Sarada swore that someone on the editorial staff had a crush on Boruto for how often he was featured in the university's newspaper. She was flipping through the pages on Tuesday morning, having returned to school after her weekend in Kiri, when she stumbled upon an article titled Figure Skating's New Heartthrob.

It wasn't the front page, but still, a prominently placed article that told of Konoha Uni hockey star, Boruto Uzumaki, making his debut in the figure skating world.

The author called him a jack of all trades when it came to ice sports, and told the curling team to watch out because Boruto might swoop in and wipe the floor with them. Sarada chuckled at the wordplay. The pictures were all very flattering, the two of them on the ice performing, them standing on the podium with their bronze medals, and a very sweet one of Boruto giving the little girl his bunny.

She couldn't help but notice how good Boruto looked, and it only served to annoy her. Sarada's feelings toward Boruto seemed to conflict from one moment to the next and it confused and frustrated her.

When he had reaffirmed that he truly meant all the kind things he said to those reporters about her after their performance, she wanted to lean in and kiss him again.

Thankfully, she snapped out of those thoughts before she did anything she would regret (again), but a new wave of embarrassment washed over her at the knowledge that her attraction to him wasn't isolated to a spur of the moment decision the night they slept together.

She had felt like a coward for the way she avoided him the rest of the weekend, thankful she had booked her flights back to Konoha with her parents and accidentally falling asleep in ChoCho's room the night after the competition.

To be honest, she was afraid of what she might do if she was alone with him in that hotel room again. She could admit she desired him - memories of that night replayed in her mind more often than she was willing to admit - but she didn't want to want him.

Sarada had really thought herself immune to his charms and it was a little humiliating to find out just how wrong she was.

By the time she returned to school, Sarada felt like she had gotten the space that she needed to keep any lingering lust at bay and she was confident she could carry on like that night never happened.

Or at least she had been until she saw him on campus flirting with other girls.

Every time she spotted some girl hanging on his arm, giggling obnoxiously, she wanted to scoff and roll her eyes, but that only reminded her of what a hypocrite she was. She had no claim over him, they were just figure skating partners. They slept together one time and she told him to pretend it never happened.

So why was she so mind-numbingly furious that he was pretending like it never happened?!

Uncomfortable with the idea that she might even be a little bit jealous, she disguised her feelings as anger. When she walked out of her last class, Sarada was still fuming, so she decided to confront him at his hockey practice and give him a piece of her mind.

Sarada marched into the hockey team's practice facility, ready to tell Boruto off, only to lose steam when she found that they were still practicing.

Oh well, more time to formulate the perfect speech about why he should stop… flirting with other girls?

No, she can't say that. He'll just turn around and tease her for being jealous and the absolute last thing she wanted was for him to make any lewd jokes or suggestions.

Her overactive imagination did not need any more fuel.

"Hey, Sarada!"

She cringed at the sound of that familiar angelic voice, she really should've assumed Sumire would be there. Sarada turned around with a forced smile plastered on her face as Sumire approached and took a seat next to her. "Hi," she greeted weakly.

"I saw your figure skating competition on tv this weekend! You and Boruto were both so good," Sumire said with an enthusiastic smile. "And you looked so pretty in your costume!"

"Oh, thanks." It felt like she had a bad taste in her mouth as she accepted Sumire's praise. Sarada had no real loyalty to the girl and yet felt overwhelmingly guilty realizing that she basically seduced the guy Sumire was interested in.

Violet eyes glanced back toward the hockey players practicing on the ice as Sumire seemed to puzzle over her next words. "Also… I wanted to apologize…"

Sarada's eyes widened, completely caught off guard. If anyone should be apologizing here, it was Sarada.

"I'm sorry if you ever felt like I was being weird to you... I guess, I was just feeling a little threatened," she began. "I mean, you told me that you don't like Boruto like that and that you were just working on something together, which now I understand was your figure skating... I really should've just believed you. I was being silly, and I hope you know that I do like you and I want us to be friends."

God, why couldn't Sumire have just punched her in the face, it would've been less painful than this situation.

Plagued by guilt and uncertainty, Sarada struggled to find the right thing to say, and settled on, "you don't have to apologize to me."

That was the only answer she felt even remotely resembled the truth. At that point, Sarada had no clue what she felt for Boruto, but it certainly wasn't nothing. She had shown up at his practice all riled up to tell him… tell him what?

Sarada still didn't even know what she wanted from him, she just knew thoughts of that night seemed to haunt every waking moment. Her imagination stirred up unwanted feelings and memories of his hungry lips traversing every inch of her naked skin.

Ignorant to her wandering thoughts, Sumire seemed happy with that response because she pulled her into a tight hug, and Sarada just awkwardly patted her on the back as she endured the girl's affection.

There was no way she would be acting so sweet if Sumire had known the truth about what Sarada had done.

The coach's whistle blew and the rowdy group of boys skated off the ice and retreated into the locker room. Sumire waved goodbye to Sarada as she hopped up from her seat, and made her way down the bleachers.

The moment Boruto walked out of the locker room, Sumire was skipping toward him and he laughed when she jumped into his arms, hugging him around the neck.

Even after Boruto set her down, their hands still lingered on each other and Sumire presented him with his favorite pink sports drink.

"You're the sweetest, you know that?" he said with a soft smile. Blue eyes gazing down at her fondly.

"Oh, stop it," Sumire giggled, playfully hitting him against the chest.

"What? It's true!" Boruto grinned at her blushing cheeks.

Sarada jerked away suddenly feeling awkward for watching their exchange. Boruto seemed to be doing a much better job at pretending their night together never happened than she was.

But what did she really expect? There were probably dozens of girls he hooked up with one time that he let go without a second thought. It was naive to think she'd be any different.

She quickly marched down the bleachers toward the door, her discomfort and embarrassment compounding by the second. It was stupid to come here, especially without anything to say prepared.

"Sarada?" She froze in place, cringing as she turned around to find Boruto approaching her. "Were you waiting for me? I thought you wanted to take a few days off after the competition?"

"Oh, I…" she hesitated a moment but decided to just tell the truth. "I did, I actually just came to talk…"

His brows rose in surprise, but before he could say anything, he was interrupted.

"Boruto!" Sumire called. "We're going to be late!" He glanced at her over his shoulder but turned back to Sarada, who was nervously holding her arm and looking down at the floor.

He was so torn.

"I have plans with Sumire," Boruto confessed, and he watched as Sarada deflated a little. "... should I tell her I need to cancel?"

"No, no it was nothing," Sarada replied with a shake of her head. "I'll just see you around."


Sarada glanced down as Boruto's face appeared on her phone with an incoming call for the second time that night.

With a sigh, she just let it ring. How was she supposed to explain to him how she was feeling when her feelings didn't make any sense?

She was embarrassed and frustrated not only that she had sex with him, but that she continued to crave him. That despite all logical reasoning, she wanted to indulge in him again.

She yearned to feel his warm hands sliding over her bare skin, to feel his lips burning her with each kiss and setting her body aflame.

But she was also angry and jealous, even though Boruto was only being himself like she told him to.

She knew Boruto didn't acknowledge Sumire as his girlfriend, but what was the extent of their relationship?

Sarada had known since the day they met that Sumire was enamored with Boruto, and he obviously gave her enough attention and affection to keep her coming back.

Were they sleeping together? The thought made Sarada so uncomfortable.

But what if it wasn't just Sumire? She was just the only one Sarada knew about. Boruto flirted with basically every girl he interacted with, it wouldn't be a stretch to imagine there were others.


The day they resumed their figure skating practices, Konohamaru came to watch and help decide what elements they could improve to up their technical scores. Meaning more rotations in their jumps and/or more complex entries into their lifts.

His feedback would help give them an idea of what to work on in the weeks to come.

It had been thanks to their performance score that they even made it on the podium, but their low technical score allowed Kagura and his partner to swoop in and take gold.

Sarada had tried not to seethe as they stood and waved from the top of the podium and instead reminded herself what a feat it had been to teach someone with no experience how to figure skate in just a few months.

They had beat several other pairs who had been together for years and that was an achievement worth being proud of.

With the Grand Prix on the horizon, Sarada was focused on improving even more so that they could have a real chance at winning.

But despite it nearly being a week since that night, an awkward tension still lingered between them. Sarada understood it was mostly her fault. She would tense up every time Boruto touched her, which only made him second guess his every move.

The result was that their program was entirely too stiff and not at all like their bronze medal-winning performance. The moment the music cut, Sarada turned to their choreographer for his input.

Reading Konohamaru's expression, she asked, "Was it really that bad?"

"How do I put this gently?" Konohamaru sighed. "I understand that there's a lot of excitement in the air when you perform in front of a crowd, but you need to be consistently executing your program like you did at the Kiri competition to stand a chance at the Grand Prix. I mean I don't know if something just clicked, but I encourage you guys to try to find that spark again. Try warming up the way you did at the competition, hell eat the same breakfast you had that day if that's what it takes."

"I know, I know. You're right," Sarada conceded as she and Boruto skated toward the edge of the rink. "I'll figure something out."

"Alright," Konohamaru nodded. "I have to head out, but text me if you need anything."

He walked out as Boruto and Sarada plopped down on the rink-side bleachers to remove their skates. Sarada's mind was all over the place as she tried to come up with some kind of solution.

There was only one thing that came to mind.

"Sarada," Boruto mumbled and she turned to meet his gaze. "Quit lying to me and to yourself. You were never going to be able to pretend it never happened, so let's just clear the air so we can move on, okay?"

She sighed as she accepted that what he said was true. It was a gross overestimation of herself to think she could just go back to seeing him every day without being reminded that they had sex.

Sarada didn't think it was really the sex itself that bothered her, but rather all the messy feelings that surrounded it. "Okay, but can I ask you something and you be completely honest with me?"

"Of course."

She steeled herself, preparing to ask the one thing that had weighed most heavily on her since she woke up beside him that morning. "Do you think I'm totally pathetic for pressuring you to have sex with me?"

"What? Sarada, no," he dismissed with a shake of his head. "And I hardly think you pressured me."

"Oh please, you… you hesitated, but I just kept pushing until you gave in. I… I took my clothes off," she winced as an embarrassed blush crept across her cheeks. "I just can't help imagining how desperate I looked to you."

"Stop it, that's not what I think at all," Boruto affirmed. "I mean, I… had a really good time, if that wasn't apparent."

"Oh, um… me too..."

"Good, I'm glad," he said with a smirk. "So, are we okay?"

"Are you having sex with Sumire?" she blurted without preamble. Boruto's brow lifted, surprised and a little taken back by the question. "Or other girls for that matter?" Sarada added seriously.

Boruto suddenly burst out laughing. "Is that a real question?"

"Yes, that was a real question!" she snapped, her face scrunched with annoyance. "What?! Should I have just assumed that you're such a fucking stud that, of course, you have scores of women lining up to get in your bed?!"

"Oh my god. Shut up, Sarada," Boruto groaned dramatically as he rolled his eyes. "Why don't you take a look at that very detailed schedule you wrote for me and tell me when you think I have the time to sleep around?"

She pursed her lips. Okay… so maybe that had been a silly question. When he didn't have hockey or class, he was almost always with her.

Boruto smirked as the realization spread across her features. "Any more questions?"

He tilted his ear to her, with a confused expression on his face when she said something extremely fast and quiet. "What was that?" he asked.

"Would you… want to… do it again?"

Boruto blinked at her. "Wait, what?"

He definitely misheard her.

"Well, I think that… that, um experience helped, ya know, enhance our performance. And I just thought that maybe if we... ya know, had more sex, that we could consistently be executing our program with that level of… umm, passion."

Sarada couldn't make eye contact with him as she spoke, and Boruto did his best not to chuckle at the mental gymnastics she was doing to justify her interest in sleeping with him.

"So you're saying you want to add sex to our figure skating training regimen?" Boruto had to use his hand to cover the amused smile that tugged at his lips.

Sarada narrowed her eyes as she stared down at the floor. Was that what she said? "Um, I guess so. Yeah."

"Alright... we could do that, but..." She nervously glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. "First, you have to say I'm the best you've ever had," he said with a teasing grin.

"Oh my god! Forget I ever said anything," Sarada scoffed and stood up.

But Boruto grabbed her wrist before she could walk away. "I'm kidding! I'm kidding!" he laughed before his expression devolved into something a little more serious. "Are you sure that's really what you want?"

Sarada inhaled a deep breath. "Yeah, I mean it's not like it's about feelings. It will just be another part of our training."

Boruto nodded, even though he wasn't quite sure he believed her.


A/N: Ahh because friends-with-benefits always works out so well, right Sarada?! Haha I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Leave a comment and let me know what you thought! Also, who do you think will catch/admit their feelings first?