Gambler of Feelings:
Chapter 2
Furious by his previous encounter with that rude girl, Boruto decided to head to the clubroom. The school bell has already rung, so his grudge towards her can wait. He has a lot of other things to deal with at the moment, like the club meeting.
The club meeting he's already late to. He couldn't wait to meet-up with his closest friends too. It'll help him to calm down for sure.
"I'm not an idiot," he whispered to himself.
Boruto Uzumaki was famous among his peers. His image of the social, popular guy that is kind has let him have a dedicated fan-club of girls. It wasn't their recognition that he desired.
His fan-club did see only his public mask, not what was lying underneath it. Most of these girls wanted to use him because of his father's name. That's all there was to it.
It's not their attention he tried to gain or desperately needed to prove himself to them.
At one glance, Boruto Uzumaki lives an ideal type of life. He's social, well-known, his parents are famous, he's lucky, and most of his friends are loyal to him. The imaginary perfect life others crafted based on his image.
Yes, in the eyes of others, he's enviably owning a lot of precious things, yet he still was seeking something he didn't have, the attention from his dad.
Naruto Uzumaki held the highest status at this school as its principal. He also managed one of the most famous companies worldwide called Hokage Inc. Being the head of the school, plus the company meant he's likely busy.
Boruto didn't see him at home often, and when he did see him, his father wasn't paying attention to him at all. It was more likely the father went to sleep rather than spending time with his family.
To an extent, he understood that his father dealt with important matters. His dad was the leader, so it's natural he's a busy person, but part of him was hurt by his ongoing absence in his life.
Does his dad even know him at all?
Boruto's mind jumped to the conclusion they're behaving like strangers at this point in time. The other part of him despised his father and the way everyone talked about their achievements.
He hated being compared to Naruto the most.
Boruto knew that his father's success doesn't belong to him, despite others giving him a mountain of praise for it. They praised him as if he achieved it himself. When it came down to it, they never noticed his personal achievements that belonged only to him.
His own success always was written off as something his dad did. The worst feeling ever in the mind of Boruto was to be seen as the accessory to someone else.
The situation at home was complicated, and he didn't want to cause distress to his mom and his younger sister Himawari with his identity crisis.
Boruto navigated the school corridors with ease until he found himself in front of the clubroom. He's president of the club, arriving late paints the picture he's not taking his duties seriously.
A wooden door to the clubroom had the old traces of brown paint. It was the only door that had a doorknob shaped like a black crown decorated with red jewels. On the door was hanging the white sign of the "Tabletop and Video Games" club at the top.
Boruto took a deep breath. He wasn't in the mood for being lectured by his friends. His right hand pushed down the doorknob, then he entered inside.
He missed the sight of the grey swivel chairs, the wooden desks, computers, the cupboard that contained all of their video and tabletop games. In the chairs were already sitting three out of four club members.
"Sorry for being late, ya know! I was in the middle of helping a teacher and bumped into someone by accident on my way, hehe."
Well, it looked like his apology wasn't convincing enough.
It wasn't his first time appearing late to the meeting. In fact, that was an everyday occurrence. Boruto's lateness and poor excuses were influenced by his uncle, Kakashi. Uncle Kakashi was one of the dad's close friends, notorious for his poor alibis.
Boruto learned various tactics from him, especially when he was late to the events he was invited to attend. Uncle Kakashi was his comrade that knew him better than his father.
"Nobody is fooled, Boruto. Your last story was more convincing compared to this. You should think of something better."
Mitsuki, the newest member of the club and Boruto's best friend, reacted to the news first. His tongue was harsh and cut you deep with the truth no-one needed to hear. He was always weird with the way he snuck up on you.
Probably it was this weirdness that pushed away most of the people from him, despite his looks rivalling Boruto in terms of attractiveness. That or his past history of breaking up with all girls he dated.
There was also the mystery of his parent Orochimaru. Mitsuki himself called him both mom and dad on several occasions while saying Orochimaru says that he can be looking like a man or woman, but is both at heart.
Boruto wasn't able to wrap up his head of why Mitsuki never explained anything about his family to his former partners. Breaking with them up by showing the collection of domestic snakes was something Mitsuki considered normal.
Well, at least the way he walked away from his past relationships was entertaining to watch, Boruto concluded. Mitsuki was the epitome of strange, after all.
Boruto almost laughed, remembering one of Mitsuki's famous break-ups.
"You think something nasty about me, don't you?" Mitsuki smiled, a kind of simile that would scare even most hardcore horror fanatics.
Boruto almost forgot this guy has a sixth sense of sorts.
"Nasty?! No way!" he quickly defended himself.
Mitsuki didn't look convinced, crap, he needs to do something before his life is over.
"Troublesome," commented Shikadai Nara, Boruto's childhood friend. He's very dependable!
Shikadai, unlike Boruto, didn't share similar worries, despite them being raised in a similar way. They were both compared to their fathers, yet Shikadai brushed off things like comparisons, even using some of them in his favour.
Hell, he tied his black hair up in a ponytail which looked like a pineapple, since his hair was spiky. Only Shikada's green eyes were a sign he's auntie Temari son appearance-wise.
In conclusion, Shikadai didn't care much about people comparing him to his father.
"Uwahahaw! To you, everything is troublesome," said Sumire Kakei.
She was attending the same class as Boruto and cursed being a class president for a long time because of him. Her violet eyes and hair tied up in two iconic braids were her outstanding features.
Sumire wore the standard school uniform, a sailor's white blouse and black skirt, knee-length, white tights, and black boots.
Boruto, for a long time, had a sneaking suspicion she joined the club due to her crush. He assumes she likes Mitsuki but wasn't sure if it wasn't a figment of his vivid imagination.
"It is," nodded Shikadai in affirmation, yawning and placing his head on the desk.
"Where's Chō-Chō?" Boruto questioned. The last club member wasn't present here at all.
He tried to divert their attention from the fact he was late for the meeting.
"On a family trip overseas, she apparently forgot to inform you about it. She also said our new member will join us today," explained hastily, Mitsuki.
"A new club Member?" Boruto wanted to verify just in case he heard everything correctly.
"Chō-Chō's best friend, so she said we should just chill."
That was news Boruto didn't expect. Is Mitsuki close with Chō-Chō outside of the club? It'd make sense he's the one sharing what's up then.
"Chō-Chō's best friend? What a drag it is," whispered Shikadai.
"Hey, don't assume her friend is troublesome from the get-go, Shikadai!" Sumire interjected.
"Let's all calm down, I'm sure-" Boruto didn't have the chance to finish what he wanted to say when they heard a knock on the door.
The girl he bumped into today entered inside, and he froze. An upsetting reminder of his dampened mood from before. She's the one that straight-up insulted him by calling him an idiot!
Is she Chō-Chō's best friend?
His bad luck must be great to meet her so soon after their initial meeting. Meeting full of first terrible impressions.
This is his chance! He'll prove to her he isn't an idiot by a direct challenge. After all, this club specialises in playing various kinds of games. If she's joining this club, sooner or later, he'd challenge her to a game of wits.
Boruto Uzumaki never quits a challenge, especially when someone gets on his nerves. A game of wits with this rude girl isn't an exception, and he'll prove it.
He'll prove he's not an idiot by defeating her in this game.
Boruto swore it in the precise moment he recognised who the new member and Chō-Chō's best friend is.
AN:
Hello, everyone!
This chapter is focusing more on Boruto than Sarada. I hope you all enjoyed reading this chapter. And as well hope it doesn't contain too many mistakes.
So here is my question considering this story.
Which pair do you prefer MitsuSumi or MitsuChō?
This fic will contain moments for both ships, but I'm just curious which of the girls will be more suitable to Mitsuki according to readers opinions.
EDIT 1 - I tried to make conversation in this chapter flow better, especially in conveying what I had initially in mind.
PS - Editing fics on is pretty tedious and longer process, at least compared to my expectations.
Sincerely, Karinrumi :)