Growing Pains

Chapter 4: Age 16, Seeing Red

Suika knew he would whine. She just knew. From experience. As soon as Boruto started, she looked at Konohamaru for assistance, and the annoyed glare he sent Boruto's way told her he was just as fed up as she was with the teen's never-ending demands and attitude.

"How many times do I have to tell you that there are no 'less important missions.' You guys should be honored. The Daimyo asked for Team 7 personally to deliver the invitations to the leaders of the biggest towns in The Fire." He crossed his arms over his chest and glared down at a pouting Boruto. "So stop this whining and go pack your things. You'll be away for a while traveling to all the different towns. I'll see you when you return."

Oh... Perhaps she had not been as clear as she thought she'd been when she gave them the quick debriefing.

"Ehm... Mr. Konohamaru. The mission requests the whole team," she explained and had to bite her lip to stop herself from giggling when his eyes widened in realization. He had clearly not expected to have to accompany his team on a simple delivery mission for weeks on end. They were, after all, by now experienced shinobis of their own right. But he could not exactly complain now that he had given Boruto a hard time about it.

.

.

.

Hanging from the cliff, holding on for dear life and seeing through her windswept bangs how her belongings slipped out of her waist-bag and down the ravine, Sarada sighed in resignation. It was just one of those days. They were finally at the tail-end of the two-week-long mission, and she wanted nothing but to come home to a warm bath and her own bed. The cliff thing was more embarrassing than anything else. An unusually strong cramp in her lower belly had for a split second drawn her attention away from focusing her chakra on her feet to jump between the trees, and she had slipped.

And ended up dangling from the cliff.

The resigned mindset held on while she got hauled up to safety by Mitsuki's extended arms and confirmed her wellbeing to her teammates. Nothing damaged but her pride.

Then it hit her.

She scrambled to reach her bag and let out an uncharacteristically colorful curse.

Completely empty.

Well, it was not surprising, but hope is the last to leave, you know.

Okay. So, what to do now? The pad she had on would only last for another hour or so.

Maybe.

And they were in the middle of the forest, with the closest village at least a few hours away. Explaining to her denser-than-a-bag-of-rocks-teammates that she needed to return ASAP was not something she looked forward to, and even then she wouldn't make it back before ruining her clothes. So, time to be creative. There should be gauze in the medkit...

"Boruto. I need to borrow the medkit for a moment. No questions asked."

"Wah? Are you hu—?"

"That was a question. Just give me the medkit."

"Uh...okay. But if you are—"

"What I am is none of your business. Just give me the damned thing now," she bit out through gritted teeth. Okay, so he was just worried. If roles were reversed she would have wondered too, but that didn't help her irritability when another bad cramp made the urgency of the request all the more potent.

Holding his hands up in the air in a sign of surrender, Boruto promised to ask no more questions and dug through his bag for the equipment scroll.

Sarada snatched it from his hands, no 'thank yous' whatsoever. Just a curt nod before she turned on her heel and went to hide in the bushes.