Their battle with the monster basilisk had taken a greater toll on them than they expected. Boruto and Sarada had gotten away with light scratches and a few bruises but Mitsuki's injuries were more serious. The punctures he had suffered from the bite were shallow, thanks to his enchanted scale wrap, but he had been injected with a large amount of the monster's venom.
Normally, the toxin wouldn't affect him. However, something about the disease the poor beast had been suffering from changed the venom just enough that he was no longer immune. It took a large part of their rue supply to counter the venom but Boruto was glad to use it for him. He was willing to use it all if it came to that but both Mitsuki and Sarada reminded him that they needed it or else he and Sarada would die from the poisonous desert. He supposed they had a point.
Despite his own exhaustion, Boruto insisted on binding Mitsuki's wounds himself. As he applied the bandages, he tried not to think about how soft and warm Mitsuki's skin felt or how the necessary removal of clothing had exposed another patch of scales on the hip opposite his injury. At one point, he caved to his desires and brushed a fingertip lightly along the colorless scales as he tied another bandage around the treated puncture wounds. The scales felt dry and impossibly smooth, almost slick, against his calloused finger. He instantly craved more but Mitsuki let out a tiny gasp at his touch, making him snatch back his hand.
"Sorry." Boruto muttered as he fixed his eyes on his work. He was all too aware of Mitsuki staring openly at him. His cheeks pinked and he redoubled his efforts to finish before he could be tempted again. He also tried desperately to forget how sensitive the scales were and how Mitsuki's gasp had nothing to do with pain.
"Finished." He mumbled as he pulled Mitsuki's top over the bandages then hurried, without looking like he was hurrying, to busy himself elsewhere. A mischievous chuckle made him freeze in his tracks. The bottom fell out of his stomach as he realized what it meant. Sarada had seen.
"Getting excited?" She asked like the evil, evil person she is. His face burned from his blush. He made himself not look back at her or at Mitsuki who he knew was getting to his feet.
"W-What do you mean?" He stuttered out, trying to pretend he didn't know exactly what she was talking about and failing spectacularly.
"You're hopeless." She chided quietly but a glance at her showed that she was smiling.
"Shut up and help me find my blades." Sarada laughed lightly but she did come along to help. They found his sword quickly but the knife was proving more of a challenge. Boruto saw what looked like a glint in the sand and hurried to it but it wasn't his hunting knife- It was the crystal necklace. He hadn't even realized he had lost it and now the stone was shining like the sun. He studied it, then looked around. Mitsuki joined him and took the necklace into his own hands to observe it.
"Does this mean what I think it means?" Boruto asked apprehensively. Mitsuki's golden eyes traveled from the stone to the serpent's body and back again, silently confirming his fears.
"I'm afraid so, Boruto. It seems the key is inside the body of the basilisk." Boruto groaned loudly then started to strip down again. Sarada and Mitsuki stared at him as he did.
"What? I'm not getting that foul slime on my clothes. I would never get them clean!"
Because fate hated him, the sun was back in earnest, burning off any low clouds and cooking them and the dead basilisk, both knee and elbow deep in its reeking body as they searched for the key.
"I'm never going to smell the same again!" Boruto complained loudly as they entered their second hour of searching. Finally, just when he was sure he was going to faint from the heat and the stench, his fingers closed around something small and metal. He let go a cry of triumph as he held the slimy object high. He quickly freed himself from the corpse before making a bee-line for the water. He dove into the water, causing a dark cloud to rise around him as rotting blood and gore was freed from his body. He savored the relief the water provided, then rubbed the metal object clean.
After a moment or two of scrubbing, he was holding what looked like an ordinary brass key. It looked simple enough but it was abnormally heavy, had teeth on both sides and a single large diamond was set into the handle. Although its value was immeasurable, Boruto couldn't help but wonder at the amount of work required for something so small. Once again, Mitsuki appeared at his shoulder, black goop still smeared on his bare arms almost to his shoulders.
"This has got to be it." Boruto said as he handed the key to Mitsuki. He took it and turned it over, taking in its strange appearance and heavy weight.
"I believe you are right, Boruto." He said simply before handing the key back to Boruto.
"But, what's going on? Why was it in that... thing? I thought we had to find it and break a seal." Mitsuki appeared contemplative, then he held up the crystal necklace. The light in the stone had gone out even though the key was next to it.
"The basilisk appears to have been a guardian. Perhaps by slaying it and removing the key, we broke the seal."
"Are we going to have to do this every time we find a key?" Boruto asked with dismay.
"It is possible." Mitsuki answered, his face still contemplative as he looked back at the dead serpent.
They washed in the knee-deep water in silence. Boruto was just rubbing the last of the grime from his hands when he looked up instinctively. Mitsuki had stopped washing as was staring at Boruto's right hand. His face was an almost unreadable mask but his golden eyes looked sad.
"Mitsuki...?" Boruto started but the question died in his throat as he looked at those suffering eyes. Mitsuki stepped forward and took Boruto's cursed hand into his own. He traced the new marks gently with he tips of his fingers. They didn't hurt anymore but they were still a somber reminder of their limited time.
"You will need to be more careful, Boruto." Mitsuki murmured without taking his eyes off Boruto's hand.
"Don't worry, Mitsuki. We will lift it in time." Boruto tried to assure him, putting far more confidence into his voice than he actually felt. Those hypnotic eyes met his and gave him a look of deep awe. Then he saw new resolve form and Mitsuki gave him a firm nod.
"If you two lovebirds are finished, we need to get going!" Sarada called from the beach. Boruto glared back at her.
"What does she mean, Boruto? We are not birds." Mitsuki asked innocently.
"Nothing. She's insane." Boruto answered quickly. He started walking in to get dressed and help finish breaking what was left of camp. Mitsuki tilted his head in confusion, then followed.
"We have to leave the Wastes immediately." Sarada stated. Their supplies were laid out on the sand before them. There was at least four days of food and water left if they rationed carefully but the problem was the rue. After using it to treat Mitsuki, they only had one dose left for both Sarada and Boruto. That meant they had less than twenty four hours to leave the poisonous Wastes. They were also all painfully aware of the three days it had taken to get to where they were now.
"We can try to go back to Orochimaru's place. Maybe he has some rue." Boruto suggested. Sarada looked thoughtful. The cave of the Serpent King should only be a day away if they hurried, but Mitsuki shook his head 'no'.
"Father doesn't keep any. I picked this for Boruto while we were traveling here." Boruto was silent as he considered the problem.
"Maybe there's another way out. We just need to leave the Wastes, right?" He said as he unrolled the map. As near as he could tell, they were still deep in the heart of the Wastes. The shortest path to the edge was to the south, but it was still a two day walk if they didn't rest. They could take advantage of the sea, which would drastically reduce their travel time but there was nothing to make a raft from. No matter how he looked at it, their situation seemed desperate.
Boruto looked around, searching for anything that could help them but only the red rocks, deformed basilisk body, sandy beach and turquoise water met his eyes. The water looked so clean and clear and fish darted to and fro. There might be something to that, he thought. The presence of life meant that the water was not poisoned like the earth above it. Maybe they could use that to their advantage.
"Hey, Mitsuki?" Boruto asked, drawing the basilisk's attention, "If we could somehow reduce our exposure to the poison, do you think our rue would last longer?" His companion looked contemplative for a moment.
"I suppose it should." He said slowly, "How do you intend to reduce your exposure?"
"The water. It doesn't look like it has been contaminated. We don't have a boat but maybe if we walk in the water, we can reduce our exposure enough that the rue will last until we can get out of here." Mitsuki nodded, his face unreadable. He must have realized this was their only real chance and it was a gamble. It was going to be a three day walk at least, but maybe they could make it.
"It's worth a try." Sarada agreed, "We should get moving." She turned south without another word and started walking in the water.
It was close. Way too close for even Boruto's tastes. As expected, the walk had taken three full days and they still had further to go. They had run out of rue twelve hours earlier. They were exhausted from the grueling pace they had been forced to keep and the last dose of rue was wearing off. At long last, plants appeared in the distance. Sarada was panting and weak but she was going to make it. Boruto wasn't so lucky. While they were still about five hundred feet from the edge, he collapsed and was unable to move.
He felt Mitsuki scoop him out of the water and run the remaining distance. Then he felt himself being laid down in what felt like a cool patch of thick grass. The air smelled clean and fresh but he was still having trouble breathing.
Boruto's body ached and he felt like his blood was on fire. At one point, he thought he heard Sarada say something about a fever but he couldn't be sure. From that point on, he drifted in and out of darkness with no concept of time. Sometimes he was hot. Other times he was freezing. Sometimes he dreamed and it was always of faces he barley recognized looking at him with deep worry. The only thing he was truly aware of was Mitsuki's presence. No matter what, he was always there and Boruto clung to him like a rock in a stormy ocean.
It was the chirping that woke him. It was an incessant sound that kept breaking through the darkness that had finally become restful. His eyes cracked open and he was instantly confused by what he saw. He was laying in a simple but soft bed and was covered by a cozy quilt. He slowly rose to his elbows to properly take in his surroundings. The room he was in was small but had a comfortable and lived-in appearance. The walls were made of wood, suggesting that he was in a cabin.
A vanity with drawers held a pitcher and basin on its clean surface and sat directly across from him. It also reflected back a frighteningly pale and thin version of himself. To his left was a wide and open window. Bright afternoon sunlight streamed though it, adding to the cheerful atmosphere. Ivory curtains swayed lazily to and fro in a pleasingly cool breeze that carried the scent of flowers, which added to the strange feeling of joy and peace. As Boruto's eyes adjusted to the light, he could make out what looked like green farm fields outside and rolling hills in the distance.
Boruto had never seen anything like this before. It was wonderful but the happy atmosphere was was spoiled by the fact that he had no clue how he had gotten here or where 'here' was. A soft snore from his right made him jump for the ceiling. He could have sworn he was alone. He turned toward the source of the sound and almost collapsed holding his pounding heart.
Mitsuki was asleep sitting in a chair with his head resting on the bed and cradled in his folded arms. Now that Boruto saw him, he wondered how he had missed him. This was the first time he had ever seen Mitsuki resting. He looked otherworldly in the sunlight. His smooth, colorless skin practically glowed and his pastel hair spread around his head like a halo of moonlight. As Boruto watched him sleep, he couldn't help but feel like he was falling for him all over again.
Mitsuki was so beautiful, but he wasn't truly at rest. There were stress lines around his mouth and at the corner of his eyes which bled into dark bags that Boruto had never seen before. He vaguely wondered what had caused Mitsuki so much distress when he caught sight of himself in the mirror again. From his gaunt appearance, he could assume he had been out for a while. 'Was Mitsuki really so worried?' His mind wondered. The thought touched his heart and new tenderness bloomed in his heart for this man.
Boruto couldn't help himself. He laid back down on his side facing Mitsuki and gently ran his fingers through his silvery hair, then ghosted his fingertips over his cheek. Mitsuki's hair was as soft as spun silk and his skin was as plush and smooth as he had imagined it would be. For a moment, he was disappointed that Mitsuki had fallen asleep on his left cheek, keeping his scales protected from his curious touch.
A knock on the door gave Boruto his second heart attack of the afternoon. Mitsuki, either from Boruto's sudden tensing or from the creaking of the door, stirred. His golden eyes popped open and fixed on Boruto's. There was a half-second where time stood still. Mitsuki stared deep into his eyes with a look as if he hardly dared to believe what he was seeing.
"Boruto!" Mitsuki cried as he lunged forward to wrap his arms around Boruto. His voice sounded strange, like it was rough from disuse. Boruto allowed Mitsuki to hold him but he didn't get to enjoy the moment.
"Mitsuki?" A kind voice called from the door, "I thought you might like a bite to eat. You'll be no use to Prince Boruto when he wakes up if you don't keep up your strength." A plump old woman was entering the room. She held a tray of what looked like eggs in both hands as she shouldered open the door. She had a round, kind face that matched her voice. When her wrinkled pale blue eyes met Boruto's, she paused then smiled gently. "Oh, your majesty! You're finally awake. I will need to get more food." She said happily.
"Yes, thank you." Mitsuki answered her before Boruto could speak. The old woman nodded, set the tray on the foot of the bed and turned to leave.
"I shall fetch the Lady Sarada as well." She said as she left the way she had come, closing the squeaky door behind her. Boruto watched her go, then turned back to Mitsuki who still had a hand on his shoulder and the other on his hand. As much as Boruto just wanted to pull Mitsuki into his arms and stay there forever, he had to know.
"Mitsuki, how did I get here?" He asked. Mitsuki looked away and down. It was a moment before he spoke.
"You... wouldn't wake up, Boruto." Mitsuki said in a soft voice, "We brought you here, for help."
"Boruto!" The door exploded open and bounced off the wall as Sarada ran into the room. She practically elbowed Mitsuki out of her way and pulled Boruto into a bone-crushing hug. Mitsuki backed away and his face went unreadable as Boruto flailed in Sarada's iron grasp.
"Sarada... I'm okay... Let go." He gasped.
"I'm going to help get food." Mitsuki said in an emotionless voice before leaving quickly. Boruto stared after him. He had never seen Mitsuki act that way before. Usually, Mitsuki was amused by his and Sarada's antics.
"Don't worry about it." Sarada soothed, sensing what was wrong as she released him, "You were out for a week. He took it really hard." Boruto stared at her.
"Sarada, what happened?"