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When Sarada heard the soft knock against her hospital window, she knew there was only one person that it could be.
“What are you doing here?” She questions despite knowing the answer, letting Boruto into the dark hospital room. She was meant to be sleeping—both of them were meant to be sleeping, yet here they were, standing in front of each other, shrouded in moonlight, wide awake at night for the fourth time that week.
“I still keep having that nightmare.” He sighs, looking away. Sarada’s eyebrows crinkle with concern, her hand reaching forward to calm his shaking palms. He grips her hand as though his life may depend on it.
“Well, if it helps…you could tell me what happened?” She tries as she leads him towards the hospital bed. Boruto climbs in, Sarada following right after, curling against his side.
The first time he knocked on her window, the act of cuddling against his side felt so foreign, like she was doing something she shouldn’t be, yet now, it felt like the most natural thing in the world, this act letting her offer her comfort anyway she could. He lifts his arm over her head and she snuggles closer to him.
“It’s-it’s not important.” He finally replies, his blue eyes painted by moonlight as he stares up at the ceiling, eyes blank. Sarada sighs, hoping that night would’ve been the one where he revealed his nightmare, the one that he hadn’t been able to escape ever since their last ill-fated mission.
“It is .” She pushes. “I-I don’t like seeing you like this…” She admits, tucking her nose ever so close to him so she wouldn’t have to look at him. He shifts until suddenly they are face to face, their noses brushing against each other. Boruto can’t help but smile at her widened eyes.
“Aw, so you do have a nice side, after all.” He teases, his words fanning over her lips. She turns her body away from him and he can just about make out the way embarrassment coloured her cheeks.
She mutters something unintelligible, but he knows her enough that he can guess at what she would say. His lips unwillingly curve higher at her shyness and he shifts closer, resting his forehead against her back, upon the Uchiha crest. He lets his eyes close, finally relaxing for the first time that night.
He lets his breath match the soft rise and fall of Sarada’s back, and a small, odd part of his brain wants him to wrap his arms around her. To bring her closer, let her warmth and comfort flow into him. But he crushes the intrusive thought. Wrapping his arms around her like that would…would be wrong .
As he begins to drift into sleep, he feels the sudden jerky movement of Sarada. He bolts upright, his eyes landing on the view of her clutching her stomach, a slight wince decorating her features. Crap, her injury!
“Sarada, what happened—was it me? Did I put too much pressure on your back? Or—or did the stitches open?” He fires out the questions, his hands moving to her shoulder to move her body, to make her face him.
Her hand waves in the air, dismissive, but he examines her clothes for any sign of bleeding. No horrifying redness colours her clothes, yet he cannot relax, couldn’t relax until he’s sure she’s perfectly safe.
“You should call a medic or your mum, you need—” He starts.
“I’m fine.” She says, though she still has a slight grimace on her face. Ugh, did she have to be so stubborn?
“Just stop fighting and let’s go see some—”
“Boruto, I’m fine. It’s just a cramp—” She places a finger upon his lips at his look of protest, adding. “It’s nothing I can’t handle.” She tells him firmly, only letting the hand drop once she’s certain he won’t argue.
“Fine, but tell me if anything happens.” He grumbles, falling back onto the bed. He lets Sarada curl up against him again, but his mind doesn’t linger on her comforting touch. Instead, it wonders. And at the forefront of it is that nightmare. His stomach turns, his world swaying before him at the images flashing in his mind. “Look, I’m telling you you need to see a medic.” He blurts out as dread pulls at his skin.
“Seriously, I am fine.” She reiterates, her eyes fluttering close. Jeez, how can she be so calm?
“Just stop being so stubborn!” He practically yells as images of her lying still, so ever still torment his mind. His clammy hands grip the sheets as he tries to bury those awful, awful thoughts.
Sarada’s eyes snap open at his tone, the moonlight letting her make out his form, shaking. Worry settles in her stomach, her hand reaching out to squeeze his. His tight grip squeezes her back, and Sarada’s eyes can’t help but soften. Was he that worried about her? Her heart swells with an unknown emotion, one she is terrified to look at too closely.
“Okay, fine. I will…but—” Boruto should’ve known it wouldn’t have been that easy. “—I want you to tell me about your nightmare first.” He stills.
“I-look…I don’t know…” He mumbles, his head turning away from her.
“You’ll feel so much better afterwards…and I want to help you in any way I can.” She admits softly as her hand absentmindedly plays with the sleeve of his shirt. Every time her touch grazes his skin, it is as though electricity shoots up from the spot and his brain loses all coherent thought.
“You can help by just surviving.” He finally replies, suddenly facing her. They are mere inches from each other and all he wants to do is reach out, shake the thought into her…maybe hold her tight so she never escapes his sight, so her form never ends bloodied and bruised before him.
“Wha-what are you saying…?” Sarada questions and she chews her lips tentatively before adding. “Is…is this about the mission?” Their noses graze as Boruto nods.
“You don’t understand you…you…” He struggles for his words, running a shaky hand through his hair. “You looked dead , Sarada. I thought you were dead .” Her mouth parts as she takes in the sudden revelation, his haunted look illuminated by moonlight as though he’s reliving that moment.
“Boruto…I-I didn’t realise…” She trails off, unsure if there is truly anything she can say at that moment. “I’m sorry.” She says, her words fanning over his lips.
“You should be, you know. You shouldn't have been so reckless and done that.” He mumbles. Sarada’s eyes narrow at that.
“What protected you? Boruto, if you think I’m just going to stand there and let you get hurt, you have another thing coming!” She exclaims, jabbing an accusatory finger into his chest. “You’re always running off and doing these dangerous things, protecting everyone else, and for once I think you should have someone protecting you!” The admission leaves her mouth before she can truly think it over in her mind.
“You really think that?” He's smiling, he’s smiling his stupid smile, and all Sarada wants to do is crawl into a hole and never come out.
“Yes.” She says firmly even as her cheeks colour enough that not even the darkness of the room will help hide it. Her brain begins to freeze as his eyes hold hers and eventually, it’s too much. She abruptly looks away, the hospital walls suddenly becoming so much more interesting. “Y-you still haven’t told me about the nightmare.”
“Right…the nightmare.” He says, shaking off the sudden grim images that flash through his mind. “It’s about you, you know.”
“M-me?” Her pitch rises as she turns to meet his eyes, though he seems entirely too fascinated with the ceiling. “What, um, what’s happening in your nightmare?” She questions tentatively.
“We…we’re on that mission again and you’re in front of me, being s…sta-stabbed again and again and…and I’m running but I couldn't reach you…” He runs a frustrated hand through his hair, pulling at it. “God, I-I couldn’t reach you and yo-you’re hurt and…and god Sarada you—” He abruptly turns to her as he struggles for his words.
“It’s okay.” She tells him gently, reaching for his hand. “I’m not hurt, I’m okay.” She gently pulls his hand from his hair, replacing it with her own as she runs her finger through the blond strands. His shoulders relax ever so slightly.
“I know, but…it felt so real, you know. Like I was back there, watching you take that blow for me and seeing you sprawled there like that…” He sighs, leaning his forehead against Sarada’s for even an inch of her comfort.
“I’m fine now.” She tells him as she slowly brings his hand over her heart. “See?” She lets him feel how her heart beats life through her body, how she isn’t hurt anymore, how the nightmares conjured up by his brain are not real, will never be.
“Yeah…you’re alive.” He mummers between them, letting his words wash over him as he feels the soft drumming of her heart. But it isn’t enough. “You can punch me for this later.” He tells her.
That is all the warning she receives before Boruto places his head atop her heart, trying to be ever so closer to her.
“Boruto!” She exclaims, frozen.
“I know, I’m sorry, okay? But I need to hear your heart and make sure you’re alive…that this isn’t a dream.” He mummers against her. The urge to wrap his arms around her invades his brain with a furious intensity for a second time that night, and this time, he’s done pretending he doesn’t want exactly that.
His hands wrap around the small of her waist, pulling her closer to him. A small, minuscule part of him never plans to let her go. A bigger part questions why he’s acting this way. He ignores both, but tightens his hold for good measure, anyway.
“Um…yeah, this, er, this is not a dream.” Sarada finally says as she lets herself relax in his embrace. Her words sound as though she doesn’t entirely believe it’s all real, either. Then she surprises him.
She wraps her hands around his head, pulling him closer even as there is truly no space left between them. Her hold on him is just as tight as his, but even as he feels as though he might not be able to breathe soon, he doesn’t plan on telling her to stop.
“Your heart’s beating really fast, you know.” Boruto tells her, wondering what caused her heart to skip a beat so frantically. A silly part of his brain wants him to be the reason. A sillier part of his brain thinks he is the reason.
“It’s not!” Sarada protests, hiding her reddening face against Boruto’s soft hair, though she doubts he could see it anyway. “You’re making things up…you big dummy.” She mumbles into his hair. He smiles against her, her bashfulness endearing.
“Yeah, it is, you know.” He says. “Tell me why?” He prods after a while, though he feels Sarada shake her head.
“No.” She tells him rather firmly.
“Aw come on, I told you about the nightmare, didn’t I?” He tries to look at her, but in their position, it has become difficult, so he settles on returning to resting his head atop Sarada’s furiously beating heart.
“It took four days of convincing for you to tell me so you’re not getting it out of me that easily.” Sarada says, hoping to put an end to that conversation. She thinks she’ll simply perish if he ever finds the reason for why her heart beats so rapidly.
“So you’ll tell me if I keep visiting you?” He teases, a smirk spreading over his lips. “I guess I can do th—”
“Th-that isn’t what I meant!” Sarada objects, trying to pull away from Boruto. He doesn’t let her.
“Not what it sounded like, you know.” He grins, revelling in the way in which he managed to make the cool-headed Sarada flustered.
“Yes, it did!” Sarada exclaims, burying her face in his hair.
“We’ll agree to disagree on that. In the meantime…” He trails off. “Can I stay here a little longer? I promise I’ll leave before the morning.”
“Okay.” Sarada relents easily, nodding, and Boruto lets out a small breath. He couldn’t imagine returning to the emptiness of his room after being in Sarada’s warm embrace for so long.
The soft sounds of the night drift within the air as the soft rays of the moon illuminate their embrace. They savour each other’s comfort, letting their breaths sync as they fight to remain awake.
Eventually, though, the pull towards sleep is one they cannot fight any longer.
The next morning, Sasuke hadn’t been too thrilled to see the dobe’s son being far too cosy with his daughter…but that hadn’t stopped Boruto from visiting Sarada until he found out that he really was the reason for Sarada’s heart skipping a beat.
It also hadn't stopped him from visiting her after that, too.