Childhood

Boruto's Family

It took a bit for Sarada to warm up to the idea of playing with others. She hid behind the boy she now knew as Boruto every time she was scared. But the pride of being the best at throwing the shuriken and being allowed to pair up with him each time slowly ebbed away at the feeling of fear. Before she knew it, she began to have fun.

After a few rounds of playing, Shikadai, Inojin, and Cho-Cho panted, out of breath as Boruto and Sarada stood on a roof, looking down at them.

"This isn't fair," said Shikadai. "No matter what we do, they hit us every time."

"Boruto," said Inojin, "one of you has to switch teams!"

He slowly looked over at Sarada. "Will you be ok?"

She looked down. "I think so." Then she smiled.

"Alright! I call Shikadai! Sarada, you're with Inojin and Cho-Cho."

She slowly nodded her acceptance and hopped down from the roof. They played and ran, but even with Boruto and Shikadai's strategy, Sarada still hit them both from behind when they weren't looking.

"What? I thought we were going to win!"

"Hm," she smirked. "I haven't missed yet!"

Boruto turned around, surprised at the shy girl's sudden authoritative tone. "Oh yeah? I'll beat you this time! Shikadai! Strategy meeting!"

They replanned and replanned and replanned. But in the end, they were only able to win once. Sarada even went so far as to high-five Inojin and Cho-Cho.

Boruto sat down, a frown on his face. "This isn't fair..."

"You didn't think your new friend would out-do you, did you?" He laughed.

Boruto blushed. "Be quiet."

"Hey, Boruto," said Shikadai, watching as the girl laughed. "Do you think she'll come to play with us more often now?"

For some reason, he didn't like the look on Shikadai's face. "I'd be happier if she didn't."

"Hm? Why's that? You worked so hard to get her to play with us... Are you that angry that you lost?"

He folded his arms and turned away, still not sure why he was so mad.

"Could it be... You're jealous?"

"S-Stupid! That's not it!"

He tilted his head to the side. "Then you're mad that she's winning after all?"

"I..."

"Boruto," Sarada called from afar, a bright smile on her face. "Let's play again!"

He hesitated. He was tired of losing, for sure. But for some reason, the thought of her playing with the others bothered him. "...I've got stuff to do at home! It's getting dark... Let's call it a day!"

Sarada pouted. Cho-Cho put her hand on her shoulder. "It's sad to go home, but we'll play again tomorrow, ok?"

Boruto watched as the gloomy look on her face brightened with a touch of Cho-Cho's hand. 

"Ok!"

After everyone went their separate ways, Boruto clutched the shuriken he had secretly hidden from Sarada. He wanted to practice. And the next day, he planned to win.

. . .

When they turned six, Boruto gave up on beating Sarada at throwing shuriken. No matter how much he practiced, she always practiced more. No matter what tricks he used, she thought of some way to outsmart him.