When Sarada arrived at the rink on Monday afternoon after class, she had two small coffees in hand and the school newspaper tucked under her arm. Boruto was seated on the bleachers lacing up his skates. He smiled brightly as he accepted the coffee she offered.
Sarada sipped at her own drink before pulling out the other item she brought him. "I snagged a copy of the school newspaper, you're on the cover and I know how much you like looking at yourself," she teased before tossing it to him.
Boruto chuckled as he caught it and unfolded it, not even bothering to deny her joke. The front page had a huge picture of him from Saturday's game, his hockey stick raised in triumph after his game-winning goal, his teammates swarmed around him. The headline read "Uzumaki Dynasty". Blue eyes scanned over the article.
"In Saturday's big game against Kiri University, the men's hockey team won thanks to an impressive last minute goal from Boruto Uzumaki, son of Konoha Hurricanes Hall of Famer and Konoha Uni alum, Naruto Uzumaki..."
His brow furrowed deeper with each line he read. An article that was supposed to be about his team's victory somehow morphed into a fluff piece about his dad! Crediting all of Boruto's talent, not to the painstaking hours he put into practice or his superior strategic intellect, but to having been Naruto's son.
Making his skill seem baseless and inherited.
Sarada flinched at the sound of Boruto suddenly and aggressively crumpling the newspaper up and throwing it at a nearby garbage can.
"What the hell did you do that for?" she scoffed, feeling slightly irritated at the way he disregarded her gesture.
"Why would I need to read the recap!? I was there, wasn't I?!" Boruto snapped.
She blinked at him silently, stunned by his tone. "Boruto…" Sarada began softly. "What's going on?"
He averted his gaze and exhaled a harsh breath before answering. "It's nothing new. C'mon, we're losing practice time." He pushed himself up off the bench and walked over to the ice.
Sarada sat down, watching him with concern written on her features as she laced up her own skates. Boruto quietly began running through their usual warm-up drills. He had always been so playful and easy-going that this mood he was in unsettled her.
Every time she thought she had figured him out, he did something totally unexpected.
She treaded lightly throughout their practice, worried about setting him off again. But as time wore on and he was landing both his salchows and toe loops consistently, a Boruto she recognized began to resurface.
Sarada didn't bother to pry, thinking he wouldn't open up to her anyway. Instead, she tried to distract him by engaging him in their usual banter and explaining that he may be ready to start working on his lutz jump at their next practice.
They continued to bicker as Boruto packed up his belongings and griped about how he was going to be late because she demanded he do three perfect toe loops before he could leave.
"You're making me late for my other practice! I'm starting to think you want to keep me all to yourself!" Boruto said, and for once Sarada was happy to see that teasing grin.
"Psh, get out of here already!" she laughed and waved him away. He slung his heavy equipment bag over his shoulder and ran through the lobby of the ice complex to the neighboring rink in just his socks.
Sasuke looked up from his phone at the sound of Boruto's voice. "Sorry I'm late," he panted. "Sarada held me up." He plopped down on the nearest bench and fished his hockey skates out of his bag.
"Oh right, she mentioned you were her new figure skating partner."
"I swear that girl is trying to kill me," Boruto grumbled as he rubbed his sore feet before shoving them into his hockey skates. He looked up to find an unamused Sasuke staring back.
"I mean, that Sarada is such a gem! Sweetest girl I ever met!" Boruto exclaimed.
Boruto was curious how his practice with Sarada would go today, being that they were finally meeting with the choreographer she kept talking about.
She had explained in their morning session at the ballet studio that first they would be having a concept meeting with him to discuss the theme of their program, what skills they have, and what he'd like to see them work on.
Then he would come back to work with them on the program and help clean it up before the competition.
When Boruto went to their usual practice spot he found a man with a blue scarf wrapped around his neck standing on the side of the rink and jotting down some notes on a pad of paper. He turned to Boruto and raised a curious brow.
"Sarada told me her new partner was a hockey player, but I would have never guessed it was the infamous Boruto Uzumaki," he chuckled.
Surprise flashed across Boruto's face, "you know me?"
"I follow Konoha hockey," he smiled. "I'm actually a fan of yours." Boruto's own grin grew wider, preening from the small dose of celebrity. "Well, and your dad's too, of course."
At the mention of his father, Boruto's happy expression became a little forced. "Of course," he nodded.
"At his game last week-"
"Is Sarada not here yet?" Boruto cut him off, hoping to direct the conversation to figure skating instead of his dad's accomplishments.
"I'm here! I'm here! I'm here!" Sarada called, breathless like she had just run across campus. "I'm sorry, my last professor kept us late. He was just droning on and on."
She plopped down on the bench and pulled her skates out of her bag, "I see you met Konohamaru!"
"Yeah, we were just getting acquainted," Konohamaru replied and Boruto nodded as he pulled out his own skates.
Konohamaru flipped through the pages of his notepad. "So I've been doing a lot of brainstorming since our last conversation, I know you wanted to do something really unexpected, and I think I have a few ideas."
Boruto smiled at the eager expression on Sarada's face, it was obvious how much she loved this creative process.
"You mentioned your less than favorable reputation in the community for being, uh, let's say... a little hot-tempered…" Sarada shot a glare at Boruto when he snorted a laugh, but Konohamaru continued. "...so what if we kind of lean into that?!"
"I'm not sure what you mean..." Sarada said.
"I'm thinking something fiery and passionate. Really throw your reputation in the face of those haters," Konohamaru explained. "Your programs in the past have always been pretty traditional, so what if we go with something more provocative and really seduce the audience with your skating."
"Oh my god!" Sarada's face lit up as she clapped excitedly. "I love that idea! I can already picture what our costumes could look like!" She usually leaned toward bold colors for her costumes, like red, but maybe she could find something with oranges and golds mixed in too, with rhinestones so that she looked like a glittering flame dancing across the ice.
"I mean showing up with a hockey player as a partner is unexpected, but I think if done right, a program like this could really blow everyone away."
"I totally agree!" Sarada beamed.
Boruto raised his hand, a pensive expression on his face. Konohomaru looked over to him. "Yes?"
"Are you sure we're... suited for like a sexy kind of program?" he asked. "I mean, Sarada here's a virgin."
"Wh-what?!" Sarada stuttered, her face turning beet red as Boruto held back a laugh. His comment was even more effective than he imagined. "I-I could be sexy if I want to!"
"Oh, so you're not a virgin, then?" Boruto pressed, having way too much fun getting Sarada all flustered.
She crossed her arms over her chest and jerked her head away with a huff. "I hardly see how that's any of your business."
"Anyway!" Konohamaru interjected, awkwardly scratching the back of his head. "Do we like this program theme or not?"
"Definitely yes," Sarada answered right away and then glared at Boruto from the corner of her eye.
"It's fine with me," Boruto shrugged. "It's really whatever Sarada wants."
"Great!" Konohamaru smiled and scribbled on his notepad.
After deciding on their program theme, Konohamaru wanted to start by observing them and asked them to skate around the rink together. It wasn't really something they practiced, so Boruto just did his best to follow Sarada's movements. In the videos Sarada had made him watch, the pairs would skate beside each other in preparation for all their big tricks, each movement synchronized with their partner.
He knew for a fact that he and Sarada did not look like that.
After one lap around the rink, they stopped in front of Konohamaru who was cringing. "You guys are just skating next to each other when you need to be skating together."
"I know, I'm sorry," Sarada grimaced. "We've been working nonstop on his jumps that this kind of thing got put on the back burner."
"If we're going to move forward with this program theme, we'll be relying heavily on your guys' ability to really sell it, and that starts with being comfortable skating together," Konohamaru emphasized.
Boruto played on a team, he knew how it felt to find that rhythm and really be in sync with his teammates, communicating with the simplest of gestures, and being able to understand their intentions. But this was something totally different, it should be easier, right? Without the unpredictable nature of another team trying to steal the puck from you and/or cause you physical harm.
But it was the aspect of performing that made it so tricky. It wasn't just that they could perform the skills, it was how good they looked while doing it, and as Konohamaru said, how well they could sell it.
Boruto looked to Sarada for help, unsure where to really start. He was surprised when she grabbed his hand, holding it tightly. "Can we try one more time?" Sarada asked and Konohamaru nodded.
As they started their second lap, Boruto focused harder on watching her skates and tried to mirror each of her movements. He looked up when Sarada squeezed his hand. "Don't look at my feet, look at my eyes."
He held her gaze as they rounded the first corner of the rink and Sarada began counting their strokes out loud and it became so much easier to match her rhythm. Boruto had always thought Sarada's eyes were black, but as he looked closely they were more like a deep, stormy grey with flecks of charcoal.
After rounding the second corner, they began skating backward. Sarada paused her counting to explain most of their jump and throw entries would begin with skating backward. She placed his hand on her waist and told him they should also get used to skating this fast and this close together.
"I'm starting to think you just want to get cozy with me," Boruto whispered, as they rounded the last corner. Sarada rolled her eyes as they stopped back in front of Konohamaru, but she didn't protest when his hand lingered on her side.
"So much better," Konohamaru praised.
Sarada turned to Boruto, "the judges will be looking at synchronized timing, and speed, and posture, so we should really start doing a few laps at the beginning of each practice until we are confident that our strokes match."
"You'd like that wouldn't you?" He teased while pulling her tighter against himself and squeezing her hip. He chuckled at the way Sarada twitched, she was obviously ticklish.
"Shut up," she grouched, pushing him away with a hand in his face.
"Alright, next let's go over what jumps you feel comfortable with," Konohamaru smiled.
It didn't take long for Boruto to figure out why Sarada didn't get along with her previous partners. She was harsh (to put it lightly), her obvious priority being her partner improving over sparing their feelings.
But Boruto honestly didn't mind Sarada's brand of criticism, he had worked with several hockey coaches in the past whose advice was always wrapped in insults that made Sarada's words sound gentle. Plus, he already had a pretty good understanding of Uchiha facial expressions from his time working with Sasuke.
What surprised him was when their practices became less about just training him on basic skills and more about both of them learning their new program choreography. He quickly realized that Sarada was ten times meaner to herself than she ever was to him.
Boruto frowned at the way she would grumble to herself, nitpicking every small detail. She would make him record her on her phone, and she would groan as she watched it back, saying how terrible and sloppy and stupid she looked.
He wasn't really quite sure what to say to her. He wanted to tell her she looked good, but he had a feeling she wouldn't believe him. So he kept trying to turn her focus back to him. He knew he had a lot of room to improve and he decided he would much rather listen to her tear him apart than herself.
A/N: Ahh another chapter complete! thank you all so much for reading and to those who have left comments on the previous chapters! It's always so encouraging to read your kind words!
I decided to go with the pro team being the Hurricanes because there's an actual NHL team (Carolina Hurricanes) of that name, but I thought it was funny, because Konoha Hurricanes as in Leaf Hurricane, the signature move of our boy Rock Lee. hahaha (pls say I'm funny…)
thanks again for reading! I hope you'll leave a comment and share your thoughts and reactions with me!
