A/N: Hello everyone! I'd like to thank you all sooooo so so much for reviewing / following / favoriting, it makes my heart so happy! I absolutely love feedback and it means the most that you all take the time to read this lil piece that came from my imagination -hearts- I like to keep authors notes short, but I will check back in publicly every five or so chapters to thank you all for the support! As of right now updates are kind of sporadic, but I am aiming for about every 1-2 weeks.
I hope you all are staying safe and healthy out there with everything going on. I give you all my best love and wishes! So without further ado, here's the chapter!
XxX
Boruto had come back to school by that Wednesday, and things fell back into place. He seemed to be more motivated and invested in the student council, which Mr. Aburame took notice of and rewarded him for on the Friday meeting. Since there weren't any school activities coming up until the Winter Ball (besides decorating for the other holidays), their after school student council meetings were short and rather boring. Even so, Boruto was taking this job more seriously.
On Friday, once the meeting was over, Boruto asked Sarada what she was doing, and when she replied nothing, he offered to take her out for some ice cream or Boba. What a weirdo, she had thought grimly. She declined, but then Monday it was the same thing. He would ask, she would decline, and it went on like that until the next Friday when she finally caved because it was getting annoying.
"I don't understand why you wanted to take me here."
Boruto gave Sarada a look that obviously stemmed from desperation that she stop insisting upon knowing. But, he put on his best front after a sigh.
"I already told you."
He really didn't. It was more of a half-assed answer that probably was a pity lie as well. "I owe you," my ass. Owe her for what, exactly? Making Sarada's life harder with his only personality trait that was being an asshole? Sarada pursed her lips, staring at the menu hanging from the ceiling.
Being a warm, cozy Friday night with only minimal clouds in the sky, it was already bustling with customers; Sarada was surprised Boruto wasn't glancing every which direction to hide from people he knew, because he was out in public with Sarada Uchiha. Instead, he was acting rather nonchalant, picking at his nails, wiping dust from his perfectly polished dress shoes, texting Shikadai, and occasionally pushing Sarada to get her attention. She glared at him, and he grinned.
"Alright, what do you want?" He asked once at the counter.
"I'll have a green tea with soy."
"What flavor boba?" The cashier asked sweetly.
"Regular."
"Okay, and for you?"
"Vanilla chai. Regular for me, too." Boruto said, shuffling through his back pocket.
"Okay, and will that be all?"
"Yes," Sarada said, reaching for her wallet in her bag.
"And is this together or separate?" The cashier asked.
Before Sarada could say separate, Boruto said, "together," and shoved his card into the card reader. Sarada stared at him while he ignored her, keeping an even gaze with the cashier. She paid no mind to the couple, and rung up their order then moved on to the next customers. Sarada was still staring at him as he placed his card back in his wallet.
"I was gonna pay for mine." Sarada said softly.
Boruto shrugged. "Too bad."
Huffing, Sarada grabbed their straws and they sat at a table. Boruto spun his phone around until Shikadai texted him, and he typed something before going right back to his activity. Sarada watched with disinterest while her mind was surfing through hurricanes.
"You ever been here before?" Boruto asked.
Sarada nodded. "My uncle used to take me here a lot. But now we always go to the diner on the other side of the train tracks."
"That place is hella good," Boruto sat back in his chair. "Have you tried their curly fries?"
Sarada raised a brow. "They have curly fries?"
"Yeah, I think they just started making them. If you get them with the lemon pepper seasoning too, it's the best!" Boruto heard their drinks called, and he hopped up to go grab them. Curly fries, huh? Sarada would have to ask Itachi if they could go there soon.
"Here's your leaf drink." Boruto slid Sarada's drink to her. She gave him a look as they poked their straws through the top.
"What do you think chai is, stupid?"
"Also leaves, but spicier." He took a drink of his, and let out a refreshing breath. "Now this is good. I don't like green tea. It tastes like grass."
"But have you ever tried this green tea, though?"
"No."
Sarada pushed her drink towards him. "Try it."
Giving her an unconvinced look, Boruto took the tiniest sip. After careful consideration, he nodded his head.
"It's actually not bad."
"Told you." Sarada smirked, then pulled her cup back. Boruto rolled his eyes – out of amusement rather than annoyance and pulled out his phone. It was only until Sarada was about to take a drink that she realized Boruto used her straw. Now, she wasn't a germ freak, but the middle school thought of having an indirect kiss with him drove her crazy. Ew!
But, she wasn't going to cause a scene and get a whole new straw, so she sucked it up and took a drink anyway. Boruto wasn't paying attention at all; he was playing some golfing game on his phone.
The interesting thing about this outing was that nothing about it felt weird...which was weird. It felt...normal to be around Boruto outside of school. Which was weird again, because she thought after the incident she would have completely severed all plausible second chances of letting him redeem himself, let alone take her out for something as simple as boba. The awkwardness between them practically was nonexistent, which was surprising within itself. He was pretending like his breakdown never happened.
Sarada slowly tapped her fingertips against the cup. She bit her lip. There was something she wanted to see...
"I-I don't think I've ever tried the chai before."
Boruto looked up once he was done swinging the golf club. "Really? Here." Without hesitation, he pushed the drink towards her and went back to his game.
Sarada looked at him. Slowly pulling the cup closer to her, the savory chai didn't mix very well with the taste of sweet green tea still on her tongue, but she could still appreciate the flavor. Boruto took his drink back absentmindedly and almost choked on one of the boba balls, but then went back to playing his game. Sarada couldn't stop laughing.
Alone, Boruto was completely different. More calm, rational, and certainly easier to talk to. He still was a jokester, but nothing cruel like how he was at school. Sarada actually enjoyed his company when it was just the two of them. Repeated small gestures like paying, offhanded compliments, and walking her home weren't things she was swayed by in the slightest. He seemed to be very neutral towards her, and Sarada was positive he was giving other girls the same gentlemanly treatment. She had told him to treat her the same way as everyone else, and that's what he was doing...
Seemingly.
She didn't see him taking other girls out for boba two times a week, but details.
The month passed by smoothly with no substantial drama. Boruto was still entertaining Chocho on the regular, and most girls had given up at this point since the Akimichi took up most of his time between classes and at lunch. Besides avoiding the devilish couple, though, Sarada found herself actually looking forward to student council on Monday's and Tuesday's instead of absolutely dreading having to be alone with Boruto. She looked forward to how much they could accomplish and the inside jokes they had created with each other that always lightened the stressful vibe. They began sitting next to each other in the collective grade student council meetings to compare notes, and slowly began migrating towards each other in the teacher's meetings, too. They even started saying an amicable hello to each other in the halls. It was monumental.
Monday's and Thursday's became their designated Boba days. And so far for three weeks without fail, Boruto and Sarada would walk to the shop right down the street, they would try each other's drinks, chill for about an hour, and then he would walk her home after.
During their time together, Sarada found they actually had a lot in common with how they viewed situations, people, and certain feelings, but whenever the conversation would get a little too personal for Boruto, he would veer the topic to Sarada and her family. Sarada obviously caught on, but knew he was uncomfortable talking about his feelings, so didn't take offense to it. Boruto was actually quite funny on his own, and he had Sarada almost spitting out her Boba more than once during their conversations.
Finding herself gravitating physically closer to him, though, was never on the agenda, until their feet were bumping against each other's under the table as Boruto griped about the flavor of tea he had gotten was subpar. She tried not to let her heart thud at the way his voice always got more raspy when he was irritated, or the way he kept drinking the boba even though he hated it. He never wasted food or drinks, and she appreciated that about him.
One Thursday when Boruto had to cancel, Sarada tried not to be too upset, because then that would be weird that she was reading more into their relationship than was actually there. She especially tried not to be upset when Chocho walked in that Friday morning boasting about how great of a night she had in bed.
Whilst putting her textbooks in her locker, Sarada looked to her left over at Boruto's locker in the main hall. He was leaned against the wall, surrounded by his friends while Chocho bragged, a smug look on his face, and though he was very aware Sarada was looking at him from down the hall, he wouldn't look back at her.
Sarada slammed her locker and didn't talk to anyone the rest of the day. She was mad at herself for being mad. Jealousy was a stupid emotion, but she couldn't help but give him the cold shoulder during student council, shutting down every one of his jokes and rejecting his offers to go out for boba. A snake was a snake. Boruto was who he was; Sarada was an idiot thinking he really was giving her any special treatment or had any chance of changing. She had gotten her hopes up and it had all come crashing down again. Naivety was a curse.
Boruto was well aware of what he did, so he shouldn't have been surprised she was acting standoffish towards him. But, Sarada saw the hurt in his eyes as she continuously pushed him away, and eventually he stopped talking to her altogether, and she tried to ignore it. It was confusing, because he had no reason to be hurt. He was Boruto Uzumaki; emotionless, a player, and did whatever he wanted. He held no attached obligation to Sarada like she did to him. At least, that's what Sarada kept telling herself.
It didn't take long before the distance between them grew wider again.
For Halloween night, Sarada stayed home and opened the door for trick or treaters. She was enjoying herself, and being wrapped up in a blanket with her favorite hoodie and leggings on was the best. She didn't expect, though, to open the door and have Himawari standing there in a butterfly costume, a bucket full of candy, and Inojin behind her with an amused expression.
"Trick or treat!" She said, and Sarada smiled.
"Hey, your costume is so cute!"
"Thanks!" Himawari said, taking a piece of candy. "You and Boruto are both answering the door tonight!"
"Really?" Sarada laughed. How ironic, she genuinely thought he'd be out partying and getting stupid drunk. Or with Chocho, she thought bitterly. Ew. She hated that she was still jealous.
"Yeah, he likes you a lot, I can tell." She said, and Inojin looked at her. "When he gets home after hanging out with you he's really happy! You're the only one he takes out anymore, which is weird because he used to bring different girls over all the time!"
"Hima," Inojin scolded. She giggled.
"Really," Sarada mused.
The only one? After Chocho serenaded the entire school of the night she had underneath the sheets and rose petals, that was highly doubtful. Boruto had bailed on her, but then again what boy would go out for boba when they could go have sex instead? Sarada got it. She had nothing to offer other than a good conversation. They were just friends, after all. Boruto would never have feelings for someone like her, and therefore would never put her above someone like Chocho.
With that being the first time she'd ever thought about him like that, Sarada wished she could believe Himawari, but it just wasn't possible at the moment. They were no longer on speaking terms over Sarada's stupid hurt feelings.
Himawari nodded. "We're going to finish this row of houses, but you should come over! We're going to watch scary movies all night and carve pumpkins!"
"Hima, I don't think–" Inojin said, and Himawari pouted at him.
"It would be fun! Right, Sarada? You'll come over?"
Her doll eyes were fluttering so delicately that Sarada couldn't say no. Himawari let out a cheer, then waved as she hopped down the porch steps, Inojin shaking his head as he followed her. Sarada said bye, and shut the door, only to have to open it shortly after for more trick or treaters.
After about an hour, Himawari's offer was still swimming in her head. She really debated whether she should or not, since she felt she would be intruding, but at the same time, she wasn't necessarily doing anything else tonight. But she was still mad at Boruto. But she didn't want to sit in her house all night being bored. But Himawari would be sad if she didn't show up. But then she'd have to be in the same vicinity as Boruto willingly. Ugh!
Well, maybe he wasn't home. From the time Himawari and Inojin left, he could've gone to a party. And knowing him, he definitely had a fear of missing out, so there's no way in hell he was home tonight. So it would be safe to go hang out with the two.
Finally jumping up from the couch having made a decision, she wrote a note that said take one, set it inside the bowl, and put it on the porch. Once throwing on a jacket, she told her mother she was going to the Uzumaki house, and made her way down the street.
The walk wasn't too long, just on the opposite side of the block. She could've cut through the park behind her house, but it was hard to see through all the dark pine trees at night, and it was much safer walking out here with plenty of people around. It was so much fun seeing all the decorations and set ups her neighbors had in their yards. Some were minimalists and had only spooky lights, whereas others had a full blown maze to get to their front door.
Once reaching the Uzumaki house, she hesitated knocking, but then did it anyway. Himawari answered, now out of her costume, and beamed.
"You came!"
"Y-Yeah, thanks for inviting me." Sarada said, and she was let inside. Boruto and Inojin were at the table sorting through all the candy, and Boruto looked just as surprised to see her and she was to see him. Which, was stupid, because he lived here, duh. But she expected him to be at a party!
They stared at each other for a long moment, and Sarada wondered if she could turn around and walk right back out the door. She felt uncomfortable being here, and had so many questions. But it was too late now.
"I invited Sarada over, by the way." Himawari said. "She gave out the Kit Kats!"
"Coulda guessed that." Boruto said lightly, and Sarada gave him a look.
At their last outing, she'd mentioned Kit Kats were her favorite candy. And apparently, he'd remembered. She held down her feelings of resentment that bubbled to the surface. He wasn't allowed to tease her anymore. All she saw when she looked at him now was the expression he held the next morning after bailing on her. The smugness and blatant disregard for her standing right in his line of sight but paying her no attention.
"Who's ready for Texas Chainsaw Massacre?!" Himawari shouted, then began scrolling through Netflix furiously. Inojin quickly redirected her to a more suspenseful, less bloody movie, and Sarada was left at the table with Boruto. He was eyeing his sister and Inojin closely.
"That was nice of him to take her trick or treating." Sarada said mindlessly. Boruto made a face.
"Yeah, I guess. There wasn't much room to battle it."
Realizing she had spoken aloud, she was stunned he had even talked to her. He didn't seem to hold any resentment against her for how she reacted – his energy seemed very complacent and almost careful. Because he knew without a doubt when Sarada snapped, there was no going back and he'd already crossed that line before. So now, he was apprehensive to say too much, and Sarada could see that. The fact that he was at least responding to her said a lot though, because that meant he wanted to fix it. If he was done with her he would've dipped out the second she walked in.
Maybe Sarada was being too harsh on him, like usual. She shouldn't keep pushing all these unattainable expectations on him, he owed her nothing. He was human, too. And finally she was starting to see him down on the ground with her rather than upon a pedestal.
Sarada looked over at Himawari and Inojin. They were arguing over what movie to watch, since Himawari wanted to go all out, meanwhile Inojin was trying to talk her down into something less crazy. Saw would give her nightmares for weeks, and he knew that, so was only trying to preserve her innocence. When she laughed, Boruto gazed at her.
Once the movie was set, they all sat down at the table with their pumpkins and began carving and shaving out the insides. Himawari and Inojin were having a competition to see whose would come out better, leaving Sarada and Boruto as the judges. Sarada taught them how to cook the pumpkin seeds, so by the time Himawari and Inojin were done, they had a platter of snacks to munch on as well.
The final reveal of all their carvings – Himawari had done a unicorn and Inojin a bird. To say the least, Inojin's looked the best, much to Himawari's dismay.
During the movie, Himawari and Inojin curled up on one side of the couch, while Boruto glared at them from the other side and Sarada was in the middle. She gave him a strange look. The other two were too busy with the movie to notice.
"What's wrong?" Sarada asked. Boruto leaned his elbows on the arm of the sofa and blew out a breath.
"Nothing." He said, and Sarada nudged him. She was way too curious to let it go.
"C'mon. Something has to be on your mind."
He kept his eyes on the television for a moment, then looked to his sister then to Sarada. He shrugged and adjusted the blanket on his lap.
"I'll tell you later."
For now, Sarada would just have to accept that. There was so much she wanted to ask him. Starting with his feelings regarding their boba outings and ending with Chocho. She could never tell what he was thinking, he was such a closed book. And if she was being honest, yelling at him would make her feel much better, but she could tell he had other things on his mind, and they never got anywhere when they yelled at each other. And for what? Admitting out loud that she had been jealous Boruto had bailed to go hook up with Chocho? No freaking way, never in a million years would she give him that satisfaction.
Sighing, Sarada curled her legs to her chest and watched the movie intently.
About halfway through, chills ran up her spine. Not from the movie, but she was getting cold. She had only brought a small jacket which was extremely thin, so she rubbed her arms to warm them up. Boruto glanced to the side, then looked back at the movie.
He noticed Sarada kept doing it, and she was curling closer into her body. Eventually, he opened his blanket, tugged her closer to him, and threw it over the side of her. She let out a small squeak, but immediately the warmth encased her. Their knees were touching under the blanket, and she tried not to think about it too hard.
Ino came to pick up Inojin before midnight. Himawari cleaned everything up and went to bed, leaving Boruto and Sarada downstairs in the dim lighting from the kitchen. Sarada was still wrapped in the blanket while Boruto brought her some tea.
"I'm telling you, that jacket of yours is useless." He said, handing her the cup. Sarada took it graciously.
"I didn't expect to get so cold."
"It's literally going to snow tonight."
"It doesn't snow here, stupid!"
Boruto snorted. Sarada took a sip of her tea, and recoiled when it was too hot, then blew on it. They sat in the nice serenity of the living room, just enjoying the silence and wind tap against the window panes. Sarada let out a deep breath. She would start with simple conversation, then get into the yelling.
"So, what were you going to tell me later?"
Boruto kept his eyes on his steaming tea. "I don't trust Inojin around my sister. Yeah, he's nice to her, and she has the biggest crush on him, but there's just something off about him."
Sarada raised a brow. "I thought you two were friends?"
"We are. Just something's been up lately." His tone inflected he didn't want to talk about it anymore. He took a sip of tea. "After this cup, I'll walk you home."
"You sure? It's pretty cold outside." Sarada said. She really didn't want him to be out late because of her; she could always call her mom to save him the trip. Besides, she couldn't really stand the sight of him either right now, so it would save her the tragedy of having to deal with his presence for ten more minutes.
"Yeah." He slipped out of the blanket, and preemptively grabbed his jacket. "Besides, I don't mind a little star gazing while I walk home."
Sarada's tea cup slowly lowered into her lap. How strange Boruto could be sometimes. Going from being one way to the complete opposite in such a short time was still a lot to deal with. He really was more tranquil than his public mask deemed him to be. Trying to imagine him acting calm and collected all the time was a weird thought, she just couldn't picture it. Boruto had too much personality to be so chill all the time. And she forgot that he did have feelings, too, as much as he tried to hide them. Suddenly, she realized the way she'd reacted had been rude, and expecting Boruto to just take it was unfair. Her shoulders dropped.
The whole situation had completely undone the past month. They had definitely grown more comfortable around each other and he hadn't been doing anything to damage their relationship, except the speed bump that was Chocho. That had taken them back a couple steps, and now Sarada was fighting with her feelings whether she wanted to forgive him and be his friend again or continue giving him the cold shoulder.
But, then again, could she fully trust someone who said all those mean things about her in front of all those people at the Fall Festival? It was a line she didn't know where to draw. Before, it had always been so black and white. If people did her wrong, they were out of her life. But now, with Boruto it was different. Deep down, she wanted to prove to herself that he wasn't actually as terrible as everyone thought he was. For some reason there was so much she didn't know about him, and she wanted to figure it out. It was an indescribable, confusing feeling.
Her silent space must've provoked Boruto to fill it, since he began talking.
"Also, I wanna say sorry for when I bailed on you that one Thursday." Boruto quickly took a sip of tea to hide his expression. "I felt bad."
"Felt bad about what?" Sarada asked, quite agog he even brought it up first. Just for her own satisfaction, since he never wanted to talk about his feelings, she was going to make him this time.
"That I, uh, bailed on you... for Chocho." He cleared his throat. "I know you heard what she was saying. And I knew you were mad."
"Why would I have any reason to be mad?" Sarada looked at him evenly. While it may be the truth, she wanted to know why he was under the impression she had been upset. He let out a quick breath.
"Don't play with me, I know for a fact you were mad." He nudged her arm. "You stopped staring at me creepily from your locker like a stalker."
Sarada almost choked on her tea. "I do not stare at you from my locker!"
Boruto cackled. "You get to school every morning at seven twenty-five and put your books away right when I get there at seven-thirty. Yes you do."
"I'm just seeing if you're gonna show up or not so I'll know if I have to stay for student council, stupid." Sarada muttered. "And how do you know what time I get to school? It sounds like you're the stalker!"
"Sarada, you're like clockwork. There's not a day that goes by that you don't follow your routine, until I started taking you out for boba." He grinned as if he had won this time, and Sarada pushed his face away.
"You don't know me. And you didn't even answer my question!"
"What question?"
"Why would I have a reason to be mad?'
"'Cause you were jealous?"
Sarada laughed. He knew her too well, her heart was pounding. "See, you don't know me."
"I wouldn't say I do, but I can read you better than you think." He finished off his tea. "Whether you think you were jealous or not, everything is on your face. Literally you can't hide anything."
Sarada felt her cheeks start to heat up. He was teasing her way too much!
"Do not!"
"Don't be embarrassed about it, it's cute." He leaned back.
"Yeah, well, you're the complete opposite. I can't tell what you're thinking at all." Sarada curled her legs up to her chest.
"Really? I feel like I'm pretty open with you." He said, plopping the tea bag up and down in the empty cup. Sarada looked at him.
"You think?"
He scoffed. "How many people know about my dad?"
Sarada clasped her fingers together. Well, she supposed that was true, but just knowing one large thing that impacted his life didn't mean he was continuously open with her.
"Well, that's only one thing."
Boruto threw his hands behind his head. "Well, what else do you wanna know?"
Now that she was on the spot, Sarada could not think of anything. The tons of questions she'd had listed in her head suddenly had disappeared. Until one popped into her head.
"Why do you feel like you have to change yourself to make people like you?"
Boruto stared at her, then looked forward to the TV. It was in screensaver mode, so he observed the floating pictures before answering. "That's a good question. I guess I worry about not being good enough."
"Good enough for who?"
"Everyone." He shrugged. "It's easier to make people intentionally dislike me than to try and get them to actually like me. That way I control how they feel about me."
"Well, isn't that kind of unfair? You're putting a label on yourself for other people to judge before they can actually get to know you."
"Yeah, well, I don't think anyone wants to really get to know me. I'm fucked up."
"Everyone is in their own way," Sarada said, "everyone has their own anxiety because everyone wants to be accepted, but wouldn't you rather be authentic and find who actually cares about you that way then be surrounded by a bunch of fake people?"
Boruto didn't know what to say. He simply shrugged.
"Beats me."
Sarada rolled her eyes. She couldn't tell if he really was this shallow, or he was holding back. It had to be the latter, just based on past conversations, because he was severely uncomfortable talking about his feelings and he thought it was weird to share them with Sarada of all people. But, for some reason, she didn't like that.
"You know, you can be honest with me."
"I know I can, but I don't want to be." Boruto said cheekily, then poked her forehead. "It's late. I'll walk you home."
The walk home stung colder than anticipated. Sarada could hardly hold her jacket tight enough to her body. She was quaking with shivers, and upon noticing Boruto shed his own jacket and draped it over her shoulders. Her steps faltered, but he continued on as if nothing had happened. She let out a long breath and kept walking. He was so strange. Tonight had been strange. She hadn't gotten all the answers she'd liked, but at least she knew he somewhat trusted her still, he was just holding back.
Soon, on her doorstep, the automatic light flicked on as it sensed their movement, and instead of stopping at her driveway like Sarada had anticipated he'd do, he walked her all the way to the door. She turned around before letting out another chilled breath, steam dissipating around them, and Boruto snorted. She was still shivering.
Taking her into his arms, Sarada was taken aback at first, but then melted into his warmth. After tonight, she hadn't known where their relationship stood, but obviously Boruto still felt they were in good graces. Hugs were still a new thing between them. The first time it happened, of course, was at the Fall Festival, but that didn't count since Boruto hardly remembered. So, the first time he officially remembered, Boruto had done it out of sheer absent-minded impulse whilst grating her about being so adamant on soy milk in her tea instead of whole, and once they'd realized, it had gotten really awkward really quick. A small cough to fill the void and Sarada practically tripping into her house, it wasn't spoken of until the next time Boruto asked permission to hug her. So, now Sarada liked to think of them more as kindly transferring body-heat than a romantic gesture.
But, this particular moment was almost too delicate to say anything, so she didn't.
"See you tomorrow." He said softly, loosening his grasp around her small frame, and Sarada immediately craved his touch again once they were apart. They looked at each other gently, barely a hint of a smile on Boruto's face, but it was there. Sarada felt her heart pound.
It felt as if they stood there forever, but upon Boruto breaking eye contact, he headed down her steps and ran off into the night. Sarada clenched his jacket closer.
What...was this feeling?
XxX