"Uncle?"
Only then did Boruto notice that Neji had suddenly stopped beside him, and he looked at him curiously.
"Brother Neji, be careful."
Seeing the unfriendly look on Neji's face, Hinata quietly cautioned him.
"Mm."
Neji nodded, then looked at Boruto. Suddenly, his expression turned remarkably warm, though it was not quite a smile. "Boruto, watch closely in a moment. And don't stray too far from Hinata."
"Huh?"
Boruto looked utterly confused.
Neji and Boruto had been getting along well these past few days. Though they were currently about the same age, Hinata had seen expressions on Neji's face that she had never seen before.
Strange as it sounded, Hinata felt that Neji really did show Boruto the doting affection of an elder toward a younger relative—she occasionally saw Dad Minato look that way, too. Of course, that expression never left Mom Kushina's face.
She could not help recalling a conversation she and Naruto had had on a date a few days earlier—
"Neji's just like Sasuke and me. We all lost our closest family when we were little. But compared to my situation, those two probably have more in common."
"But I think the stronger someone acts, the more they might actually care deep down. Sasuke's always thinking about his clansmen, but Neji? Aside from once in a while, I hardly ever hear him mention anything about it... In other words, sometimes I really wonder what he actually wants."
Naruto had looked deeply troubled then.
"Naruto, why are you suddenly so concerned about what Brother Neji wants?"
Hinata had been a little puzzled.
"It's because of what Boruto told us, of course. Sigh." Naruto let out a long sigh and tilted his head toward the sky. "Even if it wasn't in our timeline, just thinking that Neji would die