A Slice of Life Mini-fic That Pulls No Punches
Sarada doesn’t understand how doing both nothing and everything at the same time could be so hard.
Pacing back and forth across their kitchen floor, her breath hisses from between her teeth in a constant “shhhhhhhh.” The little black-haired lump, its limp head resting on her shoulder, is finally still.
She chances a glance down, standing beside their microwave, electric green display reading 4:59. Their baby’s face has faded from rage red to a slight flush, the single whisker line on her cheek visible once more.
Exhausted beyond measure, Sarada sits down at their kitchen table rather than making the long trek back up to their bedroom.
(Why had they even bothered decorating a nursery when it was only used to store the baby’s clothes?)
She stares at the inky sky outside, thinking about how a year ago, her alarm would have been going off. Some stretches, a quick shower, and she would have been off to Hokage Tower with her cloak on while Boruto was still facedown in bed, drooling on his pillow.
Now, he’s out on a mission and she’s here, alone with their daughter.
The first night, Sarada tried to assure herself that it was the “alone” part of the situation that bothered her.
By the second night, however, she had to acknowledge that it was the “with their daughter” aspect that was bothering her. Sarada had wanted to become a mother, but being a parent took more than she expected.
It isn’t the sleepless nights, though. The constant occupation of her body by a small, squalling stranger now occupying their once-quiet house.
The diapers… So many diapers.
What Sarada is worried about is if she’ll ever be herself again.
Over the past three years of being Hokage, her priorities were easy to understand: Protect the village at all costs, even that of her own life. And, she’d still do it, if that meant protecting her daughter as well.
Ah, but there was the rub. What does it actually mean to protect her daughter? Is it wearing a billowing white robe on the battlefield or is it sitting quietly in the dark, that tiny ear pressed against her chest to hear Sarada’s heart beat.
The worry had tickled at the back of her head during the baby’s first two weeks of life, but it wasn’t until Boruto left–proved that he was able to leave while she had to stay–that the weight of it all finally came crashing down.
Sarada tugs at the bottom of her baby’s gown, hiding her wrinkled little feet beneath the hem to keep them warm.
Of course, she and Boruto were a team. Both serious shinobi. But, if she was honest with herself, Sarada had always considered herself slightly more dedicated.
Where was that dedication now, sitting alone in a kitchen, both wanting to place her baby down in the bassinet beside their bed and run off to work while simultaneously unable to imagine ever putting the Hokage’s hat back on her head again?
It’s hard, she acknowledges.
Even harder when she’s facing it alone. Of course, Hinata had offered to come and stay while Boruto was on the mission—her own mother currently sitting behind the desk in Hokage tower—but, Sarada had said no.
She told her mother-in-law that she wanted time alone with the baby, when the truth was that it was hard to watch Hinata in her house, making every aspect of motherhood look so easy.
Is that what Sarada wants to be?
The baby hiccups and squirms in her sleep.
Is it possible to love something so much that you lose yourself?
The locks on the front door click before it opens and is slammed shut. The familiar sound of Boruto’s bags hitting the ground grates on her nerves (they had hooks on the wall, damn it!) Through the open doorway, she can see him sitting down to take off his shoes.
She doesn’t want to call out. Doesn’t want to wake the baby, so she says nothing as he dashes upstairs, then winces as his feet pound down them a second later.
He stands in the doorway, smiling. “Sarada!”
Ah, the village hero has valiantly returned to his home, ready to regale his wife and infant daughter with tales of his heroism! Or, maybe, tuck his hands behind his back and deliver a mission report.
She presses a stern finger to her lips, pointing down at their sleeping child.
In the dim light, Boruto’s shoulders slump, his one open eye drifting over them before his gaze lands on the floor.
Her heart immediately sinks.
Too harsh.
“How was your mission?” she whispers.
Her husband scratches at the patch of mud on his chin and shrugs. “Fine, I guess.”
Then he presses his lips together, voice as shy as the night he first asked her out. “Can I just hold my baby?”
Her eyes dart down to the tiny black head on her chest. “Yeah, of course.”
Boruto is beside the table before the words are even out of her mouth, pulling off his dirty jacket and blood-speckled t-shirt, stretching out his arms.
Sarada stands, gently transferring the sleeping bundle to his bare chest. She watches as Boruto breathes a sigh of relief, burying his nose into their child’s fine hair.
He slumps down in the chair across from her, eyes closed as he inhales and all the things Sarada wanted to say to him are suddenly stuck in her throat.
Because, sometimes life is going to be hard for both of them, wanting to do nothing and everything at once.
And maybe that’s okay.
~end
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Chapters: 3/12
Fandom: Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, Naruto
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Relationships: Uchiha Sarada/Uzumaki Boruto, Uchiha Sasuke & Uzumaki Boruto, Uzumaki Boruto & Uzumaki Himawari, Uzumaki Boruto & Uzumaki Naruto, Hyuuga Hinata & Uzumaki Boruto, Ootsutsuki Momoshiki & Uzumaki Boruto, Haruno Sakura/Uchiha Sasuke, Ada | Eida/Kawaki (Naruto), Code & Uchiha Sarada
Characters: Uzumaki Boruto, Uchiha Sasuke, Ootsutsuki Momoshiki, Hyuuga Hinata, Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sarada, Code (Naruto), Kawaki (Naruto), Ada | Eida (Naruto), Daemon (Naruto), Uzumaki Himawari, Orochimaru (Naruto), Hatake Kakashi, Mitsuki (Naruto), Rogu | Log (Naruto), Hoozuki Suigetsu, Haruno Sakura, Akimichi Chouchou, Nara Shikadai, Nara Shikamaru, Kakei Sumire
Additional Tags: Anxiety, Blank Period, Hearing Voices, Lust, Teenagers, hopeless, boruto needs a hug, Training, Canon Compliant, Internal Conflict, Emotional Hurt, Mental Instability, Uzumaki Boruto-centric, Momoshiki sucks, War, First Kiss, First Time, Reunions, Fights
Series: Part 4 of BoruSara
Summary:
Set in the canon.
Boruto has been travelling with Sasuke for three and a half years now after Kawaki turned his world upside down.
Tired, and beginning to get discouraged, he still struggles with Momoshiki's constant whispering in his ear.
This is bits and pieces of how I would like to think the time-skip will go (all for fun of course). It will not be written as a full fanfiction, just a collection of one shots revovling around the same storyline. Let's see how it differs!
7 notes
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Chapters: 2/?
Fandom: Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, Naruto
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Relationships: Uchiha Sarada/Uzumaki Boruto, Uchiha Sasuke & Uzumaki Boruto, Uzumaki Boruto & Uzumaki Himawari, Uzumaki Boruto & Uzumaki Naruto, Hyuuga Hinata & Uzumaki Boruto, Ootsutsuki Momoshiki & Uzumaki Boruto, Haruno Sakura/Uchiha Sasuke, Ada | Eida/Kawaki (Naruto), Code & Uchiha Sarada
Characters: Uzumaki Boruto, Uchiha Sasuke, Ootsutsuki Momoshiki, Hyuuga Hinata, Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sarada, Code (Naruto), Kawaki (Naruto), Ada | Eida (Naruto), Daemon (Naruto), Uzumaki Himawari, Orochimaru (Naruto), Hatake Kakashi, Mitsuki (Naruto), Rogu | Log (Naruto), Hoozuki Suigetsu, Haruno Sakura, Akimichi Chouchou, Nara Shikadai, Nara Shikamaru, Kakei Sumire
Additional Tags: Anxiety, Blank Period, Hearing Voices, Lust, Teenagers, hopeless, boruto needs a hug, Training, Canon Compliant, Internal Conflict, Emotional Hurt, Mental Instability, Uzumaki Boruto-centric, Momoshiki sucks, War, First Kiss, First Time, Reunions, Fights
Series: Part 4 of BoruSara
Summary:
Set in the canon.
Boruto has been travelling with Sasuke for three and a half years now after Kawaki turned his world upside down.
Tired, and beginning to get discouraged, he still struggles with Momoshiki's constant whispering in his ear.
This is bits and pieces of how I would like to think the time-skip will go (all for fun of course). It will not be written as a full fanfiction, just a collection of one shots revovling around the same storyline. Let's see how it differs!
7 notes
·
View notes