bubblegum princess

chapter twenty six

┏━━━━━━━◦𑁍◦━━━━━━━━┓
the beginning:
WITH
UZUMAKI BORUTO
┗━━━━━━━◦𑁍◦━━━━━━━━┛

━━✥◈✥━━

     "I'LL BE GOING NOW." Seiren bid her sister and mother goodbye as she stepped out of the house. Sakura smiled while folding some blankets. "Be careful!" Sarada yelled, waving her twin off.

The gentle breeze whistling through Konoha was Seiren's favorite kind of day. Summer was just around the corner, and in no time, she'd be graduating. She wandered the bustling streets, her steps light, her thoughts drifting. Suddenly, a trinket caught her eye—a display of bracelets in a small stall, glinting like tiny treasures.

Drawn by the sparkle, Seiren approached, her fingers lightly grazing each bracelet. Each one seemed to whisper a story, waiting to be chosen. The stall wasn't just selling bracelets but also other cute accessories that seemed perfectly designed for her age.

"Ah! Welcome!" A woman in her 20s emerged from her small rented space, her smile warm and inviting. "Hello!" Seiren shyly waved, her eyes already back on the trinkets.

"That'll be 936 yen each. Business has been running smoothly, so I decided to lower the price a little bit." The woman smiled, pulling out more accessories and displaying them on the table. "Feel free to try them on! Hair clips are also available—they'd go nicely with your hair, miss!" she chimed, making Seiren blush at the compliment. "A-Arigato..."

"Ah! Sei-chan!" a familiar voice called out. Turning her head, she saw Boruto approaching her with hasty speed, a tired Nara trailing behind him. "O-Oi, slow down, Boruto!"

Seiren quickly fixed her hair, coughing slightly before smiling. "Hi, Boruto-kun! Shika-kun!"

Shikadai crouched down, both hands resting on his knees as he breathed heavily. "Damn it, Boruto!" he yelled exhaustedly, but Boruto ignored his calls, his eyes fixed on Seiren with a soft smile. "Yo!"

His gaze shifted to the bracelets she was inspecting. "Oh?" Seiren quickly let out a soft, awkward laugh. "I've been walking around town, and this stall caught my attention—" She began to ramble about how every trinket would complement the color of her hair, not noticing how Boruto carefully listened to her words, his eyes never leaving her face.

"You know," Boruto said, cutting into her monologue, "these bracelets would look great on you."

Seiren's cheeks flushed a deeper shade of pink. "You think so?"

"Definitely," Boruto replied, his eyes sparkling with sincerity. "Actually, I was thinking about getting one too. How about we get matching ones?"

Seiren's heart skipped a beat at the suggestion. "Matching?"

Shikadai looked at both of them with an unbearable expression, a bit horrified at that. "Yeah," Boruto said, picking up two identical bracelets from the display. "One for you and one for me. It'll be our little symbol of friendship."

Seiren hesitated for a moment, then nodded, a smile spreading across her face. "I'd like that."

Shikadai coughed and gained both of their attention, Seiren quickly remembered that Shikadai hadn't left and she was now fuming a mess, a blush crept on her neck up to her head yet Boruto wasn't fazed and raised his eyebrow "What?"