*Keeping to my promise of a weekly update*

Alright my dear readers, here we continue with this adventure. In this chapter there will be brief introductions to some of our original characters. I have stated this before in the beginning of Sacrifices, but me and two friends have quite a bit of OCs in the stories. That's because these stories were planned way before Boruto anime and manga were officially announced and we knew nothing about the next gen teams.

We immensely enjoyed creating them. I hope you enjoy learning about them.

Also a kind reminder that in our story Sarada is *also* a Chuunin.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, Boruto: Naruto Next Generations and any of the canon information from these series. The original characters you will encounter are shared by me and my two friends.

...

"It's fine now, Sarada," Sakura said with a soft smile, patting her daughter's hand. "You will run yourself to bed with all your duties and babysitting me all night."

"No, it's fine mama." Sarada mused while returning the smile. Then she rubbed Sakura's noticeable belly. "Just take good care of them, and I'll take care of you."

"It feels like we've switched roles," Sakura giggled. "You will have gray hair if you go on like this. You will look older than me."

Sarada laughed good-naturedly at her mother's tease. "Just you wait until the twins are born. Or, God forbid, when you're a grandmother. I bet you'll be ten times worse than me. Do you remember-?"

The pink haired woman put up a hand. "I'm still way too young for the grandma talk, young miss, so you will stop right there. Unless…"

Sarada was taken aback to see the mischievous glint in her mother's eyes, even more so when the woman scooted a little closer to her. "Sarada... Saradaaaa~"

The girl felt a drop of sweat on her cheek. "What? Why are you so scary all of a sudden, mama?"

"Is there something you want to tell mama? Maybe including a cute boy, hmmm?"

"No! Mama, why do you have all these ideas out of the blue?"

"Why are you going all red then? And your voice is getting all high-pitched~"

"It's not-"

A loud knock on the window made them both jump. "Who could it be at this hour...?"

"On a second story window?" Sarada was smiling a little as she walked to the window, glad for the interruption. She would owe Mitsuki one. "I can only think of one person."

And indeed, as soon as she opened the window, Mitsuki barged right in. "Sarada... Sakura-san..."

Sakura was on her feet in a second, supporting her belly, her mischievous look immediately replaced with professional seriousness. "What is it? Is there an emergency at the hospital - do you need my help?"

"No, and no," the blue haired boy replied with a smile. "I came with good news."

...

That was how they found themselves in the sitting room five minutes later, Sakura sprawled on the sofa, Sarada perched on its arm and Mitsuki sitting on the armchair facing them, barely containing his excitement by twirling his fingers as Sakura checked on the reports he brought.

"This certainly looks promising," the woman said after a while. "To think that the solution was right under our noses all this time..."

"What is it exactly, mama?" Sarada asked, leaning a little closer.

"It's a herbal plant by the name of Rioka," Sakura said, giving the clipboard to her daughter. "Not native to Konoha, but it should be easy enough to come across in a small village to the north. Also known as magic herb, an ailment in many injuries. We just have to extract its sap and distillate it to create the cure."

"How come it was never considered before, then?"

"Because it was never proven to target the specific symptoms of this disease. But all the research was completed just minutes ago." Sakura couldn't help but giggle at the eagerness in her student's tone. "And the village is only about an hour or so away. I and Kazuki-san already sort of brought a team together so if you just give us permission-"

"Oh, I do." the woman interrupted. "But on the condition that you go in the morning."

It almost seemed like Mitsuki deflated a little. "But... we're all set to go tonight, there's really nothing that prevents-"

"Except for a lack of sleep. Not under my watch, young man." Sakura's almost scolding tone turned understanding. Mitsuki was so like her in the sense that he wanted to help people endlessly, even at the cost of his own needs. "Go and get a little rest. I get constant updates from the hospital, the patients are stable, they won't worsen overnight."

"And you are the one to tell me to take a rest." Mitsuki shook his head, there was nothing to do. "As you wish, Sakura-san."

...

At dawn, it was to a larger than usual entourage that the research team was leaving the village. Along with Sakura, Sarada and some medics, Naruto, Boruto and Shikamaru were there too. The Hokage and his son had both their arms crossed with identical looks of worry on their faces.

"I should be coming with you too, 'ttebasa," the younger Uzumaki all but grumbled, squaring his shoulders a little.

"Boruto, it will all be over in maybe half a day. Honestly, maybe not even that. You will be bored." Mitsuki gave his brother a small smile. "Do you remember when we had to protect a group of merchants-"

"This is my mom, Mitsuki." Boruto knew perfectly well that the blue haired boy was trying to ease the tension, to cheer him up, but he was far from feeling calm, not yet. He turned to his father. "Dad, can't I-"

"I would if I could." Naruto mumbled with an almost childish pout. "But Shikamaru will have my head if I set foot out of the village today."

"You are quite right, I will." Shikamaru said seriously. "You know what's in store for today and I'm not dealing with it alone."

"See? I have no love here."

Those gathered couldn't help but smile. "Have some faith in them, won't you," Sakura said with a proud look at the team and especially her pupil. "They are practically the best medic team for this job. They will find the herb and complete the cure in no time."

"It's not a question of trust, Aunt Sakura, and you know it." Drawing a deep breath, Boruto locked eyes with his best friend. "I trust you completely with my mother's life. Complete the mission and come back as soon as you can." He raised his fist to in front of him.

Smiling slightly, Mitsuki bumped his fist to the blond's. "Don't worry, Boruto." Then he turned to Naruto. "Lord Seventh, we won't return until we find the cure."

The Hokage put his hands on Mitsuki's shoulders. "I have no doubts about it." Giving them a little squeeze, he stepped back. "Go safely, my son."

...

Shikamaru watched as Naruto shuffled his feet towards his desk and slumped behind it on the chair, face in his hands. "I'm sorry, I would've said we could do this another time but... there really isn't much time left."

"I know," came the blond's muffled voice. "I will be fine, just give me a moment."

The Nara complied with his wish and remained silent. Indeed, after a moment Naruto lowered his hands to glance at him.

"Okay. Let's do this."

Nodding, Shikamaru pushed forth the folders he was holding. Naruto took them in his hands and spread them on his desk. "So these are the applicants this year?"

"Yes. Five teams in total. And pretty strong ones at that." Shikamaru chuckled. "I dare say there's a strong chance they will all make chuunins."

"Wouldn't that be interesting to see," Naruto mused with a smile of his own. He took one of the folders in his hands.

"That's Tenten's team," his advisor started. "You of course know Lee's son, Metal, who makes them powerful in taijutsu."

"And this kid, Fuuto... he's trained specially by Tenten, no?"

"True. After he... lost his parents during Momoshiki's attack in the previous exams, the kid trained very hard to perfect his weapons technique. And I believe you will recognize the last member."

"A Kosetsu." The Hokage acknowledged with a nod. "Their ice technique rivals even ninjas from Yukigakure itself."

"Naruto... they are Yukigakure descendants after all."

"Right... which brings us to the other team."Naruto took another of the files. "Team Hanabi. This kid here, Hideyuki, he's a Kosetsu too."

"Not just any Kosetsu. Aside from being the leader's son, he and Asahi," the Nara pointed at Team Tenten's folder. "are also cousins. I don't know how close they are, though."

Naruto groaned. "Let's hope this does not turn into another Neji versus Hinata."

"No... in any case, I do hope they won't come face to face. And of course you know Sumire."

A fond look came over Naruto's eyes. "I hear nothing but good reports from Hanabi and Sai. She really came around after Ino and Sai took her in."

"Yep. And Iwabe... He's very efficient in earth based ninjutsu. Although... still rather hot-tempered, I'd say."

Naruto nodded before moving on to the next folder. "Oh. So Kiba's team is competing this year, huh?"

"Yeah. They didn't participate in the previous exams because Kiba didn't think Beika was ready, and his teammates didn't want to enter without him."

"A loyalty almost rivaling Team Konohamaru then," Naruto smiled, remembering only too clearly how Boruto and Sarada reacted when he assigned Beika with them for a very simple mission.

"Indeed. But Beika really improved his shield jutsu from that time on, so now they're in. Of course there is Kaede, an Inuzuka..."

"I believe Kiba trained her himself?" The female teammate, essentially a big Kiba fan-girl, was the reason their friend agreed to a sensei position after all.

"True. So Beika is shield, Kaede is speed... and then we have Raiden, who is basically a prodigy with his lightning technique. Kakashi trained him himself."

"Did he now?" Surprise coated the Hokage's tone. His sensei only took one disciple after his retirement.

"They had a rocky start since the kid is a little... in over his head," Shikamaru said with a sweat drop on his forehead. "But Kakashi only has good things to say about him now. Even taught him a special technique by the sound of it."

"Mm-hmm." There was an odd sort of look that crossed the blond's face for the briefest of moments, as if he was in on a secret, but it passed quickly. Shikamaru decided not to elaborate - there were more pressing matters.

"Now, as you know... we have two very urgent problems to solve."

"Yes..." Naruto sighed. That was the primary reason he dragged his feet to the office today. Glancing at the last two folders, he pulled them to in front of him. "Teams Konohamaru and Moegi..."

"Sarada and Shikadai are both Chuunins, they can't take the exam again. Unfortunately... we have only one more eligible potential participant." Shikamaru held out a piece of paper.

Taking it in his hand, Naruto's eyes widened slightly. "Huh... that's interesting."

"Kabuto and his sensei both reported surprisingly superb ratings of him, especially in genjutsu. Which is understandable, really, since he is a Shin clone."

"Shinrou." Naruto clarified, reading the name from the application form. "Decent taijutsu statistics too. Problem is..." he put the form on his desk. "Which team to assign him to?"

"Naturally, Boruto and Mitsuki are already used to working with a Sharingan user." The Nara put in quickly. "To be fair though... this could be an unfair advantage if we want to... push them all to their limits."

Naruto was quick to understand what he was on about. "You're thinking about Gaara's message."

Shikamaru shrugged. "There's no telling what they'll face in Suna, especially in that desert in the second part of the exam. Especially with the... conditions we discussed. Maybe working with a complete stranger would better prepare them for the challenges."

"Or maybe working with familiar techniques would get better results." The Hokage was thoughtful. "In any case... there's only one more applicant."

"Which means one of the teams will have to draw back."

The two looked at each other.

"Want to be the one to break it to them?"

"Yeah, no, I don't think so," Shikamaru said with a laugh. "This is all on you. It will be a hard toss between them."

"Call it impossible." Naruto gazed at the four faces, trying to choose his words to explain the situation to the genins.

A knock on the door snapped him out of his thoughts. "Enter," he said without looking up.

A jounin walked in. "Lord Hokage, there is a lady out here requesting an audience. She said she was an old acquaintance of yours."

...

Rushing to the hospital, Sarada came to a halt when she saw her friend and his sister in front of the building. "Boruto... I just heard the news..."

"Yes. They came back." Boruto quipped, nervous, wringing his hands together. "Mitsuki is with my mom now... We will hear the news soon enough. I think."

Sarada couldn't help it. He rushed forward to give him a big hug. Although appalled for a moment, the blond raised his hands to grab her waist too.

Himawari coughed. "Guys, this is nice and all but I'm still here."

The friends broke apart, a little red around the ears. "You should spend less time around Mitsuki, 'ttebasa," the blond mumbled grumpily. "Just when did you get so cheeky?"

"I'm not cheeky. I'm just being realistic."

Boruto huffed, then walked forward to put his arms on the guard railings, leaning forward a little. The girls were by his side the next second.

"Mom is gonna be alright," Himawari said in a determined tone, putting her hand on her brother's shoulder.

"I know. I told this to him too, I trust Mitsuki completely."

"That's not just it, is it?" Sarada mused. "The exams are drawing near."

"And we are still a two-men team." The boy let out his breath in a long sigh. "What if we don't get to compete at all?"

"Nonsense." The Uchiha's fierce tone made the blond raise his eyebrows at her. "Come on, Boruto, there is always the odd participant in any given year. They'll find someone to complete the team, they have to!"

Boruto had a small smile on his face, an almost fond one. "We will never be the same without you, though."

And Sarada felt her face growing hot again, this was so embarrassing... "Just promise me you two will end up in the final round against each other."

Even Himawari had to chuckle at that. Then they heard the doors sliding open. "It's great to see you all in a good mood."

The trio all turned back, and the girl actually let out a squeal. "Mom! Are you alright?"

"Better than alright." Face alight with bliss, Hinata put both her hands to her belly. "We... I and your little sister, Hotaru... are both perfectly healthy."

"Sister?" Boruto asked in awe, looking up at his mother.

"Hotaru?" Himawari mused.

"That's right." Naruto had his arm around Mitsuki's shoulder, a radiant smile on his face. "Our little firefly will be with us in no time thanks to Mitsuki and his team." Then he donned a more serious expression. "Boys, I want both of you to report to me early next morning. There will be a briefing about the Chuunin exams - and a mission."

...

This is all for now and eagerly looking forward to your comments! Keep safe people x3