It's Not Really A Date, but is sort of kinda (Boruto x Sarada)

Part 2

[Later the Next Day]

Boruto leant against a tree in a certain wooded clearing with his hand behind his back. His palms sweating like crazy and his heart hammering in his chest like that time he almost drowned, but now for a whole other reason.

Team 7 had a few days off from missions and its individual members were spending that time up to their own devices. Mitsuki he understood was around this time experimenting with interests in his ongoing journey of discovering his own will by spending more time with their friends from the other teams. Presumably enjoying the '5 Great Nations Cross-Cultural Festival', an event organised by the Hokage to celebrate unity and co-operation between the nations of the Shinobi World (with no small contributions from Kirigakure, despite still overcoming the trauma of the Hidden Mist/Funato Clan War), and being hosted IN Konohagakure this year. And right now Boruto couldn't be more thankful for the space to work up the nerve to follow through with his plan. Even if it was barely a plan at all and could still go horribly wrong.

Sarada he knew was taking this free time lately to hone her Ninjutsu skills, particularly her Chidori, and getting up early in the mornings to train alone. And it just so happened he managed to leave a Shuriekan with an attached message embedded in the wall by her window earlier this morning, asking her to meet him in this spot at this time. The only spot he knew none of their other friends frequented and were unlikely to barge into at the critical moment. And a place special to him and her especially in terms of their personal growth.

A place and a time after the two realised how weak they really were, after narrowly surviving a crushing defeat at the hands of Deepa, one of the more sadistic members of 'Kara, the Husk', back-then a new and mysterious shadow organisation and enemy of the Leaf. A place and time after which they realised they needed to break boundaries and find new courage to get stronger, both to combat Kara, and to come into their own as Shinobi. A place where they met once more before going their separate ways to take on those grueling weeks of training, and where they made each other that promise to never lose to an enemy like that again.

And right now in this place and this time, he needed all the courage he could muster.

.........

"Boruto?"

The Ninja in question snapped to his right in the direction of the familiar voice, hurriedly striving to hide his hand and what it held behind his back. There she stood dressed in her standard Shinobi attire. A red sleeveless qipao shirt, lilac shorts, dark purple stockings and arm warmers and her instantly recognisable red rim glasses. To be fair he was dressed no differently than usual in his black jacket and trousers and white T-shirt. And also to be fair, she was beautiful however she dressed.

"Hey.. Sarada.. Yeah. Thanks for meeting me and all. I.... Uhhh..." he trailed off, realising he didn't know how to put into words what he had to say. A long silence followed. "Okay Boruto, seriously. What's this all about? And what have you got behind your back?", "Uhhh, yeah, before I answer that, let me just say...." he trailed off again, then sighed.

"Look Sarada. I know I should probably still feel bad for Kagura, Hebiichigo and all the people that died in the war with the Funato but.. lately I've been thinking a lot, since almost dying myself. About what I'm fighting for. What I'm living for. And... Who I wanna live for. Y'know..." Sarada maintained a politely curious expression as Boruto spoke, until worry crept across her face as he slowly approached her. "We haven't always seen eye to eye, but for as far back as I can remember you've always been by my side. And I swear I'll always stand by yours, as an aide to you as the future Hokage... and maybe, possibly.... more......."

'No turning back now.' he thought to himself striving to maintain a calm mind and the shy smile on his lips, even as his heart thundered against his ribcage. He now stood a metre before her and slowly, pulled his right hand from behind his back and produced a plainly paper-wrapped but beautiful rose. Extending the hand towards her, he saw what he hoped were happy sparkles in her astonished ebony eyes.

"The truth is....... I like you Sarada..... Like.... Like-like you.... That is.. I always have, but have been too dense to realise it until now.. but... I'm absolutely gonna make up for waiting all this time if...... if this is something you want too....."

His confession trailed off as he now looked more intentionally at her face while she gazed at the rose, noting the distinctly sad expression. "....Boruto.................. I can't accept this."

Boruto's shy smile instantly became a calm look of surprise, even as it felt like his heart being shredded by a thousand kunai. And he looked down to the ground, clenching the rose in a fist and fighting to keep it all together. "Right then..... I...... (sigh).... Right............. Sorry for dragging you out here and all. I'll......... I'll let you get back to your routine an'............ See ya around, y'know." And he turned away facing back towards the village. He'd been childish thinking she could ever see him as more than a friend. And he knew he was being a bad friend now leaving her in this emotional mess. But right now, he just wanted to be alone. Somewhere she couldn't see him break down.

"Boruto wait..." Sarada ordered with a hand firmly holding his shoulder in place, making him look back into those misty ebony eyes that now bore a determined spark. ".....You can't just drop a bombshell like that on me and then walk away. It's not fair-", "Don't talk to me about 'not fair' Sarada." Boruto suddenly snapped back coldly. "I just opened my heart to you and you shot me down. If you don't feel the same way then there's no point dragging out this conversation any further-"

"I didn't say I don't feel the same way!" she retorted heatedly, making him stop and stare at her. And his cold expression morphed into a confused one. "What ARE you saying then Sarada?" he asked cautiously. Couldn't she just give him a straight answer already and let his tumultuous heart and his aching head find peace already??

Sarada released his shoulder and offered him a sympathetic look. "I'm saying............... I don't know what to feel right now........

"When I stood there beside Mitsuki and watched you get beaten to a pulp.......... When I watched you throw yourself into those waters... a part of me died..... And when Ikada dove into those same waters like it was nothing, and brought you back.. I didn't know what to think of him or the Funato anymore. But I did realise then just how precious you are to me......... and yet.....

".........

"You are right that I still want to become Hokage someday. And you're right that we haven't always been the the closest of friends. Not when we first started out at the academy anyway, but.... but I've always cared about you Boruto, even when we'd argue all the time. In fact, when we were growing up together.. you were like a brother to me... (This comment felt strangely the heaviest of all for Boruto to bare)... But.. now you're talking about us dating?! Becoming boyfriend and girlfriend?!? This is all just too much too fast!?!?!"

She sighed heavily and then met his solemn gaze again with shining, misty eyes.

"You ARE my teammate now, and my precious friend Boruto. And I know you can trust me with your life like I trust you with mine........ But to trust me with your heart!? How can you be so sure when I'm not sure I'd trust myself? The last thing I want is to get your hopes up only for something to go wrong down the line and mess up our team dynamic, or ruin our friendship............ I don't want to end up hurting you."