Boruto's POV

All was quiet. Far too quiet. Not a breath of wind or the chirp of a cricket disturbed the forest. The moon was waning but it was still bright, its light patchy as it fell through the canopy, dappling them with silver. They were staked out not far from their original camp sight. Boruto watched from his chosen tree, almost invisible from the ground and silent as the air as he watched. He couldn't help glancing over at Mitsuki every few minutes.

Mitsuki's golden eyes glowed in the patchy light as they scanned the trees, focused and serious. Boruto knew that being here made Mitsuki apprehensive. Since they left the village he was on edge and back in overprotective overdrive. Mitsuki was in the same tree he was, having refused to let him out of his sight again. Boruto felt like he should be annoyed by this but he wasn't. Considering the circumstances, he felt it was best to yield to Mitsuki's preferences. Besides, his presence was deeply comforting and Boruto appreciated the second set of eyes. Another glance at Mitsuki. Metallic eyes met his and held his gaze for a moment, then returned to scanning the trees. Boruto smiled. Protective as usual.

Sarada was close by as well, invisible in her own tree somewhere ahead of them. Boruto shifted his position. They had been here since sundown and he was starting to get stiff. Long stakeouts were a large part of the job but he still found himself wishing this guy would just hurry up. Their plan was simple enough; Stay together. They could assume after thier last encounter that their enemy knew a lot about them. If they did, then they knew about Sarada's sharingan which made her a harder target for genjutsu. Since Mitsuki had already experienced it, that made Boruto his most likely mark, Sarada had surmised. He hated it, but he had to admit she was right so he had grudgingly agreed to not running off alone. Great plan. Now the guy just needed to show up.

An hour passed, then another and still all was silent. Boruto fought a yawn. It was getting very late. Maybe he wasn't going to show tonight...

A flash of movement caught his eye. He focused on the spot but whatever it was had vanished. Some low leaves swayed from the disturbance then stilled. A rabbit, maybe? Mitsuki zeroed in on the movement too. He slowly stood as he focused on the spot, his eyes predatory.

"Mitsuki, wait..." He started to whisper but Mitsuki was already moving.

His eyes stayed fixed on the point as he hoped down from the tree. He stood and confidently approached where whatever it was had disappeared.

"What's the point of hiding? Show yourself." Mitsuki demanded.

"Mitsuki, we meet again." A smooth voice floated in the semi darkness. "Did you enjoy our time together that much? I'm sorry I don't have another nightmare prepared for you. What I have planned for you this time will be very real." The source of the voice stepped into view and stood calmly across from Mitsuki. Boruto jumped down and joined Mitsuki, who was staring down the ninja with an expression of pure hate.

This was the first Boruto had seen of their target and he was precisely as Mitsuki had described: all in brown, long black hair and a full mask with slits. Mitsuki said he hadn't spoken in their last encounter. From his voice, Boruto could tell he was older despite his shorter stature. There wasn't really anything remarkable about him at all. Nothing to give away the danger.

The look Mitsuki was giving the stone ninja was now murderous. Sensing the danger their opponent was unconcerned with, Boruto cautiously closed the distance with Mitsuki and put his hand on his shoulder.

"Remember our mission, Mitsuki. We're supposed to bring him in alive." He whispered so only Mitsuki could hear him. Mitsuki gave a stiff nod but otherwise didn't acknowledge him. His eyes and intent were fixed completely on their opponent, his body straining with the effort of restraint.

"I see you were foolish enough to bring your friends with you." The stone ninja said silkily. Friends Boruto thought. Did he know about Sarada who was (wisely) still hidden? The ninja looked at him, "I can come up with something special for them too. I urge caution, though. You wouldn't want to lose them, especially your Sun." With that, he left, jumping high into the night.

Mitsuki's POV

Mitsuki ground his teeth and his body shook with rage. How dare he. No one spoke like that to him. No one threatened Boruto and lived.

"Mitsuki, no!" Boruto cried as he wrapped his arms around him preventing him from going any further. Mitsuki hadn't even realized he was moving.

"We have to stay together, remember? We can't let him separate us. We need a plan." Boruto pleaded. Mitsuki knew he was right. In a calmer part of his mind he knew it was important to stay together. It was the best defense against genjutsu but he was having a hard time thinking clearly. He got that way when it came to Boruto. A threat was enough to make him angry and an attack drove him into a rage. He just couldn't help it. The thought of Boruto hurt made his blood boil and he refused to let him die. But right now, he had to think.

Because of what happened last time, there was know way of knowing how strong their enemy actually was. Maybe genjutsu was his only trick, maybe he had other techniques up his sleeve. There was no way of knowing so following was a gamble, for all of them. He already said he didn't have a nightmare for him prepared so he could assume Sarada was right that Boruto would be his next target. If he and Sarada didn't watch him closely, he would certainly be placed in a genjutsu. He may even wind up attacking them. Mitsuki trembled at the thought. It had been too close last time. If Boruto went berserk, there was no guarantee he would be able to do what as necessary to stop him. No, it would be better if he went on alone but would he understand? Mitsuki was the best suited to follow alone. Now that he had a better idea of what they were facing, he should be able to counter.

"Boruto, wait here. I'm going after him." Mistuki said as calmly as he could. Boruto's eyes widened with panic.

"Mitsuki, no! We have to stay together!" Boruto said with desperation as his hold tightened. Mitsuki's heart tightened painfully as he looked at his Sun. He was so worried and it touched him deeply that he cared for him so much. But it was too risky and he couldn't lose Boruto again. He wouldn't survive it. No, Boruto had to stay here, with Sarada who he knew was close by and watching to see what he would do. It wouldn't be long. He would drive the enemy back towards them and they could take him down together but right now, he had to stay here. They could probably come up with a better plan given more time but they were out of that but Boruto just didn't understand. He would just chase after him again. He could bite him, put him to sleep for a very short time. Just long enough to assess what they were facing. Sarada was close. She would understand and would see to his safety.

Mitsuki turned in Boruto's grasp and pulled him into his arms. He buried his face in his hair. He felt Boruto's body stiffen in his hold but he did not pull away. He hoped he would understand. Everything he did was for him, even this. He held him closer and allowed himself to smell his hair, nuzzle his ear. He felt Boruto shiver in his grasp.

"I'm sorry, Boruto."

Boruto's POV

Boruto wasn't sure what happened. One second, he was holding onto Mitsuki, begging him not to follow that madman. Something about him was all wrong. He wasn't sure why, he just knew he couldn't let Mitsuki go alone. They had to think, come up with a real plan. The next second, Mitsuki was hugging him, holding him tightly. He buried his face in his hair then moved to caress his ear with his lips.

"I'm sorry, Boruto." He whispered so lightly Boruto almost didn't hear it. Then is face descended to his neck and Boruto felt two sharp pains in his neck as fine snake teeth punctured his skin. The affect was almost instant. The world started to swim before his eyes.

"Mitsuki... wha... why?" He felt his body grow numb and he was falling into darkness. The next he knew, he was looking up at the forest canopy and the starry sky beyond. His back was flat in the damp grass and he was being shaken awake by Sarada.

"Sarada? What happened? Where's Mitsuki?!" Boruto sat up fast, his head almost colliding with Sarada's as he did. His already barley contained panic threatened to overwhelm him as he scanned the immediate area, confirming that Mitsuki was gone.

"Mitsuki went ahead by himself. We have to get going." Sarada said, her voice was strong but it wavered at the end with her worry.

"Why's he doing this?" Boruto asked, tears stinging his eyes, "Why wouldn't he stay with me?"

"He must have thought it was too dangerous. If you had gone too, you would have been the obvious target! He did it to protect you!" To protect him? Did he not believe he could take care of himself? He could have helped him, he wasn't sure how exactly but they would have figured something out, just like they always did. His panic attack was getting worse. His breathing was getting more labored and without Mitsuki to ground him, it was spiraling out of control.

"Why!? Why is he doing this?!" He despaired as he struggled to his feet, ready to give chase.

"Isn't it obvious!?" Sarada raged suddenly from beside him, almost knocking him back to the ground. He stared at her, shocked at her sudden outburst. His dumb look fed her anger. "Because he's in love with you, you fucking numskull!" Boruto stared at her at a complete loss.

"Mitsuki... loves... me...?" He whispered, less than articulately, with eyes wide.

"Yes, you idiot! He's always loved you! And the only moron who didn't know was YOU!" Boruto was floored. He always knew that Mitsuki liked him but... love? He was closer to Mitsuki than anyone, or so he had thought. After he had dragged him back from the Land of Earth, he had vowed to learn everything about Mitsuki, sworn that there would never be any secrets between them and yet he had missed this? What's more, he had been the only one who hadn't known. Had they all been laughing at him? They must have been. He would have been if he had a friend that was so stupid.

In that instant, everything he had ever logged away as 'weird' made sense; the Sun references, the picture on the end table, the over protectiveness, last night, everything. How had he missed this? Mitsuki was everything to him and he was disgusted that he had been hurting him like this. He realized Sarada was still yelling at him,

"... and if you love him like I know you do, you'll get your ass in there!"