"I use antlers in all of my deeecoraaating! (My what a guy, that Gaston)!"

Kawaki threw his wooden beer mug against the tavern wall. "Who does she think she is?! No one says no to Gaston."

"G-Gaston, please don't break the restaurant's dishware…"

"Dismissed! Rejected. Publicly humiliated! It's more than I can bear."

"More beer?!" Metal squeaked. His tenseness depleted into a sudden groan as Kawaki lazily eyed the keg on the counter. "Again?"

"Fill it up! Drinks are on me!"

The tavern guests cheered, but Kawaki groggily stood to his feet and picked up a new mug. He chugged the foamy liquid until he had a white mustache and a dazed look in his eyes.

"G-Gee Gaston, you're really downing those today..." Metal followed behind him, tiptoeing on his words as best he could. "Don't you think you should be a little more careful with what you-"

"Shut it, Lefou..." Kawaki's head landed on the table with a thump. "She's gone... And she rejected me again!"

Metal sighed. Ever since the object of Kawaki's affections mysteriously disappeared, he'd been drinking even more than usual. "M-maybe we should go hunting! That always seems to cheer you up."

"She won't be satisfied with just deer antlers, Lefou. I need something… Unique. Are deer really the only thing to hunt?"

"I guess... Maybe we could go look for a goat?" Metal timidly suggested as he took Kawaki's empty beer glass before he could refill it or hurl it at the wall.

"Goat antlers are tiny!" Kawaki slammed his fist into the table. "I want something better... Something one of a kind!"

"I... I'll see what I can find... Maybe we can go into the woods and look for a different creature-"

"The woods isn't good enough! We always go into the same woods in the same area, every single time. Don't you find that odd, Lefou?"

Metal squirmed under Kawaki's threatening stare, even though it was directed towards the table. "I..."

"Say something, darn it!"

"Perhaps you've had too much too... drink..." As Metal finished his sentence, Kawaki's tense face relaxed, and he blacked out against the slab of unpolished wood. "There he goes again..."

Kawaki was strong, had tons of girls after him, and was good at everything. But his fatal downfall was that when he wasn't hunting, he consumed too much alcohol.

Metal sighed as he picked Kawaki up over his shoulder for the second time that day and carried him off towards his house. "Gaston... You've put on weight..."

Just as he was thinking about taking a break, an old man ran up to him, one arm sleeve dangling in the wind. Metal gulped. It wasn't just any old man… It was the crazy old man with eyes that were rumored to gleam red when angered. "Have you seen my daughter?"

"...Your daughter?"

"We were together earlier. She went out to run some errands and never came back... I haven't seen her since late last night."

"What does she look like?"

"Black hair, black eyes, fair skin... "

Metal stopped and thought through all the girls he knew, and there were two or three that fit that description… But this crazed man couldn't possibly be the father of Kawaki's missing Belle. Or could he?

"I think I saw someone like that earlier at the pub. You may want to try checking there."

"Thank you very much!"

"Hm," Metal snuck a glance over his shoulder at the man's caped figure. "I hope he finds her… But why do I always have to carry Gaston home?"

Kawaki grunted.

Metal squeaked in response. If Kawaki heard him, he'd only get himself into more trouble. And leaving him at the tavern wasn't an option.

"Alright…" He heaved Kawaki onto his back. "I can do this! The power of youth!"

With that, he took off running towards Kawaki's house.

. . .

Sarada waited in her cell, tending to her bleeding head. Boruto had more strength than she realized... And her body was like a rag doll in his hands.

No... Not his hands. Momoshiki's.

The wound throbbed, her pulse pounding in her ears as she tore her arm sleeve in half to mend the bruised and bleeding lump. She wasn't too worried about the cut itself, but the possible infection that could be brewing due to the rusted bars...

"Hm. Tending to your wounds, are you?"

Sarada tensed. He was back already.

"There's no need for that. When I get through with you, mere clothing scraps won't be enough to bind them."

She refused to lift her head.

"Now now. Don't worry. If the boy inside of me decides to surrender his soul for good, I can make all of this stop," laughed the evil being in front of her. "As long as he promises not to resurface when we get to Konoha…"

"Boruto," she whimpered, "don't even think about it. Saving me isn't worth destroying the village. So no matter what he does to me…" She glared daggers into his purple eye. "I'll bear with it for as long as I have to until I figure out a way to end this story."

"Hm. You may put on a brave face now, child of the Uchiha clan. But the boy inside of me is more fragile than you would like to believe… He's already screaming in protest, and I haven't gotten started." Borushiki reached through the bars and grabbed her wrist, pulling her bare arm all the way through until her shoulder was tight against the cold metal.

Sarada whimpered but kept her gaze on the stone wall to her right. She had to focus on finding them both a way out… On figuring out how to end this level she knew nothing about. Helplessness welled up in her chest as his familiar warm hands squeezed her wrist so hard that she thought it would break.

"That's no fun... If you don't look, you won't know what's coming next."

. . .

Boruto could feel the soft, smooth texture of Sarada's skin under his palm. But he couldn't stop his fingers from tightening around her wrist. He couldn't stop his stubby nails from digging into her arm. And he couldn't stop his voice from coming out of his mouth.

"Don't worry," said Momoshiki for him, "I'll make sure you both despair enough to surrender!"

He watched as Sarada kept her head lowered. And he picked up a candle. No... Please! Don't do this to her... Stop!

"Let's start slow. Having you pass out too soon wouldn't be any fun... This is partially for my entertainment, after all." Holding the candle directly under her skin, Boruto watched Sarada's eyes squeeze shut. Her teeth clench. Her skin turn red. The moment she began to wince, a disgusting wave of happiness washed through Boruto's insides. "That's more like it. Suffer. Despair. Writhe in agony!"

Boruto did everything in his power to let go. To force his consciousness to the forefront and suppress Momoshiki's. But each time he tried to move, that body part felt like a thousand-pound weight.

Her wrist muscles flexed under his fingers, begging to be released. He could only watch her whimper and grunt in pain as the flame burnt at her porcelain skin.

Stop… Please, stop! Let her go!

"Begging won't do you any good, boy. The best has yet to come! There were so many handy things in this castle," Momoshiki chuckled, tightening his hold on her squirming wrist. "Like this butter knife." The blade heated under the flame, first black, then red seeping into the silver. "How would you like the patterns of this hand to be drawn on yours? Then you could be matching! Forever. Just like a couple!"

One knee pressed her fingertips into the ground, the other pinning down her forearm. Her body was forced to the ground, head pressed up against the rusted metal, shoulder all but dislocated. Momoshiki slowly dragged the hot knife across her skin as he laughed, pausing every now and then to let her relish in the pain as he heated the knife back up. Four diamonds on her knuckles. A circle on the back of her hand.

This time, Sarada was unable to suppress her screams.

Boruto mentally yelled. He cursed and shouted and did everything he could to move his muscles. But no matter what he did, it had no effect on the sickening creature he had turned into.

Momoshiki cackled in delight, grabbing her hand once more and picking up another tool. And for every new wound he gave her, a small part of Boruto died inside.

He could see Sarada go from the bravado she once wore to complete terror. Tears spilled down her cheeks, her fingers of her other hand curled around the bar as she pushed with all her might, trying to take her arm back from him. But Momoshiki only smirked back at her, his knees trapping her arm against the stone floor.

Eventually, he reached out towards her fingers that clasped the bar in an attempt to have both of her arms instead of just one, but Sarada yanked her hand back, her breath quickening.

"Hmm... Your unwillingness is futile… I'll get to your other arm sooner or later. This one will only be able to withstand so much."

Please… Make it stop…

"Your begging is music to my ears. Has this girl become your everything, boy?"

Boruto knew he had to pull himself together. He knew begging wouldn't do any good. But he couldn't think of anything else to do. All he ever seemed to do was hurt people. He was hurting her. The last person on earth he wanted to hurt.

But he knew… He knew that relinquishing control could be devastating to everyone back in Konoha.

If I give in now, there'll be no one to save her. She'll die anyways... I'll never give in, Momoshiki.

"Oh? You think I'd kill her? Foolish human. Give me your planet and I'll let you keep the girl. Refuse, and I'll up the scale of the torture… Nether of you know how to put an end to this story, and your clock friend is too broken to tell you."

"Boruto," she whimpered, voice high pitched, throat tight. "Don't…"

He hated his life. If only he'd had the resolve to let Sasuke kill him sooner, she wouldn't be in this mess. If only he'd killed himself that time he threatened to do it with a kunai. If only he hadn't tried to live…

"Hm. Too late for regrets now, boy. Make your choice," said Momoshiki, allowing red to seep back into the butter knife. "Let's continue the pattern, shall we?"

Sarada…

The thing that killed him more than anything else was that he could feel it all. He was the one doing this to her. He couldn't put a stop to it.

He already knew his dad would try to save him at any cost. Everyone would. And so if he went back to the village as Momoshiki and tried to cultivate the fruit of the divine tree… Would they kill him? He doubted they would… He doubted they could.

Sarada, or Konoha. Sarada, screaming in pain, writhing in agony in his own hands, or his mom. His little sister. The workers at Kaminari Burger. Shikadai. Inojin.

I'm sorry, he internally sobbed, his gaze unwilling to leave the pained and crumpled form of his childhood friend. How naive he'd been to want nothing more than to kiss her. To think that it was ok to fall in love with her when he was… This monster.

There was one thing left for Boruto to try.

He held his breath. Perhaps he would at least have control of his lungs.

Despite his continued chest movements, it seemed like it was working. His vision speckled. Tunneled. Hoping it would take Momoshiki with him, Boruto caused himself to pass out.