Sarada looked up at the boy beside her.

"Boruto."

The blonde ninja looked down at the kunoichi beside him. The wind picked up, blowing through her now waist-length hair. It made her look more elegant in her crimson outfit. Looking at her, he felt the same heat from before creep up his neck.

"When I become Hokage," she said, looking him straight in the eye. "Well, if I become Hokage… Do you think things will still stay the same between the three of us? Between Team 7?"

Boruto didn't think she'd ask him that and with surprisingly low confidence in herself. It wasn't like Sarada at all. But, at least, he didn't need to think of the answer. He already knew what it was.

"Of course," he replied. "When you do become hokage, I did promise to guard you, didn't I? Since Mitsuki will follow me wherever I go, I'm pretty sure we'll be sticking close to each other for a long time."

Sarada couldn't help but smile. "Yeah, thanks, idiot Boruto," she replied, returning her gaze on the village below her.

"Why the sudden question though?"

"It's just," Sarada began, a certain look passing over her features that Boruto deciphered as sorrow. "With all the changes happening – the sudden attack on the village, you defeating Kawaki, the rebuilding of the village, and the upcoming Hokage qualifications training – I was wondering if we'd still be together then. Everyone's getting busy and I was… I was afraid we wouldn't get to meet each other anymore."

Boruto managed to laugh, earning him a glare from the girl beside him. "Sorry," he apologized. "It's just that you're thinking too hard on this, Sarada. I mean, look at our parents. Aren't they still close?"

"Yeah, but—"

"Relax, Sarada," Boruto interrupted, patting his teammate on the shoulder. "We'll still be the Team 7 you know, no matter what."

"Boruto, Sarada," a sudden voice interrupted. Both ninjas turned to look at their approaching teammate, a scroll in his hands. No, two scrolls. "We've got a mission."

"Alright," Boruto cheered but paused. "Wait, why do you have two scrolls?"

Mitsuki didn't look too comfortable as he looked between his two friends. For years, he knew and witnessed the chemistry growing between his two teammates and he's been silently cheering them on. The only problem for him was that neither of the two were ready to fess up yet.

So after he received the news from the Hokage himself, Mitsuki's mood grew dim. He knew what was about to happen.

"What is it, Mitsuki? What's wrong?" he heard Sarada ask in concern.

Sighing, he worked to explain to the two. "It's just as Boruto suspects," he began. "One of these scrolls is an A-class mission… which only Boruto and I will be doing. The other one is for you, Sarada."

The air tensed up after Mitsuki spoke.

With a shaky hand, Sarada grabbed the scroll meant for her and opened it. After reading the contents, her face paled.

"What? Why is it only Sarada?" Boruto asked Mitsuki in confusion.

"Well, Boruto—" Mitsuki began but was cut off.

"It's fine," Sarada muttered. "I knew this would happen someday. After all, we're already nearing our 20's. It's expected for every kunoichi who isn't married yet." She paused. "I just didn't think this one would come so early. Maybe it's because of…"

Sarada's next words were lost on the boy beside her the moment she mentioned 'kunoichi who isn't married yet'. It only meant one thing, after all. Boruto was silent throughout Sarada's whole explanation, earning him a concerned look from both of his teammates.

"Boruto? What's wrong?" Mitsuki finally asked him.

Boruto visibly gulped, his face blank and pale. He then turned to his only female teammate. He couldn't say a word, he didn't know why, so he just continued to stare at the girl beside him.

He knew how he felt about her. It started way back when they were still genin, after all.

But did she know that?

Even if she did, what could he have done then to prevent her from taking that mission?

So he did what he did best…

"Sarada," he said as he put a hand on her shoulder.

… which was being a huge idiot.

"Good luck."