Boruto gets the shock of his life in this chapter. (And also WOW. I was not expecting this kind of support. Thank you! You are making quarantine much more bearable, so seriously THANK YOU!)

"And you really believe that this prophecy has to do with these...babies?" Sakura asked.

"What else could it mean?"

Sakura and Naruto were sitting on the floor now, their backs against Naruto's desk. Sakura's confession had drained both of their energies, so they both sunk to the floor and stared out at the door in case anyone walked in to catch them wallowing in their new reality as soon-to-be grandparents. The migraine was still beating the back of her brain and she felt like she was in a dream, something running parallel to her life but with too big of differences to actually be the real one. She woke up this morning with a sick daughter and now, only hours later, she had a pregnant child whose babies might be key players in a prophecy, one also involving her husband and best friend. It sounded too stupid, too surreal to wrap her head around.

"It does make sense though the more you think about it," Naruto continued. "My bloodline and Sasuke's coming together. That's exactly what's happening here. "

But that wasn't the detail hammering at Sakura's brain. "What about this 'power you've not yet seen'?" she asked, sitting up to pull her knees up to her chest. "Is that because you and Sasuke are reincarnations of..." It had slipped her mind for so many years because she didn't need to think about it since it was so far in her past, but she suddenly remembered the Sage of Six Paths, Asura and Indra, Sasuke and Naruto's bond- it all suddenly came slamming back to her in such vivid detail that she couldn't even believe it ever left her.

Naruto shrugged. "I don't know," he answered truthfully. "I mean it must mean something though, right? They have to be somewhat powerful if they are going to save or destroy the world?"

Something was still gnawing at Sakura though. She struggled to find the words for a moment before it suddenly all appeared to her clearly in the same manner as the memories from the war. "No. Naruto. Think about it. You and Sasuke literally had to come together last time to save the world. These babies will be…" She sucked in a breath. "Born like that."

Naruto squinted at her. "What do you mean?"

"The whole war, black zetsu-" She began speaking faster. It was so obvious now! "- They are born into this, born like this. Of course the prophecy is about them: they are literally the power of what Kaguya needed for centuries! And with the Hyuga bloodline as well..."

"So what," Naruto stated gruffly, "are you saying someone is going to come after their power?"

"No, I'm just saying that this actually makes a lot of sense. And it makes even more sense that if they are that powerful, that you and Sasuke are on guard duty."

Naruto laughed one dry bark. "Guard duty?"

Sakura shrugged. "Who else is going to train them? You really think Sarada and Boruto are up for that if they are as powerful as they potentially could be?"

Naruto squinted again in thought before asking, "So now what? I suppose I should probably call another kage meeting; this doesn't really seem to just be a family matter anymore."

"Well, there's still the matter of Boruto…"

Naruto sighed, suddenly remembering his son and his role in the situation. "What the hell am I going to do with him? He's not ready to be a father. I mean he has no concept of responsibility. How the hell is he going to raise…" He trailed off.

"Sarada doesn't want him to know," Sakura blurted.

"Wait, what?"

She shrugged. "She is hellbent on not giving birth," she explained. "I don't know what happened between those two, but whatever it was she does not want to talk to him and does not want to have those babies."

"Well, that's not really her choice anymore is it- this is bigger than the both of them."

"You try convincing a teenager of that."

Naruto sighed again and pushed up to stand. "So he really has no idea?" he asked.

"That's what Sarada said. Wait, where are you going?"

A poof! echoed in the room as Naruto created a shadow clone of himself then began walking toward the door. "To take care of my son. He should be home soon from his mission and I want to be waiting for him. Tell Sarada I'm sorry but every second counts and he only has nine months to learn to step up- and so does she."

Sakura scrambled to her feet too. "So what?" she called after him, her tone rooting the real him to the spot. "I just tell her she can't get what she wants?"

"If you can't convince her of that, I will try...or Sasuke."

Sakura's stomach flipped as she remembered her husband again. "Oh dear lord, we have to tell Sasuke," she whispered.

Naruto grimaced. "We have a few days before he gets home. There's time to think about how to let him down gently."

Let him down gently. Sakura watched Naruto's figure leave the room, realizing the real him left to talk to Boruto. There's no 'gently' when it comes to Sasuke.

Naruto took long strides to reach home and prayed he wouldn't come across anyone or anything that needed taken care of at that second. As he rounded the last corner before he turned onto his own street, he heard someone yell out "Lord Seventh!" Shit, he cursed in his head and spun around to find Konohamaru waving at him. His heart jumped as his eyes scanned over the crowd of teenagers with him, but he didn't see Boruto.

"Hey," he said cautiously. In the back of his mind he knew he wasn't coming across as nice as he normally did, but his mind was locked onto his current mission. "Where's Boruto?"

Konohamaru's own smile vanished as he said, "You didn't know? He came back early…"

"Why?" Naruto's eyes narrowed onto Konohamaru's whose were now darting anywhere to not have to meet his.

"He, uh, well, you see...uh… hewasn'tfeelingverywellsohecamehome."

Naruto could tell by Konohamaru's rushed and anxious tone that he was hiding something but he bit his tongue. "Oh good," he replied as smoothly as he could manage. "I was stopping at home anyway. I'm also at my office so you can drop off your reports with me there." Before Konohamaru could say another word he turned on his heel and darted away again.

So Boruto left early, just like Sarada did- something wasn't adding up. As he walked through the door of his home, he called out for his wife before closing the door behind him. "Hinata! Hinata...?" The whole house was silent, letting him know that his wife was out. Good. That would make this discussion even easier and he could deal with his wife later.

He didn't hold back as he approached his son's room and beat his fist on the door. Inside

he heard the rustling of someone under blankets. "Come in," a muffled voice choked from inside.

Naruto rolled his eyes- Boruto is always so dramatic- and pushed open the door. The whole room was completely blacked out: the shades were drawn, no lights on, and the only thing Naruto could see of his son were two blue eyes peeking out at him from under a mound of blankets. He flipped on the lights, causing Boruto to squeeze his eyes shut in protest and retreat his head under a pillow.

"Oh, it's you," he stated nervously. "I thought you were Mom…" He didn't emerge from beneath the blankets. Naruto didn't move either and just continued to stare down at his son; his reaction told him everything he needed to know- something was up.

"Are you sick or something, Boruto?" he asked, a little too loudly.

"Yeah. Mom went out to get me medicine."

"Is it your stomach?" he ventured further; he was toeing the line now, hoping to trap him. "Because Sarada came home sick too. Do you think you have what she has?"

The mound of blankets didn't move and Naruto could no longer hear Boruto breathing- he was holding his breath. Gotcha. "Well?"

"Yeah, maybe," he finally snapped.

"Oh really," Naruto said coolly, winding the pitch back and waiting for the right moment to release. "Huh. That's real interesting... So you're pregnant too?"

Strike out. This time he heard Boruto's breath catch in his throat and it confirmed everything: his idiot son knew Sarada was pregnant. That was all he needed as permission, and he bounded across the room in one step and ripped the blankets off Boruto to reveal him curled up into a ball, all the color drained from his cheeks. His eyes stared up at him, wide, now terrified of his father.

Naruto wasn't one to plan so he hadn't exactly scripted out what he wanted to say once he confronted Boruto, but as he stared down at his son, his teenage, newly-seventeen year old son, something snapped deep inside and unleashed a flurry of words he didn't even know he was holding in. "WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?"

Boruto had stumbled his way home after he left the hospital from visiting Sarada the night before. He didn't realize how much stronger Sarada's sharingan had gotten until he had trouble catching his barings along his dark walk home. As he tried to steady himself, he also fought to pin down answers to questions that were contributing to his dizziness just as much as the aftermath of Sarada's genjutsu: Why did she put him in a genjutsu like that? She had never once done anything to that extreme, and it was like he was a pariah to her. Why would she need to push him away so hard- was it the fact that she was pregnant or did she just hate him that much? He didn't even have the courage to ask her outright, and after her reaction he just felt more confused and rejected than ever, a dog left out in the cold to starve.

He fumbled with his keys and doorknob and struggled to retain his vision that was teetering in and out of focus. He couldn't even try to stay quiet as he finally unlocked the door and tripped inside. The sudden noise alerted Hinata and she came running downstairs looking for an intruder.

"Aren't you supposed to be on a mission?!" she asked, ushering him inside. He leaned on her, dizzy.

"Konohamaru sent me home…"

"What happened? Are you sick?" She half-carried her son up the stairs and helped him into bed where he melted against the pillows and pulled the blankets up to his chin as a protection. He obviously wanted to keep her at bay from the truth so he turned away from her, not wanting her to suspect anything out of the ordinary that could lead back to Sarada. "Y-Yeah," he slurred.

She smoothed his sweaty hair back and tsk-ed saying, "It feels like you might have a fever… I'll come check on you in the morning. If you still aren't better we'll take you into the doctor's, okay?" Boruto shrunk away from his mother in reply and pretended to be asleep when she came back a few minutes later with water. He was left alone again with his thoughts, and even though he was sleepy, so sleepy, rest avoided him. The questions kept beating his mind to the throb of his headache: How could he fix this? He had no way to discover if Sarada really was pregnant if she pushed him out like this. The question kept curling around his brain, threatening to cut off oxygen until he was hyperventilating. Was he going to be a father?

Even when morning came he still couldn't bear to look at his mom and lied that he was still feeling sick. Until he had a plan he felt like he couldn't leave his room, a prisoner in his own bed, the image of Sarada screaming at him burned into his brain. He was still under his blankets, spiraling, when a knock sounded at his door in the late morning.

"Come in," he choked, attempting to sound sick. He figured it was his mother and planned to still play his part but was shocked to see his dad walk through the door. Naruto wasted no time in coddling his son and instantly barged in, causing Boruto to retreat under his blankets for safety. He couldn't hide the nervousness now creeping inside as he said "Oh it's you… I thought you were Mom."

"Are you sick or something, Boruto?" Naruto snapped.

Boruto didn't move, trying to piece together why his father would come to his room clearly so ready to fight. What reason would he have to be there…?

"Yeah," he responded in an attempt to calm his breathing. "Mom went to get me medicine."

"Is it your stomach? Because Sarada came home sick too. Do you think you have what she has?"

Boruto held his breath in hopes that his father would just disappear. There was no reason for him to be prying like this, absolutely zero reason for him to bring up Sarada... unless of course Naruto knew something he did not… and Boruto knew that the Hokage was always the first to know anything.

"Well?" Naruto asked impatiently.

"Yeah, maybe," Boruto spat before he could think of a better response. In that moment he felt the air in the room change; he was trapped, he knew he was. There was no use in trying to get away… because even more than the Hokage knowing everything, he knew he could hide even less from a parent.

"Oh really. Huh. That's real interesting. ...So you're pregnant too?"

In that moment Boruto's vision went completely black and his mind that had been spiraling for the last twelve hours finally stopped churning. He couldn't even think of an escape route, anything to get away, before his blankets of protection were ripped off of him and he was staring up into his father's seething face.

"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" Naruto bellowed. Boruto shrunk even further into himself, unable to remove himself from his father's wrath. All the air was stuck in his throat and he couldn't pull his eyes away from Naruto's identical ones. Sarada was-

"YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT KIND OF RESPONSIBILITY THIS IS-"

But Boruto's mind wasn't comprehending what his father was spewing at him. He could only pay attention to his own thoughts screaming even louder in his brain. I. Fucked. Up. At least when he didn't know for sure, there was still the potential of having a normal life, a way somehow to fix this. But now that it was the truth, even if he knew deep down it always was, everything had changed- there was no going back. What more could he do? If she was pregnant...that means she tried to shut him out, knowing she was carrying his child. He was stuck with Naruto's wrath and Sarada's wrath and soon everyone else's wrath- he was utterly alone.

"HOW COULD YOU BE SO STUPID?"

His lack of oxygen finally snapped him back to his own thoughts and took a deep breath, allowing his father's words to finally penetrate his own thoughts.

"H-how did you find out?" he choked.

"HER MOTHER. You knew, didn't you! Sarada thinks you have no idea- how did you know?!"

Oh no, SAKURA knew. "She...she was sick...and…" And the way she looked at me was pure hatred.

"What the hell is going on?" Naruto and Boruto turned around to see Hinata at the door holding water and medicine with a look of pure confusion on her face.

Naruto didn't slow down even for a second. He looked back at Boruto and screamed, "Do you want to tell her or should I?"

"Naruto, what are you doing?" Hinata cried. "He's sick-"

"He's not sick," he scoffed.

Hinata squinted at the both of them and tried to add up her husband's red face with her son's pale one. "Tell me what…? What is going on…?"

Boruto's lip quivered but he couldn't bring the words to his mouth: they were a death sentence. Instead Naruto looked back at him reproachfully one last time then took the reins again. "Your son got Sarada Uchiha pregnant."

NO. Boruto squeezed his eyes shut to protect himself from his mother's reaction but he still heard her sharp gasp. "W-What…"

"AND NOW SHE WANTS TO HAVE AN ABORTION-" Naruto continued.

"Wait, what?!" Abortion. It ignited Boruto and he sprung up, alarmed. No one said anything about an abortion! Is that why she pushed him away? Because she was planning on-

"SLOW DOWN." Hinata screamed even louder than the two of them, causing them to jump and snap their mouths shut. "What is he talking about, Boruto?" she demanded.

He could see his mother's byakugan activate and subconsciously shrunk back against the wall. "We...we… Sarada…" But he couldn't get the word abortion out of his head.

"What the hell were you thinking?!" Naruto turned on him again. "Do you have any idea how hard it is to be a parent-" He had a whole speech emerging now but stopped when he saw Boruto's reaction. Boruto was now in the throes of sobs; his whole life had changed in that whole day and it threatened to upend itself again. Sarada wasn't just pregnant, she didn't just shut him out, he didn't just disappoint his mom and dad- Sarada wanted an abortion. What pain could she be going through that she wouldn't even tell him she was pregnant? If his dad hadn't told him, would he ever have found out?

The weight all came crashing down on him and he yelled out for the first time "I'M SCARED!" Now that the tears had started he couldn't get them to stop. Hinata and Naruto didn't know how to react and Naruto had to admit that this was not how he expected his son to act; he expected a fight, maybe a snotty too-confident response that he had this all figured out. But instead he watched as his son pasted himself against the wall and sobbed into his sheets. He went in fighting because he wanted his son to understand the weight of his actions and mistakes and the weight of his age, but seeing him hyperventilating in a puddle of his tears was the real reminder of his age: he was just a sad, scared little boy who made a dumb mistake and he was paying for it without his father's lecture.

"Boruto-" Hinata pushed past her husband. Boruto allowed her to pick him up into her arms as he continued to sob. "I FUCKED UP." Did he make her want to have an abortion?

It was all his fault. It could have been different if he just didn't say-

"Hey, Boruto, listen to me. We'll-"

"I'M SO SCARED." He couldn't even hear his mother crooning in his ear because he hurt his best friend. He hurt his unborn child. He fucked up so badly that his partner in crime, his other half, his closest confidante couldn't even tell him she was having his baby.

"What are you scared of?" Hinata asked softly. "It'll all-"

Sasuke. Sakura. His parents. His future. But most of all, he had to admit, he was scared of his life without her.

"A genjutsu?" Naruto asked. The three of them sat lined up against the wall on Boruto's bed. They allowed Boruto to finally cry himself out, giving him the space until he could finally speak fully again.

"She hates me, she hates me so much…"

"What exactly did you do?" Hinata asked sternly. Now that Boruto was back to a more neutral level, she felt she could lecture and more accurately show her disappointment.

Boruto just hung his head. "It was… a lot. There were too many feelings involved and I wasn't ready to…" He squeezed his eyes shut to the memories. So many dominos had fallen, one after another, to ruin them.

"Why do you think we tell you you're not ready for sex?" Naruto growled. "There are consequences. This isn't just something you can do and forget about-"

"I know!" Boruto snapped then lowered his voice. "But it doesn't even matter anymore anyway…"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you said she wanted to have an abortion, didn't you?"

Naruto took a sip of the tea Hinata had brought them and replied darkly, "She won't be doing that."

"Wait, what? Why?" Boruto asked.

His father sighed, clearly struggling with how to explain this mess to his son. "Because… Boruto, do you know about the Sage of Six Paths?"

Hinata made a noise in her throat as though she knew where this was going, but Boruto just scrunched his nose up and said, "I think I've heard of him."

"Your mother has the byakugan and Sarada has the sharingan...your bloodlines are more powerful than you know right now…"

"What do you mean?"

"Well...you know of the Otsutsukis."

"Yes?" Boruto asked, confused. Why is this relevant?

"The Sage of Six Paths was an Otsutsuki and he had a brother. That brother was the ancestor of the Hyuga clan. And I…" Explaining it aloud, he realized how ridiculous it must sound to his son. "...I am the reincarnation of one of the Sage of Six Paths' sons; Sasuke is the reincarnation of the other brother. You and Sarada, uh, coming together like this. Well, yours and Sarada's children would be as close to those beginnings as we've ever seen."

"So why does that mean she can't have an abortion?" Boruto asked blandly.

"Who knows what kind of power they could possess?" Hinata pointed out.

"Exactly," Naruto said slowly. "And Hinata, you already know this, but I received word the other day about a prophecy about Sasuke and I...about our bloodlines coming together…"

Boruto felt his attention pique; a prophecy? About him? How cool. "What did it say?" he asked eagerly.

"Well...if it is about you...and so far there is no other explanation...then your children are going to either save the world or destroy the world."

Boruto's stomach dropped. Fuck. That was not what he was expecting; he was expecting something more about him and his own role in the shinobi world.

"Wait, you said children?" Hinata asked suddenly. "Like more than one?"

Naruto laughed through his teeth. "Sarada is pregnant with twins."

Double fuck.