What If.... Boruto/Naruto

Chapter Two: Jigen

The four-year-old boy cried softly, his bright blue eyes filled with fear as he stared into the cold, unfriendly black eyes of the man before him. The man had red ear piercings and tattoos under his right eye and mouth, adding to his menacing appearance.

"Boy... I want you to accept me as your new father," the man said, crouching down to Boruto's eye level.

"My... new father?" Boruto's voice trembled as he stood before the dark-haired man.

"My name is Jigen. I am your new father, boy."

"I have a daddy..." Boruto whispered, his small frame shaking with fear. Jigen's hand moved swiftly, slapping him so hard that Boruto skidded across the concrete floor, his cheek stinging with pain.

"I am your father now. Your daddy gave you up. He didn't want you anymore. He was happy to get rid of you," Jigen sneered, thinking of the blonde-haired war hero he had stolen this boy from.

"He didn't want me?" Boruto's lip quivered as he picked himself up from the ground, the words cutting into his young heart.

"No." Jigen grabbed Boruto's wrist roughly, dragging him to a room filled with strange tubes attached to the ceiling. The boy's wide eyes darted around as Jigen spoke with the adults in the room. They held a brief conversation before one of them approached Boruto with a needle. He whimpered, but before he could resist, the needle pierced his skin, and he fell unconscious.

When Boruto woke up, he found himself stripped of his clothing and suspended in a glass capsule filled with water, attached to the ceiling. He tried to scream, but the oxygen mask on his face muffled his cries. He looked around, noticing at least a dozen other children in similar capsules, their faces reflecting the same terror he felt.

Jigen's hand dipped into a pot of orange liquid connected to the tubes. Boruto watched in horror as the liquid turned black and flowed into one of the children's capsules. The child screamed as the black liquid reached his mask, his eyes rolling back as he succumbed to the pain.

Boruto's heart raced. He didn't want to die.

"Don't let me down, boy," Jigen muttered as he placed his hand in Boruto's pot. The orange liquid quickly turned black and surged up the tubes connected to Boruto's face mask. Agony unlike anything he had ever felt washed over him, and soon, his vision began to fade.

I'm going to die, he thought.

When Boruto woke up again, he was surprised to find himself alive. His body ached, but he had survived. On the palm of his hand was a strange black mark in the shape of a diamond, the same mark Jigen had on his chin.

"You surprised me, boy," a large man with metal claws said, approaching Boruto. "You were the only child to survive."

"I don't understand!" Boruto stuttered, backing away from the man.

"Come on, what's with that scary look? My name is Goro," the man laughed.

"What did they do to me?" Boruto cried out, his fear palpable.

Goro grabbed Boruto's arm and lifted it with his claw. "Nothing happened to your body? I bet the Kara was surprised! If you obey me, I'll teach you all sorts of stuff."

"I'm not coming with you," Boruto shouted, tears streaming down his face. "I want to go home!"

"Huh?" Goro's demeanor darkened as he stepped forward. "The hell are you talking about? This is what I get for looking after you? You need to learn to accept kindness. You got a family waiting for you out there?"

Boruto opened his mouth to respond, to tell the man that he had a loving mommy and daddy waiting for him at home, but the only sound that came out was a sick gurgling noise as Goro's metal claw tightened around his throat.

"That's what I thought! There is no reason for you to run away," Goro laughed. "Let me teach you some discipline!"

Suddenly, the mark on Boruto's palm spread up his arm, and a powerful blast shot from his hand, melting the skin and hair off Goro's face.

"My chin!" Goro screamed in pain.

Boruto pushed away from his attacker and ran, tears blurring his vision. He just wanted to go home.

As he sprinted down the hallway, a hand stopped him.

"Where are you going, boy?" Jigen asked, rolling his eyes.

"Home! I wanna go home!" Boruto cried out, his voice breaking with desperation. "I'm scared!"

Jigen laughed, a cold, heartless sound. "Didn't I make it clear to you that you didn't have a home? That your father wanted to get rid of you? He asked me personally to take you. Your parents didn't want you anymore."

"But..." Boruto's lip quivered, the pain of Jigen's words cutting deep.

Jigen pulled the four-year-old boy into a rough embrace. "I'm your new father now. I will protect you."

Boruto's small body shook with silent sobs, the crushing weight of Jigen's lies settling over him. In that moment, he felt more alone than he ever had before.