Author's Note: This has been chilling on my computer for over a year now. Oh, this doesn't have anything to do with the currently published manga or the anime series since I haven't really read or watched either as of late. So this could be considered an AU I suppose. Ah, first time really trying to write these characters or for this fandom, so I hope I did alright.

Big Brothers

It was snowing that day. Boruto and Himawari were playing in a snowy field, throwing snowballs at one another, and over all just acting like two rambunctious children.

Boruto had made a truce with Hima that so long as he didn't hit her with a snowball in the face then she couldn't use her Byakugan on him. His little sister was more than frightening now that she had awakened her eyes, but she had gotten older, practiced with their mother, and developed much better self-control.

Boruto was hoping that one day he would be able to activate it himself, but even if he never could it would matter little. He would be the best ninja he could and work with Sarada to accomplish her dreams of one day becoming Hokage.

He lobbed another snowball at Hima, hitting her on the arm. The dark-haired girl laughed, and lobbed one of her own at him, hitting him square in the chest.

She loved theatrics, so he put a hand to his chest and fell backwards into the snow as dramatically as he could.

A roar of child's laughter had him grinning even as the cold of the snow permeated his winter clothes.

He would never act like this in front of his friends, but for Himawari he would act like a goof if that made her happy. Being a big brother had a lot of responsibilities now that he thought about it and he figured that at least one of them was making your little sister laugh.

Before he could sit up properly his dark-haired sister plowed into him, all giggles, and rosy cheeked.

"Hee hee!"

It was then that he noticed her red fingers.

"Oi, Hima!" he exclaimed, sitting up and taking her frigid hands between his gloved ones and began warming them up. Why hadn't he noticed them before?

"Idiot!" he growled, and the girl blinked, startled. He thought better of his harsh criticism and softened his tone. "Look at your fingers, they're going to get frostbitten!"

"Frostbitten?"

"Yeah, and they might fall off too!"

She looked like she was about to cry so he amended once more.

"I don't think it's that bad," he said, nodding his head as he carefully inspected her little fingers. "But all the same we should visit Aunt Sakura."

She beamed like sunshine.

"Yay, Aunt Sakura!"

Speaking of Aunt Sakura's that was where their mother was. The two were visiting, and Sarada had insisted on staying with them to talk. Pft, that Uchiha was going to waste her whole childhood trying to be "grown-up".

But, he couldn't deny that a little break from the cold would be nice. Especially if that break included hot cocoa.

The two stood up, brushed off the snow, and Boruto felt off as he did so. It felt like…Like Himawari and him were being watched.

Electric blue eyes looked towards the tree line. An uncomfortable feeling worked its way up his back to join the feeling of being watched. In that moment, the preteen felt like prey caught in the stare of a predator.

Cold fingers wormed their way into his gloved ones and that snapped him out of his trance.

"C'mon," he said, taking off his jacket and putting it around Himawari. Pushing her forward he decided it was time to get out of here. The uncomfortable feeling never left as they made their way across the field. "Keep your hands in the sleeves and warm em' up."

"'Kay!"

They made it halfway across the field when five figures appeared before them and halted their progress.

Without even thinking Boruto put himself between them and his sister.

Hima was strong. Incredibly strong, but…He wasn't sure how much these guys knew about him and his sister. They might know about the Byakugan. They might have a counter for the Byakugan.

Usually Boruto would be brash in situations like this, but that feeling from earlier only intensified. These guys were no joke and though the preteen often boasted about his abilities he wasn't stupid enough to think he could get out of this situation with strength alone.

"Huh? Who are these guys?" he heard Hima ask and gritted his teeth.

"That's what I'd like to know."

"None of your business, now come with us," the apparent leader of the group said.

"Nah, you don't seem like the kind of guys we ought to be going with," he retorted as his arm wrapped around the raven-haired girl. Boruto began to lead Himawari slowly backwards and away from the five imposing figures.

A rush of wind and he barely had time to pull Hima away and draw a kunai to block a sixth ninja he hadn't even sensed. The others took that moment to pounce.

Himawari was ripped from his grasp almost instantly.

"Give her back!" he growled, throwing a punch at the man who currently held his little sister in his grasp.

Boruto's fist met thin air, and a heavy weight crashed on him from above. He was effectively pinned to the snowy ground beneath. He struggled until a shriek from his little sister stopped him cold.

His breath puffed out in short bursts as his heart hammered against his chest, and his eyes snapped over to his sister. The men had ripped his jacket off the dark-haired girl, and the one holding her had drawn a kunai which was currently cutting a thin line across her collar bone.

Dark red bloomed from the cut and Boruto gritted his teeth.

"S-Stop!" he shouted. "Don't hurt her! I'll do whatever you want! Just leave her alone!"

The kunai cutting into Himawari's skin moved away, though the blood already shed continued to trickle out of her shallow wound.

It was a minor injury. Hardly anything at all, but the sight of his sister bleeding made him feel sick. Especially since he hadn't been able to prevent it.

"And how do you know what we want, boy?"

The ninja that currently had him pressed against the ground leaned more of their weight on him. The pressure on his back caused a dull ache to blossom in his chest, and air eked out of his lungs as he looked up at the ninja who had spoken.

"I…" the head ninja motioned for his comrade to ease up, and the pressure relaxed slightly. He got in a lungful of air before narrowing his eyes at their assailants. "I don't."

He admitted that easily enough. He had no idea why they were targeting them. Except maybe to get back at their father for who knew what, that happened kami knew when. Things had been peaceful for quite some time according to their parents, but there were always those who just loved to disturb the peace.

"I'll take whatever revenge or punishment you want. Just…just let my sister go."

"And why should we do that?"

"I'm the oldest, so I should be the one you hurt, not my sister," he bit his lip. Then added just in case his next words were somehow more incentive. "And…I look like my dad more than she does, so that should satisfy your need for revenge."

They seemed to really contemplate that, so that meant this was about their dad. He gritted his teeth as he was suddenly yanked into the air by his arms. Damn, he couldn't do any hand seals like this. He wriggled a bit, to see if there was some way to slip free, but the arms holding him were like iron bars.

"Fine, but we aren't letting your sister go," he said. The leader stalked toward Boruto. "After all, we wouldn't want her alerting the Hokage."

Shit…

"Just don't hurt her," he muttered in resignation. Unless someone showed up then there was no telling what they would do to Himawari once they were finished with him.

He looked at his sister whose eyes were beginning to grow pale as her Byakugan started to activate. Gritting his teeth, he stared right at her and she stopped. The electric blue of her own eyes slowly returning along with a few tears that slipped down her rosy cheeks.

"Onii-chan... don't," she mouthed.

"It'll be okay, Hima," he mouthed back just as a punch landed on his stomach. It pushed the air from his lungs immediately and his back arched into the hold of the man currently keeping him upright. The form behind him was like a brick wall sending the fist deeper into the blonde's gut.

Spots danced in his vision, but he remained awake. It would have been embarrassing if he hadn't remained awake. He would never be able to live it down, especially if any of his friends found out, though he would have to live through this encounter first to worry about that.

The next hit came across his face, scoring across his cheek bone and nose, and the swelling began almost immediately. Neither felt broken, but his relief was short lived as another hit landed in the same spot. This time barely missing his nose. They were probably avoiding that spot to prolong his suffering. One good hit on the nose from the front could kill him instantly.

A lot of stuff they could do would kill him instantly, and that didn't even include whatever jutsu these guys used.

It was obvious that this was the intent. They wanted him to suffer. Yes, they could just kill him outright, but what better way to get back at his dad then by mutilating one of his children?

The edge of his vision started to become black.

His face felt numb, and he thought he could feel blood dripping down his chin. The question was where was the blood coming from?

The eldest Uzumaki child's eyes were almost slits as the world grew dimmer.

He heard loud sobbing, but the blond couldn't think of who might be doing that. It was also at that moment he noticed a cold feeling steeling over his limbs.

Right, it's winter.

That must be it…

The blows moved from his face to his collarbone, and there was a snap. He sagged in their captors' arms then, no longer able to support his own weight, and his chin fell limply against his chest.

There was a strangled cry that caused him to jolt, and the hits stopped. The snowy field erupted into the sound of combat.

"Boruto! Hima!"

"I'll take care of them, get the kids!"

It sounded like…their mom and…Aunt Sakura.

He thought maybe a third person has joined the fray a little later. But that might be his imagination.

He's released abruptly, and lands on his side in the snow.

That doesn't really matter.

It feels kind of nice on his cheek.

The fight lasted only a little bit after he was released.

"Boruto!" there was a hand on his shoulder, and he was turned over. The owner of the voice sounded like his mom.

"Sakura!" his body jolted. When did his dad get here?

It's then that he realized he was being lifted. Pain jolted through him and he must have vocalized as much because the person cradling him against their chest froze.

"Lay him over here!" Aunt Sakura instructed. There is some sort of fabric between him and the ground beneath he noticed as his fingers brush something that isn't snow. He's half tempted to try and rest his cheek against the snow, but he can't even begin to think of how to get his arms to work. They felt like lead…

A cool feeling washed over his body and he shivered as the pain ebbed away. It's at that point that he felt whatever he had been laying on bundled around him, an attempt to keep him warm as he was lifted into somebody's arms. He manages to focus his vision for a couple of seconds to see his dad.

"There, that should do until we get back," Aunt Sakura sighed.

"Are you sure?" He relaxed into his father's arms at that worried voice. That was Hima. She was safe. Without thought his head lolled to the side and he managed to get his eyes open just enough to alert Himawari who was nestled in their mother's arms.

Her face lit up.

"Onii-chan!"

He managed to crack a smile at her.

"You're safe…" he mumbled, hardly able to get his voice to work. The world was swirling, and the teen was forced to close his eyes with a moan. "Mm…glad."

The pre-teen looked up to see his mother's teary face once the dizziness was gone, and he frowned a bit before putting on a lopsided smile.

"M'kay," but that only made more tears appear.

"Let's get you to the hospital, Boruto," Aunt Sakura said and that was fine with him. "Try to stay awake, okay?"

Yeah. He'd do that.

And then they were off, and he did his best to stay awake. It wasn't easy. The cold was making him sleepy, and with his head pressed against his father's chest the repetition of the man's heartbeat was more soothing than he cared to admit.

Boruto thought he might have fallen asleep at some point, or lost focus, because when he next opened his eyes he was at the hospital. His family was there by his bed side and he almost felt embarrassed. Almost.

Both Hima and his mom where asleep in the chair and looked rather uncomfortable to boot. The dark-haired girl had a bandage on her collar bone.

He smiled fondly at the duo and about jumped out of the bed when his own blue eyes met his father's. He calmed down almost immediately after however.

Since when had his dad started to look so old? He smiled when Boruto's eyes met his and that seemed to shed a couple of years off.

"How do you feel?" his dad asked softly, mindful of both mom and Hima.

"Fuzzy," he said, because he honestly did feel "fuzzy." He wasn't sure if it was Aunt Sakura's jutsu or if it was the possible drugs running through his system. But this fuzzy feeling reminded him faintly of the numbness that had begun to spread throughout his body moments before they had been rescued.

That made him frown a little, which caught his father's attention.

"Boruto?"

"Huh?"

"Are you all right? You spaced out there for a second."

"Yeah, just..." he didn't want to seem weak. Especially not in front of his dad. "Just glad you guys got there when you did…I don't want to think about what they would have done to Hima once they were done with me."

They fell into an uncomfortable silence then.

"You're lucky to be alive, you know," Boruto's head snapped up, but his father wasn't looking at him. He seemed to be spaced out as his hand ran through his short spikey blond hair. It was like he just realized that, and his eyes moved up to meet Boruto's. "Boruto those where six experienced ninja. We're lucky you aren't dead right now."

"I…I, uh, I guess so," he muttered, and looked off to the side. He wanted to look at anything other than his father's worried eyes. It had been a while since he had talked with his dad. The man was being consumed by his work.

"I should have been paying more attention," his dad said, and seemed to be talking more to himself again. "I should have known you and Himawari were going to be targeted at some point, but I never thought it would happen here."

"Dad…"

"I didn't think anyone had the guts to come this close…"

"Dad."

"I could have lost both of you had Hinata and Sakura not decided to call you in for a break."

"Dad!"

His father's head snapped up and worried blue eyes met frustrated ones. His eyes softened a little once he got his father's attention.

To his side Himawari and their mother remained asleep. They must be exhausted.

"Let's stop thinking about the…the bad stuff that could have happened…let's just be glad that it didn't and do better next time."

Because he wasn't going to allow himself to be some helpless victim again if he could help it.

His father blinked at him a couple of times.

"What?" the preteen asked, frustrated when his father chuckled quietly.

"Nothing, just…you reminded me of your mother just then," he said, and smiled warmly at his son. Well, that was a compliment for sure, and one that he was glad to have received. Often, he was compared to his father for their similar looks, but it was nice to hear when he had some traits from his mother.

"Well I am her s-"he cut off on a yawn. "son after all, it's only natural, right?"

Man, why was he so tired suddenly? He glanced at the different machines currently hooked up to him. Maybe one of them was causing his dilemma.

His father had stood up and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"You should get some more rest."

"Yeah, yeah," he said, fighting off another pesky yawn. "Just make sure mom and Hima sleep on something that won't give them a back ache."

"Deal."

The End

Author's Note: Hope you liked it. Feel free to leave a review!