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Silence hung heavy in the air as Boruto sat at the table, staring dejectedly at the breakfast in front of him, his mind lost in thought. Clench, unclench, clench, unclench. His fingers moved as if they had a mind of their own, hoping the movement would clear the storm of emotions that were racing though their owner’s mind.
His mother’s soft voice suddenly broke through his daze. “Boruto, sweetie, you seem upset. What’s wrong?” His head snapped up to see the twin worried faces of his mother and sister staring back at him.
“Ah, Kaa-San, I’m fine yeah!” He plastered a fake smile on his face, something he was so used to doing lately it came without effort. He could tell she didn’t believe him. A small frown marred her usual placid beauty.
“Boruto, if something’s bothering you I—“
“Hey, can I ask you a question?”
Dark eyebrows rose in shock. “I, um, y-yes Boru—“
“When you first met Dad how did you know you liked him.”
A light blush rose over her cheeks, and a nervous, embarrassed smile slowly came upon her face. “Well, honestly, I always knew. From the moment I met your father. It was just something that was always there for as long as I can remember.”
“Yeah, but what did it feel like? In your stomach. Was it like butterflies and stupid stuff like that?”
Hinata giggled slightly. “It’s not stupid, but yes. Butterflies, and an almost twisting nervous feeling—“
“Whenever you looked at him?”
“Oh Boruto! Do you have a little crush?”
“Ah! No way.” Boruto crosses his arms and turned away stubbornly to look anywhere but at his mothers sly face, though the blush creeping up his neck gave him away. “I was just wondering—“
His younger sister squealed excitedly. “Can I be the flower girl!”
“God Hima-Chan, shut up!”
“You shut up!”
“No you shut up!”
The air chilled as their mother’s Byakugan activated. “BOTH of you, quiet down.” She smiled, kekkei genkai still activated, and looked at her son. “So....what’s her name?”
Boruto groans and shoves away from the table. “Whatever I’m out of here!” He slammed the door to the sound of his family’s giggling.
Riding on top of the train always soothed him. In those moments of silence, save for the roar of the engine below him, Boruto was always at peace. No worrying about his stupid old dad that’d rather sleep hunched over a desk than at home, no one pressuring him to decide what he wanted to be, no awkward blue-haired friend that made his stomach feel all stupid and weird when he smiled at him like there was no one else in the world that mattered.
He suddenly felt a presence behind him. “Boruto-kun, hello.” Speak of the devil.
“Oh, hey Mitsuki.” He didn’t turn to look at the smile he knew was on his friends pale face, and instead continued to look at the scenery flying past him. Mitsuki sat next to him, unusually hesitant.
“You seem bothered, Boruto. What can I do to make you...unbothered.” Finally he turned to look at his friend who had his usual blank expression on, eyes wide and searching. Boruto sighed.
“I’m FINE Mitsuki. You don’t have to sit and watch me.”
“But I want to. You’re my sun.” Mitsuki smiled and those damned butterflies came back. Though he tried, he couldn’t fight the blush that was creeping back up his neck.
“Listen, Mitsuki. You’ve gotta stop with the ‘sun’ crap. It’s really weird.”
The smiled dropped and Boruto instantly felt like a complete ass. “Oh, my apologies. I don’t want you to think I’m weird.” Mitsuki cast his eyes down to where his hands were folded in his lap, refusing to make eye contact.
In that moment, Boruto had never been so unsure of what his next move would be. Usually he was the king of procrastination and winging it. His best ideas were usually his last ones, but for the first time he was doubting himself. A part of him wanted to continue to sit in silence and not acknowledge the fact that he’d hurt his best friend, but an even larger part was yearning to reach out and do something, say anything, to break the uncomfortable, thick silence that filled the air around him and made him feel as if he was suffocating.
“Mitsuki,” Boruto spoke after a few more moments. “Can I ask you something?”
Amber eyes met blue. “Anything.” His heart skipped.
“Do you like anyone.”
Mitsuki seemed to consider it for a moment, his small eyebrows drawing together in confusion before he gave another smile that made Boruto’s stomach twist in a confusing flurry of emotions and expectations.
“I like a lot of people. Iwabe-kun, Sarada-chan, Denki-kun and the rest of our classmates, Shino-Sensei, my father.” He paused for a second and turned to look off into the scenery flying by. “You. There are many important people in my life.”
Boruto sighed. “No, but like as in LIKE like.” He could feel the blush creeping back up his neck.
He could read the confusion all over his friends face as he saw Mitsuki tilt his head to the side. “Do you mean am I romantically interested in someone?”
“Uh...yeah.”
“You know, there’s a reason why everyone loves Summer, Boruto-kun. The weather is warm, the days are longer, the sun is out,” Mitsuki paused briefly and smiled. “And we’re all filled with this beautiful energy that comes from it. And who doesn’t love being in the presence of the sun?”
And suddenly, as if the last puzzle piece of his scrambled mind had been put into place, everything clicked. The smiles, the stares, the weird sun comments. Everything. Nothing could stop the warm feeling filling his chest and the smile spreading across his face.
“Mitsuki, can I ask you something?”
Mitsuki smiled. “Anything.”
“Can I kiss you?”
And their lips met, all teeth and awkwardness and passion, nothing at all like he’d imagined his first kiss to be, but everything else and so much more. There was no skill or art to it, both of them being too young to have developed a sense for that kind of thing, but to Boruto it was perfect. In that moment, sitting atop the train flying through Konoha, he had no worries. There was no shadow of his father he was trying to drag himself out of, no genin exams to fret over, to expectations he had to meet. Just a future of possibilities.
They broke apart with twin smiles on their faces. Boruto’s face was burning from the flush he knew was bright red across his cheeks, and he looked down at his hands, not knowing where else to look.
“Eh Boruto, can I ask you a question.” He looked up to see the same smile that was always on his friends face, the one that seemed reserved for only him. “Can you kiss me again?”
Epilogue
“Kaa-San, Hima-Chan, I’m home!” Boruto yelled as he entered his home, the door slamming behind him.
“Nii-San! Nii-San!” Himawari ran, seemingly out of nowhere and tackled her brother in a hug. “How was the academy!”
“Same as it alway is. Where’s Kaa-San?”
“She’s in the kitchen!”
Himawari followed behind him as he made his way to the kitchen asking question after rapid fire question about nothing. Hinata looked up from where she was chopping a meat of some sort and smiled at her son.
“So?” Her soft voice asked as she stared at Boruto expectantly.
“So what?”
“Did you talk to her?”
“Ah about that.” Boruto grinned as he scratched nervously at the back of his head. “I’ve got a lot to tell you.”