The day began well enough; light rain fell, and the air was still warm. It was exactly the kind of weather Chouchou wanted at her wedding, she'd decided that long ago, and she had always felt calmer on days like this.
She left early for the Academy, but took a longer route to better enjoy the rain. She happened upon Shikadai and dragged him along, too, ignoring his intermittent sighs.
"Rain really is the best!" Chouchou couldn't help but chirp, taking a second to spin.
"You can't watch clouds in the rain."
She snorted. Chouchou loved her best friend to death, but he was really argumentative. It had been a process, learning to give up, because Shikadai never would. He had to be right about everything, and while she was always quick to explain it as the weight of his father's reputation, initially they hadn't gotten along.
She had to mourn the vigor that had allowed the laid-back duo to fight; both were twelve now, and probably a little too lazy to hold grudges.
"As much fun as it is to wander around soaking wet, we should probably head to the Academy." Shikadai mentioned, not so subtly trying to bait her. Chouchou pitied Inojin, who would likely be drawn into a fight later.
"Yeah, okay," she replied, changing direction. They didn't talk again, but it was a comfortable silence. Although Chouchou was almost definitely an extrovert, she could appreciate moments like this.
The classroom was hectic as usual, and Chouchou threw herself at Inojin.
"Get off me, fatso!" Inojin scowled, but she just laughed.
"Chou-chan! C'mere!" Boruto whispered loudly, "I need help with this!"
'This' was a schematic for some kind of machine. Chouchou shook her head apologetically; last time she'd 'helped' the boy menace, her mother had put her on a vegetarian diet.
She tried to mediate a little between Inojin and Shikadai, but both were very keen on arguing over some misunderstanding between Boruto and a chef a couple days prior. Both felt that Boruto had been scolded too harshly, and Shikadai only said otherwise for the sake of argument.
Class finally started, though, and they had an enthusiastic debate about foreign policy under the Second, successfully deterring their teacher from assigning any work. It really was a pity that she would have to team with Inojin and Shikadai, because Chouchou, Akemi, and Kai had flawless teamwork. They didn't give Shino-sensei a second to interrupt, and even Sarada seemed impressed as they went outside for taijutsu lessons.
The rain hadn't stopped, and it was still very humid. Chouchou took a deep breath, closing her eyes and focusing on the water. Shino-sensei was blabbering again, but she was too busy absorbing the springtime air. When she felt full enough with the calm it gave her, she opened her eyes - just in time to see Sarada's head turn quickly back to the instructor. Checking behind her, Chouchou saw nothing of interest.
It was a little strange to consider that the Uchiha may have been looking at her, for Sarada was very studious and kept to herself. She didn't seem like the kind of person that would glare at Chouchou for ignoring Shino, either, so she had to wonder why.
Luckily enough, or perhaps not, Shino had decided pairings for monitored spars and the two of them were together. He almost always paired girls with girls, but Chouchou was frequently the odd one out and it was somewhat surprising.
"Ready when you are," she told Sarada, dropping into her stance. They had moved to their designated zone without looking at each other, and Sarada was still avoiding her eyes even as she nodded and attacked.
It was fairly easy to win when her opponent handicapped themself in such a way, but it wasn't satisfying and Chouchou ignored all opportunities for several minutes, becoming increasingly frustrated. "Is there something on my face?" She asked, jumping out of reach. Startled, Sarada looked up, but looked away just as quickly, and Chouchou was about to demand an answer when Sarada mumbled, "the rain."
Bewildered, Chouchou stared. Of course the rain was on her face, but how was that distracting?
"You really like it, don't you? Like the rain, I mean?" Sarada clarified, looking embarrassed to have spoken at all.
She really was awkward, and Chouchou immediately wanted to reassure her somehow, or even thank her for noticing, maybe laugh about it, but all she could manage was a nod. Her face began to warm, and Sarada was also blushing.
"Sorry, I, I just - you're really p-pretty when you smile like earlier and - sorry, sorry, I'm good now, we can spar, sorry."
Again at a loss for words, Chouchou nodded. She didn't know why chest fluttered even as her face burnt hotter, but she marked the day on the calendar when she got home and she certainly understood by the time May rolled around again.
That ended really abruptly, I'm sorry, if there's any interest I'll add more to it but right now I just really wanted this up in the Sarada searches.