As Sarada prepared for her early morning flight, she found herself growing more and more excited. She and Boruto would be heading to Kiri that day for their first competition.

She was anxious for Boruto's figure skating debut, but they had been practicing relentlessly for the last few months and Konohamaru had praised them for how far they had come in such a short amount of time. She was glad he would be there to support them.

Plus Boruto himself seemed confident, which was reassuring.

They didn't need to win, they really only needed to medal in order to move on to the International Grand Prix and Sarada had never found herself wishing for a bronze medal more in her life. With the other couples she knew would be there, that was the best she could realistically hope for.

Sarada met Boruto at the airport terminal, surprised when he presented her with a coffee and a muffin that he bought for her. How Boruto knew she didn't eat breakfast before coming to the airport was a mystery, but she was thankful to him nonetheless.

Boruto traveled quite often, either for his away hockey games with the university or sometimes with his family to his father's games, so he had a rather established airplane routine. He was quick to settle in and get comfortable before pulling out his laptop to watch a movie.

A movie Sarada just so happened to really like.

After about the third peek at his screen, Boruto paused and gave her an amused smile. "Did you want to watch with me?"

"Oh no, it's okay. I've seen it before," Sarada replied with a dismissive wave. But Boruto just silently raised an expectant brow at her. "Ok fine, I want to."

He chuckled as he took out one of his headphones and handed it to her and they resumed watching the movie together.

Sarada was pleased with how quickly the flight flew by after she gave her full attention to the film, but she was surprised to find herself snuggled against Boruto's shoulder when the flight attendant called for everyone to prepare for landing.

When did that happen?

She tried not to think too hard about it as she and Boruto made their way through the Kiri airport and over to their hotel. All the competitors would be staying there as it was conveniently located near the ice arena that the competition would be held the following day.

They stopped by one of the hotel ballrooms to grab their badges that granted them access to the arena before going to the front desk to check-in. Sarada forgot to mention that the competition coordinators booked them in the same room, but Boruto didn't seem to mind.

"I call the one by the window!" Boruto shouted the moment they walked into the room, throwing his bag down and belly-flopping onto the bed to claim it.

"I wanted that one!" Sarada pouted, throwing her hands down at her sides.

Boruto peeked at her over his shoulder with a mischievous sparkle in his blue eyes. "Well, we could always share it," he said suggestively, rubbing the spot next to him on the bed.

Not two seconds later, a pillow hit him in the face and he burst out laughing.

Sarada unpacked and hung their costumes in the closet while Boruto lounged on the bed. He was grinning down at his phone as he texted someone (or maybe it was a few someones). With the way he flirted with every girl he met, Sarada wouldn't be surprised if he was entertaining multiple conversations.

Sarada perked up when she herself got a text. "Oh! Some of my friends just got here! I'm going to go down to the lobby to greet them, did you want to come?"

"You have friends?" Boruto chuckled. "I was under the impression everyone hated you."

"Ha ha," Sarada laughed sarcastically. "Are you coming or not?"

"Might as well," Boruto smiled as he rolled off the bed and the pair made their way down to the hotel's grand lobby.

"Sarada!" ChoCho called, waving excitedly as she walked through the front doors.

"ChoCho!" Sarada beamed, running up and capturing her friend in a big hug. It had been so long since they had seen each other, both being so busy prepping for the competition. Sarada especially so.

After they broke from their hug, ChoCho seemed to notice Boruto standing there beside Sarada. "And who is this?" she smiled, giving him an appreciative once over.

"Oh right, sorry! This is Boruto, my new partner," Sarada introduced.

ChoCho leaned in toward Sarada, her gaze still fixed on Boruto as she not so quietly whispered, "you didn't tell me he was so cute!"

"Please don't say that, he already has a massive ego," Sarada grumbled before eyeing Boruto who was wearing a satisfied grin.

"It's nice to meet you," he said.

"Anyway, where's Mitsuki?" Sarada asked. Then as if on cue, Mitsuki walked into the hotel lobby with a luggage cart full of bags that all appeared to be ChoCho's.

"What did you even pack?" Sarada chuckled as Mitsuki approached them.

"Well you know sometimes I have a hard time deciding what to wear…"

"We're only here for a weekend!"

"... okay so I may have also packed some snacks," ChoCho grinned, and Sarada could help but giggle. That was so ChoCho.

"Hey, Mitsuki," Sarada waved and he replied with his usual smile.

"Oh no! Not Chubbs!" someone laughed. Boruto turned around to find a guy with platinum blonde hair strolling out of the elevator.

"Quit calling me that, Inojin!" ChoCho pouted. "I'm not even chubby anymore!"

"You'll always be Chubbs to me," Inojin grinned as he joined the group, nodding his acknowledgment at Sarada and Mitsuki. "Who's the new guy?"

"This is Boruto, my new partner," Sarada answered.

"Yo," Boruto smiled. "What about you? Where's your partner?"

"Oh, I actually skate in the men's individual division."

"Yeah, Inojin doesn't skate pairs because he doesn't want to lose to me and Mitsuki," ChoCho teased.

Inojin just rolled his eyes at her. "Dream on, Chubbs."

"Did you guys grab your badges yet?" Sarada asked the group. "We can show you where to go." ChoCho and Mitsuki agreed. Though Inojin had his badge, he decided to tag along with them. The group began making their way through the hotel when Boruto spotted a little snack store.

"Ooh, I'm gonna go grab a drink, you guys go on ahead and I'll meet you over there," he said and Sarada gave him a thumbs up.

Boruto walked into the small store, blue eyes scanning the refrigerated shelves. They didn't have his favorite pink sports drink, but he probably shouldn't have been surprised, it was kind of rare. With a shrug, he decided to grab a banana milk instead.

As he ventured down the hallway toward the ballroom to meet up with Sarada and her friends, Boruto accidentally bumped into someone.

"Oh my bad," he quickly apologized.

"No, no, it was my fault," the sandy-haired stranger said, before observing Boruto for a moment. His eyes lit up with recognition before he pointed to him. "Hey, you're Sarada Uchiha's new partner, right?"

"That's me," Boruto chuckled at his new claim to fame and reached his hand out for the guy to shake. According to the badge he wore around his neck, he too was there for the figure skating competition. "Boruto Uzumaki."

"Kagura Karatachi, it's great to meet you!" he greeted with a warm smile. "I heard you've been figure skating for only a few months now, you must be really talented to pick it up so quickly!"

"I guess we'll see, right?!" Boruto laughed. "I actually play hockey so this is a whole new world for me."

"Well, hey, let me know if you have any questions about how things work around here. I'd be happy to show you around and introduce you to my friends."

"Cool," he nodded. Despite competing against each other, everyone here seemed so friendly and welcoming.

"Say, what are you up tonight?"

"Oh, uh, I'm not quite sure —" Boruto lost his train of thought when Sarada suddenly grabbed him by the arm.

"Come on, we're leaving," Sarada snipped, her tone unreasonably irritated.

Boruto turned to her. "Whoa, can you chill for a second? I was having a conversation here."

"Hey, Sarada," Kagura smiled.

"Fuck you," she sneered and Boruto's eyes widened at the venom in her voice.

Boruto turned back to apologize for his partner's outburst but was confused to discover Kagura smirking like he was completely unphased by Sarada's vicious treatment.

Like he even expected it.

It was obvious they knew each other, but before Boruto could question their relationship, Sarada was dragging him away with surprising strength.

"Bye Boruto! We'll definitely hang out soon!" Kagura called like they were old friends. Boruto glanced back at him, but Sarada squeezed his arm harder.

"What were you talking to him about?" she muttered once they were a reasonable distance away.

"Literally nothing," Boruto told her, still so confused by her behavior. "What's your problem, anyway? He's so nice!"

"He's not nice!" she snapped, anger burning in her charcoal eyes. "I forbid you from talking to him ever again."

"Well, at least tell me what you hate him for," he said, but Sarada just frowned, refusing to speak. "Alright, well maybe I'll just ask Kagura to grab dinner with me and he'll tell me."

She grabbed him by the front of his jacket and looked up at him with a stern expression. "He was my former partner, alright."

"I watched your program from last year, it wasn't with him."

"Yeah, he was my partner before that guy. I was partners with Kagura for years, all my junior division medals were with him," she admitted, averting her gaze as if it annoyed her to have to share her accomplishments with him.

Boruto furrowed his brow. "So, then what happened?"

"I hate him, that's what happened!" Sarada barked.

In the last few months, Boruto had spent nearly every day with Sarada, and he had never seen her have such a visceral reaction to another person. She was practically trembling with anger.

He still didn't fully understand, but he was willing to acquiesce if it meant making her feel better. Boruto wrapped his arms around her and held her tight until her breathing calmed.

"Okay, I won't talk to him," he whispered into her hair.

"Thank you," she mumbled.


"Are you sure you don't want to come with us?" Sarada asked, staring down at Boruto who sat on the edge of his bed.

"Seriously Sarada, it's fine. You go catch up with your friends, I'm just gonna chill here for the night."

Dark eyes quietly assessed him for a moment. "Alright, if you're really sure. But I have my phone on me so text me if you change your mind and you can come meet up with us."

He gave her a smile and a nod before Sarada headed out to go grab dinner with ChoCho, Mitsuki, and Inojin. With a sigh, Boruto laid back on the bed, glancing at the door to make sure Sarada was really gone before he pulled out his phone, secretly eager to get some answers to the question that plagued him all day.

Boruto searched online for 'Sarada Uchiha and Kagura Karatachi'.

Now he wasn't much of a gossip, but he knew there was history there that would explain Sarada's hostile behavior that afternoon. He watched a few videos of their competitions before he stumbled upon their very last performance together.

The International Grand Prix from three years prior. The year they both debuted in the senior division.

Their program was great (all of them he had watched had been) but this one was particularly challenging and artistic in its themes. They were such a powerhouse team, he didn't understand why they parted.

But then toward the end of their performance during a side-by-side jump sequence, Sarada fell. Hard.

The crowd gasped at the moment of impact, everyone seemed to know how bad it was. Boruto watched with bated breath as the camera zoomed in on a young Sarada sitting up on the ice, trembling as she clutched her wrist. The way she landed was awkward, it was definitely sprained, if not broken.

He had almost forgotten about Kagura until he skated back into frame. Boruto had expected him to bend down and help her, but instead, he grabbed her by her upper arm and hauled her up to stand, whispering something in her ear.

The crowd was dead silent as they continued their routine. Kagura pretended like nothing happened while Sarada kept her arm tucked to her chest as tears streamed down her face. She only did the choreography with her uninjured hand and marked her last jump.

Then after their final pose, Kagura skated away without even waiting for her.

The trainers swarmed Sarada the moment she stepped off the ice, in order to give her the first aid she should have gotten immediately after her fall. Boruto narrowed his eyes as he continued to watch Kagura and patched up Sarada sitting in front of the cameras waiting to hear their scores.

It wasn't really surprising that they got last place, they missed an entire section of their program. Kagura smiled through it all, but his eyes looked pissed.

After the scores were announced a few reporters approached them and began asking questions. Sarada stood there silently, fresh tears welling up in her eyes as Kagura looked directly into the camera and told the world how he and Sarada would be parting ways next year because he had obviously outgrown her and she was starting to hold him back.

Boruto stopped breathing when he heard Kagura blame Sarada's injury on her triple axel being sloppy.

Sloppy.

It was a word Sarada used all the time when they practiced. Saying her footwork was sloppy, her jumps were sloppy, her turns were sloppy.

But she never said it to Boruto.

As if it was an insult she reserved only for herself.

And now he understood why.

Despite their time apart, it was obvious the way Kagura's hurtful words still lingered in her heart and how Sarada's negative self-talk stemmed from her years of working with someone who constantly tore her down and told her she wasn't good enough.

The video ended and Boruto just stared at the blank screen, clenching his teeth as an irritated, angry feeling festered in his gut.

He understood why Sarada hated Kagura, and he decided that he did, too.


A/N: ahhh! Yo, no shade to Kagura, I just needed an antagonist lol and the idea of him being super two-faced was really interesting to me! Lol I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! I'd love to hear your thoughts and reactions in the comments!