Time-Twisted Melody (Boruto - Twinkling Watermelon AU)

Chapter 18

Third Person POV

Boruto found himself in a serene place and before him stood his parents. Naruto and Hinata smiled down at him with expressions of purest love and pride. The scene felt like a distant memory, but it was vivid, almost tangible.

His mother's lavender eyes were tender, and his father's usual boisterous grin was softened with a sense of maturity. Beside them appeared Himawari, her eyes sparkling with joy as she clutched onto Kawaki's sleeve.

'Dad... Mom... everything's hurt,' he murmured, the words slipping past his lips almost unconsciously.

The aching was unbearable, spreading through every inch of his body, but here, in this dream, it was only a dull throb, masked by the warmth of his family's presence.

'I miss you guys...' A single tear escaped from the corner of his eye, trailing slowly down his cheek.

Between the haze of unconsciousness and the edge of waking, Boruto drifted into a world of blurred sensations. The ache in his body pulsed like a distant drumbeat, muffled but persistent. Then, through the fog, he heard a voice—familiar, warm, but tinged with worry.

"...ruto!"

The sound seemed to pull him from the depths, and he tried to focus, his eyelids heavy as if weighed down by the lingering pain.

"Boruto!"

Slowly, his eyes fluttered open, and the first thing he saw was a mess of blonde hair, tousled and familiar.

'Dad...' The thought formed sluggishly in his mind, a recognition that brought with it a wave of comfort.

"Boruto!" Naruto's voice was insistent, laced with anxiety as he called out to him again. The sight of his Dad, so youthful yet so worried, stirred something deep within Boruto.

"N-Naruto...?" Blinking away the confusion, Boruto tried to push through the disorientation.

"Shikamaru... call the nurse!" Naruto exclaimed and Shikamaru moved quickly, his usually lazy demeanor replaced with a seriousness that Boruto rarely saw.

'What happened?'

As his senses returned, Boruto's mind raced to piece together what had happened. The sterile smell of antiseptic and the blinding overhead lights told him he was in an emergency room. But how did he get here? The last thing he remembered was being at Sasuke's place... and then the pain. It all came back in flashes—being beaten until his body couldn't take anymore, the darkness that followed.

'Right... I was at Mr. Sasuke's--'

"Hey, don't move yet, ya know!" Naruto hovered anxiously by Boruto's bedside. He watched as Boruto stirred, the remnants of pain evident in every movement. But when Boruto finally spoke, the words that came out of his mouth were the last thing Naruto expected.

"How was the audition?"

Naruto's eyes widened in disbelief. For a moment, he could hardly process the question.

'The audition? Of all things, that's what Boruto was concerned about?!'

"You're talking about that NOW?!" Naruto blurted out, his voice a mix of exasperation and disbelief. Boruto was lying in a hospital bed, battered and bruised, and he was thinking about the frontman audition!? The very thought seemed absurd to Naruto. He couldn't care less about the audition right now; all that mattered was Boruto's well-being.

Suddenly, Kiba, who had been standing silently by the bed, spoke up. "We postponed the audition after we heard what happened to you, Boruto."

"There's no way Naruto could go through with it, not when you ended up in the hospital like this. You look like you got run over by a truck."