Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Or Sarada. Or Sasuke. Or Sakura. Or Boruto. But I do own the shitty brunette!
Notes: Nope. Nothing here. Enjoy!?
"Sarada, Boruto, and Mitsuki, you three are a team," Shino announced. Sarada smiled shyly at Boruto and the mysterious pale boy next to him, her other teammate. She would have to get to know him more through the infamous Uchiha Interrogation.
As their sensei finished announcing the teams, Boruto and Mitsuki rushed over to Sarada's table, frowning as they saw her injuries. "What happened?" Mitsuki asked suspiciously. Sarada laughed nervously under the pressure, eyes flickering between the two boys.
"I got into a fight," Sarada laughed, grinning with fake pride. She didn't know when she had gone to the new low of faking emotions in front of her friends. Then again, she was reaching new all time lows every day now. Boruto grinned with her, believing the lie and pumping his first with a "yosh!". Mitsuki, however, didn't look convinced. He stared her down for a few more seconds before shrugging and giving her what looked like a fake smile. At least she wasn't the only one.
"Did you win?" Boruto yelled excitedly, causing the brunette to glance over and smirk at her. Sarada gave her a certain gesture she'd seen her mom give to people who pissed her off, causing her to gasp and turn back around with an angry huff. Boruto gave Sarada a high five, assuming she had won. Sarada didn't dare correct him. Mitsuki did nothing but glare ferociously at the brunette. She wondered what that was about.
As Sarada, Boruto, and Mitsuki chatted amongst themselves, Shino cleared his throat. He decided to start naming off the locations of every team's sensei whether they were listening or not. Sarada quickly signaled her secret boyfriend to stay quiet as Shino spoke.
"Team 3," Shino paused as Sarada perked up at her team's number, "your sensei will be in the woods, at the place where the bugs danced," Their teacher winked at them before moving on, causing the trio to sport mischievous grins on their faces. Swiftly, the three of them grabbed their bags and headed out the door. Mitsuki lead the way, having memorized the route they had taken, Sarada in the back, embarrassed that she had forgotten the way so easily, and Boruto in the middle, looking around in awe, just like the first time they had gone.
At long last, they reached their designated location. There stood Konohamaru, smirking with one hand on his hip. "Surprise!" He yelled, trying to pull off a sexy pose but failing miserably. The trio laughed at his attempt, making him sputter and straighten, cheeks flushing. He flickered over to where his students were standing and patted them all on the head. "You guys are sooooo tiny! Anyways, let's start by introducing ourselves with our names, goals, likes, dislikes, the usual."
Boruto went first reluctantly, as he was the one Konohamaru stared at after his speech. "My name is Uzumaki Boruto, I want to protect the ones I love," he paused, slyly looking over to Sarada with a flushed grin, making Sarada turn redder than a tomato, "I like my little sister and my mom, and I hate my dad!" Konohamaru smirked, thinking about how he would tell Naruto about his son's little crush, and moved on to stare at Sarada expectantly.
"Okay, um," Sarada started, "my name is Uchiha Sarada, I want to become Hokage, I like my family and friends," Sarada ignored Boruto's pout, wanting to give herself a perfect image to protect herself from what? Her friends? So stupid.."And I dislike...brown hair."
"My name is Mitsuki, I want to find the truth, I like to explore, and I dislike liars," Mitsuki stated in monotone, his gaze unnervingly set on Sarada. She ignored him, masking everything but her pounding heart. She frantically wondered if he could hear it, it was pounding so strongly.
Konohamaru leaned back, smiling at his perfectly flawed team. It looks like we have a few secrets here, now do we? I wonder how Sasuke will react, he thought. He had been about to go to sleep when Sasuke had arrived at his house and asked him to tell him everything he observed about the team, especially his daughter. He had accepted, wondering why Sasuke had to go to such lengths to learn more about his daughter. Why not just ask her? However, it wasn't his place to ask such a thing. He would do it for Sasuke, but most importantly, he would do it for Naruto. After all, if he was going to give away information anyway, why not tell more than one person?
After Konohamaru-sensei had told them to meet him early in the morning tomorrow at the same place, Mitsuki took his separate way and waved goodbye. Boruto and Sarada laced their hands together and walked serenely towards Sarada's house. Both were blushing and looking at the ground. As they walked, Boruto spoke up about his insecurities.
"Hey Sarada, why didn't you say you liked me?" Sarada turned to look at him, stopping in her tracks, causing Boruto to stop walking as well. He refused to look at her. Sarada smiled, inwardly shouting about how adorable he was. She took a deep breath and bit her lip.
"It's supposed to be a secret, remember?"
"I know, but why? Why does it have to be a secret? Don't you like me?"
"Yes, but.. But my dad would never allow it. So we have to keep quiet okay? Just for a little longer?" Boruto nodded reluctantly, but was relieved that he wouldn't have to pretend they weren't together forever. They continued to walk in silence until they arrived at Sarada's door. Abruptly, it slammed open and there stood Sasuke. Sarada yanked her hand back before he could see that they had been holding each other's hands.
"P-Papa! Hi! What a surprise," Sarada croaked, nervously playing with her hands. Boruto began to hum and stare determinedly ahead. Sasuke narrowed his eyes at Boruto, grabbing his daughter's shoulder and dragging her inside before slamming the door shut in Boruto's face.
"Why was he here?" Sasuke demanded, crossing his arms and blocking Sarada's exit. Said girl was about to reply when her father glanced down at her hands and saw two white scars across her wrist. "And what are those? Did Boruto do this to you?" Sarada felt like dying. She wanted to die, to disappear down a 6 foot hole in the ground. Her wish was not granted.
"No, Boruto didn't do this to me, it was that girl, remember? From the fight? Anyways, I forced Boruto to drop me off because I was afraid of being alone," Sarada half-lied. Her pale face stood absolutely still as Sasuke scanned it for lies. He continued with his interrogation.
"Why were you afraid of being alone?"
Sarada cursed herself for telling the truth. "Well, um, I don't know.. After yesterday, I guess I thought she was going to kick my face in today." She felt ashamed of how much it killed her to tell the truth for once. She felt weak in front of her father. The voice, after being silent for most of the day, finally spoke up.
What did I tell you about the truth? It only makes you weaker. The truth is for weaklings. So lie, lie, lie, lie!
Sasuke's eyes softened. "Okay, let's work this out. Starting tomorrow, you won't ever see that girl again. Does that make you feel better?" Sarada nodded.
"Yes," his daughter lied. He nodded, patted her shoulder and left for his shared bedroom. Sarada trudged and trudged up the steps. She somehow felt worse, like she had missed an opportunity for something. If lying was good, why did it feel so bad?
Sarada made one more cut that night. One cut and all of the tension bubbling underneath her skin bled out. She sighed in contentment, slumping to the floor, next to the side of her bed. She healed herself once more, and slept into another nightmare.
This time, she had been so angry at her parents that she brutally murdered them, the adults defenseless to her assault. She remembered when she awoke in the middle of the night, feeling so guilty she bit her lip until she tasted iron, her eyes shut tight in remorse. She felt like she was killing them slowly, slowly poisoning them with lies. Soon enough, they wouldn't even recognize her as their daughter anymore. And they'll let her drown in her own tears.
Sarada hoped that being on the same team as Boruto would cheer her up, but it hadn't one bit. Wasn't he her ultimate crush? Wasn't she supposed to be happy? Everything was perfect, waiting for her to enjoy it but she just can't.
She cried to herself until the sun rose. That was the moment when she decided that she was depressed and she needed help. If only she knew where to find it.