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

The Chains that Remain

The world returned in fragments.

Cold metal. A bright light overhead. The sterile scent of antiseptic and something sharper underneath of fear maybe.

Y/n blinked slowly, the light burning white against the backs of her eyes. Her body felt sluggish, like it didn't quite belong to her yet. 

Her arms ached when she tried to move them, and then she realised why.

She was cuffed to the bed.

Leather straps bit into the soft skin of her wrists, chakra-sealed cuffs wrapped around her ankles. She jerked slightly on instinct, but they didn't budge.

"She's awake," came a voice, soft and too familiar.

Y/n squinted toward the sound. The blur of colours sharpened into Sakura's concerned expression, hovering just out of reach.

A few feet beyond her, Sasuke stood near the wall, arms crossed, expression unreadable.

Her throat tightened. "Where... am I?"

"You're in the interrogation wing," Sakura said gently. "You've been unconscious for a week. We didn't know what was going to happen."

Y/n's heart kicked in her chest. A week. The last thing she remembered was-

A flash of Boruto. Blood. Sand. Momoshiki's voice echoed through her skull like a song she couldn't forget.

She swallowed hard, trying to sit up. "Why why am I restrained?"

"You were dangerous," came Sasuke's voice, low and flat, spoken without venom but not without weight. "The moment we brought you back, we had no idea if Momoshiki was still in control."

Y/n's fingers curled against the sheets. Her nails dug into her palms.

"You don't trust me."

"I don't trust anyone possessed by an Ōtsutsuki," he replied coldly.

Sakura's gaze flicked toward him with something unspoken, but she didn't challenge it aloud. Instead, she reached for the panel near the bed. "Lower the light, she's still adjusting."

A nurse complied, and the harsh ceiling glow dimmed to something gentler. 

Y/n's vision cleared a bit more. Her limbs still felt heavy. Her chakra... off. Like something was bleeding out of her, even as she breathed.

The door creaked open.

Two figures stepped inside, one tall, with deep scars crisscrossing his face like claw marks, the other delicate in stature but terrifying in presence.

Ibiki. And Ino.

"This won't take long," Ino said with a small smile that didn't reach her eyes. "We just need to confirm you're truly yourself again."

Y/n's mouth was dry. "You're going to enter my mind?"

"If you let me," Ino said carefully, stepping closer. "We won't go deeper than necessary. But there are blocks, Y/n. Psychological ones. Probably planted by the possession. You'll need to bring them down with me."

"And if I don't?" she asked, voice flat.

"Then we can't be sure who we're talking to," Ibiki said simply, taking a seat beside the bed.

Sasuke still hadn't moved. He stood at the far end of the room, eyes fixed on her like he was studying a trap about to spring open.

Y/n exhaled shakily. "Fine."