"Mitsuki took a leave, so it's just the two of you today." Hana, the mission assigner, told them with a polite smile. They'd known her since they started taking missions back in their genin days.
"Here's the scroll with all the details. Remember to check in as soon as you come back." This last thing she said it with her hazel eyes digging graves on the blonde, the polite grin she threw Boruto made chills run down his spine.
"Jeez fine." He said waving his hand dismissively, to which Sarada rolled her eyes as she took the scroll.
"Thanks Hana." The Uchiha said as she walked out followed by Boruto who just waved goodbye.
"Meet me at the gates at 7 okay?" Sarada asked while the two walked down the busy streets of Konoha, the whispering coming from the people passing by them completely ignored. It was no secret that they were close, teammates to be exact. But everyone kept fabricating rumors about them being together, their friends included. At first, Sarada was annoyed by that, now she found herself hoping the rumors come true. Like she will ever admit that.
Sarada looked up to Boruto since she was left behind in height. She felt strangely satisfied by this fact—she could even say she liked it—.
"I'll pick you up, there's something I want to ask Sensei about." He grinned and she raised an eyebrow clearly surprised and humming in disbelief remembering what happened not a while ago.
"You do realise that your house is the other way around, don't you?" Sarada asked one night after dropping Mitsuki in his house. The mission had been complicated and all of them were dead tired.
"I have something I want to ask Sensei about." Boruto explained as he followed her to the Uchiha residence.
Sarda frowned. "At 3 am?"
"It's an emergency, my life's at stake."
She didn't have the most normal and civilized teammates, but at least they were good people. When they reached the house, Sasuke was—surprisingly— leaning against the house front. As if he was waiting for them.
"Good... morning? Papa." Sarada offered, Sasuke nodded with a soft smile and turned back to Boruto. Smile fading like it was never there. "Alright, I'll go sleep. Bye Boruto"
The next afternoon when they had to regroup, her blonde teammate seemed off. Big dark eye bags sat under his lost blue eyes, he was slightly trembling. Like he had been put under genjutsu and tortured. She never heard about what they discussed with her father, but every time she asked Boruto blushed and looked away.
"Like the last time?" She reminded him with a grin.
His cheeks turned pink real quick and he had to turn around to avoid her amused gaze. "T-that was... it's not..." He stuttered unsure of what to say, sighing in the end. "Shut up."
Sarada laughed and Boruto allowed his heart to beat faster at the melodic sound—like he had a choice anyway—. He smiled at the thought of how they recently grew... closer. A caress on her cheek during a long mission in the sand, an arm placed around her slim waist to get her out of the path of an enemy's kunai. Oh, and that kiss. She shouldn't have allowed him to kiss her like he did. He still dreamt about that and many, many other things he shouldn't get distracted thinking about.
"Boruto..." She started unsure, feeling his intense stare on her, dying to know if he felt the same butterflies as her. But as always, she chickened out at the last second at the dark cloud carrying all her insecurities. What if she lost him?
Sarada couldn't afford losing her best friend. She had enough on her plate, well actually her plate was empty enough with her father's absence.
Boruto stared at her expectant with those Mediterranean eyes of his burning her skin. When the heat reached her cheeks, she looked down taking advantage of the height difference to hide the tint staining her cheeks.
"What did you want to say Sarada?" He asked annoyed pocketing his hands.
"It's nothing, see you later." She replies quickly and jumped off the bridge they were walking onto the lower part of the city.
She walked home to get ready. And at 7 sharp, the doorbell rang. She didn't bother coming down since her parents were home and Boruto wanted to speak to her father. And although she was curious, she understood it was between the two of them.
When she had packed everything—the thermal blanket her mother bought her included— she came down the stairs and found her mother drinking tea and reading some medical histories she probably brought from the hospital.
Sakura looked up from the files and through her reading glasses when she sensed her daughter's chakra. She stood up as Sarada came closer to say goodbye.
"Have a safe mission sweetheart," She kissed her daughter's forehead and smiled at her. Sarada chuckled at the gesture. "Boruto and your father are waiting outside."
"Thanks mama." Sarada replied as she walked out of the house. Outside, her father seemed agitated and Boruto seemed way too serious. Something was going on and she was determined to find out.
"You ready?" Boruto asked her, to which she nodded with suspicion before turning to her father.
"Bye papa." She said before taking off to Ame with the blonde.
As they jumped from tree to tree, they discussed about how they were supposed to approach the mission. Sarada wore a scowl with the Uchiha signature in bold on her face.
"We're so not infiltrating the village. It's not only dangerous, but it could end on a political dispute between villages." She tried to reason with him.
"They won't even know it's us," He defended. "And it'll be fun, come on."
"You're the son of the Hokage, not to mention you look exactly the same!" She countered in disagreement. "And I have Uchiha almost written on my face, there's no way we can get away with that."
"You're such a rainy cloud Sarada" He stuck out his tongue at her and she threw a kunai near his face half-joking half-serious. He was surprised at first, but then a mischievous grin took place. "So you wanna take that turn? Alright"
He disappeared in a puff of smoke making her stop in a tree branch and stare around her for signs of the blonde. "Are you so scared of me that you have to hide?"
When a couple of minutes passed and there were no signs of her teammate she spoke up again. "Come on Boruto, we don't have tim–"
A warm body enveloped her from behind making her swallow the rest of the sentence. He whispered close to her ear sending shivers down her spine. "I was having fun watching you from afar."
Sarada laughed with a hint of nervousness Boruto couldn't detect as she sent him flying to a tree. But the smile on his lips remained the same. Idiotic but blindly charming.
"Come on, we have a mission to complete." Sarada said helping him up, heart still racing from his previous move.
As they got closer to the rainy land, a harsh cold started to take over. It was winter, and the thin capes they wore didn't protect them from the humid cold seeping into their clothes.
"We should set the camp already, it's dark and this cold will only get worse." Sarada said and he nodded.
"I'll set the tents. You go find some wood for the fire."
She nodded and came back a few minutes later with hand-chopped wooden logs. When she made it back to their chosen spot, she froze.
Literally.
Her Sharingan activated almost by itself at the sight. She prayed that Lord Seventh was still up to let her change teams, because this was just overwhelmingly disastrous.
The whole place was on fire and Boruto smiled as he scratched the back of his neck nervously. The tents were on fire, the grass was on fire, the trees were on fire and he stood there in the middle with an 'oops' face.
"Sarada, on a scale from one to ten, how angry are you?" He stopped talking when she started walking towards him. She was barely an inch from him, trying very hard to not swallow him into a genjutsu and torture him. Slowly. And painfully. Like Uncle Kakashi had taught her— for educational purposes only, of course—.
"How?" She simply said.
"I always had trouble with the fire style," He looked everywhere but into her eyes. "See I was just trying to help."
"Help my ass." She bit back.
"We can fix this, it's not that bad." Boruto said and almost like a bad omen, heavy rain started to pour over them. The fire was slowly starting to subside as her eyes digged a whole cemetery on him. Her dark hair sticking to her temples making her red death glare look even more—if possible— deathly.
She sighed, deciding to let it go. "Let's go find somewhere to stay before we catch a cold."
"Sorry." He chuckled still nervous and followed her.
The rain pattered outside, it wasn't snowing but the humid cold made their lips dry and their soaked clothes freeze their bodies. The blonde man quickly closed the door behind him with shaky hands. Sarada shot him a look from over her shoulder, the silence still reigning the abandoned house. Boruto nodded to her, understanding her without having to exchange words.
The pair inspected the abandoned house in complete silence. "It's empty Sarada." Boruto informed from the upper floor.
"Same here." Sarada replied as Boruto walked down the stairs and followed her to one of the bedrooms. It was the biggest room and had a small fireplace with—thankfully— some dry wood next to it. Apparently they weren't the only ones who found the house. She kneeled in front of it and threw some of the chopped up wood into the fireplace.
"I'm so fucking cold." He protested closing the door to keep the warmth inside the room. Sarada turned around to throw him the deadliest glare she could muster. "Don't stare at me like that, especially since we're in an abandoned house. It gives me the creeps."
"Oh, I'll make sure you get the creeps after burning our tents. And everything around them." Sarada replied, the blonde crossed his arms across his chest and pouted. She lit the wood placed in the cold stone with a small and controlled fireball jutsu.
"I was just trying to help." He countered almost in a whisper. Sarada snorted almost chuckling from the bizarre situation they found themselves in.
"Such an enlightening thing to do." Sarada had to turn around to avoid laughing at his face. Boruto raised an eyebrow, a spark of amusement shining in his blue eyes.
"Not only is the great Sarada Uchiha joking but laughing as well," Boruto couldn't hold back the chuckle erupting from his stomach when she couldn't hold back her laugh anymore. "I'll mark this day on my diary."
"You should thank Kami I'm taking this as a joke or you'd be back in Konoha from the kick I'd place in you butt. Why don't you mark that in your diary instead?" She kept chuckling with her cheeks flustered.
She stood up and walked to him, who was still standing near the door. Still chuckling lightly now and then, and with her cheeks hurting from the previous laugh, she extended a hand to her blonde teammate. "Take off your clothes, I'll hang them near the fire."
His cheeks were immediately hot from the wildfire she started in his body only with those words. He swallowed hard and took off the cape and put it on her hand. But before he took more clothes off, Boruto stopped and stared at her after a lot of unhappy thoughts crossed his mind.
And that frightening question popping out from the darkest place on his mind. What if this happened before, but with someone other than him?
She told him she went on a mission with Shikadai and Inojin a couple of weeks ago. What if...
"Sarada." He called still unsure of what to say.
She hummed in response as she tried to place the cape as neatly as possible on a chair near the fireplace.
"We've been friends for our whole lives, and you know you can trust me." He took a deep breath when she removed her thigh high stockings and shoes and placed them next to his cape. The creamy length of her legs completely uncovered under the light of the fire. She turned to him when he stopped talking, waiting for the blonde to continue. "But it might not be the case with other guys."
"What nonsense are you talking about Boruto?" Sarada was at complete loss of the blabbering mess he had become.
"It's nothing, nevermind." He replied frustrated to which she grinned. "By the way, I didn't find any dry clothing in this damned house. So we might as well sit naked in front of that fireplace for the rest of the night."
Sarada was sure she was at the verge of having a very violent fever. The tension was suddenly up to a point where it was hard to breathe, so she cleared her throat and did the next best thing she could do in a situation like this. Let the more rational side kick in.
"If we don't take off our clothes it'll be a nightmare tomorrow and the week after that. But don't get too happy because I'm not taking off my underwear. And neither are you." There was no possible way in hell she was going to let him get away with his antics.
Boruto was confused. He really thought she was going to go crazy like always, they would bicker for a bit and that will be all. Like usual. Was she developing some kind of immunity to his attacks? Never. A wide mischievous side grin popped up in his lips as he towered over her, determined to make her snap.
"If I don't, will you take them off for me?" The hoarse deep voice he had developed over the years was music to her ears. She was trying her best not to fall for it, that's why she ignored the heat rising on her face and stomach and grabbed the ends of his white soaked shirt. She told herself she was doing it to prove a point, but deep down—which wasn't deep at all—, she did want to take off his clothes.
In fact. She had been dreaming of doing it lately.
Her big dark eyes framed by perfectly curled eyelashes inspected his face for any traces of surrender. And he did his best not to let her have the pleasure. But when her cold fingertips brushed his naked ribcage by accident as his shirt was being raised, Boruto couldn't handle it anymore. The electricity that ran through his body when her skin grazed against his was indescribable, and above all, something he could not control. Thank Kami for his wet freezing clothes.
He pushed Sarada away from her shoulders making his shirt fall back in place, and that's when she knew she had won. And when she was about to make a smug remark about it, he turned around to take off his shirt and pants and placed them in a near chair. Never meeting her gaze.
"Wait. Are you mad?" She asked now a tiny bit worried. Boruto was becoming more enigmatic to her for no apparent reason. He was now sitting in front of the fireplace with her back to her, completely silent and with no intention of answering her question. His broad shoulders moved up and down with each hurried breath he took, shoulder blades sliding under this toned muscles as he dried his katana. A gift from her father. She swallowed when her eyes ran down his bent spine. Sarada shook her head and looked the other way focusing on taking off her clothes to distract herself.
"Don't you dare turn around." Sarada warned as she died in fever for the circumstances they were stuck in. He didn't reply as he continued to clean his weapon.
It took Boruto every fiber of his body to avoid peeking at her over his shoulder. He concentrated in the dancing fire in front of him, once his katana was as dry as it could get and properly put away, of course. Boruto felt her sit next to him, surrounded by a cover she always kept in her backpack.
"I'm sorry, I didn't know you were going to take it... like this." She started with honesty swallowing her pride and refusing to listen to his silence for the whole mission. Because it was the most deafening heartbreaking sound she'd ever heard. "It's just that our... fights are getting to a point where I can't see the boundaries anymore."
He smiled lightly and finally met her dark gaze. "Sarada, I'm not mad and you have nothing to apologize for. It's just that, when you were going to take off my shirt..." He pressed his lips together and gave her a look that made her blush and adjust her glasses nervously. "...I was afraid."
Sarada frowned and held her cover a bit tighter than before. "Of what?"
"Of not being able to hold back." He whispered looking to the fireplace again and avoiding her burning stare. She felt the air stuck in her throat, the wind knocked out of her. She felt like a fish out of water opening and closing her mouth without saying anything.
She was overwhelmed but in a good way. She had proof that he felt something for her, so she took the chance she was given.
"What if I don't want you to hold back?" Sarada whispered boldly making Boruto turn to her with wide surprised eyes. His stomach turned and her chest burned with joy.
"Do you really mean it?" He asked whispering, but to her it was loud and clear. Sarada saw how his gaze became darker and he swallowed hard.
She simply nodded. He sighed heavily as he leaned towards her. She felt a thousand butterflies turning around in her stomach when his opaque gaze was barely centimeters away from hers. She could feel him breathe on her lips.
"Can I?" He sighed almost unintelligible. She gasped from the hot shivers it sent down her spine, closing the distance making their lips touch. Boruto grabbed her waist and pulled her closer, biting her lip gently as he did so. The slow movement of their lips became faster and hotter by the minute, until he tilted his head a bit more and started to give her noisy and desperate open mouthed kisses.
They both felt like new year's fireworks burning in the night sky. In between hurried breaths, panting and caresses, Boruto pushed her down gently under him. That moment when he finally opened his eyes and saw her sprawled before him, her mouth opened and only in underwear, he knew he had to stop.
Boruto kissed the limit between her cheek and her neck and removed his weight from her. She sat up and looked at him with a frown. "Why did you stop?"
Even she could be oblivious sometimes. He just smiled at her. "A couple of seconds more and you would have had to break a few ribs to make me stop from going all the way."
She blushed deeply, all her previous doubts and fears erased from her thoughts. "Oh."
"Well, I'll be right back." Boruto said but she grabbed his hand before he could stand up. There were no words needed, she just looked at him. That weak spot he had for her made his heart clench in both joy and love. Impatience too.
"Are you sure you want to do this with me?" He asked insecure. She looked calmly at him and with the most honest smile he ever saw her muster, she replied.
"I love you Boruto."
Oh, he never heard his heart beat as faster or happier before. And no other words were needed, because she could tell he felt the same by the way he kissed her. Not hungrily, or passionately. It was tender, filled with honest love. And it felt like fireworks, summer festivals and distant violins. Maybe going to a mission together wasn't such a bad idea after all. Maybe she was happy he burnt their tents.
The sound of the wood cracking filled the air as Boruto drew circles on Sarada's lower back. She rested her head on his bare chest rising and falling with his steady breathing. Her onyx eyes were closed, but she knew he wanted to ask something by the way his caresses stopped and started again after a few seconds.
A couple of minutes went by before he whispered. "Since when did you...?"
Sarada chuckled sleepily, it was crazy how much they knew each other. She didn't open her eyes to reply. "Since that mission in the land of waves."
"No way," He grinned at her bewildered. "You've been into me before I got into you?"
Sarada raised her head to look at him, blushing hard. "Shut up."
Boruto laughed light heartedly and pulled her closer if possible. She hid her face behind her hands blushing harder at the friction of their bodies. The blonde pulled her hands away and kissed her neck, taking the opportunity to take deep breaths filled with her scent.
"Boruto," She whispered with the heat in her stomach rising again. "We have a mission tomorrow."
"I should have burnt the tents a while back." He joked.
"I'm glad that you did. It took you long enough." She replied burying her fingers in his blonde hair. He hummed in the crook of her neck once more before falling asleep in each other's arms.
Boruto was still the golden boy back then.