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

Where the Light Ends

The soles of his sandals scraped against the stone, a blur of sound against the silence of the village. His lungs burned. His chest felt tight. 

Not from the run, but from something far heavier.

The gate was just ahead.

He saw them before anything else, two unconscious shinobi, slumped at odd angles near the edge of the torii gate. 

Their breathing was shallow but steady. Whoever had brought them down hadn't killed them. 

That alone made his legs move faster.

Then he saw her.

Y/n stood with her back to him, barely a silhouette in the moonlight. 

Her figure was steady, shoulders squared, the wind tugging at the hem of her cloak. 

She looked like a shadow cast from another world, too still, too far, too final.

"Y/n!" His voice cracked in the cold.

She didn't turn.

His breath hitched as he approached, each step unsure. "You're really going to leave like this?"

No answer.

The moonlight spilled across the open fields beyond the gate, soft and silver. 

There were no crickets. No breeze. 

Just the faint rustle of fabric, and the way her hand hovered over her pouch, like she was waiting for the right moment to run.

Boruto took a step closer. "Say something."

She turned, finally. 

Just enough for him to see her face. 

The hood was pushed back, her eyes catching the faintest gleam of light, and they weren't cold.

 No. They were conflicted. Red-rimmed.

 Her lips parted, just slightly, before she pressed them into a thin line.

"I told you not to come," she said. The words were meant to be firm. 

But they wavered, just a little. Enough for him to hear what she wasn't saying.

He let out a bitter breath. "Yeah, well, I don't listen when people I care about try to vanish on me."

Y/n flinched. It was subtle, an eyelid twitch, a shift in weight, but he saw it.

"I know you," he said, stepping forward again. "You wouldn't hurt anyone without a reason. You wouldn't leave unless you thought you had to."

Silence.

He moved closer, careful not to spook her. "So tell me what it is. What's got you so scared that you think running away's the only option?"

Her hand dropped from her pouch.

"...I'm not scared," she whispered.

"Then look me in the eye and say you're okay."

Her gaze flicked to him and faltered. 

Her mouth opened, closed, then opened again, searching for words that wouldn't come.

"I'm doing what I have to," she murmured. "You wouldn't understand."

"Try me."

Her expression twisted for a second. "Boruto-"

"You don't have to carry this alone!" he shouted, louder than he meant to.