We're Different. | The Other Uchiha ✓ (Boruto)

Fractures

The morning air was thick with summer heat, the sun glaring down on the village rooftops as if trying to burn away the lingering tension that clung to the air.

Y/n sat on the couch, one knee drawn up, chin resting on it, the Chunin Exam slip fluttering slightly in her hand.
The thin paper felt heavier than it should, a weight she didn't want to carry.

"Are you excited for the exams?"

Mitsuki's voice broke through the thick, humming silence. He stood by the door, tying his headband with a soft, expectant smile.

Y/n didn't lift her head.

She only shrugged once, a half-hearted gesture that could mean anything.

Mitsuki sighed, a soft, familiar sound. "I don't care that much either," he said lightly, sitting beside her. "But it's important to the team, right?"

Y/n finally spoke, voice rough with disuse, "I'm not doing it for the rank. Or the title. Just... for you guys."

The words tasted bitter. She hated lying, even a little.

Mitsuki tilted his head, studying her in that quiet, careful way he always did. He saw more than she wanted him to.

"What about... what happened with Sarada?" he asked gently.

A muscle ticked in Y/n's jaw. She plucked at the edge of the paper, tearing it slightly.
"She doesn't want to fix it. That's fine with me."

Mitsuki frowned, but didn't push. Y/n appreciated him for that. For knowing when her walls were too high to climb.

"She's probably just jealous," Mitsuki murmured. "Not many people get Sasuke's attention. You deserved it."

Y/n didn't answer.

"I'll be training with her today," Mitsuki said as he stood, brushing dust from his pants. "Are you going to be okay alone?"

Y/n smiled faintly. It didn't reach her eyes. "When am I not?"

Mitsuki gave her one last look before he was gone.

And Y/n sat there, holding a slip of paper she didn't want, for a future she didn't believe in yet she stayed still.

- ☆ -

The moon hung heavy that night, pale and swollen like an eye that had seen too much.

Y/n lay curled under the thin sheets, her body still, her mind anything but. 

The village outside slept quietly, cicadas humming in the grass, streetlamps casting long, lonely shadows against the empty roads. Mitsuki had already drifted off on the other side of the small apartment, the rise and fall of his breathing soft and even.

But Y/n couldn't sleep.

Every time she closed her eyes, the ache in her chest grew heavier, something restless and ancient coiling under her skin.

She turned onto her back and stared at the ceiling until it blurred. Her thoughts slid sideways. The world tilted.

And then, everything went black.

When she opened her eyes, she was no longer in her room.

She stood ankle-deep in water that stretched infinitely in every direction, a black void above and below, the surface of the water reflecting nothing but the endless dark. There was no sound. No wind. Not even her own heartbeat.

Only silence.

A figure approached through the mist.

"You finally made it," a voice said, lazy and amused.