Three Little Genin

Konohamaru was still off active duty while recovering. He was out of the hospital now, but any missions he was to undertake with his squad needed to be within the village, emphasis on light duty.

Squad 7 was to be dispatched along with the other Genin teams to offer relief to a small village in the Land of Fire, a day's travel from Konohagakure. Since traveling of this sort was not allowed for Konohamaru yet, Sasuke was contacted, and he was once again requested to step in as the leader of the new Team 7.

Sasuke was not particularly fond of leading the team when it came to training.

He was a brief man with brief words, and this served to be a hindrance to his teaching.

Boruto was his pupil independently and Sasuke recognized the boy's frustration at his vague methods. Sasuke trained Sarada every opportunity he had, because Sarada made few requests of him except to become more knowledgeable and Sasuke happily obliged. She was very driven and self motivated. She did not struggle to follow his instruction much, but her Sharingan probably helped with that. Her mimicking was unrivaled. Mitsuki was a whole different story. The child of Orochimaru was elusive cheerful but perplexing. He followed instructions a little too literal, and Sasuke had a weariness about him despite believing every child should be measured by their own merits and not held to their parents' legacy.

But thankfully this was not training.

This was a rescue and aid mission. Sasuke felt confident enough in this task. Leading the Genin to the site, following the directive, perhaps allowing them to write up the mission report for good practice. Simple enough.

Meeting the beight eyed Genin at the gate, they were the last squad to depart. Sasuke believed that Kakashi -always late- would somehow be proud of this.

"Wow, nice threads Uncle Sasuke!" Boruto was loud, enthusiastic, and giving Sasuke a thumbs up. Boruto could be counted on to not speak with respect. He was just like his father in that regard.

"On a mission, I'm Sasuke Sensei." Sasuke knew this was a fruitless instruction. Boruto would forget, Sarada couldn't call him Sensei with a straight face, and Mitsuki would say it too much -perhaps in compensation for the other two, and it would wear thin quickly.

"I don't think I have ever seen you in a Leaf Shinobi uniform before, dad." Sarada was adjusting her glasses and leaning in, taking in Sasuke's entire look. She had a seriousness in her face that was purely Sakura. Analytical and focused.

Sasuke was in traditional field attire for Leaf Shinobi. The grey pants and green flock vest were the same as his sensei Kakashi wore when he lead his squad. Sasuke sported the Uchiha crest on the back, however, and had the lower half of his left sleeve pinned up, to keep it out of the way. He had his sword slung across his back as usual, with scrolls and other supplies in his field pack on his right.

"The mission requests Leaf Shinobi for aid, so being identifiable as Leaf Shinobi on the field in a disaster area lessens confusion." Sasuke hated to have to say so many words to explain such a obvious thing. "You have your head bands, I have my vest." He was late because he had initially refused to wear the vest. Naruto had been teasing, Sakura had been giggling, Kakashi had been insisting. Sasuke liked his travel cloak, but risking being anymore late was not worth the fight. He would retaliate against Naruto and Kakashi when he returned.

"You do not wear a headband, Sasuke Sensei. Why is that?" Mitsuki asked innocently. Sasuke was not sure what Mitsuki knew from Orochimaru and the question felt loaded. The little boy's golden eyes were bright and without malice, however, so Sasuke decided Mitsuki meant nothing.

"Uncle Sasuke is still just a Genin, like my dad!" Boruto blurted out, Sarada tsking and rolling here eyes as she crossed her arms.

"Please, that has nothing to do with it." She said with a dismissive tone.