live… everyone does." She stated in reminiscence.
He released her slowly, and with that same slow speed he turned away, but didn't start to walk just yet. Seizing her opportunity, she asked, "Did you do it for fun?" she could read his breath, his expression, even if he had his back turned away from her. He was crying.
"Go." was his only answer.
"We can't escape this place, can we? People have to wield a weapon at a very young age. It's either kill or be killed. Survive or turn to dust."
The prince stood there, leaving her to face his back. Sarada didn't know why was she the one to comfort him, but… "What can you do?" she asked him slowly, but no answer came out of him. "I stand by what I said to you, days ago. It's not a crime wanting to live, nor your surviving ways. You probably won't be forgiven, granted, but you're not the only one. At least I… I understand you. How you're feeling right now… miserable."
Boruto inhaled in somewhat feeling of a shock. He felt miserable, but having someone say it to him, made him feel worse than the lowest of worms.
Sarada had felt miserable. She still did sometimes. Had felt miserable when Iwabe and Wasabi had betrayed her. She had felt it when she woke up a thousand years back in time. She felt immoral for the fact that every time the seventh prince came into her view, she had those bothersome butterflies flying inside her stomach and she was failing so hard to conceal them. And yet… "I can relate." she finished.
Boruto exhaled and it ended up with a sob. Both of his hands came to rest at the – what was left of – top of the fountain that his mother had built, and fell to his knees, his forehead resting at the stones' side.
Sarada, thankfully, got the clue that he needed to be alone… again. She turned to leave and after a few steps, she turned to glance at him again. The prince hadn't moved.
With a low sigh, Sarada walked inside the house and immediately made her way to her room.
Getting out of her winter white dress illustrated with fully bloomed red camellias, she fell on her back in her soft bed, covering herself with the warm blanket. Looking at the ceiling, she brought up her arms, resting them on her forehead and chuckled. "Of all the things… of all the people… I'm relating to him?" she questioned herself slowly. "Goddamn, if only this had been a joke!" she said, before a dreamless sleep claimed her off.
MAIN PALACE; ~next day~
The queen swallowed again, as she glanced at the king's fingers tapping on his throne repeatedly. Just as Boruto had warned her yesterday, Gaara had, indeed, talked to the king about the temple's ownership.
Glancing on the other side, she saw her oldest son, in no better condition, since his clenched jaw could cut through the hardest of stones.
"We chased the assassins the night of the ritual and we found no leads." She heard Prince Mitsuki say. He was standing across from Kawaki, who was sharing the same row as the Crown Prince and the king's right hand man, Sasuke Uchiha. "The person who hired the assassins must have killed them in order to keep them quiet."
"We found the temple that seems to be their headquarters," Gaara started, turning to face his father, "but they had already been killed and the temple was burning. However… " he stopped briefly, glancing at the queen's direction, "the owner of that temple is…"
"Who?" Naruto asked him, but the Crown Prince only proceeded to clear his throat.
"It belongs to Queen Ino." Boruto, who had been standing by Mitsuki's right side, answered. Naruto saw clearly how the Queen and their oldest son tensed over that revelation. Even Mitsuki turned to look at him.
"Are you… are you saying that I am behind the assassination attempt? That I tried to kill the Crown Prince?" the queen asked him slowly.
Boruto released an amused chuckle. "I don't know. Anyone would assume so. It aligns way too perfectly, don't you think?" he said and the queen looked like she was fuming.
A silent fume.
"Queen Ino, did you plot the assassination, or not?" the addressed woman, who had been still looking at the scarred prince, slowly turned her head to face her husband and replied, "I did no such thing."
"Your Majesty, it is all my fault." All eyes present looked at the bowing figure of Kawaki, as he bowed to his knees, his forehead almost touching the cleaned floor. "I never knew it was such a temple. I was the benefactor of that place for mother. Please punish only me, Your Majesty."
The queen closed her eyes, the last night coming into her view. 'Let us see how proud will you feel when you see your son's head in the floor!' Those cursed words that she didn't think would come true so soon, made it unbearable for her to witness. Yet, she opened her eyes and bowed her head to her husband. "If a child has done wrong, then so has the mother. It was my fault for not knowing."
"Your Majesty," Mitsuki cut in, as he too, fell on his knees. "Whomever was the one who ordered it, they're only trying to set us apart. This is definitely a trick to get the royal family to turn on each other."
"It might be." Naruto said, ignoring the queen and his third son. What was bothering him though, was something entirely different, and yet it was tied to this case too. "Sasuke, you said the temple was burning." he addressed the raven haired man, not questionably.
"Yes." he said. "When we arrived there, the flames were engulfing the temple whole, and when they finally died out, we were able to enter inside."
Boruto could feel the gaze of two powerful men on him, but he still looked disinterested… for the time being. "We saw them. Well, what was left of them, at least. We were able to distinguish sword slashes too, and one of them had a knife on his forehead." he finished, and Boruto chuckled.
"I do not know who it was the one who brought the assassins here," Boruto lied, "but it is clear that their intention had been to frame Mother, hence I killed them." he clarified, looking his father in the eye. "If you want me to say sorry for my poor decision, then so be it, but what I said is the truth." Then he proceeded to look at Gaara. "There are many people who don't want brother Gaara to succeed the throne, so there isn't any length they won't cross in order to take him out of the picture."
He stopped briefly, glancing at his mother, "Using the temple that the Queen owned is way too perfect, don't you all think? It would be like killing two – no, technically a whole clan – and the Crown Prince, with just one stone."
The king nodded. "It's way too perfect, indeed. Yet your style of doing things is… way too gruesome, Boruto."
Boruto shrugged. "I have the ability." He said, a smug smile appearing on his lips when everybody present turned to look at him. He didn't know why he couldn't read neither of his parents' expressions though.
SEVENTH PRINCE'S RESIDENCE;
"So as I was saying. She entered my room, put her fingers to feel my pulse, scribbled something and then left." Karin said to her niece as they neared their house.
They had gone out for a walk, since the weather was a bit clearer than most days, and they had discussed the bad manners of Doctor Sakura.
Karin hadn't really believed her eyes when she had seen her doctor conversing so easily with Sarada, not because of the fact that Sakura could start a conversation with anyone, but because Sarada had always been closed off, and in her mind, old habits die hard.
"Yeah, well," Sarada started, "she came to check on me too. You know, to see if my head is stabilized. And then one word let to another etc… etc… and we decided to roam in the yard out of the blue."
"I'm happy for you." Karin said to her, smiling brightly. "To gain that woman's favor is pretty hard. She only keeps what she calls "wonderful" people close."
"She does?" Sarada asked, taken back a little. "Like whom?"
"Well for starters, there is the king's right hand man," Karin chuckled. "It's already a well-known fact that she has an affair with him, and yet, sometimes it's considered just a gossip."
"Oh my God." Sarada covered her mouth, while laughing from happiness. She couldn't imagine her parents with anyone else but each other.
"Then, there is the Head Court Lady, Hinata Hyuga. The only time when one doesn't see those two in each other's company would be when they go to sleep, probably."
That name again. Hinata!
Her mother had mentioned her briefly, mistakenly, during their talk, but just as interest had peaked inside of Sarada, she had brushed it off. "Who is –" Sarada started, only to be cut off by a shout coming from the small crowd of maids, that she and Lady Karin were nearing to.
"No, I don't want to."
"Please, don't make me do it."
"I did it yesterday."
Sarada locked eyes with her aunt's and they both proceeded to shrug. They saw the maids carrying a box of… probably food, and were passing it to each other saying that they didn't want to take it.
"Chocho." Karin addressed, and the crowd, together with Chocho – who Sarada hadn't noticed at first due to the fact that the girl had had her back turned toward her – turned in the direction of her aunt's voice and bowed their heads.
"What is it?" the redhead woman asked this time. "There are guests here. You should all be more careful."
Chocho raised her head slowly, "Well… you see… everyone is trying to avoid taking a meal up to the Fourth Prince."
"How can you take the prince's meal so lightly?" she asked. Releasing a sigh, she ordered, "Enough now. Someone take up the Fourth Prince's meal, right now." Looking at Chocho in the eye she said, "I do not want to see this again."
Sarada hadn't really been listening to what was going on, so she had just resorted to look down, still thinking about her mother's visit. It had left a great, good impact on her that was certain. So when she, somehow, was able to feel a lot pair of eyes on her, she, very startled, looked up. "What?" she asked.
Chocho pursed her lips and averted eye contact with her, making Sarada frown. "Lady, would you take the meal up to the Prince?" she asked.
"Me?" She laughed, looking at Karin, who, surprisingly, had been looking at her too. "But I'm a Lady. I shouldn't be delivering meals, right, auntie?"
"Huh?" Karin asked, clearly faking a cough.
"…"
"…"
"You have got to be kidding me? Wha…" she started, only to be interrupted when the meal box was shoved in her hands.
Sarada looked at it, and if it hadn't been for what it contained inside, she would've probably cursed it to the seven pits of hell. She, delivering a meal to him? Ridiculous!
"Fine, I'll go." She said, a smirk growing in her face. "But not before I mess in the kitchen for just a little bit."
"Ouff!" Sarada grunted again, not feeling her legs anymore, as she was climbing up a hill to where the prince, supposedly, always ate.
Drama Queen!
"Does that blond waste of royalty ever stop to think how hard it is to walk in this shitty dress?" she complained to no one.
"Ouff. Why doesn't he eat in his room if he doesn't want company? Why make all this trouble? The bastard knows I don't like him and now he's going all out. That piece of…" she stopped to keep her breath in control, "Gosh, I'm tired… Oh my." Sarada said to herself as the prince's back came, finally, into her view.
"Yesterday, he made such a commotion, but look at him now. So innocent… he actually looks lonely. Hn, serves him right." she finished, mocking a laugh, only to purse her lips and her eyes widening slightly when the prince looked at her from his shoulder.
Sarada scoffed when the prince turned his head away, though his soft clearing of his throat didn't escape her.
She started walking toward the edge, where he was sitting and upon facing him, she let go of the heavy box, putting it down with a 'clank'-like sound. "Your meal has arrived, Your Highness. Hope you didn't die of hunger." She addressed him dryly.
"Leave it there." was his only answer.
"Yes, I'm sure you would be thrilled to eat alone in such a beautiful scenery, but, I'm afraid I cannot do that. I have to take the plates back, you see." she said, opening the box. "But we can have as much silence as you wish. I'm not really interested in conversing with you." And yet I keep talking?
"We can do that." he said. "But, about yesterday… you didn't see anything."
Sarada, who had been putting out the bowls of food, felt her temples twitching in rising anger. Opening one of the bowls that contained two pieces of chicken meat for the prince, she put in the middle of them, took one and started eating.
She could feel the prince's astounding gaze, but she, for once, decided that this would be a better way of a punishment for him. "What… what are you doing?"
"I'm putting food in my mouth." she said teasingly.
"That's my food." he exclaimed.
"It's mine too since I was the one who brought it up here." She answered, not looking at him.
Boruto chuckled in disbelief, feeling truly surprised more than anything else. Taking the only piece of meat left, he closed in to the sauce, but froze. They both did.
Their hands had touched.
Sarada had this idea to try the chicken with the sauce, since Chocho had said that the prince prefers it most that way. She had wanted to know if it truly makes it even more tasty than it already was, when her hand had collided with his.
They looked at each other, silencing all the other noises around them. Only their heartbeats could be heard. Sarada knew that this was nothing to be called intimate, much less romantic, but she knew for sure that she was sprouting – what she hoped to be only a – light blush on her cheeks.
Boruto saw the light blush that adorned the girl's cheeks and he proceeded to clear his throat, silently cursing himself for feeling embarrassed. He was a man who could kill dozens in matter of minutes and was feeling embarrassed by just a simple hand touch. He felt like a laughing stock.
"Chocho… Chocho said that it's more delicious… this way." Boruto heard her explanation and only gave off a nod. He was glad that she didn't push the matters more, not that there was anything to, anyway.
"Are you looking at the palace over there?" she asked him out of the blue. "Is it why you like to eat out here?"
Getting no answer out of him, she persuaded, "That will eventually be your home. Why must you stare at it while eating?"
Boruto brought the chicken meat down, as he had been about to put some into his mouth. "If it is home, where is my family?"
"Huh?" Sarada was taken by surprise as she hadn't really been expecting a reply out of him. "Don't your parents and brothers live there?"
Silence.
Again.
"By the way…" she started kind of fast, so when she turned toward the prince, he did a double take, looking at her with an expression that Sarada had never even thought the prince was able to make.
He looks like a kicked puppy. Aww.
She shook those thoughts away and addressed him more slowly. "Why did you do that yesterday? You don't want me to talk about it to anyone, so tell me why?"
Boruto coughed on his meal. "Do you… do you not think that you are walking on dangerous territories right now? That is something private."
Sarada rolled her eyes at his obvious answer. "Try me, Your Highness."
"Oh," the prince raised his eyebrows, bemused. "Fine. You tell me first. How did you get into the palace bath that night?"
"…"
"…"
Bull's eye!
"Point taken." was her only reply.
"Hn… hey what's this?" the prince said motioning for a bowl that she had prepared especially for him. "That's dessert." she exclaimed, snatching the said bowl out of the prince's reach. "We'll divide it after finishing the meal. You have a sweet tooth, right?" she asked him.
"I don't mind sweets. I just wasn't expecting any."
"It's pudding," she explained. "I made it using your own personal ingredients."
The prince frowned at her. "What do you mean?"
"Bananas." She said with a smug smile.
Boruto scoffed, knowing perfectly well where this was going. "I swear to God… Call me Banana Boy and you will pay."
Sarada mocked a laugh. "And how am I going to pay exactly?"
"Your name sounds a lot like salad." He said, smirking down at her scoffing expression.
"You haven't even called out MY real name yet, and now you want to call me with a nickname first? Don't you dare."
"Same to you." he answered.
"You're a prince. Princes should be addressed at with respect, shouldn't they?"
"Right." he said, shrugging it off. "Open up that bowl now. I'm curious to see what kind of a chef you are."
"Oh," she raised her brows. "I'm curious too. Here," she opened the bowl and took one spoon from the box, "you try it first."
She saw the prince taking the bowl with one hand and the spoon with the other. Sarada bit her tongue to stop herself from laughing, so the prince wouldn't suspect. What he was about to eat wasn't any kind of sweets.
"OH MY GOD!" the prince started coughing, fanning his flaming mouth with his hands, like crazy, but to no avail. "Water… water." he kept repeating time after time, but Sarada was too long gone into her laughing session, tears falling from her eyes.
Tears had fallen from the prince's eyes too, but definitely not for the same reasons as hers.
"What… what the freaking hell is that thing?" the prince managed to ask somehow.
"Mustard." Sarada said simply.
"Do… don't tell me…"
Sarada frowned. "Nice try, but I'm not buying it. This was your punishment for making me come up here to deliver your meal AND for your attitude toward me up till now."
"I'm allergic… to it." He said slowly, before starting to cough again.
Sarada's eyes widened. She brought her hand up to the prince's forehead and saw that, indeed, he was burning.
"Oh goodness." She exclaimed in a low voice. "Come on, come on. I'll carry you." Sarada said as she slid one arm under his. Walking downhill would be a real pain though. She cursed herself from bringing it upon her head.
Having left the food box up there didn't really make matters better. The terrain was way too sloppy and slippery too, due to the heavy rain that had fell that morning. The humidity was present now as well.
Sarada shook the prince off for a short moment to take off her shoes. Then, without asking, she rummaged inside the prince's boots and found a hunting knife. With it, she proceeded to shorten her winter dress so she would be able to move more freely. She didn't care that she wouldn't be looking off like a lady. She was sure that no one would think of her as one when they arrived together anyway.
Sarada took the prince's right arm around her neck again and proceeded to slid her own under his. Even though he was still coughing, he was still conscious. Damn!
It had been hell.
It still was.
Sarada was on a panting mess as she was practically dragging the blond inside the seventh prince's place.
Her legs had started shaking a long time ago, and the prince hadn't made the matters easier when he had – finally – lost consciousness, leaving Sarada to drag him with her – now weak, mind you – arms.
Sarada had been doing that for what felt like hours now. The dark had long since risen and she wouldn't be surprised if she found others waiting for them at the front door.
Thank God no one was there.
"Gosh, he's so heavy." Sarada exclaimed, panting.
"Let… let us s… stop." the – ex – fainted prince whispered slowly, his warm breath tickling Sarada's neck.
"Hey, you're awake!" she said. "We're already here. Let's just get inside."
"Fi… fine. Let… walk… own." She heard him murmuring and snorted. "You can't even speak properly much less walk. Come on!" she said, ascending the stairs.
Entering the dark hallway, she felt heavier than before. Looking – more like, trying to look in the dark – down at the man she was supporting, Sarada spotted that he had fallen asleep again.
She exhaled slowly, so not to wake up the others and just continue to walk.
But to where?
She didn't know where his room was.
Sarada halted her steps as that particular fact occurred to her. Where was she going to leave the prince? She couldn't leave him in the corridor, nor outside. She would definitely not leave him in her room…
"Hey… Hey… wake up." she shook him a little, but his response was only a painful grunt. A pain that she had caused.
"Just for tonight." She said as she creaked the door of her room open with the help of her right foot. She cursed when she saw that the curtains were covering all the possible light from outside, making it a complete dark inside her room. Though, it was pretty understandable, since she should've been in her bed by now. Sleeping.
So who is there to blame when in the dark… with fallen objects on the floor… she didn't see where she was walking and both she and the prince grunted as they fell on the bed with a hard lump?
In her bed?
Together?
Sarada made a pained face as she ached all over. "Ow, ow. Dammit, I hope the name of mustard is lost from the history." She prayed in her misery and to no avail, because she knew very well that it hadn't been lost. At least not one thousand years from now.
'Would it be okay to just sleep here like this?' she wondered to herself, having lost all her will to get up. All her strength.
She forgot to convert oxygen into carbon dioxide for quite some precious seconds as her black eyes rested onto golden locks, who were sprayed across her cheek and their owner was already fast asleep. All over her. With her.
She gave off a loud, heavy sigh at her desperate situation and Sarada knew, she knew that now was the proper moment to say that word.
SHIT!
AUTHOR'S NOTES
Well, I hope the chapter didn't turn out to be shitty on its own lol. I thought that it'll be a lot shorter in the beginning but it turned out almost 6k words (or 18 pages) long in the end.
I have not suffered from any type of allergy in my entire life so my knowledge to dealing with it, or its symptoms is equivalent to ZERO. I've only seen these types of scenes on TV, so don't take that scene too seriously. It's a cute scene yes, but that's it. It doesn't contain any medical knowledge.
I wasn't really planning to update this soon though, but given the fact that I'm busy next week AND maybe there isn't a Boruto episode next week *cries* (honestly though… somehow I didn't want team 10 to tag along, but I guess they're trying to develop side characters too? Who knows?), so here it is. A chapter with, dare I say, PLENTY BoruSara scenes, so enjoy.
Also, I wonder if the Boruto manga spoilers that I saw on the internet are true, about Boruto and Kawaki being caught peeing together?, because if it is, then ROFALMAO, also paparuto and mommyhina are adorable. And Kawaki is still sad about breaking Himawari's vase #shipalert #shipalert (but I don't want to. IT'S HAPPENING ON ITS OWN).
That last scene in Boruto ep 75 with Boruto supporting Sarada reminded me of the SasuSaku scene, when Sakura and Obito save Sasuke from Kaguya's dimension lol.
ANYWAY… don't forget to Readand Review, okay?
SEE YA!
