Teamwork

It has been just over five minutes since Kakashi left. All three of them were sweaty from the bell test given to them. They were also extremely hungry, hence both Boruto and Wasabi could be seen munching down on their lunchboxes.

Meanwhile, Iwabee was still tied to the tree trunk, as he tries his best to stop drooling over the smell of the food. Though whenever Boruto or Wasabi catches him looking, he would turn his head away, create a straight face, and pretend that he didn't even care about their lunchboxes. It was painstakingly obvious.

"Here. You can have this." Wasabi used her chopsticks to pick up a small piece of one of her sausages and offer it to Iwabee.

Iwabee stared at the juicy looking sausage for a few seconds, until he regained his composure. To which, he turned his head away, refusing it.

"Hey Wasabi, didn't you hear what Kakashi-sensei said? You're gonna get punished too if you feed him." Boruto mentions to her.

"It's fineee! He's not even here anyway…" Wasabi continued trying to feed Iwabee. "Besides, as a team shouldn't we always try to find a loophole where all of us can win?"

She had an innocent face while handing him her food, even trying to forcefully shove it in his mouth. Nevertheless, Iwabee continued to avoid her offering. But she kept trying, even dragging the sausage across his face making it oily.

"…Haaaa… You idiot, if you want him to eat, don't be so stingy and give a larger portion." Boruto eventually decides to grab an entire piece of shrimp using his chopsticks and present it to Iwabee's face.

To Boruto, Wasabi was most of the time an airhead. But once in a while, she says some things that weirdly made sense to him. Plus, her honest and simple nature made it hard for him to not get persuaded.

With Boruto dangling a large portion of shrimp around Iwabee's mouth, he shortly gave in to temptation as he devoured the entire thing in one bite. Passionately chewing on it, his face looked as if it was the best thing he's ever ate.

Meanwhile, Wasabi was struggling with herself as she tries her best to resist her stomach's desires and give Iwabee a larger portion of her sausage.

"H-here…" she says, with her fingers shaking along with the chopsticks while trying to feed him.

Boruto chuckled a bit seeing her this way. Food was one of the things she absolutely loved, and seeing how she was trying her best to resist being stingy, amused him.

Iwabee looked over at Wasabi and seeing her try her best to feed him, moved him in a way. "Thank you." he says, before gobbling up the sausage.

But at that very moment, a huge pile of smoke suddenly busted up in front of them and out came Kakashi with a terrifying expression.

"Didn't I tell you both not to feed him?!" he suddenly appeared, and yelled at them furiously.

"I-It's not what it looks like! I forced them to give me food!" Iwabee cries out, with a desperate expression.

"Huh? No you didn't?! I fed you cause I wanted to!" Wasabi talks back at Iwabee, confused.

"…Shut up Wasabi…" Iwabee whispers to her. "I'm the scum who broke the rules! Just give me the punishment."

Meanwhile, Boruto was overlooking the situation. Something didn't seem right to him. Why was he still here? Was he testing us? A hint of regret was materializing in his mind. Should he have not fed Iwabee, he thought in his head as sweat started dripping down his neck.

But this thought didn't last long, as Kakashi's face gradually became softer as he went from a scary expression to a happy, proud look.

"Iwabee… That's right. You're a scum who broke the rules." Kakashi walks over to him and cuts off the ropes, freeing Iwabee from the tree.

The three of them gave Kakashi a puzzled look, having no idea what was happening. Then, as Kakashi walks back, he glared intensely at them with a stern face, and folds his arms.

"But those who abandon their friends are even worse than scum! You all pass!" he shouts, then raises his hand to give a thumbs-up.

There was a moment of silence as the three shinobis stood there baffled. It was not until Wasabi busted into laugher as the other two looked over and eventually joined her.

Kakashi looks at the three joyfully laughing and smiles. Before he decided to accept becoming the Team Leader for this squad, he initially heard how much of a nightmare it would be to teach them.

Iwabee Yuino, the most rebellious youth in the Academy. With a body that already looks like that of an adult, he even scared off most of the teachers.

Wasabi Izuno, who seems allergic to studying and had one of the worst academic grades in the Academy. Somehow, she managed to improve for the final exam. Though, a few teachers suspect that she cheated.

Then Boruto Uzimaki… Known as a child genius, some of the teachers felt inferior because there was nothing they could teach him; being the Hokage's child also added to their fear. His motivation seemed to lack a lot but the teachers didn't know how to discipline someone like him who made sure he was never failing.

These three would have been assigned to one of the new, inexperienced Jōnins who never led a squad before. Being the last three 'leftovers' for the class when deciding the squad arrangements, there was no one else remaining who felt comfortable teaching them. A few Jōnins, like Konohamaru, did volunteer but they were already assigned.

This was when Kakashi overheard one of their conversations and offered himself as the Team Leader. He had a slight peak in curiosity hearing about them. Though, it would be a lie to say he wasn't particularly interested in Boruto, Naruto's firstborn. The last time he ever led a squad was with Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura.

As he looks over at the documents regarding the three new Genins for Team 11, a sort of nostalgia hits him as he wonders about what the future could hold for them and himself.

….

After waving goodbye to Wasabi, Boruto continued walking on his usual path along with Iwabee. There was an awkward silence between the two with Wasabi no longer around. But weirdly enough, it was Iwabee who spoke up first.

"Hey. I…uh…wanted to thank you." Iwabee mutters out, while not making eye contact with Boruto.

"It's fine, I'm not really a big fan of shrimp anyway. I prefer-" Boruto replies, but he was cut short.

"No, not that! …I mean that too but…" Iwabee interrupts him, and a small blush could be seen on his face as he scratches his head. "Thanks for defending me from Kakashi-sensei… You said I was essential to the team."

Boruto was a bit surprised by how Iwabee was acting. He didn't really expect to see this side of him. But all of a sudden, a wave of remorse hits Boruto, as he remembers how his 'good act' of feeding him, was easily spoiled after he started regretting it when Kakashi showed up.

Not just that, during the bell test, he was even hesitating to help when Iwabee was fighting Kakashi alone. In every circumstance, including when he fed him the shrimp, he only began acting that way due to Wasabi's influence.

"I…uh…" Boruto started stumbling over his words. Iwabee looks over at him, slightly confused. "Iwabee… I'm not that type of per-"

But before he could say much, he was interrupted by a loud voice that was calling out to them. It was Iwabee's mother who was standing at the front porch when she noticed the two.

"Oh my! I didn't know you became friends with the Hokage's son!" She looked overjoyed.

"…I'll see you tomorrow Boruto." Iwabee pats Boruto's back as he goes into his house, along with his mother.

Boruto stood there for a couple of seconds, before eventually walking away. He reached his house soon after, and as he opens the door, the young Himawari ran up to firmly hug him in the stomach.

"Big bro! You're home early!" She rubs her face on his belly playfully.

Her face was beaming with joy, but quickly shifts into a worried expression after she looks over to see Boruto's face.

"…Um…Are you okay? Is something wrong?" she asks him, gripping his shirt softly.

"I'm fine Himawari…" he pats her head like usual, and tries forming a smile.

Before she could dig further deeper, Boruto suddenly grabs her waist and pulled her over to ride on his neck. "Up we go!" Boruto tells her. She quickly turned back into her cheerful self as he playfully wobbles his body back and forth.

"Stop! I'm going to fall!" She giggled merrily, having fun while trying to hold onto Boruto's hair.

Continuing to play around, with both of them laughing together now, Boruto was walking forward into the hallway when he noticed something that immediately caught his eye.

"Big bro look! Dad's home early too!" Himawari cheers with her arms in the air.

Naruto could be seen on the dining table, while Hinata was over by the kitchen preparing dinner. He gave a warm smile seeing Boruto.

"You're here early. Welcome home, Boruto." Naruto says to him.

"…Yeah, I'm home dad." he replies.

The two got seated, with Himawari beside Naruto and Boruto across from him. He felt slightly awkward seeing him here. The last time they shared a meal together was over a year ago. Why the special occasion? Boruto wondered silently.

"I'm sorry I haven't been around lately. I thought of sending over a clone but it wouldn't feel quite the same huh?" Naruto chuckles. "Besides, knowing my family will always be there when I come home… It makes me really happy."

Ironic, was the first word Boruto thought of. But seeing his father's bright, smiling face in front of him, it felt like there was a hidden meaning in what he meant. Boruto slowly came to wonder, if how his father viewed things was completely different from his own's. Regardless, he didn't want to ask any questions about it, not wanting there to be a chance of ruining the mood.

And so, it became quite lively as the family ate around the table enjoying a hotpot meal together. Himawari was the most energetic as she excitedly asked Naruto all sorts of questions, meanwhile, Boruto was quietly enjoying the food, adding onto the conversations once in a while.

An hour or so later, they were all stuffed and couldn't eat another bite. Seeing that it became quite late, Hinata began sending Himawari to bed while she tiredly resisted with her eyes half opened, wanting to spend more time with Naruto. Hinata had to carry her to her room, while she slowly fell asleep in her arms.

Naruto and Boruto were now left alone in the dining room, as they helped clean up the dishes. But during so, Naruto suddenly had a serious face as he looked over at Boruto, while slowly placing the plates down.

"Boruto… There's something important I need to ask you about."

Hearing this, he looks at Naruto and instantly realized by his expression that it was going to be about a serious topic. He had a feeling this was the reason he was here in the first place.

Boruto puts his plates down the as well and turned his head to meet Naruto's eyes, as he began giving his full attention.

"The Chūnin Exams… Are you planning to take it?" Naruto asks, his eyes glaring at Boruto.