Chapter Text
With Konoha’s Gaming Tournament approaching soon, everyone in the club was doing their best during the team practice. Even her mama was more at ease about letting her join the tournament itself and promised to cheer their team on. After the events of that fateful letter reading session, the relationship between them improved a lot.
On a bittersweet note, it was hard to stay strong thinking about Shikadai moving out to Suna when this year ends. Sarada grew attached to the entire group and considered them friends. It was hard thinking what would happen after Shikadai moves out. She wouldn’t dare to imagine how painful it was for Chō-Chō or Boruto, who knew him much longer than her.
Speaking of departures, Sumire also planned to study abroad. That news hurt Sarada less, since unlike in Shikadai’s case, they still had an entire year to spend time together. Besides, Sarada was happy for her. They both shared a love for travelling, so she was sure Sumire would be happy to share her experiences with her whether she’d end up studying abroad in Suna or somewhere else.
Obviously, friends that were leaving didn’t mean everyone would. Mitsuki intended to stay here in Konoha and even planned to attend Konoha University. Only her, Chō-Chō and Boruto didn’t share their future goals.
Maybe that was why Boruto asked her for a date after the tournament? He might have figured out she was sensitive to change. The thought of reading too much into his intentions passed through her mind, too.
However, there was one person she needed to check up on the most right now. She arrived early to the clubroom to bump into Chō-Chō. Her best friend was taking the practice for the tournament, the most serious amongst them. Sarada had several ideas in her head about what caused this change.
Soon enough, Sarada’s ambush on Chō-Chō was successful. “I knew you’d be here at this hour.”
The risk of waiting so early for Chō-Chō to enter their club room paid off when she saw how surprised she was. “Sarada, why are you here?”
“I was waiting for you,” Sarada said, trying to conceal her concern. She might have been better at expressing emotions, but that didn’t mean her old bad habits had completely died out. It was a work in progress kind of deal. “How are you faring lately? You’ve been acting weird since Shikadai told us he’ll move out to Suna soon.”
Chō-Chō averted her gaze. “What do you mean? I’m acting like I always do!”
“No, you’re not.” The reasoning Chō-Chō acted as she usually did was weak. Sarada knew her for years. She saw through this sheer display of fake confidence many times already and knew the person underneath it.
Chō-Chō let out a sigh. “Fine, I give in only because you’re stubborn. I feel like I’m left behind by everyone.”
“I’m not a stranger to that feeling either. Was it caused because of information about Shikadai’s departure by any chance?” Pondering on the issue longer than necessary was something past Sarada would do. This time she’d try to help without overthinking it too much.
“Huh, am I that blatantly obvious?” Chō-Chō asked.
She was practically waving a neon flag showcasing that she feels down. “Yes. So spill the tea.”
“Shikadai moving to Suna was like a wake-up call for me to pick my shit together. I’m not sure I like it.” Uncertainty about the future was something everyone struggled with in life to a certain degree. There were people who knew what they wanted from the get-go, but those types of people were very rare. Sarada felt relieved it wasn’t something worse Chō-Chō struggled with.
Now the only thing Sarada could come up with was asking more questions and slowly conveying to Chō-Chō everything would be fine to the best of her abilities. “I see. No wonder you’re so mopey lately. You didn’t figure out what to do after we graduate high school. Is that correct?”
Chō-Chō narrowed her eyes. “You’re awfully spot on today. Very spot on. And here I thought you wouldn’t notice being busy with your new relationship status.”
“Just because I’m dating someone doesn’t mean my world revolves around them. I’m pretty sure I said that to you before, but my memory may be faulty.” The answer Sarada gave partially came from her high-sense of pride; she maintained a healthy sense of balance in maintaining her current relationships. Maybe it was silly to be so prideful about something like this, but she had problems with connecting with others not too long ago. Her present circle of friends only served as proof she improved socially.
Chō-Chō dismissively waved her hand, knowing how Sarada’s pride works. “Yeah, yeah, what is it like to be in a serious relationship?” The curiosity in her eyes when asking this question was stronger than expected.
Sarada raised her eyebrow. “Didn’t you date more people than me? Why do you ask?”
“Just because I dated causally doesn’t mean it’s the same. Most of my relationships weren’t that serious and the only time I had serious feelings for someone, I got rejected.”
Her friend’s explanation cleared up the initial confusion she had heard her question. Sarada adjusted her glasses, taking a few minutes coming up with how to word her response. “To be honest, I didn’t plan to date anyone seriously in high school. That changed when I fell in love and I guess I’m not the type that dates someone casually, so…” Trailing off a bit to correct her footing, she gazed straight at Chō-Chō. “The best way to describe it is that Boruto took my feelings for him equally seriously. When the person you love reciprocates your feelings, it’s amazing!”
“Got it! Way to brag, girl,” Chō-Chō pouted.
“Hmph. What I want to say is that I’m sure you’ll find someone who loves you. If I can see you’re amazing to be around, someone else will too,” Sarada shared her honest opinion.
“You think so?” Chō-Chō reluctantly asked.
Sarada put her hand on her shoulder to be more convincing. “I know so.”
“When I ran the intervention to make you feel better, I didn’t predict you’d change so much.” Chō-Chō sighed. “Damn, I thought I’d be the one cheering you up and not the other way around.”
“Hey, for all the uncertainty the future might bring, I’ll stick around for you. There are many things we can do to ensure we all stay close to one another.” That was something Sarada had in mind after learning some of her friends would go abroad. She promised herself she’d do everything in her power to strengthen the bond they shared between everyone, even if she was the one reaching out her hand first.
Because no matter how far away they’d all end up becoming in the future, as long as their bond was strong, the connections they formed would never disappear in their hearts.
“Thanks, Sarada.” Chō-Chō smiled and Sarada was happy she cheered her up.
“No problem. I love Boruto, but I’ll be there if you ever need me, okay?” Sarada might have accepted more people into her inner circle of friends, but Chō-Chō would always be the one who was her best friend. Even if things changed, that one thing wouldn’t change, regardless of what happens in the future.
Chō-Chō winked in response with a smug expression that meant she’d start acting as she usually does again. “Ha! Who do you think you talk to? I’m amazing and always give a shoulder for you to cry on as well!”
It was worth waking up so early to check up how Chō-Chō was feeling. By the time of Konoha’s Gaming Tournament with chipper Chō-Chō at everyone’s side, their teamwork would be unstoppable!
・・・・★・・・・★ ・・・・
They practised in a group playing against each other. The best at scrabbles was Sarada, followed by him and Sumire. Shikadai, Chō-Chō and Mitsuki were doing well, too. Boruto was happy with how their efforts were paying off.
At last they were here at the site of Konoha’s Gaming Tournament and entered the lobby meant for team players. Lobby for the solo players was on the opposite side. Boruto found the minimalistic and simple decorations suffocating. He preferred public spaces that had more things inside, or maximalist decor places like Sarada likes to remind him.
Others followed him into the lobby in complete silence. Boruto realised the reasons probably differed between all of them. Shikadai, Sarada, and Mitsuki used their silence to focus before the game, while contemplating the strategy they discussed. Sumire was swallowing down her nerves to appear calmer during her turn and Chō-Chō’s mind was something he didn’t want to decipher at all.
The speaker announced it was their turn to go onto the main stage. Their strategy for the tournament was sending less savvy players out first, then more experienced ones after them to stack up points if things don’t line up too well.
Boruto could see his family cheering on him from the stands. Chō-Chō’s, Shikadai, Mitsuki and Sarada’s families were also there.
“Hey, you okay, class pres?” he asked Sumire. She didn’t bring anyone to cheer for her.
“I’m fine. Mitsuki’s parent promised to cheer for me.” Sumire answered, and it was obvious she felt less stressed out.
“Really? Did he figure out what his parent identify as?” Boruto figured out it’d not hurt to ask a question of his own.
“Orochimaru’s nonbinary. Mitsuki just didn’t know the proper term for it until recently.” Oh. That actually explained a lot of unanswered questions Boruto had about Mitsuki’s family tree.
Boruto hummed. “Makes sense.”
After easing the nerves of one of his teammates, they employed the strategy that was discussed during every round until reaching semi-finals. Their group returned right back to the lobby to watch which team would face off against them in the final round.
“Great job, everyone!” Boruto praised and went to hug Sarada, who huffed, resigning herself to her fate.
“Thank you. I’d say our teamwork was flawless!” She practically beamed with pride, ignoring the amused expressions the rest of the group exchanged between each other.
“I agree with Sarada,” Mitsuki said, while looking at the score boards displayed on the walls. “Our teamwork was great. Let’s hope this will carry through to the final round, too.”
Chō-Chō, who was at Mitsuki’s side, rolled her eyes. “Instead of hoping, we should just be confident we have this in the bag!”
“As long as we follow our strategy, we should be fine.” Shikadai hummed out in agreement.
“Small talks are fine and all, but we need to face off against the last group now,” Boruto reminded them while walking out from the lobby again.
The final round was very intense, with their opponents scoring more than them during the first two turns. It forced them to send Sarada during the third turn and she caught up with their opponents, making up for the points they lost. Turns that followed were so intense Boruto barely remembered how they went until the speaker announced their victory.
“Hell yes, that’s my son for you!” A loud yell from his dad pumping his fist in the air on the stands was all Boruto needed to come back to reality.
Their team got the gold medal for winning, and now all six of them were shuffled around for a group photo.
Shikadai was standing behind a crouching Boruto on the left side of the field. Sumire was standing next to Shikadai along with Mitsuki and both of them were directly behind Boruto in the middle. Sarada was crouching alongside him in the front and held his hand directly, looking at him while ignoring the camera pointed at them. Chō-Chō, like Sumire, was standing next to Mitsuki, but behind Sarada, posing with a peace sign on the right side. Boruto knew everyone was smiling, savouring the victory and enjoying being together as a group.
He was confident it’d be one of the most treasured memories in his life, even if with time it fades away.
・・・・★・・・・★ ・・・・
Coming back to the lobby after the thrill that was in the finals during the tournament was like overcoming her past fears. Their group split when Boruto explained he promised to take out Sarada for a surprise date when the tournament was over.
“Where are you taking me?” Sarada brimmed with curiosity, but Boruto was tight-lipped. It was frustrating and exciting at the same time.
“You’ll see soon!” He promised while leading her out of the Konoha’s Gaming Tournament building. “I’d say you should close your eyes, but you don’t need to.”
It was silly to think of it after knowing the origins of the rule-book papa gave her, however Sarada couldn’t help but think of rule number one.
Always maintain your poker face. In any situation, you find yourself in. Especially facing rumours, or being confronted by them. If you’re Uchiha, — you don’t care about them.
She was sure whatever expression she had was far from a poker face. Her feelings of excitement at the thought of a surprise were too overwhelming to be calm.
Not to mention, she immediately broke the rule number two;
Idiots are idiots, but since you’re the Uchiha, you can’t be one.
Sarada widened her eyes when she noticed Boruto was leading towards the chubby photographer that was taking their group photo and let out a squeal louder than some of the fan girls from her boyfriend’s fan club.
Boruto grinned bashfully. “I know it’s not a traditional date spot, but I asked Anko to take us to her shop to process photos from our previous outings, including the one we took today.” He awkwardly averted his eyes. “Surprise?”
Sarada put Boruto to the side out of Anko’s hearing range. “Are you kidding me?! Of course, I’m surprised! She’s one of my favourite photographers and is known worldwide for attending Konoha’s Gaming Tournaments. How did you pull it off?!” It was very hard to book an appointment for photo processing with someone as famous as Anko in the photography world.
“For as long as I remember, I attended Konoha’s Gaming Tournament and talked with her occasionally when I won or lost.” Boruto admitted. “It helps that she’s a friend of our club’s supervisor.”
“Now that you mention it, I never met our club supervisor. Who is it?” Sarada genuinely wanted to know. She never bumped into the teacher, who was supposedly supervising their club.
“You should never mention that to his face. Mr Shino's feelings will get hurt, ya know. If he realises you didn’t notice him at all during our club meetings,” Boruto laughed, holding his stomach.
“No way!” Mr Shino was their club supervisor?! That actually explained why Sarada never noticed him during the club meetings. He was an outstanding teacher, but Mr Shino was famous for his invisible presence.
Anyway, it was incredible that their teacher was so closely associated with a famous photographer like Anko. It made her remember rule number three that served as a reminder of the insane feat Boruto achieved, even if he used his connections to make it possible.
When you have a goal to reach, you reach it, despite what others may think. Ah, and never lose to someone else. No matter what.
No matter how many goals she had in life, Sarada fell into acceptance of the fact that sometimes, to succeed, she’d need to fail. Even if she felt in this moment as someone who won in life.
Both of them followed Anko to her famous shop and waited for her to process the photos Boruto emailed her. The way she carried out her work enchanted Sarada.
“I still can’t believe you managed for one of the most famous photographers to do photo processing for us,” Sarada began, unsure how to ask him about his plans after high school. She tried to enjoy the moment without worrying about their future as a couple.
“I can,” Boruto answered, then chuckled nervously. “Hey, what do you plan to do after high school?”
Was this grand surprise date he planned one of his ways to ask her about the future of their relationship? How sneaky of him to do this first. “I’ll attend Konoha’s University just like Mitsuki and Chō-Chō. As for what I’ll be studying, no idea yet. Probably something tied with games. And you? What are your plans?”
“Same as yours. I vowed to move in as Mitsuki’s roommate when we attend university here.” Boruto looked at the ceiling and Sarada felt he was trying to ask a question she herself had. “But hypothetically, if I went abroad like Shikadai or Sumire, would you still want for us to remain in a relationship?”
“To answer your hypothetical question, yes, I would want for us to stay together. I think our relationship is strong enough to last.” Sarada’s words were from the depths of her heart. She truly believed in them, too. “You don’t need to plan surprise dates every time for me to be happy with you. In fact, I can throw this question back at you. Would you still want for us to remain in a relationship?”
“Yeah, I do. I admit my previous relationship would make me insecure in a hypothetical long-distance relationship if you were anyone else,” Boruto whispered gently. “But you’re Sarada, ya know? Our families are so strongly connected, I’m sure we would meet again eventually, regardless of any distance between us. I trust this connection as much as I trust you.”
“I know, Boruto, I know. It’s your way of telling me you love me, right?” Sarada smiled and grabbed the collar of his shirt to kiss him softly. She loved him, too.
Ironically, the last rule from the gift her papa gave her rang through her head during their short, tender kiss.
Looking for a boyfriend is prohibited. Focus on your dreams. Guys are just an unnecessary waste of space, as well as your time.
Even back then, Sarada thought that rule was an overkill, but it was so funny knowing her papa likes Boruto as her boyfriend and she doesn’t need to look for one.
All of those rules were protecting her mind, but she was more happy than ever when she broke from restraints of these rules she pressured herself into following.
The famous photographer coughed to break them away from their small public display of affection in her shop and gave them an envelope full of photos. They apologised by taking the envelope she gave them and moved their location to a local park, sitting on the bench. Both Boruto and Sarada looked through all the photos, then stopped seeing the photo they took today. Everyone had the biggest smile on their face after winning the Konoha’s Gaming Tournament, even if the poses they made were silly.
“We should frame it and put it on a shelf once we live together.” Sarada couldn’t stop laughing, noticing Boruto crouched lower than her in the photo to make her look taller than she was.
“Isn’t that too far into the future?” Boruto asked, although it was obvious he had nothing against the idea. She even could bet he liked it.
“Maybe. But who’s saying it won’t come true one day? It’s fun to imagine, isn’t it?” Sarada knew it wouldn’t be the last time she imagined what obstacles or happy moments in life they’d face. She only knew they’d do it together as a couple.
“I can’t argue with that. Besides, living together in the future isn’t that far from reality. After all, I love you.” Boruto’s blue eyes were shining brighter than the sky at this moment.
Sarada once thought hearing I love you a few times from Boruto wouldn’t make her heart race fast in the same way the first time did. She was wrong. Her heart raced faster with every expression of his love and she’d do her best to express it back.
Her love started with a bet… No, it began even before she bumped into Boruto in that school hallway. She only admired him from afar at first. However, it was their bet that kick-started her feelings. Feelings that were unpredictably spinning on a roulette every day.
“Hey, why did you fall in love with me?”
“It sounds silly. At first I just wanted to prove to you I wasn’t an idiot, then tried to fix my terrible first impression. You also helped me move on from some of my fears and when you said you loved me, I was in awe of your determination. I guess… it just happened,” Boruto’s response was the one she was satisfied with for now. Sarada was sure there were parts he was too embarrassed to tell her, considering he was blushing. “I just love you. Isn’t that enough of a reason?”
“I suppose it is,” Sarada conceded. “Hey, Boruto?”
“Yeah?”
“Loving you is enough of a reason for me to stay by your side, too.” Their embrace that followed her words comforted her and eased the rest of her fears about their relationship.
One petty bet led to another bet that changed her life and helped her to find love along the way. Boruto stirred up the emotions Sarada long thought she had forgotten that were constantly spinning on a roulette wheel. It was him that made those buried emotions spin and swim to the surface. Facing them led to happiness. In a way, he played the game of love better than she ever did. She wasn’t anxious about their future anymore. Sarada was sure wherever they go they’ll be together. Boruto’s the partner that would bet everything to remain at her side forever.
Her little gambler of feelings.