Only Time Can Tell

INFECTION

CHAPTER 15
INFECTION
BORUTO UZUMAKI

With my leg fixed up, we made it pretty far before we had to make camp. According to Neji, only a half day more of travel before we got there. Sai had said that we were currently in the Hidden Land of the Sound. To me it just looked like more trees.
"Boruto..." Sarada said giving me a look.
"Yeah, yeah, I know. I'm going!" She kept reminding me the whole way that I would need to wash my wound out. Sai had put us down next to a stream to cleaning it would be easy. I sat down on a rock besides the stream and slowly and hesitantly removed the bandage. I'm not the best with gore.
I held my breath as I exposed the pulsing wound. Whatever that guy's staff was made of, it stung. Blood steadily trickled from the wound, I squinted trying to look away. Yellowish pus had formed all around the wound. "Uh...Sarada?" I called.
"What?" She called back from the camp.
"I think it's infected."
"What?!" She ran over. She knelt so she could look at it. Her warm breath giving me goosebumps. "You idiot."
"What?" She reached for another bandage in her pack.
"You're not infected. You've been poisoned."
"What?"
"Thankfully it's slow acting, so I might have enough time to counteract it."
"Might?!" I said starting to panic looking back down at my leg. The skin all around it had become inflamed and red. Sarada rolled her eyes at me.
"Calm down." She looked back at camp where Sai was setting up. "Oi, Sai, can you hand me my bag?"
"Sure thing." Sai picked up her bag and brought it to her.
"You're just lucky that I'm better at packing than you are." She reached into her bag and pulled out a bottle of pills. "Take 2 of these." She said handing me the bottle.
"What is it?"
"It'll make you go to sleep. It's the only sedative I have so you'll have to make do."
"Do you always bring sedatives with you? That's creepy."
"Shut up. We'll need you to be asleep so I can work on it."
"What?"
"I'm going to have to localize the wound so that the poison can't spread to your blood flow. That will involve touching it, which will make you scream like a little girl. You half-wit."
"Okay. 2 pills it is." I popped the pills in my mouth. "Just try not to kill me while I'm out." I said swallowing.
"Whatever." Sarada grimaced. "You're also lucky that I have pain pills too when you wake up since this wound seems to be deeper than I thought." I feel my head grow heavy. "Lay down, idiot." She propped her bag up under my head. "Sleepy time." She smiled.
"Please don't murder me you creep."
"Yeah, I know." She said kissing my forehead. Then I felt the drugs drag me under. The world turned black with darkness.

"Yoohoo? Boruto! Wake up, wake up, wake up!!!" I felt Himawari on my chest. "Come on sleepy head, it's your birthday, you've gotta get up!"
"Get off me, get off me!" I said as she started to jump on top of me.
"He's alive!" She squeals.
"Good news!" I hear my mother laugh from the kitchen.
I scoop up Himawari putting her on my shoulders as I struggle to get out of bed. "Big day! Big day! Big day!" Hima chants from up on my shoulders.
"Wah?" I said squinting as my eyes adjust to the light in the real world. I see my mom making breakfast that smells like bacon and something else. But what stops me in my tracks is that my dad is sitting on the couch, reading the newspaper...like...like a normal dad.
"What are you doing here?" I say to him. He looks up from his newspaper with a confused look on his face.
"Are you kidding me, it's my son's big day! I'm not gonna miss it."
"Daddy's here!" Hima shrills. I put her down and she runs over to him, climbing into his lap. How? How can she be so forgiving? I stand still, trying to avert my eyes but finding it impossible. My dad is sitting in our living room.
He rarely comes home. And when he does it's just to sleep. I never see him. And when I do, he doesn't have enough time for me. He pretends that he cares, but I know that it's a lie. Seeing him in our living room pretending to care makes my heart crazy with rage.
"Don't you have Hokage stuff today or something?"
"Nope. I cleared up my schedule for today." My shitty old man said not looking up from his newspaper with Hima on his lap. "How's the Academy?"
My heart grew tight. I was so confused. Was I supposed to be mad at him? Or was I supposed to lie too, just like everyone else, that my dad was normal. Or at least for today.
"Boruto." I heard him say. I looked up and his face was soft. "Come here." Reluctantly I walked over to him.
"What."
"Sit." He said showing me the space next to him. Hima was staring at me, and eventually I gave in and sat down. "So....how's the Academy?"
"Really?"
"Yeah, really." My dad put down his newspaper.
"Um...well..." I started to rattle down all of the things that we were working on. I ranted my frustrations with the classes, and praised my sensei Konohamaru. My dad responded by telling me stories about when Konohamaru was his disciple, and even about the first jutsu he taught him. That was when mom sent him an angry look and then we both quieted down about that jutsu.
"How many shadow clones can you make?"
"Three. I'm working on it."
"Good. When I was your age I could hardly make one, and it was a bad one anyway." My dad smiled messing up my hair. In that moment I felt like the ice around my heart melted away.
"Well, I'm going to be a better ninja than you someday!"
"You think so?" He smiled. "I know that you can."