Author's Note: Sorry for the long wait. If you've been keeping up with my other story then you know why. If you don't, I've had a ton of crap to do in the last few weeks. I've also been having some depression, but I'm doing better now. By the way, if you're going to criticize, I take CONSTRUCTIVE criticism. Also, to add to that, if you can't spell or type good enough so that I can understand what you mean, don't even bother attempting to criticize. Sorry for the rant, just had to get that out there. Thanks so much for the support! Enjoy!
Boruto yawned as he waited for breakfast. He hated Mondays almost as much as he hated his father. He didn't want to go back to the Academy today, especially because he hadn't been able to do anything all weekend. Himawari sat across from him at the table, also yawning. Hinata was almost done making their breakfast and decided to check on the kids for a minute.
"So what have you been learning recently?" Hinata asked her son.
He shrugged and put an elbow on the table. "Nothing really important. We haven't done much since Tou-chan put off being separated into teams."
"Oh, that reminds me. Your father got an emergency call this morning. So when he comes down here don't be too loud. He's probably really frustrated."
Himawari gasped. "Tou-chan is still home?"
Hinata smiled and nodded. Boruto didn't know how to react to this news. "What was the emergency?"
His mother thought for a minute and finally shook her head. "I'm not sure. Maybe he'll tell us when he comes down."
The three Uzumakis had finished half of their breakfast by the time the missing member entered the room. He lazily rubbed his eyes while sitting down, but he quickly put a smile on his face as he turned towards his children. "Good news for you guys. Looks like you have another free day, or, I should say free week." Boruto and Himawari's eyes widened out of shock and excitement.
Hinata copied their expressions. "What happened?"
Naruto sighed. "Apparently, the Academy was vandalized. Lots of things have been broken or damaged. I've already sent word out to the other students."
"That's horrible! Do you have any idea who did it?" the former Hyuga questioned.
The Hokage shook his head. "No, but it shouldn't take long for us to gather some evidence." He turned to Boruto. "I need you to walk with me to work this morning. I have something to tell you."
The boy gulped quietly. "What now?! I don't remember doing anything bad over the weekend!" He finished his breakfast and waited for his father on the couch. Before he knew it, they were out the door. "W-What is it you wanted to tell me Tou-chan?"
"Hm?" Naruto tilted his head to the side. "Oh, that. Sasuke said to be at the training grounds soon. He didn't sound too happy either."
Boruto frowned. "Great... Is that all?"
Naruto grinned. "Well, I guess. I'm gonna wish you luck. Heh heh heh..."
The young Uzumaki raised an eyebrow. "What?"
The grin grew wider. "I've just been wondering, do you have a girl on your mind?"
Boruto turned a dark shade of red. "N-No! Why would you think that?!"
A chuckle. "I assume my boy is a ladies man! Am I right?"
He shrugged innocently. "I don't know. I guess."
Naruto bit his lower lip and raised his eyebrows repeatedly. "I know who you like."
Boruto huffed and looked away, crossing his arms.
The older male shook his head in amusement. "You have a crush on little Miss Sasuke lookalike don't you?"
Boruto immediately stopped walking, turning an even darker shade of red. "No I don't! I'd never go out with her!"
Naruto laughed harder. "Whatever you say. Anyway, if you have some trouble with her old man in terms of dating then I could pull a few strings."
"I-I told you that I don't have a crush on Sarada!"
The Hokage put an arm around his shoulder. "Son, the more you deny it, uh, think of something else to finish that. My point is, be on your absolute best behavior around Old Man Sasuke if you ever want to date her. Even then, he still probably won't accept you. BUT, if you've won over her mother, then she'll definitely talk some sense into him, or beat it into him, and get him out of your way."
"Hmph! Thanks for the useless information..."
"I wouldn't be surprised if it comes in handy later. Okay, we split up from here. Good luck with Old Man Sasuke."
"Yeah, thanks. I probably need it," Boruto muttered as they separated. That had been perhaps the most normal and casual conversation he and his father shared since, well, he couldn't remember the last time it'd been like that.
Sasuke impatiently huffed and crossed his arms, frowning. He knew that he hadn't given the boy enough time to get to the training grounds, but he was already irritated with him for many reasons.
"Are you going to lecture him?" Sarada asked, smirking.
Sasuke shrugged. Sakura had to work again today and Sarada claimed that she would be bored at home alone, so he took her with him to the field.
"I'm here!" came a shout from down the road. Sure enough, it was Boruto, who was running as fast as he could towards the Uchihas. He was panting heavily by the time he reached them. Sarada shook her head and walked to a nearby tree.
Sasuke frowned again, gazing down at the younger male. "I heard about that little stunt you pulled."
Boruto scratched his head and laughed nervously. "It was just a harmless prank. My dad took it way too seriously."
Sasuke tilted his head away. "A harmless prank huh? Well I hope you're happy that it caused you to miss some training. That's the reason I came back."
Sarada hardly suppressed a disappointed gasp. "Only to train with Boruto? You really didn't want to see me and Kaa-chan?" She sat down and hugged her knees, frowning. "I knew it..."
Boruto stomped and clenched his fists. "It only took you six months!"
"And I bet you weren't practicing in that time," Sasuke retorted coldly.
The disgruntled Uzumaki took a step forward. "Yes I have! Watch this!" He got a running start and jumped high into the air, doing multiple flips. He straightened himself out and threw many shuriken at a fallen tree branch. He landed on the ground and watched as all were about to hit their mark when-
"WHAT?!" Boruto shouted in disbelief.
Sarada gasped, her jaw dropping.
"Ahem," Sasuke called from behind the bewildered Uzumaki.
Boruto nearly lost his mind. Every single shuriken he had thrown were all spinning around one of his master's fingers.
"I thought you said you had been practicing. Pathetic," Sasuke taunted. He tossed the weapons back to Boruto, who was fuming.
"What the-?! You-! I-! No way!" the boy shrieked, still in shock.
"Too easy," Sasuke said.
Boruto had no clue what to do at the moment. He stood with his jaw lowered to the ground and a finger pointed at Sasuke. "You-! One finger?!"
The Uchiha crossed his arms. "Hn, even Naruto is better than you."
At this, Boruto grew very angry. "He's the worst of the worst! Never say that again!"
Sasuke smirked. "Looks like you have some common sense."
"Hmph!" The Uzumaki stomped off to where Sarada sat.
She raised an eyebrow. "Is this how you two usually train together?"
He nodded. Shifting his gaze to study her, he noticed how depressed she looked. "What's wrong?" he asked with concern.
"Hm? Oh, I guess I'm just a little bored."
He smiled. "Why don't you train with me today?"
She was quick to reject his offer. "No thanks."
As he continued in his attempts to persuade her, Sasuke was giving a deadly glare to Boruto. "What's he telling her? You touch my daughter, I won't hesitate to kill you. Little dobe. Hn, thinks he can do anything on my watch does he?"
Boruto leaned down to grab her hand, trying to force her into training with him. Just as he was about to reach her, a whizzing sound filled the air. The next instant, both Genin were shocked to learn that a kunai knife had been buried into the tree down to its hilt, almost brushing against Boruto's nose.
"Pitiful," Sasuke sneered. "One of the most important rules of being a ninja is to always expect the unexpected."
The boy finally erupted. "Are you trying to kill me?! What the heck is wrong with you?!"
The males argued for about another minute before Sarada had grown tired of it. She wanted to leave as soon as possible. "Tou-chan?" The two were so focused on yelling that they seemed not to have heard. "Tou-chan?!" More shouting. She sighed and stood up. "I'm going into the village." As they continued to scream at each other, she began to travel down the road. She had the comment about only coming home to train stuck in her mind. "Not like you care anyway. I'm not that important to you apparently."
Sarada walked up to the front desk. "Is my mother here?" she asked the lady politely.
The woman smiled and nodded. "You can go up to her office if you'd like."
The young Uchiha grinned. "Thanks!" she said as she made her way to Sakura's office. Sure enough, the pink-haired woman was at her desk when Sarada entered.
She appeared to be surprised. "Hey sweetie. Why are you here right now? I thought you were out with your father."
She shrugged and sighed. "He's training with Boruto. I went along with him, but..." A frown settled on her lips.
A concerned look crossed Sakura's face. "What's wrong?"
"I was being completely ignored. They were too busy shouting at each other."
Sakura laughed and stood up, making Sarada extremely confused. Her mother placed her hands on the girl's shoulders. "Let me tell you something. When we were Genin, Sasuke-kun and Hokage-sama would fight about everything, even if it was something stupid and pointless. They still fight even today, so I can imagine your father and Boruto-kun arguing all the time."
Sarada smiled as Sakura sat back down. "Do they really fight a lot? I've only seen them do it once or twice."
Sakura nodded. "Oh yeah. It's a wonder I didn't end up killing the both of them. Anyway, after I finish filling this form out we can go get lunch. I'm taking a break early today."
"Okay," Sarada responded as she sat down in a chair located at the front of the desk. "You never really talk about being a Genin a lot. I've heard that you guys had some really cool adventures. Can you tell me about some of them?"
Sakura glanced up from her work. "Do you have any in mind?"
Sarada thought for a minute. "Hm... I heard the Kazekage mention this one. What about when you and Chiyo-san fought, what was his name...? Oh yeah! The Akatsuki member, Sasori of the Red Sand."
"That brings back memories," Sakura said with a smile. "Where to begin? So, I knew that Sasori had possible information on-" her breathing hitched.
Sarada's jaw dropped slightly. "What's wrong?"
Sakura quickly put on a fake grin to hide her true expression. "Oh nothing. That one, uh, might take a while to tell about."
"I thought you were about to take lunch. That seems like plenty of time to me. Information about what?" she thought. "You pick then."
Sakura scratched her head nervously. She had almost let it slip. Sarada knew nothing about what Sasuke had done. Sakura and Sasuke argued multiple times about this. He was eventually going to tell her at some point, so why not tell her as soon as possible and get it over with? She had always warned him about it definitely being a possibility for her to find out another way. No matter how many times the subject came up, Sasuke would always put it off. "Um... What about some of the fights that happened the first time I took the Chunin Exams?"
Sarada immediately beamed. "Yes please! I memorized all of the matches that took place that year, but I've never actually heard a detailed description of them. Is it true that the current Kazekage went berserk?"
Her mother nodded hesitantly. "There was a lot happening for him at the time, but, Naruto changed him. It was really incredible."
The girl shifted her glasses. "I bet. Will you tell me about the match with Lee-oji and Gaara-sama?"
Sakura was happy to stay away from the "other subject". On their way into town, she told her daughter all about the memorable match. They decided to eat at a small outdoor restaurant. As an even bigger surprise, Lee himself had heard them speaking about the match and retold it in his own words, his son paying attention to every little detail. When they left, Sarada had an awkward smile present on her lips. "Has he always been that, um, weird?"
The pink-haired kunoichi giggled. "I guess you can say that he's always been somewhat of an oddball. You know, he used to have a crush on me."
Sarada slammed a hand down on the table. "Really?! What did you say?"
"Well, I already liked someone else and I tried to let him down easily. It was kind of difficult because of how nice he was to me."
The girl rested her head on top of her crossed arms that were lying on the table. "Was it Tou-chan?"
Her mother turned a light shade of red when she nodded. "He didn't come around until a while later though."
Sarada gasped. "Really? I asked him who his first kiss was and he said it was you. I just thought you had been together for a long time then. Ino-oba told me pretty much every girl in the village was after him back then."
Sakura gazed at the table. "Sasuke-kun, you're such a liar," she thought, referring to the first kiss part. "That's the truth. However, your father ignored all of them. He was very private in those days, even more so than now."
She frowned. "I've read something before that talked about the Uchiha massacre. It didn't say who did it, just that Tou-chan was the only survivor. Is that why he was really private? I've never asked him about what happened. The only thing he's ever told me is that my real uncle, Itachi-oji, had something to do with it. I really want to know more about our clan."
Sakura smiled sadly. Sasuke had told her about Itachi many times. When she learned the truth about him and the massacre of the Uchihas, she had come to understand all of her husband's actions. She wondered what the outcome would be if he were to talk with their daughter about it soon. "I think you're old enough now to hear about some of these things. I'll talk to him about it, but you should definitely ask about what the clan was like. You deserve to know at least that much."
Sarada sat up and sighed, but she had an excited expression present on her features. She chuckled quietly. "When did you two fall in love?"
Sakura immediately turned red. "That's quite a story." She didn't want to upset her daughter, but she also wanted to avoid mentioning Sasuke's past. "Well, he had been on a long journey for about three or so years."
They exited the restaurant and walked back to the hospital. Sarada narrowed her eyes. "That long? Does it have to do with why he leaves us now?"
"Yes, it does have something to do with why he leaves us constantly. It was a mission only he could go on."
"Only Tou-chan? Is it really important?"
"To him it is."
"Why? No one has ever said a word to me about why he leaves. What's more important to him than us?" Sarada asked, traces of anger in her voice.
They reached the hospital. Sakura stopped outside the door, crouching down so that she was level with her daughter. "Sarada, I can promise you that nothing is more important to your father than you and I."
"Then why does he keep leaving us?" she asked, tears threatening to spill from her onyx orbs.
Sakura put her hands on the girl's shoulders. "If you want a direct answer, you'll have to ask him yourself."
She wiped her eyes before any tears could fall. She quickly smiled as she remembered the rest of the conversation. "So how did you two fall in love again?"
Sakura chuckled. "I have to get back to work." She tapped Sarada's forehead and opened the front door. "I'll tell you next time."
Sarada pouted and touched the spot her mother had tapped, turning and going in the opposite direction. "Why do you and Tou-chan keep tapping my forehead all the time?" she muttered to herself.
Boruto staggered to where Sasuke sat on the boulder Sarada had repeatedly attempted to smash. He hunched over with his hands on his knees, breathing heavily. "I'm done," he panted.
Sasuke crossed his arms. "Do another lap," he ordered.
"What?! I've already done like twenty laps around the village! When are we actually gonna do something useful?!"
Sasuke frowned in disgust. "You want something more productive? Wait here." With a puff of smoke, he disappeared. Boruto stood up and mocked his master. "Do another lap! Blah, blah, blah!"
"What are you going on about?" someone asked.
He turned in curiosity to see Sarada approaching him. The boy's mood immediately improved. "Oh, hey! What's up?"
"Nothing much. What's going on here? Why do you look like you're about to pass out?"
He chuckled and continued to try and catch his breath. "Your old man has been making me run laps around the village. I said I wanted something more challenging and he told me to wait here."
She smirked. "Be careful what you wish for," his friend warned him.
He waved her off. "Yeah, yeah, whatever you say. Hey, I still want to train with you some time."
She blushed lightly and averted her gaze away from him. "Why are you still going on about that? You're supposed to be training with my dad."
He cocked his head to the side. "Oh, come on! It'll be fun! We can help each other. Some day I want to fight you."
She took a step back out of shock. "W-Why me?"
He grinned. "You're almost always top of the class in everything. If I want to be the best, I have to beat the best!"
A dark shade of red appeared as she fully twisted around so that she had her back to him. "Y-You think I'm top of the class?"
"Heck yeah! You're always beating me at everything! Shino-sensei even said you were."
She controlled herself and faced him once more. "Why would you want to train with me if we're rivals?"
He put a hand on her shoulder, making her look up in surprise. "We can be rivals and best friends at the same time, right?"
She was speechless. All she could do was stare at the eager boy in front of her. Someone coughed in an attempt for attention. Both Boruto and Sarada twisted their heads around to see Sasuke, who looked to be very furious. Sarada removed Boruto's hand from her shoulder, thinking that was the reason. In truth, that was only part of it. Sasuke was livid with the boy for many reasons and this was added to the list.
"Hmph!" Boruto huffed. "So what do you have for me that's supposedly more productive?"
An evil smirk grew on Sasuke's face. "Glad you asked." He held out Boruto's backpack.
"Where did you-?! I didn't even bring that with me today!" the Uzumaki shouted in disbelief.
Sasuke's smirk widened as he threw the backpack down in front of the boy. It landed with a loud thud. Boruto crouched and unzipped his bag. He grabbed one of the items inside. "You filled it with rocks?! Where is my stuff?!"
Sasuke pointed upwards and both Genin shifted their gazes to follow his finger. Boruto slapped both of his hands on top of his head. Tied to the very top of perhaps a hundred foot tree were the things that had been in the backpack.
Sasuke ignored the Genin's curses. "You are to do five laps around the village while carrying your backpack filled with rocks. When you are done with that, you may retrieve your belongings. However, if you don't finish within two hours, I will set the tree on fire, starting with where your belongings are located. You better hurry because I've already started the timer." He set the object on a low hanging branch and sat down on top of the boulder.
Boruto was cursing under his breath as he zipped his bag up. He wobbled for a few seconds after throwing it on his back. Before long, he was off, still cursing quietly.
Sarada glanced back and forth between her father and Boruto. "Don't you think this is a little... extreme?"
He continued to stare after the boy. "No, I could've made it worse."
She hopped on top of the boulder and sat down beside him. Sasuke put a hand on her head and stroked her hair. "Where did you run of to a while ago?"
She had a small flash of anger, remembering how she was ignored. "I ate lunch with Kaa-chan. She was going to go on break a little early anyway."
He removed his hand. "Hn, we ate."
The younger Uchiha smirked. "Did you make him do laps for his?"
Sasuke placed a hand under his chin and rested an elbow on one of his knees. "I'm not that cruel."
"I don't believe you," she replied jokingly.
The man rolled his eyes.
Sarada was getting anxious. She really wanted to ask about the Uchiha clan's history, but what if he refused? Even her mother said she deserved to know at least that. "T-Tou-chan? Will you tell me about our clan?"
Sasuke gazed at her in surprise. "She wants to know about the clan? I-I can't..." He sighed. "No."
She was crestfallen. "W-Why not?"
"I'm busy."
"Doing what?! Boruto is gone!"
"Sarada!"
She shuffled away from him, clearly taken aback by the sudden outburst. "I knew this would happen..." She couldn't stop the tears from falling when she turned around and hugged her knees. "I'm sorry... I'll never ask you again..."
He was quick to silently curse himself for his actions. He was already frustrated, but there had been no need to take it out on his daughter. Besides, she was just curious about the clan. What harm could be done if he told her a few things? It's not like he had to tell her about the curse or the massacre, or about his past in general. He still wasn't ready for that. It'd been complicated enough to tell Sakura.
Sasuke pivoted in her direction so that he faced her back. He saw the tears rolling down her cheeks and hardly resisted the urge to set himself on fire. He gently put a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, quit crying. I'm sorry. I've got a lot on my mind and Boruto aggravates me quite a bit sometimes."
She wiped the tears away and cautiously twisted around to sit beside him again.
He noticed that she still appeared to be slightly frightened. Sasuke crossed his legs and slapped his hands on his lap a couple times. "Come here."
Sarada glanced at him curiously. "You want me to sit in your lap?"
"Yes. I haven't seen you in six months, now come here."
"Tou-chan, that's really embarrassing. What if Boruto sees me doing it? He'll tease me."
"I'll burn his stuff the moment he does. Now get your butt over here and sit in your papa's lap!"
She smiled for an instant at his playful persistence. Looking around in all directions, she saw that no one was nearby. Sighing, she reluctantly sat in her father's lap and crossed her arms. "I'm not five."
He chuckled. "I don't care. You're always going to be my little girl."
"You're embarrassing me again..."
Another chuckle. "Good, maybe it will help keep the boys away."
She slapped his leg. "Quit it!" She uncrossed her arms and leaned back against his chest.
He caught a glimpse of her smiling and couldn't resist giving a small one himself. They sat in silence for a couple of minutes until Sasuke remembered her question. "What do you want to know about the Uchiha clan?"
Sarada seemed surprised by how willing he was to answer. "Anything really. I don't know very much. I know that we wear the crest. I've heard a little about the Sharingan and the... massacre."
He frowned at her hesitance to say the last part, but acted as if he hadn't noticed. "Hm... I don't know where to begin. Well, all Uchihas have dark hair, you and I. Your mother doesn't have dark hair because her parents weren't of the Uchiha bloodline."
"Duh! I already knew that. We visit Jii-chan and Baa-chan all the time. Heck, you come with us a lot. One thing I don't understand though, why does Kaa-chan have pink hair?"
Sasuke laughed quietly. "I don't think even Sakura can answer that one herself."
For the next hour, Sasuke told his daughter all about what the Uchiha clan was like. Boruto passed them twice in that time, but instead of jeering at his friend, he had averted his eyes away from her and grinned from ear to ear. She was clearly happy and that's all it took to make him happy.
"The Uchiha clan's signature chakra nature is fire," Sasuke explained further, just after Boruto had come around the second time.
"Do I have that chakra nature?" Sarada asked.
"I'm pretty sure you do," he responded.
"I don't know any fire style jutsu," she stated. "To be honest, none of us Genin really know much yet. Kaa-chan has been teaching me basic medical ninjutsu and you saw me trying to smash this boulder." She laughed. "Kaa-chan hauled this thing out here just for me."
Sasuke smirked. "So based on what you're telling me, my daughter is a prodigy."
She giggled and scratched her head. "I wouldn't say prodigy."
He sighed. "Boruto seems to think you're a prodigy. I heard you were top of the class."
"Y-You heard all that?"
"That was the part I paid the most attention to," he replied, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "I'm proud of you."
"Hn, thanks."
"I assume since you're learning medical ninjutsu that your chakra control is flawless?"
The girl shrugged. "I guess."
"I have something to show you."
She stood up and curiously watched as he did the same. Sasuke walked to a tree beside the one with Boruto's belongings attached to it. He motioned for her to follow and she obeyed. He took a couple of steps up the side of the trunk and asked if she had ever done it. The girl said yes and they made their way to the very top of the large tree, about a hundred feet up.
Sasuke hopped onto the very tip. Sarada was standing on a branch right below him. "What did you want to show me?" she asked.
"Watch carefully," he said. Sasuke made sure that her attention was unwavering. He weaved multiple hand signs and cupped one hand in front of his mouth to direct the flames.
Sarada gasped and had her eyes glued to the gigantic fireball soaring across the sky.
Sasuke let his hand fall to his side. He peered at his daughter through the corner of his eye. A look of awe and wonder was plastered to her features, the fireball making her eyes twinkle. "That was amazing!"
He stepped onto a lower branch. "Your turn."
She froze. "You're going to teach me how to do it?"
He crossed his arms. "I didn't bring you up here just to show off."
Sasuke taught her everything she needed to know in order to perform the jutsu.
Boruto came around the third time, panting and sweating buckets. He paused to catch his breath and noticed the small balls of fire that kept appearing in the sky. He shook his head in amusement when he saw both of the Uchihas standing atop the tree. That was the only thing keeping him going at the moment, seeing Sarada happy. He knew that if he quit now then it would end up in an argument between himself and Sasuke, ruining everything. Speaking of not stopping, he desperately needed to get going soon. The timer showed that he only had about thirty minutes to complete two more laps before his stuff would get burnt to a crisp.
He finished the fourth lap quicker than he expected. Seventeen minutes left to finish. "I'm so tired, but I can't stop! I wanted this kind of challenge and I have to finish it! There's no way I'll let this old fart get the best of me like this!" A surge of confidence rushed through the boy. "I have to keep going," he muttered under his breath, stumbling forward. "There's no way I'm gonna lose, Dattebasa!"
Sarada wiped her brow.
Sasuke nodded his approval. "You've almost got it."
"It's no where near the size of yours."
"It takes years of practicing for one that big. For someone who just started, you're doing great." Sasuke looked down and noticed a small figure coming closer. "Hn, seems like he's almost done. We better go down." Sasuke led Sarada onto the side of the tree and they began their descent.
Boruto ran the last stretch and waited for his master to speak. The male Uchiha stopped the timer. "Not bad. Forty-seven seconds left. I'm impressed. You can get your belongings now."
The boy dumped out the rocks in his bag. Sighing, he hoisted himself up on the first branch and continued onto the second. He had not attempted to climb trees using only his feet, but he was determined to get his things no matter what he had to do.
Worry took over Sarada's senses. "Can I help him? What if he falls?"
"I've got it under control," Sasuke answered. "She's only concerned because she doesn't want her, friend, to get hurt. It's nothing else but that," he silently reassured himself.
It took the Uzumaki another twenty minutes to climb back down after retrieving his belongings. He dropped his backpack when he reached one of the last few branches. The instant his feet touched the ground, he collapsed and landed on his back with his arms and legs flung outwards beside him. "Hey, Sarada?" he breathed.
She peered at him through the corner of her eye.
He smiled and closed his blue orbs. "That jutsu you were doing a minute ago... it was really cool... You're pretty good..."
The female Uchiha blushed lightly. "Uh... thanks. I'm surprised you finished those laps on time and still managed to get your things afterwards. That's really impressive."
"Really? You think so?" he questioned excitedly.
She rolled her eyes. "You're such an idiot," she teased.
"Maybe a little," he added truthfully. "I think your old man is gonna kill me before the day is over with this kind of training."
She smirked. "I told you to be careful what you wished for."
After minutes of silence between the two Genin, Boruto groaned and sat up. "Do you remember what I said earlier?" he inquired, making sure that Sasuke wasn't nearby.
"About what?"
"Training with me."
She hugged her knees, worry taking over her features. "I don't know. When would we do it anyway?"
He thought hard for a moment. Glancing around once more, he leaned in. "Sneak out tomorrow night and meet me here."
She gasped. "Sneak out?!"
He covered her mouth. "Shh!"
Sarada slapped his hand away and moved closer. "Sneak out? My parents will kill me if they find out."
The boy put a hand on her shoulder. "Mine would do the same. I promise I won't let you get in trouble. I'll take all the blame if we get caught."
She blushed. "You'd do that for me?"
Their faces were mere inches away now. They could feel the other's breath hitting their skin. Boruto's expression softened. "Anything for you."
The young Uchiha turned a dark shade of red and shifted her glasses. Sarada was speechless.
"Why are you so close to my daughter?"
Boruto screamed and jumped up, only to fall back down after stumbling backwards a couple of steps. Sarada yelped and jolted back. Sasuke stood with his arms crossed, directly behind where they had originally been sitting. He seemed to be waiting for an answer, his glare and frown towards the boy stone cold.
Boruto had trouble thinking under this kind of pressure. It was almost as if Sasuke was staring into his soul...
"I asked you a question," the male Uchiha said in a demanding tone.
The boy desperately thought of something to say. "I-I was uh-"
"He was about to pass out and I told him he could use me as support," Sarada interrupted. "I didn't want him to hurt himself if he hit his head or something."
Sasuke shifted his gaze back to the terrified Uzumaki.
Boruto gulped and finally comprehended what his friend had just said. "Y-Yeah! I got REALLY dizzy and Sarada was just trying to help me out!"
The Genin waited in silence for Sasuke's response. It was so quiet that you could hear a pen drop.
Finally, Sasuke sighed. "Next time, use the tree that's right behind you."
The Uzumaki glanced behind him to see that, sure enough, there was a tree there. It was the one he had climbed to get his belongings. Boruto turned back to Sasuke and nodded nervously. "Sure thing!"
Later that day, Boruto was about to head home. His body was aching from the intense training he had endured during the course of the day. Nonetheless, he acted like he was fine and caught Sarada's attention before he left. "So do you want to train tomorrow night?"
She nervously glanced at her father and turned back to Boruto with a small smile. "Sure. We can train tomorrow night."
He turned and gave her a thumbs up before running home with a grin stretched from ear to ear.
Author's Note: What do you guys think of the new Boruto movie trailers? I think they're pretty cool and that it'll be a good movie. By the way, someone asked for my social accounts. I'm not going to say right now, but maybe later. Please review!
