He didn't want to outright state it, but Boruto wasn't ignorant to how Sarada seamlessly evaded practicing any of the scenes involving or even mentioning kissing while they rehearsed the lines.
He was taken aback a bit by Sarada stepping around the problem instead of facing it head on, but nonetheless, he knew he had to be the one to address the problem at hand. And so, he sent her a text a bit before bed.
Boruto: Pssst, Sarada!
It took Sarada a good twenty minutes to respond.
Sarada: What?
His phone made a ding, illuminating his leaden shaded room. Rolling over in his bed and allowing his eyes to adjust to the bright light, he was as blunt as possible.
Boruto: you know we're going to have to kiss in this play, right?
She left him on read for another five minutes. Astonishingly, she gave him the simplest answer she could conjure up.
Sarada: Yes.
He shouldn't have expected another answer in all honesty. What was she going to say? "Yeah, do you want to practice?" or, "We're absolutely not doing that?" He knew that she was the type, for the most part, to play by the rules, so he ruled out the second response, though it wasn't out of the realm of possibilities. Like most times, though, he knew it was a lot easier to address these problems online rather than in real life, where trepidation ran rampant.
Now, Boruto was the one to hit a sturdy wall. What was he supposed to say? "We need to practice." or, "Ok."? Yeah, like those responses will help. Either response would lead to him dying from embarrassment. So, like the genius he is at solving problems, he left it at that and fell asleep.
Morning comes and he feels an overwhelming wave of exhaustion overtake him. He didn't sleep well last night, at all. The root of the cause was indisputably because of him agonizing over the whole Sarada kissing problem. He wasn't going to leap over the hurdle in a snap, that's for sure.
First things first: breakfast. Eggs, toast, bacon, pancakes. Since he had accidentally woken up early, he made the breakfast for his family, save for his dad, who was already at work, probably with stacks of paperwork at hand. Poor guy.
His family then rose with the smell of sizzled bacon, his mom boring an appreciative smile. Himawari decided she'd be the one to clear the table for them afterwards as thanks.
Afterwards, he got dressed in his everyday attire, brushed his hair then teeth, gathered his lunch and schoolwork into his backpack and finally headed out the door to walk to school. The only thought on his mind while he strolled was the play and Sarada.
When he got to school, hushed murmurs made the atmosphere tense. Eyes followed him down the hallway, but even with the intense air going on, he was oblivious to this fact, his mind wandering to how he should address Sarada at school and trying to remember exactly what time she arrived.
"Ah, young sir, I've been looking all over for you!" the man was panting, his hands on his knees while one of them clutched a clipboard.
"Katasuke sensei!" Boruto's face illuminated with a grin. This man, albeit on the eccentric side, always treated Boruto respectfully and was a kind soul.
"I have your costume ready for you to try on. It may be a bit on the hefty side and I had to make some alterations so you could be heard through the helmet, but it's all set to go!" he beamed, the skin around his eyes crinkling as he flashed him a hearty smile.
Boruto had no idea that Katasuke was working behind the scenes on his costume, so he just smiled and nodded as he followed him to the classroom.
"I hooked up a mic in the helmet so that the audience can hear you. Also, the helmet was on the heavy side, so I shaved off some of the unnecessary parts. Try it on with the rest of your costume and all, I'm sure you'll love it!" his voice evoked a truck load of enthusiasm. The man took pride in all of his work, even if it ended up completely and utterly defective.
Well, here goes nothing, Boruto thought.
It took him a few minutes to get all of his apparel on, but when he took in his appearance in the mirror, he was taken aback by how akin to a knight he appeared to be. The outfit must have cost a fortune from the looks of it. Even so, he was sure that the department didn't have that much funding, even with people like his dad sponsoring the school programs.
"How much did this cost?" he asked curtly while lifting his visor, still in awe at his whole getup.
"It was pretty inexpensive, actually. You just have to make the best of the materials you have, is all!" he chortled.
"You're amazing sensei!" Boruto grinned. In the midst of their conversation, another person hastily made their way into the classroom before stopping abruptly in their tracks when they caught a glimpse of Boruto in his costume.
"Wow, y-you really look like a knight!" Boruto recognized that voice, but couldn't pinpoint it until he spun around to see a bundle of purple.
"Ah, hello class rep!" he beamed, glad to see that his friend seemed to be doing better. She must've returned to school pretty recently, because he hadn't caught wind of news of her returning yet.
Sumire looked him up and down, examining his costume from a closer proximity.
"Katasuke-sensei is quite amazing, isn't he? I can't believe he threw this all together!" Boruto swished his black cape around like a little kid getting ready for Halloween who marveled in their costume. Sumire giggled at his antics, her laughter a sweet lull that immediately drew Sarada into the room when she happened to notice Boruto with a girl.
Apparently, Sarada didn't enter quietly enough, because both figures spun around when she entered the room. To her utmost relief, it was Sumire.
Sarada eyes quickly skimmed over Boruto's costume. Even with how in awe she was at his appearance, she witheld any emotions from seeping through, fearing that it would invoke a conversation about their texts last night. Instead, she averted her gaze to the the girl with long tendrils of violet hair, adorning a sweet smile.
"Ah, Sarada-chan, I was looking for you! I asked for your costume to be altered awhile back, so it should be arriving anytime now. Fingers crossed." Sumire approached her, scrolling through her phone in hand. It took her a good thirty seconds to pull up an image of her dress, and when she finally laid eyes on it, she couldn't help her jaw from dropping.
"That's," Sarada stopped speaking for a moment to take it all in. "beautiful! Who designed it?" she inquired, clutching the phone as she zoomed in on the detailing in the photo.
"Ah, her name is Tenten, if I recall correctly. She gave me a huge discount so it's not nearly as expensive as it should be."
"I-T-thank you! I had no clue you were the one making arrangements for my dress, even with everything you had going on. I do hope everything's ok with you now." Sarada placed a hand on Sumire's shoulder, flashing her a look of concern. Sumire gave her a meek smile, then nodded reassuringly.
"Yeah, everything's okay now." Sumire's voice sounded like it was on the verge of breaking, but Sarada didn't want to pry at something that wasn't her business unless Sumire wanted to bring it up herself. She removed her hand from Sumire's shoulder, not trusting in the girl's words but trusting in Sumire's decision to keep it confidential.
Meanwhile, Boruto was talking animatedly with Katasuke sensei in the background, exuding a particular pride in how he felt in his newfound costume.
In a split second, Sumire changed the subject back to the topic at hand.
"Shino-sensei was initially going to search for a costume, but with his...questionable fashion choices, Hanabi-sensei pulled some strings and insisted that she be the one to find a costume. That is, one to my liking." with all of the intricate floral detailing and overall lady-like elegance to the dress, it didn't surprise her that she would pick out a dress of this beautified caliber.
"This costume was originally supposed to be mine, but I brought it back to her shop and told her about you being the replacement. It should arrive tomorrow, but if not, here's Tenten's business card. Oh and also," Sumire leaned over to position her mouth next to Sarada's ear. "You're a lucky one." she leaned back into her standard position and winked, exiting without taking a single glance back at her. Sarada's brows furrowed, more confused than ever. What had she been referring to?
Taking one last look at Boruto and settling the business card in her pocket, she left without another word, unaware of the fleeting glance he had too given her.
The princess took off the knight's helmet, revealing his appearance for the audience to see. But in this very moment, this rare revelation was reserved for her, his beloved who he had entrusted with finally settling her eyes on his true visage.
"I didn't want you to see how unsightly I was, your highness. This scar- it was your fiance who caused it, I regret to inform you. His betrayal stings, but the thought of him taking you as his bride and-and tainting you.." he grit his teeth and clenched his fist, seething with anger.
"It's okay, my knigh-Xavier. I will not take him as my husband. I have more wealth and land to my name than he does now. I'll break off the engagement and we can live happily-"
"We can't, your majesty! I'm just a simple commoner who had been appointed as a knight, I have no money nor land to my name. My family's perished, but even so...I love you so much, my lady-you mean the world to me! That's why I don't want to bring you down with me. We cannot be together." he broke apart from her hold, but it wasn't long before she fastened her grip on him and tugged him in her direction.
Their faces were mere centimeters apart.
"Even if I have to topple the hierarchy itself, I will not give up on you, Xavier. I want you, and only you." she pulled his face down to her level and pressed her lips firmly against his, her hands receding from his jaw and combing into his silky blond locks. In a haste, he reciprocated, cupping her face in his hands. Longingly, they deepened the kiss, before pulling apart as they heard people fastly approaching.
"And now you know why I can't even imagining doing these scenes with Boruto of all people." Sarada affirmed, but Chocho was drawn in by the script, reading further and further until Sarada had no choice but to rip it from her grip when she ignored Sarada for the seventh time.
Chocho sighed. "It's not that bad, Sarada. Actors do all sorts of embarrassing things on screen all the time, it's no different from that. Do we think differently of the actors? Not really, for the most part. Especially the handsome ones-those ones look good no matter what they're doing." she descended into another dreamlike state. Sarada didn't have the ability to conjure an image of what Chocho could possibly be fantasizing about and she wouldn't even bother to try.
"You don't get it, Chocho. I don't like him that way, and it's just so cheesy! He was right, this script is way too flowered up." she was exasperated to the core, glaring menacingly at the script before her.
Chocho grabbed a handful of chips and shoved them into her mouth, waiting to gobble them down before responding. "As they say, you can't keep a lady waiting. But in this case, you're both hopeless. You signed up for the role, Sarada. Now you just have to deal with consequences." Chocho pointed out, but Sarada shook her head profusely.
"Actually, I didn't even sign up for the role. I wanted a simple speaking part just to add to my scholarship applications, so I tried out, but I wasn't expecting to get the understudy role of the lead! Not to mention that of course, both the understudies are now the leads?! What are the odds of that?" she fumed, taking it upon herself to have a seat in one of the school lounge chairs.
Chocho hummed until she finally found the words to say. "Well, I don't know about you, but I'm pretty sure Inojin dropped out of the role purposely. He knows how you two are, plus..." Chocho bit her lip, sealing them firmly as if she said too much. Sarada scrutinized her friend for any remote signs of guilt, but that didn't quite seem to be the case.
"What is it?" Sarada probed. Chocho bit her lips even tighter and shook her head.
"Chocho..." she intoned, approaching the girl with her arms folded crossly in front of her. She leaned in, noticing specks of sweat dribbling down Chocho's neck.
"Nuh uh, I can't reveal a lady's secrets! I've been sworn to secrecy!" Chocho's voice was high-pitched, her nerves spiking as her friend casted her a menacing glare.
"Try me." Sarada smirked, a challenging glint ever so present in her eyes. Chocho gulped. Sarada knew she was scary when it boiled down to it.
Chocho distractingly threw her bag of chips across the room and before she knew it, she heard the girl yell, "Yo, pasty boy catch!" the chip bag soared across the room and straight into the boy's hands. To be precise, Mitsuki's hands. Not a surpising accomplice, but he was also an unwitting one judging by his blank stare. However, when Sarada spun around to ask Chocho why she did that, it was too late to realize that it was a diversion and that Chocho had narrowly escaped Sarada's wrath. Even Mitsuki was gone when she looked back. Unwitting or not, she'd have to get Mitsuki back for that one.
For the umpteenth time that day, she sighed. But, now she knew that Chocho and Inojin had something to hide. To what degree of importance that secret was remained to be unseen, but she'd dig it up one way or another.
Shoving her script into her bag, she made her way to her locker, a searing determination to get rid of the kissing scenes fueling her motivation for the day.
This chapter is largely unedited, primarily because I wanted to finally get it out. Sorry for the nearly 3 month wait. I have been busy, but I also was kind of stuck for a bit on this chapter and had to rewrite it a good four or five times. Alas, I've finally gotten it written down! I do have some of the ending written down for this story, I just need to progress to that point is all. Thanks for reading, the next update should definitely be in a shorter time frame!