A/N: Hello everyone! -hearts- I'd just like to jump straight in and say thank you sooo much to Masochist no.1, OriqinalGangsta, SG, hanako yu, SnakesSolidButt, ScarletBolt, jizkobe, Mano.o.o. on, Rinzler FFN, lee692626, Shit I am unknown, chia-flick, Ventus, itachito, ThornKing, Franca Osodin, jujuswag13, PhoebeWeatherfieldx, itsvegebulsoup, naruto uzumaki, julienay12, FeistyBanana, AliasTesin, Clarakarara, and all guests for reviewing since chapter 15! I love reading your predictions, thoughts, rants, and really it does make my day when I see a new review! :)))
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And then thank you to anyone else who just likes reading :) ily guys too -hearts- I apologize if your username is botched the slightest bit - whenever I upload into the FFN document manager it messes it up! And wow, there's so many of you now! :O Like wow, since the last time I checked in, Salt and Sugar hit over 100 reviews! I'm shocked and so grateful! I hope I continue to meet your expectations and further grow your love for this story! You guys are all sooo sweet to me, and I appreciate each and every one of you so much! And please, if any of you ever have any concerns or questions or even constructive criticism, please message me! I'm only human, so there will inevitably be mistakes in S&S no matter how many times as I edit / reread every chapter.
Omg sorry to make this authors note unbearably long. Onto the story!
The last day of school shouldn't have even counted as a day. It was used to sign yearbooks and show off a cute outfit and utilize that last chance to get a crush's number. There was no dress code enforced, and the weather was warm, emotions were sporadic, so of course everyone was definitely feeling it in the air.
It being quite a couple different things.
There were some students who were sad, some who were nervous of the lack of routine to come, some who were relieved for the warmer days ahead. Others were excited, some didn't even care, and Sarada? Well.
She was a definite mix of all the above.
"Please tell me you're joining the volleyball team! I don't know what I'd do if I didn't see you all summer!" Sumire encased her in a hug. Sarada laughed and hugged her friend back.
"Yeah, well, maybe!"
"Please, Sarada! I know you've been thinking about it!"
Sarada looked to the other two girls standing behind her. Namida and Wasabi were nodding eagerly, and Sarada scratched her temple.
"I guess I could… but I've never played before. What if I'm horrible?"
"You won't! It's just a recreational team. You don't have to be pro or anything." Sumire smiled. "Will you need a ride there? It's at six."
"Um, no, I think my mom can take me." Sarada said. She was unconvinced, and as to not hurt her friend's feelings, that was the answer she was going to give. Nonetheless, Sumire nodded, completely blindsided to the noncommittal statement.
"Okay, call me if you do!"
Her, Namida, and Wasabi all walked off, yearbooks in clutch. Sarada's hand hurt from how many notes she was writing to everyone. She was almost terrified to look in her yearbook and see what people were saying about her, but she knew realistically it couldn't be anything horrible. Swirling her pen around her fingers, she continued on through the school to her locker. She was about done for the day.
She was walking across the soccer field when Chocho came running up to her, bedazzled pink sharpie in hand. She grabbed Sarada's book and began scribbling ferociously. When she was done, she encased Sarada in a hug.
"We'll defs go on a double date soon."
With a wink, Chocho left, and Sarada's cheeks were warm. She was going to pretend like that wasn't implying her and Boruto… she was still with Metal. She was still with Metal. She was still with Metal. And she was going to keep telling herself even though she was doing everything she could to avoid him.
But, he had practically forced himself on her, so how was she supposed to react? Like even though they were boyfriend and girlfriend, even if it was non consensual she had to do it anyway? Absolutely not, Sarada was smarter than that. It was conflicting because why would he, someone who claimed to care about her, push her boundaries like that?
Instead of facing the problem head on, she was running away waiting for her brain to catch up with her body. Every single thing Metal did only mentally drove her further away and closer into the "what ifs" with Boruto. It was getting exhausting feeling so strongly one way, but then having to physically present herself another. But she couldn't lie to herself anymore. The end of her and Metal had already started a long time ago, and she needed to accept that now.
"Sarada!"
She was frozen on the spot. After her extreme attempts to stay hidden, she'd inevitably been found. She hadn't even had time to script an entire conversation in her head!
Immediately she tried to duck into the crowd of fellow students, but Metal swiftly caught up and grabbed her arm.
"Sarada–Sarada! Hey, I have been looking for you all day!" Metal was breathless, his bangs bristling with the breeze. His expression looked concerned. "Have you been avoiding me?"
Okay, so he was going to play this game. That only pissed Sarada off and she refrained from rolling her eyes. The fact that he knew she was mad at him yet pretending like she wasn't was infuriating. Obviously he didn't see pushing himself on her was any indication of breaking boundaries, and so he'd probably say she was overreacting. She had to be prepared for that, or worse.
The other students around them were staring with no shame, and Sarada adjusted her glasses under the sun's burning rays, then turned her head. She spoke to him in a harsh tone.
"What do you think?"
Metal frowned. "I told you I loved you, is that not good enough for you anymore?"
Sarada was taken aback with a sudden pang of guilt. She didn't want to talk about this here, but obviously he did and was trapping her in a corner. He was saying he loved her, but why was he only doing that to use it against her? Yesterday was the first time he'd ever said that to her and it didn't even mean anything. Saying he loved her was only for pure manipulation and now he was back again today claiming the same lies.
It hurt her to know that the first time she'd ever been told she was loved by Metal was a lie.
Maybe she wasn't as prepared for this conversation as she thought.
"I... I-I don't want to talk about this right now!" She said, glancing around to the crowd that was not so subtly staring. She wanted to run away, but Metal stopped her. He looked down at the ruby necklace on her chest.
"Why? Why don't you love me anymore?"
"Stop! I said I don't want to talk about this right now!" Sarada desperately writhed from his grip, and as she turned to walk away, Metal swung his hands out.
"I am trying to fix this after you cheated on me, and you are just walking away? Is he really more worth it than I am?"
Sarada immediately halted, and everyone let out a small, concealed gasp. Metal was doing this on purpose. He was contorting and altering the situation into his favor. He had all the control in this situation now, and there was nothing Sarada could think of to do in that moment to defend herself. How… how…
How horribly, unquestionably fucked up.
Sarada stood there in complete shock. Her entire body was frozen with fear and uncertainty. Her brain was panicking, yet her body felt deathly calm. What in the world was she supposed to do?
After taking a moment to close her eyes and curb her panic, there were only two ways she could logically react to this.
One, she could turn around and argue and defend herself because first of all, she didn't cheat. Her feelings may have said otherwise to contradict that statement, but she never acted on them. She wasn't like that. And second of all, Metal really was a liar. And it was obvious he was going to get his way no matter what.
Two, she could just walk away. Not in fear, not in avoidance. But just to walk away and leave this all behind.
The anxiety in either of those choices was ridiculously crippling. Speaking up and having to set hard boundaries in front of a bunch of people? What if she stuttered and made a fool of herself?
But, if she didn't, trying to imagine not having a perfect Uchiha reputation was horrifying. Was this why Boruto had struggled so hard in the past? Sarada finally understood. She understood so well that she couldn't help but sympathize with Boruto every time he'd chosen to take the easy way out instead of fighting against the rumors. After all, that's what she had been doing the past couple months, wasn't it? Denying her own heart to follow her logic and letting people say what they wanted, because it was the easier choice to stay in it?
It was, undoubtedly, easier to stay in it. It was familiar. It was safe. It had structure. It made sense. Why throw it all away when they had come this far?
But, the hindsight Boruto's situation had brought Sarada, it gave her a different outlook.
Deep down her intuition had been telling her this entire time that she was right. Her mind had just been playing tricks on her telling her to give in constantly, compromise herself just a little bit more to make him more comfortable, that he wasn't lying to her, when in all reality she was just lying to herself continuously hoping it would get better. And for what? For the sake of Metal?
All he'd done is push himself on her physically, gaslight her emotionally, play tricks on her mentally, and crush her soul spiritually. He had wanted to make her into what suited him. He never actually loved her. That hurt, deep. But Sarada had to face the truth head on. No more running away.
With that, Sarada turned and looked back at Metal.
He had a look in his eyes she couldn't read, but the feeling bubbling in the pit of her chest was enough to give her that burst of courage to follow through.
"Yeah. We're over." She said.
Clutching her yearbook in her arms, though it felt like her heart was going to bust out of her chest, she turned away, and took one step forward, then her other foot followed suit. Metal took a couple steps forward as if he was going to follow her, called out some words, but then silence.
Before she knew it, she had walked away.
She didn't need to explain herself to anyone. Because the people who truly knew her would know what actually happened. The rest was just noise.
It was as if angels were singing. The farther away she got, the more her pace quickened. Her heart settled into a happy thump, instead of a nervous one. The clouds parted from the sky, the weather seemed to hold steady at the perfect temperature with a slight refreshing breeze. Her posture felt relaxed, her legs felt loose and like they could run a marathon, and her mind felt a numbing surge of freedom.
This was the right decision. And it was a good one.
Before she knew it, she was home sitting on her bed calling up Sumire, and asked if she could get a ride to volleyball tonight. Her friend was thrilled, and Sarada beamed on the other end. She looked to the side and saw her reflection in her vanity mirror and smiled. Wow. There really was a difference in the way she looked and carried herself. The past couple months she had barely looked at herself and taken into account the energy she was putting out. It had been so muffled and negative.
But not anymore.
She was free.
A couple hours later, a car pulled into the driveway with Sumire's mother, Sumire herself in the front seat, and Wasabi and Namida in the back just waiting for Sarada to get in with them. Sarada bounded out of her house and clambered into the back, and all the girls exclaimed excitement. Sarada had hardly played volleyball in her life so would probably be terrible, but new beginnings were good!
There were at least ten girls there including them. Sumire, Namida, and Wasabi already knew all of them, so Sarada spent most of her time introducing herself and forewarning them that she'd never played volleyball before, but all of them were so sweet and understanding. Most of them went to surrounding high schools near them, so it was nice to meet new people from different cities.
The practice was fairly short, and just mainly to see where everyone would be placed, but since it was a recreational team they didn't have a coach, so it was up to all of them to decide if they wanted to schedule practices or just play their games twice a week. This team called themselves the "Swifties" and had since they were first formed, so now Sarada was officially a Swiftie.
Sarada had no idea recreational sports were so popular here – it was a relatively small town that she didn't know it was possible to not know so many people. Half of these people lived twenty minutes away from her, but she'd never met them in her life simply due to different school boundaries. It was all around such a good experience, even if Sarada would only be on the sidelines the entire time.
At the end of it, Sumire, Namida, and Wasabi wanted to hang out after, and Sarada gladly agreed. Sumire's mother took them to the store after and got them candy, snacks, and ice cream, then they went back to Sumire's house.
There, they all went through each other's yearbooks and read all the letters through the pages. When Wasabi noticed Sumire skipped a page, she grabbed the yearbook from her hands and flipped back.
"No no! Don't look at that!" Sumire screeched.
"Why not?!" Wasabi laughed, holding it from her friend's grip. She attempted to read the first couple lines, but it was hard trying to read and avoid someone at the same time. "Dear Sumi, you are the most beautiful girl in the entire world I've had the honor getting to know. The fact that you've even given someone like me a chance makes me want to be a changed man– Sumire! Iwabee wrote all this?!"
"Wasabi, stoppp!" Sumire cried. "Don't read it! He'd kill me if he knew you saw it!"
"Then he shouldn't have written it in a yearbook!" Wasabi exclaimed. "I will never forget prom night. You are an amazing girl, and I am so lucky to know you. Let's hang this summer? Sincerely Iwabee." Wasabi let out an audible squeal, and Sumire was dying of embarrassment.
"Stoppp, stop stop!"
Namida and Sarada were cracking up so hard with laughter that their sides hurt.
"He wrote you an entire novel, Sumire!" Wasabi said. "This guy is in love with you!"
"He is not!" Sumire insisted.
"He so is!" Namida exclaimed. "Just admit it!"
"Wh-Whatever, we just like each other a little, that's it!"
"I dare you to call him," Wasabi smirked. "Right now. See what he's doing."
"No!"
"Do it!" Sarada laughed.
Sumire huffed. "No, guys!"
"Lookie, I got her phone~!" Namida sang over by the kitchen, and Sumire gasped. Sarada was still laughing.
"Namida!"
"Let's see, Iwabee, Iwabee, Iwabee– Iwabee! Here he is!" Namida dialed his number while Sumire attempted to wrestle the phone from her hands. She clicked the call button, and Sumire protested. The call dialed through, and Namida put it on speaker. Sumire fell down in defeat while the other three girls waited in anticipation.
Sumire huffed. "He's not gonna answer–"
The call connected. There was a lot of chatter in the background. "Hello?"
Sumire immediately hid her face in her hands, and Namida held the phone out to her. Sumire shook her head vigorously, and the other girls urged her to take it.
"Hello? Sumire?" He asked again.
"H-Hi!" Sumire finally said, reluctantly taking the phone from Namida. Sarada, Wasabi, and Namida giddily surrounded Sumire and listened closely, holding back their laughter.
"Wassup cutie? What you up to?"
"U-Uh, just hanging out," Sumire stuttered, and the other girls giggled. "Wh-Wh-What are you doing?"
"I'm at Mitsuki's, he's throwing a rager." Iwabee said. There was a lot of chatter in the background, and someone yelled his name and asked who he was talking to. "I'm talking to Sumire," he told the person, then turned back to the phone, "you should pull up!"
"Oh, um," Sumire looked at the three, and Wasabi frowned. "I can't, I'm with Wasabi, Namida, and Sarada."
"Bring them!"
"No, it's okay. We'll pass." Sumire said.
"Aw, but I wanna see your cute face!"
The other girls gave Sumire gagging looks. She shushed them. "No, I don't think tonight would work."
"Pleaaaaase," Iwabee said, "if you didn't wanna see me, why'd you call me?"
He was obviously teasing, and also obviously drunk, and Sumire looked like she was about to crack. They all shook their head, and Sumire huffed.
"No, sorry, it was nice talking to you!" Sumire quickly hung up, cutting him off, and after a moment of silence, they all burst into laughter.
"Aw, Sumire! Cute!" Sarada exclaimed.
"Yeah, he really likes you!" Namida said.
Sumire scowled. "Okay, now it's someone else's turn! You guys dared me to call my crush, now one of you has to do it!"
"I vote Namida!" Wasabi gave her friend a smug smile, and Namida's face turned bright red.
"I-I-I-I don't have a crush on anyone!" She said.
"That's a lie! You like Denki!" Wasabi stated.
"No I don't!"
"C'mon, you guys literally would be so cute together!"
"Call him!" Sarada laughed, and this time Sumire took Namida's phone much to her dismay. She found Denki's contact and called it, and soon it was ringing. Namida fretted relentlessly until he picked up,
"Hello?"
Namida squealed loudly and hung up the phone, and Wasabi made a noise.
"Aww, Namida why'd you do that?!"
"I got nervous!"
"No fair!" Sumire exclaimed.
"Sarada, you turn!" Wasabi said.
"Me?!" Sarada was shocked.
"But she has a boyfriend!" Namida whined.
"Yeah, so that's no fair either!" Sumire declared.
"Well, actually…" Sarada hesitated. The three girls looked at her.
"Wait, what? Are you guys not together anymore?!" Wasabi exclaimed.
Sarada laughed nervously. "Um, no, not really."
"Okay, tell us what happened. Now." Wasabi turned towards Sarada. She scowled.
"You need to call your crush!"
"Nope, your breakup is way more important. Now spill."
Sarada scratched the back of her head with a nervous laugh. "We just, uh, broke up I guess? It just wasn't working out."
Wasabi scoffed. "Yeah, as if that's all that happened!"
"Are you at least okay?" Sumire asked with a frown.
"Yeah, no, I'm doing great!" Sarada insisted. "Really, guys, everything's fine!"
"So who broke up with who?" Namida asked.
"Um, well, it was me who ended it." Sarada toyed with the hem of her shirt. "B-But we don't have to talk about it anymore! It's over, s-so now it's Wasabi's turn to call her crush!"
"Nah, I don't like anyone." Wasabi stood up. "I still wanna hear more about the breakup, but since you don't wanna talk about it, let's do something else!"
"Like what?" Sumire asked.
Wasabi turned off all the lights, flipping her phone around and turned on the flashlight. She held it underneath her chin to give her face a distorted, scary shadow.
"Let's tell spooooky stories!"
"Ah! No!" Namida exclaimed.
"Yes!"
"No!" Sarada harped. "I don't like scary stories!"
"Okaaay," Wasabi's face contorted in annoyance, "then you tell us about the breakup!"
"No!"
Wasabi sighed. "Once upon a time, there was a headless man—"
"Ahh, okay fine!" Sarada exclaimed. "He, he just–lied a lot, and he didn't make me feel good about myself. He always had to be right, he put me down, and would get mad at me over the stupidest things. He's convinced I cheated on him but I didn't."
"With who?" Sumire asked, tilting her head.
"Boruto." Sarada said. Wasabi rolled her eyes.
"Coulda seen that one coming!"
Sarada glared at her. "So that's why we broke up! He wasn't nice to me at all. There was no spark."
"Well, did you at least get to second base?" Wasabi asked. When Sumire glared at her, she said, "what?"
"No we never did anything past a kiss!" Sarada snapped. "Jeez, you're so nosy."
"You're too private!" Wasabi flopped down next to Sarada. "All of us never even knew you and Boruto were a thing 'til you guys broke up!"
"We weren't ever together though," Sarada said.
"I bet you still like him though," Wasabi said through a devious smile, "no wonder Metal was always so insecure!"
Sarada frowned, though her heart was pounding. "N-No way."
"Yeah huh! It's obvious you still like him!"
"No I don't, stop bugging me about it!"
"Yeah Wasabi, back off just a little bit." Sumire said. Wasabi huffed.
"You're no fun! I'm only teasing. It's okay if you still have feelings for him, Sarada. Everyone already knew you and Metal weren't going to work out because of Boruto."
Sumire gave her a look and Wasabi threw her hands out. "What? I'm literally just saying what everyone else is thinking!"
"Okay, but you don't have to say it out loud!" Namida said. "Let's change the topic."
Wasabi rolled her eyes. "I'm going to the bathroom."
She stood up and walked away. While Sarada was a little irked, she wasn't mad by any means. Wasabi meant no harm, she was just nosy. Like a cat wanting to be all up in her business for no reason. She just didn't want to talk about the breakup anymore because it was done and passed, and it gave her the slightest bit of anxiety talking about it. She just wanted to move on now.
"I wanna watch that new Nicholas Sparks movie." Sumire said. Namida gasped.
"The one with Zac Efron in it?!"
"Yes!"
"Ohemgee, he's so hot!"
"I'll put it on!" Sumire exclaimed, jumping up to turn on the television.
Sarada laughed and they made themselves cozy on the couch with blankets and snacks, and Wasabi returned from the bathroom. She sat on the recliner away from the other girls, and was on her phone most of the time.
Sarada was thoroughly invested in the movie when her phone started buzzing. She jumped, and tugged it out of her back pocket.
Boruto Uzumaki
Sarada's heart raced. Why was he calling her?
Discreetly excusing herself, she quickly slipped out of the living room onto the back patio. The crickets were chirping loudly, and the warm summer breeze gusted past her cheeks. It smelled of freshly cut grass and blooming flowers. Her heart pounded in her chest.
Taking a deep breath, she answered.
"Hello?"
"Saaarada, hey!" Boruto yelled from the other end, and Sarada cringed and held the phone away from her ear. He sounded drunk. There was loud music and lots of chatter behind him. "What're you doing?"
"I'm at Sumire's."
"What? I can't hear you!"
"I'm at Sumire's!"
"Hold on!"
There was a lot of shuffling on his end, and some grunting, then soon the background noise dwindled. She heard the ruffling of sheets, then a loud oof.
"Sorry I had to go into Mitsuki's room, I couldn't hear you. What'd you say?"
"I'm at Sumire's," Sarada laughed. She shivered from her nerves. "What are you doing?"
"I'm at Mitsuki's. He's havin' a party."
"I can hear that."
"Mhm, yeah, you should come!"
"No thanks, I don't like parties."
"You've never even been to one."
"And?"
"There's a first time for everything!"
"No," She said with a smile. "Are you drunk?"
"Maybeee," Boruto said dramatically. "Didn't Sumire call Iwabee earlier? What was that about?"
"Yeah she did. We dared everyone to call their crush, so she called him."
"Ooooh," Boruto squealed. "Sumire and Iwabee. Who woulda thought?"
"Literally no one." Sarada responded. She paced around the patio, aimlessly touching the objects around her, balancing on the line between the cement and the grass, and twirling her hair between her fingers. She even took her glasses off and cleaned them five times.
"So who'd you call?"
Sarada paused. "Huh?"
"Who'd you call then? You said you were all dared to call your crush."
"Uhh," Sarada hesitated. She had a couple different responses to that, but none of them
seemed fitting enough. Boruto probably didn't know her and Metal broke up, so was asking more to be snarky. He was testing her. "No one, I didn't call anyone."
"You're lying!"
"I'm not!"
"Not even Metal?"
"We broke up."
There was an elongated pause on the other end.
"Oh."
"Yeah..."
"When?"
"Today."
Another long, drawn out pause.
"Huh."
"Yeahh."
It was suddenly awkward, and Sarada was desperately wondering what Boruto was thinking.
"Well. How do you feel?" He asked. He suddenly didn't sound as drunk.
Sarada shrugged, even though he couldn't see her. "I feel fine."
Another pause.
"Huh.
Sarada bit her lip. "Yeahh… so, uh, a-anyway, why'd you call?"
Boruto was talking to someone on the other end, but then he turned back to the phone. "What? Sorry Mitsuki came in the room."
"It's fine."
"So what'd you say?"
"Why'd you call me?"
Boruto let out a nervous chuckle. "Beecausseee I can."
Sarada snorted. "That's it?"
"Yeah."
"I don't believe you."
"Why not?!"
"You're at a party and you're drunk calling me instead of being with your friends!"
"Yeah, well, maybe 'cause I wanted to hear your voice."
Sarada's heart stopped. The butterflies were running rampant inside her core, and she fidgeted with her phone.
"Hehe, I bet you're blushing right now."
That statement only made Sarada's face turn redder. "Shut up."
"Oooh, I knew you still liked me." Boruto teased. "Do I make you nervous?"
Sarada bit the inside of her cheek. "Not really."
"Do I give you butterflies?"
Sarada refrained from letting his words get to her. Oh great. Now that she had told him about the breakup he was going to be merciless with his flirting, especially while he was drunk. Boruto had always been good about keeping boundaries while she was in a relationship, but now…
All of it was out the window. She should've let him believe just a little bit longer that her and Metal were still together so she could hide from his godforsaken charm. She couldn't do this.
As a response, she only let out a muffled grunt.
"You give me butterflies." Boruto said, his voice soft and gentle.
Sarada felt her entire world coming to a halt. This is where her soul left her body and her gravesite would stand; Sumire's back patio with the cause of death being too many happy feelings. Good god how could one experience so much oxytocin in one moment and not get addicted?
"I just wanna see you. I miss your cute face."
Sarada's insides were burning up now. "Y-You're just drunk."
"And you're ruining the moment. Shut up and say you miss me too."
Sarada took in a breath. "I… miss you."
"Do you really?"
Sarada bit her lip, but she didn't say anything.
Boruto smiled on the other end.
"Let's meet up tomorrow?"
Sarada nodded feebly. The wind was completely knocked out of her. "Sure."
"Okay. I'll text you." Boruto said softly, and Sarada replied with a breathless "'kay."
The call disconnected, and Sarada's heart was thumping erratically. She took a few deep breaths to calm herself. She couldn't believe that just happened, like...
Wow… just, wow.
XxX
In the morning, Sarada had gotten out of bed way earlier than intended. She was so used to her school sleep schedule that her body naturally had woken up at seven AM.
It was the first official day of summer. The world was at her disposal. Now, what to do with it?
Upon making herself breakfast and a cup of tea, she was reading her phone when she thought back to yesterday and everything that had happened.
Well, the most important things at least, were she had gone through a breakup then had Boruto saying he missed her in the span of eight hours. And he said he would text her today and they would hang out. Those were the key points, and her face felt hot just thinking about it. Was she moving too fast?
It was a genuine question she had swirling in her mind for a while. Everything seemed to move so quickly. Like, she hardly was sad about Metal at all and they'd just broken up yesterday. In fact, Sarada didn't even know for sure if she ever had feelings for Metal in the first place. Sure, she had thought he was sweet, and gentlemanly, she did think he was cute to an extent, and he definitely was very thoughtful to her in the beginning, but… no matter how much he tried to buy or show his love, he just wasn't Boruto. As horrible as that sounded.
Boruto had this way of consuming both her heart and mind. His soul had moved into her space and just never left, and didn't even make room for Metal when he had come into the picture. Sarada didn't feel like she had done anything bad, per se, because her and Boruto never did anything.
Her thoughts, though, were a completely different story. This entire time she found herself thinking about Boruto during her daydreams or hoping every time she closed her eyes she'd open them back up to see blue eyes but instead would be met with brown.
For God's sake, she didn't know. The lines were so blurred that it was impossible to know whether Metal's cheating accusations were actually valid or not. All that mattered now was her and Metal were broken up for good, she was much happier, and her feelings for Boruto were rampaging more than ever. And just thinking about him made her excited. But maybe it was too soon. It hadn't even been twenty four hours.
She clutched the ruby necklace around her neck. This thing had caused so much drama, but it almost was a blessing in disguise. She had better things coming for her.
Later in the afternoon after pacing around mindlessly, she had taken a book upstairs and was reading it on her bed with Coldplay playing softly from her speaker. When she was reading, or doing homework, she hated loud music because it was distracting. It had to be quiet, chill, music she had heard before, or her brain would be too focused on listening to the lyrics. She hoped by reading something, it would distract her from obsessing over when Boruto might text her, if at all. If she didn't think about it, the universe would make it happen.
Suddenly, a soft knock sounded on her window. Confused, Sarada turned around. Boruto was kneeling outside on the roof of the garage, waving through her window. It took about three seconds for Sarada to process what she was seeing before she screamed.
Scrambling to her feet, she stared at him in disbelief. He only waved jovially, then tapped on the window lock, and slowly she approached to open the window and flicked the lock open. Hopping in, Sarada took a few paces back and fixed her frayed hair. Boruto smiled sheepishly.
"How did you get up there?!" She asked. He sat on her bed and looked around.
"Climbed. How else?"
She was completely flabbergasted. "So, instead of using my front door like a normal person, you climbed up my garage?"
"Yeah, basically."
Sarada blinked. "You said you were gonna text me."
"Eh, texting is the worst. I hate it." Boruto stood up, and began self-touring around her room, occasionally picking something up to look at it. "It takes so long to make plans, cause first you gotta be like hey! then you wait for the other person to respond, then ask what they're doing, if they're busy, yadaya."
Sarada just stared at him.
"So, I figured you'd probably be doing exactly what you were doing, and it would just be way easier to show up."
Sarada's heart thudded. "Why?"
"Why not?" He laughed. "Didn't you say you missed me last night?"
Sarada gave him a look. "Y-You said it first!"
"I said I missed your cute face, there's a difference." He squished Sarada's cheeks between his hands. "And now that I'm seeing it, I'm realizing I could've gone longer without it."
Sarada gasped in offense, and he cracked up with laughter. She pouted.
"Wh-Whatever, I only said it cause you made me!"
"Yeah, yeah, tell yourself that." Boruto gave her a smirk. "But now that I'm here, what would you like to do?"
"Huh?"
"Like, do you wanna do anything? Go anywhere? Go on a picnic? Rob a bank?"
Sarada laughed. "Um, probably not the last one."
"Why not? I've always had this elaborate plan if I ever became a massive criminal how I would rob a bank. Do you ever think of things like that?"
Sarada pursed her lips that were frozen in a smile. "No."
"Now you're just being shy." Boruto bumped their shoulders together. "It's the first day of summer!"
Sarada shrugged him off. She was being unusually shy and he picked up on it, damnit. He was too good at reading her. "Yeah, I know, but I have a volleyball game tonight."
Boruto plopped onto her bed. "Oh forreal? You joined the team?"
"Yeah, but I suck pretty bad." Sarada sighed. "Everyone on the team has already been playing for a while, and I'm a complete newbie."
"You can't be that bad," Boruto shrugged. "It's your first game, you'll find out tonight!"
Sarada shrugged, trying to act indifferent, but her knees were concaving underneath her. She was shaking so bad just being this close to him. He was in her room! Things seemed so much different now than before… who would've ever thought Sarada would go from loathing every moment she had to stand within thirty feet of him to being nervous and giddy that he was talking to her? It was absolute madness.
Not to mention, she had this weird guilt nagging in the back of her brain. She had spent so much time drilling into her head that she was in a relationship that now that she wasn't, it was like the ghosts of the past were whispering in her ear that this was wrong. Boruto shouldn't be in her bedroom right now. But technically, it wasn't wrong, because she was single – but back to her earlier train of thought; it hadn't even been twenty four hours.
Dear fucking lord. Resurrect her.
Boruto began perambulating around her room once more, until he sat on her nightstand chair and began play primping himself in her mirror. Sarada laughed, and he turned back to her.
"I'm funny, huh?"
"Sure." Sarada scoffed. She was nervously twiddling her fingers and didn't even know what to say next. Her brain was malfunctioning.
"I think I am." Boruto huffed, then looked back at the mirror. He pushed his hair back, then stood up. "You wanna go for a walk?"
"Huh?" Sarada was brought from her stupor. She looked outside. It was sunny and hot, but her mind was blank so she was just going to go along with it. "Uh, yeah. Where?"
"Just the park." Boruto said. "Can we leave through your front door or do we have to climb out the window?"
"Uh, I'm going through the front door. You're going out the window." Sarada laughed, and Boruto frowned.
"Damn. I see how it is."
Sarada pushed him lightly as she went to grab a pair of socks. "I'll meet you there!"
Boruto shook his head with a smile and climbed out of the window, grabbing onto the greenery as he clambered down the side of the garage. He ducked out of the Uchiha's back yard onto the hidden walking path, and made his way through the quiet forest. It was shady and cool under the pine trees, and he aimlessly counted to sixty then would restart. Twigs and branches snapped beneath his shoes.
Once arriving at the park, he sat on a swing and pushed himself back and forth and did so until Sarada came jogging with something in her hand.
"Finally." He quipped, and Sarada scrunched her nose.
"You better hope my dad didn't see you in the patio camera."
He laughed and she sat on the swing next to him. Emotion was swirling in her eyes, and she said, "I brought you a drink."
She handed it to him shyly, and he took it graciously. It was a can of soda and was refreshing under the sun.
They sat idly on the swings for who knows how long. Birds and cicadas were stirring in the upcoming summer heat, and the sun had already been beating down on the green grass. The wind blew gently through Sarada's disheveled hair.
"So Metal broke up with you, huh? Why?" He asked aloud. Sarada looked at the ground.
"I don't really wanna talk about it."
"I mean, it's not all bad. You were pretty miserable anyway." Boruto began swinging lightly. Sarada glared at him.
"What makes you say that?"
Boruto shrugged and set the can on the ground. "I told you I know you really well. You smiled with him, but it was fake. At least I could tell."
"Yeah, I don't know." Sarada said.
"Well, the good thing now is you're free!" Boruto pushed himself off the ground and gradually swung higher and higher.
The swing squeaked each time he went back and forth. The wind whooshed beside Sarada every round, the sun gleaming off the tips of his blonde hair when he hit the very top then fell back down.
"Ready?!" He yelled, and positioned his hands forward on the chains, and when he swung back up, catapulted himself forward. His t-shirt rippled as he fell to the ground, and landed gracefully on the sand. He marked a line in the sand with his foot and smirked triumphantly at her.
"Beat that."
Sarada always loved a good challenge. She set her soda can on the ground, then pushed herself off the ground, and swinging her legs forward and backward, going higher and higher until she felt she had enough air to land further than Boruto. Shoving herself off the swing, she landed just an inch further than him. He sucked on his teeth.
"Damn, you got me."
"I bet I could beat you in an obstacle course too." She said smugly. He gave her a look.
"Do you know who I am?"
"Do you know who I am?" Sarada retaliated.
"Alright alright." He scanned through the park, congregating a course in his mind, then pointed to the left of them. "We start from the trees, you can't touch the tanbark. We have to jump onto the slide and run up it, go over the tube, through the monkey bars, up the rock wall, then to the zip liner, then whoever makes it to the top of the spider web rope first wins."
"What's the prize?" Sarada questioned thoughtfully.
It was a fair race, both her and Boruto were both in good shape. Beating Boruto would be no problem. The only thing Sarada knew might be an issue would be getting from the monkey bars to the rock wall, but she could make up for it when climbing the large spider web. Everything else was easy.
"We can pick whatever we want."
"So then what do you get if you win?"
Boruto smirked and put a hand on his hip. "If I win, you let me kiss you."
Sarada felt like the wind got knocked out of her. He only wanted to kiss her?! He was literally insane. Why didn't he just ask if he could, why did it have to be turned into a competition?
And would Sarada try to win now, or would she let him beat her?
"Wh-Whatever," She huffed. "If I win, you take me to that ice cream place again; but as a real date!"
He smiled slyly. "Oh sweetheart, you already know we won't be going there."
Her face felt hot, but she blamed it on the heat.
They made their way to the tree line, and readied themselves. It'd been a while since she'd seen Boruto in action.
"Ready," Boruto said.
"Set," Sarada echoed.
"Go!" They began sprinting at the same time. Sarada was barely slower than him, making it to the edge of the grass and hauling herself onto the slide, she scrambled up it, Boruto hot on her heels, slipping through the entrance and over the tube. She latched onto the monkey bars, but lost her momentum and missed the next bar. Her hands burned against the metal and she yelped as Boruto gilded right past her, cackling as he did so, and she glared. He wouldn't win that easily!
She swung forward, grabbing the next bar, and decided that going slower and efficient would be more effective than trying to rush and potentially messing up again. Boruto was already at the top of the rock wall now just as she was swinging on the last one. Damn, there's no way she'd catch up now.
Once she pulled herself up the rock wall, she dashed to the zipline. The wind rushed against her cheeks, and she wasted no time latching herself onto the ropes a few feet away. Boruto was less than halfway up struggling to balance, and Sarada took the opportunity to get ahead of him.
They both climbed as quick as they could, clawing their way to the top, and Sarada felt her limbs burning but wasn't stopping her. Her chest was heaving, her forehead was sweating, but her cheeks were etched with a permanent smile as her and Boruto laughed together.
They both climbed and climbed and just as Sarada was going to reach the top, Boruto took ahold of the gold topping milliseconds before, claiming his spot. Sarada's hand was on top of his, both of them breathing heavy, letting it sink in.
Boruto won.
Just barely, but he won.
Attempting to catch her breath, Sarada swallowed to alleviate her dry throat. She looked to the ground, letting her heart rate regulate, then looked to Boruto. He had an unreadable expression on his face.
Without warning, he leaned forward and pressed their lips together, taking Sarada by surprise. Her face flared up immediately and the butterflies in her stomach were whirling like a tornado. She'd forgotten what it was like to kiss Boruto. His lips were so soft and molded perfectly into hers. It wasn't until she almost lost her balance that she remembered where they were, but Boruto gripped her wrist tightly.
"Don't fall." He said, and Sarada bit the inside of her lip. His deep sapphire eyes were staring straight into her obsidian eyes. Their hearts were beating quickly in unison and the fresh air was brushing through their hair and against their skin. Her hands felt cold gripping onto his forearm.
Her stomach growled, and Boruto looked down.
"Guess we'll go get food?"