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Sarada hated bugs from the time she was born. When there was a spider in her house, she threw a bowl over it, went upstairs, and distracted herself with a book. If it was on the wall, she closed the door and pretended it wasn't there.
It wasn't until she made friends with Boruto that she found herself a professional bug killer.
They were five years old, playing ninja outside. Suddenly, Sarada heard a crunch under her foot. She looked down and lifted it up hesitantly, hoping it was a hardened leaf. But under her foot was a flattened cicada.
The feeling of dread that coursed through her was unmatched. She instantly recalled the texture, the sound, the way it felt to press into all the little crunchy bits of its icky body and held back a scream. And as she slowly backed away, Boruto turned around.
"Hm? Sarada? What's wrong?"
He eyed the bug on the ground, and to her horror, he picked it up.
"You're not supposed to kill these guys ya know! They're good for the environet... I think. What, are you scared of them?"
Sarada was frozen. She couldn't move.
Boruto smirked and held the bug closer. "Bet you're not gonna act so high and mighty now... Who's better at throwing shuriken? Me or you?"
"G..."
"Hm? I didn't hear you," he teased, waving it around.
"Get it away from me! Kill it now!"
Boruto burst out laughing. "It's already dead! But if you really want it gone, here." He threw it as hard as he could into the woods. "It's gone. Let's go! Shikadai and the others are waiting."
Sarada peeked open her eyes and scanned the ground. The bug was no more. And Boruto was the one who got rid of it. She followed after him with new interest, her eyes narrowing as she concocted a plan to ensnare him in ending her trouble with the terrible creepy-crawlies that invaded her house.
After that, Boruto teased her a few more times about her dislike of bugs, but he usually dealt with them when she froze up and pointed, begging him to kill them. He almost always picked them up and relocated them, which she found to be disgusting. But as long as they were away from her, she was happy.
It wasn't until her mother taught her chakra enhancement that she found herself in dire need of his services.
One day, she spotted a spider on the wall. Taking off her slipper, she threw it with all of her not so small might. "Shannaro!" It was a slipper. How much harm could it do?
But unfortunately, her hatred for bugs caused her to imbue a little too much power. Along with spider guts, a slipper sized dent was nicely carved into the drywall of her hallway. She looked around for a picture frame to hide the damage. But there was nothing.
Her mother was forced to pay repair fees. And when a second spider came, the same thing happened. No matter how lightly she tried to throw something at the bugs that invaded her house, the objects almost always ended up denting the wall. It was like putting in more strength then necessary was involuntary.
No one else knew about her little fear of bugs but her childhood friend that teased the life out of her for it. And while he was annoying... He already knew where her house was. He was easy to find. And he could get rid of the bug without making her mom angry.
So the next time there was a hell spawn inside of her house, she threw a towel overtop of it, ran to the kitchen, found a bowl, took off her glasses, and placed the bowl as gently as possible over the towel. And then she ran like a calm maniac, which made her stride look rather chickenish, until she found her bug killing savior.
But when Boruto showed up at her house, he was less than happy.
"You made me come all the way here. For this little thing?"
"It's in my house! Just kill it, please!"
He sighed. "Sarada you know I don't like killing these things... I'll just take it outside."
"Ew! Don't pick it up with your fingers!" She flinched back and cowered behind the wall, watching through squinted eyes. "Are you letting it crawl on you?"
"Yes? If you don't like what I'm doing, don't look. Or don't call me in the first place. Jeez."
The second the bug was gone, she ushered him outside with a quick thank you and shut the door.
After becoming a ninja, Sarada learned to deal with bugs in the outdoors. But if they showed up inside her house, they either experienced instant death by shuriken (with an apology for the new hole in the wall), or got whisked away to the outdoors by Boruto.
Thankfully, bugs didn't show up in her house too terribly often. There were even a few times where she felt like she could deal with the smaller ones.
But when she was 15 and there was a cockroach infestation, she felt like she couldn't live inside of her own home anymore.
Even after staying at Cho-Cho's house for a few days while hers was sprayed for the foul beasts, she opened the door with caution every day, whispering the words, "I'm home." After confirming there were no bugs in the genkan, she removed her outdoor shoes. Going without footwear was a definite no, but there was also no way that she'd put on unattended slippers with bare feet.
So, she nudged them with her foot once.
She picked them up by the toes with her index finger and thumb, eyes closed.
She shook them violently.
And then she cracked one eye open.
To her absolute horror, the unwanted visitor was scuttling towards the underneath of the couch.
She didn't bother to put her old shoes back on before rushing back to the mission meetup spot, bare feet stinging on the hot concrete.
"BORUTOOOOOO!"
"What? Gosh Sarada don't yell my name in-- Where are your shoes?!"
"There's a--"
"Lemme guess. A bug."
Small head nod. Stupid bugs. Making her act like an idiotic weak girl.
He sighed. "Why don't you have shoes on?"
"It was... It was--!"
"In one of your slippers, wasn't it…” He knelt down in front of her with his back towards her.
"What are you doing?"
"Piggybacking you, duh. Why'd you run out of the house without shoes? And don't even try to refuse me. The ground is scorching. Your feet are bright red."
She crinkled her nose. "I'll just go from roof to roof."
"Yeah, and fall because you don't have shoes on. Or stub your toe."
"Mama can fix it."
"Just because your mom is a medic ninja doesn't mean you should hurt yourself on purpose. Dang it Sarada just get on my back."
"I don't wanna..."
He stood up and scooped her up like a princess. "Suit yourself."
"P-Put me down! Idiot!"
But Boruto was not listening. He was already jumping onto the roof, taking the fastest route available to her house and avoiding the surprised onlooker's gazes.
When they made it to her doorstep, she found herself clinging to his neck more tightly than before.
He raised an eyebrow and put his hand on the doorhandle. "I thought you wanted me to put you down?"
"On second thought, I'd rather be like this..."
"Jeez. You do realize that if you got yourself a boyfriend, he could stay with you and just kill bugs when they came instead of you having to run to me every single time? And he could carry you around the house without worrying about getting killed by Sasuke-san or Sakura oba-san if they walked through the door..."
Sarada crinkled her nose. If she wanted to be like a normal teenage girl and squeal about hot guys, she wouldn't have decided to become the hokage. More than worrying about her love life, she wanted to go on missions and prove herself. And besides. "Mama and Papa wouldn't kill you if they walked through the door. I don't see why I need a boyfriend."
Boruto sighed. "Where is the bug?"
"...I think it's under the couch."
Boruto dropped his arms. But Sarada just used the force of chakra and physical mobility to switch herself to a piggy back position and held herself up. "I'm not getting down until you check the floor."
"Oh come on!"
He thoroughly checked the floor and proved that there was nothing several times over. Then finally let her down.
She didn't move away from the genkan as he checked under the couch. He checked under the living room table. He checked behind all the picture frames, as per Sarada's request.
"I don't see it anywhere. It probably just went..."
"Went? We have to find it. Come on Boruto why did you... trail... off?"
He was getting increasingly closer, staring at something above her head.
"Sarada. Don't move."
She froze. Her heart started beating much too fast.
He towered over her. And smacked the wall behind her with his palm as hard as possible.
Was this what girls felt like when a guy kabedon-ed them? With the fear of the bug likely above her head and Boruto two inches from her face, she felt like she was going to pass out.
"I got it, but if I move my hand, it's gonna fall on you... Sarada? Yo. Hello, Earth to Sarada..."
"K-Kill it... Kill it now... Kill it please? Is it dead? Please tell me it's dead."
"It's dead..? Can you move out of the way so I can let it fall onto the floor and kick it outside?"
"Oh." She took a step forward and her legs gave out. "Well. There's that."
Boruto sighed. He crinkled his nose. And then he smushed the cockroach in his bare hand. "Ugh. The things I do for you. I swear."
Sarada blinked. She looked up. This whole time... Did he not like bugs either? Or was it just cockroaches? Or was it because he had to kill it instead of releasing it into the wild?
She scooched herself away, but he was already walking to the trashcan and washing his hands. Standing hesitantly to her feet, she scanned the floor with her sharingan and wandered into the kitchen.
"Can you check and see if there are any more?"
Boruto sighed. "Like I said, if you just got a boyfriend then he would--"
"If I appoint you as my boyfriend will you just stay here and kill the bugs for me?"
And then he froze.
Sarada thought it was a good idea. If he was going to complain, he might as be the one to take the position. It wasn't that serious anyway. And he was already killing the bugs for her. Who else was she going to ask?
Certainly not Inojin or Shikadai. Shikadai would take forever to get there, saying it was a pain. Inojin seemed like he would just paint some sort of bug to take care of the bug. Denki? He'd most likely want to analyze the bug for it's potential selling value before killing it. Iwabe would destroy her house. Mitsuki... Would stare at the bug. Call it interesting. Maybe kill it, maybe decide to keep it as a pet. You never knew with Mitsuki.
"Did you seriously just ask me out, only to kill bugs for you?"
"Well... Yeah? I guess."
Boruto narrowed his eyes. "So this means you'd be fine with me holding your hand under the table at Kaminari Burger?"
"Sure."
"And for every bug I kill I want a kiss."
"Not happening."
"On the cheek?"
"Do you actually want one, or are you trying to make me regret my decision to ask you? Ugh fine whatever." She stood on her tiptoes and quickly kissed his cheek. "Happy? Will you say yes now?"
He stood there, slightly frozen, blue eyes wider than usual. If it wasn't her imagination, blush was also dusting his face.
"So if your parents ask what I'm doing here you'll tell them I'm your boyfriend?"
"Yes! Will you just search the rest of the house for bugs now?"
Boruto smirked. He picked Sarada back up in a princess hold. "Only if I get to carry you like this."
"Wha- why do you want to--"
"Oh look! Another one." And with that, he tilted Sarada's face in the bug's general direction.
"BORUTO!"