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

Borrowed Time

The hour was late. Konoha was quiet under the dim hush of night, save for the faint rustle of wind through the trees and the occasional creak of wooden homes settling into the dark. 

Mitsuki sat on the windowsill of his now half-empty apartment, his fingers resting over the faint remnants of Y/n's chakra, barely a trace, like the echo of a memory already slipping from grasp.

He had been trying to track her all day. At first, it was simple, a signature here, a flicker there, as if she were just outside his reach. 

But now, there was nothing. 

Either she had left the village entirely... or she was hiding it. And if she was hiding it, she didn't want to be found.

Mitsuki's jaw tensed. He knew her better than most, knew how she could tuck herself away into silence and shadow when it hurt too much to be seen. But this, this absence, felt different.

She hadn't told him anything. Not really. Just a quiet goodbye and half a smile before slipping away.

He couldn't sit still any longer.

- ☆ -

The Uchiha house was still lit when he arrived, and he hesitated for a moment outside the door, watching the warm orange glow spill from the windows.

Sakura answered quickly, worry tightening the lines of her face the moment she saw him. "Mitsuki? It's late. Is everything okay?"

He offered a small bow. "I'm sorry to bother you. I was looking for Sasuke-san."

"He's not home," she said softly, stepping aside so he didn't have to ask for entry. "He's been spending a lot of time at the Hokage monument recently. You might still catch him there."

Mitsuki gave her a nod, but hesitated before leaving. "Sakura-san... do you know where Y/n is?"

Sakura's expression faltered. "No. But... I've been wondering the same thing."

- ☆ -

He found Sasuke perched on the edge of Hokage Rock, outlined in silver moonlight, staring over the sleeping village. 

He looked like a statue, still, heavy with thought, and for a moment, Mitsuki wasn't sure he should disturb him.

But Sasuke spoke first, voice low and aware. "You're worried about her too."

Mitsuki stepped forward. "She's not in the village."

"She is," Sasuke said. "Just hidden." A pause. "Very well hidden."

Mitsuki frowned. "You tried to find her too?"

"I couldn't sense her at all," Sasuke admitted. "Not even with the Rinnegan. She's... good at hiding. Almost unnaturally so."

He glanced down at the half-folded papers he had tucked beneath his cloak. 

Mitsuki caught the motion, the faintest flick of hesitation in Sasuke's fingers, but said nothing.

"What happened while I was gone?" Mitsuki asked finally.

Sasuke looked away from the skyline and met his eyes.

"The same people who hurt her all those years ago," he said. "They found her again. Cornered her. She fought back." His voice was flat, but there was something sharp beneath it. Regret, maybe. Or guilt. "She killed them."

The words landed like a stone in Mitsuki's chest. He felt his nails dig into his palms before he could stop them.

"She didn't tell me," he said, more to himself than anyone else.