Lamen Date

"See? No burger this time, Sarada!" Boruto laughed, poking her friend in the arm, deconcentrating her from what she was doing. The kunoichi lowered the chopsticks wrapped in pasta to give better attention to the blonde next to her. He had a silly smile on his face, wider than usual. She admitted looking away because of the act, for some reason he was leaving her disconcerted.

"Okay, I'll count this as a positive score" She implied raising her eyebrows, Boruto just laughed and returned to his own plate.

"So ... What are we going to do after lunch?"

The question seemed to catch Boruto unaware. He looked alarmed for a moment, but then he started laughing. Sarada was even more confused.

"Sorry. It's just that you took so long to accept going out on a date with me that I hadn't stopped to think about much after it."

The girl hid her face with one hand, embarrassed by the comment, why had she taken so long to do that anyway? She didn't even remember it at the time. Boruto was absorbed in his lamen and seemed not to have noticed her condition, thankfully.

After lunch they decided to go to the Hokage monument, it was something they always did, then it made more sense to maintain the tradition. Boruto looked at the brunette sideways from time to time and noticed a distant and continuous look on her, the small smile on her lips addressed the sign that everything was going well. No one spoke during the ride, but there was no atmosphere of anxiety hanging over them and finally the blonde was able to breathe more easily next to Sarada.

He watched her hand in some of his blinks, thinking about what it would be like to walk hand in hand with the most beautiful kunoichi in the village, in his humble opinion, not really interested in the curious and surprised looks that would surely reach them. As Shikadai always joked, everyone would at least roll their eyes or let out an air of relief that it had finally happened. And Boruto almost couldn't hide the joy of being on a date with Sarada Uchiha, the word came to welcome his heart and keep it warm, he let out a half laugh at himself for perhaps looking like a passionate idiot, absorbed in romantic daydreams and the action did not go unnoticed by the brunette, who now looked at him curiously.

"What's it?"

"Nothing much, I'm just happy!" He smiled, showing his teeth and squinting, just like his father used to do.

Sarada realized the similarity of father and son and, how she loved this smile that can lift anyone's spirits, in any situation. The brunette felt her face flush and slowly turned back to the front, whispering a bakaboruto, which he probably heard because he was giggling again.

She was still surprised by the young man's resilience. Perhaps the most coveted shinobi in the ninja world, Boruto had all this time respected her wishes, to not have any kind of distractions until she graduated as an elite jounin, to be ever closer to her dream of becoming hokage, and loving relationships came in as a distraction. And despite knowing the true feelings that Boruto had for her for so many years, feeling it all was still so new and different, in a pleasant way.

Sarada knew she felt something for the jounin, but she couldn't help but fear that it wasn't as intense as he was and she tried not to think about it so much and imagine the worst. She surely liked him and his presence in her life, she could trust him with her life, but just that mean love? She wasn't sure and that doubt took her mind out of orbit from time to time. A gentle touch on the shoulder proved it now. Boruto was staring at her and still smiling, bringing her back to reality.

"We arrived." The blonde announced and walked to the edge. He watched the horizon with his typical dreamy expression, Sarada couldn't help but smile at that sight. He took a deep breath, hands on his hips, seemed to be preparing for something.