When Chocho returned to her home after dinner, she was conflicted by the events. It seemed that Mitsuki and Shinki were interested in her. She found both attractive and interesting in their own way, but Mitsuki was the one more prevalent in her head. 'So Mitsuki rejects me, but as soon as another guy is into me, he comes back. Did he come back because he likes me or because he is territorial? I am so mad at him!'
The next day, Chocho and Metal were assigned to Shinki's team to transport classified documents to the Medical Research facility located in the Leaf and Sand villages' border, which was not accessible by train. The team was going to meet at the Hokage' HQ to collect the documents. Chocho made it to the meeting point a few minutes earlier so she could get some snacks. Coincidentally, Mitsuki was there as well to meet his team for a mission.
Mitsuki approached Chocho, "Where is your VIP guest this time. Aren't you showing him around?"
"Jealous much?" She asked with a half-defensive half-playful tone. "Please don't try to flirt with me right now. I am trying to focus on my mission."
"Oh no, your symptoms are getting worse. I wonder if you will ever find a cure, Ms. Akimichi."
The night before, Mitsuki did not have the chance to speak with Chocho about his feelings as he planned. He had to do it soon because he did not want to risk losing Chocho.
"Ms. Akimichi, I need to speak to you privately. Can we meet later this afternoon?"
He picked Chocho's interest. Although they used to hang out together all the time, Mitsuki had never asked to speak privately.
"I am not available. You should know I am a busy person and you cannot expect me to be free with such short notice. I am leaving for a mission with Shinki in a few minutes."
It was not the answer that Mitsuki was expecting, but he had to accept it and hope for Chocho to give him a chance before considering something with Shinki.
Shinki was looking forward to the mission since he wanted to use it to thank Naruto for his hospitality. He was also excited about the mission since he would have the chance to spend some time with Chocho. After the mission's completion, Shinki planned to invite Chocho to the Sand Village to take her on a proper date and confess his feelings.
In different circumstances, Chocho would have been beyond excited to spend time with Shinki on a mission, but she was not sure of where she stood with Mitsuki. She was afraid that Mitsuki was now interested in her because he competed with Shinki and not for her. After all, he was pretty clear when he rejected her. She decided to keep an open mind and get to know Shinki. She was a little concerned that Metal might interfere since Metal and Shinki were good friends, but she had high hopes in her charm.
The squad got together and got ready to depart. Shinki noticed that Chocho looked very pretty that day. "You look radiant today, Chocho." She felt flattered and was about to thank Shinki when he nervously added, "What I meant is that you look well-rested." After hearing his initial words, he felt that he might have overstepped the boundaries since they were on a mission.
He felt guilty for his thoughts since he was leading a mission, and its success should have been the only topic in his mind. Shinki promised himself he would not let Chocho interfere with his concentration.
While on the way, Chocho tried to make conversation, but it was almost impossible having Metal there, making them go faster. Even Shinki had a hard time trying to keep up with one of the Might Guy's most devoted pupils.
The young shinobi sensed the presence of enemies approaching. There were five rogue shinobi paid to steal the secret documents that they were transporting.
Very confident of her abilities, Chocho told her teammates to go ahead. She was going to stall the rogue shinobi for time. Shinki and Metal agreed to it and went on.
She managed to stop the shinobi without any issues and was on her way to catch up with her team. As a precaution, Shinki used his Third Eye Jutsu to check on Chocho and make sure she was safe. Few meters away from the battlefield, Chocho was attacked by three jonin level shinobi. The fight was rough, and the attackers were merciless. She was able to take down two of them using most of her chakra. As she was preparing to take on the third one, the shinobi fired hundreds of tiny poisonous darts. She moved as fast as possible in her condition and dodged most of them, except for one. The poison acted quickly, leaving her down on the ground, losing energy at an astonishing rate. Her skin color started to change to purple, and she had difficulty breathing.
In another part of the forest, Boruto and Mitski were collecting various medical mushrooms needed for a remedy that Sakura requested. Their mission for the day got canceled since Sarada was asked to join another assignment. Boruto made such a big deal about making him waste his time, so to make him stop and as punishment for his attitude, Bostuo and Mitsuki were assigned a tedious mission. They were chatting while unsuccessfully looking for the mushrooms when Mitsuki sensed something strange. He was able to recognize people's chakras even without being in sage mode. "Chocho is in trouble. She is nearby. Let's go." They ran at full speed to get to Chocho.
Shinki's third eye saw what happened to Chocho with the new attackers. He saw that Chocho was down but could not see that her skin color was changing and that her chakra levels were decreasing at an alarming rate. "Chocho is down; she was ambushed by three other jonin level shinobi. Two are down, but the surviving one is on its way here."
Metal did not think twice, "Go help Chocho! The research center is close to here. I can get there faster than you and get reinforcements. Hurry up!"
"I can't agree with that plan. I was tasked to transport these documents safely. We have to go together in case we encountered another enemy, and one of us has to stay and fight."
Metal got upset, "Didn't you just say that Chocho was down. She needs help!"
"I am not going to jeopardize the mission. Chocho volunteered to stall those guys. She is a shinobi and is aware of the priorities. We will come back for her as soon as we get to the facility," Shinki argued.
"Fine then. You take the documents, and I will go back to help Chocho. She is a comrade. In the Leaf, we don't leave comrades behind."
Shinki did not recognize Metal. He got to know Metal better after Tenten married his father. Metal was usually easy going and let him take the lead when they trained together. However, this Metal took charge, and his words made Shinki question his decisions.
"Wait, Metal! You are right. You are a lot faster than me. Go to the Research Center to get back up, and I will go help Chocho."
Chocho was almost unconscious when Mitsuki and Boruto arrived at her location. "She was poisoned. She needs medical attention immediately." Mitsuki declared with urgency in his voice.
Boruto followed the rogue shinobi trace and engaged in combat while Mitsuki was giving Chocho first aid. She was too weak even to move her to the closest medical facility. Mitsuki used one of his snakes to suck out the poison out of her to stabilize her.
Shinki arrived at the fight and joined Naruto in combat. The rogue shinobi was hurt after facing them, so he had to escape the scene. Both Shinobi went back to check on Chocho's status.
"Mitsuki, how is Chocho?" Boruto asked.
"She is still too weak. The poison has gone through all her chakra network. I am adding another snake to remove the poison." Mitsuki responded without taking his eyes from Chocho. Boruto had never seen such a worried expression on Mitsuki's face.
When Chocho was more stable, Mitsuki looked at Shinki with anger and yelled, "Why did you leave her? You were nearby when she was attacked. You said you were serious about her. You basically told me to back off. Yet, you left her."
It was the first time that Boruto saw Mitsuki getting upset. He had never lost his composure in the past.
"I don't have to explain myself to you. Chocho is a shinobi. I have to trust my team, and she volunteered to stay behind."
"You don't deserve her affection," Shinki stated before taking off carrying Chocho bridal style to take her to the hospital.
Shinki acted per the shinobi protocol and prioritized the mission, but felt guilty. From the Third Eye view, he saw that she was down but could not tell her state's gravity. He was so focused on the mission that failed to aid the woman he wanted to make his wife. "I don't deserve her," he said to himself. The thought of something happening to Chocho made his whole body ache. 'Chocho, please hang in there. I promise I will become the man you deserve. Please forgive me for being so close-minded. You are more important than any mission… Please hang in there,' he thought to himself.
Boruto went with Shinki to meet Metal, who was already on his way back with reinforcements. If it was not for Mitsuki, and Shinki waited to rescue Chochoc would have died.