A Not so Sickfic

Extra pt 2: An Awkward Visit

Boruto lay in bed, game console in hand. His mom brought him medicine, but it wasn't really working. The inside of his head floated and bobbed like a tiny ship in water that wasn't quite calm. His ears rang with a single piercing pitch, pulsing with his heartbeat. Sandpaper lined his throat, dry and scratchy every time he swallowed.

Choosing attacks to fight the mythical creatures behind the digital screen one at a time was draining away his remaining mental energy rather than distracting him from his pain. Himawari called his name from the bottom of the stairs. He was too weak to respond loud enough, and too lazy to give an attempt.

How did Sarada go on a mission if she felt like this?

And suddenly, there was a knock at his door.

"Boruto?"

He flinched. His eyes widened. His heart beat kicked back into high gear. And suddenly, his dizzy brain was scrambling to make sure he didn't look like a hot mess.

"I brought you back your jacket. Mama washed it so it's clean. I'm just going to leave it here... With some clementines and tea. Sorry to bother you while you're resting."

"It's ok."

The words croaked out of his mouth on instinct. He mentally called himself an idiot at least twenty times before she spoke again. If he said it was ok, that meant she could come in. And if she came in...

His heart that finally calmed down picked right back up where it left off last night. He tucked his lips into his mouth and ran his fingers through his hair, then laid back and pretended to be sicker and weaker than he felt.

"...Do you want me to bring these in and set them down? The tea feels really nice on sore throats... Mama is giving it to all of the hospital patients... I'll just bring it to you and go."

His mother's words rang out in his throbbing head. Be nicer to her. What was he supposed to do to be nice? Ask if she wanted to play videogames? The whole thing was making his head swim even worse.

"Sure," was what he settled on, putting his portable console in front of his reddening face.

Sarada opened the door.

He stole a glance at her. And she was looking back at him. Maybe after going to the doctor for his cold, he would have to go see someone for his heart. Because it just did something real weird.

He snapped his gaze back to the game screen and tried to focus. But the game over screen wasn't distracting enough to take him away from the dizziness in his head and the numbing feeling spreading through his body at her presence.

"I see you caught my cold."

"I see you were worried enough to visit me." He bit his lip. He wasn't supposed to be teasing her. "I mean thanks..." And that just felt wrong. "I mean... You said you had tea?"

This was bad. He was being awkward. Incredibly awkward.

But Sarada just placed a thermos gently in front of his game screen. "Here."

He put the console down and wrapped his hands around the warm object. And when their hands brushed, he flinched. His heart did that weird thing again, except this time, it did it worse.

Please don't look like a tomato. Please don't look like a tomato. Please don't look like a tomato.

"You know, Boruto... About yesterday..." Sarada stuttered, her voice tight and higher pitched than usual.

"Y-yeah?"

"I just... I just did that to thank you, so don't think anything weird."

"I-I never said I was thinking anything weird," he managed to get out, the texture of the wall captivating his full attention, feverish chills ravishing his body, cold hands of death gripping his racing heart. "Girls do that kind of thing sometimes... ya know."