Eyes are the mirror of the soul
A story by The Alternate Writer
Chapter 1: Afternoon tea
A/N: My dear readers, welcome to my next installment. For those who are reading my other story, "Moonlight breeze", please note that I will update that slowly, maybe one chapter per month, as I want to invest in quality rather than quantity. Also give a shot to its prequel "Under this blue sky".
Anyway, this story is centered around Boruto and Sarada.
Last but not least, this story is dedicated to YOU, my dear readers, that trusted me enough to read it. Thank you.
"I did it, dattebasa!" a blonde haired whiskered boy yelled "I'm a shinobi now, believe it!"
"Meh, it's not that big deal..." a raven haired girl with a pair of glasses muttered. "Clothes do not make a priest and, certainly, a rank doesn't make you a worthy ninja either, Boruto. It's just a mere word."
The aforementioned boy glared at her, with his blue orbs, then pointed an accusatory finger to the girl. "Pfft, you're fast to speak, Sarada-chan. I bet the exam was rather easy for you, given your bloodline..." then He pointed his new Konoha hitai-ate. "This forehead protector means that I am now a shinobi, and believe it when I say that I will be the best! I will be Chuunin, then Jounin in no time, then I will surpass my baka otou-san the Hokage, dattebasa!" He flashed his trademark smirk and stroke a "cool-guy" pose, with his thumbs up.
The Uchiha girl sighed at his happy-go-lucky attitude and stopped. They arrived at her home, in the newly rebuilded Uchiha compound.
"Let's have tea, shall we?" she invited him inside. That was not strange to them. In fact, they've grown up together, born in the same year. They were accustomed to each other and their families didn't have any problem if one of the children showed up casually at the other's home… well, except for one particular Uchiha.
"Good afternoon, Sarada-chan, Boruto-kun." Sakura hailed them with a big smile and noticed their forehead protector. "Soo, you managed to pass the genin exam, I see!"
Boruto grinned as usual "Hai, Sakura oba-san! It was a cakewalk!"
Meanwhile, while his friend and her mother chatted, Sarada greeted his father who sat in a couch, reading a newspaper. "Otou-san."
Sasuke lifted his eyes and saw his daughter standing there. He folded the piece of paper and got up.
"Sarada-chan, congratulation on making it as genin. I was sure you wouldn't let me down. I'm proud of you" He showed a light smile and patted her head
"Arigatou, otou-san." She nearly squirmed from the contact.
The blonde friend made his way to the two Uchiha standing in the living room, while Sakura went to the kitchen, in order to prepare some tea for the pair of friends.
"Sasuke-san!" He bowed to his father best friend, while the latter had a neutral expression on his face.
"Boruto. Good to see that you became a genin on your first run. At least you didn't fail three times, like someone I know..." Sasuke casually jabbed at the blonde Uzumaki, who knew that he was talking about his father.
'Jeez, he's really mister friendliness…' he groaned mentally, as he also knew that Sasuke never liked him for starters.
"Arigatou gozaimasu, Uchiha-san." Boruto decided to play it calm and cool, not responding to the veiled provocation his friend's father thrown at him.
Sarada, meanwhile, sweatdropped at the conversation she was witnessing. 'Not again…'
"Boruto, let's go in the backyard." Sarada called him and then the pair disappeared from the living room. Sasuke went to the window to look at them… or rather to ensure the blonde spawn didn't try nothing funny with her 'hime'.
In the garden, Boruto and Sarada were sitting under the shade of a tree. Sakura went to them and placed the tray with the tea kettle and cups between them, then went back inside.
She passed past his husband and noticed him scowling while looking at the younglings. She devilly smirked then murmured by herself but, still, her voice high enough to be heard by Sasuke: "*Sigh*, they grow up so fast..."
His facial features hardened and looked away from the windows, fuming at the idea of Sarada maturing. She was still her princess, after all!
"Ne, Sarada-chan! I think that we can easily pass the Chuunin exam, then straight to Jounin, what do you think?" He smiled and sipped from his cup.
Sarada held hers "Mhph. As an Uchiha, it shall be easy as drinking water." she pridefully said. "With my Sharingan and my clan ninjutsu, there's no way I'm gonna fail" Sarada always wanted to be the very best, in order to impress her father, which happened to be listening, unbeknownst to them.
Boruto lowered his gaze and placed the tea cup on the trail. Then a soft smile appeared on his whiskered face.
"I think that Clan Ninjutsus don't really matter that much in the exams." he stated. The girl raised an inquisitive eyebrow to him. Sasuke, from the windows, was listening with interest at the discussion.
"Well, it looks like you don't know much of my family techniques. The Sharingan, for example, is considered as the 'Ultimate Dojutsu', after the Byakugan and before the Rinnengan." she spoke up. Boruto glanced at her.
"It's not that I don't know, I really don't want to know, because I don't care about evaluating which ninjutsu, dojutsu or taijutsu is the best." he then grabbed his tea cup and stared at it. "Let's take tea as an example. Tea is tea. But each tea has its own character and properties. What is the purpose of grading ? These many teas are grown in nature, all of them. Is there a discernable difference?" he softly spoke.
She pondered for a moment on the question, then answered: "Yes, once you learn this, you can tell the difference between the teas."
Boruto gazed away from the cup to look in her eyes: "What you say may be right, but the way I see it, the tea does not judge itself." he placed his cup on the tray, then looked up at the trees branch which gave them shade. Small rays of sunlight filtered through the leaves. "It's people that judge its grading. Different people chose different things. As for me, as far as I'm concerned, I just don't want to make any choice or judgement".
Sarada (and, from afar, Sasuke) where now puzzled by his words.
"Is that so?" she inquired.
"Drinking tea is a mood, really. If you are in a good mood, the grade of tea doesn't matter." his words made the girl craving for further explainations.
"I've never looked at it like that. There are many ninjutsu and fighting styles. Are you saying no style or technique is greater than another?"
"That's what I'm saying."
"If that's true, I want to ask you, if Ninjutsu and styles do not differ in any way, why then do those with particular techniques are considered to be the best? Why do we even fight in competition like the Chuunin exams?" her question pressed him for an answer.
"I believe for all ninjutsu, taijutsu and dojutsu, there is no single one that is superior. All of those who practice different styles, they would naturally have a different level of skill. Through competition, we can discover ourselves." he finished his sentence with a smile.
Sarada was left speechless. In no way she ever looked at the topic with another light. And, furthermore, she was a little bit surprised that such wise words came from that blonde baka in front of her.
"I-i see..." she quietly murmured while lowering her eyes. Then took the tea kettle and smiled at him. "Please, Boruto, have some more."
He grinned: "You first..."
The pair enjoyed their mid-afternoon snack while Sasuke reflected on what Boruto said.
"My, my, Sarada, finally found someone who can keep up with her ne?" Sakura, who also listenend to the conversation, spoke from behind him, startling Sasuke.
"Mh. I bet he inherited this small bit of intelligence from the Hyuuga side" He scoffed and went to the kitchen.
Sakura grinned and, then, fondly looked at her daughter and his friend.
"Just wait, Sasuke-kun. One day you'll understand..."
To be continued.
A/N: Thank you for reading this small chappy, stay tuned!
The Alternate Writer
TRIVIA: The tea conversation is based on the "Tea Scene" from the movie "Fearless" starring Jet Li in the role of Huo Yian Jia, a real martial artist who lived in the past century and is considered a Chinese Symbol, as he fought and win in many high-sponsored match against european and japanese fighters. China was under heavy colonial influence at the time and its citizen were often labelled as "the sick men of Asia" given their "yellow" skin. In the movie, the protagonist had a small debate with the Japanese fighter over which tea (as a metaphor for Wushu Kungfu styles) was better.