Work Text:
The First Christmas
Sarada never thought she'd experience a completely lonely Christmas. The Uzumaki Christmas party tradition was obviously canceled without the presence Uzumaki family. Inojin wanted to gather everyone together for Himawari's sake, but the mood just wasn't there. Worst of all, her mom had to work late at the hospital.
And so, she finished the dinner dishes and stared off into the distance. "Merry Christmas to me... I guess."
With one more look at the undecorated house, she climbed the stairs and took a bath. Set an alarm to get up the next day. And climbed into the cool sheets.
As she closed her eyes, she tried not to imagine bad things, but fun things. All the years past. All the years spent... With him. A tear dripped off of her nose and seeped into the sheets. I'm not worried... I just didn't think it would be this hard...
She rolled onto her other side and tried to imagine what it would have been like if nothing ever happened. Cho-Cho would show up with more mystery chocolates, Inojin and Shikadai attempting to throw them away. Eida would be insistent on hanging mistletoe everywhere, attempting to trick Kawaki into standing under one with her.
This time maybe Sumire would join as well, watching everything from a distance with a typical class rep smile. Her panicked hawawa as Shikadai and Inojin both looked up in horror only to find the dreaded green plant hanging above their heads, Daemon looking at them with a smirk. "Well, are you going to do it or not?"
And maybe, just maybe... As she and Boruto remained as they always did to clean up the mess, they'd end up under the same decoration. She'd freeze, he wouldn't even notice. And as she tried to go about her cleaning like normal, he'd tease her. "Hm? So you were conscious of those after all."
She rolled her eyes, tucking her face into her pink pillow. Why did her brain trail off in that direction more often than not lately? Stupid Mitsuki. He just had to go and remind her right before everything turned upside down.
But as she surrendered to the darkness, she was back in that scene, her back pressed up against the wall, his serious blue eyes staring into hers. Trailing down her face.
She shook her head. Smacked herself a few times for good measure. No no no no. Get those thoughts out of your head, stupid Sarada. At this rate... You'll never become Hokage.
Sarada forced her mind to think about practical things, things that made her angry, things she still needed to do. But in her dream that night, he was there, smiling alongside her father, and everyone was happy. They sat by the fire, and just as he earned her serious gaze by saying he had something important to tell her...
Her alarm went off. Sarada's arm shot out from under the blankets. She hovered just above the ear splitting bell. And smacked the off switch so hard she dented the wood in the desk underneath of it.
. . .
The Second Christmas
Boruto didn't really know what day it was. He didn't really care. He was certain birthdays and other important holidays had passed. But now that Kashin Koji was training him, all he knew was that it was winter. And that he was cold.
He wrapped himself tighter in his cloak. Sasuke always made warm fires in a matter of seconds. As an Uchiha, he could control the output of his flames to an easily manageable amount. Koji burnt the wood to a crisp if he tried to use fire jutsu, even if the wood was wet. And starting a fire in Orochimaru's old hideout underground would kill them both.
So, Boruto decided to do something that usually warmed him up. He did it from time to time, especially after Sasuke disappeared. And that something was searching for Sarada's chakra.
Sasuke taught him that if you were connected to someone, deeply connected on both ends, no matter how far away you were, you could sense them. Like the small flame of a candle. As long as they were awake... As long as they were alive.
Apparently, Naruto's chakra was no longer possible to feel since he was sealed. But Sasuke theorized Boruto could sense Sarada's if he tried hard enough.
He tried calling out to her. There was, of course, no response. But for some reason, it felt different than Sasuke described it. More than the small flame of a candle... It felt like being in her presence, sitting just out of sight.
As he practiced, he came to sense her chakra as light, as fire, as warmth. There was a bit of electricity intermingled with the heat, perhaps due to her duel chakra nature. And sometimes, he could even feel emotions. Anger, frustration, sadness, pain. In very rare times, when he tried to sense her just before he went to sleep... Embarrassment. And something else that he couldn't quite describe. More than warmth, it was like a burning, a raging inferno that threatened to take over him...
But right now, as he reached out to her consciousness, he felt something he was used to feeling on a daily basis: longing. Boruto closed his eyes. Instead of imagining her just out of sight, he imagined himself in front of her. Letting her flick him on the forehead.
But the longing only grew stronger, clawing up his throat, stinging his eyes. Why was she so sad?
He pulled back and tried to think of things that happened in winter. Things connected to both of them. And then he remembered. Christmas.
He suddenly began to have flashbacks, flashbacks he usually didn't allow himself to have. Sitting around a table, playing cards, eating choice snacks from Cho-Cho's all-you-can-eat snack buffet, laughing, playing pranks... His little sister, his mom, his dad...
Boruto felt the longing tug at his own chest. He'd see them again. He promised he'd see them all again. He put in so much work and effort, trained so much more than he had in his entire life.
Sasuke always said his downfall and greatest strength was trying to take the easy way out. On one hand, it allowed him to come up with new innovative ways to knead chakra and combine techniques. On the other hand, lacking fundamental skills made it difficult for him to master advanced jutsu.
But in the year he'd trained with Sasuke, all the missing pieces finally fell into place. He'd honed his skills even further with Koji, finally understanding how to make things his own. Grasping the ideology behind jutsu created by his grandfather, jutsu created by several great shinobi that he had yet to imitate.
He looked down at the new pin on his jacket. The Konoha leaf. He'd just barely gotten down the technique for flying raijin. He needed to master it. It was crucial for making sure the worst possible future didn't happen... He'd been working at it all day. But with this chilling cold, he wasn't going to fall asleep anytime soon.
Boruto placed the pin on the ground and took a few steps away. He concentrated. Tried to feel the presence of the pin.
But instead, he felt Sarada again. Crying. Sobbing. Boruto bit his lip. I'm sorry. I wish I could go back... But I still need more time.
He focused. Imbued his chakra. Got ready to teleport. And when he felt the familiar rush of his body being relocated, he waited for the world to stop spinning. Opened his eyes. And found himself indoors.
Boruto blinked a few times, trying to make sure the wooden door in front of him was real. He reached out. Touched it. And then he heard whimpers from the other side.
No way... Did I...?
"Please..."
Boruto froze. Her voice. It was Sarada's voice.
"I miss you... Please come back."
He didn't know whether she was talking about him or her father. He knew as a kid, she often cried like this, especially after Sasuke left. His memory of it was hazy, but it was still there. He remembered how much it hurt him to see the bossy little tyrant that always seemed to ruin his fun bawling her eyes out in the silence of her empty house.
Boruto leaned his head against the door, palm coming up to feel the rough texture of the wood. He desperately wanted to go into her room and comfort her, but he couldn't show himself. He shouldn't have been in the village in the first place. Kawaki would find him. And even more than that... Sasuke risked his life. He couldn't face her. Not now... Not until he found a way to save her father.
And so, he clenched his fist and picked up his head. Turned his back on her door, making the same sign that he made on the way there, searching for the familiar coldness of the pin.
He gritted his teeth. I'm sorry Sarada... Just wait a little longer... I promise I'll come back.
Just like that he was gone, back in the hideout, shivering. The weight of her sadness, her grief... All of it came crashing down. Sasuke said he was leaving Sarada to him, but what good was he when all he could do was make her cry?
Tears dripped over his eye and down his face, stinging in the icy wind.
Koji suddenly opened his eyes. "You left."
"...Yeah."
"Where'd you go?"
"...Practicing Raijin."
"Good. Keep working on teleporting to those pins... How much longer until you complete your new rasengan? The sooner you perfect it, the sooner you can--"
"I know." His gaze remained distant. "I'm tired."
"...Alright. I'll let you sleep. But remember, we have another day bright and early tomorrow. You need to get this down before winter changes to spring. The more mobility you have, the easier it will be to protect everyone."
He ducked his chin down into his cape and closed his eyes. Spring. His birthday. Her birthday. The same time that the world was set to fall into chaos. "I'll do it in time."
. . .
The Third Christmas
Sarada wasn't counting the days anymore. She had no reason to. Every day was just another day of torture. The only reason she knew what month they were in was from the papers on Shikamaru's desk, some of them dated, some of them not.
Judging by the changes in storefronts and shop music however, she knew it was getting close to be Christmas. Not that she cared.
After snapping off at Shikamaru a bit more than she meant to, she walked through the streets with Sumire. Eida wanted to do some Christmas party. Mitsuki was going, and Kawaki was being forced to attend. But as Sarada forced a smile and said she'd do her best to make it... She really didn't want to go. It would just be another memory of how everything had changed. About how nothing would ever be the same.
. . .
The Fourth Chirstmas
It was a day filled with fighting and chaos. All Boruto knew was that the world was ending, and if Kawaki figured out that Sarada was the trigger that made him snap, there wouldn't be anything left.
He wanted to hide her, to take her and teleport her somewhere safe. But he couldn't.
And so, he did his best not to tip off Kawaki that she was more precious to him than the entire village. He did his best to keep his distance, to make sure she stayed safe. Because now that Kawaki had not just his parents, but Himawari, Mitsuki, Eida, and Daemon all locked away in time, it came down to a battle between the two of them. Just the two of them. And Boruto would do anything except give her life to keep it that way.
. . .
The Fifth Christmas
The village was being rebuilt. Sarada helped, ordering construction workers around, double-checking supplies and making sure they didn't have to cut down any more trees. Suddenly, he was behind her.
"Yo. When's break time?"
She smiled, looking at the clipboard in her hands. "Another ten minutes. You can leave it... On second thought, just wait for me. I'll finish this up and join you."
"Mm."
People were still wary of him. They still treated him like an outsider. But Boruto was doing his best to fit back in with the village. It was hard, watching him walk past places and people that used to greet him with a smile, only to earn their looks of contempt. She knew the scar wasn't really helping, but he didn't want to hide it. He'd smile proudly and say that it was a battle wound from protecting her.
She tried to make him lose the cape, but he refused, saying it made him look more like an Uchiha. Even Kawaki apparently accused him of becoming an adoptee.
Sarada finished counting all of the AC units and handed her list over to Shikadai. "That should do it. I'm going to go take a lunch break."
"Thanks again, Sarada," he said, checking over the list. "Don't take too long. We still need your help carrying the metal pipes to patch up the water system."
"Mm," she hummed, looking off towards the woods. "I'll be back in about 10 minutes."
With that, she dashed away and didn't stop for anything until she was at the roots of her favorite tree. He was sitting on a branch, a small box wrapped in dark purple cloth in his lap.
"What took you so long?"
She rolled her eyes and laughed. "I can't exactly teleport like a certain genius."
"Hmm... I guess I'll forgive you."
"I was talking about the fourth by the way." Sarada hopped up next to him. "So? What'd you make me?"
He unwrapped the cloth and pulled the lid off of the bento box to reveal a spread of tamagoyaki and onigiri complete with little shaped carrots in a muffin wrapper with toothpicks for decoration. "I'm getting better, aren't I."
She smiled. "I feel like you're practicing for a little kid. But I'll admit, your rolled omelets are getting much less sloppy."
"What, you don't like bunny toothpicks? Himawari thought they were cute."
Sarada picked up one of the bunnies and popped a carrot into her mouth. "Ten out of ten." She leaned her head over on his shoulder. "Tell Himawari-chan I said thank you for her effort."
"Hey... I actually made the food."
"Mm. Without forcibly including tomatoes this time. I'm so grateful."
As he picked up an onigiri and along with her, he waited for her to take a bite. And her face puckered.
Boruto smirked. "Who said anything about not including tomatoes?"
"Should I invite Sumire next time so you behave?"
"Nah." The smirk on his face turned to a gentle smile as he took the rice ball from her hand and traded it out for a different one. "I'd rather keep your flustered reactions to myself."
"I would hardly call that flustered, that was just--"
She froze when she felt his lips. Her wide eyes slowly dropped closed, kissing him back. Letting him rid her mouth of the foul taste of the devil fruit.
When he pulled back, she noticed he was studying her bangs, then reached up and gently brushed something out of her hair. "Rice."
"How'd that get there..."
"Mm... I dunno. But I taste better than tomatoes, right?"
"...You ate my favorite flavor first on purpose, didn't you."
A grin tugged as his cheeks. "Of course I did. If I started with the tomato one, you wouldn't have let me kiss you. Oh, and by the way..."
Sarada blinked over at him. He held out another wrapped item, procuring it from behind the root of a tree.
"Here."
"What's this for?"
"It's Christmas, isn't it? Or did you forget."
"I... Completely forgot. I don't have anything... What should I..." As she trailed off, her face reddened.
"Just open it," he said, laughing.
. . .
The Sixth Christmas
Boruto stood before the door of the house where Eida and Daemon previously lived. This was their chosen location to hold the annual Christmas party whose tradition had all but disappeared. He'd been working pretty hard to regain the trust of his friends over the past few years, but he still didn't feel like he'd be entirely welcome.
Despite that, Himawari smiled as she took his hand and led him through the door. "Don't just stand there, come on already!"
He stepped inside to see decorations lining the walls, music playing, his friends laughing and smiling. But something was missing.
Sarada wasn't there.
His eyes shifted around, looking at everything except for the faces of his previous friends. Without Sarada to bridge the gap, it felt awkward and weird, even though he knew them his whole life. They didn't know him. Or at least, they didn't think they did.
"Oh, Boruto." Shikadai glanced over. "If you're looking for Sarada, she was her a few seconds ago. Cho-Cho dragged her off somewhere with an evil smirk on her face."
"Hmm..." He made himself comfortable in a chair in the corner, looking on as his friends played a game with brightly colored cards: shinobi bout. How long had it been since he'd seen that?
Suddenly, there was a glass in his vision. He glanced up at the hand connected to it. "Cla-- I mean... Sumire?"
"Why don't you go join them, Boruto-kun?"
His blue gaze narrowed on the fruit punch as he wrapped his hand around it. "I just... The one they remember playing with them isn't me, it's Kawaki."
"I don't think that means you have to restrain yourself," she said in a soft voice that reminded him of his mother. "Maybe if they see you acting like your old self, a bit of their memory will come back."
It wasn't like he didn't agree, it just felt like... After all that happened, did he really have the right to be here? To enjoy this Christmas party when they all believed he was the one that wrecked the town? If it wasn't for Sarada, no one would have invited him in the first place.
"Boruto."
He looked up. It was Shikadai again.
"Do you wanna join?"
At his suggestion, Inojin shot him a glare. But if he was being honest... Joining beat sitting in the corner and doing nothing. And Sumire was right. His efforts to stay out of everyone's way with the occasional attempt at light conversation weren't doing much in the way of helping him regain his standing.
"...Alright."
He sat down on the floor with them and picked up the cards one by one as they were dealt.
"The rules for this game are simple," Shikadai began to explain, but Boruto was already formulating a strategy in his head. Which cards to get rid of first, which cards to save. Who would most likely get burned the most from the draw four, and who wouldn't see that as an extension of his bad reputation.
When it came time to be his turn, he played it safe instead of like he usually did, just matching colors instead of using all of his evil cards to let chaos ensue. And to his surprise, he was the first with one card left.
Just as he was about to win the game, he heard a scream.
"Boruto!!"
It was Sarada's voice. But he hadn't sensed her being in any danger. He would have known. Either way, something was wrong.
And so when everyone looked back to see whether he could play his card or not, all they found was the card, sitting there on the floor.
Boruto teleported to her side in a matter of seconds, but the sight he was met with was not what he was expecting. Sarada's jacket was discarded, her limbs tied up with red ribbon, tape over her mouth as she sat on her knees in her one piece. He blinked a few times in disbelief, only to hear a slight rustling by the door.
"Boruto, kya, help, I can't move," said Cho-Cho in a perfect imitation of Sarada's voice. And with a sly smile, she was gone.
Sarada seemed like she was about to cry. He knew she was strong enough to free herself from the ribbon of her own accord, but Cho-Cho must've done something, said something to make her submit to this plan.
He smiled a little and breathed a sigh through his nose, approaching her and gently removing the tape from her mouth.
She gasped in a breath and glared towards the door. "She's going to get it later..."
"How did this happen," he asked, carefully working at the knots on her wrists. "I never expected you to tie yourself up for me."
Her face flushed red. "That's not-- I didn't-- Ugh! It was a stupid scientific ninja tool. A gun that shoots ribbon and instantly wraps presents. She was... She was asking me a bunch of embarrassing questions, and before I knew it I was all wrapped up and she slapped tape over my mouth and screamed your name and you just teleported here before I could get out of it!"
"Hmm... So that's how it was."
Sarada clenched her freed fists. "I can do the rest myself."
He hummed, removing a loosened strand of ribbon from her shoulder. "She went through all of the effort. Might as well enjoy it."
"Don't tell me... Your into this kinda stuff?!"
His only response was to continue working silently at the ribbon, gently kissing her forehead when he finally got it undone. "Come on, let's go back downstairs. They're probably worried about you from that scream."
But as he got up, he felt a tug at his cloak. He turned around to see her looking off to the side, her face a mess of red. "Well... I... Um... Before that..." She bit her lip.
He just waited, not wanting to misinterpret what she was about to say.
"She said she'd buy me twenty minutes... Right before she screamed your name. And well... You haven't been around much lately, and this wasn't exactly how I wanted it to happen, but I..."
His eyes widened. He turned back around.
She averted her eyes and let go of his cloak, putting her hands up in defense. "N-Never mind, we should just go back and--"
But before she could finish her sentence, Boruto easily worked himself in between her and her defensive stance, thinking that perhaps Cho-Cho hadn't forced Sarada into this plan after all.
. . .
The Seventh Christmas
Boruto was doing some investigations for Katasuke's latest lab report, so while he was out, Sarada decided to bake some cookies and decorate the house a little. They weren't taking part in any sort of Christmas party this year, because this would be the first Christmas they got to spend alone... Together... In their house.
She hummed as she went around, picking crumbs up off the table, scrubbing residue off of dirty dishes, arranging the cooled cookies neatly on a plate.
Arms suddenly wrapped around her from behind, startling her and nearly making her drop the flat spatula she was holding. But instead of getting angry, she melted against him and smiled. "Welcome back."
"I'm home," he said from behind her, affectionately running his hands over her swollen stomach. He repeated the words again. "I'm home, ya know."
A small kick in response made both of them laugh.
"I guess they missed you."
"You guess? Don't they always," he smiled, kissing her gently on the cheek and then going to the fridge. She didn't forget to buy the new limited edition burger he couldn't get while he was away on his mission that sold out one day before. "Did I ever mention how much I love you?"
She rolled her eyes. "I think you mean to say Kaminari burger," a teasing smile tugged at her lips. "The only time you tell me that is when I get you food. Besides, aren't those things kinda soggy after sitting for a day?"
"Soggy or not, you have no idea how much I missed these things while I was gone. They even showed up in my dreams, ya know." His mouth was full. "Mm! Gotta love spicy tuna mayo."
She knew better than to pry about whether or not she showed up in his dreams, because she knew she did, and most of them were painful. So he let him happily reminisce about his burgers instead, rinsing off the spatula and starting on some hot chocolate.
He threw his crumpled wrapper in the trash and wiped his placemat, only to click on the TV. But when Sarada heard the voices coming through the speakers, her eyes widened. "Today was Monday?"
"I was wondering why you weren't already watching," he hummed, holding out his arms from his reclined position taking up the whole couch. "Com'ere."
She quickly turned off the burner and balanced the plate of cookies on top of two mugs, sliding them onto the side table in the living room. Then she leaned back into his arms and snuggled down until she was comfortable in a place where she could easily see the TV over his sleeves, grabbed a mug of hot coco and started munching on a cookie.
Despite it being Christmas, her favorite drama still aired every week. And this week was no exception. In fact, since it was Christmas, there was supposed to be a romantic scene between the characters that were taking forever to get together.
She watched, waited through all the action, and finally, the girl was standing there, looking out over the ocean alone. Part of the reason she loved this drama so much was because she sympathized with the main character's feelings. The director somehow managed to perfectly understand what it was like to wait for someone, to miss them for a long time. To believe in them through the hardships and pain.
Suddenly, the camera zoomed in to her face, and her eyes widened. When it zoomed out again, the boy was behind her, his arms wrapped around her. "Sorry to keep you waiting."
Tears welled up in Sarada's eyes. She let them drip down her face and into her neck, rolling back until Boruto felt them.
"Hey, are you crying?"
"...No." She said defiantly, putting her empty mug back on the table and turning around to snuggle her face into his chest.
His arms wrapped around her, fingers trailing through her now long black hair. "Don't worry, I'm not going to leave you."
"I never said I was worried, idiot."
"Your voice quivering betrays you, ya know."
She noticed she was more emotional lately than usual, and it was getting harder to hold back. So instead, she just let herself cry, resting in the warmth of his arms.
. . .
The Eighth Christmas
"HO-HO-HO! Santa is here with presents, ya know!" Boruto smiled under his fake beard and put the presents on the table, going to scoop his twins out of his wife's arms. "Now tell me... Were you good boys and girls, or are those chocolate hand prints on the wall over their yours?"
At the sight of the chocolate caked walls, his little girl clapped her hands.
"Hm... No guilty conscious. That calls for... Punishment by tickling!" In seconds, one of his clones was materialized, making his daughter burst into a fit of giggles.
Sarada stood up from her chair and rolled her eyes. "Don't get too carried away, Santa," she said, running her fingers through his hair as he walked past.
A mischievous grin tugged at his lips. "That wasn't what you were saying last night."
A prompt flick was delivered to the side of his head as she lifted their daughter back onto her hip and carried her into the kitchen. "Breakfast anyone?"
Boruto just followed her with a smile. It was so fun to tease her, because now, even though the six month old children had no idea what he was saying, they counted as people and were enough to make her incredibly flustered.
After they finished eating snow man pancakes with a dusting of powdered sugar that was all over the kids mouths (at Boruto's insisting that it was Christmas and even if they couldn't eat pancakes, they could at least taste the sugar), they were cleaned up and playing on the floor.
Boruto was doing dishes when he heard a knock at the door. "Hm?"
"Merry Christmas," came the voice of his father, letting himself in. "They've gotten so big already..."
"Dad, take off your shoes before you come in," he reminded without even looking.
"Ah, you're right! Sorry, sorry."
Boruto didn't even have to turn to know that his mother was adjusting them to make sure they were straight. He wiped his hands on a kitchen towel and looked to see not just his parents, but Sakura and Sasuke as well.
He raised an eyebrow at Sarada who just shrugged.
"Don't look at each other like that!" Naruto whined. "It's not fair that you hardly let us come over and see them!" He was already reaching for his blonde-haired granddaughter, smiling as he spun her around in his arms.
"You were here two weeks ago," he said glumly, then smiled up at Sasuke. "But Uncle Sasuke is welcome any time. Lemme get your cape," he said, proudly hanging it next to his at the door. "How was your last mission?"
They all caught up on talking, only to figure out that this double visit wasn't exactly planned, and Naruto and Sasuke nearly got into a fight when they showed up at the doorstep at the same time. Naruto busied himself acting like a child while Boruto scolded him for not being careful enough.
His response was, "well I helped raise you as a baby so it should be fine."
"Yeah, and look at how I turned out," Boruto grunted, arms crossed. But in truth, he was secretly happy to see his dad showing a bit of a fatherly side towards his kids.
Meanwhile, Sarada gently approached Sasuke as he sat on the couch, their raven haired boy quietly observing the chaos from her arms. "Do you want to hold him?"
Sasuke turned away. "I'm not really..."
"Oh come on," said Sakura, moving to the side so Sarada could sit next to him. "Just hold your grandkid."
He hesitantly held out his arm as Sarada placed him in his lap, a gentle smile on her own face. "This is your first time meeting, isn't it?"
Sasuke only wore a gentle smile, enthralled with the tiny bundle of life in his arms. The baby clapped his hands and reached up to tug at Sasuke's hair.
"Now now," said Sakura, gently holding his tiny hands in her fingers.
As Sarada watched, she wondered if this was what it was like when she was a baby. And the backs of her eyes stung just a little bit.
"What's his name?"
She looked down into his bright blue eyes and smiled. "Kosuke. And the girl is Haruka."
Sakura's eyes widened. "Hakura... Spring and fire... Huh..."
"Hm? There's no 'ruto' in it."
She laughed. "Boruto didn't want to carry on the tradition."
Boruto wandered over and away from his parents. "Just because something runs in the family doesn't mean it has to continue." He dropped his hand on Sarada's head, ruffling her hair. "I hope your ready to surrender your seat as Hokage, cruddy old man."
"Oi! Don't underestimate the work of being hokage! Enjoy your time with your kids while you have it."
"Yeah yeah, I know." His face grew distant and cold as he remembered his bratty ways as a kid. Even if Sarada became Hokage, he would make sure to it that she had the time to come home, even if he helped with the workload.
"Why Kosuke?"
"Konoha. Sasuke. It sounds good, doesn't it?"
If it wasn't her imagination, Boruto saw a bit of blush on his master's cheeks.
. . .
The Ninth Christmas
Boruto whispered up into the ceiling at nothing, quite annoyed that voices were bothering him in the middle of the night. "Isn't there any other day? Can't we just postpone this a couple hours?"
The voice rang out in his head. No. It's important that it happens now.
"What's wrong?" Sarada looked up at him, her eyes barely shining in the dark.
He caressed her face, leaned forward, and pressed a soft kiss to her forehead. "I've been summoned to the moon. Apparently its urgent business... Oi. What happens if I don't go?"
I don't think you want us to bring another fight to earth.
"Ugh. Fine." He breathed a sigh. "I'll be back as fast as humanly possible. Well... Not exactly humanly. But you get the point."
Getting up from bed, he threw on his white button up shirt, black jacket, and went to grab his cape.
"Wait..."
Boruto turned around, a barely awake Sarada taking baby steps towards him, wrapped up in the sheets.
"You didn't have to get all the way up... I was gonna come back ya know," he muttered, going over and pulling her into a hug.
"Mm..."
He stood there for a few moments, just holding her like that. Just in case something happened. Just in case this would be the last time he got to hug her for a while. He hated leaving her. He hated how sad it made her. Especially on a day like today.
She relaxed, almost completely, and Boruto wondered if she'd fallen back asleep in his arms. But her tired face lifted, and he smiled at the hair stuck to her cheek. Brushing it to the side, he leaned down and kissed her lips, taking care to be gentle enough that he wouldn't whisk her out of the fog of sleepiness that was still pulling at her ability to stand.
He only broke apart when another summons from his brain told him they were getting impatient.
Picking her up in his arms, he laid her back in bed and kissed her forehead one last time. Then walked out of the room and into the twins room, bending down and placing a kiss on each of their heads as well. As his hand trailed away from their hair, he stood to his feet, threw his cape over his shoulders, and leaned against the bedroom door.
"I'll be back."
. . .
The Tenth Christmas
Sarada cracked open her eyes. It was still dark outside, but if she recalled correctly, it was Christmas morning. She rolled over and nudged Boruto awake. "Hey."
"Mm?" He sleepily lifted open one eye and frowned at the look on her face. "What's wrong?"
"Did you remember to put the stuff in the kids stockings?"
"The stuff... I think I did..."
Sarada sighed. She was going to have to go check. But just as she was about to sit up and get out of bed, his arms were around her waist, pulling her back against him, tucking his face into her neck. "Don't go."
"Don't think you're going to escape punishment just from cuddling me."
"Mmmmm..."
"Boruto."
He knew she was stronger than him anyways, so he reluctantly let go. "Fine. I forgot..." He yawed and rolled onto his back. "I'll go do it."
"You were on a mission all day yesterday," she whispered, taking his hand to hold him back. "It's okay, I'll just do it real quick and come back."
"Hm? But I was the one who forgot," he said, gently removing her hand and sitting all the way up. "Didn't you mention something about punishment anyway? You're planning on giving my portion of cookies to my dad, aren't you."
"Oh? You like my cookies that much?"
He smiled. "It's not Christmas without your cookies."
Sarada rolled over and away from him, pulling the blanket up to her face to hide the blush dusting her cheeks. "You're such an idiot."
He just silently disappeared from the room, and when he came back, contentedly climbed into bed right next to her and cuddled her back to sleep until their twins pounced on them and woke them up.
. . .
The Eleventh Christmas
"And that, is how you bend a shuriken," said Sarada proudly, standing with her hands on her hips.
"Woah!" Her seven-year old looked up at her beaming. "As expected of the hokage. You're even better than dad!"
Boruto's eyebrow twitched. Even after all these years, that faint flame of rivalry still made him hate losing to Sarada. "But I can make more shadow clones than her," he retorted back, creating twelve of himself, all of them throwing shuriken at once.
Before they could hit the target, all twelve of them were deflected. Boruto furrowed his eyebrows and looked over at Sarada, who looked just as confused as he was. Which could only mean one thing.
"Sasuke-san!"
"Getting rusty? I thought I taught you to always be prepared for nothing to go the way you planned it," said Sasuke, walking into the clearing.
Boruto smiled and folded his arms with a confident smirk. "And this, kids, is my master."
Both twins had sparkles in their eyes, running up to Sasuke. "Cool!"
Sarada rolled her eyes with a grin before walking over to her father and giving him a hug. "Papa! You're back."
"And I can make more shadow clones than your old-man," said another voice, that quickly multiplied into several hundred voices. "Behold, my 20 shadow clone jutsu!"
Boruto narrowed his eyes. "Geh. You're here too... Don't waste all your chakra. I don't wanna have to Raijin to Himawari to save your life from trying to show off again."
"Grandpa! Grandma!"
Naruto was perhaps even more doting than Hinata's father had been to Boruto and Himawari when they were kids. But unlike him when he was little, he decided to let his kids turn Naruto's quest for affection into a game. Upon meeting, Naruto would have to chase them until he caught them to get a hug. It proved to be great training for his kids, if nothing else.
And so now, they were fighting his clones with as much taijutsu as they knew, throwing shuriken, sending any clones that got too close back with a gale palm, doing their best to dodge any and every hug that came their way.
Suddenly, Boruto noticed his son moving a bit faster than he should have been able to. He squinted. And then his eyes widened. He teleported right behind him and was met with the same teleportation away. "Oi oi oi, when did you learn raijin?!"
His son ducked his head, the onslaught of Naruto's stopping due to sheer surprise. "Well... You said I couldn't learn it yet cuz it was too hard for me, but I just read a few books on space time ninjutsu and figured out what I could, so I thought maybe I could learn it myself."
Boruto blinked. He should have known. With his genius ability to pick up on skills and master them within a few attempts and Sarada's intelligence and love of book knowledge, of course, their kid would turn out to be a super genius.
He laughed and ruffled his raven hair. "I guess I shoulda taken training you a little more seriously... What are you thinking about when you teleport," he asked, suddenly interested in the topic, Sarada going over to pat their pouting daughter on the head with a warm smile.
"I just... I dunno. I just think I need to move, and then I pick where I wanna go, and then I'm there."
Boruto blinked a few times. So it wasn't quite like raijin after all. Maybe his son made an entirely new jutsu. And he was only seven years old.
"It's a good thing you have Sarada's personality, or the village would be in trouble," he muttered causing Naruto to chuckle.
In that moment, Boruto saw a familiar looking white snake at his feet. "Huh? Isn't this..."
"Ah!" The girl tore away from Sarada's touch and picked up the snake, running over excitedly. "Uncle Mitsuki!"
Mitsuki smiled his typical Mitsuki smile. "Merry Christmas."
Omnipotence hadn't exactly faded, and Mitsuki was aware of what happened. But he still had trouble accepting the fact that Boruto was Boruto, even though he now accepted that Kawaki wasn't Boruto... It was like he still saw glimpses of Kawaki when looking at Boruto's face. Even still, he showed up every now and again to watch their kids when both of them had important Otsutsuki or village matters to attend to.
And apparently, he cared enough to show up on Christmas in a Santa beard and deliver two presents to each of his kids.
"Are we having a training party this year?"
Boruto blinked a few times. "Shikadai?"
"Yo, Boruto."
Shikadai was now Sarada's advisor, and came to understand that whether Boruto was Boruto or not, Sarada loved him, and that was enough reason not to hate him. Especially since he was Boruto's best friend before all this and saw how much Kawaki and Sarada fought, there was always that little something in the back of his mind that told him Kawaki wasn't exactly Boruto.
"Don't forget me!"
Sarada smiled and raced up to hug her best friend. "Cho-Cho!"
"I swear, every time I see your kids, they've gotten even cuter! Who wants snacks?!"
Their blonde little girl raced up to Cho-Cho and jumped up and down. "I do! Me! What'd you bring this time?!"
"Well let's see... I have..."
As Cho-Cho pulled out an array of snacks, Boruto noticed someone else out of the corner of his eye, his eyes lighting up. "Himawari!"
"Onii-chan!"
Following close behind her was Inojin, and finally Kawaki and Sumire.
They all chatted, showing off their special jutsu, sparing with each other to see how good the others had gotten. And when they made it back to their house, Boruto was welcomed to the scents and smells of a feast, prepared by all the mothers. He even found Orochimaru lurking in the corner pouring tea for anyone that requested it, having a nice leisurely chat with Sasuke.
. . .
The Twelfth Christmas
She'd done it. Thirty years of peace, and Sarada was finally retired as Hokage. She felt old and tired, wrinkles starting to show up on her face. Her kids had kids of their own, already walking and talking, smiling and laughing. And all that was left was to enjoy her remaining life, hoping peace continued for many generations to come.
When she bent down to take the cookies out of the oven, it felt like a struggle to stand upright again. Since when was I old enough to have back pains...
One sigh later, Boruto walked slowly down the stairs, breathing in a deep breath with a contented sigh. "You're making cookies."
"Don't I always?"
"Yeah. I'm just commenting," he hummed, eyeing the fresh tray.
Sarada shot him a glare. "Don't eat any until we get to Kosuke's house."
"Mm... Just one?"
She sighed. "Here. I saved you the bowl."
He took the spoon and scraped at the raw cookie dough, going to sit in the recliner. "TV, on." The TV flashed to life at his command, but he manually adjusted the volume with the remote.
"It's Christmas, are you really gonna watch TV?"
"What," he blinked over at her, "don't you wanna sit with me?"
Sarada sighed. "Only if you give me some of that cookie dough."
"If you wanted some, you could have just said so," he smirked, moving himself to the side.
The second she squeezed herself into the remaining space, he pressed a button and the footrest came out, leaning them back and making her snuggle into his chest. "We have to leave the house in ten minutes if we want to be there on time," she sighed, looking longingly at the bowl.
"Not if we teleport," he hummed back, holding the spoon in front of her mouth for her to take the last of the remaining batter.
"Are you going to teleport the presents too?"
"I can make a few trips," he replied, taking the spoon back and setting it on the side table, wrapping his arms around her, not even looking at the TV. "I'd rather sit like this for just a little longer..."
Sarada closed her eyes and tucked her face against him, enjoying the same musky scent that still belonged to him even though they'd been using the same laundry detergent for the past thirty-seven years. It felt like it'd been a while since they'd taken the time to just sit like this, despite having all the time in the world.
As the words from the TV flowed through the still silence, she suddenly remembered the times she couldn't sit like this, the times when he was gone, the times when she'd cry because she missed him.
She snuggled closer. "We've been through a lot, haven't we."
"Mmm..."
"I'm glad everything is peaceful now."
He gently ran his fingers through her thinning hair, just sitting there, holding her. And before ten minutes had passed, they both fell asleep.
THE END.