A.N: Welcome to the last chapter of More Than Friends, enjoy!

More than friends

Chapter 3

Mitsuki stared blankly at his two best friends as they shamelessly discussed details of their skillful date manipulation in front of him.

"What did you even like about broken-arm-guy? He was boring," Boruto exclaimed, a defensive look on his face.

Sarada sounded perplexed, "he was a serious adult that was able to carry out a normal conversation."

"Is that the parameter of choice? Why don't you date Shikadai, then?"

Boruto's eyes widened slightly as he instantly regretted that suggestion. What if she liked the idea? What was is about Sarada and her obsession with responsible-adult types? Is it a daddy issue thing? What was wrong with guys that went with the flow and were kinda genetically lucky and physically blessed?

The girl stared at him in surprise; why on God's green Earth would she date Nara frickin' Shikadai? The guy literally had no energy. Sarada liked people who at the very least fought back.

As if summoned from his sleep, Shikadai's voice was heard as he slowly pushed the front door open, "Hey, guys."

"Shikadai, welcome!" Shikadai eyed Mitsuki suspiciously at his strangely enthusiastic reception.

He walked slowly towards his friends, studying the unusual distance between Sarada and Boruto, and how Mitsuki seemed to be edging towards the door. He raised an eyebrow, turning to the blue haired boy, "Why are you so happy?"

"Where in the world were you?" was the only answered he received.

Shikadai shrugged, "I fell asleep."

Mitsuki glared at him, another unusual behavior.

Shikadai raised his hands defensively, "I was tired! Alright? We've been carrying furniture for hours. You're like a force of nature and never tire out."

A collective eye roll was his only answer.

"I woke up as Iwabee dashed past the van," he recalled with some interest, "what was up with that?"

The others exchanged a look but said nothing.

"Well, it's the first time I've been the chattiest in the room, specially when I'm sharing it with Boruto." He smiled, trying to lighten the mood, but the awkward silence remained.

What was up with these guys today? Sarada was avoiding eye contact, Mitsuki was chatty and Boruto was glaring at him. Those were some proper personality swaps going on there.

The silence broke as Boruto sighed, resting one hand on his hip and another pointing at the couch, "Shikadai, have a seat."

As Boruto was speaking, Shikadai spotted Mitsuki mouthing 'getoutnow' from the corner of his eye.

"What's happening?" The spiky haired boy eyed him suspiciously, "Are we going to have the talk? 'Cause I must say you're coming a little bit late for that, dad."

None of his friends laughed or made any smart-ass remarks. Shikadai took this as a cue to sit down and shut up.

After he sat, Boruto turned to him, "I know it's hard to believe…" he paused, looking at Sarada for approval, "…but Chocho says we," he stopped, waving between him and Sarada, "act like lovers, not friends."

Shikadai's lips pursed as he nodded sharply, "Glad I was sitting down for that."

Sarada rolled her eyes for what felt like the hundredth time that day, "let me guess, not surprised."

The boy smiled apologetically, "Is grass green? Is water wet? Is the Hokage powerful? Is-"

"We get it." Boruto interrupted.

The blond thought back at what Sarada told him and how much it caught him by surprise… and how much it didn't seem to surprise his friends. Truly, he had been aware other people thought there was much more to their relationship than friendship, and truly, he couldn't care less.

He assumed other people told him about their suspicions instead of Sarada because they knew how an Uchiha temper could cause true damage (they distinctively remembered how much trouble it got the village into last time it happened); and they definitely did not cope well with embarrassment.

The friends he shared with Sarada never mentioned anything. He could spot their occasional looks but never more than that. Never, until now.

It wasn't like he had never noticed how beautiful she was and how she had grown from a pretty girl to a well-known goddess.

He was Sarada's friend and that only made it easier for him to realize how smart, strong and dedicated she was. How she was kind to everyone, how her words seemed to calm down even the most frightening of criminals, how she managed to spend time with him despite her ridiculously dedicated training and studying times.

He would also never admit how his body felt a little too happy being close to Sarada. He would never mention how many times he had dreamed about her. Specially, he would never talk about how much it pained him to look away every time she moved and her cleavage accidentally showed too much or how hard it was to not stare at her every time she happened to bend down. Those were forbidden topics; Sarada was his friend and friends don't check each other out - no matter how many attractive, distracting curves their body has.

So what if he noticed those things? He was her friend but he was not blind. Would he still slap anyone into oblivion if he noticed a poor soul going through the same distraction he did when he was near her? Of course he would.

Sarada herself snapped him out of his Sarada-related daydreaming, her face inches away from his as she hissed,

"Boruto, I'm sure you are having the most interesting conversation with yourself in that little brain of yours but right now we are loosing the battle."

"Hm?" Boruto looked behind her to find Shikadai way too confident; his arms crossed behind him, resting on top of the couch, legs propped up. He was decidedly winning whatever discussion they got themselves into while the blond was otherwise preoccupied.

"Oh, don't mind us," Shikadai smirked, "we were only going through your inability to have a relationship."

Boruto snorted loudly, "That's not true," he turned to Sarada, "You had that guy, what's-his-face."

At Sarada's glare, the Uzumaki gulped, turning back quickly to the other two, "and I've lost count," he smirked confidently and crossed his arms.

His friends appeared collectively unconvinced.

"A real relationship." Shikadai repeated slowly, as if speaking to a child.

The blond shrugged, "What's a real relationship anyway?"

Sarada massaged her temple, understanding somewhat what the other two were saying, "Someone that listens to you, understands how you feel, gives with attention..."

Boruto snorted, "I don't need a real relationship. For those things, I have you,"

As Sarada raised an eyebrow at him, realization took over his features, "Oh, I see."

Shikadai interrupted with his Dr. Phil tone of voice, "since we're offering constructive criticism I think we can help," he pointed at Boruto, "you're never that serious about your dates."

The Uzumaki uncrossed his arms and held them out in frustration. Sarada attempted to cover her smile with her hand but Shikadai again interposed, pointing at her,

"You don't try that hard."

"Wha- why should I try hard?" Sarada spoke with indignation, "They should appreciate me for what I am."

"Your dates are more conversations that anything else." Mitsuki helpfully added.

"It's like you use up all your flirt with him," he vaguely pointed at Boruto, "and then end up having TED talks on dates."

The blond smiled confidently at her, happy that the conversation had turned away from his lack of seriousness on dates, "See what's the problem with dating 'serious adult types that are able to carry out a normal conversation'?"

The girl looked betrayed. How dare he use the conversation they had before against her? They were teaming up just a minute ago! But Sarada was not one to stay behind, so she answered him with the fakest smile she could muster,

"If we're using earlier recommendations maybe I should date Shikadai."

Boruto's face lost all color. Shikadai choked on air for a second, "Excuse me?"

The blond tried to interrupt the conversation before it went any further, "I said it but I didn't mean it." He then turned from Sarada to the Nara's heir with a hiss, "Shikadai, she will have fun with you, get bored and dump you, that's how she operates."

Shikadai propped himself up on the couch, "we can have fun and then you can dump me, I'm totally up for it."

All the other three gapped at him in surprise. He shrugged; so what? It might be his last chance to go out with Sarada before these idiots realized they were made for each other. The girl was a sight and it wouldn't hurt his popularity. His mom would love the idea.

"Shikadai…" Boruto started, a feeling of jealously taking over him. The dark haired young man raised his arms in defense,

"I'm kidding!" Shikadai then turned to Sarada and winked, "unless you're down for it."

The dark haired girl laughed at his idiotic flirting. Boruto didn't think it was half as funny, "I will kick your ass," he threatened.

"Why would you?"

Mitsuki interrupted with a smile, "I believe it's because Boruto doesn't feel threatened by the uninteresting people Sarada usually goes out with but he can spot some potential in you."

The Uzumaki and Uchiha then both started arguing with him. Boruto over the fact the he did NOT feel threatened and Sarada over the description of uninteresting.

Shikadai took the chance to crawl of the sofa and try to discreetly make his way to the door.

"What are you doing?" He heard a familiar voice call from above him. Shikadai looked up to find Inojin with a couple boxes under his arm.

The Nara heir coughed to hide his embarrassment and stood, dusting his clothes from all the crawling, "We were having the forbidden talk thanks to our team mate that decided today was as good a day as any to tell them and then ditch."

Inojin sighed in relief, "Finally."

The 'forbidden topic' was a well-known conversation within their group of friends. It was a shorter version of 'there is no Boruto without Sarada, the same way there is no Sarada without Boruto - no matter how dumb they are not to realize it'.

The blond smile, "You don't know how long I've been waiting for this."

Shikadai felt the hair on the back of his neck stand, "Inojin, what are you going to do?" Said blond dumped the boxes on the floor and confidently strode towards the fighting team 7. Shikadai followed him cautiously.

The fighting trio stopped their exciting discussion to look at the new arrival, waved slightly and proceeded.

The Nara sighed as Inojin gave him a confident smile; today was the day.

"Guys," Shikadai started, but the other three ignored him.

"GUYS!" He shouted. Three curious heads turned towards him and became quiet.

Shikadai cleared his throat; as a team leader, he felt he should approach the subject himself, "I don't know how to tell you this,"

"We all think you guys are banging behind our backs." Inojin stated flat out, cutting the conversation short.

"That's probably not how I would have done it." Shikadai mumbled.

Boruto and Sarada stayed silent in stunned surprise.

Inojin nodded at his friends, "Glad I made this awkward for you. I'll just make my exit."

The blond made his way to the door with his confident stride. Shikadai blinked once before realizing this was his now or never chance to escape. He swiftly grabbed one of Mitsuki's long sleeves and dragged him to the door.

In less than three seconds, Boruto and Sarada were alone again.

The blond hesitated for a second before turning to his friend, a sheepish smile on his face as he rubbed the back of his head, "Well, that didn't go as planned."

The Uchiha glared at him and stomped towards the kitchen, slamming the door behind her.

"Sarada-" he called out, following her there. He knocked gently on the door.

"I need two minutes away from you." She spoke from the other side, trying not to sound so angry as she did before.

Boruto sighed, pressing his back against the door, "I'm sorry."

A feeling of guilt came out on her voice, "You don't have to be. It's my own fault for bringing this up without even thinking about it." This was not her. Her regular self would have thought about this for at least a couple of days, considering all angles, instead of just blurting it out to him.

"Are you okay?" The blond asked.

"I need to think." Sarada spoke in a mumble from the other side.

Her quiet voice only made him worry more. "Sarada, please let me be there. I won't say anything, I promise. I'll just be quiet and let you think." Boruto hated to feel powerless. To be away from his friends when they needed him most. To not be next to Sarada when he was the reason of her worries.

The Uchiha sighed. She might as well let him come in; worrying about him worrying was a ridiculous cycle that was taking her no where. "Come in."

Boruto slowly open the door and found her sitting on the empty kitchen counter. She understood his silent question, "I came in here to sit away from you and then realized I don't have any chairs in the kitchen yet." She did have a weirdly positioned table left as Iwabee had dumped it before he ran off.

The blond made his way towards her. He tried to think of what he would do normally to comfort her before today. Before anyone had given them a reason to rethink their friendly actions.

Boruto approached her, standing in front of her, he leaned forward to have a closer look at her expression but her hair was covering most of it. He came closer until he felt her knees against him. They were almost at the same height as she was sitting on the counter.

"Are you alright?" He asked quietly, gently pushing her hair out of her face, but to Sarada it sounded like an annoyingly caring tone that would eventually distract her from the point she was trying to make as it always did.

Sarada looked up to him, looking him straight in the eye. She was trying really hard to speak to him, she really was, but those damn blue eyes were doing the same thing they ever did and completely distracted her from whatever it was she was trying to say. This was much easier if he just stayed on the other side of the door.

She raised her hand to cover his eyes.

"What are you doing?" Boruto asked as he stood with eyes covered, one hand to each side of her. He tried to break the uncomfortable silence with a typical joke, "are you having kinky thoughts?"

Sarada sighed, trying to disguise her smile, "Shut up, Boruto. I need to focus to talk and I can't do that with you looking at me."

"Just tell me," he then moved to hug her but halfway realized it might be too much after what just had taken place so went to kiss her cheek instead. Having his eyes covered and Sarada dodging his movement at the same time caused said kiss to be placed instead on her neck.

Boruto pulled away, his eyes still covered but a clear grimace on his face, "that was not you cheek, was it?"

"No."

"Right, sorry." He shrugged and smiled sheepishly.

Sarada was about to tell him how it was okay until she realized this was what probably got them into this mess in the first place, "Boruto, this has to stop."

He tilted his head slightly. As his eyes were covered Sarada still had the courage to continue, "friends don't kiss other friend's necks."

"This was the first time I did that!" He sounded offended.

"It's the first time you kissed my neck and what is going to happen from now? What it always does. You and I do things by accident then we repeat it and it suddenly becomes normal." She spoke so loudly and fast she struggled to regain the control of her emotions after.

Boruto huffed, "that never happens."

The dark haired girl raised an eyebrow, "remember the first time you picked me up?"

"Of course, it was the day we became chunnin, it was an amazing occasion!" He spoke excitedly.

"Yes, and how many times have you done it since?"

Boruto seemed to be attempting to recall the number of times he had done this in the past. He gave up quite quickly, opting for the rebuttal option instead, "Well, in my defense you're cute and cuddly and made to be picked up."

The Uchiha's anger was starting to boil, "or when we sneak into each others bed?"

Boruto froze for a second. The girl could feel his skin heating up under her hand, "that- that, okay, so that happened by accident and then it became a thing but just in really heartbreaking occasions when we need to be loved at night."

Sarada flinched, "Please don't put it like that, you're making it worse."

The blond was becoming annoyed himself, "so, what is the problem? We like each other too much?"

His words surprised Sarada enough that she removed her hand from his eyes and used it to push her hair away from her face. She looked away and stuttered slightly, "I-I don't know. I don't- I dind't think it through as much as I wish I did before I had a chance to speak to you."

Boruto was annoyed. He was annoyed at how this idiotic discussion started because miss blabber mouth Chocho decided this was an issue, at how his friends all conveniently became experts at relationships, but most of all at how this affected Sarada. She was a wonderful person and she did not deserve to be worrying this much because for once she was not in control. It hurt him to see her like this in a way that was completely new to him.

"So, maybe we should be in a relationship." He blurted out suddenly.

Sarada's dark eyes widened, "what?"

He nodded, confidence taking over, "I don't want to give up what we have. I don't want to have to stop myself and think that any of what we do is wrong."

Sarada continued to stare, lost at his words. Boruto continued, "What is there not to love about you? You're smart, funny, drop-dead gorgeous. If what it takes to keep your mind at ease is for our relationship to have an official title, by all means give it one."

The Uchiha's face burned red. She tried to appear confident by sounding sarcastic, "Sure, now that you made it sound so romantic how can I say no."

Boruto had that Uzumaki-confident look that could convince you to jump of a cliff if he stared long enough. But Sarada was an Uchiha and if Sasuke taught us anything is that there is nothing harder than convincing an Uchiha to follow his heart.

"Boruto, we can't be in a relationship just because of what everyone else thinks."

The blond looked baffled, "why not?"

Sarada couldn't think straight, she was struggling to manage her emotions and hide her embarrassment all at the same time, "because- because there are ingredients to it. You have to get along with that person,"

The blond nodded, "check,"

She continued, "find the person attractive,"

He grinned, "not a problem,"

Sarada looked anywhere but at her friend, "you have to love them,"

He nodded confidently, "I love you,"

The dark haired girl was anything but pale right now. She put her hands on his shoulders and tried to shake him awake, "oh my god, Boruto. Can't you think? Can't you think how embarrassing it will be to be… intimate, with me?"

Boruto had the decency to look slightly embarrassed, "well, I didn't really think about it but if you insist."

The blond was lying. Sarada was his closest female friend since the beginning of puberty. Obviously, he had thought about her many times in many colorful ways, willingly or in horny-adolescent-induced-dreams. Obviously, he appreciated being alive and would much rather keep his mouth shut than having his head impaled at Konoha's gate.

Her level of self-consciousness shot up from moderately embarrassed to wishing for the power of invisibility as Boruto's intense gaze focused on her.

"Kill me now," Sarada murmured.

She raised an eyebrow at him after a few seconds, "are you done yet?"

"This is your fault too." He pointed out, "you could be really ugly and save us all the trouble."

She tried not to smile at his ridiculous theory but failed miserably. Her smile turned to a laugh and Boruto simply stared as he felt something swell inside him. That feeling was the problem. That feeling that seemed to grow stronger as the years passed.

Sarada was able to control her laugh eventually. She pulled her friend's cheeks, "You're an idiot."

He wiggled his eyebrows, "This idiot convinced you to start a relationship with him."

Sarada smirk, crossing her arms, "A 'relationship' is a extremely vague term. We could be starting a hate relationship."

He snorted, "That's not a thing." He then realized what was missing, "Oh, you want a proper request?"

Sarada opened her mouth to defend herself but failed. Yes, that was pretty much what was missing.

"Aw, you're blushing." He leaned towards her for a hug. Sarada planted a hand on his face,

"Say one more word-"

He interrupted, leaning back after the threat, "okay, okay-"

"So," Boruto started again, straightening his shirt. He took her hand and leaned forward, his hips against her knees, "Sarada Uchiha, will you be my girlfriend?"

Sarada froze on the spot. The blond looked absolutely calm and she felt a wreck; her mind was gone and her idiot hormones had pretty much taken over.

She shrugged in a failed attempt to appear confident, "what do we have to loose?"

"Our dignity, our friendship, our team?" He smirked but Sarada felt each and every one of those words.

The Uchiha raised an eyebrow, "I thought you were all for this idea."

"I am." He smiled, "are you?"

His smile gave her the assurance to say: "if it doesn't work, I promise I will forget."

Boruto smiled back, trying to hide his excitement, "okay, we'll promise to forget then."

"Okay, Uzumaki Boruto," Sarada looked at him with the purest gaze, "I accept your request."

The blond's smile seemed to fade slightly at her words. The dark haired girl felt her confidence wavering, "what are you-?"

She started, but Boruto interrupted her quietly, "I'm just going to do barely anything, I promise," and then Boruto edged closer to her, followed by an uncertain hand on her shoulder.

There was a light press of lips, so brief Sarada wasn't even sure if it classified as a kiss at all. She cracked an eye open, then the other, once the comforting warmth of shared body heat had vanished.

"That's it?" Sarada asked, disbelievingly.

"I thought you'd shove me or something!" Boruto defended, his face a discreet shade of red. If Sarada didn't know better, she'd think Boruto was blushing.

She smirked, "For a guy that had so many girlfriends one would think you knew what a real kiss felt like."

Boruto took a step back with more indignation that Sarada had ever seen in him before. That lasted but a second before he returned to his usual self and this time really pressed against her, a hand on her back bringing her forward and the other touching her neck.

Then, Sarada had the real kiss she had asked for.

The end

A.N: Thank you very much for reading my story! I hope you all enjoyed it. Please review and let me know your favorite parts; I love hearing from everyone and improving my writing from your advice. Have a wonderful day! ^-^