Gambler of Feelings

Chapter Twenty Eight

It turned out Boruto's family showed up at the dreaded discussion. He was sitting between her and Himawari. Her mom and papa, along with Boruto's parents, were all seated on the opposite side of the table. Once everyone gathered, it was clear to Sarada it was pointless to mask her nerves.

In an unexpected show of courage, she looked straight at her mom with her gaze occasionally drifting to Boruto's dad. "Everyone's here already. Will you explain everything now?" The calmness in which she executed this question surprised her.

Her mom let out a sigh, then put the same blue box Sarada once peeked inside onto the table. She exchanged a silent nod with Boruto, who also recognised it. There was no doubt in their minds it contained the same letters they stopped reading midway through.

"Oh, I'm sure both of you recognise this, right?" That was more like a snide remark than a question. Sarada guessed mom still felt upset about their argument yesterday. Holding a grudge longer than it was necessary was a tradition in her family.

"I like this shade of blue!" Himawari blurted out. Sarada had no clue whether she tried to ignore the tension or was blissfully unaware of it.

"So do I," mom smiled at the compliment. That was the first time Sarada saw her being happy in a while during a conversation with someone who wasn't papa. Speaking of papa, Sarada knew he'd be quiet for most of this conversation, but that didn't explain why Boruto's parents were too.

"Hima's right. This shade of blue is pretty," Boruto chimed in. Sarada almost gave in to the urge to smile when he spoke up. Of course, he'd agree with Hima about the bright shade of blue she wasn't the fan of. If there was one subject, they never brought up again in their relationship, it was this one. They never seemed to agree whenever it came up. Boruto loved bright colours, while Sarada preferred darker ones. "It's very calming too, ya know! I'd love to know where you bought this!"

"Thank you, Boruto," mom laughed. "Just because you have a wonderful taste doesn't mean you or Sarada are off the hook."

"Yes, ma'am!" His shoulders slightly slumped. Sarada applauded him for the attempt to improve her mom's mood, even if it wasn't as effective as he hoped to be.

"Oi, Naruto. You're one of the responsible parties in this, too. Why won't you explain everything to me?" The smile of her mom directed at the principal of their school sent shivers down Sarada's spine. Scary.

Boruto's dad coughed a bit and went to stand next to her mom. "If you put it like this, Sakura, I have no choice but to do so." It was obvious the man was equally scared, or maybe terrified, more than Sarada was.

"You're the one who started this mess by not being careful enough!" After mom snapped, Sarada frowned a bit. She didn't like the way mom was releasing her frustration on the school principal, out of all people. It didn't help Mrs Hinata looked incredibly upset to the point papa said something Sarada couldn't hear from this distance to calm her down.

"I'm sorry! I didn't know Boruto would read a message addressed to me."

After Mr Naruto apologised, mom eased up and sighed in resignation. "I suppose we wouldn't be able to hide it from our children forever. I just never expected it'd come so soon."

"Yeah... So, are we showing them our letters in the right order?" Boruto's dad asked, and her mom nodded in response.

"Here's the correct order of our correspondence. Read those before asking questions, got it?!" Mom's irritation was obvious, but Sarada imitated her and nodded.