A/n: Just so you know, I don't like to write action scenes because I've rather seen them than reading them so I don't feel so comfortable writing that kind of scenes – as others but it doesn't matter in this story – an since the focus was in Boruto and Sarada's relationship I will be doing some time skips, I hope that it doesn't bother you and enjoy the fic as it is. Maybe I'll try to write something with action, but I'll do it in another fic, or maybe in form of snippets of this verse, if you like the idea enough.
Third Leaf: Team work.
Sarada was on cloud nine the next morning, finally her family was complete after years of only being her mother and her. She even had the opportunity to ask her father about the test.
"They wanted to know if you're capable to work in team" He said when she asked about why they needed to do another test apart of the graduation's, "I didn't like it too"
Her mother snorted next to him, "We didn't know the meaning of the test until the end, if not for Naruto's stomach and ability to annoy your father we wouldn't have passed"
"Hokage-sama?"
"The dobe ended tied in a tree's trunk, Kakashi gave your mother and I lunch and prohibit to give something to Naruto" Her father said scowling, "Naruto's stomach was loud and it was disturbing me"
"Your father made me to give Naruto food" Mother finished with a smile, "Then Kakashi-sensei appeared, with a shunshin, scaring us just to tell us that we had passed"
"It was a waste of time" Sasuke mumbled.
"It was the beginning of the Team 7" Sakura corrected.
Sarada could see the little smile in her father's face and thought that maybe tomorrow's test was not so bad.
. .
Boruto was the first to arrive, weirdly enough since he thought that Sarada would be the first like in the Academy, but he wouldn't waste the opportunity to be alone. Being with the Uchiha was exhausting, almost as bad as being with his old man.
"Yo!" Mitsuki greeted him twenty minutes after his arrival.
"Morning" Boruto grinned, "What do you think the test will be about?"
"No idea, I only know it would be such a hassle"
"You're beginning to sound like Shikadai" Boruto pointed and gained a punch from his friend.
They continued their mock fighting until their sensei and the last member of their team arrived to the meeting point in the training zone 49. They seemed to be in a congenial talk – yep just like the Academy, Sarada was a teacher's pet – until their sensei saw them and stop talking to the girl to greet the boys.
"Good morning, ready for the test?" Sarutobi-sensei asked seriously.
"Yeah" Boruto answered with a smirk, Sarutobi-sensei only shock his head while murmuring something that sound suspiciously like 'just like his father' which put Boruto in bad mood.
"What we have to do sensei?" Mitsuki asked ignoring the growl of his best friend, "Morning Sarada-chan"
"Mitsuki-kun" Sarada said acknowledging the boy.
Boruto saw his face with a glance that could only mean betrayal, how his friend could greet normally to his best friend's rival-enemy. Mitsuki seeing the other's hurt smiled without saying something, Boruto sometimes was just so dense – as Sarada-chan said – and innocent that he couldn't resist teasing the blonde.
"Well let's begin" Sarutobi-sensei said as his genin team reached for their kunai.
Maybe they weren't as hopeless as he thought, but they certainly would be a challenge for the man.
. .
They passed the exam, even if in the beginning it was troublesome and they only seemed to work in team when it was Boruto-Mitsuki or Sarada-Mitsuki time to get in action, it certainly was a disaster when Boruto and Sarada tried to work together.
At least that could be corrected with training and time, guessed the young Sarutobi, so he approved the team 7 without any major problems.
"We need to work in team strategies and chakra control, we will begin your regime training tomorrow at eight so come well rested and take a nutritional breakfast, try to eat a lot of proteins"
"Hai sensei" The genin team said at unison.
Yeah they were not so hopeless.
. .
Sasuke arrived late to the Hokage's office and he didn't care, for things like this Naruto remembered why he didn't like Sasuke in the beginning, the prick.
"I could find some of the bases and gather accurate intel" Sasuke said bored, all of this he already wrote in his report so he didn't know why the dobe insisted in hearing it again, "They're experimenting in ninjas and civilians alike, I didn't find yet what they're searching for but their experiments were similar to those Orochimaru did in search for the immortality, so I recommend to contact him and let him read our intel"
"Do you think that he won't betray us?" Naruto asked conflicted.
"He could do it in the war or in the reconstruction but he proved that he was neutral at least" Sasuke shrugged, "We can retain some of the information if you fear for a leak"
"Okay, I will send him the intel"
The Hokage just hoped that Sasuke was right and Orochimaru didn't return to his infamous ways.
. .
In the past years Boruto begun to learn to not expect something from his father, his presence in the Academy's events, in the dinner, in his birthday. There were a lot of things more important for the Hokage than pass time with his family. So he was unsurprised when his father didn't attend to his graduation and also didn't come to dinner in the next days.
Even though he was accustomed, he still couldn't make it painless.
When he arrived to home after the test, he was immediately greeted with a hug from his imotou that almost made him fall and the sweet little smile of his mother.
"Welcome home, Boruto-kun" Hinata said smiling and arranging her son's hair when he removed his headband.
"Hello mom" he murmured embarrassed.
"Did you pass the test?" Himawari asked excitedly.
"Yeah, of course I passed dattebasa!"
"Awesome, I'd like to see it, I bet Sarada-chan was so cool"
"WHAT?! How could you betray your big brother? I was the one who was awesome" Boruto shouted.
"Hai, hai" His sister grunted disinterested.
Hinata shacked her head amused, it have always been entertaining how Boruto reacted when Sarada-chan was mentioned. His son always became more aware of his surroundings when the other girl was next and he was flustered when someone praised the girl instead of him, it was a mix of jealousy and another thing that was still developing in her son.
"Did you discover the meaning of the test?" Hinata asked, his son was too proud to ask even if she noticed that he wanted to do it, he was so cute.
"Teamwork"
"Hai, a team without bonds it's a team that will not work in the field, or at least not to its all potential"
Boruto smiled, but he didn't tell his mom that he couldn't think in a quickly way to learn to work with the Uchiha, they were like water and oil they couldn't mingle that easily.
"Let's go to dine" His mom said motion them to go to the dinner room.
"Will we not wait for dad?" His sister asked without a smile.
"Your father have to stay late dear, he told me to tell you that he is sorry and he will dinner with us tomorrow"
"As if" Boruto said angry, "He is always working, there are a lot of things more important than his family"
"Your father love us…"
"If he really loved us, he could at least try to pretend that he still lived in this house instead of his office"
'If he really loved us, he could try to remember that we exist', he thought and left to his room without saying anything more and without eating dinner.
That old man always ruined everything.
. .
"I worked the best with Mitsuki-kun, he was smart and could anticipate what I wanted to do without me telling him" Sarada said, "Boruto in the other way was a pain to work with, always making random and useless moves and trying to do all alone, he worked a little better with Mitsuki-kun, but I believe that it was thanks to Mitsuki-kun's abilities rather than real collaboration from that dobe"
"Sounds like his father" Sasuke said after hearing his daughter, "Naruto was rather problematic to work with a plan, he was more like act before think"
"Though, he progressed in team work with time" Sakura intervened, "It will be the same with Boruto-kun, but you have to make and effort too Sarada-chan"
"Yes mom" Sarada said resigned, "Hn, well the team is not hopeless, Mitsuki-kun was above average in the Academy and Boruto did it good in the individual test"
"Thankfully he did not inherit Naruto's idiocy" Sasuke deadpanned, Sakura just smiled but not disagreed it "Who is that Mitsuki guy by the way?"
Sarada mentioned him a lot of times and he seemed to be in the best regards of his daughter. Sakura could see the beginning of his husband protectiveness towards their daughter, maybe now Sarada would began to regret that her dad passed more time in the village.
"A classmate" Both of them could hear the 'duh' in their daughter's answer.
Sasuke said not more and continue to dine, he could always go and harassed Naruto for information.
. .