His blue eyes gave her a once over that made her feel oddly exposed before he continued, his voice gentler than before. "Maybe it's because I think you might be as sad as I am."
Her heart leapt into her throat. "Who says I'm sad?! I-I'm not sad!"
Boruto offered her a sympathetic smile, his somber gaze cast down at his coffee. "Yeah… neither am I…"
"Thanks for the drink," Sarada muttered before turning around and marching in the direction of the ballet studio.
What a ridiculous suggestion. She wasn't sad.
She wasn't!
Though it was becoming increasingly harder to convince herself of that as tears began pooling in her dark eyes. What did she have to be sad about?
She should be happy. She has a loving family, a nice place to live, and a career she's worked so hard for! Why would she be sad?
Unless she was simply unappreciative… ignorant to the numerous privileges she was afforded. Her parents' money and support allowed her to focus on ballet and improve her skills without the stress of affording her lifestyle.
She shouldn't be sad, she should be grateful, elated, utterly joyous at the fact that she has a life others only dream of. She was the prima ballerina of one of the most prestigious companies in Konoha. Other girls would kill for what she has.
She didn't deserve to be sad, not when her life was likely the envy of many others.
Sarada frantically rubbed her cheeks with the back of her hand before her tears could roll down. She had every reason to be happy, so obviously, Boruto was just wrong.
She wasn't sad.
When she saw Boruto at rehearsal, he didn't bring it up again. Didn't try to push any further to get her to talk. And yet, his suggestion haunted her for the rest of the day.
Her thought spiral only worsened when she returned to her empty home, alone with nothing to preoccupy her mind. It was too quiet.
Sarada attempted to distract herself and unwind with a lengthy bedtime routine, one with extra steps and skin care products for when she was really treating herself. But even the mindless task of massaging various serums into her face with a jade roller couldn't calm her mind.
After brushing out her raven tresses and giving up on meditating, Sarada decided to just go to sleep in hopes that would be enough to turn off her restless brain. She fluffed her pillows before slipping under the covers and commanding herself to fall to sleep.
But instead, she spent the next several minutes (or hour? she couldn't really tell) staring up at the ceiling fan, spinning in circles like her unwanted thoughts.
Similar questions came up when she was named prima ballerina. Sarada had expected herself to be suddenly happy after reaching such a milestone in her career. But wasn't hoping to be happy an admission that she wasn't?
She rolled over in bed and hugged a pillow to her chest. Scrunching her eyes closed, she told herself she was going to sleep right now. This line of thinking wasn't productive, it was only making her more upset.
But Sarada couldn't fall asleep no matter how hard she tried. She kept tossing and turning as her mind prodded her with questions she didn't have the answers to.
Had she ever been truly happy? Will she ever be happy?
Maybe she was just one of those unfortunate people who never got a happily ever after. Maybe she would struggle for the rest of her life to attain this abstract happiness that felt just barely out of reach.
So badly, Sarada wanted to escape these thoughts that weighed on her mind, but after all her attempts there was only one other idea she could think of.
And it was a bad idea. She really shouldn't go there.
Last time proved those intoxicating feelings that left her pleasantly numb didn't last for long. And yet even as she reminded herself of that, there Sarada was, dressed in a dainty pajama set, a silk robe, and some haphazardly tied sneakers knocking on Boruto's door.
He was probably asleep by now… or out! Hell, it was Friday night after all!
She should leave. This was a terrible idea!
But just as she was about to turn around and shamefully scurry home, the door opened. The distant sound of his television spilled out as he met her gaze. He was wearing a pair of sweat shorts and a confused expression. "Hey… is everything alright?"
Sarada wrapped the edges of her robe tighter around her body as her mind searched for whatever the fuck she had planned to say when she got there.
"Um, well…" Her face grew hot with unwelcome emotion. "I just wanted you to know that you were wrong, I'm actually not sad at all. I have a great life and I'm very fulfilled." She realized how unconvincing that sounded given her voice was shaking and more stupid tears were pooling at the corners of her eyes.
Boruto dared to take a step closer as his expression softened, blue eyes swirling with sympathy. He tentatively reached out and when she didn't pull away, he softly cradled her cheek. She couldn't help but lean into his warm touch. "Do you want to come inside?"
Sarada nodded without hesitation.
He allowed his palm to fall from her face, instead grabbing her hand to lead her into his apartment.
"I didn't wake you up, did I?" she mumbled as she kicked off her sneakers in the entryway.
"Oh no, I was just laying around watching tv, but we can watch something together. Have a seat, I'll make us some tea."
She sat down on the end of his brown leather sofa. It was comfortable but not enough throw pillows for Sarada's taste. Her gaze wandered around the rest of his living room, realizing she hadn't paid it much attention the last time she was there.
It was definitely a young man's apartment. The furnishings seemingly chosen more for function than a particular aesthetic. Dark colors, blues and neutrals. Nothing on the walls.
"How long have you lived in this building?" Sarada asked, peeking over at him as he placed a kettle on the stove.
"Only for the few months I've been with Konoha Ballet, if you're judging my decorating ability," Boruto replied with an unoffended chuckle.
Her gaze fell to her fingers fiddling in her lap, wondering how obvious her observation had been. "I wasn't judging."
"I was on tour for about six months before moving here, so I kind of started from scratch."
"Oh, right, right," she mumbled.
A few quiet minutes later, Boruto returned to the living room with two steaming cups of tea in his hands. He offered her one before taking a seat on the couch beside her, despite there being plenty of room.
The soft smile he offered her was rather reassuring. One fear she had when she showed up at his apartment unannounced was that he may very well slam the door in her face. She would've deserved it after the way she had treated him all week, but instead he chose to graciously invite her in.
Sarada sipped her hot tea, allowing the honey-sweetened peppermint to coat her mouth in a soothing flavor. There was a comfort to not being alone with her thoughts, to having Boruto's warmth beside her as they watched an old sitcom that was familiar yet still somehow entertaining.
She wondered why he was so quick to forgive and to let her in, and then she remembered he implied he was sad too. He could very well also be lonely if he thought he was the same sad as her. The kind of sad that was paired with guilt, the sad that felt like there was no end in sight.
Sarada softly shook her head, trying not to allow her thoughts to go back down that path. With their now empty mugs sitting on his coffee table, she mentally debated initiating the kind of activity she had originally come here for (more subtly than stripping down naked like last time though).
The anxious excitement making her heart race was so much more tolerable than the anxious dread she felt earlier that evening. Sarada took that as a sign to continue. Every so slowly her hand drifted from her own lap to land on his knee. He didn't tense under her touch, but she noticed the way his eyes immediately flickered in her direction.
But when Boruto didn't say anything, didn't give any indication he was unhappy with the direction she was pushing things, her fingers began skating teasingly against his skin before traveling up his thigh.
Sarada could hear the change in his breath, growing shallow like he was trying not to act so affected by her touch. Then suddenly her mind was consumed with how to elicit the same gasps and pleasured sighs from his lips as he had from her the last time they were in his apartment together.
As embarrassed as she had been after they slept together, she couldn't help but remember how sinfully good it had felt in the moment. Her cheeks grew warm recalling the way he made her come with just his mouth.
She wanted to make him feel good too.
With a deep breath, Sarada slid off the couch to kneel on the floor between his spread knees, her intention made all the more obvious as she reached for the waistband of his shorts. Dark eyes glanced up to meet blue, but the unexpected hint of hesitation in his eyes had Sarada's hands halting.
"I-I'm sorry, I just thought…" she pathetically tried to explain. But maybe that was the problem, she wasn't thinking.
Her cheeks flushed with mortification. She was such an idiot, why'd she come here again?! He didn't want her! Whatever physical interest he had in her must have expired.
Sarada was about to apologize again for being so brash when Boruto lifted his hips to help her pull down his pants. She inhaled sharply at the sight of his cock, questioning if he was already half hard from the teasing tickles she had given him or if his thoughts had strayed to their last encounter too.
Her gaze lifted to meet his again as her hand wrapped around his growing arousal, stroking up and down a few times before guiding him to her mouth. His lips parted with a shuddering sigh as she dragged the flat of her tongue up his length.
Dark eyes fluttered closed as Sarada soon lost herself in the task of pleasuring him. Her hand pumped the base of his cock as her lips lavished his sensitive tip with sloppy, wet kisses.
Her confidence grew with each mumbled curse Boruto breathed. His fingers threaded through her raven hair, holding it back as he watched her bob up and down on his hardened length.
It wasn't long before Sarada could feel his thighs tensing and his grip on her hair tightening as he climbed higher and higher toward his peak.
"Fuck, Sarada, I'm–" he choked out in warning.
But she didn't stop, didn't slow her strokes until he was spilling his hot release in her waiting mouth. His hand slipped out of her hair as he deflated against the couch with a satisfied sigh. Lust-clouded blue eyes stared down at her as she allowed his slick cock to fall from her lips before swallowing.
Boruto exhaled a breathless groan at the sight of her licking her lips like she loved the taste of him.
Without breaking their heated eye contact, Sarada pushed herself up to stand between his spread knees before she shimmied out of her silk pajama shorts and discarded them on the floor. She crawled onto his lap with a knee on either side of his hips to give herself the leverage she needed.
She could feel the damp heat between her thighs, begging for attention as she thrust her lips to his in a needy kiss. Boruto reciprocated with equal fervor, his palms gliding over her bare waist to keep her anchored there.
One hand tangled in his blonde hair while the other reached between their bodies to wrap around his hard cock, still throbbing from his earlier release.
"Did you want me to go grab a…?" he trailed off, his lips preoccupied with her kisses.
"I can't wait," Sarada replied with an impatient whimper. "Please, I need you right now. I need you so badly."
A low growl rumbled in his chest at her plea. His hands squeezed her hips tighter as she teasingly dragged his cock through her damp folds, coating him in her silky arousal. Sarada leaned forward just enough for her lips to meet his ear and purred, "just look how wet you make me."
Boruto instinctively bucked up to meet her, desperate to sink inside her tight warmth. She eagerly aligned him at her entrance and slowly seated herself on his lap. Each inch of his thick cock was better than the last, filling her so fully she couldn't think about anything but the pleasure coursing through her veins.
Sarada sighed as his lips found her neck, kissing and sucking on her racing pulse, as his hands slid down to grope her round ass. When the strap of her silk camisole slipped off her shoulder, his teeth sunk into the sensitive flesh with a soft bite that made her shiver.
After giving herself a moment to adjust to his intrusion, she lifted her hips before dropping back down again and again until she found a steady rhythm. Wanton moans escaped her lips with each bounce, making that familiar tension coil tighter in her core.
"Ooh~" she whined as Boruto pulled her down harder against his lap, making each thrust deeper and more rough than before. Their long-forgotten sitcom continued to drone in the background, competing with the lewd sounds of their coupling.
Her heart was pounding from her vigorous pace, but she couldn't stop. Not when she could feel her inner muscles clenching around his cock, not when she was so close to climax it almost hurt.
With a steadying hand on his shoulder, Sarada reached between her legs to stroke her clit and push herself over that blissful edge. Her nails dug into his skin as she tossed her head back with a moan. The tension building inside her crashed over her like a tidal wave, sending ripples of pulsing pleasure throughout her body.
Boruto continued grinding his hips against hers, fucking her through her orgasm until she was practically dizzy. With a sigh, Sarada melted over him, their racing hearts beating against their chests. Despite her physical and emotional exhaustion, her body was practically vibrating from such a gratifying release.
"Do you mind if I sleep here?" she whispered against his neck, her voice a touch raspy.
Boruto laughed as he ran his fingers through her raven hair. "As long as you don't sneak out in the middle of the night."
Sarada silently nodded, afraid to make any actual promises.
A/N: re: Sarada's mental spiral in this chapter, I see people do this all the time, trying to invalidate their own feelings by reminding themselves others have it worse. certainly you should be grateful for the good things in your life, but I hope you know you are allowed to be sad or struggle too. those things aren't mutually exclusive.