Enjoy!

Chapter 7: The Sounds of Romance

After being dismissed by Naruto, Team 3 split up and went their separate ways. Sarada ended up going and meeting Chōchō at Yakiniku Q, their usual lunch spot. Sarada and Chōchō chose a table and Chōchō immediately began ordering a variety of meats. Everything she ordered was brought to their table and she began to place the different meats on the grill in the middle of the table.

"So whats it like being an overnight celebrity?" Chōchō asked as she stared at the cooking meat.

"Its embarrassing knowing everyone in all the lands could have seen that." Sarada admitted.

"What!? You looked like a total badass! You jumped out of a freaking building! After it exploded!" Chōchō exclaimed. "It was like watching an action movie!"

"Still..." Sarada trailed off as she watched Chōchō flip the meat on the grill.

"Look on the bright side, the boys will be all over you!" Chōchō tried to reassure her friend. "And this makes me a badass hottie by association!"

"That's what I'm afraid of..." Sarada frowned, imagining the extra attention on herself. She then took a piece of meat off of the grill with her chopsticks and blew on it before putting it in her mouth.

"You ladies mind if I join you?" A voice asked. Sarada and Chōchō looked up to see the white eyes of Hitoshi Hyūga looking back at them.

Chōchō frowned and scowled at the boy. "No way. I'm not letting you mooch on our meal!" She yelled, getting defensive over her food.

"How about I pay for the whole thing?" Hitoshi offered and watched as Chōchō's entire demeanor changed.

"Oh my dear Hitoshi please have a seat! It's been forever since we had a formal conversation!" Chōchō suddenly took on a uncharacteristic way of speaking. She moved over and patted where she was just sitting, signaling for Hitoshi to sit.

"I'm great Chōchō, but I really wanted to talk to Sarada." Hitoshi politely said as he sat next to the dark-skinned girl.

Chōchō shrugged and went back to tending to the meat on the grill. "Whatever. As long as I get my free meal I'm alright." She thought to herself.

"So uh... H-How was your mission Sarada?" Hitoshi asked, suddenly flustered. Chōchō noticed that Hitoshi's leg was shaking under the table.

"It was good Hitoshi. I'm sure you saw the news like everyone else." Sarada replied and placed another piece of meat in her mouth.

"Y-Yeah I saw. It was... uh... p-pretty cool!" Hitoshi stumbled over his words.

Sarada sighed and stood up. "Sorry Hitoshi, I'm pretty tired. I'm gonna go home and get some rest. Rain check Chōchō?" Sarada asked her best friend, who nodded with a mouthful of food. Sarada walked away from the table, leaving Chōchō and Hitoshi sitting next to each other. Hitoshi stood to leave but Chōchō grabbed his sleeve and pulled him back down.

"You said you would pay for this meal, so you cant leave until I'm finished." Chōchō informed as she placed a new set of meat on the grill.

"Uh... Alright..." Hitoshi muttered, knowing there was no point in arguing with Chōchō.

"And don't even think about considering this a date!" Chōchō yelled. "You couldn't handle a woman like me!"

"I agree with you on that one." Hitoshi thought to himself and internally sighed. Chōchō poked and prodded at the food on the grill with not a care in the world.

Training Grounds

"I don't see how its fair that your team got a C-Rank mission and ours didn't. That should have been me on TV instead of four-eyes." Inojin complained as he drew a snake in the dirt with his finger. Next to him sat Boruto and Shikadai.

"Those missions are only for elite genin such as myself." Boruto said cockily, smirking as he did so.

"I would like to remind you that an 'elite' ninja like you got the worst grades on the graduation exam." Inojin remarked, throwing up air quotes around the word elite.

"I told you guys, I'm not good at written exams. That brought down my average!" Boruto defended himself.

"As if Boruto. Everyone knows that you tanked the exam on purpose so you could get teamed up with Sarada." Shikadai dryly muttered.

"W-What!? That's crazy! Dattebasa!" Boruto yelled, caught off guard by Shikadai's comment. He crinkled his face in disgust but his cheeks betrayed him, because they started turning a bright red.

"Ah it all makes sense now. If you did good on the exam then you and four-eyes would have never been put on the same team." Inojin put the pieces together and pointed at Boruto accusingly. "You've got a crush on four-eyes!"

"No way! She's not even my type!" Boruto yelled defensively, waving his hands in front of himself.

"Save it Boruto. You're not fooling anyone. Why else would someone as skilled as you do so poorly on the graduation exam?" Shikadai murmured as he lazily looked up at the clouds.

Boruto stood up and stormed off. "You guys have no idea what you're talking about!" Boruto yelled as he walked off. "And I'm bad at written exams! Dattebasa!" Boruto shouted once he was out of sight.

"How troublesome. Hes drowning in denial." Shikadai muttered and closed his eyes to take a nap. Inojin nodded in agreement and continued to draw in the dirt next to his teammate.

Konoha Library

Heishi went straight from the Hokage's office to the Konoha Library. He entered the large building, greeted the librarian, and headed for the computers. He logged in and went straight to work.

"I knew I'd find you here." A familiar voice whispered behind him.

Heishi didn't even turn to look at the voice before replying. "Hey Tsubaki."

"Is this all you do? I know this is important to you but do you ever take a break?" Tsubaki asked, sitting in the seat next to him.

"I don't have time for breaks." He replied as he typed away at the keyboard.

"Nonsense. Everyone has time to stop working and enjoy themselves." Tsubaki said.

"How can I enjoy myself if I don't even know who I am?" Heishi stopped typing and looked at Tsubaki.

"Enough with the deep questions." Tsubaki stood up and turned off Heishi's computer. "You're coming with me and we're going to have fun."

"But I-" Heishi failed to produce a thought, still surprised at Tsubaki's announcement.

"No buts. Lets go." Tsubaki said and grabbed his hand. "I've got the perfect place for us to go." Tsubaki pulled Heishi along, and together they left the library.

The Next Morning

Team 3 waited outside the Academy for Konohamaru so that they could receive their mission. Sarada leaned against the wall while she read a book titled The Guide to Fire Style. Boruto stood with his arms crossed and tapped his foot on the ground repeatedly, growing impatient with waiting. Heishi yawned, garnering him curious glances from Sarada from over her book.

"It isn't like you to be tired Heishi. Everything all right?" Sarada asked while closing her book.

"I'm fine. I was out with Tsubaki all night." Heishi replied before yawning again.

"Ehh? Tsubaki? When did the two of you start hanging out?" Sarada asked, a shocked expression on her face.

"Is she your girlfriend?" Boruto chimed in, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively and playfully elbowing Heishi in the side.

"O-Of course not! She just keeps me company at the library!" Heishi defended himself as redness crept onto his cheeks for the first time since joining Team 3.

Sarada looked Heishi up and down before raising an eyebrow curiously. "So you guys were at the library all night?"

"No she forced me to go bowling with her last night." Heishi replied, the redness of his cheeks becoming more apparent. He crossed his arms and looked away from his teammates, trying to hide the blush on his face.

"Sounds like a date to me." Boruto stated. He placed crossed his arms one again and grinned. "I never imagined you and Tsubaki would ever become a thing. She's way too pretty for a guy like you."

"W-What do you mean by that!" Heishi angrily asked.

"I haven't ever seen Heishi get so worked up before. He's usually as dry and unenthusiastic as Shikadai." Sarada thought to herself as she watched her teammates bicker, curious about her silver haired teammate's out of character behavior. She then smiled. "Tsubaki sure is a miracle worker."

The bickering between Boruto and Heishi was interrupted by Konohamaru appearing in a puff of smoke in front of them. "Sorry I'm late. You guys ready?" Konohamaru said. Boruto and Heishi composed themselves and nodded. The three genin and their sensei walked into the Academy and headed for the Mission Assignment Room. They walked in and were greeted by the usual lineup of people.

"Good morning you guys." Naruto greeted.

"What kind of mission do you have for us today?" Konohamaru asked.

"I'm actually giving you guys another C-Rank mission." Naruto informed. "It's a delivery mission to Otogakure."

"Is this another fake mission!? I'm not letting you fool me twice old man!" Boruto shouted, pointing an accusing finger at his father.

"Of course not! The client for this mission specifically requested you guys after seeing you and Sarada on the news." Naruto explained to the genin. "This one has nothing to do with me."

"Do we at least have a person to deliver to?" Sarada asked.

"The delivery is to the current leader of Otogakure." Naruto pulled out a package from behind his desk. He tilted the box forward, showing them a large stamp print of the Konoha symbol. "Just show this stamp to the guards and they'll know you're legit."

"It shouldn't take more than a day to get there so there's no need to pack heavily." Shikamaru said. Sarada took the box off of the desk and nodded.

"We'll head out immediately." Konohamaru declared. Team 3 bowed to dismiss themselves and left the office.

Border of the Land of Fire

"We're halfway there you guys." Konohamaru called out to his team as they jumped through the trees. "Anyone need a break?"

"No way Sensei! We got this!" Boruto yelled back, quickening his pace to pass Konohamaru. Boruto jumped from tree to tree with increasing speed until there were suddenly no more trees. He jumped out of the forest and stared in awe at the view in front of him. "Whoa." The rest of the team jumped out of the forest soon after. They all stopped to admire the same view as Boruto. There were two large statues, both in pristine condition. Between them flowed a raging waterfall.

"This is amazing." Sarada whispered in awe.

"This here is the Valley of the End, created as a result of a battle between the First Hokage and Madara Uchiha. These statues where actually completely destroyed during the Fourth Shinobi War and needed to be rebuilt." Konohamaru explained.

"They were destroyed by the Ten-Tails?" Heishi asked, his interest in history being piqued.

"Hmmmm," Konohamaru placed a hand on his chin and thought it over. "I'm actually not sure how they were destroyed. I never felt the need to ask." Heishi frowned, unsatisfied with the answer.

"These statues look exactly like the ones of our fathers in the Village of Peace." Sarada said to Boruto. Boruto looked at the statues once more.

"Yeah I guess they do." Boruto replied, suddenly disinterested in the statues after Sarada's comment.

"That's because those statues were based on these ones." Konohamaru explained. "The First and Madara were responsible for the establishment of the hidden village system. It was due to their efforts that a long era of violence ended. What your fathers did was very similar. They ushered in an era of peace."

Sarada stared at the statue of Madara, who looking strikingly similar to her father. The statue reminded her so much of him that she couldn't help but smile. Boruto on the other hand, frowned. "My old man isn't that cool." Boruto stubbornly muttered.

Konohamaru laughed at his student's stubborn ways. "Well we should get going, this was enough of a history lesson for one day." The genin of Team 3 nodded and moved on, crossing into the Land of Sound.

Land of Sound – Near Otogakure

"We're almost there!" Konohamaru announced to his students. The team jumped through the forest in the Land of Sound at a steady pace. The sun had began to go down, so the sky was a light orange color. Konohamaru suddenly stopped and held his hand up in a fist, signaling for his students to stop as well.

"What's up Sensei?" Boruto asked. Konohamaru held his hand up to lips and shushed Boruto.

He leaned over and placed his ear against the tree branch he was on. "Jump down!" Konohamaru suddenly yelled back at his students. Just then, five kunai with paper bombs attached to them came flying from in front of the team. All four of them jumped out of the trees and down to the forest floor, just in time to avoid the explosions. Leaves and tree branches came raining down on the team as the tops of the trees were blown apart.

"You guys are good! See if you can dodge this one!" A voice called out from the trees. "Water Gun: Shotgun!" Five bullets of water came flying from the tree, one aimed for each of the genin and two aimed for Konohamaru. They each dodged, but Sarada noticed that the bullet aimed for her pierced straight through a tree behind her.

"Such a high pressure shot. One hit and we're done for." Sarada analyzed to herself. The sound of a slow clapping could be heard behind them, and Team 3 turned to face the source. In front of them was a young man with long crimson hair tied into a low ponytail and matching crimson eyes. He wore a plain purple shirt and brown pants. He wore a brown belt around his waist which held two katana on his back. A small metal plate with a music note on it was attached to the front of the belt.

"You lot are going to be fun." The boy said, a grin appearing on his face, revealing his sharpened teeth.

"So you're the one who attacked us!" Boruto yelled and ran for the boy. The boy didn't even attempt to move as he watched Boruto charge at him. Boruto got close and struck the boy in the face with a chakra infused punch. The boy's entire head turned into water. "What the hell?" Boruto said, jumping back and looking at the boy's now headless body, confused. The boy's head reformed and he began to laugh.

"This kid is a member of the Hōzuki clan. Physical attacks won't work on him." Konohamaru informed.

"Oh, I see you Konoha ninja are familiar with my clan." The boy said. "That takes some of the fun away but no biggie."

Konohamaru formed a number of hand signs and slapped his palms on the ground. "Earth Style: Earth Dome!" A dome of earth began to form around the boy, who stood still, his grin still on his face. The dome formed completely around the boy and Konohamaru formed more hand signs, causing a second dome to begin to form. The dirt that formed the first earth dome started to darken, as if it was being soaked with water. This affect soon spread to the second dome before it even finished forming. Suddenly the domes were sliced apart, revealing the boy holding the two katana that were strapped to his back.

"Damn. I'm not suited to go against someone like him." Konohamaru thought. "If only I had Lightning Style or a sealing jutsu."

The boy laughed again. "I take it that you can't use Lightning Style. You would have used it already if you could." The boy arrogantly declared. "Now its my turn." The boy sheathed his two swords and held up his hands. He pointed all ten of his fingers at Team 3. "Water Gun: Double Shotguns!" Water began to form in the tips of all ten of his fingers.

"GET DOWN!" Konohamaru shouted. He and all three genin dropped to the ground just as the red haired boy fired all ten shots simultaneously. The shots whizzed over them, shooting through the trees behind them.

"SHINGETSU!" A different voice yelled from the trees. A man jumped out of the trees and landed next to the boy named Shingetsu. This man looked just like Shingetsu but had shorter white hair and purple eyes. They even wore incredibly similar outfits. The main distinction that set the older man apart from Shingetsu was the large blade, longer than him, attached to his back. "I told you not to start without me!" The man scolded.

"Sorry dad. But look, I handled them on my own!" Shingetsu said proudly, pointing at Team 3.

"Let me show you how its done kid." The man said. His right arm suddenly doubled in size, becoming extremely muscular. He grabbed the sword from his back and pointed it at Team 3. "This'll be quick."

"Suigetsu Hōzuki, wielder of the seversword Kubikiribōchō and member of the Seven Swordsman of the Mist. I never expected to be facing you here." Konohamaru said as he stood up.

"I'm not just any old member. I'm the leader of the Seven Swordsman of the Mist." Suigetsu proudly boasted.

"What's a Kirigakure shinobi doing way out here?" Konohamaru asked.

"I could ask you the same question." Suigetsu replied. "It doesn't matter though, since you're about to die."

"Why are you attacking us? Our villages are united!" Konohamaru asked.

"For fun." Suigetsu grinned, showing his sharp teeth.

"SUIGETSU! SHINGETSU!" Yet another voice echoed through the forest. Suigetsu and Shingetsu's faces went white as they looked in the direction the voice came from.

"Another one?" Konohamaru thought, dreading the appearance of another opponent. Suddenly, large chains came flying through the forest, striking Suigetsu so fast that he didn't have time to react. His body didn't turn to water, but instead was sent flying back into a tree. His body turned into a slimy jelly-like substance, as he slid down the tree. Team 3 followed the chains with their eyes and saw the source of them walking into the open. The chains were connected to the stomach of a voluptuous older woman, with long red hair and crimson eyes like Shingetsu. She wore a long purple dress and purple framed glasses on her face. The chains began to retract into her stomach until they completely disappeared.

"What kind of jutsu is that!?" Boruto thought as he watched the chains disappear. The members of Team 3 all got off the ground and prepared to defend themselves against the woman.

"This woman..." Heishi thought as he examined the woman with red hair.

"I apologize for my husband and son, they cant control themselves sometimes." The woman spoke. The woman scanned over Team 3 and her gaze stopped on Sarada. She arched an eyebrow and pointed at the young girl. "Are you by any chance Sarada Uchiha?"

"You know me?" Sarada asked, surprise obvious on her face.

"Oh it is you!" The woman ran up to Sarada and pulled her into a tight embrace. "Your chakra signature is just like your fathers!"

"You know my dad?" Sarada asked, becoming more and more confused as the woman talked. Karin released the girl and put her hands on her shoulders.

"Me and your father go way back!" The woman yelled excitedly. She then frowned. "I cant believe he never mentioned me."

"Sorry. My dad doesn't talk much about his past." Sarada admitted.

"That sounds just like him." The woman said.

"WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT KARIN!?" Suigetsu yelled as his body returned to a solid state after the attack from earlier.

"DON'T YOU TALK TO ME THAT WAY YOU ASSHOLE!" Karin yelled back, pushing up the glasses on her face. Team 3's jaws all dropped in shock after they saw her sudden change in personality. Karin marched over to Suigetsu and Shingetsu watched as his parents began to fight. He pulled his eyes away from his parents and turned his attention to Team 3. He walked over to the group and held out his hand to Boruto.

"Sorry I tried to kill you guys." He politely said.

Boruto frowned and begrudgingly shook Shingetsu's hand. "Yeah well next time I'll be better prepared to take you down."

Karin and Suigetsu stopped their bickering and walked over to Shingetsu. Karin was smiling and Suigetsu had a frown on his face, so it was obvious who won their argument. They stood on either side of Shingetsu and Karin placed a hand on his shoulder. "Sorry again for their behavior." Karin apologized.

"It's no problem. It was a simple misunderstanding." Konohamaru said as he adjusted his clothes and dusted himself off.

"You guys were headed for Oto right? Let's go, I'll lead the way. Don't want you guys out here in the dark!" Karin offered and began walking toward the village. Team 3, Suigetsu and Shingetsu all follow behind.

Bonus

Sasuke sat in a tea house in an unnamed county. He and his team, consisting of Kiba, Jūgo, and a few other shinobi, were taking a quick rest from their mission. A young waitress walked up to him with a blush already apparent on her face.

"C-Can I get you a-anything sir?" The young woman stammered. She took out a pad and pen but was shaking so bad that she couldn't keep the pen on the paper.

"I'll take a coffee." Sasuke coldly answered. The young woman nodded and held her pad up to her face to try and cover her blush. She walked back behind the counter to get his coffee.

"Hey, can someone turn this TV on!?" Kiba shouted at a different waitress. Said waitress walked over to the TV held up on the wall and turned it on, despite Kiba's rudeness. The channel was set to the news from the Five Great Nations.

"I'm here at the Shinobi Union Headquarters where the building has been the target of an apparent terrorist attack-" The reporter on the TV spoke but Sasuke tuned it out.

"Turn that off. News from home is distracting to our mission." Sasuke ordered. The young blushing waitress from before nodded and walked toward the TV to turn it off.

Next to him, Jūgo pointed at the screen. "Sasuke... isn't that Sarada." Sasuke's ears perked up as he snapped his head toward the screen. He saw a young girl who looked exactly like Sarada chasing a man down near the statues of him and Naruto.

"Turn this up!" Sasuke ordered, contradicting his previous order. The young blushing waitress froze before turning the volume up instead of turning it off.

"Who sent you! Shannarō!" Sarada yelled on the screen. Sasuke watched as his daughter delivered a devastating blow to the mans stomach. He continued watching and saw his daughter manage to avoid a kick at the last minute, showing off her natural battle instinct.

"There we can see that two Konoha shinobi, identified as Boruto Uzumaki and Sarada Uchiha, were responsible for stopping the terrorists from escaping undetected. Thanks to them we know that the rogue Kirigakure jōnin Kagebōshi was involved in the attack. We give our thanks to these two shinobi." The reporter on the screen spoke and then the segment ended.

Sasuke's chest filled with pride after seeing his daughter on TV. A proud smirk made its way onto his face just as his nervous waitress brought him his coffee. Sasuke looked up at the waitress with the smirk still on his face. "Thank you." He said to the waitress in a calm warm tone. The waitress' face turned a darker shade of red and her eyes began to glaze over. She soon fell over unconscious, sending Sasuke's coffee crashing onto the ground.

"We need a doctor!" A different waitress yelled as she went to help her unconscious co-worker.

"Look what that smile of yours done did." Kiba muttered to Sasuke, who ignored him and stood up.

Sasuke left some money on the table, despite his coffee being on the ground, and walked toward the exit. "Lets go." He ordered. His team all stood up and left behind him, leaving the young lovestruck waitress in the care of her co-workers.

End

Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please review!

Trivia

A reviewer actually asked me what Sasuke thinks of the video, so I thought that it was a cool bonus segment I could add into the chapter of him seeing it. Old man Sasuke still has a way with the ladies!

OK so about Karin, Suigetsu, and their son. I totally ship the two of them so I couldn't control myself and I had to add them to this story. Their son's name, Shingetsu, means New Moon, which I found fitting for the new generation. I hope I didn't make Konohamaru seem too weak in this chapter, but I wanted to emphasize how tricky the Hōzuki clans technique is. And Lightning Style is the only nature Konohamaru hasn't learned. YET.

I also wanted to introduce the possibility of romance in this chapter. I haven't decided how much emphasis I plan on putting on the romance, but it for sure will be there. And a few people pointed it out to me that Boruto is a prodigy and I know! I just needed a way to put Boruto and Sarada on a team while still following the rules set in place way back in episode 3 of the original show. The teams need balance, so realistically speaking, there is no reason two geniuses should be on the same team. UNLESS one of those geniuses did poorly on purpose to manipulate the results. I know I probably should have addressed this earlier but I couldn't think of the right way to do it.

Sarada definitely inherited her fathers charm; the boys cant help but fall for her! Sarada also inherited her disinterest in dating those who like her from both of her parents (Sasuke with every woman and Sakura with any guy not Sasuke (namely Naruto and Lee)).

ALSO, I have been reading the new Naruto Gaiden, but this story is not going to include things introduced after Chapter 700, just so I don't stumble over myself and have inconsistencies in my story. So for example, the largest difference between this story and the main story is the Sarada knows her father here. And the obvious Heishi/Mitsuki as the third teammate. These things will NOT change, but things such as Chōchō's personality will be included because I haven't really shown Chōchō much. If that all makes sense.