Gambler of Feelings

Chapter Twenty Seven

She was happy papa came back. However, with Boruto's presence, Sarada outgrew the loneliness suffered because of her parents' absence. Spending time on obligatory family dinners felt out of place, too. It seemed silly, but she missed the times her parents were absent. A glaring contradiction to this thought was until now, she yearned for them to be an active part of her life.

In uncertain moments like this, she desired for Boruto to be here with her. She was aware it wasn't possible. The one who should try to put in work to reconnect with her parents was her. A date with Boruto would have made this entire ordeal enjoyable, though. Without his presence, the atmosphere around the table was stifling.

The noise of the cutlery snapped Sarada back to reality. "Papa, how lo—can you pass me the salt, please?"

He handed the salt over to her and resumed eating his soup. Sarada wanted to know how long he'd be here, but held her tongue. She already asked him this before. Papa's visits were infrequent, and he never knew the time-length of his stay at home.

"Thank you," she said and was happy he acknowledged her presence.

"How's school?" Sakura asked, and Sarada groaned. That was the worst question amidst this awkward atmosphere.

"Not too bad. My grades are decent enough," she replied. "My club activities are more interesting."

Sarada found the following silence suffocating. It wasn't like the quiet moments she had with Boruto without minding it at all. This wasn't even the type of awkward silence like during her conversation with Mitsuki. That was the silence anyone would want to break and replace it with loud noises instead. Even a screaming match between crowing roosters at five am would be less painful. At least they'd respond with their crowing.

Mom seemed to notice the shift in the mood she was in, but ignored it in favour of looking fondly at papa instead. In the past, Sarada didn't fully understand how much papa's visits brightened mom's mood. Not until she fell in love, herself. Seeing her parents wordlessly flirting with each other made her immensely miss Boruto. She wanted to see him or at least hear his voice! Ugh, why was she stuck at this table in the first place? There were so many other things she could do instead, while leaving them alone to their own devices.

Would leaving make her happy? Sarada sincerely doubted it. She discussed certain things with Boruto after they officially got together. One of those discussions involved a mysterious correspondence between their parents. Fed up with all the things their families were hiding, both of them agreed to ask the involved people about the truth. They only needed to set up an opportunity to do so.

"We're preparing for this year's Konoha Gaming Tournament, so things are quite hectic," she mentioned, gauging their reaction.

As expected, papa didn't mind. His habitual absence meant he'd support anything Sarada desired to do. His support wasn't vocal, but she didn't mind it at all.

Mom's lips pressed together to form a thin, tight line. "Did you already forget what happened last time? I don't approve of you signing up for that tournament."

Sarada put down the spoon she held, leaving her soup unfinished. She didn't like where this was going. "I didn't forget. Just because the last time ended badly doesn't mean I'll skip club activities."

Sakura furrowed her brows to put a further emphasis on her disapproval. Of course she did. Her mom often changed her mind on things as often as the weather did. "Then resign from the club. You don't need to engage in the club activities if you're not a member."

Sarada slammed her hands onto the table, the contents of soup spilling out slightly from the impact. "I'm not resigning!" She thought mom would understand by now and that they were getting along better. "Besides, I am the one that should be angry. You always hide important things from me using watered down excuses!"