The Prince and the Serpent

The Missing Moon

"Boruto! You open this door right NOW!" Sarada's voice rang in Boruto's ears and the pounding of her fist on the door made his head throb. His body trembled from being awoken so suddenly. He shook his head clear, stretched then looked at he door. It was trembling but remained sturdy against Sarada's fists, which Boruto was grateful for.

"What's her problem?" He muttered to Mitsuki as he climbed out of bed. It took a moment to unlock the door with his sleep fogged mind and fumbling hands. Eventually, the door creaked open and Boruto stared bleary-eyed into the furious face of Sarada.

"What is it?" Boruto asked around a wide yawn.

"Where's Mitsuki?" She demanded. The question confused him instantly.

"What do you mean 'where's Mitsuki'? He's right here." Boruto said, turning back and waving into the room towards the bed. It took a second for the sight of the empty room to sink in. Even after it did, it didn't feel real. "Mitsuki?" He called. Boruto looked all around the tiny room even though he could see every corner. This was a joke right? Maybe he had gone downstairs for something.

Boruto shouldered his way past Sarada and half walked/half ran down the hallway. He thought he heard her call after him but he ignored her. He took the rickety stairs two at a time and jumped the last four.

"Mitsuki?!" He called into the tavern, drawing all eyes to himself. He ignored them all and scanned the room, looking only for the golden eyes he adored. His chest clenched tighter and his heart pounded loudly in his ears as he realized they were missing. A hand on his shoulder made him cry out in surprise. The hand dragged him roughly back up the stairs and away from the curious stares of the tavern patrons.

"Will you shut up!" Sarada hissed angrily as she roughly pinned him against the stairway wall and clamped a hand over his mouth. "Mitsuki's gone! I wanted to know if you knew why he left or where he's gone." The second half of Sarada's statement didn't reach his mind. Only the words 'Mitsuki's gone' echoed over and over in his ears, making his core grow cold. Everything else fell away and Boruto felt like he was falling very fast. Mitsuki couldn't be gone. He couldn't be. He'd never leave like this! Boruto's emotions spiraled out of control, rushing to fill the void cold shock had created. He wrenched Sarada's hand off his face.

"How do you know he's gone?! He would never leave me like this!" He shouted in her face as both anger and denial took the forefront. Sarada flinched slightly but overall she weathered his outburst with a look of deep pity. That pissed him off more. There was need for her to pity him because Mitsuki wasn't gone.

With one hand, she held him in place as if she was afraid he would bolt again. With her other hand, she reached up to her own shoulder. Her movement looked foreign to Boruto, as if he was watching a dream. She held her hand back out to him and in it was curled a small white snake. The little creature flicked its tongue placidly. It looked up at him with tiny golden eyes that were so similar to Mitsuki's, they made his heart suffer a crippling crack.

"He... he left this with me. It gave me a message." Sarada said sadly, "I assumed he left one for you too." Pain and hurt tore into Boruto's breaking heart. He was just about to shout that of course he hadn't, when he felt movement on his right arm. His first instinct was to flail but he froze when he actually looked at his right arm. His sleeve was slashed cleanly up to the elbow, exposing the marks of the advancing curse. He knew it had not been like that when he went to sleep. Out of the split material a small snake, perfectly identical to Sarada's, smoothly glided into the lamplight. It curled and slithered up his arm and settled on his shoulder. The little golden-eyed albino snake lifted its head and bumped Boruto's jaw affectionately, then it moved along his neck and settled next to his left ear.