An Overthinker's Gift Exchange

Valentine's Day

Boruto's concept of time vanished after he fled the village with Sasuke, especially since the only reminders he got came with the changes in the weather and their occasional stop into small villages for food and a decent night's sleep.

It was even worse with Kashin Koji, since as a cyborg, he couldn't feel the cold and didn't particularly care where he laid down. Sasuke was much more human about those kinds of things; making sure to look out for his wellbeing while letting him know about the harshness of the position he was in.

And so, as Boruto sat on the outskirts of the village and watched the rebuilding efforts, the fact that today's date was February 14 didn't even cross his mind.

He was just about to stand up and find a good spot in the woods to train when he noticed Sarada off in the distance, pacing around in circles and talking to herself.

It was rare to see Sarada this indecisive. She usually sat back and formed a plan, but that plan was almost always the best available course of action. Meaning if she couldn't decide, it must've been something pretty serious.

She was holding an object. But he was too far away to make out what it was.

Erasing his chakra signature, he floated up into the air, sparing himself the awkward of making eye contact on his way over to ask her what was wrong. But the moment he went incognito, her head whipped around as if she'd been conscious of his presence the whole time.

To his surprise, Sarada's shoulders sagged when she saw he was missing. She heaved a sigh and dragged her feet in the opposite direction. Whatever had Sarada in disarray had to do with him.

Wondering what could possibly be so important (with a good bit of worry), Boruto landed a distance behind her, letting her feel his presence. "Hey."

Her hands shot behind her back, hiding whatever object she'd been holding. "B-Boruto?"

Now she was stuttering. And if it wasn't his imagination, she was blushing. Embarrassment at being caught pacing? Likely.

He ducked his head, bringing his arm up to his neck. "Sorry... What's wrong? I kinda noticed you were out of sorts about something."

"N-Nothing," she muttered, backing up. "It's just..."

She trailed off. Her dark eyes met his, then returned to his boots.

"You know, I won't be mad, whatever it is." He couldn't really think of anything Sarada would have to say to him that would make her act nervous like this. Maybe something bad happened in the village. Maybe it was one of his family members. He remembered how much he had to mentally steel himself to tell her about Sasuke, and how much he failed in the end and melted into her arms instead. "What do you have? Behind your back." That was probably a better place to start.

"I... It's just obligation! I didn't... I mean... Ugh just forget it!"

Obligation? What was she talking about? He teleported in front of her before she could run away, and the object was immediately pulled out of his line of sight. Now he was even more curious. "Why are you hiding that?"

"I'm not hiding anything!"

Boruto floated up into the air for an areal view, making it harder to hide.

But Sarada was quick to bend over and tucked it into her jacket. "Stop trying to figure it out! I'm going home."

"But if it wasn't important, you wouldn't be pacing over it. Come on, tell me. You know you'll feel better if you do." He landed in front of her, a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips from the red dusting her cheeks. Whatever it was, she was really embarrassed about it. And that was enough to make him want it ten times as bad.