Hello, hello! Just a quick little thing I've been thinking about doing, and finally worked up the energy to start on. I don't think this is going to be very long. I plan for this to be only four chapters long. It's my first AU fic, so I hope it turns out alright! Let me know in a review if I'm doing okay. :D
Sarada stares with wide eyes and slumped shoulders of despair at the departure board above her, and the long list of big red 'DELAYED' markers to the far left. She doesn't even have to look for her flight. Every single flight has been held over until tomorrow, due to the freak snowstorm, adding one more damning annoyance to the worst business trip in the world.
Her onyx eyes glare behind red-framed lenses at the endless flurry of flakes, frost, and mist whipping about in the evening air out the window as she crossly rolls her luggage through the terminal toward the front of the airport, heels clacking with every step amidst the equally annoying storm of footsteps and voices all around her.
The only thing that would have made this situation worse would be having to waste more money finding a hotel to stay in. Luckily for Sarada, with a flick of her Blackberry out of her purse, a couple of swift taps, and a weary collapse into one of the surprisingly comfortable lounge seats near the exit to the airport pickup, she puts a backup plan into action.
"Hello~?"
"Hey, Hima," sighs Sarada's relieved voice. If she had gone to voicemail, she might have just screamed. "I need a favor."
"Oh, sure, Sarada! I'm not sure what I can do from here, though, and I thought they prohibited your phones on the plane."
"Every fight is fucking delayed, Himawari." Sarada growls crossly, shaking her head. "I'm stuck here until tomorrow, and I'm not getting a hotel. Can I stay at your place, please?"
"Um... Okay, sure, I guess I could see what I can do to accommodate you. Need me to come pick you up, or are you getting a taxi?"
"I hate taxi service."
"Mmkay. I'll be there in twenty minutes."
"Ah… Thank you so much, Hima!"
"You owe me for this one, Uchiha!"
Sarada manages to smile as she hangs up and puts her phone back. And then she waits, leaning back in her seat and staring coolly outside the glass terminal doors, at the twinkling of headlights and the shadows of cars drifting by in the heavy snow. A bunch of calm deep breaths and a few finger-combs through her straight black hair help to remind her that this trip could have been a lot worse.
Sarada began getting annoyed twenty-one minutes later, and began to pace with agitation by the time the twenty-eighth minute rolled around and Himawari's silver Prius pulled up out front. Sarada shot straight up out of her seat, grabbed her suitcase and baggage, and rushed right outside into the snow.
It was no less cold outside than when she first arrived at the airport. If anything, it'd gotten colder. Sarada's jaw clenched hard as she stepped up to the curb and threw her bags into the backseat of Hima's car as quickly as she could before climbing into the front seat, yanking her black heels off her stocking-covered feet, curling her toes and letting out a loud, dramatic sigh as she goes limp and Himawari pulls away.
"Sorry I'm late," Hima chuckles, fully bundled up in her heavy lavender coat and other winter gear. Sarada couldn't help but notice that she was driving in her mittens, and was very tempted to say something about it, but she didn't feel like hearing Hima whine about how it was alright and that she was an expert driver. "You sound like you've had a rough day."
"Hima, this whole trip has been rough… I wish my father hadn't retired. The fucking penny-pinchers directing the firm now booked me a connected flight instead of a nonstop. I got here 5 hours later for $50 less on the firm's end. Fifty fucking dollars!" Sarada begins to vent, angrily putting her seatbelt on. "The conferences were shit. Both of them. Just reading a few scripts for a few hours and stupid rookies asking me questions about things they should have learned their first week. Some of them had the nerve to sleep through my speeches! And that's not even getting into the reservation issues, the food poisoning, all the damn traffic… I hate this city… No offense."
"None taken!" Hima says, glancing over at her friend with a little smile before turning her eyes back on the road. "I hope seeing me and Chocho for lunch yesterday was enough to make up for it a little."
"A little…" Sarada sighs. "You know it's always good seeing you and those three stooges."
Hima gasps and giggles. "They aren't stooges! They're, like… the Three Musketeers! Or something like that."
"You know what they are? They're the three missing dwarves. Sassy, Snarky, and Slinky."
At this, Hima bursts into laughter, and Sarada can't help but smile a little as well.
"I am soooo gonna tell them you said that while I'm out with them tonight," Hima says, taking her hands off the wheel for a moment to wipe her eyes and fix her hood. Expert driver, indeed.
"Please do. I want Chocho to come over and square it off with me before I try to leave again tomorrow," Sarada jokes.
"A plus-size fashion model versus a paralegal. That's one for WorldStar!"
Both girls laugh, and Sarada turns her head to gaze out the window. Despite the bitter cold, the snow all around and up above made for a beautiful evening, and despite her annoyance, she felt like smiling. It definitely could have been a lot worse.
0o0
Traffic and a couple of accidents kept the two of them on the road for forty-five minutes. While irritated, Sarada didn't mind too much, having Himawari beside her to talk to all the while. Her chatty friend almost never ran out of things to say, and Sarada was more than willing to let Hima gab and gossip the whole way back in her soft, chipper, soothing voice.
In the middle of one of Himawari's stories about a cute boy with a bowl cut she met at the gym a week ago, Sarada watches as they approach the driveway of Himawari's home, a rather large townhouse in one of the wealthier suburbs, with a finely manicured lawn and two garage doors. A sleek yellow Camaro sat idle in front of one of the doors, and Sarada blinks.
"…Y-Your brother's home?"
Hima lifts a brow at her friend as she sloppily pulls into the driveway, nearly swiping the mailbox and successfully tipping over her trash bin. Very expert driver.
"Oh, yeah. He came by like… three hours ago to crash. Had a hometown concert last night and he's supposed to be off again in a couple of days. I hope that's not a problem. I know you don't really like rock music…"
"Oh, no, no, no. It's no big deal…" Sarada says, shaking her head as the car stops. Hima hands her a small house key.
"Alrighty. Go on and hurry inside. I'll bring your stuff in," she says. "There's drinks in the fridge and Hamburger Helper in one of those cabinets in the kitchen in you want to make yourself something. I'm sorry I won't be able to stay and talk more tonight, but like I said, I'm going out with Inojin, Shikadai, and Chocho tonight, and I won't be back till late."
Sarada tilts her head. "Are you sure you want to be going out in this weather? It's freezing."
Hima rolls her eyes. "Pfft. A little snowstorm isn't going to keep Chocho from dragging us all to the club. I'll be fine. You just relax and get some rest; you deserve it."
Sarada nods quickly and slips back into her heels, taking a deep breath and stepping out of the car into the snow again. Her jaw clenches tight again and she prances as quickly as she can up the walkway, trembling fingers fumbling with the key before she finally gets it open and staggers in to the ear-stabbing din of an electric guitar blasting from some stereo inside.
Boruto was definitely home, and the gentle smile had been able to keep during the car ride immediately melted once again into a cross little frown. As she kicks off her heels and steps down the main hallway further into the house, she half-expects to find him with some naked groupie in his lap, but is semi-relieved to find him just reclining on the couch with TMZ blaring out on the television.
What irked Sarada the most was the fact that Boruto wasn't paying attention to either the television or the stereo. The blonde 'rock star' was slouching down, his headphones over his ears as he taps away mindlessly at some stupid little game on his fancy little tablet. With his black high-collared jacket, shiny black leather pants, topaz stud earrings, and the nose-tingling musk of top-dollar cologne, Sarada was absolutely certain that if she looked up 'douchebag' in the dictionary, she'd find a picture of Himawari's brother. It amazed her how the two of them could be related…
The cross young paralegal huffs, stomping into the living room and right past Boruto without him even noticing. As soon as Sarada cuts the stereo off, though, he furrows his brows and looks up from his tablet.
"The hell? Hey, I was listening to tha- Whoa."
He pauses, and Sarada feels a chill running up her spine as she can tell that the young man's bright blue eyes were travelling up and down her body, from her slimming and classy pin-striped business suit dress to her long, stocking-covered legs and feet. He was blatantly stripping her with his eyes, and the tingling she felt annoyed her even further.
"Hrm hm!" She clears her throat loudly, drawing his eyes back up to hers. "I'm Sarada. A friend of your sister's," she introduces herself as calmly as she can.
"Sweet. Nice to meet you, hot stuff," he snickers, setting down his tablet. "I'm Bolt. But I'm sure you've heard of me. I'm pretty big these days."
"That's your stage name." Sarada sets her hands on her hips as she speaks in a strict, scolding, and obviously irritated voice. "Your real name is Boruto Uzumaki, and that's what I'm going to refer to you as. The only reason I've heard of you is because my father, former chairman of U&H International, and your father, CEO of Hokage Records & Co., used to work together. That's how I know Himawari, and I heard about you from her. I detest rock music in all its forms and make it my business to avoid that music genre entirely, so I would not have heard of you otherwise."
Boruto chuckles and rolls his eyes.
"Well, damn! Someone's a bit cranky, eh? I got a couple of packs around here somewhere if you need to light up and unwind. And there's plenty of room on the couch to relax."
He shoots her a wink, and before the heat can rush to Sarada's face as she opens her mouth to retort, the front door opens again.
"Tch… So annoying…" she grumbles as she passes him, to which Boruto responds with a playful catty hiss. Sarada goes to help Himawari with the bags from the car, and the bundled-up woman sighs and looks up at her.
"Judging by your scowl, I'm guessing you met Boruto…" she says. "Please don't mind him too much. Sure, he can seem a little… unruly… but he's alright! I promise!"
"Hima, I'm pretty sure he just offered me weed. In your house," Sarada murmurs, deadpan.
Himawari bites her lip. "Like I said, please don't mind him too much. He's seriously not that bad once you get to know him. Anyway, I gotta go, like, now. I'll be sure to tell Chocho what you said."
"Good. Love you."
"Love ya, too!" Hima calls as she steps out of the door again, leaving Sarada alone in her house with her annoying rocker brother…
The young paralegal sighs, then grimaces and presses her thighs together, almost forgetting how high her stress could run when she got like this, and how her body typically demanded she relieve her stress when it got this high…
No.
Never.
Sarada pulls herself together, lifts her chin, picks up her heels in one hand and her luggage in the other, and begins to trot through the house, past the living room, and toward the stairs. She resolved right then and there, that no matter how horny she got, she would never, ever even think about banging her best friend's stupid brother.
EVER.
…Ever?
First chapter done! Don't know when the second will be up, but I'll start working on it as soon as possible. Reviews are cherished!
~M.H.C~
May all your~
Hearts beat with~
Calamity!
Till next time!