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"Are you sure it's this way?" Sarada asked, eyeing him from the corner of her eyes.
"Yes! I remember this area, okay?" Boruto defended though he was starting to doubt himself. Why did everything have to look the same?
"Ugh, I think we're walking in circles! I've seen that same mushroom five times!" Sarada wasn't one to complain, but they'd been wandering the forest since daybreak, looking for the rest of their team, and it was getting to her.
"That's not the same mushroom!" Boruto argued, though he knew if the mushroom could talk, it'd probably agree with Sarada. "Look, maybe we—"
The sound of wailing cut him off and their eyes met as they braced for whatever had made that sound. Yet as the wailing rang around the forest, they realised it sounded rather similar to...a baby? Though they were quick to shake that silly idea off. After all, the last thing—person?—anyone would find in a forest is a baby.
"I see something moving from over there." Sarada motioned with her head as her hands retrieved a kunai, her eyes bleeding red. He nodded his head in affirmation, also seeing the figure moving in the shadow towards them.
"It's okay. I'm not here to hurt you." The figure's stoic feminine voice called out to them. "I suggest you lower your weapons."
"Hey, you're in no place to make demands!" Boruto yelled back. Suddenly, the wailing was back in full force.
"Oh, it's okay, it's okay." The woman cooed. "I know he's really loud." Boruto's cheeks reddened.
"Oi, I'm not—"
"You're upsetting the baby, Boruto." The figure said, finally revealing themselves from the shadow. The duo stilled as they stared at the woman.
Sarada sees that face often, usually reflected back at her from her mirror or behind the frame of a photo, smiling with her team or family. Though the face in front of her was sharper, more mature like she'd lived and seen so much more than Sarada could ever imagine.
Boruto sees that face often, usually yelling at him or commanding their teammates. Only the features he knew so well had changed with time to create the pretty, sophisticated woman before him. Though that couldn't be right. It couldn't be her...it couldn't be Sarada because she was right next to him!
"Who are you?" Sarada demanded, one hand reaching forward, holding the kunai. "And why do you look like me?" The woman's features took on a far-away look, her eyes filled with nostalgia as she looked at the younger girl.
"Because I am you. From the future." The woman spoke what had to be pure nonsense. "And I know myself, I know you—I—won't trust a stranger so easily, so will you trust my eyes instead?" The woman knelt before her—much to the protest of the baby she was holding—letting her eyes turn a deep red to reveal the three tomoe of the Sharingan spinning lazily.
