We go forth with the adventure ^^

Fair warning that you will encounter quite a bit of OCs from now on. As I mentioned a few times already, this story was created long before Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, so these characters were a necessity. I'm not going to introduce them seperately each chapter, so just know that they are shared between 3 friends.

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.

...

"Yo, outta the way, incoming!"

"Watch out!"

Himawari just had a second to shrink against the wall as, first, Mitsuki then Boruto rushed down the stairs, their speed making her hair sway.

"Not fair, 'ttebasa, you cheated!"

Mitsuki chuckled. "I wasn't cheating."

"You yanked my hair!"

"Boys!" Himawari scolded, folding her arms in front of her chest. "Breakfast is ready and God help me if I ever catch you horsing around mom."

"No time, Hima," Boruto ruffled his sister's hair as he passed by, earning himself a scowl. "Lord Hokage is waiting."

Hinata looked up as the ruckus moved to the kitchen. A blond blur moved past the counter, grabbing a sandwich from the plate. "Hi mom, bye mom!"

Mitsuki paused only long enough for a couple of words. "See you both after the mission."

As the front door slammed behind them, Himawari walked to her mother's side. "Those two are awfully perky today."

"It must be the hype of the exams. They can't wait to become Chuunins." Hinata gazed behind her boys fondly. "Let's just wish the best for both of them."

...

"Come on, Mitsuki, we're gonna be late!" Boruto checked his watch, sweat dripping from his cheek. "Dad specifically said we should come early!"

Mitsuki, who was only half listening to him, suddenly looked up. "Boruto, look out!"

It was a second too late. The next step the blond took, a huge net fell right over him, making him tumble and fall forward. Completely appalled, Boruto raised his hands to touch the trap. "What the... where did this even come from?"

"Are you sure you are a ninja?"

With the new voice, the boys both looked up. Soon, the owner of the voice dropped down from a tree. It was a girl about their age, with flaming red hair braided down her back and a slender body. Putting one hand on her hip, she looked down at the blond with a big smirk on her face.

"Honestly, how come you didn't notice this trap? I didn't even put the biggest effort into it."

"How was I supposed to know a net would fall out of the sky, 'ttebasa?" Boruto exclaimed as he used a kunai to cut through the ropes.

"Your friend here saw through it, though." The girl looked Mitsuki up and down. "My compliments."

"Who are you?" The blue haired boy, too, was looking at the newcomer intently. "I don't see your headband, neither have I seen you around Konoha before... What's your purpose?"

"The name is Akane. As for my purpose..." She turned her back to them, braid swinging as she did so, but not before giving them a wink. "I'd say you will find out soon enough."

As she jumped back to the trees, Mitsuki spoke to his best friend. "What was this all about?"

"I guess some kid just wanted to mess around." Boruto grumbled. "Come on, Mitsuki, let's go."

...

Inojin looked around at the approach of footsteps. "Oh hey, chubs. I was wondering where you've been."

"How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that, Inojin?" Chocho grumbled. "Sensei..." She gave a small bow to Moegi. "Any idea why we were called here today?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Inojin looked at the woman too. "It has got to do something with the exams, right?"

"Sensei, will we get to compete?" the Akimichi asked quickly before Moegi could answer, to which the woman shook her head.

"I don't know the details myself. Come on, let's not wait any longer."

...

"A mission?"

Shikamaru chuckled - it was only too clear that what Team Moegi expected was not this. "You thought you were here for the exams, didn't you?"

"Well... yeah." Inojin was, as always, honest to the end.

"To be able to compete in the exams, as you know, you need a third member to your team. So take this mission as an opportunity to get used to each other. Because-"

"You found us a third member?" Chocho yelped in excitement.

"Indeed." The Nara looked towards the door. "You may enter."

As soon as she saw who entered, Chocho gave a small cry of shock and jumped back, as far away from the door as possible. "Whoa whoa whoa, what's going on, what is HE doing here?"

At the doorway stood a boy around their age with white-blue hair and a slightly stocky build. His face held an almost emotionless expression, although intelligence could be seen behind his eyes, which shone scarlet with the telltale sharingan.

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. "His name is Shinrou. He will be your teammate for the exams."

"Are you kidding me?!"

"Chocho," Moegi was quick to scold her student. "Be respectful, and keep your voice down."

"But Moegi-sensei-"

"If this is any sort of consolation," Shinrou's voice was just like his expression - blank, with only a hint of sarcasm in it. "I do not particularly enjoy this arrangement either."

"Hey, I didn't say I have an objection."

"Not you too, Inojin!"

"In any case," Shikamaru raised his voice over the teens. "You don't have any choice. It's either you accept this arrangement and complete the mission, or you withdraw from the upcoming exams."

A complete silence fell over the genins before Chocho spoke up once again. "Shikamaru-san, is, umm... is Boruto's team completed?"

"That is not of your concern. Do you accept the mission, or do you not?"

Wordlessly, all the three genins nodded. Shikamaru broke into a smile.

"Alright then... good luck."

...

Boruto could barely contain his curiosity as Naruto continued to sign the paperwork. The suspense was starting to kill him... "Lord Seventh..."

Naruto smiled a little, his son had come a long way over the past year. "In a moment, Boruto."

The tension in the room was rising high, but Boruto remained silent just as Mitsuki, while their father finished the work. At last, Naruto put his pen down and looked at them with a warm smile. "Alright, I have a mission for you."

"Just for the two of us?" Mitsuki asked in surprise.

"Not quite." He looked at the door as a knock sounded on it. "Come in."

And in walked the girl they had come across while getting here, with a small, almost smug smile on her face. Beside her walked a lady close to the Hokage's age.

"Meet Uzumaki Akane. She will be assigned to your team for the mission and the exams."

"Uzumaki...? But... wait," Boruto had a small frown on his face. "We met her already, but she is not a ninja!"

The girl rolled her eyes. "Of course I am a ninja, you baka. Maybe you should take a closer look at my ittae-atte."

The blond's mouth fell open. And indeed, on the hem of Akane's skirt was the telltale metal, with the sign of...

"Tsukigakure, huh?" Mitsuki said with interest, recognizing the symbol easily. "It's the first time we meet a ninja from the Moon Village."

"She is the student of Tsukino-san, an old friend of mine and the head of the village. She is also the only genin in her generation to apply for the exams. Take this mission as a chance to get to know each other and your abilities better. You're going to need it."

The boys nodded wordlessly - it was apparent that they were both intrigued. Naruto broke into a smile.

"Well then... good luck."

...

"I knew that there were Uzumaki descendants all around the ninja world, but I never knew there were some in Tsukigakure."

"It's just me and my family, though. I have an older brother, he wasn't interested in ninja training. He raises flowers instead."

"Really?" Although he had considered not choosing the ninja path himself, it felt somehow unorthodox for the boy in the family to not choose this life while the girl did. "So do we get to see the legendary Uzumaki abilities? I wish I could learn some." The longing was evident in the blond's voice.

"Heh, let me have the element of surprise, will you? I'm pretty sure I won't let you down. No, you know what?" The girl's tone had become excited, a glint of almost fervor in her eyes. "We're going to be the best team put together for the exams, I know it! We'll ace this!"

Boruto wasn't ready for the glomp that suddenly came from behind - so much so that he actually stumbled forward.

"Geez, steady yourself," he grumbled out of habit.

"She reminds me of you a lot."Mitsuki said with a low chuckle, which earned him a half-glare from the blond.

"We are nothing like each other, 'ttebasa!"

...

Naruto had always loved springtime.

It was time for new beginnings, a chance given to nature to start anew after long harsh winters, for new sprouts to bloom and greet the sun for the first time, and for the animals to grow out of their stupor and become active once again.

And of course, as usual, nature inevitably affected humans, too. The dawn of the new life made the people livelier, enabling them to have new resolutions, a new point of view.

It was also right before spring that he and Hinata met, the Hokage remembered with a small smile. Granted, they were but small children back then, but now that he looked back at it, he could say, without a doubt, that the day he decided to help the "shy little freak" against those bullies had been a cornerstone in their lives, bringing them closer in ways they only managed to understand as they grow into their adult shoes.

So it was only fitting that their son would step into an examination that would determine his path as a ninja during spring, too. He sighed, trying not to show how nervous he was. "Is everything ready?"

Shikamaru was right beside him, watching him with a bemused expression. It didn't go amiss from his advisor that he was indeed a little edgy. "Yes. All of the jounins are positioned, and according to my calculations, they will arrive there in about five minutes."

"Good... good." Naruto said, which made the Nara laugh.

"Relax, Naruto. I'm sure they're going to be just fine. It's only your nerves speaking because of the new addition to the team."

"Easy for you to say," the blond said almost indignantly. "You don't have to worry since Shikadai is already a chuunin."

Shikamaru shrugged. "At least you know that Boruto will do anything to one you up."

"Gee, thanks."

At that moment, they heard a voice over the communication system. "This is Takei, reporting from post eight. The target is in our line of view."

Without realizing it, Naruto had straightened up a little. Feeling Shikamaru's eyes on him, knowing that he was waiting for his signal, he cleared his throat. "Alright... let's get this show on the road."

And with that, the big screens in the room turned on, showing them the faces of three young genins and a very tall, very fancy-looking woman in her twenties.

"Are we there yet, dears?" the woman was saying in a high-pitched, annoying tone. "I really don't want to miss the festival."

Naruto watched as his son, undoubtedly, tried not to roll his eyes. Apparently, this has not been a pleasant trip so far. Akane relieved him of the necessity of further speech when she decided to cut in. "It is not too far from here, ma'am. Only about ten more minutes of walking."

"Oh, no need to call me ma'am, you silly girl!" the client said with a giggle, and just like that, the girl stiffened too. "Just Akemi is enough."

"Isn't Akemi enjoying this a little… too much?" Naruto mumbled, a drop of sweat running down his cheek.

"Leave it to Konoha's number one undercover kunoichi," his advisor replied. The woman was promoted to an elite jounin not two years ago and she was already good.

Naruto sighed yet again. This... was not going to be easy on the kids. Well, it was high time he started to think out of the box, to accept them for what they are... they were about to become chuunins. Or rather, in a couple of weeks they hopefully will, this test was just a... premonition of sorts of what they will be facing at the exams, which were going to be held in Suna. This would give the participating genins the opportunity of their lives - a great chance to prove themselves in front of spectators who could give them jobs. However, only the best teams out of the best were going to be assigned to the specific test on Gaara's mind, and this made-up mission was to see if the teams would qualify. So far, to his immense pride, all Konoha rookies who took the test had passed.

Still, he couldn't help but be anxious for his own son's team.

To be fair, he had his reasons. What if it was too early for Mitsuki? Sakura gave him the go when they completed his most critical treatment a month ago and he knew for a fact that Orochimaru was also on the case, but the doubt was still there.

And then there was Akane... the Hokage had to admit that he was amazed to find another Uzumaki in a village this far away, and she had saved him the trouble of making a choice between two excellent teams. And while he was more than a little curious to see her Uzumaki abilities... it was a fact that she was a new addition. It was unclear if they could cooperate.

And his son... if something happened to his teammates, Boruto was an easy target for distraction.

"So what was this festival about, anyway?" he heard Akane ask, apparently trying to be on good terms with the client no matter what.

"Oh, it is something unique to this village. You see, every winter you can see magnificent ice sculptures here, real pieces of art... but every spring, you can also come here to watch them melt and be collected as a water source." Seeing the team's confused looks, she continued explaining. "Summertime is mostly very dry in this area. Sometimes they just-"

Just then, it started.

Before they could reach the line of trees that marked the small moor beyond, where their targeted village lay, explosive tags that had been placed around the area were set off, causing the team to immediately go into guarding positions, keen eyes searching everywhere.

A barricade of kunais was thrown, right where Akemi was standing, but Akane was quick to notice it. Doing a quick set of hand signs,she made a wall of earth solid as rock rose in front of their client, protecting her from the onslaught of the blades.

Mitsuki was quick to activate his sensor abilities and could immediately detect the two ninjas lunging at him. Thinking quickly, the boy took out two fistfuls of shurikens and threw them at their direction, which they easily dodged... then he pulled the thin strings attached to the throwing stars, making them collide in a practiced motion and forcing them to change direction, coming back towards the ninjas. With a poof sound, they disappeared - revealing themselves to be nothing more than clones. The real ones were right behind, already weaving hand signs...

Boruto was ready for that, a fact that made his father's chest swell with pride when he saw the three clones of the younger blond rush to his teammate's aid. A basic water technique rushed to match the fire jutsu that was created, and a light smoke covered the area.

"Boruto, look out!" the younger blond then heard Akane's voice, but he was saved by the quick thinking of his best friend. As he turned back, a gust of wind - that he knew had been created by Mitsuki - swept the man that was trying to sneak up on him and sent him flying. Two more jumped out of the smoke, forcing Boruto into a gentle fist stance.

Akane was still with the woman they were protecting. She looked at her from the corner of her eyes, wincing as hit after hit shook the earth barrier. "Any ideas why they would be attacking us?"

"I do come from a family with a strong bloodline-"

"Get down!" the redhead warned, she had just noticed another man swiping at them from above - and this woman was tall! Turning around quickly and drawing another kunai, she forgot to cover her back as she rushed to defend the client...

"Akane - watch out!" Thrusting his arm forward, half a dozen snakes erupted from Mitsuki's sleeves and snapped at the attacker that had just breached the wall. Distracted for a moment, the girl looked back.

It was enough. The man on the trees dropped down to the ground, grabbing Akemi by the shoulder and pulling her back to him, putting a kunai to her throat. "Looks like you guys lost this battle."

Shikamaru groaned. "Ah... they were actually going good."

Naruto closed his eyes briefly - he had hoped for a moment there... "Oh well... At least they can go and enjoy the festival now. They really will not have an easy time from now on."

...

Hoping to see some reviews folks x3