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The container was weightless in her hands as she stared up at Sumire, brows scrunching together. Silver in color, it had no identifying labels. Carefully, she opened it up to inspect.
"They're modified scientific eye lenses," Sumire explained, pointing at the contents.
It was nothing like she had ever seen before.
Inside the silver box, laid two transparent spherical rims. Small and dainty, they seemed to be intended to be inserted.
She blinked. "Eye lenses?" she asked in wonder.
The violet-haired girl tilted her head, smiling. "Still figuring out the name for them but yes. They're meant for shinobi who have a kekkei genkai. It's meant to amplify the user's eyes, help manage chakra reserves, and overall maintain the quality of the eye during use."
Her mouth opened in awe. "That's ... " She trailed, speechless because there were no words to describe such a tool.
Sumire waved her hand sheepishly. "It's still a work in progress but I've tried my best to perfect it. I'll need the data that's extracted after you use it to shape it to your preference." She pointed at the lenses sitting in their capsules. "You put them in your eye and this will be a favorable method in perserving your sight."
"I didn't even think that this could be possible," Sarada murmured, feeling hopeful at the impending decline of her eyes.
"It'll be trial and error because this technique is new and in development," Sumire explained. "I'm hoping that with the data I get, I can shape it to perfection so the decline on your sight is slowed." She paused with a little bit of hopeful hesitance. "Maybe this is wishful thinking but ... we could even eliminate the blindness altogether."
That would be extraordinary reality.
"Brilliant," Sarada said. "This is genius. Thank you so much Sumire for doing this."
"Actually," Sumire motioned, her voice lowering, "you can thank Boruto."
Sarada's face snapped up. "Boruto?" she repeated, raising a brow.
Sumire nodded slowly. "Boruto gave me a scroll containing a technique that would fix his sword but that wasn't the only technique. There were a couple including this one."
"A scroll?"
"It was strange," she admitted, expressing puzzlement. "When I got to work, reading through the contents and steps, I couldn't really understand why he had given it to me. Not until ... well, after Mamushi's invasion ... "
Sarada's brows quirked together. "Huh," she muttered. "Were there ... any notes?"
"None. No source of the original either," Sumire replied. "However, the technique is moderately complex, only limited to Konoha's arsenal. It makes me wonder on how ... "
Sarada and Sumire were both on the same page, questioning how Boruto could have access to the technique. The best plausible logic was that Boruto knew something, likely from his intel but even then, it didn't make complete sense.
Not to mention, the timing of the scroll and following Boruto's visit to tell her about Code.
Either way, she would severely need these with what she was preparing herself to do.
Whilst Boruto hadn't given her an arrival estimate on the bullseye on her back but sooner or later, she'd be pursued. With the massive chakra tax that her ability has on her, she could not expand and speedrun her mastery on tackling Orihume at an appropriate rate.
With the looming history of blindness that follows the Sharingan, this was a great solution to fight.
Was it temporary? Unfortunately. But she'd figure it out eventually.
"Would you like to try them on?" Sumire offered. "The lenses are made to be moistured permanantely and with their compound, they will never dry out. Currently, the measured time of use is three days before you have to let your eyes rest."
Sarada didn't hesitate.
In a matter of minutes, the eye lenses were in, flimsy but surprisinly firm material and Sarada stood up from her seat, glancing in a renewed perception. Rendered speechless, she could immediately feel the effects on the lenses. Her eyes felt less pressure from her flickering to the Sharingan. She'd have to test her Mangekyou Sharingan and Orihume in a fight but overall, she could feel the difference.
But that wasn't what ultimately stunned her. She could see. Without her glasses.
The surroundings around her were crisp and in details. Vividly clear. All without her glasses. For nearly her entire life, she had always viewed the world in frames, aiding her. Now while the lenses were a different form of aid, it felt baffling to not feel the presence at her nose and around her face.
The discovery was so startling that she kept testing her vision on everything; her hands, looking at the wall signs, spotting objects, and much more.
Sumire giggled at her from behind when Sarada had pointed out at the birds flying. "I see someone is particularly happy."
This ninja tool was life-changing. Extraordinary.
And whilst she had no idea what the future held, she was simply happy that she had some momentum of control.
She could assist him without having major drawbacks.
***
Her glasses had broke.
The newest prescription that she had didn’t last long but her frames were an excellent use of a sacrifice.
She hadn't realized how much of an advantage it'd be by using her frames and her new lenses. Whilst she hadn't had planned for them to break, she knew that to an extent, glasses were a disadvantage. Possibly a minor one for a shinobi like her but a weakness nonetheless and it was beyond her how an enemy hadn't tried to use them for a slight advantage.
But it had give her a slight edge and against a Shinju, no less.
"Your glasses ... " Her childhood friend glanced at the remains of her frames in his hand while she held onto the thorn bulb of Papa.
The plan they had discussed hadn't particularly went the way that either one of them would've assumed. Or rather, instead of anticipating simply for Code to go after her, it was both Code and Hidari, the two trying to kidnap Sarada. It blindsided her. However, the least anticipated bit about this was: it was Code versus Hidari.
She would've never guessed it.
She knew she had been a target by both but did not think that they’d fight over her. The result left Hidari winning and Code had been promptly wounded before the Shinju took her.
Because the plan had gone differently, she was unsure on whether she should continue to play bait. Not when Hidari had promptly declared that he had wanted to devour her but he made no attempts of it.
Not until they made it to the hideout because he needed to draw out Boruto.
From there, she had done everything that Boruto asked of her and whilst it was a tough fight, she was able to use Orihume multiple times with fewer drawbacks.
“Unfortunate,” Sarada finally replied with a shrug. “It’s okay though.” Then she smiled sincerely at Boruto. “Thank you.”
Raising a scarred brow, the boy besides her looked at her with a quizzical look at the gratitude. “For?”
”Coming here, keeping your promise, and for the lenses,” she explained. “Sumire told me you’d given her a scroll to develop and work on techniques.”
Understanding passed through his face and for a moment, she couldn’t help stare at him. Perhaps it was the effect of being able to see without her frames but she observed his face, committing it to memory. His expression was a little less unguarded than the usual, offering a free roam of expressions, and she observed all the details.
”It was nothing,” Boruto explained with a half-smile, the smallest dimple peaking out which she caught. “I’m glad it’s helping with the usage which how are you feeling after— .. is there something wrong?” He abruptly questioned, his smile dropping at her intense inspection.
She must've been staring at him for far too long.
Hoping that her face wouldn’t reveal her embarrassment at being caught, she kept a neutral expression before she smoothly said, “Oh, nothing is wrong. As for my eyes, I’ve got more uses out of my ability without draining myself."
A moment of silence passed before he nodded slowly, accepting the answer. For a split second, almost too quickly, he had gave her a strange look before his face resumed a passive expression. "You should conserve the rest of your chakra if you can. Who knows what will happen when we get to Master Sasuke which we need to go now."
Clutching onto the thorn bulb, she knew he was right. If they wasted any more time, the consequence could be detrimental.
"Come," he motioned for her to get close. "We'll use my Flying Raijin to arrive. I have it all set up."
Shuffling close, she had expected for Boruto to just place a hand on her shoulder adjacent to him but she was entirely wrong. Instead, his arm looped around, settling on the opposite side. This unexpected movement left her surprise because it pulled her extremely close to him. She was practically tucked into his side. The sudden warmth flooded her senses.
"Traveling might make you slightly dizzy," he warned apologetically. "It's temporary."
"It's okay, I'm ready."
Briefly, she relished in his warmth, comforted by his presence as he pulled the Ram sign and they were off, racing against time.