Chapter 7: Game's Checkmate

When Sasuke forgets a promise he made to Sarada, upset she decides to spend a day out with the Ino at her place for some well-over-due girl time. What is supposed to be a relaxing getaway for Sarada turns into crucial meet up with Sakura's past. Even more so, her secret of being Sasuke's daughter is at risk of being let out. Meanwhile, Boruto and Inojin's friendly rivalry turns into competitive jealousy on Boruto's end.


"Uh..."

All eyes in the kitchen couldn't help but look at Sasuke, sitting at the kitchen table for breakfast. Not just grabbing something. But just... sitting. Having a plate, and a laptop. "He's actually eating breakfast with us?" I whisper to Hinata, as she pours some pancakes onto my plate.

"Shh," Hinata hushes politely, going around the table and giving breakfast. Though she seems quite amused too.

Even Naruto is a little bewildered, holding up his coffee cup. "You uh, joining us this morning for breakfast, Sasuke?"

Sasuke looks around with an odd stare. "Yeah? What of it?"

"You just..." Naruto pauses, trying not to offensively stare, "never do."

I look between everybody, clenching my teeth. "Well I think it's neat you're here, Sasuke," I say brightly, trying to keep the mood bright.

If anything. Today's supposed to be a good day. Yesterday Sasuke promised me that he'd take me out to the park. Sounds like a pretty boring idea, but every other time I asked Sasuke to do some kind of activity, he'd shrug it off for work related things - which I kind of understood. Only yesterday, after a full rainy day (and Boruto being out with his mom) I was left alone in the mansion bored all day. Sasuke must've taken pity on me passing by during the evening, and suggested the park outing. I didn't believe him at first, but he insisted on some one-on-one us time, to bond. I still almost thought it was a joke, but he promised.

And now today he's eating breakfast with everyone. "The table looks fuller like this," I add.

"I agree," Hinata smiles, taking her seat and completing the table. All five of us are here. I admit, this is a great feeling. Hinata looks beside her at the half-asleep Boruto, elbowing him. "And you, what time did you go to sleep last night?"

His head bobs with his half asleep expression. "Um, 4:30?"

"In the morning?" Naruto says sternly. "You know you shouldn't be up that late playing video games."

"I wasn't playing games," Boruto grumbles all grumpy. In all honesty he wasn't. Apparently, every other day Boruto and the guys will video chat online. Every other week. It's just what they do.

Only last night, an unexpected topic came up between the boys, that extended their night-time conversation for hours. The subject: Sarada.

"I'm telling you guys, there's something fishy about her," Boruto says, thinking to himself. "She's just super secretive about a lot of things. It's kind of weird."

"I don't know why you're telling us," says Shikadai. "You're the one who lives with her. Wouldn't you know anything? If there was anything fishy about her at all?"

"Sounds like you have a crush on her, Boruto," Mitsuki states as calmly as Mitsuki does.

"What?!" Boruto jumps in his seat, silencing himself as he remembers the time of night. "Where the hell did you get that? I was just calling her fishy."

"I dunno man. If you don't make a move I just might," Inojin teases with a funny grin.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Boruto glares with a pout.

"See that's what we mean. You're all on edge whenever the topic of Sarada comes up," Inojin mentions. "But if you're clear she's not on your radar than that just means the market's open for other guys."

Boruto knew Inojin could say some out there things, and some other times just be plain insensitive, but that was Inojin's nature. Almost competitive to Mitsuki's passive nature. "Sarada's not some item on a market you know. She's a person."

"Yeah yeah, but a smart one. For a commoner, she's a real trip, you know?" Inojin goes on.

"Watch it!" Boruto says.

"Guys?" Shikadai utters, foreseeing where this may be going.

And Mitsuki and Shikadai ended up restlessly listening to the ongoing banter between Inojin and Boruto. With Inojin's egging on and Boruto's rising defensiveness, it just ended up turning into a feud - which ended up with Boruto angrily dropping the call.

Of course, the whole ordeal ran straight up to 4:30am, leaving Boruto in a pretty grouchy mood. Not that he'd tell anyone that.

"So what do you guys have planned today?" Hinata asks the other grown ups at the end of the table.

"We have an event to go to downtown," Naruto speaks up, causing my ears to perk up. "The mayor's hosting a financial building ground breaking and has asked Sasuke to appear."

"Will you be needing the limo today?" Hinata asks.

"Most likely yes. Would you prepare that for us?" Sasuke asks.

"Sure thing."

Sasuke nods in assurance, but I feel my mouth dry up as I find myself picking at my pancakes. He... didn't remember? As if my thoughts were on some loud speaker, I felt Sasuke's gaze across from the table. "What's with you."

My low eyes look up and back down at my plate. "Nothing."

One more thing I noticed about Sasuke the past few days: he hates when me, or people really, hide their feelings. Because Sauske Uchiha is so straightforward. So when I'm upset, and pretend I'm not, or at least don't make an effort to hide or get over it, it just pisses the guy off.

Sasuke glares at my 'nothing' reply. "No out with it. What."

"Nothing!"

"Not again," Naruto murmurs, sipping his coffee.

"Is this about us having to hang out today?" Sasuke pesters.

"We don't have to. And I'm not upset."

"Then why do you sound upset?"

"Why are you suddenly so on my case?"

Even the sleepy Boruto can see the oddness of our fights. The last few days Sasuke and I will sometimes engage in somewhat more, uh, aggressive emotions. Of course expressing more ranges of emotions means an expanding and growing relationship. But angry negative emotions is never pleasant.

And our fine first perfect breakfast... has ended. "Do you expect me to cancel an appearance with the mayor?"

"No of course not!" I argue.

"Then just say why you're so angry then."

"Just drop it! It's not important! I'm going to my room."

As politely as I can I excuse myself from the breakfast. Am I mad? Well after that whole scene I definitely feel mad. I can never get upset over Sasuke's busy schedule. I know how things go. What does tick me off is how Sasuke can just throw the word 'promise' around. Is he seriously gonna pretend like that never happened? And if he forgot then just forget about it.

Guys can be so stupid sometimes. Even grown up guys.

On my way past the ballroom, I can see a couple maids helping with flower deliveries, and Ino heading the order by the looks of it. "Ino?" I see.

The beautiful woman turns her shoulder. With her standing by the door, the sunlight hits her majestically, and her chiffon skirt twirls gracefully around her stance. "Hey, good morning Sarada. Don't mind me. Just making some weekly deliveries for the mansion."

"I should've known all the mansion's flowers came from you," I smile, walking up. Various flower arrangements held by the maids come in and in.

"Sarada!" Hinata comes in after me from the kitchen, but notices who I've run into. "Ino."

"Hinata hi!" Ino grins. "Don't mind me, just finishing today's delivery. But long time no see! I missed you last time I was around."

"Boruto mentioned a lot of nice things about his birthday. I meant to thank you for helping out the next time I saw you," Hinata greets warmly. "I see you've already met Sarada."

"Haha yeah! I've taken a great liking to this kid," Ino's says with a strong arm around my shoulders. Amidst the company of all these rich people, Ino seems the most down to earth and normal. Or at least the one to remind me the most of people from home. She's just so, cool and chill.

"Anywho," Hinata sighs, looking back at me. "Are you and Sasuke okay? It's not like you guys to burst out like that."

"It's nothing Hinata. Honest," I reply stubbornly. I must've inherited that from Sasuke.

"Ooh what's up?" Ino noses. However by the look on Hinata's face, Ino realizes she may be hitting some buttons. "Auh, huh. Uh-huh, say kiddo, why don't you come come and spend the day with me at my place? I do all my mansion's flower arrangements every Wednesday. I could use some help." She leans down in a whisper. "Inojin's not a big fan of flower-power."

I can't help but laugh at how she phrased that. And I've been dying for some time away from the mansion. Maybe some time away form Sasuke and the Uzumakis could be good too. At that, I just need Hinata's approval.

She can already tell by my pleading face. "Go ahead. I'll let Naruto and Sasuke know."

"Yes! Thank you Hinata!" I cheer with a quick hug.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

After getting dressed, Ino put me up in her pick up truck and started to drive. Inojin's place was apparently fifteen minutes away from the Uchiha Mansion by drive.

"I really like your pick-up-truck Ino," I smile. I haven't sat in something as normal as middle-class as a pick up truck since, well home. Much less the front seat of a vehicle.

"Thanks!" she grins. And it's stick. "My husband insists I use one of our nicer cars, but it's a little hard to deliver flowers in a sports car, you know?"

Eventually we reach a residential area, but it's pretty fancy. Not humongous mansions like Sasuke's that have it's own block and street name, but this is still pretty amazing. Every building here has pillars and large front windows with chandeliers in every front room.

The normal-sized mansion (in comparison to Sasuke's) is of course the one with the best looking garden, and a shop right next door. There's a large green house in the back yard as well. "Whoa..."

"Not as impressive as Sasuke's but it's pretty cozy." She parks her truck down a cobblestone drive way.

"So, what do you and your husband do?" I ask as I jump out of her truck.

She leads me through her front door, and it's very grand in itself by the design and selection of furniture, not to mention the high pastel ceilings. "My husband Sai works in fashion, so he's overseas in Europe most of the time," Ino explains as we tour her home. It's barren and spacious as I notice the lack of maids. How spoiled must I be becoming to notice that aspect of a new home? "He's kind of the breadwinner, but I don't do too shabby myself."

We enter the back of her mansion, where I realize almost every room is like a green-room, with hanging plants of all types, and flower bouquets on every table and stand. They're gorgeous. "You do flowers?"

"I run my own flower shop," Ino brags proudly. "I never meant for it to be anything huge. I just love working with flowers, you know? But what with Sai's connections, everyone just seems to come to me for their home decor. I can't complain. Regulars who happens to be big shots like Sasuke Uchiha? Less stress off my back in terms of finding money. But hey." She pulls a daisy from one of the desks where a bouquet is currently gettng arranged, "I'm happy."

"That's amazing," I commend, accepting the flower. "Being able to do what you love for a living."

"Hell yeah it's amazing," she grins. "Come on let me show you the upstairs."

We take a side staircase, and I notice some photos and portraits hung on the walls. Some I recognize to be Inojin. The black haired man must be Sai, his father. "Where's Inojin?"

"Still asleep probably. He stayed up pretty late last night. You know boys."

I scoff. Finally someone who gets it. "Yeah."

The upstairs appears rather feminine. French in design almost. It's a nice contrast to Sasuke's tall and pale modern colors. Lots of natural lighting and of course floral depictions in engravings, paintings, wallpapers. Ino eventually leads me to a double-door room and allows me to enter first. "Oh wow."

The carpeting is soft to each step, with floral wall paper and an entire wall with tall windows. There's a sitting area for tea, and shelves and shelves with boxes and baskets. A small wardrobe and workshop area with ribbons and crafts.

"My studio area," Ino introduces. "A little girly, but what do you think?"

"What do I think? This is fantastic!" Just look at all the tissue paper and string. Rolls of ribbon. Stamps and wax and old Polaroids strung from the ceiling. My feet spin in just circles as I wade into the center of the room. The ceiling raises to be a dome, with a sky-painted pattern and accented lighting. "My mom's always dreamed of having a studio just like this, with the color scheme and furniture and everything."

Ino laughs, crossing her arms as she looks around herself. "Haha. That's funny. Sakura always has been a bit of a copy-cat."

My feverish spinning stops. My head feels the crash of dizziness, as well as my entire cover hitting the floor. My back is to her, and suddenly this woman I've been so comfortable around, is just as quickly possibly my biggest threat.

And as if my silence and stillness says it all. "I know you're Sasuke and Sakura's daughter."

My head turns my shoulder, and there's this new look on Ino. A sly yet in-control smile. Like, she knows a lot more than I thought and she's cornered me. And I'm all alone here, with her.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"You knew my parents that long?" I ask as Ino pours me some rose tea. We're still in her studio space, but now seated by a small table and some couch chairs.

Ino shakes her head. "Just your mom. I didn't meet Sasuke until way later."

"But you still knew them beforehand," I say, eager to learn. "What were they like? How was mom?"

While preparing the tea, Ino had also retrieved a book and a box, all with photos. She had placed them on the table for me to look through - most of them Ino and my Mom in their youth. "Your mom and I went to high school together here in Japan. We met on the girls basketball team."

No way. "Mom played basketball?" I just can't see it.

"Uh-huh. We used to argue about who followed who into the game, but either way we made a great team, she and I. We were best friends." She shows me a photo of her and my mom as teenagers, playing basketball in their uniform. Mom with long hair. It's incredible. "Sasuke was kind of a loner in high school, despite everyone knowing who he was."

"So even back then he was 'Sasuke Uchiha'?" I ask with a figurative smile and finger quotes.

"Yup. It was pretty intimidating," Ino admits nostalgically. "But they played one game of basketball together, one on one. Sasuke was pretty cocky back in the day, and so was Sakura. Your mom was never one to give special treatment due to reputation." Haha leave it to mom to pick a fight with Sasuke Uchiha. "She beat his ass in the greatest one-on-one game ever." Oh my god mom.

"So that's really how they met? Is that how they got together?"

"I assume so. They were also pretty secretive, which was annoying," Ino recalls. "But I could tell they were totally into each other."

The thought makes me smile shamelessly wide. This is a bucket-load of information I'm learning. Mom's never told me anything close to these stories, even about her past as a student. "Then what happened?"

"We lost contact when we split different ways for college. I wanted to study environmental science. Sakura wanted to study fashion. And of course the Uchiha cheese-head had his own family plan ahead for him. So I never really knew what became of those two."

Oh...

"But a few years later, after I married, I ran into Sakura again during my husband's business trip to the U.S. My husband and Sakura worked in similar fields and were pretty successful, so they were bound to meet." Ino looks at a photo from the box of her and her friend. "When Sai and I met her at a conference hall, she was heavily pregnant."

Stars start flying in my head. "That's me."

Ino smiles, nodding to me. "She'd never say much about it. She almost tried convincing me she did a voluntary in-vitro to be a single mother, but I knew that was a joke." Oh mom. "In fact, I was there when you were born, Sarada. I was there when your mom named you."

There's this spark in my eye when she says that. She reaches into the box again, and pulls out a small golden bracelet way too small for my wrist.

"This was a gift for you when you were born, from my family." Ino lets me have it, and I observe it with this familiarity. The trinket is in gold. "Of course it didn't fit. I told Sai it was too big," she laughs, shaking her head. "Sakura told me to hold onto it, as an incentive to meet up again when you got a little older. Of course, we lost contact and I never got to give it to you again."

A small warmth glows in my heart knowing that story, and holding the little golden bracelet in my fingers. There's a small golden bar in the chain, with an engraving inside it. "Strength," I read aloud.

"I always wondered who the father was, even after my husband and I returned to Japan. Your mom said she'd be raising you alone over there."

That's when I realize, that by the time Mom gave birth to me... Dad was already out of the picture. He's in none of the photos Ino is showing me.

"But the instant I saw you in Sasuke's home, I knew," Ino concludes with a heartwarming smile.

My eyes widen as I clench my hands over my lap. "You mean even then you knew who I was?"

"I couldn't believe it at first. Remember, the only other time I'd met you was when you were a newborn. Perhaps it was just a coincidence that Sasuke Uchiha had taken in the so-called American charity case who just so happened to be named Sarada." Her eyes narrow. "But looking at your eyes, I see so much of your mom in you."

Hearing that, I couldn't help but blush.

"And now that you're not bald and wrinkly, I can totally see a bit of Sasuke, too." Haha, now I'm smiling so big my cheeks hurt. She sips her tea once more before putting her cup back on her saucer. "So I have to ask, what are you doing here, Ms. Haruno?"

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Back at the Uchiha Mansion, Boruto is wandering the halls by himself. With all the adults back to their normal routine, and with me out somewhere for the day, Boruto had practically the whole mansion to himself. In fact, it's probably the first time in a long time he's had time to himself like this without me around.

And after a short nap after breakfast, as well as a good three hour nap, Boruto eventually found himself pretty bored. He thought it'd be pretty fun having me out of the house but, it's actually kind of lonely.

He passes my closed bedroom door, and recalls how I always seem to have it closed. Well, most bedrooms are. But Boruto finds that whenever he goes to knock, there's always this rushed 'Hold on!' reply, some scrambling and noise, before entrance is allowed. Secretive yes. Suspicious, yes. A sneaky hoodlum? Boruto doubts it. He's learned over the past two weeks that his new friend is trustworthy.

Of course, now that I'm out of the mansion, this is the perfect time to search the room for any answers to her secrets.

Boruto stands before the door for a long time in honest right-and-wrong contemplation before finally stepping away. "That's so messed up Boruto. You're not raiding a girl's room." Her secrets are her secrets. I know I said she could tell me when she's ready but, I still can't help but feel like there's something weird going on.

And besides still being angry at Inojin, Boruto's been ignoring texts and calls from Shikadai and Mitsuki. He needed some time away from the guys.

"Maybe the adults are having some downtime now," Boruto supposes. After making it downstairs to the adults' office, he finds the doors closed as normal. Peeking in without knocking, much to his surprise Naruto and Sasuke actually aren't working.

Naruto is sitting on Sasuke's desk, seemingly pondering something. Sasuke meanwhile is kind of pacing all different directions, supposedly going through different files and books in the office but by the looks of it, he's just... talking.

"You know she is a teenager, remember?" Naruto points out, lazing around as he signs document after document, quite calmly. "Well, she's twelve, but she's on the brink of teenagerhood."

Sasuke rubs his temples, clearing coming on with a headache. "So what if she's some pre-teen? I hate when she gets so defensive like that. It's so irritating."

"Um," Naruto recalls. "She's wasn't the one being so defensive. It was, kinda more, you."

"I'm not defensive," Sasuke turns around, and Naruto blinks, not wanting to tick off the man even more.

The blond sighs. "I don't see why you're letting this bother you so much. It's how kids are. They get mad. Don't let it irritate you the whole day. You've had much worse breathing down your neck before. Remember that lady Ms. Junchi who had the hots for you?" The guy can't stop laughing. "She wouldn't leave you alone for a week."

"Don't remind me," Sasuke glares with a face.

"Look all I'm saying is, maybe you should just apologize to Sarada-"

"For what?!" Sasuke says ridiculously. Almost every Sasuke-response has caught Naruto, and the peeping Boruto, off guard. They've never seen the man this riled up before. "I didn't do anything wrong."

"Maybe. But it's still your responsibility as her, uh, role...model...guardian...man," nice Naruto, "to kinda just suck up your pride and just say you're sorry for hurting her feelings."

Sasuke's face says otherwise, and Naruto realizes maybe he's hoped for too much in his little speech.

"Dad might be right, Uncle Sasuke." Boruto finally reveals himself, surprising the two men in the room. Boruto closes the door behind him and he leans against it. "It's not like Sarada to get irritated over anything." That's a lie but..., "Anyway, it'll be awkward if there's bad blood between you guys for too long. I doubt she'll let it drop."

"Yeah. Just call her up and tell her to come home," Naruto urges.

Very rarely does the voice of reason come from an Uzumaki, much less two - and at the Sasuke Uchiha. "You guys are impossible," Sasuke dismisses defensively, leaving the room. Boruto and Naurto exchange knowing glances, and just silently agree - Sasuke is a butt.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"So what are you doing here, Ms. Haruno?" Ino asks, tilting her head onto her resting hand.

Little did I know that I've cornered myself. Perhaps Ino is super cool, and super chill. Perhaps she used to be my mom's best friend, and can tell me all these cool stories - but I've forgotten one crucial thing: I have a secret that totally needs to be kept secret. And depending on Ino's motives... she can totally be an adversary in this situation.

And here we are, sipping tea. No Sasuke. No Naruto. No Boruto. No way out.

"What am I doing here?" I repeat, trying to remain calm. There's so much sweat in my hands. "I... uh-"

"Mom?" Inojin opens the studio doors, holding a basket. "Do you have any more markers-" He spots me in the chair opposite his mother. "Well what do you know. Hey Sarada."

"H-Hi Inojin." What perfect timing.

"I see you're finally awake, sleepy head," Ino laughs as the boy enters the room and comes over to the table.

"I didn't know you were coming over," Inojin says to me. "Hey, do you wanna see my room? It's a lot cleaner the Boruto's I promise."

Hearing the word 'promise' inherently reminds me of Sasuke, and momentarily annoys me. But I also realize Inojin is totally giving me a get-out-of-jail-free card. "Sure!"

"Go ahead. I'll call you guys down for lunch later," Ino bids as Inojin and I run out of the room.

Once we're out of hearing range from the door, I allow myself to start normally breathing again. I swear I was holding it for a while when Ino started interrogating me. "Thanks for the save, Inojin."

"No problem. I didn't even know I was saving you," he smiles. "So what are you doing here?"

"I got into a fight with Sasuke, so your mom invited me over to get away for a little bit," I explain, finally glad to be able to rant to somebody about Sasuke, even for a half a sentence. "A-Anyway, I hope you don't mind my sudden visiting. I won't be staying for too long."

"Not at all. Stay as long as you like," Inojin smiles. Well, this could be interesting. "How's Boruto?"

"That guy? He's kinda grumpy today. Not sure why," I note. "I guess he didn't sleep well."

"That's just Boruto," Inojin shrugs off for me. Eventually we reach Inojin's room, and the inside totally looks like a rich-boy's room. Although a lot cleaner like he said, if not more organized. Definitely an artist's room, by all the art supplies and the corner work space with papers strung up on one section of the walls.

"Whoa," I gap at first.

"Impressive isn't it?"

"Haha yeah. Boruto's definitely not this organized. Then again, I'm sure he'd love a room this big, though." I walk more into the room. "Your bed's a lot nicer than the one I have at the mansion. "

"Of course," he says in that Inojin way.

I sit down on his bed and just look around from there. "Say, can I ask you for some advice?"

"Of course," Inojin says, sitting at his desk. "What about?"

"It's about Sasuke," I frown. "He and I got into a fight at breakfast. We were gonna hang out today, just the two of us, and he kinda bailed for work."

"That's too bad," Inojin sympathizes. "Does he do this often?"

"We've never had one-on-one time before outside the mansion, but I imagine this must be what it's like for you guys too with all your parents." Inojin nods, and I realize I probably shouldn't complain because this must be pretty common. "It's just... he promised me yesterday, and I guess I got so excited that I just, blew up at him the next morning."

"So you're angry because he broke his promise?"

"A little," I admit, realizing I'm probably not as angry as I was before. "I'm more upset that he kinda forgot he promised."

"Ooh," Inojin sympathetically winces. "That's harsh. Are you and Sasuke close?"

"Not particularly," I admit, somewhat shamefully. "I guess we're trying but, it's going pretty slow. Heh, sounds pretty silly getting upset over someone who doesn't really care, huh?"

"No, I don't think it's stupid at all," Inojin says, surprising me. "I think your feelings are legitimate and that it's healthy to talk about it."

"Yeah..." I breathe out. "Thank you, for listening. I really appreciate it. It's kind of hard to talk about this kind of stuff back at the mansion."

"You have a lot of people at your place to talk to, though," he points out. "You have Boruto, and his parents, if not Sasuke."

"Sure but, it's hard to talk about at home because of..." all the secrets? It's been draining keeping the whole I'm Sasuke's daughter thing under wraps. Things will frustrate me and I can't talk about them to anybody in that house, without risking my identity being discovered and ruining everything. "... just because."

"Not even to Boruto?" he arches his eyebrow. "You guys have been getting pretty close."

"I would but, there's some things I can't talk about even with Boruto," I explain, and suddenly Inojin recalls last night's online chat with the guys. "Just some girl things, honest."

"I understand."

As we sit here, I come to appreciate Inojin as a friend. Despite his awkward tendencies to say insensitive things, he's a pretty good listener.

"For a second I thought it was because you might like Boruto that it's hard to talk to him."

Insert record scratch. "Whoa hey, wait a second. Boruto's just like that annoying bratty roommate. Don't get me wrong. I'd love to talk to Boruto about this stuff and open up about what's bothering me whenever I want instead of keeping it all gutted up, but I have my reasons."

Suddenly I can see what Boruto means by fishy. Inojin wonders if he should interrogate a little too, but he also knows it's not his place. "Well I'm happy to know you can open up here at least."

A knock on the door from Ino ends our talk. "Lunch guys!"


Hi readers! Thank you for your patience in waiting for these chapters to come out! I've been drawing so much for work lately in and out of town, and inbetween my art job and second job, writing these chapters out have become a little harder to get to, but they're always fun to come back to and revise! And watching the new Boruto episodes is always a revitalizing motivator! I do some chapters in advance so it's not too long in between updates!

I hope you guys enjoy! Thank you for reading!

PREVIEW:

"Let's make a bet," Ino smirks. I arch a brow, showing my interest. "A game of basketball. If I win, I tell Sasuke everything and we arrange for you to go back home. If you win, your secret stays secret."

x-x-x-x

"You already cancelled the mayor's meeting because of your butt-hurt mood! If you're gonna stay home then just call up Ino and fix things with Sarada!"

"What the hell did you do, Uncle Sasuke?" Boruto laughs.

"I don't know!" Sasuke says ridiculously.

Suddenly, the telephone in Naruto's hands starts to ring out loud, startling everyone present. Boruto looks up, Naruto almost falls off his squatting position, and Sasuke is sitting up eyes wide. The two men look at each other and Sasuke answers right away. "Sasuke Uchiha speaking," he says as professionally as possible.

"Sasuke?" my timid voice rings.

His head jumps. "Sarada?"

x-x-x-x

"But why? Why did you have to win so badly?" Boruto frowns with his arms crossed.

"Why can't you just drop it? Can't you see I'm broken and exhausted?"

"Because you're obviously hiding stuff and keeping secrets, and it's kind of getting carried away," Boruto says out of concern. "I never took you for the reckless type either. Clumsy but not reckless."

"Is there a difference?"

"Yeah. Because now it's to the point where you're hurting yourself," Boruto says, his arm pointing to my wrapped up foot. He shakes his head at me. "What's up with you?"