Twisted

Rising Waters

Sarada really wished Boruto was less impromptu about his planning, but now, she didn't have much of a choice. The giant rock pillar sealed off the cave exit, making it impossible for anyone, horse or human, to come after them. The only problem was that water was seeping through the cracks, and more than seeping it was like a sputtering and spurting of what she was certain was a flood on the outside.

She hoped his friends were okay. And she also hoped that maybe Shojoji's girth would sink him rather than making him float.

"Come on," said Boruto, gently setting her down and taking her hand. "This should let out in a little clearing... Let's get there before this place becomes a stream."

She followed him, her feet stabbed by sharp pointy rocks that characterized the ground of this dreaded tunnel. She suddenly wished Boruto hadn't set her down... But at the same time.

"Hey Boruto?"

"Hm?"

"Are you really... I mean... With what he said back there, is Prince really just a nickname?"

He turned, taking both of her hands into his, looking through the cracks in her bangs at the barely visible gleam of her eyes in the pitch black darkness. "I suppose we'll have to have a bit of a conversation after we get out of here, shan't we."

Sarada blinked. Shan't? She suddenly found her cheeks heating. He'd suddenly switched into more intelligent speech in front of Shojoji as well. What if this whole time he was pretending to play dumb in order to hide his identity?

Loosening her grip on his hand, she clung to her dress. She was grateful that he saved her life... But she didn't have the right to be holding the hand of a prince. She didn't have the right to be by his side at all. To have his handkerchief wrapped around her injured hand, to have him kneel in front of her and swear to protect her. Especially not now that he knew she was...

"Don't let go," he said, suddenly standing much closer to her than he previously was. "Please don't let go."

In his tone of voice, there was something serious and sad. Unlike the joking demeanor he usually showcased or the fearless banter he'd held with Shojoji. She'd gotten rather used to his voice and quite detested the sound of it at first, but now...

"I..."

"I understand if you feel uncomfortable, but it's dark, and I don't want you falling or getting separated from me and I... Just hold my hand."

She realized that him reaching for her hand would put him at risk for touching her somewhere else on accident and making for a very awkward and embarrassing situation, and she began to even rethink her analysis that he was a pervert as well as an idiot.

She slowly uncurled her fingers and extended her pale hand which was barely visible in the dark of the cave, and he held it firmly. The water lapped around the tops of her feet, and she knew soon his boots would be soaked through. So she decided all of her questions could wait until they were out of the tunnel.

They trudged through the darkness, the water slowly rising. Sarada thought walking further away from the source would inevitably make the water levels sink. Not rise. But once again, she was somehow proven wrong in her hypotheses of the world.

She continued walking on sharp rocks without complaint until Boruto came to a halt in front of her. It was much too dark to see anything, so she did the only thing she could think to do. "Is something wrong?"

Boruto didn't answer. Instead, he let go of her hand. "Wait here." And dashed in the opposite direction.

She reached forward, feeling the cold surface of many piled stones that were all wedged together into a makeshift wall in front of her. And a knot of dread settled into her stomach. This was the exit... And it was blocked off.