"I don't know, I mean sure Namida is cute, but like her voice is kind of annoying," Iwabe commented and all the boys chuckled to themselves in silent agreement. It was Sunday evening and Boruto and his friends were lounging around in Inojin's loft. Each had a screen in front of them as they continued to gossip about the girls in their class.
"Who the hell is this mystery girl you're texting all the time, Mitsuki?" Inojin asked, glancing away from his game on the tv for a moment to shoot their friend an incredulous look.
A smile stretched across his lips. "You probably wouldn't believe me even if I told you."
"You could always just lie and say her name is Autumn... since you met her in autumn!" Inojin said before bursting out laughing at his own joke. Iwabe turned his head to conceal his own chuckles.
"Ha. Ha." Boruto fake laughed at the jest at his summer fling.
Shikadai's teal gaze flickered over to Boruto, who was sunken into a giant bean bag chair with his attention on his handheld. He had prompted this conversation in hopes of opening the floor for Boruto to share his secret about Sarada, but his best friend had hardly even uttered a peep.
Maybe he needed to be more direct.
"Yo, Boruto."
"What's up?" he responded without looking up from his game.
"Someone told me Sarada dragged you out of the classroom the other day during lunch. What happened?" Shikadai pressed. From what he had heard about the situation it made literally no sense that they ended up making out on the roof.
"Oh yeah!" Inojin chimed in. "Did she take you to the principal's office? Man, I bet your mom was pissed."
"Oh... uh, no actually she just pulled me aside to yell at me like she does. I mean, I barely even listened beyond her trying to accuse me of bullying her," Boruto shrugged. "It was so lame."
Shikadai's jaw clenched at that response. He could hardly believe Boruto lied to them so easily. It begged the question: how long had he been lying about this?! What else was he hiding from them?! From him?!
He and Boruto were supposed to be best friends and he just lied to his face!
In that moment, Shikadai decided a change of strategy was in order. "You know, I think Sarada is actually, like super hot," he said casually.
Boruto's smile fell as his perturbed blue gaze shot over to Shikadai, his game all but forgotten. "I mean, I guess if you like prissy know-it-alls, then sure," he commented between clenched teeth.
"I think I'm going to ask her out."
"Why!?" Boruto shouted. His cheeks colored with embarrassment as all his friends turned to stare at him for his seemingly unwarranted volume.
Shikadai raised a challenging eyebrow. "Do you have a problem with that, Boruto?"
He clenched his fists, struggling to keep his expression neutral. "Nope, do whatever you want."
*****
Boruto was rummaging through his locker on Monday afternoon when a particularly shy looking Sarada approached him. A smile spread across his lips at the rosy hue on her cheeks.
The way she bit her lip made Boruto secretly hope she had a naughty request for him. Ever since they resumed their... whatever they had, their after school activities had been even more adventurous.
Sarada looked up from the book she was holding against her chest, finally finding the courage to meet his gaze, and whispered, "um, why did Shikadai just ask me out on a date?"
His heart rate picked up. "He really did it?! What did you say?!"
"Well, I said I'd think about it," she mumbled as she tucked a stray hair behind her ear. Boruto stared at her for a few silent moments, unsure how to feel about that response.
"Oh... so... di-did you want to go out with him?" he asked, his blue gaze darting around nervously.
"I mean, I don't know," Sarada shrugged. She had never been asked out on a date before, but the idea itself was rather exciting. "I never really thought about him like that..."
"Well, just so you know he can be kinda condescending and he'll eat all your fries and tell you that you're a drag!"
Her brow furrowed. "Isn't he your best friend?"
"Well, yeah," Boruto pouted. "But that doesn't mean you would like him."
Sarada squeezed her book tighter to her chest and admitted, "I would hate to hurt his feelings. I mean he's always been pretty nice to me, plus he's really smart."
'Do you have a problem with that, Boruto?' His best friend's voice echoed in his mind.
He's smart. Shikadai is really fucking smart.
"He's onto us!" Boruto blurted.
Dark eyes glanced around the hallway, hoping no one heard him before she replied in a hushed whisper. "What?! Why do you think that?"
Boruto caught on to her concern. He leaned in and lowered his voice. "He was gauging my reaction when he said he was thinking about asking you out, which means he's probably suspicious that we're together or something!"
Sarada nodded as she hummed in contemplation. "So then what should I do?"
"You have to go out with him, so he stops suspecting us!"
She observed his face for a moment, trying to read his thoughts. "Oh okay... you don't mind?"
"Do you mind?" Boruto countered.
There was an awkward beat between them.
Sarada averted her gaze and shrugged. "I guess not..."
"Then it's settled. You'll go out on a date with Shikadai and then you can just tell him it was totally lame and you don't want to see him ever again," he smiled like it was just that simple.
"Umm... Alright."
*****
After she agreed to a date with Shikadai, Sarada felt a little uncertain and anxious.
But on their movie date, Shikadai offered to buy her all her favorite snacks and they had a pretty fun discussion about the film as he walked her home. Overall, it was actually a great time. So now at school the following day, Sarada felt more than a little uncertain and anxious, because she wasn't quite sure how to tell Boruto.
Shikadai, however, decided to be very vocal about what a great time he and Sarada had. Boruto was seething at lunch as his best friend described just how much Sarada laughed at all his jokes and commentary about the movie, or how it seemed like she really dressed up for him.
"I mean that sounds fun and all, but I don't know why you're bothering with a girl like her. I bet she's a total prude," Iwabe mumbled.
Shikadai responded with an unbothered shrug. "You never know."
"Yeah, Iwabe!" Inojin interjected in with a chuckle. "Don't you know it's always the prim and proper ones who are secretly into kinky shit!?"
The table of boys erupted into laughter while Shikadai glanced over at his silent best friend. "What do you think, Boruto?"
What he really thought was that this entire conversation was so incredibly irritating. He was practically grinding his teeth. "You should just give up on her already. I bet she never puts out. I would be surprised if she'd even let you kiss her," Boruto bit out.
"How do you know I didn't already kiss her?"
Blue eyes grew wide as the room started spinning. He kissed Sarada?!
When?
Where?
For how long?!
"I have to pee!" Boruto declared and hastily jumped up from the lunch table. But when he walked out of the cafeteria, he swept past the bathrooms in favor of searching for Sarada.
Why did he tell her to go on a date with Shikadai when it clearly bothered him?!
He just never imagined Sarada would have such a good time with someone who wasn't him! Should he start taking her to the movies?! Should he buy her more snacks?!
Anything that Shikadai could do for her he could do too, and... and... he'd do it better! That way Sarada wouldn't want to hang out with anyone else!
When Boruto spotted her down the hall, walking out of the front office, his heart seemed to skip a beat. In a few quick strides, he caught up to her.
"Shino-sensei wanted you to look at this," he lied, saying the first excuse he could think of to deter the attention of other students as he grabbed her by the wrist and dragged her into an empty classroom.
"Look at wha—"
Before she could even finish her question, Boruto pushed her against the wall and crashed his lips into hers with a needy urgency.
The way Sarada immediately reciprocated, her soft lips caressing his while her fingers threaded through his hair, momentarily quelled the anxiety stirring in his stomach. His eager tongue slipped into her mouth to steal a taste.
There was no way she was kissing someone else, not like this.
No way. Sarada was his.
His hands sunk into the swell of her hips as he possessively pinned her against the wall with his weight. She exhaled a soft sigh as his lips trailed down to lavish her pale neck with soft, wet kisses.
Her head instinctively tilted to the side to grant him better access as her hands tightened their grip in his hair. Boruto relished in the feel of her pulse racing against his wandering lips.
There was no way she was letting someone else touch her, not like this!
Sarada was his!
"Well, hello to you too, Boruto," she sighed with a breathless chuckle.
"You're mine," he murmured against her neck, but then quickly blinked and shook his head when he realized he said that out loud. Thankfully it seemed like Sarada hadn't heard his little slip.
He pulled back to look into her eyes, thoroughly pleased to see the flush in her cheeks and the soft smile on her swollen lips.
But then he was struck with the annoying reminder that he may not be the only one who's seen her like this. Despite questioning if he even wanted to know the answer, Boruto forced himself to ask. "Um, did you kiss Shikadai?"
His blue gaze fell to their feet. He hated that his voice came out so timid, afraid of her response.
"No, did he say I did?!" Sarada asked, the shock evident in her voice. He glanced back up at her to see the genuine confusion on her face.
Suddenly, Boruto grew even more embarrassed, because Shikadai didn't actually say that.
He said just enough to rile him up and it worked.