Sarada was at peace for the first time in days. Truth be told, she was exhausted. Half-crazed. She needed a break. So she leaned against a tree and closed her eyes, again, for the first time in days, and felt no worry. It didn't seem right to her. She felt like there was something she should be concerned about. Something was bugging her, but she was too at peace to care about it. As if she was sinking into dark waters, floating around, weightless.

It was strange, but Sarada liked it.

Even though it felt unnatural.

"Sarada." The dark waters disappeared. Someone was talking to her. Sarada lifted her head and looked around, but saw no one. "Sarada." Sarada frowned.

"Where is that coming from?" She asked herself. She stood up, getting a better vantage point and scanning the place for someone. Anyone. "Hello?"

"Sarada." The voice replied. It seemed to be coming from everywhere and nowhere at the same time. Sarada couldn't pinpoint what direction it was coming from. That was a bad situation to be in if you were a kunoichi.

"Hello?" She said again, reaching for her weapons pouch. She might've been half asleep and crazy, but she was still Sarada Uchiha. She pulled out a kunai and stood still on the soft grass. She wanted more than anything to sink into the grass and just sleep forever, but she had responsibilities. "Who are you?"

"I think you know me." Someone said. The voice sounded vaguely familiar. Could it be? No. He was in a coma. Then again, so, in a way, was she.

"Are you Uncle Itachi?" Sarada asked the nothingness.

"Yes." The voice, now Uncle Itachi, purred.

"Where are you?" Sarada asked. "How are you awake?"

"Listen, Sarada. I don't have much time. You will sink deeper into the sleeping realm, but for now, I'll keep you here with me." Itachi said. A crow appeared suddenly beside Sarada, and perched on her shoulder. Sarada wasn't startled, she always thought crows and ravens reminded her of Sasuke, and Sasuke said they reminded him of his brother.

"Hi Uncle Itachi." She said, without hesitancy, to the crow.

Her uncle was a crow. She did not like the places her mind wandered after that, so she focused on Itachi's familiar Mangekyo Sharingan and chakra.

"Hello, Sarada." His purring voice was comforting.

"Where are you? Are you awake in the real world?" Sarada asked, feeling questions rise up.

"I'm here." Itachi said. "Partially. Another part of my mind is deep in a coma, or I guess a genjutsu. I have to break out of it."

"That'll be easy, right?" Sarada smirked confidently. "You're a genjutsu expert. You're amazing at it."

"It's not as easy as it sounds, although I do appreciate the compliment." Itachi sighed wearily. Can people in a coma be tired? Itachi seemed to be. "I'm multitasking. Right now, in my genjutsu, I'm killing the Uchiha again, this time with you, Sakura and Sasuke."

Sarada noticed his defeated expression. Maybe that was why he looked so tired. "I'm so sorry, Uncle Itachi... you don't deserve this."

Itachi smiled sadly, but nodded. "I do. I have done some horrible things in my life, Sarada. I..." his voice cracked. "I'm not sure anymore whether or not I want to survive this."

Sarada was stunned. "Itachi-jii, you can't be serious."

"Deadly." Itachi smirked at his own joke. "No pun intended."

Sarada couldn't laugh. "Uncle Itachi, you can't give up." Her voice got shaky, and she could feel the oncoming tears.

Dang it, why am i crying again?! I'm such a baby.

"I'm so tired, Sarada." Itachi-crow said. "I'm tired of the guilt, the shame, the fear, the pain, the love... I'm so, so tired. You have to understand."

"Itachi-jii," Sarada hardened her voice. "SO many people love you... you can't just give up like that. It would destroy my dad."

"Yes, Sasuke..." Itachi sighed. "He's survived perfectly fine without me for a long time, Sarada. He will be fine."

"Uncle Itachi, you don't understand." Sarada insisted. "Papa has a habit of blaming himself for things that aren't his fault. If you died again, I think it would break him."

Itachi-crow looked into Sarada's eyes, and all twenty-one years of sadness poured into her mind. He was giving her his sadness, so she understood what he was going through. The physical pain was nothing compared to the emotional one. Sarada was so overwhelmed, she fell to the floor again, clutching her head and dropping her kunai. She cried so hard she couldn't breathe, for around fifteen minutes straight. The crow hopped onto the floor.

The overwhelming despair... it was sucking Sarada under. She screamed, and the crow just watched, knowing that this was what she needed. Sarada rocked back and forth, clutching her knees and sobbing. She couldn't stop, no matter how hard she tried. Her future, her past, and right now just didn't seem worth it. Sarada was so sad, she curled up into a ball and gripped her heart. It was scary. This was nothing like she'd ever felt before. She hated herself fiercely. She was filled with depression, and it felt like her heart was crumbling to pieces. It hurt. So bad. She wanted to take the kunai and take the heart out of her... Maybe it would stop hurting then. She almost reached for it, before Itachi realized what his niece was doing and released her.

Sarada wasn't overwhelmed anymore, and the pain was gone. 

"That was about one-fourth of what I feel. If I gave you the whole thing..." Itachi sighed. "The Uchiha are a people greatly devoted to love and friendship. But a member's love can be turned to hatred in a blink of an eye if they somehow lose those closest to them."

"It causes the Sharingan. I know." Sarada nodded, wiping her still falling tears. She still vividly remembered the feeling... and she hated it. She hated that a person was able to feel that... hopeless. He killed his clan... his best friend commited suicide in front of him, he had to specifically kill his lover. "You hate yourself, don't you?"

"Yes." Itachi said, after a moment's hesitation. "The only reason I'm still alive is because I promised my mother and father that I would take care of Sasuke."

"Uncle Itachi... not all is lost. You got Izumi back, who would be devastated if you died. And Shisui... and Mama, Papa, Kakashi-ojii-chan, Younger Papa, me, Boruto, Nanadaime-sama likes you, and so does everyone else. The village needs you." Sarada continued. "You can't just die like this."

"Sarada." Itachi said. "I love you with all my heart. You are my precious niece. If I wasn't so... like this... I would spend every moment with you. But I've lived so long with this... I can't do it anymore."

Sarada started to cry again. "You're going to leave me here? Alone? Who's going to be there for me while Papa isn't there? Who is going to oversee my graduation? Be at my wedding? Tease Me? Tickle me? Be my uncle? I mean, all of Papa and Mama's friends I consider family, but who is going to be my blood uncle?"

Itachi chuckled. "Sarada. I will always be with you." Itachi's crow form flickered into human form, and he leaned his forehead onto Sarada's. "No matter what happens from here on out, I will always love you."

"Sarada."

"Sarada." Boruto shook her awake. " "What's wrong? Why are you sleep-crying?" It was the middle of the night. Boruto was sleeping across from her in their room.

"Boruto," she launched into her teammate's arms, seeking comfort. She didn't cry too loud, so she wouldn't wake up her parents and Nanadaime and Aunt Hinata, who were next door on both sides. To keep an eye on them. Hah. LIKE they would try anything. They were thirteen, for kami's sake. But try convincing Sasuke and Naruto of that. They insisted Boruto would stay in the far corner of the bed.

"Sarada," Boruto said slowly as if she couldn't understand. "Did you have a nightmare? What was it about?"

She told it to him. Everything, down to the smell of the grass.

"Wow, Sarada." He sat back. That's really..." He closed his mouth and just slid his fingers into Sarada's hair, playing with the longer-than-normal locks. "I'm sorry."

"I am too." Sarada closed her eyes, just feeling his fingers smooth her hair. She liked how it felt, so she didn't do the fireball jutsu on him like she normally did when he touched her hair.

"Sarada?" Boruto asked.

"Hm?" Sarada looked up at him, and Boruto had to stop himself from forgetting what he was going to say and just stare at her deep onyx eyes forever.

"I miss Himawari." Boruto said in an almost small voice. And for Boruto, that was unnatural.

Sarada winced. "I'm sorry, Boruto."

"No, you shouldn't be." Boruto looked down at her. "I'm not suffering as much as you are. Besides, it's my fault we're in this situation anyway."

"It's not your fault, Boruto, it's the scroll's fault. Besides, if you hadn't opened the scroll, we wouldn't have saved my uncle, right? And we wouldn't have gotten my dad back to the good side. We might've just prevented the war that devastated Konoha. Aren't you happy you opened that scroll?" Sarada smiled at him.

"I try to be." Boruto nodded. "But it only seems like it hurt you more."

Sarada quieted down. "Listen, Boruto.  No matter what you do or say, you could never hurt me. Right? It's impossible. You care about me, remember?" She got a smug smirk on her face. "You couldn't if you tried."

"I'm sure if I tried hard enough I could find some way. You're not inpenetrable, Sarada." Boruto smirked back, running his hands through her hair. His eyes twinkled, he was kidding, but at the same time... he wasn't. He did intend to leave that stuff for when he was older, though... waaayyy older.

Sarada blushed a little, but nodded. "Probably. Anyway, you understand my point, right? I'm not some silly hoe who gets hurt by just anything."

(*cough cough* KARIN *cough cough*) sorry... Had to do that...

"Yeah, I know. I just don't like the idea of hurting you, you know?" Boruto asked. "Physically or emotionally. Seeing your uncle... he's dying now, and it's hurting you. Which is killing me."

"Aww, you're so sweet." Sarada put her hands to Boruto's cheeks and spoke in a baby-voice. "But, I am a very independent girl, and you know that. Me talking to you about this kind of stuff? It all stops when we get home, deal?"

"Heck no. You're telling me everything, from now on. You're a really interesting person, Sarada. And..." Boruto blushed a little. "I really like you."

Sarada's eyebrows raised. "In what way?" She teased.

"You know, de wae?" Boruto smirked, referencing a popular meme back home. "I'm kidding. You do know the way I'm talking about, though."

Sarada nodded. "I like you in that way too. I think I have for awhile now, I just never said anything about it."

"Me too!" Boruto smiled. "You always seemed too perfect. The only one who knew a lot about you was Chocho. I don't know..."

"Hah." Sarada scoffed. "I'm far from perfect. I always thought you were; you were the Hokage's son after all." Boruto's eyebrows furrowed, and he opened his mouth to protest, but Sarada continued before he could say a word. "But I realized when I was out in a team with you, that you were-- are-- your own person. What your father does doesn't define you. Then I realized that you have it the same as I do, recognized because I'm Sasuke Uchiha's daughter."

Boruto smiled and nodded. "Yeah. I understand. I know."

"That's why I always wanted to talk to you about dad issues." Sarada nodded. "But you were always around Shikadai and Inojin. There was a time... I thought you and Sumire were a thing." She blushed.

"What? Sumire is like my sister." Boruto laughed. "And I thought it was you and Inojin at first."

"Hah. Seriously?" Sarada lost the blush to laughter.

"You're really pretty when you laugh." Boruto observed, then blushed and covered his mouth. What the heck, Boruto!? You scared her away now! Great job, idiot.

"U-um... T-thanks? I g-guess?" She asked, blushing furiously.

Boruto yawned, temporarily forgetting about his embarrassing comment.

"You're tired." Sarada frowned. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have kept you up so late."

"It's okay." Boruto reassured the Uchiha. "Anything for you, Sarada-chan."

Sarada blushed again. "Thank you... Boruto."

Boruto grinned and scooted back over to his side of the bed. Then he remembered something he should probably do.

"Sarada?" He asked her. The black haired Uchiha had turned around and  was falling asleep. She turned to face him again with a questioning look on her face.

"Hm?" She asked.

Boruto leaned in before she could say anything and kissed her on the cheek, stunning her. Pulling back, Boruto smirked. "Goodnight, teme."

"Oyasumi, dobe." She replied, face burning.

Boruto yawned and turned back around, leaving her to her thoughts. Uncle Sasuke is going to kill me. Was the first thing he thought after that. He winced when he thought of Sasuke's returned arm. But it was worth it.