How Borusara can become CANON (compared to Borusumi)
As of now, Borusara has only begun. There arent many two sided moments for them as shown above, neither is there much for Sumire. Its all one sided from Sarada's and Sumire's end but like Sumire, Sarada now has to commit completely to him in order to move their romance (and success) forward.
She has realised that love that which she thought was a hindrance, is not so, and that's a start. But I still feel she has to come to terms with her liking him. I would akin her to the Anime-only Academy level Sumire after she realised (whenever she did) that she liked Boruto. Her confession both to Sumire and to Yodo both revolved around the permission to be Hokage more than Boruto (regretably) Sarada first will have to tackle her confessing skills (T^T) and make her confession more romantic than goal-oriented.
Sarada has confessed her thoughts to Sumire, her rival. It is a start but she has to show the love that she has towards him the way Sumire has shown in the story. Sumire hasn't used words, nor directly addressed Boruto, but indirectly everything she did was to help him out.
from NNG, till TBV, here's a list of things Sumire has done. Sarada will have to do something like this but on her level, as her true self. Sumire is more of the supportive background ally who has had her share of contributions.
Sumire reveals to Sarada she likes Boruto
Amado defection arc: realises Boruto will be fed to the God Tree after completely becoming an ootsutsuki
Meets Kawaki in the lab at Konoha when Amado fixes his arm. Reveals her goals to help him in order to get closer to Boruto. Kawaki catches on that she likes Boruto.
Sumire catches on that Amado wants to restore Kawaki's karma for some nefarious reason
Learns of Kawaki killing Boruto (that scene is repeated again and again in the manga, idk if its Kawaki or Sumire remembering it, but its always in relation between the two, mostly Kawaki realising that there are people who will suffer if Boruto does not die)
Eida arc: draws Sarada's attention to her lack of captivation with Eida
Omnipotence arc: contacts Sarada and asks her well being and explains her theory of Eida's shinjutsu, realising which Sarada asks Sasuke to save Boruto
With Sarada, explained to Shikamaru about omnipotence and Kawaki and Boruto getting switched. But it falls on deaf ears.
Inquired with Amado about Boruto (the traitor) returning to Konoha and learnt Amado is questioning omnipotence.
She handled the awkwardness between Boruto and Sarada after that hug
Asks Himawari to heal Boruto.
Manuveurs Eida's accusation of being immune and then their love talks that makes Sarada uncomfortable
Listens and accepts Sarada's confession.
She made the sword for Boruto (that was his request yeah but), she moved her romantic further by asking him to call her by name.
She draws Boruto's attention to what he can answer about Sarada in the Mamushi arc such as her physical condition, over a generalised is she okay, which he was not in a position to answer confidently.
And she has done all of this strategically. Most of her actions moved the plot further. Not much yet on the overt romance end, except for the asking Boruto to call her by name. (But as we see, she is asking Sarada and Chocho too to call her by name) On the romantic end she is only two steps ahead of Sarada:
Acknowledging her crush on Boruto
Taking a romantic (?) step forward.
However Sarada, has a lot to cover up plot wise. She is kept in the dark about a lot of things:
Requirement of Kawaki or Boruto being fed to the God Tree.
The whole Ootsutsuki lore (which explains why Sarada was pissed off at Amado calling Ninjutsu a )
The reason WHY Kawaki killed Boruto.
Threat of Momoshiki (which is weird because she was terrified when she saw Momoshiki in the Chuunin exams)
While it is frustrating that Sarada has been kept away from this vital information (as the de facto leader of Team 7 at that too) I believe it is so, because she really gets the plot moving in an unexpected direction, she preventing Kawaki from killing Boruto and then even sent Sasuke to protect Boruto. I think she'll learn of the above truth when the plot suddenly needs redirecting without prior predictions.
Sarada is not Sumire, and that's her strength and unique point. How she will contribute to the plot is different.
More than the technical and supportive help Sumire offers, Sarada is better suited on ground in the battlefield. If Sumire contributes via information gathering, Sarada acts on that information. I see her better suited to use her occular Jutsu to turn Konoha's tides in their favour. But some ways she can do so hereon that will benefit Boruto as well are:
Learn more about handling her Mangekyou Sharingan
Try learning about her clan history (she knows about her father's history but idk how much in depth but she needs to learn more)
Figure out how to get her EMS, (contact orochimaru, Uchiha Shin, idk how, but she has to get her EMS or she cant use the powers of MS that Koji said was paramount to their fight against the Shinju and the Ootsutsuki.)
Improve her chakra capacity and utilisation, so a lot of training she missed on out.
The on field advantages Sarada has over Sumire would be:
She has fought against Hidari once + has experienced the JuraSnipe ™️Her battle experience against the shinju will come in Handy.
Her Chidori was able to pierce Hidari and that will be a very strategic play on her part. Ohirume took down Ryuu.
Her colleagues and fellow Chuunin and Jounin already recognise her prowess in ninjutsu, even going as far as to protect her from becoming treefied. So in spite of the attitude the village has to her father, Sarada is well respected and admired in the village.
After her confession in Suna, I feel she has a lot more potential to fight and win against Shinju.
Her potential moreso lies in learning of her clan's past and writing a different future for everyone. As a future Hokage is it important she knows of the past she must not repeat.
Her conflict with Kawaki is also another place where she can contribute to the plot. If Sumire is the one who ups Boruto's skills, Sarada's conflict with Kawaki will get him off Boruto's back and double down on his irrational desire to take Boruto down to protect Naruto. Both Boruto and Kawaki are the good Ootsutsuki who do not wish to raise the God Tree and beget the Chakra fruit. Their survival is essential and their cooperation WILL be what protects Naruto from harm. Sarada is probably the one who will get this into Kawaki's head (with Boruto)
If anything, the girls are a two pronged attack, with Sarada fighting back externally and visibly, while Sumire attacks internally with invisible cuts and wounds. Both the girls' strategy is needed for Boruto to win in his fight against the Ootsutsuki clan. But who wins his heart in the end is left to Ikemoto and his writing.
