Love Poison

Summary: After Chocho's Valentine's Day gifts are not reciprocated, she decides to make sure no man can ignore her by distributing a love potion among those closest to her, but things go horribly wrong. Rated T to be safe. Please read and review!

Boruto and its characters are owned by Masashi Kishimoto and Mikio Ikemoto. This is just a fanfiction written for fun. No profit is being made.

Chapter 1:

Chocho sat glaring at her teammates as they met up for lunch at Boruto's favorite burger place with their friends. Despite being on their way to lunch, Chocho's hand never stopped dipping into her bag of chips.

Sarada noticed her friend's continuous glare as she munched on chips and walked closer to her to ask what was wrong.

"It's these two. So uncool."

Shikadai and Inojin turned around. "What's that?"

"You two," she said, crumpling up her empty chip bag. "You call yourselves men? You don't deserve that title. Hmph!" She folded her arms and turned up her nose.

Boruto and Sarada looked at the group, puzzled and uncomfortable.

Shikadai sighed. "Is this about what we said an hour ago? Jeez, what a drag. It's not that big a deal."

"So a lady's feelings are no big deal?"

"It's different with you," said Inojin. "You're our teammate. It's not like you're a hot girl we got feelings for."

Sarada bit her lip, knowing how awful a thing that was to say. Even Boruto knew that was very hurtful. He would have corrected his friend if he didn't want to avoid getting in the middle of this situation. If no one did anything, it was going to be a very awkward lunch.

"When a girl puts her feelings into making something, the guy, or guys in this case, are supposed to show gratitude." Chocho put her hands on her hips. "Don't make me waste my time like I did last year."

"Then don't bother," said Shikadai.

"But if I don't, I'm going to be the only one. Plus, you two are going to hold it over my head forever."

"Just because social convention dictates…"

"You know it's the right thing to do!" Chocho interrupted. "You're really going to be jerks about it? So not cool."

"Uh… What's this about?" Boruto hesitated to ask but couldn't stand it anymore.

Chocho was all too willing to explain while her two teammates stood around rolling their eyes, failing to see the importance and finding it childish.

"Last year for Valentine's Day, I made them both chocolate, which they ate, but then when White Day came along, they didn't reciprocate. I waited all day and these two jerks didn't get me anything."

"Where does it say I have to?" Inojin asked.

"You're expected to!"

"I didn't ask you to give me chocolate."

"You still ate it!"

"If I didn't, you would have, Chubs."

Sarada took her friend's side and started to lecture the boys. "Chocho's right, though. If she gave you guys something, the least you could have done was get her something, too. Especially if she actually went through the trouble of making it."

"Yeah, I mean how hard is it to go to the store and pick up a box of cookies or something?" Boruto chimed in.

Shikadai looked over his shoulder at Boruto. "The guys are expected to reciprocate by giving the girl three times what her gift was worth. It's too troublesome."

"Three times?" Boruto repeated. Then he looked at Chocho. "Are you nuts?"

"Hey, they didn't get me anything."

"Well, three times nothing is still nothing," said Inojin.

"Shut up!"

Chocho grit her teeth. "Valentine's Day is tomorrow and I asked them if I should expect something on White Day if I give them chocolate like I did last year and they told me not to hold my breath."

"I didn't say it in those words," Shikadai defended himself. "All I said was that you shouldn't expect something."

"How is that any different?"

"A gift is given without expectation," he reasoned. "What are you getting mad at me for?"

"Even without expectation, it's still rude not to give her anything in return after going through all that trouble," said Sarada.

"If I'm not going to get appreciation for something I went through all the trouble of making, then why should I bother?" Chocho turned up her nose again. "Real men would show gratitude towards a lady."

Shikadai sighed heavily. "Can we drop this? I gave you an honest answer. At least I gave you a heads up this time. Can we get something to eat now?"

During lunch, the boys sat at one table and the girls another. The boys had changed the subject but Sarada and Chocho continued to discuss the issue.

Naturally, Sarada could completely understand Chocho's feelings. It wasn't so much about reciprocation as it was about gratitude. Chocho didn't want to go through all that trouble over again if she could expect the same result.

It wasn't that Chocho had feelings for either of her teammates. Chocolates could be exchanged between friends and lovers. She even gave some chocolate to her father. He was the only one to show her any sort of appreciation. Not only did he thank her and eat it on the spot, but on White Day, he gave her a new outfit: the white garment she started wearing after graduation.

Her disappointment stemmed from the fact that he was the only one to do anything for her that day. No other boy could be bothered, even after receiving a gift from her. What turned it into a fight was that both her teammates admitted that they weren't going to trouble themselves for her, even if she did something for them.

"It's just not fair," said Chocho. "A girl wants to feel appreciated. After all I do for those guys. I help them out on missions and training. I give advice and try to make them feel better when they're feeling down. And they don't do anything for me."

"I get it," said Sarada. "They're being jerks. I bet they can't be bothered."

"Why didn't you just get her something?" Boruto hissed, noticing the girls shooting them looks from their table.

"Can't we just drop it?" Shikadai asked.

"Did you get something for a girl last year, Boruto?" Inojin asked.

Boruto suspected he was asking in order to gain ammunition when he said he hadn't and was therefore as bad as they were and in no position to criticize. However, that was not the case this time.

"Actually, I did. Himawari got me chocolate, so I gave her some cookies covered in white chocolate. She loved them. Shared them with Mom."

"Huh," said Inojin. "I didn't get Mom anything for White Day last year. Didn't know I could. Then again, she didn't give me chocolate."

Shikadai put his elbow on the table to lean forward in Boruto's face. "Look, Boruto. It's fine when it's your sister giving you something, but it's a little different when a classmate gives you something like that."

"How do you mean?"

"Are you dim? If I got her something, then she might think it means I want to be her boyfriend or something. We were still students at the time. Word could get around and then everyone would start thinking I had feelings for her when I don't."

"Yeah, but you're teammates now. It's different."

"How is it different, Boruto?"

"Well, um… Uh…"

"You see? I have to work with her on missions. If she's giving me goo-goo eyes, thinking I want to be more than friends, then I'm in real trouble."

"Besides, Chocho's got access to all kinds of things," added Inojin, completely missing the point. "She doesn't need our help to get food. I've seen her walk around with things I've never seen before and when I ask her where she got it, she tells me it's a secret."

"I don't think food's the issue here," said Shikadai.

"The issue is that you guys gotta get her something if she gives you something," said Boruto.

"And send the wrong message? No way. That's way too troublesome."

Sarada gave Chocho her fries, hoping it would lighten her mood a little.

"Guys are clueless. You know that. Like I said, they probably couldn't be bothered. They didn't take your feelings into account, but it's probably not personal. You know how guys are."

Chocho scoffed. "Not all of them. My dad gives really good gifts that are well thought out and considerate. He also never complains about the price when he takes Mom out to a fancy dinner on special occasions. He lets her order whatever she wants, no matter how expensive and he doesn't try to talk her out of it."

"Well, your dad's more mature than your teammates, I guess."

"No, it's that he understands that a meal coupled with a special occasion has meaning and should… never be belittled!" Chocho said that last part loud, turning her head to make sure her words reached the next table where Shikadai and Inojin were sitting.

Shikadai slumped in his seat and Inojin frowned.

"You asked us if we would do anything in return and if you should waste your time and we said not to bother," said Inojin. "What's the problem, Chubs?"

Chocho slammed her hand on the table as she got up. "Forget it. You guys are so clueless."

Chocho stormed out of the restaurant, leaving everyone behind at their tables.

Boruto looked across the table at Shikadai and Inojin. "See how upset she is? Why did you say that? Why can't you just get her something to shut her up?"

"Giving an insincere gift shouldn't be given at all," reasoned Shikadai. "I don't want to give her the wrong idea."

"Besides," said Inojin, "where's it say we have to give her something? I haven't seen any rule."

"There's no rule, but the answer for why just stormed out of the building…"

Chocho wandered the village, thinking and muttering to herself about her teammates' lack of respect towards her.

Did they not realize they had hurt her feelings? How she felt when everyone else in the village received a gift from a boy except her?

She remembered looking around the village at all the happy women clutching boxes wrapped in white ribbon and eating white cookies and candies with big smiles. Girls young and old flashing white scarves and purses and flowers and poems written on special white parchment in decorative script.

She waited all day for a boy to give her something. She had given chocolate to a bunch of boys just a month ago. Had they forgotten that quickly? Did they think they could just make her slave in a kitchen all day and give nothing back?

"Jerks," she grumbled. "Stupid jerks."

After the disappointment she went through last year, this year she decided to give the boys a heads up to make sure they were aware of what was expected of them.

"If they're not going to appreciate my hard work, why should I even bother doing anything for them?"

But if she didn't, she was likely to be the only girl in the whole village who didn't participate in the holiday. It seemed a waste to just sit at home and do nothing. But going out in public and seeing everyone else distribute chocolate would be even worse.

"They'll probably rub it in my face if I don't," Chocho decided. "If I do nothing, then they'll have a reason. If I do and they don't, they'll look like the jerks. They're obligated."

The obligation was the issue as far as Shikadai was concerned. He didn't want to do anything just because it was expected of him. If the feelings weren't there, then he didn't see the point.

"Hmph. He doesn't have to have those feelings for me. He just has to let me know he…"

Appreciated her. She wanted recognition. She wanted respect. She wanted to be shown that her feelings mattered. That her actions mattered and that she was appreciated for her efforts.

She sighed, walking into a small shop to get some of her rare treats as a pick-me-up.

As she browsed the shelves, she noticed some new products and called the clerk over.

"What's this?" she asked, pointing to a small vial on the shelf in front of her with the dark purple powered inside.

"That, my dear, is a very special, very rare herb found deep in the mountains. People add it to their tea, believing it to be an aphrodisiac."

"Really? Does it work?"

The old woman laughed. "If people believe ii works then it works. But many other things are also considered to inspire such feelings, such as strawberries and chocolate."

"Oh." Chocho looked at the vial, disappointed.

"If it's rare plants you're wanting, take a look at this book." The woman handed her something from a rotating rack. "This book contains a bunch of information on rare plants and their purposes. Some taste awful but are good for the body. I'm sure that herb's in there, too. Read up on it if you like and make a decision."

Chocho flipped through the book and sure enough found the very same herb on the shelf in its pages.

According to the book, it said the plant was supposed to inspire feelings of love and was marketed years ago as a love potion by traveling merchants. There was little proof it actually worked but some swore by it because they actually ended up dating the person they gave it to, having no knowledge of what it actually was.

The book carried a wealth of information but most of it dealt with healing properties and ingredients to remedies and potions with no real evidence.

Then she stumbled across something interesting. It was a plant that grew in the area which amplified the power of other plants. It was used to strengthen the power of antidotes which were harvested from rare plants. When combined, the antidote, normally being able to provide a single dose, would cure several people.

Chocho read more and more about the plant and in no time at all, she had an idea.

If she combined the aphrodisiac with this miracle plant of sorts, she could, in theory, actually create a real love potion.

Chocho took the bottle off the shelf and brought it to the counter along with the book. "I'll take these and two Sand tarts, please."

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