Time-Twisted Melody (Boruto - Twinkling Watermelon AU)

Chapter 28

Third person POV

"You... What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Boruto's grip on Neji's hand tightened, his knuckles turning white as the tension between them crackled in the air. Neji frowned, his usually composed expression hardening into irritation.

"I thought I told you to lay low," Neji said sharply his voice laced with authority. "You have no business getting involved with the Hyuga family."

Boruto scoffed.

How could he not get involved? The person Neji was abusing wasn't just some stranger—she was his mom!

Boruto's gaze shifted from Neji to the younger version of his mom, lying crumpled on the floor. Her lavender eyes, usually so soft and gentle in his memories, were now filled with fear. She was trembling like a leaf in the wind, her entire body radiating vulnerability.

'Mom...'

The sight made Boruto's heartache, and he released his grasp on Neji, his jaw clenched in determination. Without a word, he stepped past Neji and approached Hinata. She flinched as he got closer, her eyes widening in alarm, but Boruto's expression softened. He wasn't here to hurt her—he was here to protect her.

Kneeling beside her, Boruto began to use sign language, his hands moving fluidly as he asked, "Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

"...!" Both Hinata and Neji were taken aback by his actions.

Hinata's eyes widened in surprise, her mind racing as she recognized the gestures Boruto was making.

'Sign language?' she thought, bewildered. She had never met this boy before, yet here he was, communicating with her in a way only a few people could.

Neji, too, was stunned. Boruto had only been at the Hyuga estate for a few days, and he had kept to himself, not wandering around enough to encounter Hinata. How could he possibly know that she couldn't speak?

"What are you doing? You're not allowed to use sign language in this household," Neji frowned, his voice dripping with disapproval.

'What?' Boruto was stunned. He turned his head sharply, glaring at Neji with an intensity that made the older boy falter for a moment.

"What kind of bullshit is that?" Boruto hissed as his eyes burned with fury.

"She's mute. If she's not allowed to use sign language, then how on earth is she supposed to express herself, ya know!?" The words left his mouth in a snarl, his frustration boiling over as he turned back to Hinata.

Without speaking, he continued using sign language, his movements deliberate and careful. "Tell me what's going on."

"...?" Hinata's confusion deepened. She recognized the gestures as sign language, but that didn't mean she fully understood them.

She watched Boruto's hands move with a mixture of curiosity and bewilderment, unable to fully grasp what he was trying to say.

"You can tell me everything. Mom."

But then, he signed a word that made her heart skip a beat: 'Mom.'

'Mom...?' Hinata thought, confusion clouding her thoughts. She stared at Boruto, searching his face for answers that weren't immediately clear.

That was the only word she knew in sign language, a word she had never expected to see directed at her. But why was he saying 'Mom'?

Her mind raced, trying to piece together the puzzle of who this boy was and why he was here, using a language she had been forbidden from using herself.