This is a shorter chapter than usual, but I wanted to split up the next chapter's events and this one so it didn't get too long. From the next chapter on we'll be fast forwarding a little more throughout the months! In this chapter Sasuke and Boruto receive a few answers as to what Kara may have been up to, Sarada finds some stability with Hinata and the rest of her team while Boruto is away, and Boruto sends Sarada a present. Cheers!

I also apologize for this being about 2 weeks later than I when I intended to post. Grad school just started, but I think I'm finally settling into a routine with writing and taking care of schoolwork. So don't think I'll abandon this! :)

Boruto and Sasuke stood on the precipice of the mountain the next morning, steeling against an unseasonably cold wind that threatened to blow them over the side as they edged toward the cave mouth they sought to explore.

Before leaving that morning, they humbly accepted feverish apologies from Hachirou, the village elder who had accosted them the night before. As he bowed to them and begged for their forgiveness for his sharp words, Boruto had just felt bad. He knew what kind of stress they were under with their desperate wanting to keep their village safe but not knowing how, and couldn't blame them for lashing out. He just smiled and accepted, understanding that he and Sasuke were their hopes to bring some kind of information on Kara's whereabouts or operations forward, but he also knew deep in his core as they finally left that they probably wouldn't be able to bring any real answers to the villagers. Whatever Kara had been doing miles away in the mountain, they clearly were gone now, and they had disappeared with their knowledge as well as the village's innocence. They swept through, taking what they wanted in gaining new manpower, destroying families lives and then leaving the broken pieces in their wake. He knew all too well what that was like.

But he wouldn't allow himself to dwell on Kawaki here.

The wind howled outside the opening as he and Sasuke ventured inside. They silently walked about a quarter of a mile into the winding cave before an opening bowed in front of them. Boruto squinted to adjust to the lack of light but could instantly tell two things: that some kind of operation had run from the location, and that they truly were long gone by now.

Sasuke ran a hand along one of the sleek metal tables that dotted the room. Around the cavern in between the tables, large empty spaces with divots in the ground announced where other machinery had been. Boruto instantly wondered how they managed to fill then empty out the cave and opened his mouth to say so, but Sasuke spoke first.

"They're getting smarter. They don't need to leech onto a village's labs anymore to conduct their research- they proved they can go anywhere."

"They're independent," Boruto breathed.

His stomach turned as he imagined what research they conducted, and his mind filled in the blanks of the room with his own personal nightmare of what it might have looked like before they fled: mammoth machines with thick cords that curled like tentacles and latched onto the children; perhaps giant test tubes that suspended their specimens in fluid in which Kara could stare and make observations to say whether or not the victims were growing according to their plans. Maybe they built new scientific ninja tools here. Maybe they harnessed more of the Otsutsuki power here. Maybe. The possibilities were endless.

Balling his fists against his side, Boruto knew there was no hope for the lost children from the village. The truth was before them: the organization definitely had them and conducted horrors on them just miles from their village. From their families. From their home.

Home.

He exhaled sharply and turned to head down a corridor leading deeper into the cave, leaving the large cavern filled with his nightmares behind him.

"Don't wander too far," he heard Sasuke's voice echo after him. But Boruto didn't care. He just needed out and away from the black pit that was curling around his stomach and rising to his lungs. It was a simmering anger he hadn't quite felt before on missions- and he felt personally connected to most of the missions he went on- but this was different in a way he didn't know how to process yet, so instead he did the only thing he knew how to do and tried to outrun it to stay emotionally afloat.

He leaned against the cool rock wall when he was finally out of sight and placed a hand to his head where it still felt sore to the touch. Flinching, he thought about the horn emerging from it only twelve hours before. They hadn't talked about what had happened last night- Boruto lashing out that he had the karma under control when it was clear to Sasuke the opposite was true- but he could clearly still feel the secondary effects from it. He wished he could just erase it away just as he tried to push down the darky energy bubbling within him.

When he finally opened his eyes, they immediately lasered in on a dark mass further down the corridor that he didn't notice before. He knew he was potentially walking into a dangerous situation, but he looked back one last time to see where Sasuke was then ventured toward it. As he happened upon them the dark outlines became sharper and he noted the mass was actually a pair of shoes.

Small shoes. Children's shoes scuffed with dirt. Had they thrown them here? Had the children been that disposable? A chill ran through him and he suddenly recognized the pit still sitting firmly in his stomach; he knew he needed to venture further but had the insidious feeling that he'd find more if he did.

Boruto left the shoes behind him and walked deeper into the shadows, all light gone now. Shuffling forward slowly, a few yards past the shoes, his foot bumped another mass. He edged it with his foot again, noting that it moved easily but definitely had some weight to it, squishy almost, and he ignored his head screaming not to touch it and bent down to investigate anyway.

His fingers grazed something familiar.

The pit in his stomach iced over as he recognized the feel the feel of fabric and then beyond that-

Bone.

Jumping backwards, bile filled his throat as he realized what he found.

"Sasuke!" he shrieked.

Sasuke rushed in a few seconds later and a light filtered in behind Boruto, giving him a full view of the body he just touched.

"Shit," he heard Sasuke hiss behind him.

Under his feet laid a small child, no older than eleven if he had to guess, his body mangled, though partially unrecognizable and clearly infected with something. The right side of his body looked considerably smaller than his left, starched white and almost shrunken. The younger shinobi immediately connected the body to the room they came from and placed it among his nightmares of the tubes and brutal experiments. What had happened to him? Had he not been what they wanted? Did they just cast him aside so easily here when his family waited miles away for their child's return?

Sasuke's face held no emotion as he stared at the body but it just wasn't as easy for Boruto. The pit that had been rolling inside him finally cracked open and he finally recognized why he had been so unnerved when he entered the cave and even more so once he discovered the body: He was once again faced with What if this was his family? This child had died in pain and alone, and no one was there to mourn him. This could be anyone he knew.

"Should we bring the body down?" he choked out.

"I'll let the elders decide," Sasuke said, his voice low. "It may be better to just let the parents believe their child is alive somewhere than to tell them the truth."

Boruto whipped around to face Sasuke. "So what, are we just going to let the body stay here to rot?!" He looked at it again, his mind back to the children in the village, even thinking briefly of his own unknown children. "...No one will visit him."

"We need to let them decide," Sasuke maintained again. "They know the parents better than we do. We don't want to interfere more than we have to." He paused for a moment to consider something. "Also, did you notice? This body is long dead but it has no smell. It may help us later in deciphering what Kara may be doing if he's not buried."

"So you'd rather just have the body available for access than give him a proper burial?" Boruto flinched away, unable to hide his disgust.

"If it would help us protect a greater number of people in the long run, yes. We're in the business of helping alive people, not dead. As disrespectful as it may seem to you, if it would help our own village, we do what we have to do. But ultimately we will leave it up to the village elders."

Boruto ignored him and turned back down the corridor again, suddenly needing fresh air.

They disclosed their discovery to the elders, while Boruto sat numb in the background. He ignored Hachirou's red face and bowed head upon hearing the news and he didn't hear their final decision on what to do with the bodies. His heartbeat was too loud in his ears and all he saw was Himawari's face stamped in the front of his eyes. All he noticed was Sasuke finally motioning for him to stand and he robotically said his goodbyes and thank yous to the elders before following his sensei out of the room.

The two walked silently on the dirt road leading outside the village. "They are going to retrieve the body and bury him," Sasuke said as they edged along the treeline, knowing Boruto hadn't heard a word.

The blonde felt his body contract but he wasn't relaxed for long before Sasuke tacked on, "But there have been other sightings and potential kidnappings. That's where we are heading next."

While Boruto found himself tense beside the eldest Uchiha miles away, the youngest found herself comfortable and warm inside the Uzumaki home sandwiched between Mitsuki and Konohamaru for dinner.

Hinata was clearly going out of her way to make her feel comfortable and cared for during her uncertainty. Sarada knew she probably appeared directionless and unsure, remembering her outburst and indecision only days before and felt guilty because of it, but she also was thankful for Hinata's effort while Boruto was away. She felt she had a lifeline, some kind of grounding.

"I'm so glad all of you could make it tonight." Hinata beamed as she placed food on the table for everyone. She refused Sarada's help, shooing her away to relax. "I'm sorry Naruto isn't able to make it."

"He's busy," Konohamaru acknowledged. "But I definitely appreciate the invite! It's been a while since all of us were together." He sighed and looked over at Mitsuki and Sarada, a smile playing on the edge of his lips; Sarada knew from the stars shining behind his eyes that he was about to launch into an emotional spiel.

"It just seems just like yesterday that you were genin. And now look at you. Who would've thought?"

"Not me," Sarada muttered into her cup and widened her eyes, causing Konohamaru to burst into laughter.

"That's not what I meant. You all have grown up and are so successful-"

"Sure! If that's what you want to call it," she said sarcastically.

He frowned at Sarada's deflection until she finally smirked back. "Kidding, Sensei…"

"Really," Konohamaru maintained. "I am so proud of the three of you. I know the last year hasn't been easy for any of you, but you have pushed forward so much and I'm truly proud to have been your sensei. And you and Boruto clearly have worked through your differences-"

Sarada shook her head to shy away from the pointed gushiness but he ignored her. "- And I know you two are going to be amazing parents."

"Again," Sarada said, turning to hide the blush creeping along her cheeks, "who would have thought?"

"Everyone," Mitsuki announced. "We all thought this."

"You're insane."

Hinata let out a small giggle, placing her glass down on the table. "Your mother and I had our own selfish fantasies when you were kids. I pulled out the old pictures like I promised so I can show you after we eat!"

Conversation flowed easily and they laughed freely, discussing Himawari's upcoming graduation though she was busy training with Hanabi that night, and Sarada was so engrossed, finally relaxed, that she almost forgot Boruto wasn't there. It was when dinner started to wind down and Konohamaru was relegating memories of his team that she felt her heart start to ache and suddenly noticed Boruto's empty chair looming large before her.

Hinata watched her longing stare and caught her eye, offering a small, knowing smile before saying, "Come on, let me show you some pictures."

They cleaned up then padded over to the living room to huddle around the heavy photo albums Hinata had lugged out of the closet. She didn't have to flip far before Sarada recognized herself as a frequent appearance in the photos, and once again her heart squeezed tightly as she was overcome by a flood of memories.

There were photos from birthdays, starting from their first birthday just days apart. There were toddler smiles with popsicles in hand, wrapped up in towels with wet hair after a long afternoon of swimming. Boruto and Sarada both fawning over an infant Himawari. More birthdays, and candid shots of the two hanging from trees or building sand castles or engrossed in whatever game they made up on the playground.

"Huh, I didn't realize you hung out that much as children," Mitsuki said.

"Me neither, honestly," she whispered.

Sarada let herself take over flipping through the pictures, stopping every now and then to observe their wide, bright smiles practically blinding her from their glossy pages. She remembered so much of her childhood being annoyed with him, recalling how her stomach would drop when her mom would tell her Boruto was coming over to play; she hated being thrown in with him all the time. She had watched from afar as Cho Cho and Shikadai and Inojin were always together even then, and secretly wished she had another built-in playmate that wasn't always the loud boy with the yellow hair who drew too much attention to himself.

She always noted how different they were in every way and watched as that too jumped out at her even now: his blonde hair, almost white in the summer sun, against her own black hair that never did lighten much. Their eyes, two black ones and two blue ones, in awe of a birthday cake being set down on the table. He was her opposite and she frequently lamented over it.

But her smile said she felt otherwise.

She then turned to pictures of her and Boruto with Naruto. The Seventh Hokage had taken so much care over her as a father figure even before he led the village, and as she looked at a picture of her and Boruto wrestling with him, she also remembered the jealousy she felt over Boruto having the perfect dad she always wanted back then. And now, years later, he was off with her dad. Who had they grown into? How much had they changed? Maybe she remembered wrong; maybe her sullen-colored glasses needed to be more rosy- maybe they didn't change all that much at all.

While she was pouting over being stuck with him throughout her career, maybe she knew deep down she could count on him. She wanted other experiences with other people her whole life, but she had always come back to him no matter what, and maybe that meant something.

Maybe they were always in sync, even when she thought they were anything but. Because if they weren't, there was no way they'd be having children together.

Maybe.

Hinata's voice brought her back. "You two used to argue so much, but we knew it wouldn't be long before you would go back to playing like nothing happened. We'd have about twenty minutes to damage control when you first got together and then you two would go off in your own little world and it was hard to drive you apart."

"I remember you yelling at him to play a certain way when he didn't want to do things your way," Konohamaru laughed. "You'd get so frustrated because he just never seemed to listen."

"Well yeah, he'd always make everything more difficult." She rolled her eyes. "It's not hard to do things the right way. Which I did. Obviously."

"This one's my favorite." Hinata stopped her hand from turning the page and she pointed to a tiny picture of the duo as toddlers curled up in a chair under the same blanket with their faces leaning together. She once again remembered hating being in the same vicinity as him, but this picture proved that he clearly drew her in more than her memory served.

"Look how peaceful you two were." Hinata sighed. "I miss those days."

Sarada didn't say anything and stared at the unrecognizable babies on the page. Hinata then reached up to cup the girl's chin in her hand, turning her eyes up to meet hers. "And soon you will be able to soak those days up."

Sarada averted her eyes; honestly she didn't know how she'd react to "those days" that Hinata spoke so fondly of, but that didn't deter the mother from continuing.

"I'm really grateful for the time we have now though," she said. "And I want you to realize we're all here to support you. I know...things weren't the best they could have been. I know there were a lot of rules put on you two. But I just want you to feel supported."

Sarada didn't have to force a smile as she stared back gratefully into Hinata's eyes.

Finally satisfied that the girl understood, the Uzumaki pulled away and stood. "I have actually have a present for you too!" she announced.

"Oh no, not more presents," Sarada sputtered guiltily. "You really don't have to do this… I'm not even close to half way-"

Hinata cut off her words as she thrusted a wrapped present into her arms. "You better get used to this."

First shooting everyone a nervous glance, she peeled back the paper to find four onesies folded nicely on top of each other with two pacifiers lying on the stack.

"I know you don't know what they are yet, so I tried to keep the colors neutral," Hinata explained as Sarada ran her fingers over them.

Her eyes began to well again just as they did when Mitsuki had given her his present the day before, and she couldn't stop herself from reaching over to hug her second mother tightly.

"Thank you. I don't even know what to say."

"I miss this stuff." Hinata squeezed Sarada back. "I figured I'd buy a few things every time I'm out and your mom said she'd do the same so that you don't have to worry about anything when the time comes."

She then released the girl and smiled widely at her, her eyes shining. "Besides, you can't have enough onesies. They go through them like you wouldn't believe."

"Do you want to find out the sexes of the babies?" Konohamaru asked as Sarada refolded the clothes and set them gingerly next to her.

Sarada glanced back at the photo album for a moment to catch another glimpse of her and Boruto frozen in time. She shook her head. "I don't know that I want to honestly… until he's here. It just doesn't seem right without him."

"Have you started thinking about names?"

This time Sarada let out a loud laugh. "You actually think I've had time to think about names?!" she cried.

"Well I don't know!"

"No," she replied firmly, "I think that's something we're going to have to do together."

She then sat back in thought for a second and realized something, surrounded by all the defining moments of her childhood: This was just one more thing added to seventeen year-long list of doing something with Boruto that she couldn't with anyone else.

The mixture of smells wafting out of the food stalls in the next village finally beckoned Boruto out of his bad mood and he found himself walking slowly past each, his mouth watering.

"We should probably eat," Sasuke announced next to him and Boruto wanted badly to roll his eyes. How Sasuke survived on his journeys alone was beyond him; sometimes he wondered if the only reason Sasuke only stopped working to eat at all was because he was tagging along.

They split off to find their own food and Boruto lazily followed the main strip, looking in the shops and vaguely wondering if he should bring something home. He knew Sarada wasn't expecting him to, but it probably would be nice for him to have something to show for his travels since he had left her during the most vulnerable time of her life- and, if he was being honest with himself, his too.

Sasuke must have read the Uzumaki's mind because he came up behind him and knelt his face beside Boruto's to say "Looking for something in particular?"

"I don't know…" Boruto bit the inside of his lip and stared inside the shop they were standing in front of. It was packed to the brim with sweets and trinkets, but nothing stood out to him. "If I sent something home to Sarada, what do you think she'd like?"

"Shouldn't you know that? You're with her almost every day," Sasuke deadpanned.

"Yeah but I don't know what women like; I've never really gotten Sarada a present before. What do they like?"

"I don't know."

Boruto blinked. "Well you're the married one here. I don't know how to please girls."

Sasuke bristled and turned away, a red glow emerging on his cheeks. "That's great to know," he muttered.

"Come on, Sasuke, help me," Boruto begged. "I have no idea what she'd like- she's your kid. Flowers wouldn't make it and I don't want to send her something stupid."

Sasuke's demeanor clearly screamed discomfort as his shoulders hunched forward and he stared in the opposite direction down the road; he was comfortable in bringing the two together when they desperately needed to communicate, but the thought of helping the teen try to actually win over his daughter was another territory entirely he did not want to be a part of.

He huffed, annoyed and slightly embarrassed then turned back to his student. "I don't know. What if you sent something for your children? Or a part of yourself she could keep until you return home? That's something Sakura said she wished I'd have done."

"A part of myself? Like my hair?" He raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"No, you idiot, not like your hair," he scoffed. His eyes roved over him then came to a rest at the bolt necklace hanging from his throat. "What about your necklace? You always wear that."

"My necklace?" Boruto fingered the tiny bolt that he frequently forgot was there and untied it to hold it in his hand. "Do you think she'd like something like a necklace? Wouldn't she prefer a new one? I've had this for as long as I can remember honestly: it's really old."

"The more sentimental the better," Sasuke said shrugging. "At least that's what her mother says."

Sarada's eyes fluttered open in the middle of the night but in her sluggish half-consciousness she didn't know why she had suddenly awoken, her heart mysteriously racing. Then she processed the light rapping sound outside her window. It was a slight clawing at the pane like something wanted to get in, and her first thought was Intruder so she grabbed a kunai from her bedside table to clutch as she opened her blinds to peer outside.

She was greeted by the sight of her father's hawk perched on her window sill with its head tilted and beady eyes staring back at her. Immediately she noticed the small paper package tied to its leg. She opened the window just enough for it to waddle in, and as soon as she untied the string around its leg it flew back out again before she could let out a "Thank you."

When she unfolded the paper, a familiar bolt necklace slid out into her palm surrounded by a letter written in the chicken scratch handwriting she automatically recognized.

S,

I wanted to get you the perfect gift and this probably still falls short, but I want you to know that I'm thinking of you. Sorry I didn't think of this sooner. Better late than never, right?

-B

He gave her his necklace. Something she had seen him wear for as long as she had known him- which as she was reminded from earlier in the night, was her entire life. Sarada couldn't stop the smile instantly spreading over her face. He was wrong: the present didn't fall short. It was better than perfect.

She laid back down in bed and gripped the necklace tightly to her all night, the bolt digging into her hand. She didn't mind the indentations that stayed the entire next day, a surprise only she knew was there, and mourned them when they finally disappeared.