Boruto listened to Sarada lecturing him about how great the hokage was the entire way to his house. Thanks to her reminding him that he did in fact find her annoying and snobby most of the time, his appetite came back.
"I'm home," Boruto announced as he opened the door, taking off his shoes in the doorway.
"Ah! Onii-chan!"
"Yo, Himawari!" Boruto smiled at his little sister, but rather than smiling back, Himawari's eyes widened at the visitor behind him.
"Sarada-chan!"
"Pardon the intrusion," she said, taking off her sandals and smiling at the blue-eyed girl.
She stared up at Sarada excitedly. "Sarada-chan, are you staying for dinner?"
"If you don't mind having me." She followed Boruto into the kitchen, Himawari at her side.
"It's almost ready, so just wait a little bit."
Sarada smiled. "I'll do what I can to help."
Boruto yawned, flopping himself down onto the couch and picking up his portable gaming device. It had been a while since his last visit to Dr. Katasuke since the whole scientific ninja tool scam during the chunin exams, but he still had a few games left to beat. And what better way to kill time before dinner than to play video games? Completely ignoring the conversation in the kitchen, he absorbed himself into gathering materials to beat the next boss.
"Ah dang it!" As the game over screen flashed into his vision, he sunk back into the chair. Was this boss even possible to clear without cheats? When he looked up, he noticed Sarada helping Himawari set the table. Maybe she doesn't know what else to do and is just busying herself, he thought, pressing the continue button.
"Onii-chan, dinner's ready!"
Boruto sighed. "Coming."
He sat down at the table and sniffed. "Smells great! What are we eating?"
"Tonight is pork-cutlet. There's extra, so feel free to take some home to your mom, Sarada-chan," Hinata said with a gentle smile.
"You're a life saver," replied Sarada, putting her hands together in front of her face.
"Ittadakkimaas!" Everyone said in unison before digging into the delicious meal.
"Hm?"
"Boruto, what's wrong?"
"Ah," he said, swallowing, "I was just thinking. This salad dressing tastes different than usual. Did you put something else in it mom? It's really good."
Hinata smiled. "I actually had Sarada-chan make that."
He blinked a few times.
"Onii-chan, this is the first time you've said someone's cooking tasted better than mom's!"
Boruto slumped down into his chair. "I take it back. Mom's is better."
"Onii-chan, lying isn't good!"
"I'm serious!"
Sarada just laughed. "It's mirin instead of vinegar. I like mine sweeter, so I asked if I could change it, but that's the only difference. You must really like your mom's cooking to notice."
"Of course I do," responded Boruto, his mouth full of rice. "No one cooks better than—"
"Boruto," said Hinata, her byakugan activating. "Swallow before you talk."
He gulped. "Yes ma'am."
The rest of dinner went by with lots of laughter, chewing, and most importantly, Boruto swallowing before he talked. When everyone was done, they all took their plates to the sink, and Boruto returned to his game.
Sarada eyed him from the kitchen with a judgmental glance. "Does he ever help with the dishes?"
Hinata couldn't help but giggle as scrubbed the sauce stains off of a plate. "I do them most days, but if I'm out with Himawari, he takes care of everything. He may not look like it, but he's surprisingly reliable when it counts. His manners, on the other hand, could use some work," she said, eyeing his bare feet propped up on the living room table.
"Hmm, that's surprising…" Sarada took the plate and dried it off with a towel. "These go… in this cabinet, right?"
Hinata smiled. "You remembered. Thank you for helping me, Sarada-chan."
"It's the least I can do for suddenly coming over and eating dinner…"
"Please, come over more often. It's rare that Boruto stays in the living room after a meal," she said, rinsing off a glass. "I have to give you a compliment on your salad dressing too. Maybe I'll start making salad dressing like that from now on."
Sarada's cheeks dusted with blush at the praise as she took the glass and put it away in the proper cabinet. "I just changed one ingredient…"
"But Boruto noticed and complimented you," she said, washing off the chopsticks with a gentle expression. "Even if he didn't want to admit it."
As Sarada finished putting the last of the chopsticks away, Hinata began wiping the counters. "Thank you for bringing Boruto home," she said, pausing with her hand clutched to her chest. "I don't know what happened, but it seems like this was his way of thanking you for something."
Sarada blinked. "…I think you have the wrong idea," she stuttered, "I didn't bring him home, he actually…"
Hinata shook her head and returned to the counter. "He was crying, wasn't he?"
"…Ah ha… well…"
"If he brought you home, you must have comforted him. Boruto is usually the type to wear his emotions on his sleeve… but he also keeps important things buried and covers them with confidence and pranks. Despite his appearances, I think he relies on you a lot, Sarada-chan. Just like Naruto-kun did with Sasuke-kun and Sakura-chan…"
Sarada slowly brought her hand to her chest. Boruto… relies on me?
"Oi, Sarada," called Boruto from the living room. "What time is your mom getting home?"
Sarada looked at the clock. "Ah! She'll be home any minute. I should go. Thank you for dinner!"
Himawari dashed up to her, holding out a prepared bento box full of leftovers. "Don't forget to take this with you!"
"Thanks, Hima!"
Boruto hopped up off the couch. "I'll take you home."
Sarada froze. "You're… walking me home?"
"…Yeah?"
Himawari bounded up to Boruto. "You're walking her home?"
Boruto hid his face in the collar of his jacket. "It's late…"
"Mmm? You don't walk Mitsuki or Shikadai home."
"Hiimaawaariii…."
Himawari knew that tone of voice. She tried to dodge, but soon, fits of giggles erupted from her stomach. "Stop! Stop, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"
"This is what you get for teasing me all day."
"Onii-chan stop," she begged, tears of laughter rolling down her face as Boruto tickled her.
"Take that. And that!"
But as soon as the sound of the front door opening registered in Boruto's ears, he stopped tickling his little sister and ran to put on his shoes. "Oi, I said I was walking you home!"
"Why? I don't need you to walk me home."
"That's not—" Boruto cut himself off and sighed. "You really are a pain sometimes, you know that?"
"I'm also stronger than you."
Boruto's eyebrows furrowed, remembering how she was overpowered by four sharks in mere seconds. "Just because you can beat me in an arm wrestle doesn't make you invincible, ya know."
"So," asked Sarada once they were outside the fence that enclosed Boruto's house, "why'd you really want to walk me home? If you insist that it's to protect me, I'll fight you to remind you that I don't need you to watch me like a guard."
Taking a deep breath in, Boruto unclenched his fists. "Hebi said it'd be better if I didn't leave you alone until they figure out what's going on. It's not like I'm doing this because I want to."
"Hmmm," she said, eyeing him suspiciously. "Hey, Boruto."
"What?"
"Do you really think Hebi is on our side?"
"…Huh?"
"Think about it," said Sarada, walking a few steps ahead of him. "They could have easily used that situation earlier to force our trust in them."
Boruto looked down at the black triangular shaped mark in his hand. "You're not wrong… But… That's not the feeling I got when we talked."
"Oh? You talked?"
"Yeah, for a while," said Boruto, folding his arms behind his head. "Apparently not all of the people in the town want me to complete this mission."
"And what is that mission?"
His eyes immediately looked off into the shadows, pink dusting his cheeks. "You don't need to know… But," he said, looking back to the front, "it's being put on hold."
"Huh? I thought Hebi couldn't go home until you completed it. Wasn't it supposed to be important to their town? Why is it being put on hold?"
"That's the thing. Hebi wants to figure out who the other person is before they are sent home. I think they're trying to protect us…"
Sarada's head flopped forward. "I don't follow you… But," she turned towards Boruto, "if you believe in Hebi that much, I guess I will too."
"Sarada…"
"And don't get so depressed if I end up dying again."
Boruto froze.
With a sigh, Sarada turned around. "I don't have any memory of it, but I can only guess that's what happened." She leaned forward, putting her face right in front of his. "But I'm here now, calling you an idiot. And I will become the Hokage. No matter how many times Hebi has to revive me."
He stood unmoving, cheeks slowly turning pink.
Her eyes lingered on his for a moment more before she turned back around, now with a bit of a spring to her step. "So you don't have to worry so much, stupid Boruto."
Boruto's pupils shrunk as he looked off to the side. "Who said I was worried…"
"Oh? You really want to deny it? Shall I remind you of the touching scene where you threw yourself into my arms sobbing?"
"Ok, ok! I got it. Sheesh. You didn't see what I did…"
"…And what did you see?"
Boruto clenched his fists. "You don't want to know."
"If I didn't, I wouldn't be asking."
"Fine, then I'm not telling."
"You'd feel better if you did," replied Sarada in a singsong voice, holding the bento box containing leftover dinner behind her back.
Boruto's eyes widened. Is she… being considerate? He tucked his lips into his mouth, his eyes drifting off to the side. She didn't need to know what happened. It was ok, she was alive. "Nah, I don't think I would. I'm getting nauseous just thinking about it. You probably wouldn't be able to hold in your dinner if I told you," he retorted with a snide expression.
"Don't blame me if you have nightmares tonight for holding it in."
He turned away. "I'll have them for the rest of my life whether I hold it in or not…" The words came out in a mumble to quiet for her to hear, and he wouldn't have another opportunity to tell her. They were already at her doorstep.
As he watched her walk forward without hesitation, he felt a tinge of loneliness stab his chest. From the looks of the dark windows, Sakura still wasn't home. And neither was Sasuke. Sure, it was only a matter of time until Sakura got home. He wasn't going to ask to stay with her until then. But was this what she was used to returning to? An empty house? Sarada didn't hesitate to help his mom cook and clean up after dinner. And she almost seemed like she was enjoying it…
"You know," he began, taking his arms away from the back of his head and looking down.
"If you're going to tell me that I can come over more often," said Sarada, her hand pausing on the door handle, "don't."
Boruto looked up. "Why not?"
"I like cooking and doing housework. It's relaxing. And it's not like the seventh is never there, he comes home sometimes too." Sarada turned around, placing one hand on her hip. "If I was always taking your leftovers, your mom wouldn't show it, but she would be worried about how many people to cook for. And suddenly cooking for larger amounts of people is harder than it looks."
Boruto's fingers slowly dug into his palms. She already knew about all of this. She knew, and yet she put up with his whining. At least he could see his father whenever he wanted. At least he knew where his father was. At least his mom was always there to welcome him home. And Himawari was always there to play with. "Until I complete the mission…"
"…Huh?'
"Just until I complete the mission, and everything goes back to normal… You can come over if you get bored."
Sarada laughed. "And do what, watch you play video games? Boruto. I just told you not to worry about me."
Heaving a heavy sigh, he turned his back on her. "Fine, I'll leave... Don't forget to lock the door."
"I never lock the door in case papa comes home. But, I suppose I'll make an exception, since a certain someone is literally worrying himself sick about my wellbeing."
"I'm telling you, thinking about it is making me want to puke. Stop bringing it up," he whined, holding his stomach.
"Goodnight," she called, stepping inside her house.
"By the way, I'll admit it," said Boruto, turning his back to her. "I thought salad dressing was good… But mom's cooking is still better overall." With that, Boruto took a step forward and lifted his hand. "G'night, Sarada."
As he continued moving forward, he was completely unaware of the effects his compliment had on the now flustered recipient.
Heh, the author laughed, watching from behind a tree. I suppose it was worth it to wrap things up with the Hokage as quickly as possible. Luckily, Naruto didn't seem to be suspicious of my Sasuke acting skills. With a sigh, the Author looked towards the starry sky.
Time to start writing dreams.
