Twisted

Journey to the Kingdom

That night, for the first time in her life, Sarada understood what it was like to sleep in someone's arms. After laying there for a while, staring at his face, tracing his nose and studying everything from the estranged hairs on his eyebrows to the curve of his eyelashes, she fell asleep just like that, the fire at her back, his arms settled around her like a blanket. He curled himself closer and tucked his lips into her hair, and that was that.

She woke up from the most pleasant dream she'd ever had in her entire life, and it left her smiling even after she regained consciousness to feel Boruto playing with her hair.

"Morning."

"...Good morning?"

Boruto scooted down until he was in line with her face. When he saw her slight smile amidst confusion, he smiled back. "Why'd you phrase that like a question?"

"I'm not sure... If I've ever said that to anyone before."

Her face heated up when his lips pressed to her forehead. "Good. I stole another one of your firsts."

"F-Firsts? And wait, why did you..."

Boruto paused like he was about to say something, and then he sighed. "I suppose that's a first for you as well. At least, consciously anyways." With a teasing grin, he sat up and stretched his arms above his head. "Ahh, the sun feels especially nice this morning. Wouldn't you... Say..."

"Boruto?"

His shoulders immediately slumped. "I'm gonna kill Shikamaru later."

"Huh? What? Kill who? Why?" Sarada sat up to find a rather large creature, casually grazing by a tree. Its strong teeth were ripping the grass from the ground and casually munching it like it was doing no more than enjoying breakfast. She'd seen pictures of these in a book about animals. "Is that... A horse? The horse from the tavern?!"

"It's the horse that has a built-in sensor for my location. She somehow finds me wherever I go. She probably won't hurt me, but I'm guessing Sasuke gave her orders to watch us and make sure I don't try to run away to a different kingdom with you... And her name is Ino."

"...Ino..."

At the mention of her name, Ino looked up and neighed, blonde main shaking with the subtle wag of her head, white hair bright and shining in the sun against the backdrop of dark greens and browns in the forest.

"I didn't think horses were capable of sensing a human being's location."

"Well," he said, gently letting go of her, standing to his feet, and offering her his hand. "This one is... I bet she was the one that led Sasuke and Tsunade to us in the first place."

"But..." Sarada took his hand and stood to her feet, sweeping the grass from her red silky dress. "Horses don't have any sort of sense to follow instructions, other than simple commands given by--"

"Forget everything you know from the encyclopedias... This horse is special."

The horse looked at them... Almost as if it was annoyed.

"I see," was all Sarada could say as she stared on at it. She slowly stood to her feet and approached it, eyes wandering the intricate leather strap around its stomach, the strange triangle-shaped pieces dangling by its side. Stirrups... Saddles... Was it Western or European? She couldn't remember the difference.

"Do you want to pet her?"

"Is... Is it okay to?"

"I'm pretty sure she's only ever bitten me," said Boruto. "Go ahead."

Sarada reached out her hand towards the horse's long neck. Its fur was... Soft. Different than Boruto's hair, or even her own. Horse hair was slightly coarser, each one standing out instead of blending seamlessly together like human hair. Her fingers brushed across it instead of through it, but when they went the opposite direction, it was like running her hand across the bristles of a soft brush.