I think I'm starting to get the hang of these pictures xD Maybe xD Shadows are still off but... It's better than it was lol

Side note: looking back on this I just want to die in a hole but you know what I'm going to live with my failures and embrace them.

Once the town was in sight, Sarada pulled on the reigns to slow Shikamaru. Going into town like this would attract too much attention; she already stood out enough as it was.

Just after Boruto let go of her, she saw his feet go up and over her head. He had backflipped off of the horse. Sarada smirked. Show off.

She would have done the same if she had the reassurance of chakra to break her landing. But her body felt heavy and sore. So when Boruto offered her his hand with an exaggerated bow, she took it.

"Where is the castle," Boruto began, setting Shikadai on top of his father with a smirk, his hand still connected to Sarada's.

Shikadai only rolled his eyes in response and kicked back in the saddle, waving goodbye.

"...Are you planning on stealing the crown again?"

"As much as I don't like the idea, I think it's necessary to the plot that we have it."

Sarada didn't comment on their connected hands. Boruto was acting strange lately. First, there was the look in his eyes when they had danced in the previous story. Then there was his surprising calmness when they were faced with a life or death situation. He had also zoned off so hard that he was completely oblivious to everything she was saying. He randomly decided to lay on the ground after seeing her in a bra, and now... He was acting like prince charming, albeit jokingly.

But something about the warmth in his touch and the sometimes forlorn look on his face told her something had changed. The childhood friend that always played pranks to get attention was becoming more grown up. And it was making her heart race.

Just the night before, in her delirious and confused state, she had hugged him. The remembrance of his flustered reaction caused heat to rise to her face. And suddenly made her extra conscious of their connected hands.

"B-Boruto?"

"Hmm?"

"My hand."

"Oh," he said, letting go, "I didn't notice. Sorry Sarada."

Sarada blinked. Didn't notice? Boruto wasn't the type to casually hold hands with someone. That was a blatant lie. She watched as he put his hands in his pockets, the aftermath of a pout on his lips.

"Boruto?"

He tilted his head back, looking at her as he walked. "Hm?"

"...Never mind."

Shoving her curiosity aside, she looked forward. If he says it he didn't notice, I have no choice... Drawing attention to it would only give him the chance to tease me...

They walked over a bridge, Sarada trailing behind him even though she should have been in the lead. "The castle... It's up on top of the hill."

He laughed. "I can see it now. But is there some sort of festival going on? There's tons of people in the streets."

Finally feeling a bit of relief that his speech had returned to normal, she decided to walk by his side again. "I'm not sure. I didn't hear anything about it from Kawaki or Mitsuki."

Suddenly a little girl ran up to both of them. "Mister, Mister!"

Boruto knelt down, a smile on his face. "What is it?"

"Take one!" She said, holding out a daisy. "For your pretty girlfriend!"

Sarada's entire body tensed as she took a step backwards, stuttering. "Wha- We are not-"

But she stopped when Boruto stood up, turned around, and slipped the flower into her bangs just above her ear. "Here, pretty girlfriend," he said with a smirk.

Sarada's face lit up like a Christmas tree. "I... I am not your girlfriend!"

But Boruto had already moved on to something else.

"Sarada! Look over there, they have cupcakes! I haven't eaten food in forever... Do you want one?"

"Boruto," said Sarada, calming her racing heart and attempting to turn her embarrassment into anger, "we don't have any money."

"Well... We're going to end up stealing a crown anyways. What's a cupcake or two?"

With a smirk in her direction, Boruto ran off.

"Wai- Boruto!"

They arrived at the counter, Sarada pulling on Boruto's arm in attempt to stop him from attempting thievery. The woman smiled. "You look exactly like the lost prince. Here, take one. For you and your girlfriend."

"G-g-girlfriend?" Sarada stuttered.

"Thanks oba-san! Oh, and what do you mean, the lost prince?"

Sarada's gaze trailed to the ground. Usually, Boruto would have been right there along with her, denying whoever dared to call them a married couple, boyfriend and girlfriend, or even people that said they got along well. But he didn't even flinch. Does he really... No! He's just teasing me. That's all this is.

"You must not be from around here... Today's festival is to celebrate the lost prince," said the woman, handing over the cupcakes. "There should be a story-teller in the center of town. He would tell it much better than me."

"I see... Thanks for the info!"

With that, Boruto spun around. Sarada would have followed him if it weren't for the metal sheen of the helmet in the distance. Grabbing his arm, she dragged him into the first hiding spot she could find.

She didn't realize how narrow it was until their backs were pressed up against the stone and the threat was out of her line of sight.

"Guards," he asked, licking some of the frosting off of his cupcake.

"Y...Yeah," she said, heat rising to her face. Darn it Sarada, it's just Boruto! Shannaro! Why are you like this?

She kept her eyes on the guards, avoiding his. When they had passed, she looked at her cupcake. How was she supposed to eat one of these again?

Boruto's was already gone, and he was grinning like the idiot he was. "That hit the spot... Are the guards gone?"

"Oh..." She glanced up at him, then back over his shoulder. "Yeah, they're gone."

"...If you don't want that, I'll take it off your hands," he said, eyeing her cupcake.

Sarada looked away. "Don't be stupid, of course I want it." She slowly licked at the top of the frosting, wondering if he was going to make fun of her for how she was eating it. Darn it, she thought again, now is not the time to be flustered!

"Let's go find the storyteller," said Sarada, eating as she walked.

Due to her intense focus on consuming the baked good, she nearly jumped out of her skin when someone draped something over her shoulders. "Huh?"

Looking up, she saw Boruto, contemplating something as he stared into her eyes. "Hmm... It's gotta be red after all."

"W-what are you doing?" Her heart spasmed.

"You need a hood if you're going to stay hidden from the guards," he said, exchanging the hood for a red one. "They were selling them right over there, so I walked up to the shop owner and asked for one. Free of charge, again."

"...What do you mean... about the red?"

"Hm? Oh. Red stands out, so I thought black would be better. But you look pretty in red, Sarada."

That was it. Something was wrong with Boruto. Ducking her head, she hid under the hood, every last bit of her face on fire. "Oh." Was all she managed to get out.

"And by the way, you have frosting on your lip."

She rubbed at them profusely, cheeks burning.

"Here," he said, pulling her hands away, "don't rub at it so hard, you'll make your face red."

It's already red, she thought, her heart thudding in her chest as he tilted her face up towards him.

"Hmm... I guess you already got it off."

"M-More importantly, let's go find the storyteller..."

Sarada ducked into the crowd, her hands on her hood. This wasn't good. I don't like him like that, she repeated to herself over and over again. It's only because he's acting different...

Within a few minutes, they came across the storyteller, standing on a tall box in the middle of town.

"And that is why we celebrate his birthday every year on this day, hoping that one day he will return home. Come back to hear the story again! The story of the lost prince! Every ten minutes!"

"Sir," said Boruto, "could you tell us that story one more time?"

"Unfortunately, I can only tell stories during designated story times. You are welcome to go to the local library and read the story of the lost prince. It is documented by many historians."

"...Thanks... And where would the library be?"

"Why sir, it is behind you. Is this your first time visiting the kingdom?"

Boruto laughed, his hand rubbing the back of his neck. "Yeah... I don't get out much."

The story teller eyed him suspiciously.

"Come on Boruto," said Sarada, not liking the look on the man's face, "let's go."

. . .

Boruto and Sarada made their way into the library. Not a soul was in sight.

"I guess everyone's too busy with the festival to think about checking out books," said Boruto, eyeing the massive shelves that lined the floors. "We're going to have to search for a while if we want to find it."

"Yeah..."

"Hm? Sarada? What's wrong?"

Sarada turned to the side, her cheeks pink. Why does my stupid heart have to freak out the second I'm alone with him?

"I-It's nothing," she stammered. "Anyways, let's split up and find that book!"

"...Right."

Sarada's eyes scanned the shelves, desperately searching for something on fairy tales, princesses, or records of history. But all she was seeing were blank book spines. She almost wondered if her brain fog was making her hallucinate. Closing her eyes, her lungs filled with air. And when she let it out and her eyes fluttered open, the book spines were still mere splotches of desaturated color.

"Boruto?"

"Hm?"

Her heart skipped a beat. Why was his voice so gentle all of the sudden? "I-I was just wondering... On your side, are there any books with titles? All of mine are blank..."

"Mine are too... Wait... I think I found something..." Boruto pulled an old dusty green book on the shelf that looked like it had been printed at least 100 years ago. "The Brother's Grimm. Fairy Tales... This looks like it's the only book with a title."

"I wonder why that is..."

"Probably because it's an important piece of bonus information," Boruto began. "When game developers create games, they don't have the time and storage to code every tiny detail. So a lot of things, especially on maps or small details like bookshelves, are simplified so you can only look at one item in the room."

Sarada blinked a few times. She knew Boruto was smart. But she didn't know he knew about the processes involved in making video games. "I see..." The topic had never been more interesting.

"Hmm... The Golden Bird, Hans in Luck, Fundevogal... The Salad? Ha! I wonder what that one is about."

"Boruto!"

"Yeah yeah, I know. Here it is. Rapunzel. Page 95."

Sarada looked over his shoulder as he flipped to the page, wondering if this story resembled theirs at all. After all, she had never read a fairy tale before.

"There was once a man and woman who had long in vain wished for a child... Yeah yeah, we know that. Hmm... Let's see... Ah, Rapunzel grew into a beautiful child... Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair... The king's son rode through the forest... He was enchanted by her singing. Sarada, are you enchanted by my singing?"

"Shut up and read, idiot."

"Fine fine," he said with a bit of a chuckle. "The king's son climbed up... His heart was stirred... Then Rapunzel..." Boruto trailed off.

"Then Rapunzel?"

"...Asked if she would take him for her husband..."

Sarada's face turned bright red. "Well... The other events haven't exactly gone like this... Maybe we can skip that part."

"It's worth a shot..." Boruto, already kneeling, turned towards her. "Sarada, will you marry me?"

She squirmed in her own skin. She swore her heart was going to burst out of her ribcage. "I... I guess..."

Silence. Nothing happened.

"Welp. That didn't work." Boruto stuck his face back into the book and continued muttering, folding his legs to sit crisscross on the wooden floor. She could see the glow on his ears as he read. "I'll go away with you, but I don't know how to get down... Bring me silk and weave a ladder... Ha! Rapunzel gets in trouble because she calls the enchantress fat..."

The line lightened up the rather awkward tension that had filled the room, and Sarada dared to take another step closer to Boruto to peer back over his shoulder.

"You deceived me, blah blah blah... Snippety snip, her hair was cut off... and she took Rapunzel to a desert where she lived in great grief and misery?! What kind of a story is this?"

"Keep going, maybe it gets better."

"Easy for you to say... You're not getting thrown into a desert," he quipped, attempting to return the mood to some resemblance of normal. "The king's son climbed up, but instead he found the enchantress... Rapunzel is lost to you, you will never see her again... He escaped with his life, but thorns pierced his eyes?! What is this? I didn't think fairy tales were supposed to be this dark."

"Just keep reading," she urged, longing to see how it ended.

"He roamed about in misery for years, and came to the desert where Rapunzel, and the..." He hid his face in the book.

"What? What happens? Stop trailing off!"

"...The twins she had given birth to, a boy and a girl, lived in wretchedness."

Sarada's face turned a new shade of red. "We are not doing that."

"I wasn't going to ask."

"Well," she said, turning her back to him and standing to her feet, "is that it?"

"...In the end, it says two of Rapunzel's tears wetted the prince's eyes and they grew clear again. He led her back to the kingdom and they lived for a long time afterwards, happy and contented."

"...That's it?"

Boruto closed the book. "That's it."

"I don't think that's the same as the story we're in..."

"But it could give us some sort of clues to find out what we're supposed to be doing." He stretched to put the book back on the shelf from his sitting position. "I'm the princess in the story, right? And you're the prince, even though you're a girl... But the lady said I looked like the lost prince, not you. So maybe it got switched?"

"I'm not sure," said Sarada, offering him a hand. "We should go back outside. I'm sure the storyteller will be able to tell us something too."

Boruto took her hand with a smile, standing to his feet. "Right."

With that, they began walking towards the door.

"Boruto?"

"Hm?"

"...My hand."

"Ah... Sorry."