9:43 pm

Konohamaru followed close on Boruto's heels while he zig zagged around the campsite as though he believed his soul could exit his body if he took one sharp corner correctly. "Boruto, you need to calm down, and let's please think through this calmly and-"

"Calmly?!" Boruto's voice cracked as he turned around on his sensei. What did Konohamaru know about being calm? How could he be doling out advice at a time like this when he clearly had never been in such a fucked situation before? "I need to get to Sarada before anyone else does."

"She'll be okay," he tried to reason.

"I don't doubt that she'll be okay!" Boruto yelled back. "But if my dad finds out? Or my mom…" His eyes widened as a realization dawned on him like a cracked egg that oozed through his brain and settled in his pores. "...OR HER DAD." He turned to pace again and sped up his walk, itching to scratch his skin off and shed his body because, as he quickly told himself, if he killed himself now, Sasuke wouldn't have to later.

Konohamaru winced because he had a point. "Look," he continued, "you don't even know for sure if that's what's going on." His mind racked for anything that could slow Boruto down to a stop but was coming up short- his parents and her parents were going to murder him if Sarada really was pregnant. He was all but a dead man walking.

Boruto stopped and rounded on him again, slamming a fist down into his other hand while he screamed, "You're the one who fucking brought it up!" His echoing voice disturbed birds in a tree above them, sending them flying and squawking into the distance.

"Shhhh! You need to keep your voice down, the others will-"

"I don't care at this point! I'm already dead anyway!" Boruto's mind was already made up. There was clearly no other way. A pit had formed in his stomach and he knew, just knew that Sarada was hiding this secret. It was like he could already feel an invisible string connecting him to Sarada, and the question was no longer if she was pregnant, it was how would he get to her and talk to her before anyone else could.

"Stop being dramatic," Konohamaru demanded and tried to walk toward him again, but Boruto dodged. Something in his brain exploded in that moment, a feeling that a clock had just ticked down to zero. Why was he even still here arguing with Konohamaru? He could be heading home by now. By the time he gets home he'll have lost about twelve hours and who knows what will have spilled out by then? Only three hours separated him and Sarada and him fixing their relationship; he couldn't lose any more time.

He smoothly dodged Konohamaru again as he ran back toward the fire, snatching up his backpack before running in the opposite direction. "Tell everyone I'm sorry!" he exclaimed and pushed full force ahead through the leaves. He knew that Konohamaru wouldn't come after him because he had the others to worry about. It almost felt like he had just played a prank and was making the getaway. But this time, he had to admit, he wasn't laughing as he was waiting to be caught, and the consequences were much worse than anything else he had pulled in the village.

If he hurried, he could make it by midnight.

11:52 pm

Sarada lay in bed, wide awake even though the room spun around her, the anti-nausea medication in her IV wearing off and leaving her to sink back in the blackhole of nausea.

The day spun around her: Sakura had glared down at her daughter and ignored her cries that she needed to go rest in her own bed, pleas that she really did try to keep as calm as she could. However, the more that Sakura explained she absolutely needed to run blood tests, the more desperate she had become. She understood why her mother needed to keep her- "Sarada you passed out for hours on a mission and Konohamaru had to send you home. Clearly there is something wrong with you!"- but she knew it wasn't like she was dying or anything. (Not yet anyway.)

That was hours ago. Her breathing had hitched into her chest as Shizune herself had taken four vials of blood. ("More for 'just in case' your mother said.") She stared wide eyed at Shizune, her black eyes glassy, waiting for her to look at her. In her head she was screaming her secret, begging Shizune for help; she pictured crying into her lap, asking her for options, asking her to help her get rid of this baby. But Shizune's eyes narrowed in on the vials as she carefully focused on taking Sarada's blood. By the time she was finished and smiled sweetly at Sarada for being "such a good little patient," the words she always said to her in doctor's visits, Sarada's mouth had gone dry. She wordlessly watched as Shizune walked out of the room and never got another chance to spill her secret.

The blood tests could take hours, up to a day she was told, so she should just settle in for the night. But Sarada just felt like a sitting duck waiting for her inevitable fate. Having all day to think though, she began to spin what she wanted to do until she came to a conclusion. She strongly decided she wouldn't allow this baby to ruin her life; even if her mother found out, she'd reason with her to allow her to get an abortion so she could easily close this part off of her life. She could focus on her goals, her new life as a jonin soon enough, and eventually the Hokage. Those goals kept her grounded as the decision solidified in her core. No one else needed to know. Especially not Boruto.

Suddenly, she heard her door squeak open. A sliver of light danced against the wall as a shadow moved into the room. Sarada assumed it was her mother and turned her head to pretend she was sleeping.

She heard footsteps as the figure drew closer to her bed and her muscles began to tremble. This is it. She knows. She knows and she's here to kill me. But the footsteps stopped at the end of her bed. She kept her eyes squeezed shut and wished with all her might that her mother would just leave, but heavy seconds passed and she just stayed posted at the foot of her bed, her shadow cutting off the light coming in from the hallway.

Then she heard a sigh that she knew all too well. Ice instantly coated her stomach as the realization set in. It wasn't her mother, it was-

"Boruto." Sarada's eyes popped open as she hissed out his name and fought her dizziness to sit up in bed. White stars set off in front of her eyes like fireworks from sitting up too quickly and effectively cut off Boruto's figure that stood in front of her.

"Hi," he whispered smally.

The stars finally evaporated to reveal Boruto standing, almost hunched into himself, at the end of her bed, illuminated by the light that hung around his head like a halo. But Boruto Uzumaki was the last person Sarada would consider an angel.

"What the hell are you doing here?" she whispered, gritting her teeth together. She noted how pale his face looked in the light, how dead and unmoving his eyes were, a far cry from the biting glare he was throwing her the night before, but she didn't question it.

Boruto's mouth gaped open and shut like a fish as though he couldn't find the words to say.

Sarada found herself growing impatient again. How dare he show up out of the blue like this? What if she was really sleeping? Would he have stood there like a stalker, watching her sleep? She felt violated and anger exploded in the pit of her stomach. "Where are the others?" she asked. "Did you just get home from the mission?"

"No." He continued to gape at her, his blue eyes sunk into dark circles. "T-They're still back there."

"So you just abandoned the mission like that?!" Her voice cracked as it grew louder and she pitched it down so as to not draw any nurse's attention. It suddenly dawned on her that Boruto must have snuck in since there were no visitors permitted after nine.

He just shook his head but didn't say anything.

"So why are you here then?"

"I...I…"

"Oh my god, spit it out."

Boruto could feel his face grow hot as the words he wanted to say evaporated on the tip of his tongue. All the passion and anxiety he felt earlier just vanished into fear. Being there, actually in front of her, made the whole situation too real and the question he desperately needed the answer to wouldn't emerge. "I just wanted to see how you were doing," he quietly settled on.

"So you traveled all this way?" she asked blandly.

"Yeah."

"You left your team just to come check on me."

"Yeah!" His voice pitched upwards hopefully. Did she like that?! Did his act show how much he cared?!

But her frown instantly deepened and she crossed her arms across her chest. "Idiot."

Boruto's own face fell again. He swallowed once, trying to regain composure before he admitted, "I was worried about you."

"I'm fine," Sarada replied and tried to lay down again. Boruto's body tilted in front of her, spinning in the opposite direction of the wall behind him. The nausea was hitting her stronger again and she desperately tried to swallow the bile that was now sliding up her throat.

"A-Are you okay?" he asked and took a step closer to the edge of the bed. The thick scent of sweat wafted toward her nose, souring her stomach.

"Yes," she squeaked then burrowed herself further into her blankets, covering the top part of her face. She just wanted him to go away. She couldn't bear getting sick in front of him even if she was too far away to actually throw up on him again. "I'm fine, so you can leave now."

But he stood there, staring at her and clenching and unclenching his fists. "Do they know what's wrong?" he asked a little stronger this time.

"No," she shot back. Her mind swam now and it was becoming increasingly difficult to keep herself from retching. "They are doing blood tests, but I'm sure it's fine." Leave. Why won't you leave? He had such terrible timing- literally, it was his terrible timing that got her in this mess- and she wouldn't accept that he was there to try to fix their relationship. She had already made her mind up and needed the strong resolve that was now rapidly draining as her nausea thickened. There was no way he knew the truth anyway, so it would be best for them both if he quietly exited the way he entered and left her with her decision.

But he continued to stay rooted to the spot. "I'm worried about you…" he started again.

"Well, this isn't really the time right now. It's late. You could have been more concerned last night." Before I made up my mind…

He sighed and opened his mouth again to speak but just as before no words came out.

He was getting too close now for her to handle. His presence alone was encroaching on her space, poisoning her territory, her sense of smell. A wall built up inside her, brick by brick, as Boruto took a deep breath to begin talking again. It was so easy to want the baby gone when she was alone, but with him in front of her...

"Sarada," he finally said. "If there's something wrong… You can tell me…"

No, I can't! she wanted to scream. He was now too close to the fire, to the truth, and she needed to burn him to end the turmoil churning in her stomach. She knew not having the baby would be for the best. Right?

Right?

Yet the way his blue eyes pierced her's was a sudden danger to her resolve. She suddenly felt all the anger pitted up in her core erupt. How dare he make her question-

"Get out."

"What?" he asked, confused.

"Get the fuck out of my room!" her voice rapidly rose and she didn't care if anyone heard. His very presence shook her firm determination. She couldn't let his stupid, cute, absolutely idiotic face ruin her plans. It's not like he'd care anyway, Sarada.

Boruto backed away slowly, holding up his hands innocently in front of him. "Sarada, I-"

"GET AWAY FROM ME!"

11:57 pm

No. It couldn't be right. One of the lab technicians had to have coded the wrong blood under Sarada's name.

Shizune wasn't sure why she wanted to take a look at the test results that night, but for whatever reason she did, and now she wished she had waited because she was left thoroughly confused. All the regular suspects- viruses, diseases- all came up negative, not leaving any indication to what her prognosis could be, yet one test in particular came up positive.

"Can you check something for me?" she asked the medical-nin next to her. Her eyes stayed glued to the screen.

"Hm?"

"Can you go take more of Sarada Uchiha's blood, please? I don't think the right blood ended up under her name."

"Yeah, sure," the medical-nin replied. He began to stand when their ears peaked to a commotion down the hall.

Loud screams pierced the normally quiet air, and Shizune was about to jump off her chair to investigate the disruption when another medical-nin burst through the door. His eyes were wide in fear as he exclaimed, "Shizune, there's a problem in Sarada's room and I figured you'd want to be the one to handle it since Sakura isn't here…"

Shizune immediately pushed past him and rushed out the door toward the sound of rising screams. Around her, patients stuck their heads out the door to spy on whatever drama was happening down the hall, but she ignored them and ran faster as the screams grew higher pitched.

As she approached the doorway she saw a wide-eyed Boruto was pasted against the wall across from Sarada's bed, all the color drained from his face. His head turned to face Shizune, but she wasn't sure if he was actually processing her presence because his face stayed twisted in horror, his eyes unseeing. Sarada was sitting up in bed, screaming at him, and she immediately noticed her eyes glowing red. Was he under a genjutsu?

She rushed over to Boruto and cried "Release!" He slumped to the floor, confirming her suspicions. She then rushed to Sarada's side and took hold of the girl who was now crying and rapidly sweating through her gown. She placed her hands on her shoulders and lowered her face to hers. "Sarada, what-"

"Get away from me!" she screeched but her eyes were still locked onto Boruto.

"Sarada, you need to calm down." Shizune loomed her face closer to hers and forced her to look into her eyes. Sarada blinked like she remembered where she was and her eyes melted back to black; her body instantly folded on itself and she began to sob, loudly, on Shizune. She noted how the teen gripped her shirt as though she was scared to let go.

Behind her, Boruto began to stand. "I don't know what happened!" he sputtered. "I came in and-"

Shizune turned on him. "What are you doing here in the first place?!" she cried, realizing the time.

"Get him out of here!" Sarada sobbed into her shirt and let out one final guttural scream that made Shizune wince.

"What the hell is going on?!" She turned her attention back to Boruto but he was already on his feet. His scared eyes flashed to Sarada one last time before he rushed from the room without another word and disappeared down the hall.

"Sarada, what happened," she demanded. Sarada had curled up into a ball in her lap and was sobbing into her chest, her hands gripping her shirt with all the strength she had. Her body racked with silent sobs and she knew she wasn't able to speak. Whatever had happened was bad, that she could see immediately. She screamed that she wanted Boruto gone yet she had him in a genjutsu. It was like an immediate fight or flight reaction to fear, Shizune deduced. It was as though Sarada's body had immediately rushed into action like she was expelling an enemy; it was like she wasn't even thinking- what had happened between them to make her act that way toward him?

And why the hell was he here at midnight? Wasn't he on the mission Sarada just came from?

Patting Sarada's sweat drenched hair, the realization dawned on her and her body instantly grew rigid under Sarada's weight. The blood test...the one she thought was faulty...could it be that the positive she saw on the screen actually belonged to Sarada? Which meant she was…?

"Sarada." She shifted underneath her and tried to pull her up but Sarada fought to hide her head in her chest. The girl knew.

"Sarada, your blood tests…"

Sarada sobbed harder. "Help me, please," she whimpered, and Shizune gasped again before wrapping her arms tighter around the little girl she had watched grow up. That was the only confirmation she needed.

Thanks for all the support so far! :)