He’s just riding on his Father’s coat tails Inojin’s words rang through Boruto’s head. But they weren’t just Inojin’s. He heard whispers such as that from almost all the Genin in his class, and not all were whispers. Some, like Inojin, didn’t care if or what he heard. Lingering on the thought, Boruto grew angry and became riled up. ‘How dare they dismiss my skills just because my Father’s the Hokage?! I work just as hard as he does!’ Boruto thought in annoyance as he threw a barrage of shuriken at the attack dummies lining the training field. Three out of the 6 shuriken hit the dummies, each one afflicting a…foot wound? ‘No, that won’t do! Well, maybe there’s one skill they can dismiss.’ Boruto sweatdropped as he eyed his handiwork. Boruto growled at himself in frustration. He really did work hard to prove himself as a ninja and he’d been practicing his shuriken attacks for hours, but perfecting it always seemed to elude him.
Deciding he was done for the day, Boruto gathered his shuriken into the weapon’s pouch on his thigh and headed back into the village. As he walked through the streets intent on a bowl…or two or three…of ramen for lunch, he couldn’t help but overhear the villagers as he passed. ‘So, Sasuke’s back’. Of course, the Uchiha was a big deal in Konoha, so word always spread quickly when he stepped back through the gates. Boruto contemplated an idea and was torn, looking back and forth down the road that led to ramen or the road that led to Sasuke. ‘Well, I’ll be no good on an empty stomach’ He finally resigned and ran to the ramen hut for the fastest lunch he’d ever eaten.
Once he was well and full, Boruto quickly changed course and ran through the streets until he finally spotted the famous black cloak that enveloped Sasuke. “Sasuke” He shouted as he caught up to his side. The ninja turned his onyx eyes to the teen in front of him as he hunched over out of breath. Boruto glanced up and suddenly found himself nervous under this man’s gaze.
“Yes, Boruto?” He questioned, still waiting for the blonde to say something. Boruto flushed pink and rubbed the back of his neck with a nervous chuckle.
“Would you…train me?” He asked, looking everywhere but at Sasuke too nervous that he’ll instantly see the answer in his eyes.
“I’m sorry, I can’t tell if you’re asking me if I will train you or asking yourself if you want me to train you.” Sasuke observed in his famous monotone voice, causing Boruto to go red.
Boruto shook his head, cleared his throat and stood straighter at attention trying to get ahold of himself. “Sasuke, would you train me?” Boruto asked, clear and precise.
“And, why ask me? Why not your Father? He is the Hokage, after all.”
Sasuke’s question brought back the annoyance Boruto had felt earlier. “I don’t need his help!” He shouted, his nerves suddenly forgotten.
With a quirked brow, Sasuke looked Boruto up and down. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were Naruto himself.” He commented with a chuckle at my outburst.
“I am not-“Still riled up, Boruto started to argue with Sasuke again, but the man grabbed him and pulled him along. Boruto stopped short, unable to take his hands off the hand that held his arm as he dragged him along through the streets. Sasuke pulled him into a vacant sparring dojo and once the door was closed, he finally let go of him.
“You don’t need his help, but you need mine. I know I’ve never been one to pay him his dues, but what’s so wrong with your Father’s help?” He asked him curiously.
“I will not be a ninja riding on his father’s coat tails! I want to have something that no one can say he helped me with!” Boruto shouted.
“And what exactly do you need help with?” Sasuke asked.
“Shurikens. I’ve been practicing for hours, but I just can’t seem to get my aim down. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong.” Boruto groaned in frustration.
“Show me.” He said. Sasuke folded his arms across his chest and leaned back against the pillar behind him like he was waiting for a show.
Not wanting to disappoint him, Boruto didn’t waste time pulling the shuriken from his weapons pouch. Although, taking his time may have been best as a few of the shuriken slipped clumsily from his fingers. Boruto tried to catch them mid-air before they hit the ground-again, he should have waited. One of the shuriken slipped passed and cut his hand. Boruto winced and dropped the rest of the shuriken in his haste. Cursing under his breath at his clumsiness, he dropped to the floor trying to quickly recover his shuriken before he made any more of a fool of himself. ‘What the hell is wrong with me?! I am not this fool!’
Boruto clasped his wounded hand to his chest as he scrambled with the other to collect the shuriken. But he was stopped. A shadow cast over him as Sasuke reached out, stopping him as he shuffled about. At the touch of his hand atop his, they both seemed to freeze in place and looked up at one another. Boruto felt a blush again rise to his cheeks when those onyx eyes pierced into his blues. For a moment, Boruto thought he saw something more than the cold black abyss in his eyes, but then it was gone as Sasuke tore his gaze away.
Sasuke took the shuriken from his hand and laid it on the ground beside him. Then, he grabbed his other hand, pulling it away from his chest. He turned it palm out to him and Boruto couldn’t hold back the wince as he opened his hand to reveal the fresh wound. Sasuke dug into a pocket hidden within his cloak and pulled out a roll of gauze conveniently tucked away inside. His strong calloused hands were surprisingly gentle as he wound the gauze around his cut. When he was done he tied the gauze off tight and tucked the loose end inside the wrap. Boruto bit his lip nervously when Sasuke’s fingertips brushed his soft skin as he did so; just under the surface, something about his touch left behind a tingle.
Finished, Sasuke cleared his throat, breaking them both from their thoughts. In one fluid motion, he swiftly stood up and resumed his post on the pillar. Boruto also resumed picking up his shuriken, now making sure to take his time unlike before. He carefully placed them in the palm of his hand and stood up. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to keep his failed effort just a moment ago from clouding his head. When he opened his eyes again, he glanced over at Sasuke and noticed he was still waiting on him, but he had now tossed his cloak to the side.
Boruto glanced back at the target dummy and positioned himself in a fighting stance. He placed one shuriken in his shooting hand and held the others ready for reload in his wrapped one. Like a basketball player, he went for one shot after the other trying to bank each one in record time. He threw the first from his starting position, then the second mid-leap into the air towards the dummy. He landed on a post just above the dummy and kicked off it. He flipped from the kick off and threw the third and fourth with each spin. He landed back in his original location in a crouching position, throwing the fifth from down low.
No more shurikens to reload, Boruto stood back up and assessed his damage. All his movements had been fast and fluid, perfect enough for a ninja on a mission; but he sweat dropped when he saw that only the first, second and fifth had hit. And while three out of five might sound good, from the position of the shurikens only one was a decent hit. The other two would be minor toe and ear wounds. Boruto looked around for where his other two shuriken that hit landed and deadpanned to see one in the pillar next to Sasuke’s head.
“Sasuke-sensei, I’m so sorry! I swear I didn’t mean to-“
“You think I would have allowed a stray shuriken by a Genin to be my demise?” Sasuke interrupted him with a wry chuckle at the thought.
Boruto blushed as he thought about what he said. “Of course, Sasuke-sensei. I shouldn’t have thought so boldly.” He apologized.
“What is this Boruto?” Sasuke asked. He pushed himself off the pillar and walked over to Sasuke, circling around him curiously.
“What do you mean, what is this?” He said, circling in his spot to watch Sasuke as he watched him.
“First you refer to me as ‘Sasuke’ and your speech is casual and even bold. Now I’m ‘Sasuke-sensei’ and you’ve become quite formal. Why the change?” He asked with a tilt to his head as he watched Boruto.
Boruto honestly hadn’t realized how he was acting, but Sasuke was right. Suddenly he felt quite conscious of himself and whatever he said next. “I-I don’t know…I just did.” Boruto answered.
Sasuke came to a stop just behind Boruto “Well, don’t”
Boruto made to turn to Sasuke, a bit surprised by the commanding tone in his voice, but his shoulder hit him in the chest. He hadn’t realized how close Sasuke stood, and now he could feel the heat of his chest on his back. With a tilt of his head, Boruto slowly gazed up at Sasuke whose steely gaze was already looking down on him…but it wasn’t steely this time…not like they usually were. The hard shell of his onyx eyes softened as he again looked into Boruto’s ocean blues again. One of his golden blonde locks fell over his eyes, and before Sasuke knew what he was doing, he reached up and brushed back the hair that had blocked his view. Now Sasuke blushed at his abrupt actions and he swiftly stepped back from Boruto before he could see…hopefully he hadn’t already.
“You’re right.” Sasuke finally spoke up again as he cleared his throat.
“What?” Boruto asked, his mind too foggy at that moment to understand what he had said.
Sasuke nodded to the attack dummy across the room. “You don’t have any aim.” He commented.
Boruto finally turned to him, about to be bold once again and yell at Sasuke for his comment; but when he saw the smirk on his usually blank face and stopped. He didn’t know why, but he didn’t want to say anything that might end it. He liked it. Sasuke turned his gaze from the attack dummy to Boruto and noticed him watching him. Sasuke cleared his throat again, this time to pull Boruto out of his thoughts, his smirk fading as he did so. Boruto snapped out of his thoughts and turned himself facing forward again to hide his blush. But Sasuke caught the flush of pink as he turned and smirked again once his back was to him.
Sasuke clasped his hand on Boruto’s shoulder, making him jump from the unexpected gesture. “Tomorrow. Same place. Same time.” Sasuke said to him, then let him go.
Boruto’s face lit up like a Christmas tree with excitement. He turned to thank Sasuke, but he was already across the room putting his cloak back on. Sasuke didn’t wait and snapped the buttons as he headed for the doorway. He stopped with his hand on the door and turned to Boruto one last time. With his cloak now hiding his features, he finally put aside the smirk and smiled at the excitement he saw on Boruto’s face. “Until then” He nodded his farewell to Boruto and exited the dojo.
Boruto watched and waited as he left the building. Once he was out of sight and out of proximity, Boruto dropped to his knees. He heaved a deep breath and raked his hands through his locks, tugging at them in slight frustration as he brought them back down over his face. Skimming passed his face, he ran his hand down his chest and gripped at the fabric above his heart that was beating rapidly in his chest. ‘Will I survive tomorrow?’
