The leaves blew so violently around them that she had to scream to get her words out. They were standing in a field, the grass up to their waists, but it felt like quicksand to move through. With each second, they grew further apart and she had to scream even louder.

"What?!" he yelled back. "I can't hear you!"

"I love-"

Sarada jerked awake and almost fell out of the hospital bed.

"Hey, hey, you're okay," Mitsuki murmured beside her.

"Where am I?" she cried, flailing her arms and legs. Mitsuki stood to reposition the blankets over her and soothingly patted her head.

"We're home."

"Home?" she asked, confused. They were on a mission….They were supposed to be...The bandits. The memories came flying back to her and she flailed again."Wait, where are the others?!"

"Everyone is okay," he sing-songed. "You got a little hurt and Konohamaru-sensei decided that it'd be best if you went home."

"But the mission-" How long was she out for?

"They'll be alright without us. We're just more worried about you." There was that edge to his voice again, the same one she recognized from Konohamaru the night before.

Suddenly, she remembered Mitsuki's last words to her. The baby. He somehow knew she was pregnant. "Mitsuki...I…"

"It's okay," he said knowingly. "You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to." He looked around. "We're in the hospital after all."

Sarada didn't want to talk about it but she needed to talk about it. "How did you know…" she whispered.

"It's pretty obvious, don't you think?" he chuckled. "You haven't looked like yourself for the past week. I thought at first that maybe you were sick, but I knew by the time you threw up on Boruto that it wasn't just a virus."

Damn. He was good. "Does anyone else know…?"

He glanced down at her. "If you mean Boruto, no I don't think he does. I don't think he's the best at these types of things."

Sarada laughed dryly. You have no idea. She suddenly looked nervously around the room again as she realized they could have run tests on her already...Her mother could have run tests on her already. "How long have we been here?" she whispered lowly. "Does anyone here...know?"

Mitsuki shook his head. "You just got to this room. Miss Shizune hooked you up to an IV but other than that nothing has happened. Your mother is in surgery, if you're worried about her."

Sarada deflated into her pillow. Thank god. "D-do you think sensei knows?"

"If he does he hasn't said anything, and I don't think he will. This isn't anyone's place except yours." He paused for a moment before speaking again. "Are you going to tell him? Or Boruto?"

"I don't know what I'm going to do…"

"That's fair. It's a big decision."

At that moment she had never been happier to have Mitsuki as a teammate. He was so understanding and didn't seem to care or judge. He had always allowed her and Boruto to settle their own arguments without taking sides often, and now he was supportive without asking anything more of her. She was undoubtedly staring down the biggest decision of her life and Mitsuki was there without question. She wasn't exactly sure how Boruto would take it, whether just as her teammate or the- she winced thinking about it- the father. "So how did you know it was Boruto…?" she asked.

"You guys have been fighting a bit more than usual," he admitted. "I figured you had a falling out over something big that happened. I guess this was the big thing."

"He has zero clue though," she whispered.

"Well, if you're going to go ahead with your pregnancy don't you have to tell him sooner rather than later?"

Sarada squeezed her eyes shut. Mitsuki was a great teammate, yes, but he was also prone to asking the difficult questions of them.

At that moment Shizune walked in to cut off Sarada's thoughts. "So I hear you were a bit sick on your mission," she announced. Sarada felt a ping in her stomach as Shizune smiled down at her and placed a hand on her forehead as though she was there for a routine checkup. "How are you feeling right now?"

"Good…" she admitted.

Shizune checked her clipboard. "It appears you were a bit dehydrated. We can run some tests and see-"

"NO!" Sarada cried. Both Mitsuki and Shizune eyed her cautiously. She giggled to attempt to make up for her outburst. "I'm really okay. Really. I'd like to go home. I think I just need some rest."

Shizune shook her head. "I don't think your mother would like that very much… If you were discharged from a mission-"

"Please, please. Let me go home." Sarada fought to sit up to show she was okay, but quickly grew dizzy. She fought through it. She couldn't risk her mother knowing, not when she wasn't sure of her own emotions toward this life.

Shizune sighed and placed a hand on her hip. "Let me go ask your mother."

Even hours later, long after they defeated the bandits, retrieved the scrolls for the village, and were settling in for the night, Boruto couldn't shake the thought of Sarada. There was a guilt at his core, something that nagged him and shackled him to the image of her face after he called her that name. Why did he do it? He knew she was sick, knew there was something going on with her, and yet he still allowed his emotions to get the best of him and lashed out at her.

He had no excuse, really. He knew that. It was inexcusable to get that angry at a partner, but especially one he supposedly lov- No. Don't think about that, Boruto. Don't admit that. That ship had sailed. She made it obvious she didn't want to be with him, right? And he couldn't shake the feeling either that it was all his fault.

Before he could even apologize- not that he would have apologized anyway, he had to admit to himself- she passed out. They couldn't rouse her and he even watched as her face lost all color and she fell to the ground. He asked to be the one to take her, even yelled at Konohamaru, begging to take her home, but ultimately he chose Mitsuki to return to the village with her to seek help, and now he was left here with his regrets. Alone. This was his personal hell, left to worry about Sarada while she was miles away, in the hospital by now, in god knew what condition. He ran through every worst case scenario in his head. Cancer? A brain tumor? Why was she so sick? And why didn't he just recognize that instead of yelling at her? He definitely ruined any chances of ever fixing their friendship. He didn't even care about his shoes that carried the permanent smell of vomit now. He'd wear those shoes forever if it meant he could have her back. What have you done, you fucking idiot.

"Boruto, are you okay?" Inojin, Shikadai, and Cho Cho had left to collect food while Boruto and Konohamaru set up a fire. Konohamaru had been watching him more closely after he sent Mitsuki to take Sarada home, but as the day wore on, he began to get increasingly worried over his silence and darkened eyes.

"Yeah," Boruto muttered impatiently. He noticeably avoided Konohamaru's eyes.

"Are you worried about Sarada?" he then asked.

Boruto grit his teeth until they hurt. Worried is an understatement. "...Yeah."

"She's fine," Konohamaru soothed. "She's with Mitsuki. No one should work when they are that sick. But she'll be better in a few days."

But even though he told Boruto that, he wasn't sure that was true. He had a sneaking suspicion it was more than just an illness. He had never seen her look like that before, and he remembered clearly how Hinata looked the same exact way when she was pregnant with both Boruto and Himawari. He remembered being so worried for Naruto as he'd hurry home from missions without as much as a wave because of his own concern for his wife. Was it morning sickness? Was there a possibility that this was the something that happened between those two…?

"I know that," Boruto replied gruffly and Konohamaru suddenly recognized the look he was seeing in his eyes. For all the toughness he tried to put on, he saw so much pain. He knew this was more than just general concern over a fallen teammate. He loved her.

"Boruto…" Konohamaru ventured cautiously. Should he ask? Was it his place? Because once he opened this door there was no way to close it again.

"Hm."

"I need you to tell me what happened between you two…"

"I already told you-" he cried.

"Boruto." Just say it. "Is Sarada pregnant?"

Boruto felt his vision flash. If he didn't already have enough to worry about that day, he did now.

"What the hell are you talking about?!" he spewed. He felt his heart start to race. What did Sarada tell him? Did she tell Big Brother Konohamaru what they did-

Konohamaru held up his hands innocently. "I'm just trying to figure out what's going on," he exclaimed. "She's sick, you're fighting more than usual-"

"Pregnant?" he cried. That was impossible! They had been careful, weren't they?! Well there was that one time, the first time, but he made sure to-

Wait. Wait…

He paused as his eyes widened in recognition. "N-No...she can't…" His voice trailed off.

Konohamaru's eyebrows raised as he watched Boruto's face morph into horror. "Did you guys…"

Boruto didn't say a word and just dragged his guilty eyes to Konohamaru's. Konohamaru sucked in a breath as his fears were confirmed. That stupid idiot.

"Boruto…"

"I need to go home." Boruto could feel his legs begin to shake. He began to pace, his mind rushing through every interaction they had together the last week. At first he thought she was looking a tad run down because she was upset about their fight, but now that Konohamaru had breached the possibility, it seemed plausible. Oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck-

"Hey." Konohamaru tried to grab him but Boruto took a step back, trying to escape his sensei's words. "Hey, Boruto, calm down. You need to calm down."

"Do you think that's why she's sick?" Boruto hissed out a whisper. Oh GOD. It made so much sense. The timing...the sickness... Is that why she was crying? And he called her a bitch?

He raised a hand to his mouth and lost feeling in his legs as he sunk to his knees. "Konohamaru, I need to go home. Now," he demanded.

"We'll be home tomorrow and then-"

"NO." He could feel the blood rising in his face as he realized how badly he had messed up. He should have just apologized that day. He shouldn't have let her walk out the door. He should have just told her how he felt and that he loved her.

But if she was pregnant, why hadn't she told him? Was she trying to keep it from him? Why wouldn't she tell him? He needed confirmation and he needed it now.

But even more than that...if she was...and she was all the way back in the village…that meant anyone might know...

Boruto whimpered. "My dad is going to kill me."