Wind wasn't abnormal for Konoha but this one blew with a certain intensity that Boruto's jacket, covered in toad slime and dried sweat, could hardly endure. By no means was it smelly though, at least not by Boruto's standards. Surely it's not like people were going to judge him for working hard all these years. There was a new scent in the air and they had to be ready to be intoxicated by it, whether they preferred to or not. Boruto was finally home.

 He could see his father, Uzumaki Naruto, well a slightly larger impression of his face carved on a great mountain, one that held the faces of all those who fought to protect the village, the Hokage. And yet to many, that face was more than the hero of the village, it was a symbol of hope and peace for the entire world. He took a moment to think about what he was probably up to. By his estimates, possibly in his office doing a lot of paperwork he would rather not do. His mother would head to the office to get Naruto something to eat given how often he forgot. Hinata told him stories of how, in his early days as Hokage, he would not sit still when he was hungry.

"He would rush straight to Ichiraku, sit really dramatically," she said as she made sure to imitate, "and immediately get his first bowl of ramen." There was this glitter in her eyes as she spoke of the man who now was head of the village, her voice so thick with adoration that a younger Boruto would just smile listening to her talk. Being a Hokage must change a person because the last time Boruto talked with his father, stood before him was a man rather firm and disciplined, definitely nothing like the mischevious young boy he heard his peers speak of. Was he excited to see his father again?

The leaves blew as the season of spring had blessed the air. The petals dancing ever so gracefully in the wind, Boruto's mind seeking to flow in tandem. He knew what he wanted to do. Boruto ran and made a shadow clone that ran ahead of him, jumped, was caught by the clone and spun and thown, moving against the wind, closed his eyes for a moment and felt it slightly tickle his nose. He snorted a laugh and began racing on the trees, howling with laughter and excitement and towards the end of the forest to the gate that led to the village, he made two more clones and made a swan dive for the ground, with the clones bracing his fall. The clones quickly disappeared and the pain they felt was immediately transferred back to him. He was never doing that again but it was loads of fun.

"I see three years in Mount Myoboku didn't make you any less playful, eh." Wincing as he woke up, he turned to see the only person that could have that voice and that last phrase. Blue scarf wearing resident of Konoha and the grandson of the Third Hokage, Konohamaru-Sensei. His blue eyes scanned Boruto and it took a moment but Konohamaru jumped back and clutched his nose. "Did you forget how to take a bath, Boruto?"

"Hey, no fair! The stink is really not that bad."

"Honestly, it sounds like you lost your sense of smell as well. No way you're getting in the village like this. There's a pond up ahead and I'm getting you soap."

"I can take a shower at home, Sensei."

"No way. Konoha has already had enough giant threats. We don't need to add this to our history. You, pond, now." Annoyed, Boruto decided to comply. He took a turn and waited impatiently for Konohamaru to return with the soap. Konohamaru appeared behind him in a flash. Boruto was stunned. 

"How'd you get here this fast?" 

"I marked you." Boruto took a moment to process that and tried to remember that he read that was possible somewhere. Having a near photographic memory, it clicked immediately.

"Flying Raijin."

"You didn't think you were the only one that was going to get stronger these past 3 years, now did you?" Konohamaru smiled. Boruto's eyes lit up.

"You gotta teach me, Sensei!"

"I'll think about it after you..." Boruto nodded and decided to take his time and lightly wash some of his garments as well. He then lay them out to dry and sat next to Konohamaru, relaxed and with a heavy sigh. Konohamaru chuckled at this. Boruto turned a curious gaze to his teacher and he just shook his head. They were silent for a couple of minutes.

"Hey, Konohamaru-sensei. You think my friends have moved on from knowing me three years ago?"

"By friends, do you mean Sarada?"

"Yeah. I mean, she is one of them." Konohamaru was silent for a moment.

"Honestly, I think she'll be more happy to see you than your parents." 

"Not sure what to respond to that. Is Dad in the office?"

"He's taken the week off. I think you underestimate just how much people miss you."

"You keep making things awkward, Konohamaru-sensei," Boruto said, chewing on a twig.

"Sorry." The pond that the two were on happened to be where Konohamaru did the bell test years ago. The current Team 7 at the time, comprising of Boruto, Inojin and Sarada failed miserably. Fresh of the academy as Genin, they were instructed by their new Jounin sensei Konohamaru that he had only two bells on him, meaning that only two shinobi would pass the test to be under him and be allowed to eat lunch. Failure meant that their graduation as official shinobi would be null and void. Inojin was caught cheating by trying to find his food and unlike most teams before that did the test, Sarada and Boruto spent an hour making fun of him. Eventually, Inojin cried and the two feeling awkward decided to break the rules and give him their food. They passed but Inojin ignored them for a week and it took a lot of apologies to make things right.

"Remembering the bell test?"

"Wanna do it again? I could probably get both bells alone this time." Konohamaru simply shook his head.

"Kakashi-senpai already warned me about what would happen. I believe in your strength." They enjoyed the silence for a bit longer before agreeing to head back while it was still afternoon or people would be too worried. Boruto finally entered the gates of Konoha. He took in the sweet air of home and walked right in. Konohamaru knew a shortcut home and Boruto decided to take it. Maybe tomorrow he'd see more of Konoha but today he was exhausted. Though not as busy as the main routes in the village, this one still showed people moving around with construction materials. One person in particular was giving out orders on the flower arrangement and her blonde ponytail and purple dress stood out among the rest. Member of the Yamanaka clan, Ino.

Ino squealed in excitement, so sharp the two of them had to briefly soothe their ears, and rushed towards Boruto for a hug. Normally, Boruto would have avoided it but this was not a very good move when it came to Aunty Ino. You only had the following option; comply. Ino hugged Boruto, the scent of flowers instantly flooding Boruto and he began to sneeze, which was Ino's cue to pull back. Boruto wasn't really allergic to flowers but for the sake of Ino, he had to be.

"You keep forgetting how old I am, Aunty Ino," Boruto cried out with a twinge of embarrased flush on his cheeks.

"My bad," Ino said, laughing. "They grow up so fast, don't they, Konohamaru?"

"They do, Ino-senpai. It's almost yesterday when-"

"Don't you dare say something embarrasing, Konohamaru-Sensei." Boruto was trying really hard to have a nice day and the adults were determined to rain on his parade. Not helping this was the fact that immediately after, another squeal shot through the air. This time from pink-haired, green-eyed Medical Kunoichi and previous Team 7 member Haruno Sakura. She still had surgical gloves on and her hair was slightly unkempt, her eyes slightly tired, having seen long days and short nights but with a warm glow that remained defiantly optimistic. Sakura was also interested in making the same mistake Ino did. However, this time Boruto had help. Immediately as she came close to Boruto, a flash of lightning raced across the path and Boruto found himself on top of one of the buildings, held like a garbage disposal bag by his best friend; black-eyed, with red-rimmed glasses, black hair with slight green strands and at the time red kimono wearing Uchiha Sarada. There was not much you could tell from her expression but the minor scars around her fists spoke a lot more about her than anything. 

"Can't you guys tell how embarrased this bum is? Look at him. If he was any redder, he'd be a tomato in season." Boruto recovered from the shock and jumped away from the grasp.

"Gee, thanks. Maybe next time, you can carry someone like a human being," Boruto replied.

"You weigh like a ton of bricks now. It was the only way to save you. Maybe next time, you can say thanks."

Sakura and Ino squealed yet again.

"She's wearing the kimono I gave her! Finally!" Sakura said.

"And she looks really good in it. Looks like you finally grew some style, Sakura," Ino replied, winking.

"What do you mean grew some style? I always had it," Sakura raised her voice.

"Always? Do you remember what you used to wear, Sakura?"

"I'm not that heavy. Besides, I'm taller than you now. Sucks to be you, I guess," Boruto said, blowing a raspberry.

"You looking for a fight, Uzumaki? Let's have a go, right here. Lemme see if those toads taught you how to take a punch for once," Sarada replied, smiling.

Konohamaru sighed. This was proving to be a very long day.