Pre-Battle Confessions

Beginnings

Up to ch 72 Manga spoilers ahead! (I wrote this a long time ago but I figured in light of the new manga chapter spoilers I'd post it even tho I didn't really like it at the time) 

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Sarada sighed. After all of her conversations with Eida, she knew. Everyone was accusing her of it, even Mitsuki. She liked Boruto.

And now, Sumire was going to confess to him.

The moment replayed in her head over and over again like a broken record.

"Sarada... I'm not going to back down. We might have to fight Eida soon. And if that's the case... I want to make sure I tell him how I feel in my own words before I get taken out. I'm not expecting him to reciprocate my feelings... But there's a chance he will."

"Why are you telling me? It's not like I could get in the way."

"Hmm... If that's how it is, that's fine... But it seems to me like you want to tell him too."

"As if." She rolled her eyes and walked away to hide the tears stinging the backs of her eyelids. "Good luck, Sumire. I'll be cheering you on."

With that, she excused herself to her room and hid. Mitsuki walked in and caught her crying, but she just decided to go home, saying she was nervous about the upcoming battle.

She came home to an empty house, her mother still at work. And ever since, she'd been in curled up in her room, tears dripping over the edges of her eyes and into the frames of her glasses.

When she finally decided to take them off and smack her face in rebellion to her emotions, the voice on the other side of the window nearly made her pee herself.

"Sarada?"

It was him. Why was he here? Sumire should have asked to meet with him already.

"Are you there?"

Wiping her eyes furiously, she plunked herself down on her bed, refusing to open the curtain or even turn to look at his silhouette. "What do you want?"

"Mitsuki said you were crying... Are you ok?"

Stupid Mitsuki. Even though he sees Boruto as a traitor, I guess he caught on to the fact that I don't... She sighed. "I'm fine. Sorry. Was that all you wanted? Don't you have somewhere else you should be?"

"...Sumire said she wanted to meet with me to talk about something, but I put it on hold. You're not nervous about the fight, are you?"

"I just said I was fine. Go away, stupid loser."

"Sheesh, even though I abandoned my important business to come all the way here to check on you..." His words were harsh, but she could tell from his tone of voice that he was legitimately concerned. "Is it something you can't say?"

Why, now, of all times, do you have to mature into someone who I can't be angry with? She stood to her feet and walked over to the window, her hand gently reaching out to touch the back of his silhouette through the curtains. "Yeah... Now go talk to Sumire. She said she had something important to tell you, didn't she? Are you just going to leave her there waiting?"

"Fine, fine. I'll get going... But you better not be down and out of it for the fight! We need your strength, captain."

She sighed and looked down at her hand as his silhouette disappeared. My strength. Her fist clenched. That's right. If I'm going to become the hokage, I can't let myself get depressed over something like this...

But despite her heroic words, images of her childhood best friend walking hand in hand with another girl ransacked her mind. She curled up into a ball on her bed and smushed her pillow between her chest and her knees.

Just for a little while. She would get all her annoying tears out, and then she would be fine.

Her eyes would be red and puffy... But that didn't matter. Everyone already knew anyway. Everyone except for him. And he would never suspect a thing.