Sarada and Shikadai halted at the moss covered entrance to the castle. Ivy stretched up the walls and ran between the bricks. The first hokage had really done a number on the place.

Boruto was somewhere inside. She just had to find him and figure out how to end the level... Whether that be his true name, or something else entirely.

When she looked back at Shikadai for one last confirmation that entering was the correct course of action, he was writing in the dirt with his hoof.

Sarada's face slowly turned red with each new letter. "I have to..."

Before the fairies could see, he quickly kicked dirt overtop of the words. And Sarada ducked her head.

"There's only one thing left to do," said Wasabi, a grin on her face.

"He's up in the tallest tower, resting in bed," said Namida.

"Please," said Sumire, "put an end to this terrible spell... Go to him."

Sarada furrowed her eyebrows and clenched her fists. If it was for the sake of the story... If it was for getting out of this place... She could do it.

. . .

Upon entry to the castle, Sarada found its inhabitants to be asleep, some passed out mid-action. She wandered through them, less concerned than she likely should have been, and climbed the stairs. After opening several identical doors, she finally found a room with golden hinges. One gulp later, she pushed it open.

A curtain hid Boruto's face from view, but her heart was already pounding.

Come on Sarada, you can do this. It's just a kiss. You almost kissed him on the first day of school. Sure, that was an accident. But this is to save everyone. Even Shikadai said so. Just... Close your eyes and get it over with.

She approached the bed with her eyes closed. But the moment she neared it, she realized, she would need to be able to see in order to make sure she kissed his lips and not the bed.

Reluctantly. Very reluctantly, she cracked her eyes open.

Before her was someone that looked like Boruto, but couldn't entirely be him. He still had the same hair and facial markings, but his jawline was sharper. His hair seemed softer. His skin seemed fairer. His clothes were more princely. And he was making her heart pound like crazy.

This isn't Boruto. This is just... your imagination. That's all.

Her gaze met his lips. And then she paused. They looked... soft... Somehow, she didn't despise the idea of being forced to kiss him anymore. This seemed... less like Boruto, and more like the princes from the romance movies she always saw with Cho-Cho.

Suddenly, she thought back to Sumire. I'm the worst friend... But if I don't do this... will we ever be able to go back? She'll forgive me if I'm honest... right?

Sucking in a breath, she closed her eyes and slowly exhaled. When her eyes opened, her heartrate still wasn't any slower, but the metal fortitude she needed to accomplish the task at hand settled into her body. You can do this.

She slid onto the side of the bed, one knee tucked underneath of her. With one last troubled glance, she closed her eyes, leaned down, and gently touched her lips to his. It felt like mini fireworks were going off inside her, but she ignored the feeling and receded back. Somehow, she felt weird. Happy. Anxious. Afraid. Wondering if he would really wake up.

But when she saw faint movement under his eyelids, all of her fears vanished into relief.

. . .

Boruto's eyes flickered open. His entire body tensed. The cipher... Where is dad? Am I at home? How did I get here? No. I'm...

Sarada entered his vision.

The first thing he did was sit up and hug her against his chest. She tensed, but he only pulled her closer.

"B-Boruto?"

He curled his fingers into the fabric of her tunic, taking in the warmth of the scent that only belonged to Sarada. "I thought I'd never see you again," he whimpered into her hair.

"...Why? What's wrong?"

"How did you do it," he asked, "How did you bring me back here?"

Sarada's face turned bright red. "I-I didn't really do anything! I just..."

His worry slowly faded at tone of her embarrassed voice. A smile of disbelief spread across his face as his arms gently slid away from her back. "Don't tell me... You kissed me?"

Her bright red face left him wanting to tease her more.

"Hmm, I didn't know you felt that way," he chided, his relief tenfold what it had been.

"Shut up, stupid Boruto! I only did it because if I didn't, I'd be stuck here!"

"Mmmhmm." He stood to his feet and took in her appearance. Long black hair. A red tunic. An angry and slightly embarrassed look on her face. No doubt, even if she looked different, she was Sarada.

"So," he said, his previous circumstances beginning to seem like nothing more than bad dream. "What's your name? If we don't say it, we can't move onto the next level."

"About that..." Sarada said, the blush dissipating from her face. "Orochimaru told me... We can't move on unless we are true to the story, whatever that means."

"...True to the story?"

"I'm not sure what he meant..."

Boruto thought back to the story of Sleeping Beauty. How he ended up as the one asleep despite being the prince, he wasn't too sure. If he recalled correctly, Sarada's name should have been... "Aurora?"

"...I think that's what he called me."

"Try calling me Phillip."

She furrowed her eyebrows. "Phillip?"

The scene didn't change. "I had a feeling... Boruto, how does this story end?"

"I forget," he said, looking at his shoes and feeling appalled that he was wearing outdoor shoes in his bedroom. "But Shikadai might know. Where is he?"

Sarada met his gaze and forced an awkward laugh. "Well... He's a horse."

All of a sudden, Naruto busted into the room. "Phillip! You... are with Sasuke's daughter?!"

"Dad! Knock before you come in! Jeez!"

Naruto blushed, his eyes on the undone buttons of Boruto's shirt. "I wasn't expecting you to be with a girl... Nonetheless your fiancé . You'd better not lay a hand on her until you're married!"

"Fian..." Boruto trailed off mid-sentence. Suddenly, he remembered how the story ended. And a grin spread across his face.

"Boruto? What is he talking about? Fiancé ?"

"Sorry Sarada," he said, standing to his feet to face her. "Looks like we're going to have to get married to move on."

He watched her eyes sweep the floor. Her hands fidgeted at her sides. And then her cheeks slowly changed color. "You mean..."

"Yup. This story ends with our wedding."

The fairies snuck into the room and waved their wands, changing Sarada's clothes from a tunic to a beautiful pink dress. Her hair smoothed down and fell around her shoulders, her face done up with a touch of makeup.

Boruto felt his heart skip a beat. She's so pretty in dresses...

He bent his arm like an escort and waited. "Maybe this will be the last level. Maybe after this we can go back," he said, taking her hand when she hesitated to move.

"I... I don't think I can..."

"Come on Sarada," he said with a smile, placing her hand in the crook of his arm. "if it's me, you'll be ok. I'll protect you from anything Shikadai tries to hold over your head later."

The comment only made her entire face turn the same color as her dress.

He walked out of the room to the left this time, descending the staircase with Sarada's hand still resting on his arm. This made him... happy. He could tease her, he could protect her, and most importantly, he could laugh with her and pretend like everything was ok, even when he had been scared out of his mind moments before. She gave him courage. And when it seemed as though she had disappeared... His world felt like it was crumbling.

Face slowly taking on a pink hue, he snuck a glance at her. I guess... I kinda like her... like that... And not just in the story...

He dropped his gaze to the floor. How long had it really been? If he was honest... He mentally shook his head. Worrying about that wasn't going to do him any good. Telling her wasn't really important. As long as she stayed with him... That was all that mattered.

When they made their way to the ballroom, both of their fathers and mothers standing by their thrones, the castle inhabitants welcomed them with warm applause. Boruto smiled and waved, and the orchestra started up a waltz.

Taking her hands, he placed one of hers on his shoulder, and then moved his own to her waist. His fingers held hers lightly as he stepped back, to the side, to the front, and spun her around. When she turned back to face him, she seemed more relaxed.

Boruto recalled the first time he had danced with her. He had been surprised at how naturally his feet seemed to know the steps. At how seamless holding her had seemed. How she had so much confidence in herself. But now, there was a faint blush dusting her cheeks.

Sasuke wanted to kill him at the time, glaring daggers at him and kicking him out of the castle. And now, Sasuke was happily dancing with Sakura. His parents were dancing as well, albeit, a bit more clumsily. But his mother looked happy all the same.

There was only one thing left.

"Sarada?"

"Hm?"

"Stop looking at your feet and look up at me."

He was met with a shy gaze as she peered through her eyelashes, which only made his smile widen. "I told you to relax. Come on," he said, one hand grazing over her back as it made its way to her waist. "You aren't embarrassed, are you?"

She averted her eyes. "Stupid Boruto."

He laughed and spun her from his hand, pulling her back in only to dip her to the side. His smile must have shown more of his feelings than he would have liked, because as their foreheads nearly touched, her eyes opened wide for a mere second. But they were sparkling. It was faint, but it was there.

"Sarada," he said, leaving his face in close proximity to hers as they danced. "What are you going to do when we get back?"

"...There's someone I need to apologize to..."

He frowned. "For what?"

She bit her lip and stepped to the right, leading him instead of allowing him to lead her. "...For being in this story... With you..."

The sparkle vanished from her eyes. His eyebrows furrowed. Someone she needed to apologize to... Someone who liked him? Is that why she was holding back?

"What if you didn't?"

"W-What?"

"What if you didn't apologize, and kept all of this a secret?" He intertwined their fingers and pulled her closer.

She blinked. "Boruto?"

"Sarada. You shouldn't have to hold back all the time," he practically whispered, his bangs brushing hers. "It's ok to enjoy yourself, ya know."

"W-What are you talking about? I..."

He rolled his eyes and smirked. "Just relax and dance with me like you did before, stupid."

Sarada glanced over at Sakura and Sasuke. Then at Naruto and Hinata. Then back to Boruto. Finally, she sighed. "I guess you're right... It's not like we're actually getting married anyway. And I do kind of like dancing." She looked up into his eyes and offered him a subtle smile.

An imaginary arrow pierced Boruto through the chest. But he shook it off. He would crack the thick wall Sarada Uchiha had put around her emotions, just like he did when they were kids. And eventually... He would get the guts to ask her to be more than just a dancing partner.

From the balcony, Namida began to sniffle, watching as Boruto danced with her, smiles on their faces.

"What's the matter," asked Wasabi, frowning at her.

"Oh," she said, wiping a tear from her eye. "Don't you just love happy endings?"

"...I guess," said Wasabi, shrugging. "I don't really get it. But hey, it's good that everyone woke up right?"

Sumire nodded her agreeance. "What a terrible thing it would have been for everyone to remain asleep."

Boruto got Sarada to laugh a few more times, catching smiles from his parents every now and again. They danced until the waltz came to an end, staring into each other's eyes rather than at the floor. Just as the trumpets announced the end of the piece, Boruto smirked.

"Hey, Sarada."

"Hm?"

"Don't kill me for this, it's part of the story."

"What?"

Boruto leaned in and gently touched his lips to hers. The room faded to emerald-green around them, but it wasn't until the scenery was completely gone that he pulled back, gazing into her unblinking eyes to capture all of her embarrassment and shock. When he was satisfied, he grinned, removed his hand from her waist, and stepped around to her side.

He caught the corner of Shikadai's mouth twitching upward as his hands folded behind his head. His deductive reasoning skills didn't have to work very hard to figure out that the infatuated look in Boruto's half-lidded gaze as he stared off into the emerald space was genuine.

With that, the music faded out, and an electronic voice resounded throughout the void of empty space.

"Congratulations. You completed level three."