Sarada sipped at her strawberry milkshake as she walked into the rink the hockey team practiced in. She sighed when she saw the boys were still on the ice, meaning she would have to wait for Boruto.

She took a seat on the bleachers where a few scattered spectators were watching the practice and set down a greasy paper bag beside her. Her dark gaze drifted back to the hockey players zipping around as she willed their coach to blow his whistle and end their practice so she could get out of there.

Lost in her own musings, she didn't notice when someone scooted closer to her. "Hi Sarada!" a sweet voice called.

She turned to find the violet-haired girl she had mistaken as Boruto's girlfriend. "Hi…"

Damn, what was her name again?

"Sumire," she supplied as if noticing Sarada's hesitation.

"Right, Sumire. It's nice to see you again," Sarada smiled, not quite sure what the girl's intention was in approaching her. Probably just to be nice. She seemed like a nice girl.

"You as well," Sumire said before eyeing the bag that sat beside her. "Sorry if I disturbed you before you were about to eat."

"Oh no, you're fine. This isn't for me, it's for Boruto."

Sumire looked marginally less happy at that. "Oh right, of course... Boruto loves Thunder Burger… that's why you're waiting… that makes sense..."

Sarada felt extremely awkward, silently taking a sip of her milkshake as she searched for something to say.

"Say Sarada, could I maybe ask you something?" Sumire whispered softly, a touch of nervousness in her tone.

"Umm, sure…" she replied, assuming it was going to be if Boruto ever talked about her, which he didn't really. Was she supposed to lie and tell the girl what she wanted to hear or be real with her and tell her that Boruto really didn't deserve someone as sweet as her?

"I noticed you and Boruto are hanging out a lot, and I was just… ya know, wondering if…" A pink hue bloomed across Sumire's cheeks as she averted her gaze. "...you were trying to be his girlfriend?"

Sarada nearly choked from surprise. That was not where she expected this conversation to go.

"Yeah, no way! Never!" she said without hesitation before an awkward laugh escaped her lips at the mere thought of being in a relationship with Boruto.

"But you hang out so much and you're always doing nice things for him, you must have feelings for him!"

"It's really not like that. We're just… working on a project together," she answered vaguely. Sarada wasn't sure if Boruto told his friends about being her figure skating partner, and she began to wonder what they would think if he did.

"I see," Sumire nodded. She didn't really seem satisfied with that answer but didn't press any further. Sarada felt kind of bad, it was so obvious this girl was head of heels for that idiot, but it didn't really feel like her place to say anything more.

A wave of relief washed over Sarada at the sound of the coach's whistle, thankful for an excuse to end this awkward interaction. The boys disappeared into the locker room as Sarada stood up, picking up her bag.

"I'll see you around," she said, giving Sumire a friendly smile.

It wasn't long before Boruto walked out of the locker room, waving goodbye to Shikadai as he approached Sarada. She grimaced when she noticed his hair and clothes were slightly damp from sweat.

"Ew, you're all sweaty," Sarada complained. "And you reek!"

Mischief sparkled in his blue eyes as he wrapped Sarada in his embrace, hugging her tight to his chest. "What? You don't like the smell of manliness?!"

She squirmed in his grasp and pretended to gag, her hands too full to pry him off herself. "Bleh! Just take your lunch and get off of me!"

"Ooh, what do you got for me?" Boruto laughed as he finally released her. She frowned wondering if he got his stink on her.

Sarada held up the hefty bag, "one double Thunder Burger, one of the weekly specials, and an order of fries."

"What was the special?" he asked enthusiastically.

"Some spicy jalapeno something or other," Sarada shrugged. She really didn't understand Boruto's obsession with the fast-food chain and the wacky weekly specials they offered.

"Yes!" Boruto cheered, hands outstretched, fingers wiggling with excitement. "Come to daddy!"

"Ew, please never say that again." Sarada shoved the bag into his hands with a mildly disgusted look on her face. "Alright, I'm getting out of here. I'll see you tomorrow morning."

"Wait, Sarada!" he called before she had a chance to make her escape. She froze, meeting his gaze as he looked up from inspecting the contents of the bag. Sarada was always weary when it was late in the afternoon and Boruto hadn't used all his requests yet. "What else do you have going on tonight?" he asked.

Sarada hesitated a moment, clenching her fist with indecision. "I'm busy," she lied.

But apparently not convincingly enough, because Boruto just smirked at that response. "Do you want to come over to my place?"

"Nope," Sarada answered immediately.

"Oh sorry, let me rephrase. I request you come over to my place," he challenged and Sarada simply glared at him in response. "Oh c'mon. I know how much you love hanging out with me."

"I have never expressed such a sentiment," she deadpanned. Despite her protests, Sarada ended up walking out of the hockey team's practice facility with Boruto as they headed for his place.

Sad violet eyes watched their exchange from afar. Sumire bit her lip and wondered what it would take to finally get Boruto to really see her as girlfriend material.

She wasn't stupid, she knew she wasn't the only girl Boruto was talking to, but she tried so hard to show him that she could be the perfect girlfriend who was always there to support him. Why hadn't he realized that she could be everything he wanted and he didn't need to flirt with other girls?

When it was just the two of them, he made her feel so special. Sumire really thought she was the top contender to be his girlfriend, but now he spent all his time with Sarada.


Boruto wolfed down his burgers as he and Sarada walked to his place. It was conveniently located, not too far from campus in a nice high-rise building. He unlocked his apartment and let her inside.

"I'm going to hop in the shower real quick, but make yourself comfortable," he told her before disappearing behind a door she assumed was his bedroom. Curious, dark eyes scanned the apartment as the sound of the shower came on.

His place was really nice, likely because he had a hockey scholarship on top of his parents being loaded. It wasn't big, but a good size for one person. The decor was surprisingly modern and trendy, just the right amount of masculine and much more curated than the average college boy's apartment. Sarada imagined his mom decorated the whole thing for him.

She walked over to the living room, plopped down on the couch, and pulled out her phone to pass the time.

When the shower turned off about ten minutes later, an image flashed in Sarada's mind, Boruto walking out of his room with only a towel wrapped around his trim waist. His skin, warm and slightly damp from the streaming shower. She unconsciously licked her lips thinking about him leaning against the doorframe flexing his abs, as he ran his hand through his tousled blonde hair. He would probably say something obnoxious as he looked at her with those impossibly blue eyes.

The sound of the twisting doorknob had Sarada awash with an inexplicable wave of nervousness. Heat spread across her face as she began to question why he invited her to his home in the first place.

What if he really did come out half-naked?

What should she do? Run away?

Did she want to run away?

Boruto strolled out of his room dressed in a salmon-colored v-neck tee and a pair of grey sweatpants. He plopped down on the opposite end of the couch before grabbing the remote and turning on his big tv. "So, what should we watch?"

When Sarada didn't answer right away, Boruto looked over to her, finding her already staring back. He took in her expression, wide eyes and pinkened cheeks.

She was embarrassed?

"What?" he asked, an amused smirk tugging at the corner of his lips.

Sarada snapped out of her thoughts with a shake of her head. "Nothing," she muttered, averting her gaze down to the floor. "We can watch whatever."

Boruto glanced around the room, not finding any of his possessions worthy of eliciting such a reaction from her. Curiosity nagged at him, but in an uncharacteristic act of generosity, he didn't press any further to find out what had gotten her all flustered.

Sarada didn't know why she had been so anxious that he had some hidden motive. Boruto had invited her over to hang out and that was exactly what they did. It was the first time they had been together in such a casual setting, and Sarada was surprised how comfortable she was sitting on his couch with him, hugging a pillow on her lap.

She was loath to admit she was actually having a pleasant time as they watched one of those baking competition shows and exchanged comments and the occasional joke.

"So, Sarada..." he began out of the blue. She turned her dark gaze from the tv to Boruto, only to find him wearing that teasing grin of his. "I still have one more request for today."

Of course, he had a hidden motive! Sarada knew she was always right!

"What do you want, Boruto?" She eyed him wearily and he chuckled at her tone.

When he had skipped his usual morning coffee request, she was suspicious, but now it all made sense. He needed to save his requests. One for whatever he was about to ask for and an extra just in case she didn't agree to coming over to his apartment right away.

That sly bastard.

"I have been working so hard, ya know? Following your schedule as promised. Skating almost four hours a day…"

"Spit it out already," Sarada grumbled impatiently.

Boruto held up his foot towards her, wiggling his toes. "I want a foot massage."

Sarada glared at his foot like it offended her. "Not gonna happen."

"Why not?!" he whined, sticking out his bottom lip in an exaggerated pout.

"I'm not touching your nasty feet!"

"My feet aren't nasty! I literally just showered an hour ago!"

Sarada clenched her teeth, annoyed as she weighed her options. It wasn't really the worst request imaginable and he had mentioned wanting something like this when they initially made their deal so she probably should have expected this. "Ugh, fine, just this once and only for five minutes."

"Ten minutes!" he countered.

"Three minutes," Sarada seethed with narrowed eyes.

"What?! You're supposed to meet me in the middle, not go lower than your original offer!"

"Five minutes. Final offer."

"You better make it a good five minutes," Boruto said as she turned to face him and he stretched his legs across the length of his couch. He watched, trying not to laugh at Sarada's irked expression as she finally grabbed his foot.

His feet really were sore from his near-constant skating and the pressure of her thumbs against his arch really did feel good.

Bothering Sarada was just an added bonus.

"Ooh, right there," Boruto sighed. He had to bite his tongue to stop himself from smiling at the sight of Sarada's dark, unamused glare. Despite her efforts to seem annoyed, he could see her ears turning pink. "Mmm, it feels soo good," he breathed.

Sarada's hands stilled. "Stop making noises like that!" she growled.

He lifted an inquisitive brow, a teasing smirk playing on his lips. "Why? What does it make you think about?"

Boruto let out an involuntary yelp as Sarada jammed her thumb into a pressure point on the bottom of his foot. "Ow! Don't intentionally hurt me!" he cried.

"You're intentionally trying to humiliate me!" Sarada frowned, glaring at him from the opposite end of the couch.

"Oh please, I'm just teasing a little bit," Boruto chuckled. "Me intentionally humiliating you would be like requesting you only refer to me as "daddy" and then finding a way to make you say it in front of Sasuke."

Sarada's mouth fell open, staring at him blankly for a moment. "Oh my god…" Her shock quickly devolved into laughter as she imagined how that would play out in reality. "He would literally strangle you!"

"I know that's why I didn't do it!" he exclaimed and they laughed together.

After Sarada's five minutes of torture was over, she and Boruto resumed watching tv. Falling back into a companionable silence with scattered conversation about which were their favorite bakers and whose creations were bound to win the competition.

Then a question that had lingered in Sarada's mind since her conversation with Sumire resurfaced. Sarada hugged the throw pillow to her chest as she mulled over her question, wondering if it really even mattered to her or not. "Hey, Boruto?"

He turned his attention to her. "What's up?"

"Have you told your friends about you being my figure skating partner?"

"Hah, definitely not," he answered, as if it was a ridiculous question. Sarada supposed she wasn't that surprised.

Maybe it was because hockey was such a macho sport that he felt the need to put out some tough-guy image that figure skating didn't coincide with. Suddenly, a different question came to her mind.

"Well if they don't know about our arrangement, why do they think I'm with you all the time and bringing you food and stuff?" Sarada asked.

"I just told them you were one of my groupies," he shrugged casually. Sarada's eyes widened as she processed the revelation, then an instant later she chucked the pillow in her hands right at his stupid face.

Boruto burst out laughing and an annoyed Sarada pounced on him, pummeling him with half-hearted punches. "You are such an idiot! Why are you telling lies like that!? Are you trying to make me look pathetic?"

Boruto's giggles persisted as he guarded his face from Sarada's attack. "I can't believe you! You are so dumb!"

Sometime during their playful, little tussle, Sarada found herself hovering over him positioned between his spread thighs. He caught her wrists to stop her from hitting him anymore and she struggled to no avail.

Eventually, his laughter and her insults had faded until they were left with a heavy quiet between them. Looking down at his handsome features, his lips were slightly parted, panting as he tried to steady his breath after his laughing fit.

And for a moment Sarada forgot what she was doing.

Forgot how vexing Boruto was.

Forgot to breathe as she lost herself in the depth of his blue eyes.

His usual teasing smirk stretched across his lips as Boruto whispered, "I should've known you liked being on top."

Sarada remembered herself as she scoffed and wretched his hands from his grasp. Turning away to hide the furious blush the bloomed across her cheeks.

"It's getting late, I should probably go home," she declared in an attempt to distract herself from the unwelcome thoughts she just had.


Dark eyes scanned the shelves before Sarada picked up the most appealing looking sweet bread. Her shoulder pressed her ringing phone to her ear as she inspected the ingredients on the label.

"Yo," Boruto answered on the other end of the phone.

"I'm at a convenience store right now," she said, tossing the sweet bread in her little basket before walking over to the refrigerated section of the shop. "Do you want me to grab you anything? Snack? Sports drink?"

Sarada had made a habit of anticipating Boruto's requests, that way she wasn't inconvenienced by them every time he had a craving.

"No, actually I'm good. Sumire brought me a drink before my hockey practice today."

"Boruto, that girl is way too sweet to you! You better take her out on a date or something to repay her," Sarada told him as she tossed a bottled tea into her basket.

"I know, chill!" he scoffed. "I'm bringing her to my dad's game this weekend."

Sarada was silent for a moment, blinking as she processed his reply. It was her idea. She literally just encouraged him to date this girl, so why was she suddenly so irked that he didn't refuse?

A weird, uncomfortable feeling knotted in her stomach. Not jealousy, though, because that would be ridiculous.

"Actually, it's a whole group of us," Boruto continued. "...mostly guys from the hockey team, but you should come too."

"Oh um... yeah okay."


A/N: thank you so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! and a very special thank you to those who have been consistently commenting on this story and encouraging me to write more! Your support means a lot to me and I can't wait to hear what you thought of this chapter!