What Could've Been

Chapter 35

Team 7 sighed in relief as they approached the village entrance. The guards stationed there glanced at them absentmindedly before letting them in. Naruto laughed, stretching his arms up above his head. "Finally! I can't wait to go home and have a nice pot of ramen!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes, chuckling
at the blonde. "Dobe. Who's gonna make it? You can't cook for shit." Naruto stuck his tongue out at him. "I'll order from Ichiraku. And my cooking isn't that bad!"

The raven flicked Naruto's cheek, rolling his eyes. "We need to report to Tsunade first. And you don't have to order anything. I'll stop by the store." Sasuke turned away from Naruto, walking just a bit faster. Naruto beamed, tackling Sasuke with a side hug.

"Come on guys! Let's hurry up and report to Tsunade oba-achan!" The couple continued bickering in front of the group, Sasuke slapping Naruto's hand away.

Sakura scowled at the boy's actions. "I really regret helping Naruto with Sasuke. I just know those two are gonna be acting all lovey dovey 24/7." Boruto nodded. "Yea I guess." He smiled at them. "But they look so happy, don't they?"

Sakura laughed. Her eyes trailed after the couple, and a soft smile came onto her face. "They do."

Meanwhile, in the back of the group, Kakashi was lugging two bodies on the ground. His former students had taken off into the village as soon as they arrived, leaving the copy-nin to do the grunt work.

But the last time he brought it up, he was faced with a lecture from Sakura on how he used to make them do all the labor. So he begrudgingly trudged on to the Hokage tower, ignoring the curious looks he was given.

Finally. Kakashi dropped the two bodies in the dungeon. He swirled the key around his thumb, locking the door in place before dropping it into his pocket. Well. That was that.

Kakashi walked away from the two prisoners to join his team in giving the mission report. He didn't notice that as he left, an emerald green eye peeked out from a badly battered face.

~°~

Boruto sweat under Tsunade's intense gaze. The Hokage seemed to be analyzing the four teens, her eyes narrowing at them. With a sigh, she dropped her pencil onto her desk, bringing her palm up to her forehead.

"So you three are telling me that you met three rogue nin in the woods, and they attacked you. So you killed one, and kidnapped two others. Then you found the antidote for Naruto, grabbed some Okari blood and venom, and took off?"

Naruto grinned. "Precisely!" Tsunade sighed and shook her head. She grabbed a bottle of sake from below her desk, popping off the cap and taking a sip. She closed her eyes. "Alright fine. Give me the antidote. Where are the nin you captured?"

Sakura shrugged. "I'm assuming Kakashi-sensei took them to the dungeon." Tsunade nodded. "Alright. Sasuke give me that damned antidote and then the three of you get the hell out of my room. Naruto, stay."

Sasuke silently handed the Hokage the antidote before bowing his head and exiting the room. Sakura followed right behind him, grabbing Boruto's wrist and dragging him out. Once the others had left, Tsunade signaled for the guards to come in.

Glaring at them, she motioned towards the door. "In the dungeon there should be two prisoners. Bring them to me." The ANBU gave a slight nod and turned away. "Oh!" Tsunade called out. "Don't let them get close to you. Sasuke said he took away their poison, but you can never be sure."

The figure gave a firm nod before flickering out of sight. A gray haired nin walked in right after. He lazily glanced around at the office. Seeing as only one of his students was there, he tilted his head, drawling, "Maa, looks like I'm late. My apologies, I would have arrived earlier, but my precious students left me something to do."

Tsunade rolled her eyes. "Yea sure." She motioned over to Naruto. "Come here." Naruto stepped forward, glancing at the tiny vial. He looked up at Tsunade. "Eh, baa-chan, aren't you going to test it first? What if I die?"

Tsunade shot him a glare. "Don't call me that brat. And I took a quick glance at it earlier. There's no particular way to make sure it's safe, and I don't want to waste any time. You're vulnerable without any chakra."

The blonde blanched. "Eh so you're going to just stick it in me?" Tsunade nodded. "Now shut up and stay still brat!" Naruto frowned as the needle pierced his skin. After a few moments had passed, he pouted.

"Nothing's happening." Tsunade shrugged. "Give it a few days. Now scram." Naruto happily obliged, running out of the room to find Sasuke, nearly knocking down the returning ANBU in the process.

Muttering a quick apology, Naruto took off in the hallway. The man he had bumped into shook his head. He stood at the Hokage's door frame. "Hokage-sama, there's no one in the dungeon. Are you sure that is where they are?"

Tsunade looked at Kakashi with a questioning look. Kakashi merely gave her a blank stare. "Well shit." He said, "That's not good." The Hokage's eyes widened. "Naruto." She whispered.

Naruto was sitting on a small table, munching on dango while Sasuke threw him disgusted looks. Sakura was chatting about something Ino said, and Boruto was awkwardly listening while simultaneously eating his own stick of dango.

Sasuke rolled his eyes as the blonde made a show of stuffing his face. He gave Naruto a soft smile before turning away to ask Sakura something. Before the words made it out of his mouth, his eyes widened in terror and he yelled out to his boyfriend.

"Naruto! Watch out!" Four bodies jumped into motion, but it was too late. A dull knife sunk into flesh, and a blonde haired, tan skinned boy dropped to the ground with a thud.