I'm sorry it's been about 6 weeks since I posted last; grad school gets a little time-consuming for obvious reasons. But I haven't abandoned this and won't! It's the self-care I use to relax and get away from school when I can.

The next two chapters are going to speed up through the months so it may read a little different than the last few chapters!

TW: suicide (not a major character)

4 months- Sarada

It had been two months since Boruto and Sasuke walked out of the village in search of remnants of Kara, and both Boruto and Sarada were sinking into their new routines as the days rolled out before them, one busy and urgent and the other lazily watching the days pass.

Things had slowed down and there was no more talk of the prophecy; besides knowing her days having the freedom to go wherever she wanted was ticking toward an end, Sarada felt normal. Or, she had to admit, as normal as she could feel carrying two babies and being unable to work.

Summer was in full force now and the days were longer, and Sarada felt the cruelty of that as she couldn't take advantage of the lighter, warm nights in the middle of the village for very much longer.

This was the last month, she realized, that she could hang out with her friends in the village until her growing bump would give her away. Sakura told her she was lucky that she wasn't showing much so she met with her friends as much as possible, trying to soak in their "final days" as Sarada called them, as though she'd never see them again. Konohamaru and Mitsuki would stop by, sometimes alone or sometimes with each other, to bring her food or just relax with her, keeping her updated on their missions to make her feel like she was there.

Cho Cho in particular was more than happy to give into Sarada's cravings. They spent a lot of time at Thunder Burger where the Akimichi girl would grin slyly as she'd watch Sarada suck down two burgers then inevitably beg her friend to order more fries that she'd douse in ketchup.

"You don't even like tomatoes," she said the first time Sarada covered the fries in so much ketchup she couldn't even see the food underneath.

"Ketchup is barely tomatoes."

"Yeah, it's sugar tomatoes. Even worse."

Sarada took a gigantic bite, feeling the ketchup drip down her chin and back onto the fries in front of her. She immediately leaned back in to take another bite without wiping her mouth.

"You're disgusting."

"And you have no idea how badly I needed this," Sarada groaned, the craving in her stomach dissipating, and dug into another bite.

4 months- Boruto

They only found one more body but this one lit something in Boruto that even Sasuke was surprised by. It darkened the boy by slight degrees, but it was enough to when Sarada would see him months later she sensed the difference in him. It would show up as distraction, something that would pull his mind away and cause him to rap his fingers impatiently on the table. It was the "Hm? Sorry, I wasn't listening," in almost every conversation. It was worry lines that hung on his skin like scars. But Sarada would define the change mostly as the lingering hug he'd give, squeezing almost too tightly like he was terrified she'd float away if he let go.

And it could be traced to this child's body.

Similar to the last body, they found him in an abandoned lab. But this child couldn't have been more than five, Boruto thought and then later confirmed. He heard the parents' screams when they were informed and the mother's anguished cry echoed even in his dreams. It was getting harder to separate himself from this mission, and as Sasuke led him away from the cries he pictured himself in the parents' spot. Someday that could be him if he didn't crack this mystery and didn't stop their plans. If he already felt like this now, how would he feel when his children were actually born and in his physical life instead of just living in his head? How would he feel if he knew he could never hold them again when he already couldn't bear that thought now and he had never even touched them?

"He had no eyes," he blandly stated to Sasuke as they laid down to sleep that night.

"No."

"They took his eyes."

"Yes."

"Why? What the hell could they be trying?" he asked into the darkness.

"I'd assume they're experimenting further on body modifications." Sasuke sounded so matter-of-fact and unaffected. Somehow he had learned to separate himself over the years, but Boruto couldn't figure out that secret when all he could do was put himself in the parents' shoes after losing their child. Didn't he worry about Sarada? Or is that worry what kept him away for so long?

"He was five. He was a child and they just...threw him away."

"Yes."

Boruto knew there was nothing more Sasuke could say to make it right. It was just the reality they were facing. Two dead children. A trail to follow. Nightmares of the last year: defeating Kawaki, his brother, and the remnants of Kara. And now this. He just had to swallow it and go on like normal.

5 months- Sarada

She tried to hold off for as long as possible in case Boruto came home, but she finally conceded to her mother to receive another ultrasound. It would be the first one she'd have since they could determine their sexes.

"Are you sure you don't want to know?" Sakura asked as she rubbed her daughter's abdomen with the warm gel.

"No. Not until Boruto's here."

She sucked in a breath as the outlines of the babies popped up on the screen. Knowing her skills wouldn't be able to detect what they would be, she let her eyes float to the bobbing figures, feeling a little in awe of seeing what grew inside her.

Sakura stayed silent as she moved the machine around.

"What?" Sarada asked nervously after her mother didn't say anything; usually by now she'd have said something to crack the silence, whether moving her attention toward their toes or fingers, or having her listen to their heartbeats. "Is something wrong?"

"No, no, not at all!" Sakura turned back to her with a large grin spreading her face.

"Can you tell…? Like...do you know?" she then asked, still feeling the shiver of nervous energy running along the back of her neck. It still felt surreal sometimes, the reality of two tiny beings growing inside of her. Sometimes it didn't feel like they were real, just something inside of her that fluttered against her to let her know they were there.

But now they were at a point that they could be defined. It felt real.

Sakura's cheeks pinkened as she turned back to the screen. "Yes!" she squeaked.

"Wait, really?" Sarada scrambled to sit up on the table, her fingers struggling to find purchase. "Like really really?"

"Yes, really really!"

"Oh my gosh! So you know if they're a boy or a girl?" She couldn't stop asking. This finally was more real than it ever had been but her mind still couldn't wrap itself around the thought that the two tiny beings that had taken up home inside her were actual humans. They weren't just little beans anymore, the name she had taken to calling them- they were growing into people, and it was just one step closer to meeting those people.

"Yes, yes, I know what they are!" her mother laughed again as she watched her child blink wide eyed at the screen. "Have you started thinking about names?"

Sarada just shook her head as Sakura continued to examine the babies. "No… I wanted Boruto for that too…" Her voice trailed off at the end after recognizing her broken record answer that she'd been giving to almost every question.

Sakura sighed then paused for a moment to look at her daughter. "You know," she said quietly, "I understand you want to wait for him. I know they are just as much his children as they are yours. But we don't know when they'll be back, and I don't want you to have waited to prepare everything until they get here and then feel overwhelmed. Your dad and Boruto might not even get here before-"

"No." Sarada shook her head firmly. "Dad promised. He wouldn't not be back in time for them to be born."

"Twins often don't make it to forty weeks, Sarada," she said, lowering her voice to try to round out the sharp edges of reality. "There is a very real chance you could deliver before-"

Sarada couldn't listen anymore and cut her mother's words off, hoping that if the words didn't make it out then they wouldn't come true. "Don't say that. They'll be here."

Five months- Boruto

Carelessness among fringe members of Kara led Boruto to scrubbing his hands raw to clean the blood off them.

They finally had tracked someone who knew something, a misstep on that person's part even leading them here in the first place. Without a stable centralized location, Boruto and Sasuke determined that Kara could easily float anywhere if they had enough connections in the areas. But a wider range of people, even if that didn't necessarily mean numbers, also meant people were more likely to accidentally draw attention to themselves. These people just wanted to be a part of something and didn't have the foresight to keep their mouths shut when they didn't have a central voice dictating plans.

These whispers brought them to a smaller village in the outskirts of the Land of Earth where after a few days of stalking and watching the man they heard had connections, they finally had the opportunity to strike.

They knew his job was kidnapping children for the group, so when they found him leaving a bar one night and heading toward a small campsite ringing with the laughter of children Boruto didn't wait any longer.

The man had suppressed his chakra to almost nothing even though the children wouldn't have suspected anything anyway, causing Boruto to believe that he knew someone was following him. When he cut through the shadows toward the man, his suspicions were confirmed as the man countered his attack before he could strike.

His kunai flew through the air and into the tall grass after clashing with the enemy's fluid blocking. He cursed.

"You've been following me." The man turned toward him and smirked, gripping his kunai tighter. "Ah, what a thrill it is to see Boruto Uzumaki in the flesh. I knew we'd meet eventually."

Boruto tensed as his eyes roved over the man as rapidly as they could, trying to take in as much detail as possible in case something happened to separate them. "Who are you?" he asked, deepening his voice into a growl.

"Oh, just a fan," the man stated smoothly, and both men could sense the air of mocking soaking his words.

"Is that right?" Sasuke asked blandly beside him.

The man started sauntering counterclockwise to them, and the duo walked the other way to keep the same amount of distance between them.

"How could I not be? You're the Golden Child, the boy who will still bring everything we hope for into fruition. You may not be a part of Kara officially but you're definitely one of us. So tell me, Boruto, is it getting stronger? Can you feel him? Why try to fight it anymore?" His teeth glinted sharply in the moonlight as he grinned wider. "I knew we'd meet eventually. I know you've been on our tail for the last few months, isn't that right? We have people watching.

"I also heard," the man continued, now twirling his kunai casually on a finger as he paced as though they were talking about something as simple as the weather, "that you've found some of our rejects too. Thanks for disposing of them properly, that makes clean-up easier for us."

Boruto couldn't stop the whine from escaping his throat. His muscles ached to charge forward, but Sasuke put a hand on his shoulder to keep him from running.

"Why do you talk like you'll get away?!" he snarled.

The man's eyes gleamed at him and his grin turned into a smirk. He stopped spinning his kunai. "Oh, I know I won't get away. This is the end of the line for me. But do you know who I really wish I had a chance to retrieve before the end?"

His glare pierced straight through the blonde. "...I heard that sister of yours has a pretty pair of eyes that would be perfect for us."

All the thoughts in Boruto's head turned to static as he broke away from Sasuke's grip and rushed toward their enemy, but before he could make contact the man reached up with his kunai and slit his own throat. The man instantly dropped to the ground, choking out spurts of blood onto Boruto as he tried to stop the wound and shake him back to life. Hot blood covered his hands and burned his skin but he couldn't stop covering his skin and leaned in to start CPR. He wanted to be the one to kill this man, needed to be the one, to make him pay for his threats; he needed to get all the information he could out of the man before he'd dispose of the body himself. This man couldn't go on his own timeline. This couldn't be one more notch to add onto his failtures

"He was mocking you, don't buy into it!" Sasuke hissed at his shoulder. "He's dead, stop, stop. Boruto. STOP!"

Sasuke finally ripped Boruto's shaking hands away and launched him away from the body. "Listen to me."

"Did you hear him?!" The teen moved a hand subconsciously to his hair to swipe it from his sweaty forehead but instead only smeared the blood over his face. "Hima is-"

"He had this planned all along. I'm sure they were ordered to do this if they ran into us so we can't gain access to information. They know we're coming. They're scared. That's a good sign."

Boruto didn't respond, his breaths coming out shallow and his eyes darkened and shell shocked as he continued to stare at the body across from him.

"Boruto?"

After a moment Sasuke grabbed his student by the jaw and pulled his head up to look into his eyes. "You need to get a hold of yourself."

"Hima-"

"She's fine. Everyone is fine-"

"Mister?" A small voice pulled the duo out of their haze and they turned their heads to find three small girls huddled together holding a lantern that lit their pajamas. Boruto suddenly remembered the campsite of children.

"It's okay now," he tried to say, but realized from his vantage point all they could see was a man gripping a bloody teenager and a dead man with a slit throat.

It was less than okay.

Six months- Sarada

Staring at her profile in the mirror, it was impossible to deny she was pregnant now. But it wasn't as hard to not go out as she thought it would be; life had moved on like normal, and she adjusted to the new rules like it had always been this way. By now she was used to spending her days with her face in books. She devoured all the pages she could about raising children, soaking in the techniques like they were another taijutsu move she couldn't wait to try out on a mission. This was her new mission and she was determined to treat it as such.

All of her friends seemed to be sent on longer missions now, and besides reading and sometimes spending the evenings at the Uzumakis, knitting with Hinata or laying on the couch and voicing her fears while Hinata tidied around her, she didn't have any direction of her own.

It also was a lot of lying in the tall grass of the Uchiha training fields, watching the sun move overhead. It became her secret place. While the world moved around her, her friends in and out of the village with their own jobs and purposes, the only passing of time was the growing of the wild flowers and her stomach, swollen. That was her purpose. To grow amongst the flowers. This was where she'd write to him.

After an evening with Hinata reflecting on what her mother said during her last ultrasound, she decided they finally needed to talk. She wore his necklace daily to feel him close, but they hadn't actually swapped any other letters. Knowing he was busy, she didn't want to bother him. And why would she? The sooner he was done with whatever it was he was doing, the sooner he could come home.

But her mother and his mother were right: it was time they planned.

She took out a scrap paper and wrote a name.

Six months- Boruto

The letter arrived to Boruto after he and Sasuke settled in for lunch.

"What is it?" his sensei asked, eyeing the neatly folded letter suspiciously.

Boruto tore it open but stayed silent as he tried to determine what he was seeing. He recognized the handwriting, but it still took him another beat to realize what the only two words that Sarada wrote had meant.

Satoshi.

Hanako.

"Is that supposed to mean something?" Sasuke pressed again as he looked over Boruto's shoulder.

"I think they're names," he breathed.

Sasuke then turned away to take another bite of his lunch, realizing his place and leaving his student alone. "Smart to not add anything else in case someone intercepted," he said after a moment. He noticed the younger shinobi didn't respond, and peeked to the side to find him grinning at the letter. He noted that it was the first smile he had seen from the teen in weeks.

"Yeah." His smile was almost tangible as he pulled a pen out of his pocket. "So what do you think, Sasuke? Do you like the names?"

"I think it's up to you and her," he replied coolly, taking another bite.

Boruto blinked at them for another moment before making a few marks on the paper. Seeing her handwriting was the first time his body had relaxed in over a month. Everyday he felt more and more on edge, pulled away from his home as he tried to race the clock to find out what happened to these missing children and Kara's whereabouts now. It was a nice reprieve from his work in front of him and a glimpse into what was waiting for him at home.

A rush of motivation lit his nerves and he scribbled a few names of his own on the paper.

Satoshi. Yes.

Hanako. No.

Itsumi.

Satsu.

And that's how the game began of communicating strictly in baby names, letting them each float away from their fears for a few moments to lay wrapped up in their hopes for the future.

Seven months- Sarada

Hinata had already set it up with Naruto before Sarada stepped inside his office with a late dinner a few nights later.

"She's been spending so much time at our house because she has nothing else to do and I know she's bored," she told him. "I know it's for her safety but she needs something intellectually stimulating too. Can she come shadow you for a bit? When you work late? It'll give you more help and she needs to feel useful. This is really taking a toll on her." She twisted the knife a little deeper in a way that she knew would make him say yes. "Think about your grandchildren."

"Fine," he sighed, "but she can't be seen," he then added firmly at the end.

He had been in sparing contact with Sasuke about the issues he and Boruto had found; it seemed they were always chasing the evaporating fumes of Kara, always one step behind, finding their remnants, and besides the one run in, never anything concrete to destroy. The organization somehow seemed to be everywhere and nowhere at once, and even though the duo were collecting data and patterns that could help them later, there wasn't anything they could necessarily do right now and that fact worried Naruto the most. Knowing that children as new bodies seemed to be their focus now, he didn't even want to chance Sarada being seen.

But he still put on the biggest grin he could manage as the girl knocked on his office door later that week.

"It's so good to see you!" His voice was warm sunshine to Sarada and he ran around his desk to pull out a seat for her to sit in. "How are you feeling? I'm sorry it's been so long."

"I'm sure you've been busy here…" She suddenly felt her size as she waddled into the room and sat down. Naruto hadn't seen her in a few weeks and she suddenly realized how enormous she must have looked compared to the last time they saw each other. She opened her mouth to apologize until he saw him grinning brightly at her stomach.

"Your mom and Hinata have been keeping me updated. They said you've been feeling a lot better." His eyes drew up to meet hers. "Morning sickness gone?"

"And the cravings have replaced that," she groaned. "I feel like Boruto. I could eat a burger for every meal if it was healthy."

Naruto chuckled. "Well, you look healthy and that's all that matters, right?" He then pulled out a second bento box from the bag Sarada carried over and slid it toward her. "So you're probably wondering why Hinata asked you to be the one to bring me food."

The girl nodded slowly.

"It's not just to get you out of the house when no one's around. I actually wanted to ask if you wanted to shadow me. Get some experience. If you still wanted to be Hokage someday, you know." He winked at her.

"I could use some company. And I'm sure you could use some too," he added, making sure to watch for her reaction. His stomach flipped as he watched her eyes widen and her cheeks flush; Hinata was right. She needed this.

"Wait. Really?" she stumbled. "You want me to shadow you?"

"Best way to get experience, right? You're a great kunoichi. I'm missing your expertise a lot; not having you has definitely left a hole in our manpower."

Sarada's face flushed a deeper scarlet and she couldn't even focus on the food in front of her. He wanted her to learn from him! "I...I don't even know what to say, Lord Seventh. Thank you!"

"Naruto." He winked again. "You knew me before Hokage. We're family."

She spent every night there from then on out after the sky darkened and roads cleared, and he'd walk her home just before day break while they stifled their laughter to keep their presence unknown. He shared the inner workings of the village, the types of meetings and paperwork that never seemed to clear up, and she was able to complete a lot of what he had been putting off. Sarada once again felt like she had a purpose. She may not have been able to go on missions, but she was able to witness firsthand what it took to be Hokage, even if she only could see it after the world went to sleep.

It was in his office when she first felt the pangs of pain a few weeks later.

"Hey, what do you think about-" She was helping plan the Chunin Exams and had just turned to run an idea past him when a sharp pain suddenly held her in a vice, causing her to double over.

In an instant she was on the ground, her vision blurry from the white hot pain that suddenly took her breath away. She tried to fill her lungs but another twist stole the air from her again.

"What happened? Are you okay?!"

Sarada could feel Naruto in front of her with one hand on her face to tilt her chin toward him but she couldn't focus enough on him through the pain.

"I think… I think something's wrong…" she tried to say but she didn't know if she even got the words out before she dropped further.

Only vaguely aware of her surroundings now, she knew Naruto had left her and was suddenly screaming over the phone but couldn't make out the words through the blood rushing in her ears. She felt strong arms pick her up and lay her flat on the ground and could hear Naruto's voice above her again yelling into the receiver again, and after what felt like hours the door above her finally opened and she could hear her mother making demands over her.

"Hey, Sarada, can you hear me? Can you tell me what happened?"

"I don't...It hurts…" was all she could say.

Her thoughts couldn't cut through the fog of the grip on her lower body and the thought that she was still in Naruto's office as her mother checked her passed over her mind and then disappeared again. The only thought that somehow made it through, screeching and loud at the forefront, was if her children were going to be okay.

This couldn't be happening here. She still had two months. She couldn't be in labor on the Hokage's floor, not when five minutes before she was organizing Chunin Exam applications. Not when her family had gone through all those lengths to plan every last detail of the delivery.

Not when Boruto wasn't here.

"She's only one centimeter dilated," Sakura's voice wavered overhead. "There's no bleeding. We'll transport her to the hospital but I don't think she's in labor. Sarada, are you all right? Are you able to talk?"

The grip inside her suddenly released and all at once she was gasping for air as her vision cleared to see her mother, Tsunade, and Naruto staring down at her. She wasn't even aware the Fifth Hokage had come in.

"I'm...fine…" she gasped.

"It's okay if you're not," her mother replied as Naruto lifted her off the floor. "But you will be."

Seven months- Boruto

"So you're telling me you don't want to go home."

"Kids are being taken. I don't know if I could live with myself if I didn't try a little bit more." Boruto hung his head, feet hanging over the edge of the pier that jutted out toward the ocean. The sun gleamed blindingly over the ocean as it set on the Land of Waves. "I'm sorry."

Sasuke stood over him with his hand on his hip. "You have nothing to apologize about. You just want to do your job."

Boruto didn't respond. He was tired. It had been almost half a year and they barely had anything to show for it; one run in, some leads that somehow didn't get them that far. It added up, sure, but beyond that he felt like they were just spinning their wheels. But he knew if he gave up now then they'd have won. "I didn't know it'd be this hard."

"We have a better start than you think." Sasuke sat next to him and looked out at the horizon in the distance toward the direction of home. "Look, I need to talk to you about something. I know I'm the reason you're out here, so I know this will be strange coming from me so I need you to listen." He sighed, bracing himself for Boruto's reaction.

"Sarada had some early contractions and they thought she went into early labor-"

"What?!"

"Just listen. She's fine. Nothing is wrong and it was just a false alarm but they are obviously keeping an eye on her now; apparently early labor can be typical for twins. But I also know she'd never forgive me if I didn't make sure you were home for this. So take a break. Don't kill yourself over this. We can regroup with your father and figure out where to go from here, but I think it's best if you go home now. Under normal circumstances I wouldn't make a decision like this but I truly think it's for the best."

"Sasuke…" Blue eyes blinked up at him but he didn't know how to convey his thoughts so he just stared with his mouth half open.

"What did I tell you before? You can't handle everything on your own. You need to learn when to ask for help and this is something that isn't going to resolve itself anytime soon. We know they're regrouping but I think we have enough information on their patterns that we can handle this. This isn't the end of searching for this if you go home for a short while, I promise. So please. Can you go home?"

Home. It seemed like such a foreign concept now, now that so much had changed over the last five months since they left. He felt like a different person, older and more tired, and if he was honest with himself a little more jaded. He wondered if this is what Sasuke felt like when he was gone for all those years while Sarada was growing up; with so much work ahead of him that he needed to take care of, how could he ever separate himself from it and go home now? When there were still threats? Who was he anymore if he wasn't focusing on this day after day?

But also Sarada. His real life was waiting. How could he stay out here when she was in pain and he wasn't even there? He didn't even want to come in the first place yet they had been out here for almost six months.

What did he want? What was the right choice? And was there even a right choice?

Boruto turned his head toward his sensei and opened his mouth to respond but his voice was washed away by the waves.