The chapter begins with Boruto and Sasuke leaving and Sarada's feelings on the matter, and ends with Boruto and Sasuke's first stop on their journey, in which we see a little bit more of the plot finally evolve!
And only a few more chapters until the babies finally make their appearance!
"Wake up."
Exhausted from discussing the future with Shikadai and Inojin the night before, the last thing Boruto wanted or expected was to wake up to Sasuke's shadow looming over his bed.
"Wha-" he tried to say as a confused yawn pushed the words aside to escape.
"Get up, we're leaving," Sasuke replied and began to retreat out his bedroom door.
Boruto's eyes flickered open and he instantly wondered why he could only see darkness. Reaching up to his window, he opened his blinds and quickly realized it was barely morning. He launched himself out of his bed, a tangle of blankets and sheets, and chased after Sasuke, trying to stay on his tiptoes as he passed Himawari's room so as to not wake the rest of the house up.
"What are you talking about?"
Sasuke stopped at the bottom of the stairs and looked back up Boruto. He observed him standing unassuming at the top step in only a t-shirt and boxers that barely covered his lean, sinewy body and frowned; logically he knew was about to become a father, but his mind still couldn't compute as to him he still had the body of a teenager in the throes of puberty. To him Boruto still seemed like someone who needed guidance.
"We're leaving; we have work to do," he responded and turned away toward the door again. "I'll give you five minutes to pack."
Boruto didn't move. "Where are we going? How long are we going for?"
Sighing impatiently, Sasuke turned around again. "You told your father you wanted to come with me," he reminded him, "so I'm taking you at your word. There are people still after you, and if they catch word you're about to have children you'll be in worse trouble."
"I know that," Boruto tried to argue. "You and my dad made that very clear last night. But don't you think this is a little early? I mean there's Sarada…"
His mind flashed to his teammate, probably sleeping nestled amongst her own blankets he woke up in the day before. Now that they were talking again there was so much to be said. After talking with his friends last night he had prepared to sit down to talk today and truly discuss their relationship now that they reached a new crossroads: without the talk of the prophecy clouding them, he wanted to know clearly where they were going next. They couldn't have that talk if he was off traipsing across the countryside with her father, even if he was doing it for her.
"Sarada is strong. She will be fine without you here."
"It's not so much about her safety," he said, lowering his voice. "I just don't think I should necessarily be leaving at a time like this, not after yesterday-"
"There are sightings." Sasuke cut him off in an icy tone then paused to see if his student was going to complain again. When Boruto just stared at him unblinking, he continued. "Of Kara. They are clearly recuperating, and who knows what the Otsutsuki is planning now. You know you can't let your guard down for even a second." He then placed his thumb and forefinger at the bridge of his nose then closed his eyes and sighed. "I don't think you really realize what this means. I know it sounds illogical, the prophecy, but we should heed to it as though it's going to come true. And knowing what we know about your lineage and mine, whether you truly understand all of it or not, your children truly will be easy targets especially to be vessels. If we can somehow take care of this before they are born, you have more of a fighting chance; I am just trying to do my part. So are you coming or not?"
Boruto didn't respond right away. He looked to his right to listen for any stirring behind the doors, then turned back to his sensei. "I have one condition," he announced.
"What?"
"I want to say goodbye to Sarada."
Sasuke's lips turned up in what looked to Boruto like a small smile, at least from where he was standing. "Of course."
Boruto allowed himself a few seconds to stare from the shadows in the doorway before disturbing her peaceful sleep. He'd watched Sarada sleep on missions before, but the exhaustion from the last few days seemed to have pulled her under even further, and he stifled a giggle as he admired her starfish sprawl across her sheets with her mouth open in a wide 'o.' Could he disturb her like this when she was clearly finally getting the long sleep she needed?
He had made so many plans for the two of them that day, which included walking her down to the river and beginning to build what the next few months would look like just for them without the influence of their fathers. They would get burgers- or whatever Sarada was craving; it occurred to him that she probably was having pregnancy cravings and he didn't even know what those were and he probably would never know- and then talk and laugh and catch up on all they'd been missing in each other's lives. The last few days had been too busy, too serious, and they needed to wind down with just the two of them.
But Sasuke stood by the door waiting and he was dressed, teeth brushed and bags packed, ready to leave the village, and that vision he had wouldn't be materializing today.
He finally crept to her bed and allowed himself to smooth a piece of hair out of Sarada's sleeping face. "Hey," he whispered softly.
"Hmmm."
Sarada rolled over on her side to face away from him and drew the blankets up to her chin.
"Sarada, you gotta wake up."
"Mmm, what time is it…" she mumbled.
"Early. Hey, can you face me, please? We need to talk."
As though just realizing the voice speaking to her was real, Sarada flipped over and blinked sleepily up at him. "Boruto? What are you doing here?"
He thinned his lips into a small line and tried to look her in her eye through the early morning shadows cast across her walls. "I'm leaving with your dad for a little bit, and I wanted to say bye," he settled on.
"Leaving?" She scrambled to sit up to be face-to-face with him. "What do you mean you're leaving?"
"We have to go check on some things, so we'll be gone for...a little while."
Sarada stared back into his eyes for a moment, searching them and finding what she was looking for, then launched herself off her bed and out her bedroom toward the front door where her father was whispering in a low voice to her mother.
She stopped in front of him and bunched her fists at her side. Her thoughts jumbled, all staticy inside her brain, and she grew more frustrated as she struggled to pluck one of them out of the air and bring it to her mouth.
"Things were different. You promised you'd be home more."
"Excuse me?" Sasuke asked.
"How long? How long will you be away?" she demanded.
Sasuke's eyes softened as he realized her issue. He took in his only daughter, hair a mess atop her head and sleep crusted to her eyes, then reached out to cup her chin with his hand; she looked so young too, just as Boruto did.
"We'll be back soon," he promised.
But she knew what that meant: he didn't know. "You're not going to leave me like this, like you did Mom!" she said. "It's not fair to me."
"Sarada!" Sakura cried.
Sasuke's eyes flashed imperceptibly, only for a millisecond, but Sarada caught it and gripped on as a challenge. Everything was happening too fast for her liking. She needed to talk to Boruto. After talking with Cho Cho, she needed definition and a way to take a step back from whatever was happening to slowly peel back each layer; if anything she knew that she loved Boruto, but she needed these few months to slowly progress into this new normal before jumping into anything, if a relationship was even on the horizon. Love wasn't something to rush, even if they were bringing two new lives into the world.
And with him leaving he was ripped away before they could even talk, so their future felt jagged and unfinished; there were so many words left unsaid and she didn't know what their dynamic would be when he came back after so much time had passed.
It didn't feel right to have her father in control and dictate what her own relationship with her children's father would look like by taking him away; she didn't want to see the same fate play out that her own childhood held. She wouldn't stand for it. Couldn't stand for it.
"We will be back well before the babies come if that's what you're worried about," Sasuke soothed. "Don't worry. You understand why we have to do this, don't you?"
Call it the hormones, but Sarada felt her eyes begin to spill over. She hurriedly wiped at her cheeks then balled her fists back down at her sides. "Yes," she squeaked.
"Hey, don't cry now."
Boruto stood behind Sarada, not knowing what to do while she stood in front of Sasuke trying not to cry. He wanted to comfort her but wished they could be far away from their families to do so, so he shoved his hands awkwardly into his pockets and wished to disappear.
"I wish I could go," she then blurted.
"I know," Sasuke replied, "but your job is to be here, okay? I wish you could go too. Things are going to be different but I know you'll adjust, and when we come back everything will hopefully be better."
Sarada took a shaky breath but didn't say anything, so Boruto took that as his cue. He inched in front of her and spread his arms out wide. She looked up at him, tears gently dripping down her face, and he suddenly wondered if he misconstrued the situation. But before he could put his arms down, Sarada lunged into them and threw her arms around him.
It almost didn't feel real to Boruto. Weeks ago they weren't even speaking, and now he stood in front of her, holding her body to his chest, both begging silently not to be separated. Sasuke and Sakura turned away to give them a moment to themselves.
"I-" He bent his head down to whisper into her hair but she cut him off.
"Don't." Her voice was muffled in his chest. "I know."
Of course she knew he loved her. Of course. She knew everything he was thinking.
Finally Sarada stepped back and he lifted his own arms back which felt oddly empty now.
"This is for you, you understand that?" Sasuke asked and stepped forward to gently poke her forehead. His daughter didn't react but just nodded.
"I'm still keeping my promise to you," he then said as he reached for the door. "We won't be gone too long." He drew the door back to let in the red morning sun that peaked over the trees and motioned for Boruto to follow.
Boruto felt his lips tingle with temptation to reach down and kiss her, but instead he just held her gaze for a few moments before hiking his backpack up his back and following his sensei out the door.
He pretended not to hear Sarada let out a whimper as he closed the door.
"You seem much more uptight than usual, Sasuke," Boruto admitted, walking silently beside him out the village.
"You wouldn't think so, but it gets harder to leave each time. But you do what you have to do for your family."
What the hell was she going to do today? Just as each day this week had started, Sarada was blindsided with new information that seemed to fling her body in different directions like a ragdoll. She didn't even know what to expect anymore. The day just hung open in front of her like an empty vortex with no end in sight and she was scared to make plans in case something else busted them.
She couldn't work. So looking forward to an upcoming mission was out of the question.
Her friends were still working. So she couldn't count on them for entertainment throughout these long stretched days.
Maybe she could go to the library? Take this time to become more knowledgeable on certain skills, such as fuinjutsu.
Or maybe she could read those self-help What To Expect books to prepare herself for impending motherhood. She needed to prepare as much as possible for each mission, and this was her chance to get a leg up so by the time they came she could just laugh and say 'They just need a diaper change,' and fluidly take care of the situation.
It was in the throes of these thoughts, stretched out on her bed, when a knock sounded at her door.
"Come in," she grumbled.
The door opened.
"Well you're certainly looking a lot better than the last time I saw you," a familiar voice purred.
"Mitsuki!" She practically tripped over herself in her rush to greet her other teammate who stood politely in the doorway waiting for her to invite him in.
She threw her arms around him and knocked something out of his hands in the process. Pulling back with a squeal, she bent down to pick up the wrapped box he had been holding and thrusted it back into his arms. "I'm sorry!" she cried.
He just smiled and pressed it back into her hands. "It's okay. It's actually a present for you and Boruto."
"A present?!" She held out the box that was cocooned in shiny wrapping paper with a yellow bow on top. "Mitsuki, you didn't have to get a present…" She remembered the last time she saw him just days ago in the hospital, while she gripped onto him in fear of the future. So much had changed since then, and she suddenly was suspicious.
"You knew I was pregnant but…"
"Konohamaru-sensei talked to me this morning," he admitted. "Congratulations."
Sarada held the box close to her and felt her chin quiver a bit. "Thank you… Really."
"I just thought it'd be nice to get you something as that congratulations." His grin was like warm sunshine. "Should we go to the living room to open it?"
She nodded and led them out of the door again as he asked, "So, where is Boruto? I figured he'd be here."
"He left this morning," she replied and sank down onto her couch. Don't think about it. "With my dad."
"Ah," Mitsuki said, instantly knowing.
Being around her other teammate released a spark within her and she knew she was in trusted hands to let her emotions catch fire. Drawing her legs up to her chest, she placed her chin atop her knees and sighed.
"I cried," she admitted. "I seriously just openly cried. What the hell."
"You didn't want him to go," Mitsuki pointed out.
"No, not at all."
"So does that mean you two talked things through?"
She sighed again and pressed her mouth to her knees before whispering, "Not enough."
"Well, do you know when he's supposed to return?"
Sarada just looked at him and grit her teeth, her stomach dropping in remembering the empty, unsure days that lay ahead of her that summer. Mitsuki took that as his answer.
"He'll be back though," he assured and put a hand on her shoulder. "And in the meantime you always have me, you know, for whatever you need."
Instantly she felt her face fall again in admiration; Mitsuki wasn't the teammate to offer comfort and was usually defined by his matter-of-fact and logical views, yet at that moment she could feel the overwhelming love and protection emanating from him.
"There's just so much to plan, and the timing…" she admitted.
Then the thought that had been snaking around her mind finally burrowed: "I just don't want to be alone."
As though reading her mind, he patted her shoulder again and announced, "You won't be alone, I promise. No one will let you. It doesn't matter if you're not working with me for a while, I'm still your teammate- I won't leave you behind." He then turned his attention to the forgotten box between them and held it out to her again before she could respond.
"Well, open it!" he pushed.
Sarada chuckled, dropping the subject, and fought the urge to viciously rip apart the shiny wrapping paper holding it altogether. She unwrapped the bow first then carefully peeled back the sides to reveal the contents: two white stuffed bears each wrapped in yellow receiving blankets.
"I heard babies like these," he explained as Sarada stared openmouthed at the objects before her.
She ran her fingers over the soft fur and creamy fabric of the blankets that she just wanted to melt into. "Mitsuki… I don't know what to say…" she breathed. "Thank you!"
Their first presents. It made it much more real to her then.
"I asked sensei for some ideas," he admitted as she placed them gingerly on the table in front of them to admire.
"They're perfect! Really!"
He smiled. "Well I'm glad you like them. I hope they enjoy them too when the time comes." His eyes crinkled upwards and Sarada felt her heart melt all over again in feeling the love and respect he had for what grew inside her, as though they too joined in their little three-man squad.
"Why don't we get you out of the house and go get some lunch?" he then asked, standing. "Are you hungry? I hear sometimes women have pregnancy cravings, is that true?"
The two meandered through the bustling village, weaving in and out of groups of people who didn't even give them a second glance, and Sarada breathed a sigh of relief with the anonymity. She could hide and blend in with all the other patrons while still hiding the secrets growing inside of her. There was only so much more time she could do this before her body would give herself away and she'd be forced to sit inside, so for now she closed her eyes and breathed in the air that sizzled with the smells of food.
"Sarada! Mitsuki!"
Sarada's eyes snapped open and she turned her toward the sound of her name to see Hinata waving at them from across the street.
The teens hurried over and Hinata wasted no time in grabbing Sarada's hands, almost crushing them, to pull the girl close to her. "I'm so glad to see you outside," she sang. "I was hoping you'd take some time for yourself." She then nodded at Mitsuki. "I'm glad to see you too! How have you been? I haven't seen you in a while."
"Busy, as usual," Mitsuki replied politely. "I thought I'd visit Sarada today and bring her and Boruto a present."
"A present…?" Her voice trailed off at the end and her eyes moved back and forth between the two to probe for meaning.
"He's aware," Sarada confirmed softly.
"Oh, Mitsuki, that's so sweet of you," she gushed. "Thank you. Well, if you two aren't busy this week, we'd love to have you for dinner." She held up the bag of vegetables in her hand. "I don't know how busy you are with missions, Mitsuki, but you're always invited, even if Boruto is gone."
She moved her gaze again toward Sarada but the girl plastered a fake smile on her lips to deflect her wondering eyes. "I'd love to since I obviously have nothing else going on."
"Then it's settled: come by tomorrow for dinner. And you can come over any time. Any time. I mean that. Don't be a stranger."
Sarada knew what Hinata was doing and her smile turned genuine as her mind repeated Mitsuki's words in time to her heartbeat:
You're not alone.
You're not alone.
You're not alone.
At twilight Boruto and Sasuke landed at their first destination, a spit-sized village on the border that the younger shinobi had never even heard of. Sasuke had set up a meeting with the village elders, and that's where the two headed as complete darkness settled over the village.
Upon entering the room, the guards stepped aside with their hands on their blades, while one of the elders gestured for them to relax their stances. Boruto could clearly feel the tension built up in the room and wondered if it was the reason they were there; Sasuke had been mostly quiet and didn't give away much information on their reasons for visiting, citing that he wanted to wait until they were at their destination.
"We appreciate you meeting with us," Sasuke greeted, bowing.
"We appreciate you coming," one of the men stated. "Please sit."
Boruto awkwardly followed suit, feeling suddenly wildly out of place.
"I am Fumito, and this is Hachirou," the man continued and gestured to his partner sitting next to him. Hachirou closed his eyes, and Boruto again could see the stress radiating around his sunken face.
"So the missing children," Sasuke stated, wasting no time in jumping in. "When did this all begin?"
"Mmm. Yes." Fumito shut his eyes as well as a shiver ran through him as though lost in a memory. "It began… about a year ago. Late May. About a month after your own village's attack." Boruto's jaw twitched slightly, but he balled his fists together to stay still.
"It was only one at first. The river had run high after a particularly wet spring, and we believed that perhaps he was swept away in the waters. But then another went missing a week later, and then another, and we knew we may have had something on our hands."
"Mm," Sasuke grunted. "And what makes you believe now that it still wasn't an accidental drowning?"
"Because we know something has been preying on our children!" As though an animal lying in wait for the perfect moment to attack, Hachirou sprung to life, his eyes instantly bugging as he looked between Sasuke and Boruto. "You think we're fools but I know what we saw! Nothing came from that river and there is no way it'd be washed away with the damn up stream!"
"Hachirou," Fumito hissed, "please!"
Sasuke shook his head and again Boruto could see the guards that flanked them grip their swords. "I'm sorry if I made you feel that way," Sasuke stated calmly. "That's not my intention at all. I know this is a very stressful situation for you all, and I am just trying to see the entire picture. When we spoke last, Fumito, you stated that a few months after they went missing, you had a sighting of them and that's when you began to believe something else was going on."
"Yes, we did."
"And you said you believe them to be connected to Kara. Can you elaborate more?"
Boruto's heart instantly beat hard inside his chest, dizzying him for a moment, and he knew he must have made a noise because Sasuke peeked at him from the corner of his eye.
"Yes. They had been sighted in the mountains outside of here before, and we know now they had a lab stationed in there. One of our men, a cousin of one of the children in fact, was out in the same area a few months after they went missing, when he claimed to see the missing children. It was only for a moment, and he was absolutely hysterical on his return, but he swore it was them but they looked… different."
"Different?"
"Modified somehow. Stronger. And with the strange markings they are known to have, the numbers." He gestured vaguely to his face.
"Do you mind if I talk to the man who claimed to see them? To gain more accurate information as to what he saw?" Sasuke asked.
"I'm afraid that's not possible," Fumito sighed.
"Why not?"
"He's dead."
Boruto made a noise in his throat as Fumito continued. "He was killed just a week after. He went back out to the site to try to make contact again, but he never returned. Some of his belongings were found at the foot of the mountain covered in his blood, but we never did find his body. But it still sounds like death to me. There's just no way anyone could have survived with that much of a loss of blood."
"Mhm," Sasuke agreed, though he sounded flat and passive. "And has anyone else tried to explore the area since?"
"Yes, and we think it's abandoned now. Whatever operations there had clearly ceased and they moved somewhere else, so unfortunately that's all I have for you."
"Do you mind if we take a look around while we're here?"
"Of course, please do, but please be careful." Fumito's eyes widened wildly like Hachirou's, and Boruto again thought of the toll this had taken on their village. He wondered how his father would act if children from their own village began to disappear, then shook his head to erase the thought.
"We will do anything to help," Sasuke replied, "but I can't promise we will find anything. You helped so much with your information though, thank you."
"Of course," Fumito maintained. "If we can help in any way, even if we can't bring our children home, we feel we've done good work."
The men closed up their conversation, and Fumito insisted they stay with him, instructing a guard to show them to their rooms. Boruto was usually used to staying with Sasuke if they traveled, or on the ground in the forest, and so he found himself congregated in his partner's room to debrief.
"What do you think?" Sasuke asked, regarding his student now pacing the perimeter of the room.
"They are refilling ranks." Boruto's energy heightened within him and he needed to move else it would build too much and he'd explode. "Kara is weak and they are gaining children to experiment on."
"Mhm." Sasuke sounded smug. "So what did I tell you. This is why you need to be on guard."
How would he feel if his own went missing?
He couldn't even bear to think of it, the thought of his faceless unborn children ripped away before they even appeared, or even Himawari in the arms of the enemy, so he sped his walking to continue pacing the square, empty room.
"There have been other sightings too and whispers," Sasuke went on. "There's still more of Kaguya that I know we haven't found yet, and who knows when the Otsutsuki will strike again. Even you…"
Sasuke's eyes grazed over Boruto's covered hand that held his karma, but Boruto noticed and pulled his sleeve over his hand even though he was already wearing a glove.
"It's fine," he mumbled.
"We still don't know how to stop it from eventually overtaking you," Sasuke reminded him gently.
Boruto huffed at him and turned away toward the window. "I have it under control."
His sensei stared at his back, opening his mouth to speak again, then at the last second decided against it. It wasn't worth arguing with him tonight. He sighed and stated instead, "Let's go to bed. We have places to be tomorrow."
Boruto avoided his eyes and didn't say a word as he moved toward the door and padded over to his own, even though he knew he wasn't going to be able to sleep with the rising anxiety in his chest. Many times he felt connected to his missions, getting too involved with them because he was passionate about his work, and this was no different. Or maybe it was.
Children were now dying, or at least were taken away from their families all because he had done his part in slaughtering most of Kara the year before. They thought they had a fresh start. Life had returned to normal and he began to feel like himself again. But he also knew deep down something like this would probably happen, like a seed that had been planted and he knew it was only a matter of time before he'd see it sprout. Kara was spreading its leaves again and he felt partially at fault.
And nervous.
What could happen to his own family? His own village? Of course the allies were worlds away from this tiny village, but anything could happen he supposed, especially if Sasuke and his father kept warning him about the danger that could come to pass to his own family. And he would have to be the one to stop it again.
Because no one else had what he had.
Not even Sasuke. Not even his dad.
All at once his head began to feel fuzzy as he flipped off the light and sunk under his blankets. It was a familiar feeling, one that had been happening more often, and he cursed under his breath as he tried to steady his breathing.
He could do it.
He wouldn't go under.
The stronger he became over the years, the more power he knew he could feed to the karma seal waiting on his hand for the right time to completely overtake him. Truthfully he thought he could finally control it; afterall, last year he had seen some success in being able to utilize Momoshiki's power without letting it siphon him off and overtaking him. It was a hanging in the balance of sorts, the delicate straddling two worlds and two powers.
But now it was a sudden back step, and he could feel a tug of war emerge as he was beginning to struggle with controlling it again.
Don't scream.
It hurt. He could feel the horn begin to crack open on the side of his head, a little longer each time, but he bit his tongue, spurting warm blood out of his mouth onto his chin, in an effort to stay aware and awake.
Don't.
He knew if he screamed it would alert Sasuke, and he needed to try to control this himself.
Breathe. You're you. You're you.
The seal spread over his skin like a snake and with each heartbeat he could feel it overtaking him a little more, but he tried to control his breathing to focus his consciousness in order to stay afloat.
But he continued to sink underneath the surface. He needed to do something, anything to make it stop.
"Boruto?"
A fist pounded on his door and he heard Sasuke's concerned voice call his name again.
He tried to open his mouth to speak but he only heard a high pitched whistle emerge as he breathed outwards sharply.
"Boruto!"
How did Sasuke know?
As Sasuke burst through the door, tearing it down in the process, Boruto made a final mental push until he could feel the tide change. He knew Sasuke saw the seal, watched his eyes as he took it in, but it retreated again over his body back toward his hand, and he gasped for air as the fuzziness around his eyes retreated to give him full vision again.
"Are you okay?! You screamed."
I did?
He flopped over to his side to look better at Sasuke who knelt next to him.
His sensei's eyes roved over his body rapidly to assess it. "How long were you going to hide it?" he growled.
"I'm...It's fine…" Boruto panted. At least I'm still conscious.
"It's clearly not fine! Has this been happening often?"
"Sometimes," he breathed again, his voice wispy.
Sasuke sighed in frustration. "Why didn't you tell me? Or your dad? How long were you going to hide it?"
"I can handle it-"
"No, you can't, Boruto! I don't care what happened last year, this is clearly not enough for you to handle on your own anymore."
"Yes I can!" His voice grew into a growl at the end as he regained his strength.
"Why? Why do you think that?"
Boruto's voice cracked at the end. "Because nobody else can! No one else knows what it's like!"
"And?" Sasuke snapped. "What happens when something really bad happens, huh? If one day you're completely overtaken, what then? We just talked about how we still didn't know how to stop this, but I didn't even know it was that dire!"
"I have to handle this on my own!"
"No, if you need help you need to ask for it, and you should have figured that out years ago! You have to start thinking more than just about yourself now and who else this can affect! There are children involved now- and Sarada!"
Bringing her into it made his head explode in fury. "Oh, really, that's the lesson you're trying to impart to me?" Boruto spat. "Are you sure you should be the one lecturing me when you were gone for all those years?"
As soon as the words left his mouth he regretted it. He didn't even mean it, knowing and respecting what Sasuke did to protect his family. He wanted to do the same, but was lashing out to hide deflect the conversation from himself and the mistake he was starting to see he made.
"What does that even mean?!" Sasuke's eyes flashed. "We're talking about YOU!"
The younger shinobi desperately wanted to hide. "I'm-"
"Fine? Don't you dare say you're fine again."
He challenged Boruto with his gaze and the blonde had to force himself to continue eye contact. "If you're going to train with me, you have to tell me when these things happen. I didn't realize how serious it was getting, so if we're going to find a 'cure' for this somehow, we have to double down on our efforts." He sat down on the floor next to his student's head, crossing his legs, then lowered his voice. "I had no idea it was this out of control and that you can't control it anymore. Is that a fair assumption to make- that you can't control it anymore?"
Boruto turned his head away so he didn't have to face him as he spoke the truth. "Yes…"
"Just because you were doing fine before and did one thing by yourself doesn't mean you don't have to ask for help ever again. You can't do everything on your own- remember that. You may be leading your own family soon, but someone truly responsible asks for help when they need it to ensure they are as secure as possible. I'm still your teacher, you know."
He waited for Boruto to turn back to him, but the teen just kept his eyes glued to the wall across from him. When he thought he wasn't going to respond, he finally got to his feet and was about to turn away when Boruto whispered into the darkness:
"What if it gets worse?"