I asked for advice from reddit for this drawing (or rather, I told them to roast me because if you ask for advice all you get is nice people and compliments with minimal words lol) Someone actually commented "replace Boruto with Naruto because Boruto sucks." I was like dang. But I did get a ton of good advice! Finally. Lighting!
"Once upon a time, a single drop of sunlight fell from the heavens," the storyteller began. "To the earth, it bore a great gift. A miracle... A flower."
Boruto narrowed his eyes. He didn't remember anything about a flower.
"The flower was said to heal the sick, turn the elderly young again, and cure any ailment a person could have. And so it was that when the queen came down with a life-threatening illness, every man in the kingdom set out to find it. They searched high and low until darkness crept over the land. And that was when they discovered the flower, glowing in the night."
The storyteller paused, his fingers spread out in a fan.
"Uprooting the flower, they brought it to the queen and cooked it in a stew. With one sip, the queen grew healthy again and gave birth to a beautiful baby boy. His eyes were bluer than the sky, his hair as bright as gold."
Out of the corner of his eye, Boruto noticed Sarada sneak a glance at him. He resisted the urge to smirk and make a joke, only because he knew she was trying to hide it. And that made it all the more adorable. But then, he noticed the storyteller look straight through his round glasses and into his eyes.
A shiver went down his spine.
"All was well in the kingdom for a time. But the moment the baby was weaned, an evil sorcerer swept into the castle and stole the child!" The storyteller's cloak billowed as he covered his face, peering at the onlookers with beady eyes. "Ever since then, the king and queen have been searching high and low. But they still have yet to find their precious son."
"Mama, is that him?"
Boruto heard the child ask and immediately turned, only to see their small finger pointing to a mosaic on the wall.
"Yes dear. That's him."
Boruto's eyes widened. His father and mother were together, smiling as they held him in their arms. Mom... Dad... Himawari... It felt like it had been weeks since he'd seen them. Usually that wouldn't have bothered him... But the fact that he couldn't until he got out of this madness made his chest ache.
"Every year on the prince's birthday, we hold this festival. Thousands of lanterns are released into the night sky in hopes that one day, they will guide him back home."
With those words, the storyteller held up a paper lantern. Igniting it in his hand, he sent it skyward. It only took a single shared glance for Boruto and Sarada to read each other's minds. Fire style?!
After one more narrowed gaze at the suspicious man, Boruto's hand folded into hers. "Come on Sarada, let's go."
"Where are we going?"
"To tell my parents that I'm the lost prince before one of us gets banished to a desert," he whispered, leading her away.
"I don't think I should come with you..." Sarada reluctantly tugged at his hand. "I'm wanted... What if they notice me?"
He paused. Turning around, he let go of her hand momentarily only to pull the hood securely around her head. Dark eyes met ocean blue. "No matter how many guards I have to fight... They'd have to knock me out, kill me, or chain me to the wall before they could capture you."
With that, Boruto spun around, leaving Sarada as red as a tomato as he reconnected his hand to hers. This time, she didn't make him relinquish it.
. . .
Dusk blanketed the land as they reached the palace entrance. "As expected of a castle," said Boruto, pausing next to a railing. "It's pretty heavily guarded..."
"Hey... Boruto?"
"What's wrong?"
"I... I don't think I should-"
Sarada was cut off mid-sentence by a warm glow coming to life below them. All around the village, paper lanterns began to spread their light like a gentle wildfire.
Her hand loosened in his grasp as she stared at the lights, each distant speck akin to a dancing firefly. One lantern floated up towards them, capturing her full attention. "It's so beautiful..."
Her face was illuminated, glowing lights dancing across her skin, each one reflecting off of her glasses and making her eyes gleam like crystals.
"Don't you think they're pretty?"
Boruto hated romance movies. He couldn't understand them. Or rather, he didn't. Until now. When Sarada uttered this line as she stood there, gaping in awe at the scenery before her with a loose piece of hair dangling down in front of her face, Boruto finally felt like he got it.
Reaching up with his free hand, he gently brushed the hair strand to the side and tucked it behind her ear. His smile and gaze softened when he noticed the warm glow that spread across her cheeks. "Yeah," he said, slowly removing her hood, his eyes only seeing hers. "I'm starting to."
He unfolded their fingers and lifted her hand to waist level. Her surprised gaze remained unchanged as he gently slipped his fingers into her hair and pressed his palm to her cheek, her soft skin warm to his touch. For just a few seconds, it felt as if they were the only two beings in the universe.
"Sarada..."
Her surprise faded, replaced by a much gentler, tender expression. Half-lidded eyes slowly batted closed as he leaned towards her.
"Hm? Who goes there?"
A massive amount of guards immediately swarmed the area. Boruto paused, his lips less than an inch away from hers, slitted eyes blinking open. He slowly pulled away and turned over his shoulder.
Crud.
"Sarada." Boruto relinquished his hold on her and pulled the hood securely over her head with both hands, staring directly into her eyes. "Don't move from this spot. I promise," he said as he turned towards the guards, creating not four, but five shadow clones, "I'll protect you."
They brandished swords and spears, blocking as much of Boruto's taijutsu as they could. But even trained soldiers were no match for a ninja.
First, he created a torrent of water, surging around everyone and soaking their armor. Next was wind style. Screams resounded throughout the area as another one of his clones sent powerful gusts raging against metal shields, but none succeeded at stopping the invisible force.
Some yelled, "he's the sorcerer," and ran for the hills while others stabbed him with their spears, only to find out the body was a fake.
All the while, Boruto kept his main body next to Sarada and focused on creating new clones to replace the old ones.
"Boruto... Are you sure it's ok to use up this much chakra?"
"I'm sure," he said. "I can't feel it depleting at all... I wanted to make more clones, but... this seems to be the most effective way to fight them."
Rasengans plowed into the larger men with heavier shields, while more gusts of wind and water knocked the smaller ones on their backs.
Just when Boruto thought he had cleaned up all of the guards, someone else appeared behind him.
"Hm. You did well, taking care of all the palace guards for me. Now all that's left is to throw the traitor next to you into jail..."
"Orochimaru!" Boruto spun around, putting body between the snake-like human and Sarada. "What happened to our deal?!"
"My experiment with your hair didn't work, you see," said Orochimaru, his grin widening. "It looks like it still needs to be connected to your head... I'll be taking you back now, Boruto."
Boruto prepared himself to fight again. But before he could do anything, Orochimaru grabbed his hair, sent electricity coursing through him, and kneed him hard in the stomach.
"Boruto!"
"Enjoy your time in jail, Uchiha Sarada."
Boruto's vision tunneled. His body was limp. But he felt like he could move his eyes, albeit barely. Lifting them to take one last look at her face panic-stricken face, he managed to mumble three syllables before falling unconscious. "Sa...ra...da..."
. . .
Sarada couldn't move. She wasn't sure what the emotion in her chest was as they took Boruto away, but she did know one thing: it hurt. Physically. It felt as though her mother had punched her with all of her strength, but the damage was only internal.
Orochimaru's words from the previous story echoed throughout her head. You can wake him up if you are true to the story... But from this point, the level of difficulty will increase.
Would Boruto fall into another deep sleep and wake up in the village? Would he become Orochimaru's experiment for the rest of his days in the story until years later when she finally came across him in some desert? Knowing nothing about the plot line scared her more than she cared to admit.
But most importantly... He had almost kissed her. He was going to kiss her, and it had nothing to do with the story. His weird actions started falling into place. She was sure of it now. Boruto wasn't just teasing her. He was genuinely in love with her.
The conflict she felt in her heart overpowered her will to move.
Guards came and picked up her arms, but she didn't resist them. She couldn't.
Maybe it's better this way, thought Sarada as her limp feet dragged against the cobble. Boruto is smart. He can use Orochimaru to get out of the story like he did before...
The memory of being pulled into his chest after she kissed him awake in Sleeping Beauty surfaced in her mind. No, she thought, he wouldn't leave... Not without Shikadai... And not without... me... Tears began to blur her vision. I have to get out of here... She pushed against the guards, trying to wrestle her way free. But their grip was strong. And she was nothing but a weak little girl.
Why, she thought, wracking her brain for answers. Why do I feel like this? I never knew emotions were this... this painful...
Her captors dragged her off to the dungeon and threw her in a cell. "How long..." The words barely tumbled out of her mouth.
The guards turned around.
"How long will I be in here for?"
"Until tomorrow morning," responded one gruffly.
"Tomorrow morning... That's shorter than I thought..." A slow smile spread across her face. "Then I can see him again..."
"You won't be seeing anyone where you're going," said the chief guard, standing in front of the door. "For being suspected of accompanying the sorcerer, stealing the crown, and all your other crimes, you are to be hung come sunrise."
Sarada's hand reached up and touched her throat. "...Hung?"
"We'll make it quick and painless," the guard replied. His boots clacking against the floor signaled Sarada of his leave.
Tears silently spilled over the sides of her face, her throat closing in on itself. This can't be the ending... I refuse to believe it. Boruto please... Sarada curled up into a ball. Please save me.