The Hidden Leaf Village. It's been about fifteen years since the fourth great ninja war ended and peace rang throughout the lands and five great nations. The need for Shinobi decreased since the threat of violence had also decreased. A new age of Shinobi born and graduated from the academy. The new teams were about to be assigned as Shino read out the names for each one.
"Team three will be Boruto Uzumaki, Sarada Uchiha, and Mitsuki," Shino announced.
"Hey, Shino-Sensei! Why do I have to be on the same team as Sarada?" Boruto huffed.
Shino sighed lightly, "Teams are decided based on skill and performance to create an equal balance. You and Sarada both were top students. You two, along with Mitsuki would create the perfect balance."
Boruto pouted and Sarada gave an annoyed and irritated look. The rest of the teams were announced. Shikadai Nara, Inojin Yamanaka, and Cho-Cho Akimichi were on the same team as each other; keeping up with the two previous teams of Ino-Shika-Cho. While each team went to separate locations in the academy to wait for their sensei to arrive, Zemaria Senju; the fifth Hokage and offspring to the two legendary Sannin Orochimaru and Tsunade was standing in front of Naruto Uzumaki; the current and seventh Hokage in his office. Shikamaru Nara; Naruto's active assistant was present as well.
"Lord Seventh, I'd like to request that I be put in charge of Boruto's team," Zemaria said.
Naruto looked surprised, "I was going to have Konohamaru be his team's Sensei. It's a bit unusual to have a Hokage as a team leader."
Zemaria smiled, "You forget that for a short period of time, Lord Third was still a squad leader. Besides, I'm no longer the current Hokage and having an excuse to leave the village every once in a while would do me some good. Father also requested I keep an eye on Mitsuki and provide him with updates on how he's doing periodically. What better way to do that then to lead his team?"
Naruto sighed, "Alright then. You will be the team leader for squad 3. They should be waiting for their sensei right now so you'd best meet up with them."
"Of course. I'll get going," she answered and left the office.
Back at the academy, a three-tailed turtle appeared in the classroom. His one tail was wrapped around a scroll. Boruto, Sarada, and Mitsuki stared at it confused. They were unsure of what to think about it and approached with caution. He didn't seem to be of any threat to them. Once Sarada got close, he extended out his tail, offering the scroll.
"Hm? A scroll?" Sarada questioned. She grabbed it from the turtle's tail. "Team 3," it read. Sarada unrolled it, "Team 3, meet me at training ground six. I'll be waiting there for you. Signed, your new Sensei. P.S don't be late."
"Training ground six? Why there?" Boruto asked.
"Let's not question it and do as the scroll says," Sarada commented.
Leaning against a training post was Zemaria. Arms folded, she waited for her trio of Gennin to arrive. After almost ten minutes of waiting, the three arrived. They were surprised to see Zemaria leaning against the training post. What was a former Hokage doing there?
"Aunt Zemaria? What are you doing here?" Sarada asked confused.
"Yeah, what's the deal granny Zemaria?" Boruto rudely questioned.
Zemaria's eye twitched slightly, "I'm not that old Boruto. Lord Seventh accepted my request to be your new sensei for your team."
Mitsuki wasn't sure how to respond, "Does this mean we'll have to call you sensei now, sister?"
"Yes, but I'll let it slide when we aren't training or on missions," she said. Her eyes shifted to the left, "Itachi? What are you doing here?"
"Uncle Itachi?" Sarada asked.
"The Hokage has a mission for your team," he answered.
Zemaria rubbed a hand to the back of her head, "He really works fast, doesn't he? Okay then. Let's get going and see what this mission is."
Zemaria walked off as Itachi disappeared. Itachi Uchiha was the pride and joy of the Uchiha clan. For those who are unaware, the village elders; namely Danzó who was the leader of the Foundation Anbu Black Ops forced Itachi into an impossible choice - kill the entire Uchiha clan or join the coup dé ta. If he chose to join the clan's revolt against the village he along with his little brother Sasuke would die. However, if he killed his entire clan, he would be allowed to spare Sasuke. Itachi chose to spare his brother and killed his entire clan becoming a rogue ninja and hated by the village.
During the fourth great ninja war, Zemaria used a forbidden jutsu to revive Itachi before he could be reanimated like so many other Shinobi. The Hidden Leaf Village currently had four living Hokage living in the village; Zemaria Senju the Fifth, Hashirama Senju the First, Itachi Uchiha the Sixth, and Naruto Uzumaki the Seventh and current Hokage. Hashirama was another Shinobi and founder of the village that Zemaria had brought back to life. It wasn't easy getting the villagers to accept or want Itachi as Hokage but with a lot of persuasion and testimonies from Hashirama, Naruto, Kakashi Hatake and several others who witnessed his great efforts and accomplishments during the war as well as the underhanded scheme set in motion by Danzó, the villagers decided that Itachi wasn't intentionally a killer and accepted him as Hokage.
Itachi was also Zemaria's husband. They had three kids together; they're first born son was born a year before the slaughter of the Uchiha clan while the twins - Kizuka Senju and Kozuki Uchiha were born the same year as Boruto's group. Zemaria had one other child and his father was Kakashi when Itachi had been with the Akatsuki. The night he left, he told Zemaria to move on and find love with another since they could no longer be together. He wanted her to have happiness so he let her go; leaving her behind in the village.
The new team stood in front of the Hokage waiting for their mission to be given to they were new Gennin, they would only have been given missions ranked D or C. Most of them were be done inside of the village. Boruto of course didn't like the idea of that just like when his dad was a kid. Zemaria paid close attention to how Boruto would end up reacting to whatever their mission would be.
"For team 3's first mission; you'll be capturing an escaped bear. It escaped from the zoo and is on a rampage. You have to stop it and capture it before it decides to destroy the village and harm anyone. This is a D ranked mission but don't think it's going to be an easy walk in the park," Naruto informed.
Boruto smirked confidently, "Tch, I can handle something like that on my own! This will be a piece of cake. No sweat!" He laughed loudly.
Zemaria groaned lightly, "I knew you'd say something like that. Boruto, the whole point of being in a team is to work together, not on your own."
"Yeah, Boruto! Team work means everyone helps and not you doing things all by yourself. I won't have this team dragged down or fall apart because of your reckless actions!" Sarada scolded and gently pushed her glasses up with a finger.
"Oh yeah!? You think you're in charge? Why do you always have to jump down my throat about these things!? I'm not the only one that-," Boruto went off.
"That's enough!" Zemaria yelled and her vines wrapped around both. "You're both going to be at fault if the team falls apart."
Shikamaru stared in shock of Zemaria's forceful approach. Naruto wasn't too pleased with it at all.
"Lady Fifth...," Naruto started.
Zemaria let out a sigh, "I apologize for the direct approach."
Her vines let both of them go. Mitsuki, having little information about his elder sister watched silently in order to learn more about her. He never had met her prior to his move to the Hidden Leaf. Zemaria turned and walked toward the door. She got halfway out the door when she realized her team wasn't following her. Her vines gently wrapped around all three and pulled them closer to her.
"Eh- hey! Lord Seventh hasn't dismissed you yet!" Shikamaru called out.
"It's fine. Our business here is finished," she replied to him.
They left the room and closed the door behind them. "Are you sure having her as their team leader was a good idea?" Shikamaru asked concerned.
Naruto nodded, "I'm sure they'll be just fine. Zemaria isn't a threat and she was a great Hokage. She may be Orochimaru's daughter but she's not like him. It would be like questioning allowing his son to be in the village like this."
Team three tracked the bear just to the edge of the trees that surrounded the village. Communicators setup, Zemaria instructed them to spread out and surround the bear. They'd use a bate and trap technique; lure it to a slightly more open area but away from people and then tie it down before capturing it in a makeshift cage. Zemaria used the communicator to instruct Boruto to use his shadow clones to slow the bear down. Then Sarada could use wire tied to kunai to hold it in place. Mitsuki would provide added restraint with his stretching arms. Finally, Zemaria would use wood style to create a mobile cage to bring it back to the zoo.
"Ha! I can do this myself!" Boruto bragged.
"Boruto, you do and the consequences will leave you wanting to obey my every word. Stick to the plan," Zemaria told him.
Wow, I didn't think aunt Zemaria could be so harsh. Sarada thought.
Zemaria watched the movements of the bear with her Sharingan eye carefully, "Now Boruto!"
"Right!" Boruto made a hand sign and four shadow clones appeared.
The clones tackled the bear and slowed it down. It didn't know what to do. Sarada instantly threw the kunai carefully so the bear would not be harmed. Mitsuki followed up with using his arms to secure it further. Zemaria jumped from the tree she was in and made several hand signs.
She slammed her hands on the ground, "Wood Style: Wood Cage Jutsu!"
So... she can use wood style like the First Hokage. Mitsuki thought as he observed.
"Let's get this bear back to where it belongs," Zemaria said.
The three nodded and each took hold of the cage bars and started pushing. Zemaria pushed it from behind. The bear was safely delivered back to the zoo. Zemaria went on ahead to report back to Lord Seventh. Afterwards, she took a walk in the village before heading back home.
Itachi being the late sleeper that he was, sat in the living room in order to greet his wife as she came home. Zemaria opened the front door and took her sandals off before stumbling slightly the rest of the way. It was clear she had been out drinking but she didn't seem like she was completely drunk yet. That was a good sign she was still coherent enough to make it home in one piece. Itachi lovingly guided her to the bedroom to help her change into her night clothes.
He sighed, "How many times have you gone out drinking these days?"
Zemaria groaned lightly, "Considering there's not much to do anymore? Frequently."
"Lady Tsunade found something to do after the war; traveling around to educate and teach medical ninjutsu for future generations," Itachi pointed out.
"Well... that's mother's choice," she yawned. "Besides, I have a team now so that's something, right?"
Itachi lightly shook his head, "And how do you expect to lead a team when you're wasted like this? I heard their first mission went well."
She got herself onto the bed, "Yes. It did. Boruto tried to do things on his own but ended up sticking to the plan. I'm not wasted by the way."
As they talked a little more, Kizuka woke up to use the bathroom and heard her parents in their conversation. She went to the bathroom but got curious. Her parents never seemed to argue; just had late night conversations. They usually pertained to her mom's drinking habits. She stood outside their bedroom door and tried to be as quiet as possible.
"Kizuka, is there a reason why you're eavesdropping?" Itachi asked randomly.
Zemaria slid the door open just a crack, "N- no father. I just-."
Itachi closed his eyes, "I see. You woke up to use the bathroom and over heard us. Go on back to sleep."
"Yes, father," Kizuka responded.
Ever since Itachi's revival, he had taken over as the head of the Uchiha Clan; what was left of it anyway. Both Sasuke and Itachi had given the clan a bit of a reboot and second chance at coming back to life so to speak. Sasuke had one child; a girl named Sarada whose mother was Sakura Haruno. Itachi on the other hand had three kids; one eldest boy and one set of twins. They were Karasu, Kizuka, and Kozuki. Zemaria gave the Senju name to Kizuka instead of the Uchiha name.
Of all of the kids who were part of the Uchiha Clan currently, the only one to have a child was Karasu. He was born when Itachi and Zemaria were both thirteen years old so he was well into his adult years. The twins were the same age as Sarada; twelve years old and had made to Gennin the same time she did. They both ended up on the same team which would have been unusual to have two of the same clan on the same team. The only oddball with Zemaria's kids was Kotashi whose father was Kakashi Hatake.
Kakashi had a somewhat of a short lived marriage to Zemaria which started only two years after Itachi left the village. That same year, Zemaria had given birth to their son Kotashi Hatake. Kotashi ended up having normal eyes but was able to activate the Sharingan of the Uchiha Clan. Karasu however, was born with both eyes of the Rinnegan. The twins were opposites; one having the Sharingan in the left eye and Rinnegan in the right while the other had the Sharingan in the right eye and the Rinnegan in the left.
I know, you're probably thinking 'why do I need to know all of this anyway?' right? Telling you all of this is essential in knowing who is involved here since we are in a time of peace and our story doesn't contain previous stories of a time before this peace happened. Well, now that you know a little bit of history with how the Uchiha Clan is now and where Kotashi fits in, let's move right along with our story. Kizuka having been caught by both of her parents for eavesdropping, went back to bed. It wasn't long before Itachi and Zemaria went to sleep themselves.
A couple of quiet days passed by. Zemaria took her usual walk through the village. She may not have been an active Hokage anymore but it was her routine to make her rounds through the village to make sure things were as they should be. By chance, Sarada happened to be hanging out with her friend Cho-Cho who was of the Akimichi clan like her father Chouji. Sarada casually noticed Zemaria out of the corner of her eye.
"Aunt Zemaria?" She asked.
"Hm?" Zemaria stopped and looked over. "Oh, Sarada. I didn't notice you were out today. Do you need me for something?"
Sarada nodded, "Yes. I want to transfer to another team."
Zemaria stared at her a moment, "Transfer to another team? Are you sure about that?"
"That's right. Boruto just doesn't get it. He's always trying to go off on his own and do things against what it means to be in a team. I can't work with someone like that!" Sarada explained.
"My dear, you say that now but it's really no different than another pair I know. Your mother said the same thing about Lord Seventh. And your father didn't get along with him either. They were always fighting and arguing. Their teamwork was horrible back in the day. Somehow or another, they got their missions done," she told her.
Sarada was surprised, "My mom was the same towards Lord Seventh? And my dad didn't get along with him either?" Her eyes shifted a bit. "Mom never really talks about how her and her team were when they were my age."
"Just think about it for a bit. If you're really serious on being with a different team, there's only one way to do that. You have to put in a request to Lord Seventh saying you want a change of team," Zemaria told her.
"So, all I have to do is put in a request to Lord Seventh and then I can be put on a different team?" Sarada asked.
Zemaria nodded, handed her a scroll, told her to give it to Lord Seventh, and walked away. Sarada stared at the scroll. She stared at it and thought about what her decision really would be. After a few minutes, she parted ways with Cho-Cho and went to find Boruto to tell him what she planned on doing. Boruto made a big stink about Sarada going behind his back about wanting to change teams.
Of course, there was an argument between the two. After a few minutes, Mitsuki randomly appeared out of nowhere like always. He added in his two cents to the argument to make sure Sarada really did want to change teams. He had been under the impression that her and Boruto were friends. The whole fighting between them confused Mitsuki.
"Are you two not supposed to be friends?" Mitsuki questioned.
"Friends with him?" Sarada fumed.
"Friends with her?" Boruto fumed at the same time.
They both pouted and turned their heads away from each other. Mitsuki just sighed. He and Boruto decided to go along with Sarada to see Lord Seventh. They were unaware that he was in the middle of training shinobi to withstand any attack that might threaten the Hidden Leaf. Zemaria followed the three at a safe distance; just enough to where none of them would detect her presence. She was after all, the ghost assassin of the Hidden Leaf when she was in the Anbu Black Ops; a master of stealth and silent killing.
She disappeared in order to get ahead of them to find somewhere to stay and watch. She wanted to know how things would play out. In addition, there was a certain shinobi that she needed to have a word with who happened to be guarding the bridge that lead to the Hokage. That shinobi was Mirai Yuhi who was the daughter of Kurenai Yuhi a Genjutsu specialist and late father Asuma Sarutobi who was the Third Hokage's son. Zemaria wanted to inform her that Sarada and her teammates would be trying to see Lord Seventh and she needed her to test them with their teamwork in order to change Sarada's mind.
They finished their conversation just as the three were about to arrive at the bridge. Mirai went into hiding as did Zemaria. She hid in a nearby tree and masked her chakra so no one would notice. Since Mitsuki was Orochimaru's child, he'd be the first one to sense another's chakra. They reached the bridge and Mirai appeared at the other side of it.
"You can not go any further than this! Lord Seventh is not to be interrupted!" She yelled to them.
"We have to see Lord Seventh! I need to make a request," Sarada said.
"I'm here to make sure no one passes through here; no exceptions," she insisted.
Boruto gasped lightly, "You're Kurenai's daughter, aren't you? Mirai?"
Mirai nodded, "That's right."
"Well, we can't wait until my old man is done whatever it is he's doing! Sarada and I want to be on different teams than each other!" He huffed.
"If you want to cross this bridge, you'll have to go through me first," she told him.
"Heh. Fine by me!" Boruto yelled and charged in.
Sarada shook her head, "There he goes... charging in again without a plan."
The battle between Mirai and Boruto started. Sarada had to join in after Boruto got his butt beaten. Mirai had set a trap that took out the rope holding the bridge together from Sarada, Mitsuki, and Boruto's side. Mitsuki acted fast and used his arms to grab the ropes and hold the bridge together. It was lucky for Sarada and Boruto that he had such stretchy arms.
The battle resumed. Boruto was still trying to do things on his own instead of asking Sarada for help. After several long minutes, they finally started to work together. Zemaria was observing the entire battle. Sarada came up with a plan and both put that plan in motion.
Before they knew it, Mirai had been defeated. She hung under the bridge which was now half destroyed tied up with rope. Zemaria came out of hiding and stood near Mitsuki. She fixed the bridge's ropes that had been severed so the two could safely cross. The three were a little surprised to see her there.
"Sister... why are you here?" Mitsuki asked.
"It's Sensei now. And I'm here because I wanted to observe the situation and see if those two still wanted to be on different teams. So, do you?" She said.
"I- I'm still going to give Lord Seventh a request. But, it's a different request," Sarada said as Naruto realized they had crossed the bridge.
"Where's Mirai? She was supposed to be guarding the bridge," Naruto said.
Zemaria approached him, "Sarada wants to make a request."
After a few minutes, they left and continued the conversation back at the Hokage's office. Sarada's new request was to renumber the team to seven instead of three. It would be an homage to Naruto's original Team 7 under the leadership of Kakashi. Boruto agreed with the request along with Mitsuki and Zemaria. Naruto smiled and granted the request. From this day forward, they would be the new Team 7.