Half of Sarada's tiny little body sat slumped over the edge of her bed. Her glasses barely clung to her ears and were bound to fall to the floor any moment, riding high up her nose and nearly resting on her forehead, as her silky, tangled hair lay coiled on a pile beneath her. She had spent all of the night before rummaging around hopelessly underneath her sheets without a moment's rest. Eventually, she wound up passing from pure exhaustion. A sudden hurried knock on her door alarmingly stirred her from her sleep, and in a panic, unable to process her thoughts, she promptly flopped to the floor. As the door creaked open only an inch, she caught a glimpse of her mother standing outside, clutching the opening of her robe shut. Sakura quickly peered inside and found her daughter sprawled on the floor. "Sarada, are you awake?"

"Y-Yes, mama. I'm awake."

Arching her brows in curiosity, but too tired to begin questioning her daughter this early, simply nodded and turned away. "Okay, well I'm not going to ask you again. You need to get up and get ready for school or you're going to be late." Watching her leave through the crack, she breathed a despondent sigh before twisting herself upright and rising from the floor.

She trudged from the bathroom with uncombed hair and mismatched socks into the kitchen, and found her mother patiently waiting for her at the table. She rose from her morning cup of tea and grabbed Sarada's bookbag and lunch from the side of the table and held them out in front of her to take. "Better get going soon." As she took the bags in each of her hands, Sakura delicately ran her fingers through Sarada's hair and lovingly planted a kiss on her forehead. "Off you go now." As she turned around, Sakura gave her a light pat on the back as she made her way toward the front door, taking the knob in her hand and reluctantly opening the door. Before she stepped outside, she threw her head over her shoulder and took one last glance at her mother. "Have a good day at school," Sakura cooed, giving her a gentle wave. She flashed her a smile as she stepped out the door and started walking.

Sarada began to make her way to school. The brisk morning air helped to shake away her sleep as she hadn't gotten much of it the night before; all she could think about was the way her mother laughed and smiled the night before with…him. It was strange; she no longer could bear to call him simply "Uncle Naruto"; after all, he wasn't actually her uncle, but it was what she had always called him. His face was ever present in her home when she was young that he practically became the only other family she had. But calling him "The Seventh" also felt strange now. In the past year, Sarada had absorbed the habits of both her teachers and authorities who referred to him as "The Seventh" like he was merely some mythological figure, and had begun to call him that as a formality. After all, he was the Hokage. His presence commanded respect. But she could never shake the memories of him holding her as a baby, surprising her with a shower of gifts on her birthday, babysitting her when her mother was tired or sick. One particular memory that she was fond of was when she was seven and her mother had to leave overnight one weekend for work. Though she was nervous to be without her, Sarada felt just as safe with Naruto. That weekend, he let her stay up all night eating sweets and watching late-night cartoons; she even got to go to bed without brushing her teeth, so long as she didn't tell her mother. There was nothing especially out of the ordinary about her mother's affection for him, their loving closeness and concern for each other. But, Sarada thought, It feels…different now. There's something else to it. After letting out a final yawn as she approached the academy, she straightened her back and narrowed her eyes. I have to know what it is.

Sarada slumped in her desk with her chin tucked into her hand. Frantically tapping her pencil, she was unable to concentrate on her work in anyway. At the front of the room Shino rambled on about substitutions and clones and the like, but this was of no interest to her. Just outside the window she watched the wind sway the leaves and twirl on the ground outside. As quickly as they touched the ground, the breeze suddenly yet gently swept them from the grass and out of her view. They reminded her of her father; gone as quickly as he came, and always just out of her sight. Giving herself a quick shake, she forced herself to focus and continue on her school work.

Sarada quickly sprinted down the hallway to catch Boruto just as he was about to exit through the door. Startled by the strength of her hand landing on his shoulder, he quickly turned on his heel to face her. "Sarada? What're you—"

"Boruto, I need to talk to you."

Relaxing at once he knew it was her, he slowly glanced from side to side in confusion. "Talk to me? About what?" Not wanting to disclose such private details where anyone could hear, Sarada quickly rushed him outside the door in the opposite direction of the crowd of children.

"Have you noticed anything…strange about our parents?"

"Strange? Like how?"

"Well, I don't know…haven't you noticed they've been rather close lately?"

"I mean, I guess?" Boruto shrugged as he walked just a tad faster. "But they're just friends like anyone else."

Sarada sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. She tried to make the point without being so obvious, but it was just like Boruto to be willfully obtuse.

"That's not exactly what I mean. Haven't you been watching them lately?"

"Watching who, now?"

The two of them froze in their steps and spun around to look behind them. Gleefully smacking on a bag of lightly-salted potato chips, Chouchou obliviously stared back and forth between Boruto and Sarada, who again pinched the bridge of her nose in irritation. "Not now, Chouchou, this doesn't really concern you."

"Aw c'mon! I can keep a secret, honest!"

Boruto pouted condescendingly. "I don't even know what the secret is."

"Dammit, you idiot, I think our parents are having an affair!"

Immediately after her outburst, she slapped her hands over her mouth and stood silent in shock. Chouchou awkwardly finished chewing on the chip she held in her mouth as she gaped wide-eyed at Boruto, who looked to the ground with a furrowed brow as he processed her words. Suddenly his face contorted into a smile and he let out a deep laugh. "Oh Sarada, you really know how to make me laugh, don'tcha?"

Sarada could feel her cheeks flush, filled with embarrassment and anger at his dismissiveness, and she tightly balled her fists. "It's not crazy to think, you know!"

"Look, my dad can be kind of a bastard, but I don't think he'd cheat on my mom. They love each other."

"I'm not saying they don't, but haven't you noticed their behavior lately?"

Chouchou stepped between them and held her hands out in front of both of them, her chip bag sticking out of her back pocket as she munched on her last chip. "There's only one way to find out," Chouchou mumbled as she swallowed her crumbs. The two of them attentively awaited her answer as she took her time to munch. With a hard swallow, she gravely whispered, "We need to spy."

"Spy?" they chided in unison.

"Spy!" Chouchou proudly exclaimed.

"Why?"

"Well, you can't exactly just come out and ask them, can you?"

Boruto and Sarada looked to each other, and back to Chouchou. She expectantly waited for them to gushingly approve of her idea. Sarada mulled it over in her head, but looked to Boruto for his answer. Though he was never at all inclined to believe her to begin with, the seeds of suspicion had been planted, and he needed to have confirmation of what he knew to be true.

"Okay," he sighed turning to Chouchou, "I guess we're going to be spying then."

"We? Wait, what do you mean 'we'?" Sarada asked.

Chouchou emphatically splayed her hand on her chest, fluttering her eyelashes while feigning shock. "It was my idea, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, but—"

Boruto waved his hand. "Ah, let's let her come. If we're going to do this, it can't hurt to have fresh eyes, eh?"

Sarada impatiently tapped her foot. She could tell Boruto had no interest in actually finding out the truth, and merely wanted to take pleasure in proving her wrong. Chouchou, though she was her closest friend, it felt strange to involve her in this family matter. But there were no better ideas to be had once she realized the two of them looking at her. "Okay, I guess. Us three. And that's it."

"Okay then," Chouchou beamed, clapping her hands together in front of her. "Let the spying begin!"

…

"You called?"

"Yeah, I need your help."

Sakura stepped from behind the door and breezed into his office, and she pleasantly sauntered toward his desk with her hands on her hips. "Well, with what?" Naruto sighed as she leaned over on top of his desk. "These, well…these documents." She wistfully pulled them toward her with her finger, and quickly scanned it over. In a matter of seconds, her face warped into playful confusion, and she looked up to Naruto. "You need help…with this?" Avoiding her gaze, her scratched at the side of his face, feeling flustered. "..Yes?"

"These are just basic percentages and mark-ups. Can you really not do them?"

"This is why I called you! I knew you would be able to do them."

She let out a small giggle. "So you're the Hokage, but you can't do basic math?"

He laughed while burying his head in his hands. "I never claimed to be a mathematician." Sakura rolled her eyes as she reached for a pen. "All right…let me help you. Pay attention."

"Okay."

…

Shielded by the thick branches and shrouds of leaves, Sarada watched the two of them through the window yet again. "Chouchou, Boruto…look, look, look!" She flagrantly flared her free arm out to grab their attention, but found nothing. She turned her head to find Boruto curled up in the curve of a branch with his tiny chin tucked into his chest, and Chouchou digging at a hangnail. Sarada loudly groaned. Reaching for the nearest object, she plucked a sparse stick and aggressively flung it at Boruto as she screeched, "Wake up, you idiot!" Startled awake, he nearly fell out of the tree, and in a panic he quickly he latched onto a branch just above him. He took in a deep breath to calm himself before muttering, "What the hell's the matter with you?!" under his breath.

"You guys aren't even paying attention! And look!"

Amused by Sarada's paranoia, the two of them crawled through the tree toward her vantage point. "What do you see?"

…

"…And after you multiply it by the percentage as a decimal, that's how much you're left with."

Quickly scrabbling out the final equations, she carefully scanned her work to make sure she was correct, smiling to herself with satisfaction. Her opportunities to flex her intellectual know-how were too few these days, and she reveled in being able to prove how smart she was. Even if it was only to Naruto. "Do you understand?" She waited for him to respond, but after waiting for more than a few seconds, she tilted her head to face him. "Naruto?" He leaned to one side in his chair, resting his chin prominently on his fist. No longer able to pay attention to the math, he stared longingly at her. "You're so smart, Sakura."

"Do you understand?"

"No. But that's okay."

They smiled happily at each other.

…

She discretely pointed in the direction of the window. With bated breath she watched the two of them squint and turn their heads, neither of them responding in the way that she hoped for. "Uh, Sarada?" Chouchou asked.

"Yeah?"

"What's uh…what's the, um—"

"What she's trying to say," Boruto interrupted, "is that you're losing it, Sarada."

Seeing her nose scrunch into a glare, he coolly explained. "Look, they're just talking. It looks like she's helping him with something. That's it." He twisted his body as he maneuvered from his spot and grunted as he looked for a branch to help him trapeze down the tree. "Where are you going?" Sarada loudly hushed. Hugging tightly to the trunk, Boruto looked back up. "Shikadai and Inojin are going to Ichiraku's, and I'm hungry so I'm going."

"Ooh, they are?" Chouchou smiled, arching her head to see him.

"Yeah, they are."

Quickly, Chouchou crawled over Sarada to the same spot where Boruto had climbed down. Sarada incredulously scoffed, desperately flailing her arms outward. "Chouchou! You too?"

"Sorry Sarada, I just don't think there's anything there. Plus," she trailed off, digging in her pocket, as she pulled out two small pieces of paper. "I have coupons!"

Sarada sighed, looking at both of them awkwardly smiling back at her before she turned and scowled, "Fine. Go. I'm just…going to stay here awhile."

Boruto and Chouchou shared concerned glances for only a moment, and opted to let her be.

"Okay. But we'll be there a while, so you should come if you feel like it."

They waited patiently for her to give an answer, though Sarada said nothing. They shrugged it off and continued to climb down, touching ground and quickly dashing off. Sarada watched them pass out of her sight. "Idiots," she muttered under her breath, and diverted her attention back to her mother and Naruto.

She gazed at them closely, her fiery eyes scanning every movement between the two of them in his office. Even though she was unable to hear what they were talking about, it was the little details that truly caught her eye. The way her mother leaned on his desk. Naruto's hand laying ever so slightly on top of hers. There was a softness to her mother's eyes that she hadn't seen in some time; it was brief that she could observe her mother in moments of unbridled peace. It wasn't too often her mother wasn't frantically stressed about her work, or their finances, or Sarada herself. But she was never this gentle or tender when she spoke of her father. Lately it seemed as if the only time her eyes glimmered, or her cheeks flushed, or she smiled brilliantly was when they were together. Sarada's stomach somersaulted in fear.