A/N: Hello everyone! *hearts* I just want to give a special thanks to hoe enabler, SnakesSolidButt, Lightning Scarlet, chica-flick, SG, Sophia, Mano.o.o.o. on , BorutoDiscusser, borutodiscusserdebater, Saltyapples25, and all the guests who reviewed! And thank you to b0ba, jizkobe, BlueMarvel616, nishaganesh16, love . ebear, Bilal Almohammad Alfihan, and Lau31 for favoriting recently! And of course everyone else who is just reading to enjoy, shoutout to you guys too! It really does mean a lot to me to have so many of you supporting! (:
Also, there have been a couple of you ask when the "juicy" scenes are coming up, and honestly it won't be for a while. We're still in part one of the story, and things will start getting more intense in part two, that's when I will change the rating to M. That's not to say small things won't happen here and there, but it's more important to focus on the foundation of their developing relationships in the beginning rather than jumping straight into it. If there is any content in a chapter that I see may be concerning for a younger audience, I will always put a warning at the beginning of the chapter. I want this story to stay as true to how I wrote it and to simultaneously make it as comfortable as possible for you all to enjoy it!
Aside from that, most all of you hate Metal and Sarada together HAHA! It cracks me up. But, y'know, ~character development~. And as I promised in the authors note in chapter one, BoruSara will always prevail! So don't you worry!
I love and appreciate you all, so here is the new chapter!
Boruto had grown significantly distant from Sarada. Every day that came closer to Boruto's final answer, Sarada increasingly had more anxiety. She had no idea what he was thinking ever since he'd shut down completely from her. No words, no jokes, nothing. They were straight business, and that was it. Nothing more, nothing less.
Finally, after a grueling week of anxiety and uncertainty, Sarada was face to face with Headmaster Tsunade, Mr. Aburame, and Boruto. Tsunade had her fingers interlocked, her eyes closed just awaiting the bullshit that was to come, and her bright pink lipstick freshly applied. Sarada clasped her hands in front of her stomach and tried to even out her breathing.
"So Boruto, I hear there have been some problems in the student council and you would like to resign. So let's get right to it." She looked Boruto straight on. "You've had a week to think about it and seriously consider your request. If you do decide to resign, you will no longer be eligible to be a part of the student council in upcoming years, and will have to be put on probation until further notice. I'm sure Mr. Aburame informed you of this."
Boruto nodded. "Yes ma'am."
"If you decide to retract your resignation, some changes will need to happen. We cannot have two of our student representatives at each other's throats. As leaders, you are supposed to inspire, create harmony, and guide your peers. You were voted into this position by your very own homeroom, accepted through all the teacher's in this school, and both have since shown a significant impact."
Boruto nodded.
"So, with that being said," Tsunade leaned back in her chair. "What is your answer, Boruto Uzumaki?"
Sarada held back her tears. She already knew Boruto was going to say he wanted to resign. After the whole last week of barely speaking to or glancing in her direction there was no way he would stay in it. Especially now that her and Metal were together, and everything was a whole mess…
The clock arms bounced loudly from the wall, each second feeling like a new crack in Sarada's heart. She was just waiting for him to speak with each tick.
With a deep breath, Boruto spoke.
"I'll stay."
Sarada whipped her head over to him. He was still looking at Headmaster Tsunade straight in the eyes, concrete and serious in his answer. Tears started to well in her eyes.
Headmaster Tsunade leaned forward. She closed her eyes.
"All right. If that's the case, we will drop your retraction. From here on forward, though, if any more problems between you and Miss Uchiha arise, we will have to permanently separate you two. Be cordial or there will be severe consequences."
Sarada looked back at the headmaster, and her and Boruto nodded simultaneously. "Understood."
"Wonderful. Now have Mr. Aburame write you a late slip and get to class. We will discuss our student council changes later, I need some lunch." Headmaster Tsunade stood from her chair and stretched, while Mr. Aburame readied a late slip for his two students.
Once they were released from the office, Boruto took off without a word. Sarada ran after him and grabbed the sleeve of his blazer, stopping him in his tracks. He didn't look at her. Her breathless words barely escaped in a coherent sentence.
"You–You stayed? Y-You're not leaving anymore, why?"
Boruto stared at the ground. "Too much of a hassle. I made a big deal outta nothing." He turned his head and mustered a fake smile. "Now you're happy, I'm happy."
Sarada furrowed her eyebrows. "B-But, what about–"
"Whatever you're going to say doesn't matter." Boruto interjected. "You and I have a role to fulfil. We're examples to our classmates. We have a job to do, and that's it." He pulled his sleeve from Sarada's grip. "We are the representatives for our homeroom. We're just business partners now."
"Business partners…" Sarada repeated. It didn't sound right rolling off her tongue. They weren't even friends? Acquaintances? Just business partners?
Boruto nodded. "That's it. I gotta get to class."
He left, leaving Sarada alone in the senior hall.
The regret she felt was overwhelming. There was no salvaging their relationship this time. Taking the necklace off and impulsively choosing Metal was the worst thing she could've done. He didn't even compare to Boruto, her feelings for Metal were nowhere near as strong. She was kidding herself thinking choosing an easy love was the right way to go.
For once, following her logic had seemed to backfire. Not once had her carefully crafted thoughts failed her… until now. She wanted Boruto, not Metal, but it was too late. She had made a decision, she had to stick with it.
But then again, she was so conflicted. Dealing with Boruto's lies and two-faced tendencies was what pushed her away in the first place. When Boruto had come to her telling her he'd be better, she didn't believe him, thus was driven towards Metal. But had it ultimately been the right decision?
She didn't know what she wanted. But all she could do now was deal with the consequences of her decision.
XxX
Causing a ruckus was the last thing Boruto and Sarada wanted to do. They were both master at acting in their own right. Sarada was notorious for keeping to herself, and Boruto put his usual loud act on, so no one at the school knew there was even a problem.
Because Boruto had chosen to remain in the student council, some changes had been implemented. There was now a choice to opt out for the new semester that started the second week of January, students had to campaign for a full week and earn the majority of a vote to be considered for the position, and meetings were now permanently rearranged. It would've been smart to have in the first place, but they had never had problems with two student council members like this before, so never had to enforce strict rules.
Well, Sarada and Boruto definitely made an impact everywhere they went, that was for sure.
From now on, Monday's and Tuesday's were no longer simple classroom meetings. Everyone got together every day, with Headmaster Tsunade joining them on Friday's, which made Boruto and Sarada able to remain physically distant from each other.
Outside of general expected interactions in the after school meetings, they no longer spoke. And surprisingly, it hadn't caught anyone's attention either. Except Mitsuki, and when he asked Boruto about it, he didn't want to talk about it. It salvaged a lot of strained, awkward tension.
Sarada, on the other hand; was keeping herself booked and busy to keep her mind off of the emotional roller coaster that was now her life. She was getting behind on homework, the student council work just seemed never ending, and it always seemed like Metal was always wanting to hang out at the most inconvenient times. He got offended when she declined his offers, so tried to start doing her homework at his house, but he always wanted her paying attention to him, so she never got any work done.
Everything was just stressful, dark, and gloomy lately.
It was a Monday morning mid-March when Sarada went to school a little earlier. She had almost been tardy a couple times last week due to waking up late. The weather was becoming sunny again as opposed to the usual chilled cloudy days, so she was able to start walking to school again. The sun was peeking from the horizon, but still had not risen. She pulled her jacket closer to her body and blew out a deep breath.
Her uncle Itachi usually took her to and from school since it lined up perfectly with his work schedule, but lately Sakura had been giving her a ride there, then she had been going to Metal's house after their school activities, then he would take her home. Sarada hadn't seen her uncle in a while and missed him, so she wanted a break for once and was going to go to his house tonight to relax and play with his dogs.
Arriving at the school, it was very quiet in the hallways. Teachers were barely arriving themselves for the faculty meeting, and Sarada made her way to the homeroom. She set up the board, cleaned the chalk erasers an extra time before she sat down to focus on her homework.
Math was a real killer. She didn't understand this current chapter they were in, and it was the only class bringing down her GPA. Metal wasn't too studious himself, so he never wanted to help Sarada study. He just did his work without putting much thought into it, and always got a decent grade.
She'd sit on his bed for hours looking up tutorials how to solve the equation or googling solutions or even asking Metal himself, but he never complied. He was too busy watching movies, playing his games, or doing at home workouts to want to sit down and help her, but when he was done with his activities, Sarada had to give all her attention to him. It was getting tiring having to deal with the one-sided standards. Sarada couldn't do homework because then she was "ignoring" him, but he was allowed to do whatever he wanted?
Tapping the pencil mercilessly against her desk, she aggressively flipped to the back of the book to try and find some type of explanation to this equation. She absolutely hated this.
It was completely futile. She had been sitting there for thirty minutes already reading the instructions over and over again. Students were now starting to file through the hallways, and she was about to lose her mind. This assignment was due today in third period and she had no freaking idea what to do!
Giving up, she laid her head on her textbook. This sucked. She hated math. So much.
An all too familiar laugh echoed down the hallway, and Sarada froze. It wasn't long before Boruto bid his friends goodbye and slid open the door, only to reveal the chalkboard already set up and Sarada pouting in her desk. He blinked, quite taken aback at the scene. Mitsuki peeked over his shoulder, then quickly left. Stiffly, Boruto slid the door shut behind him.
"You set up already?" He asked.
"Yes." Sarada grumbled. Boruto took a couple steps forward, glancing between the board and Sarada. He was being awkward.
"What time did you get here?"
"Seven."
Boruto raised a brow, surprised, then realized she was laying on top of her textbook. "What are you doing?"
Sarada lifted her head slowly. "I haven't been able to figure out this math problem all weekend, and we were assigned it on Thursday."
Boruto stuffed his hands in his pockets and walked forward. He brought the textbook closer to him. Polynomial and Rational functions.
"I still don't get why you're in precalculus. Usually seniors take that class." He said.
Sarada rubbed her eyes. "My counselor thought it'd be a good idea to push me higher up in math so I can get early college credits starting next year. She wants me to take all AP classes next year."
Boruto sucked in a cheek and flipped back a few pages. Damn, he was pretty good at math and even he didn't understand what was going on. He was in Algebra Two, one step above where sophomores should be, and here Miss Uchiha was in fucking precalculus when she couldn't even calculate how many toes she had on her own feet.
"Damn. That sucks."
Sarada shrugged, not expecting much else from him. She was heartbroken that she'd have to turn in this assignment late and get a bad score. It was going to bring her GPA down significantly if her B+ bumped down to a C. She let out a big sigh.
"It's fine. I'll just do extra credit later."
Boruto watched as Sarada unwillingly reread the chapter introductory over and over, squiggling on her scratch paper.
Looking to the chalkboard, then to Sarada, he restrapped his knapsack and exited the classroom. Sarada didn't know where in the world he'd go since there was five minutes until the bell rang for class, but she put away her textbook for now and ran her hands through her hair. Everything was way too stressful. She never had any time for herself.
Metal's head popped through the doorway, and he beamed. "There you are! I couldn't find you at your locker, but I ran into Boruto and he told me you were in here."
Sarada almost choked. "Y-Yep, just been trying to get some homework done!"
"Wow, that's last minute for you." Metal leaned over her desk to look at her textbook. "Precalculus? Didn't you finish that on Friday?"
"No…" Sarada trailed off. She had tried, but Metal was blasting music on his video game and it kept distracting her, then he had wanted to watch a movie after. She was feeling annoyed.
Metal hummed. "I just do my homework in class, that way I never have to take it home!"
He also was in the general sophomore classes that everyone their age was in, and ran track. His responsibilities were nothing compared to Sarada with honors classes, senior classes, student council, and her emotions. Sarada forced a laugh.
"Y-Yeah, maybe I'll try that."
Metal stared at Sarada with bright eyes, blinking every once in a while. When he gave her that look, she knew what it meant. He wanted a kiss. Students were starting to come into the classroom now, though, so they couldn't here. And besides, Sarada was feeling smothered.
"Later?" Sarada asked, though the genuinity didn't shine through her tone. She was not a public display of affection type of person. She didn't want other people in her business.
Metal nodded in response, and Boruto came through seconds later, shoulders hunched over with his hands in his pockets, and barely spared a glance at Sarada. The conflicting feelings inside Sarada were becoming too much. She hated being with Metal when Boruto was around, it made her feel so weird. She wanted to disappear.
Once the final bell rang and all the students took to their seats, a few beats later Mr. Aburame came through the door.
"Please stand," Boruto said. Everyone did as he said, as Mr. Aburame set his books on his desk.
"Good morning class. I don't have any inspiring speeches or exciting news for you today, so go ahead and work on whatever you need. I will be on the phone so please keep the volume low."
Most everyone pulled out homework they had waited to finish last minute, and Sarada re-opened her textbook and was filled with dread.
No other sophomore was in precalculus, and she hardly knew any seniors. So the odds anyone in here could help her was very low. She grumbled and picked up her pencil again. If only she had a tutor...her uncle Itachi probably would be so good at this…ugh.
Boruto glanced back at her, then turned back to talk to Shikadai.
Her next two classes went by smoothly, but during lunch Sarada was too distracted to focus on eating. Sumiere looked at her friend with concern.
"Sarada, aren't you going to eat anything?"
Wasabi and Namida took notice, and looked at Sarada's plate. Most everything was untouched.
"Oh! Yeah, Sarada, are you feeling okay?" Namida asked.
"I'm fine, I'm just not looking forward to math." She said. "I didn't finish my math assignment and I have no idea who can help me."
"Oh," All the girls whispered collectively. Sumiere frowned.
"You're in precalculus, right? Have you tried asking any of the seniors in your class?" She asked.
Sarada narrowed her eyes. "None of them talk to me in class anyway, there's no way they'd help me. I'm just the smarty-pants sophomore according to them."
"What about the teacher? Did you go and check to see if she would help you?"
"We're not allowed to go see our teachers during lunch, remember?" Wasabi said. "Only before and after school."
"Yeah, and she wasn't there this morning." Sarada said. She let out an aggravated sigh. "Ahh, I hate this!"
"Just ask her if you can turn it in late, or do extra credit. You'll be okay!" Namida said cheerfully. "Now eat something! You need energy."
"Oh, Namida, have you registered for summer volleyball yet?"
"What? It's registration already?"
"Yes!"
"Ahh, no I haven't!"
Sarada laughed. She was grateful for her friends. Even though there was nothing she could do right now, they were still encouraging and positive. Slowly, she took a bite of her rice, and decided five minutes before class she'd stop by to ask the teacher if she could turn it in on Wednesday.
Sarada said bye to her friends, threw her lunch away, and grabbed her textbook before dragging her feet to her math class. It was less than ten minutes before the class started, so she was sure her teacher could offer either a mini explanation on how to solve the equations or tell her straight up she was doomed to have a C. Sarada let out a defeated sigh.
And, like she expected, her teacher told her no. She could not get an extension on the due date and if she turned it in late it would automatically be a fifty percent deduction, but if she came in after school she could help out, but Sarada couldn't because of student council unless she got an excuse from Mr. Aburame.
It was more trouble than it was worth; and Sarada was so frustrated. But, fifty perfect plus any other problem she got right was better than the three horrid answers she had on her paper and nothing else. She'd just have her uncle help her with it tonight.
Sinking into her desk, she laced her hands through her hair. Her extensions were hurting her head. Her skirt felt too tight, her legs were cold, her blazer was itching, and she just felt uncomfortable. She wanted to go home.
Once the final bell for the day rang, Sarada was at her locker when Metal came up behind her quietly and surprised her by grabbing her waist. Sarada squeaked in shock and laughed when she realized it was him.
"You scared me!"
"That's what I was going for!" He beamed. "Are you coming over today?"
"Ahhh…" Sarada faltered. Looking at his gleaming expression, she knew if she said no it'd hurt his feelings, but she just really needed a night for herself. She had been so annoyed by him lately, but felt guilty knowing she would disappoint him. "I-I thought I told you I was going to my uncle's tonight!"
Metal had a blank expression, though a smile was still on his face. "You did?"
"Y-Yeah!"
She didn't, but details.
"Oh," Metal let go of her, his brows dancing in confusion trying to process what she said, and the smile from his face slowly fell. "I don't remember you telling me that."
Sarada laughed nervously. "Oh my gosh, I totally probably forgot to tell you, but he'll be here any minute to pick me up!"
"O-Oh, well, okay, I guess." Metal said, his eyes dodging her gaze. "I'll see you later then."
He walked off, and Sarada was somewhat glad he didn't fight it, but also knew he wasn't happy. She sighed and leaned against her locker. Lies lies lies. That's all she was becoming now was a big fat liar. And to her own boyfriend of all people. Why didn't she feel comfortable just telling Metal she didn't want to hang out?
Itachi picked her up from school that night, and instead of going straight to his house, he took her out to their diner first. Sarada's mind was heavy with thoughts, but Itachi didn't seem to want to prod her, for he turned on some music and let it play gently in the background.
They sat in the diner and ordered their usual ice cream with a side of curly fries. Boruto had mentioned the curly fries long ago when he and Sarada had gone out for boba, so now she was going to try them, she exclaimed her excitement as Itachi smiled weakly.
"You seem to be doing well, Sarada."
Sarada paused. "I guess."
Itachi interlaced his fingers. "What do you mean?"
Sarada relaxed into the booth then looked out the window. Thinking back on the past couple months, this was the first real moment she felt she was able to relax. And with that, it was finally settling in that honestly… she wasn't happy.
"I dunno. I guess I just really don't know what I'm doing anymore."
Itachi nodded slowly and his eyes followed the waiter that passed by. "I see. Why is that?"
"Well, I don't know," Sarada said as the ice cream was placed in front of them. She grabbed her spoon. "Ever since Metal and I started dating everything just feels confusing. I chose him over Boruto thinking it was going to be easy…" She trailed off, not really knowing quite where her train of thought wanted to go.
Itachi let out an amused sigh as Sarada began eating the ice cream. He looked out the window.
"So what happened with you two?"
"Who, me and Boruto or me and Metal?"
"You and Boruto."
Sarada made a face. "We just kept fighting over the same things. He just lied to me all the time. He'd say one thing, then act a completely different way. Like when he was with me I believed everything he said but when he got around his friends it was a completely different story. It's like I didn't even exist."
Itachi picked up his spoon. "Most boys when they're younger are easily influenced by their friends, I'm sure Boruto meant everything he was saying, but like you said, his actions weren't lining up."
Sarada watched as the fries were set in front of them. "Yeah, it was just really dumb and I got sick of it. We weren't ever like dating, but we had a thing… and it just didn't work out. When Metal and I started talking I thought it would be an easy choice, but I can't stop thinking about maybe I made the wrong decision."
With a sigh, Sarada dipped some fries into the ice cream.
"Do you feel the same way about Metal as you do Boruto?" Itachi asked.
Sarada gave him a look. "They don't even come close to each other."
He chuckled. "Well, what are you questioning? What is making you rethink your decision?"
"Metal just…" Sarada swirled her soon around the ice cream. "He's just… not Boruto."
Itachi observed his niece closely. It made perfect sense to have hesitance. It was so obvious she still had strong feelings for Boruto, but he wasn't living up to the expectation he constantly painted for her, so didn't want to continue dealing with all the disappointment and drama so she was trying to move forward.
Then meanwhile, Metal, seemingly, had fit her idealisms, but now was falling short as well. No wonder Sarada felt so lost. The one boy she really wanted to be with had some growing up to do, and the one boy she was with wasn't even on the same planet as her. Itachi had been through this before. And being at his age of close to forty and being single most of his life, Sarada was better off being by herself until someone proved to her that they wanted to be with her.
Besides the fact that she was still only fifteen, relationships this young carried little to no weight. They were practically a waste of time at this age, but not always. The unfortunate thing was she was slowly losing sight of her individual goals so just needed to get back on track for her own peace of mind.
Itachi, knowing his niece very well, would stick with a decision until the very end, so hopefully she just wouldn't lose herself in the process. From the outside looking in, Itachi knew Sarada was just learning how to navigate growing into her own beauty, and the attention and accolades it brought her, and it was all part of the normal process. Relationships, friendships, and family relations were all tested heavily in this time period, so she was learning and growing along with everyone else just trying to figure out who she was.
Itachi laced his fingers together, tilting his head the slightest bit.
"You're smart and have good intuition, you'll know the right answer when it comes. Just trust yourself." He said.
Sarada gave Itachi a soft smile then took another fry.
"How much longer before summer break?" Itachi asked.
"Mmm...school gets out the second week of June, so three months."
"That's good. Do you think you'll join the student council again?"
Sarada shrugged, swirling her spoon around. "I don't know, honestly. It's a lot of fun, just a lot of work. Sumiere, Wasabi, and Namida all want to do this summer volleyball team and they want me to join them. I want to, but I've never played volleyball in my life!"
Itachi nodded. "It's easy, you'll catch on quick."
Sarada shrugged. "I hope so!" She noticed he had barely eaten any, and tilted her head in confusion. "Do you not like the ice cream?"
"I do, I just wanted you to have more since you were enjoying it so much." He smiled. Sarada took another spoonful.
"Aw, thanks!''
Itachi watched as she finished the ice cream, and let out a refreshing sigh. She worked so hard and deserved so much, Itachi absolutely adored her. He just wanted what was best for her at all times.
The rest of the night was spent helping her with precalculus homework, and eventually Sarada got the minimum hang of it. She understood it enough to where she could find the answer, it just required a lot of help.
He drove her home after that, and Sarada had a couple missed calls from Metal. Sitting on the edge of her bed, she furrowed her eyebrows and dialed him back.
"Hey Sarada!"
"Hey," She said softly as she sat on her bed. "Sorry, I was out with my uncle."
"No worries! I just wanted to know how it was going!"
"Good," Sarada smiled, plopping onto her back. She traced her gaze across the ceiling pattern. "We just went out to eat at the diner."
"I am glad to hear that! Will you be coming over tomorrow?"
Sarada paused. "M-Maybe! I think we're going to start planning prom, so student council might run late tomorrow!"
"Oh, no worries, I can wait for you!" Metal said cheerfully. Sarada's stomach flipped in circles.
"I mean, you don't have to, don't you have martial arts tomorrow?"
"I suppose I do...do you want to come and watch?!"
Sarada hesitated. Well, she had been blowing Metal off a lot recently and she felt bad… she wasn't being a very good girlfriend. God, why did she feel so confused all the damn time?!
"S-Sure, I think that'd be fun."
"Okay! I will let my father know."
Sarada smiled. He sounded so happy, so maybe she was being too uptight. Metal had kind of gotten the bad end of the stick after her falling out with Boruto – she was more business less play now and didn't have a lot of free time due to throwing herself into her schoolwork. But then again, Metal was way too clingy...
"Okay, well, um, I'm pretty tired so I'm going to sleep."
Metal hummed on the other side. "Sleep well, beautiful."
Sarada's heart pounded. Oh God, she had butterflies again, and her cheeks were red. It was a nice compliment, but why didn't it feel right?
"Th-Thank you, goodnight."
Metal hung up, and Sarada was left with the lingering question.
What the hell was she doing?
XxX