It had been a long time since Sarada had begged Boruto to stay in the Leaf Village after they'd saved it together—after she'd reversed people's memories enough to convince them that Boruto was Lord Seventh's son and not a threat. She still remembered the night that he and Kawaki had fought, her wounds too deep for her to get involved. Her only choice had been to lay helplessly by and watch while Himawari tried to heal her.
And the night after…
"Everyone loves you now. Everyone accepts you. It's important for you to be here in the aftermath!" she begged, but she knew she was only begging because she loved him and wanted him near. After all those years apart, she wanted him close.
He rested his hand on her cheek, his blue eyes like pools of deep water. "I'll stay for a couple of weeks. But I don't belong here."
Now, five years after that conversation, Sarada sat in her private office. She wasn't hokage yet—Lord Seventh had plenty of years ahead of him—but a job as one of his top assistants would do for now. She arrived as the sun was rising and only left after the sky was black. Her body ached far more than a twenty-two-year-old's body should.
She rarely went out. She rarely had fun.
She rarely did anything except work and keep up on her training. Peacetime only lasted so long.
After the war, most of her friends paired off and got married, just like their parents had after the last war. ChoCho and Inojin, Konohamaru and Hanabi, Wasabi and Iwabee. Even Shikadai and Hima were engaged—who would've guessed?
Glancing around her small office, a guilty feeling crept up the back of her neck.
Tonight's the night.
Sarada banged her fist on her forehead, hating herself for how excited she felt as she typed " " into her computer and hit enter. A gray swirling circle rested in the center of the screen. Maybe she should just hit the x—
Welcome to Ninja's Only
The only website where a ninja can chat with friends and find a lover
Profiles
Chat Rooms
The website clearly needed an update, with its pixelated buttons and huge cursor shaped like a kunai. She moved the kunai to the Chat Rooms button and clicked. No way would she be making a profile for the world to see.
Guys Only
Girls Only
Co-ed
Speed Dating
Looking for love
Ninja talk only—*NO ROMANCE*
War Veterans
The list went on, listing out chat rooms for each individual village. Sarada didn't want to talk to anyone she knew. And she was looking for love… but maybe she'd start with something safer.
Co-ed
It presented her with a list of topics. She chose Food, since she was starving half to death.
Choose username.
blacktea331
Chat room loading…
Her heart constricted inside her chest. Had she become this lonely? This sad? All her girlfriends were busy with their husbands; all her guy friends were busy with their wives. How had they all managed to find people in Konoha, and she was left all by herself?
Why had Boruto abandoned her?
The screen flooded with messages. She tried to catch up with what everyone was saying.
blacktea331 has entered the chat.
driftingleaf: hi blacktea!
sandstorm239: heyyy
mewantcookie: Hello!
Well, it was too late to turn back now.
driftingleaf: we need you to settle something for us.
She could see from a quick scan through previous messages that they had been arguing about burgers.
blacktea331: What is it?
driftingleaf: can burgers be spicy?
Sarada chuckled. Of all the chats to get into, it was a conversation about burgers.
blacktea331: Of course
driftingleaf: thank you! see, cookie?
mewantcookie has left the chat.
What a petty form of entertainment, but Sarada covered her mouth, laughing at cookie for leaving the chat over such a small thing.
driftingleaf: sore loser, I guess. what do you like to eat with your black tea, blacktea?
sandstorm239: cookie's always bitter about something. i've seen her on here before.
blacktea331: I like chocolate cake with it.
driftingleaf: that's a good combo. I've gotta admit, I like coffee myself.
blacktea331: I've been drinking coffee more often than I like to admit. I work a lot.
Sarada cringed at herself. This was supposed to be a chat room dedicated to food—not to complaining about her work schedule. But she was desperate to connect with someone. Surely driftingleaf and sandstorm would understand. They were ninjas too.
sandstorm239 has left the chat.
driftingleaf: guess it's just you and me. what do you do?
blacktea331: I'm an assistant to an executive.
driftingleaf: ninja?
blacktea331: Not actively. Still training though. You?
driftingleaf: same.
driftingleaf: my village had a war and I never really recovered. working odd jobs. I'm in a library using the computer right now. kind of pathetic.
blacktea331: I'm hiding in my office after-hours doing this. Planning to wipe the search history afterward.
driftingleaf: ha. lucky for me the library computer does it automatically
driftingleaf: I'm really lonely. I feel like everyone is moving on without me, and I'm stuck in this weird place.
driftingleaf: sorry, that was weird
blacktea331: No, you just described the past few years of my life perfectly.
Sarada wiped a tear from her cheek, wishing she could give this stranger a hug.
driftingleaf: oh, good
driftingleaf: well, not good that you are in the same situation. sorry
driftingleaf: you don't live in the frost village, do you?
blacktea331: no
driftingleaf: dang. my time's almost up on this computer. do you have a profile? are you a girl?
Sarada's heart galloped, her face turning red. Did she want to hear from this stranger again?
Yes. She did.
blacktea331: A profile? And yes I'm a girl.
driftingleaf: a dating profile. you should sign up for one so I can find you again.
She had almost forgotten that over half of the website was dedicated to dating.
blacktea331: come back here the same time tomorrow evening.
driftingleaf: see you then.
driftingleaf: oh, and go out for a drink tonight on your way home. you deserve it.
driftingleaf has left the chat.
blacktea331 has left the chat.
The following day, Sarada was distracted. She had every intention of going back to the chat room in her office after work that evening to talk to driftingleaf. Although their conversation wasn't long, it had left her feeling more known than she had felt in quite some time.
The previous night, she had grabbed a burger and stopped for a drink on her way home. Her parents were fast asleep by the time she crept in the front door.
When 8 o'clock hit, Sarada, logged in a few minutes early, navigating her way to the food chat room. A red bell at the top right corner of the page lit up, telling her that she had a notification. She clicked it and a single notification showed:
driftingleaf has requested a private chat. Accept?
She clicked Yes, which took her to an empty private messaging room.
driftingleaf: so you got a profile after all.
Sarada smiled, imagining driftingleaf looking smug in some library in the Land of Frost.
blacktea331: I wanted to make sure no one stole my username.
Out of curiosity, Sarada right-clicked his username and opened his profile in a new tab. His profile had slightly more information than hers did, but not by much.
Village: Land of Frost
Hobbies: Training, eating, traveling
Age: 22
Everything else was blank. Hair color, eye color, fighting style and abilities, favorite foods, desires for a significant other, etc. They were the same age.
driftingleaf: what village do you live in?
blacktea331: I won't say.
driftingleaf: I won't tell.
blacktea331: I believe you.
The chat was silent for a minute. She feared that he would log out and never speak to her again, so she hastily wrote something.
blacktea331: what did you do today?
driftingleaf: accompanied some old lady on her shopping trip. genin type stuff. you?
blacktea331: Filled out paperwork. Found out one of my best friends is pregnant.
blacktea331: Are you from the land of frost?
driftingleaf: yikes. sounds like a mediocre day. and no.
blacktea331: where are you from?
driftingleaf: wouldn't you like to know ;)
And a second later:
driftingleaf: a secret for a secret?
Sarada rubbed her face in her hands. If anyone found out about her activity on , she wouldn't be the laughing stock of the town. It would be worse: they would throw her such an epic pity party that she would never recover. Maybe she'd leave town, just like Boruto. Especially with ChoCho's baby on the way, they'd feel that much sorrier for her. She could hear them now, whispering behind her back. All her friends are married and moving up in life, and she's stuck in the hokage's office. Bla bla bla…
blacktea331: Fine. Let's tell at the same time.
A moment later, two messages showed on the screen, one after the other:
driftingleaf: I'm originally from the Leaf.
blacktea331: I live in the Leaf.
Sarada spun around in her chair. She couldn't look.
He's twenty-two.
He's from the Leaf.
He likes spicy burgers.
I came here to move on from Boruto Uzumaki—not to fall in love with him again.
No—it couldn't be. The probability was far too low.
Or was it far too high?
She turned back around. There was a new message:
driftingleaf: Sarada?
blacktea331: yes?
driftingleaf: it's Boruto. I'm coming home.