Chapter Text
Swish!
Sarada watches as Boruto, Mitsuki, and Inojin give each other high fives and run to the other side of the basketball court to defend their half. It’s customary for the girls to watch the boys play from time to time, and sometimes the coaches will allow the girls to join for a game or two, but most of the time they hang back in the bleachers and talked amongst their friends.
“Bro, do you think she’s watching me play right now?”
“Maybe. Why don’t you try one of your special plays?”
Sarada can hear a small conversation between two friends from the bench. The boys casually look back at her a couple of times before they’re subbed in, giving Boruto and Inojin a break. The ball is passed to one of the boys from the sideline. He dribbles through his legs a few times, and makes a break for the basket, baiting in a defender. He then cuts it back sharply to the left and then to the right. The poor defender trips over his own feet as the boy steps backs and slots the ball for a three-pointer.
The two teams rush the court in hysteria at the cheeky play. They jump the boy and holler cheerful obscenities and praises at him. The boy only blushes and looks up to take a glance at the Uchiha, only to find her unamused.
It’s always interesting to see how boys act around her. It’s true what they say at school: Sarada has the attention of half the boys in the school. She hasn’t done anything different from her first year. Her focus wasn’t finding a boyfriend. It was dedicating time to her education, but that somehow attracted more boys than before. The only person she has ever considered dating material was Boruto.
Sarada had come to terms that puberty was, or is a double-edged sword. She had never considered the blonde anything more than best friends, but as soon as the two hit the ripe age of thirteen, their bodies, along with their brains, began to mature. Boruto suddenly became taller, stronger, and more handsome. He was no longer the short and young-looking kid from elementary school she once knew.
Sarada continued to tell herself for years that Boruto would be nothing more than a close friend, even if he had become the world’s hottest guy. Their parents were best friends. They were best friends. She didn’t want to risk losing the friendship they had for a relationship that may not last longer than a month.
While the boys are on a quick break, Sumire runs on the court to meet Boruto. She hands him a sports drink and plants a quick but intimate kiss on his lips. The blonde blushes at his girlfriend’s gesture and thanks her for the drink.
Sarada watches the cute interaction unfold before her eyes. She would be lying if she said that she never had feelings for the blonde. At some point, she had fallen for him so hard that her grades began to slip for a semester. But it was a one-sided love that would take years for the Uchiha to get over because her friend Sumire was madly in love with him. She couldn’t profess her love to a boy her friend had fallen for.
When Boruto and Sumire started officially dating during the second semester of their first year of high school, Sarada completely broke. Many believed she was having problems at home because she fell into such a bleak depressive state that lasted at least six months. She did her best to play off her troubles, but her best friend ChoCho caught on to what was going on. Sarada finally admitted her feelings for her blonde childhood friend. To this day, her best friend is the only soul that knows about her love for Boruto.
Over time, the Uchiha has slowly gotten over him, but when he and Sumire act lovey-dovey around each other, the painful memories flash before her eyes. She hates being reminded of the chance that she missed. She will always hate herself for that.
Just as teams are switching out, a tall figure enters the gym. His face is bruised, and a butterfly band-aid is resting on his cheekbone, just below his controversial roman numeral tattoo. His hands are in his pockets as he walks around the basketball court to take a seat in the bleachers.
“Woah. I wonder what happened to Kawaki,” a classmate tells a friend.
“He definitely got into a fight,” says another. “I’d say that he got his ass kicked.”
“You think it’s gang-related?” asks someone else.
He’s only been at school for less than two weeks and people have already begun spreading rumors about Kawaki escaping the gang life from Amegakure. It’s all the students have talked about since his arrival. It’s not like Kawaki has made a friendly entrance either. In the first four days alone, he’d been in at least six fights, and been sent to the office at least ten. Almost everyone believes that he was sent to this school as a last-ditch effort because his parents could no longer control their son’s violent behavior.
Kawaki’s personality doesn’t help him avoid trouble either. He’s cold and aggressive to just about anyone around him, apart from his teachers and the lunch ladies. Even then, he gives them the cold shoulder. His time at Konoha High has been anything but smooth.
As suspicious as he comes off to be, Sarada has never been one to jump onto the preconceived notions from those around her, especially when it comes to those who have come from traumatic and bleak backgrounds. Her father was a criminal as a young boy and even well into his early twenties. Years later, he became a man sworn under oath whose duty is to protect the citizens of Konoha. If her father could change his life around, so could Kawaki. If he’s in a similar situation, he’s doing his best to move on from that life because it isn’t as simple as people think.
Mitsuki takes a step forward towards the troublemaker. “Care to play with us?”
Kawaki only ignores him, continuing his walk around the court. He isn’t dressed to play as he’s still in his school uniform, but that’s not the reason why he declines the invitation.
“Hey!” Boruto lightly tosses the ball towards the new student, to which everyone’s surprise, catches the ball with a single hand. “Mitsuki’s talking to you. You down to play or what? We can use another-”
But Kawaki launches the ball to blonde without hesitation. The blonde flinches and catches the ball. A dull pain pulses in the palms of his hands. “-Leave me alone,” a low growl leaves his mouth.
“You don’t have to be an ass!” Boruto shouts at him while charging at the new boy. Mitsuki, Inojin, and a few others stand in front of their furious friend to create a barrier from the troublemaker. “Tch. What’s your deal man?!”
Kawaki doesn’t say a word. He continues to walk through the gym until he plops into one of the sections of the bleachers away from everyone. He grabs his phone, plugs in a pair of earphones, and stares off into space, ignoring the world around him.
It takes the blonde several moments for him to relax. Even then, he’s subbed off for the time being until he can recollect his thoughts instead of acting rash on the court. The team cannot risk their best player injuring someone or himself. Nationals are coming up and Konoha High needs all their best players.
After the gym fiasco, people began to talk about the entire incident between Boruto and Kawaki. It’s all the entire school spoke for an entire week. At some point, people began to hear that the two seniors were going to fight behind the gym. Rumors became so ridiculous that the two boys had to be pulled out from the middle of class to hold a conference with each boy and their parents.
After that meeting, Boruto explained to his friends that despite the verbal altercation, no punishment was set in place for either student since there was no fight happening. Still, they were forced to apologize to each other, shake hands, and forget about the bad blood between them. Of course, there was no way Boruto and Kawaki were going to forget about the altercation in the gym, but they pretended to be civil for the moment.
“Strange thing, his never parents never showed up,” Boruto yawned like a sleepy lion at his desk. “No one did, so we went ahead with the conference.”
That struck a chord with Sarada. Sure, there are other kids in the school who live far from their parents, Sumire being one of many. It’s strange because, for something as serious as fighting, parents must attend meetings requested by the principal. Maybe they were so busy that they couldn’t make it or perhaps they are out of the country. Perhaps other close relatives of his couldn’t fill in.
ChoCho catches up to her best friend, who is nearly at her shoe locker. “Hey! What did think about Kawaki and Boruto in gym class the other day?”
Sarada contorts her face in disgust. “We’re still talking about this?”
ChoCho pops a couple of chips in her mouth. “Uh, yeah! Didn’t you see how Kawaki tried to mess with Boruto? He totally was looking for a fight.”
“If you really want to blame someone, Boruto was the one who started it. If he had left Kawaki alone, none of that would have happened. That hot temper of his is going to get him into some serious trouble one day.”
“Woah. Are you, like, seriously defending the new kid?”
“I’m not defending him. I’m just stating what was true. Sure, he ignored Mitsuki, but it wasn’t like he was broke his arm or anything. Bolt was the one that initiated the scuffle. Kawaki had a ball thrown at him. How would you feel if someone did that to you while you were minding your own business?”
ChoCho twiddles with her fingers, refusing to believe that her best friend is correct about the situation. “Well… Still. I think it was uncalled for.”
“Imagine how’d you feel if all you ever heard was constant rumors about yourself and then someone trying to invite you to play? I don’t think I would have reacted as he did, but I don’t blame him either. If I must be honest, people need to stop coming up with such absurd lies and leave Kawaki alone.”
Just as the two round a corner, Sarada bumps into a familiar classmate, making her lose her balance for a split second. “You really need to watch where you’re going,” a mohawk-haired student slips through his lips. He’s not angry. More like inconvenienced by the accident. He doesn’t seem amused at all, but then again, he never is.
Sarada fixes her posture and the bag slung around her back. “Sorry.”
Kawaki brushes the girls off and disappears into the crowd of students. ChoCho lets a low whistle out. “Do you think he heard us talking?”
“Maybe, but we weren’t saying anything bad. At least I wasn’t. If I were you, I’d watch out because he seems like the type who holds grudges,” Sarada snickers as she gives her a cunning wink.
Her best friend gulps hard. “H-Hey! That’s not funny! You’d help me out if he decides to beat me up, right?”
::::
Sarada and her four closest friends walk into the local burger joint down the road from the school. The place is packed with mostly high school students. It’s probably because lunch wasn’t sufficient enough to satisfy the hunger of hundreds of hormonal teenagers. The high school is the only reason why Thunder Burger hasn’t gone under.
The girls order their food and find a nice spot towards the back of the fast-food joint. Wasabi and Tsubaki sit on one side of the booth and ChoCho, Sumire, and Sarada take the other. As soon as they set their belongings down, they immediately jump into a conversation they had been dying to have since the moment the new boy made his entrance the first day.
“What do you all think about Kawaki? He’s so my type!”
“He’s literally the hottest guy in school now. He’s definitely going to knock Boruto off the first-place mark in the hot boy rankings.”
“Kawaki is pretty attractive, but my boyfriend is so much better than he is.”
Sarada swirls the straw from her plastic cup. She’s annoyed at this point with the talks of Kawaki. It’s all anyone talks about and, frankly, it’s annoying her beyond levels imagined. All she wants is everyone to shut up about him for five minutes.
ChoCho sighs, props an elbow on the table, and leans her head in the palm of her hand. “He’s okay, but like with the body that he has, I can guarantee you he’s got muscle. Maybe even a six-pack.”
“How do you know that?” Sarada frowns at her observations.
“I don’t, but I’m speculating. He’s got a lean build. Plus, his arms are toned so I can safely assume that he’s got a good body.” Surprisingly enough, the auburn senior has never been wrong about those things. It’s an odd gift she possesses.
Sumire turns to the onyx-haired young woman. “Come on, Sarada. What do you really think about Kawaki? You can be honest here! It’s not like we’re talking bad about him or anything. We’re simply discussing his looks is all.”
The other three girls agree with the lavender-haired girl and try to get more information from their friend. Sarada goes back into her thoughts and pictures Kawaki with his wide sturdy shoulders, defined facial features, his bi-colored punk hairstyle, and how he towers over most boys in the school. She focuses more on his most striking feature: the odd tattoo under his left eye. It’s difficult for her to say what she thinks of him. She has never been the kind of person to judge based off looks. It never felt right for her to do so. But she does have to agree with everyone when they say he physically stands out from everyone else. It’s the reason why their classmates talk constantly about him. And it’s another reason that bugs Sarada so much about him.
“Well,” Sarada begins quietly. “He doesn’t look bad. Definitely mature for his age.”
Wasabai smirks. “Oh? So, the great Sarada Uchiha has finally given her two cents!”
“Woah,” ChoCho whistles through her lips. “Sarada finally gave an honest opinion for once! Is the world ending?!”
The Uchiha rolls her eyes. She seems to be doing that more often these days when she hangs out with her best friends. They are obnoxious about half the time.
“Order seventy-two!”
She slips out of the booth and makes her way to pick up her food. In the process, she’s in her thoughts, thinking about Kawaki. It’s not that she thinks he’s cute or anything, but he’s an intriguing individual. His cold personality? His unique style? Whatever the case is, Sarada has now made the executive decision to not get in his way. What good will it do if she tried to be friends with him? If he was capable of hurting Boruto for no reason, then what could happen to her?
Crash!
A young man stands there in front of her. He holds an empty tray in his hands, shirt soaked with brown soda, and food scattered across the floor. The gaze on his face is frustration and disappointment. Sarada instantly apologizes to him. Then she realizes who he is, and her face immediately brightens with mortification.
“I’m so sorry! I wasn’t paying attention!” Sarada says while trying to clean up the soda from his shirt.
Kawaki shakes his head and carefully backs away, so Sarada is no longer brushing his stained shirt. “Don’t worry about it.”
“Please. Let me buy you another meal- “
“-I said don’t worry about it,” her classmate growls under his breath. He picks up whatever is left of his meal and tosses it in the garbage can. He then exits the restaurant and disappears once again into the crowd of people on the sidewalk.
Great, Sarada ponders to herself. That’s the second time I’ve made myself look like an idiot. What else could go wrong?
::::
“How’s work going, Darling?”
Sasuke hangs his work jacket onto the coat rack and finds a seat on the coach. “It’s fine. There’s a new case I’ve been assigned to. A vital one. I’ve been asked to take over, so I’ll be swamped these next several months. Possibly a year. At least I’ll be around Konoha more often now.”
His job hasn’t been easy these last six months. There have been children and teens who have been reported missing by the dozens in neighboring suburbs inside and outside of Konoha. Sasuke doesn’t typically work with missing children’s cases, in fact, he is more of a private investigator, but all of them are connected to a single factor: an unknown gang that has been on the rise in the last few years. This line of work would suit more for a detective or even special ops but because he has years of experience with gangs, he’s more than qualified for the position.
Naruto, the director of Konoha’s Police Department, has requested that he take over the case. The ravenette was hesitant to accept but knowing that children are being kidnapped every other day, doesn’t sit well with him. He instantly thought of his precious little peanut. He would detest himself if she were to vanish in the blink of an eye, so he had no choice but to accept the job.
Sakura places plates full of sliced tomato and onigiri on the table. The sound of the ceramic dinnerware clinking against the table cued her husband to join her. He pushes himself off the couch and makes his way to have dinner.
“Sarada! Dinner’s ready!”
In an instant, the youngest of the Uchiha family speeds down the stairs and plops into the chair next to her father. Her mother gathers the last of the meal and joins them on the adjacent side. They say their prayers and dig into the food.
Their dinners are intimate yet full of life. Sarada always describes how her day went while her parents quietly listen. Then, Sakura goes on about her day for a few minutes and gives updates about what’s to come later in the week as a family. This gives Sasuke some time to wind down from work and get comfortable around the two most important girls in his life. The last thing he ever wants to do is project his frustrations at them because of the stress his best friend gives him the entire workday.
“How was school today?”
Sarada picks at her food with her chopsticks. “It was fine, Mama.”
“What’s wrong? You haven’t touched your food.”
Sarada sets her utensils down. “I ate earlier with ChoCho and the other girls. I’m not very hungry.”
Sasuke washes down his favorite meal with a glass of water. “What happened?”
Sarada purses her lips into a thin line. Her father is quite perceptive when it comes to these things. He’s damn good at his job and she hates it sometimes. “I accidentally knocked someone’s food over at Thunder Burger.” She shuts her eyes and rubs her temples as she relives the scene again for the hundredth time. “It was so embarrassing! Everyone was looking at me! The guy was so upset that he left.”
Her mother laughs softly. “I wouldn’t think about it too much. It was an accident. Plus, I’m sure you’ll never see the person ever again.”
As if, Sarada thinks in her head. He’s only the most reclusive person in the school!
Sasuke chomps down on a juicy slice of tomato. “You need to be careful. People are crazy nowadays. If you had bumped into someone else, it could have been dangerous.”
“Darling, please don’t scare Sarada. It was an accident.”
“Accident or not, people are walking time bombs. It’s the reality of today, Sakura. The next accident she causes may not go so well.”
Sakura understands her husband’s worries, however, the majority of the time he tends to overreact, especially when he’s stressed about work. She sighs and sets her chopsticks down on the table. “Sarada, could you please go to your room? Your father and I need to talk for a moment. Please be more cautious next time, okay?”
Sarada nods and retreats to her room. As soon as she shuts the door clothes, she can hear her parents quietly bicker about the comments Sasuke’s made. She can’t make out what exactly they are saying, but it’s along the lines of how insincere he was with his daughter’s feelings and her safety.
Anything that her father says, she doesn’t take it to heart. Sure, it frustrates her that her father didn’t feel any remorse for the situation, but Sarada has realized from a young age that her father’s childhood has played an impact on their relationship. And the job that he has now doesn’t help much either as he’s seen things that no human being should see.
Sarada’s phone rings.
Can I come over?
“No. My dad is in a bad mood. It’s best if you come through tomorrow.”
Boruto gives a quiet hum over the line. Okay. If you say so.
They talk for a while longer until she hangs up the line. Not only has Sarada managed to upset her classmate, but her father as well.
Her head hits the pillow propped on her bed. She shuts her eyes and does the best she can to push all that’s happened today out of her mind before drifting off to sleep.