Trouble

Six o'clock, Konoha BBQ Restaurant.

"So slow..." Chiba swallowed hard as he smelled the grilled meat wafting from inside, heard the tempting sizzle of bursting fat, and caught the occasional cries of "Delicious!"

Behind him, Hyuga Yukina and Uchiha Hirohiko were also waiting. All three of them had arrived, but this time, their teacher, Kushina Uzumaki, was late.

"Should we go in first?" Uchiha Hirohiko said.

"That wouldn't be good, would it?" Hyuga Yukina looked around. There was no sign of Teacher Kushina, but she still felt it would be wrong not to wait for her teacher.

"We should wait." Chiba sighed and swallowed.

What if Teacher can't make it? I can't afford the bill!

That was what Chiba was thinking.

"Okay." Uchiha Hirohiko nodded, then folded his arms and waited at the entrance.

At that moment, Hyuga Yukina stepped forward and led Chiba aside. In a low voice, she said, "I don't know what happened to your body. You suddenly gained so much chakra, and your acupoints opened abnormally. I'll keep it a secret, but on one condition: you have to tell me your secret."

Chiba looked at Hyuga Yukina. She was pretending to look around, so no one would have guessed she was speaking to him.

So she really noticed Gate of Life Mode. But Yukina probably doesn't know about the Forbidden Jutsu called the Eight Gates, which is why she thinks my acupoints opened abnormally. I was going to tell her eventually anyway.

After all, Yukina had saved his life, and they had fought side by side. Chiba trusted her and believed she could keep a secret.

He nodded at once. "Definitely."

At Chiba's affirmative reply, a faint smile flickered across Hyuga Yukina's lips before vanishing.

"Lady Yukina! Why are you here so late?" At that moment, a voice rang out, carrying surprise and slight displeasure.

The three of them turned at once and saw Hyuga Yukyō walking toward them. Two ninjas followed behind him, a boy and a girl around his age, both about eleven. Compared with Hyuga Yukyō's handsome face, however, they looked far more ordinary.

Hyuga Yukyō hurried over, glanced at Chiba, and openly revealed a look of disgust. "Lady Yukina, why are you with this filthy traitor? It's so late that the clan head will worry. Please come back with me."

Filthy traitor? This Hyuga Yukyō!

Chiba narrowed his eyes, but then caught sight of Hyuga Yukina's gaze beside him.

Her eyes were filled with deep apology and a trace of unease.

Chiba frowned and suppressed the anger in his heart. Hyuga Yukyō seemed very close to Yukina, perhaps even a relative. They were both from the Hyuga Clan, after all. If a fight broke out here, it would put Yukina in a difficult position—one side was her teammate, the other was family.

Fine, I'll let you off this once for Yukina's sake! "Yukyō, who is this? She's so cute!" The girl behind Hyuga Yukyō saw Hyuga Yukina and could not help saying.

"Oh! So this is the one you've always talked about?" The other boy stepped forward, looked at Hyuga Yukina, and raised his little finger as he spoke.

Chiba frowned. In Japan, raising one's little finger meant girlfriend. It probably meant the same thing in the Naruto World.

Yukina and this Yukyō are a couple?

Chiba glanced at Yukina. When Hyuga Yukina noticed his gaze, panic appeared on her face, and she repeatedly shook her head.

"Sota, haven't I told you? She isn't my girlfriend! I simply have to protect her and keep Lady Yukina from being bullied by certain people!" As he spoke, Hyuga Yukyō looked at Chiba. Those "certain people" clearly referred to him.

Chiba had no favorable impression of Hyuga Yukyō, who had tried to kill him the moment they met. He had even considered getting rid of him.

Faced with Hyuga Yukyō's insinuation, Chiba, who had decided not to make things difficult for Yukina, chose to ignore him. Instead, he spoke with Hirohiko, who had stepped forward to ask about Hyuga Yukyō's identity.

A grave expression gradually appeared on the latter's poker face.

"Lady Yukina, please come back with me." Impatience showed faintly on Hyuga Yukyō's face as he spoke to Yukina. At the same time, he reached out to grab her hand.

"Brother Yukyō, today is our team's first dinner together. I can't go back with you." Hyuga Yukina dodged Hyuga Yukyō's hand.

"Haha, she rejected you!" The boy called Sota laughed gleefully when he saw Hyuga Yukyō's hand avoided.

"That was pathetic, Yukyō!" The girl giggled as well.

Hyuga Yukyō ignored his teammates. Looking at Hyuga Yukina, surprise appeared on his face. Then his gaze shifted to Chiba, and he pointed at him. "This person? This filthy traitor? He's your teammate?"

"No!" Hyuga Yukyō said angrily. "I'm reporting this to the clan head. How can the noble Hyuga Clan be placed on a team with someone so filthy? You're coming back with me now."

"Father already knows about this, and he agreed!" Hyuga Yukina retorted.

Hyuga Yukyō's face grew even more astonished at Hyuga Yukina's reaction.

Th-this... is this still the obedient Lady Yukina? She actually... actually rejected me openly? Impossible! This can't be! This isn't Lady Yukina. She must have been contaminated by staying beside that filthy traitor! I absolutely, absolutely can't let Lady Yukina come into contact with that dirty thing again! Shock and fury intertwined within Hyuga Yukyō. He suddenly reached out to grab Hyuga Yukina's hand again. "Come back with me!"

Smack!

With a crisp sound, Hyuga Yukyō's hand was viciously slapped away!

Slapped away viciously by Chiba.

"Can't you see that she doesn't want to go back with you?" Chiba's face darkened as he shielded Hyuga Yukina behind him. This time, he was truly angry.

He did not know where that anger came from, but when he saw the troubled, unwilling expression on Yukina's face, fury surged into his chest. His hand had moved even before his mind could react.

The instant Chiba moved, Uchiha Hirohiko also stepped forward. The Two Tomoe Sharingan in his eyes had already activated.

"U-Uchiha Clan?" The girl stared at Uchiha Hirohiko in shock.

"Hey, Yukyō, this is getting bad. A seven-year-old who awakened the Sharingan—there's only that Uchiha Hirohiko! Kiko and I can't beat him! They outnumber us..." Sota said gravely, already thinking of retreating.

But Hyuga Yukyō's fury had surged up, and he paid no attention to his teammates. He glared fiercely at Chiba, who naturally did not back down. After experiencing a Jonin's killing intent, he did not care at all about Hyuga Yukyō's little bit of anger! Instead, the faint killing intent emanating from Chiba made Hyuga Yukyō's two teammates stagger two steps backward.

Hyuga Yukina looked at Hyuga Yukyō, then at Chiba and Hirohiko. She pressed her lips together, and the words "I'll go back with you" were about to leave her mouth when a voice called out, "What's going on here?"

All six of them turned together. A beautiful red-haired woman was slowly approaching, her long red hair cascading down her back. Though she wore plain clothes, they could not conceal her beauty.

"Teacher Kushina!" Hyuga Yukina blurted out joyfully.

"Sorry, I had something to take care of, so I'm late." Kushina Uzumaki smiled faintly when she saw her students.

"Hey, Yukyō, let's go! That's Bloody Red Pepper, the person the teachers fear most!" Sota and Kiko tugged at Yukyō's clothes and whispered. Their voices were noticeably weak.

But Hyuga Yukyō and Chiba were still glaring at each other.

"Isn't this the kid called Hyuga Yukyō, the so-called genius of the Hyuga Clan? Today is my squad's first dinner together. Do you have a problem with my student?" Kushina Uzumaki slowly walked over, the pressure of a Jonin closing in step by step.

Hyuga Yukyō narrowed his eyes. Feeling the pressure emanating from Kushina Uzumaki, he was inwardly shocked. So this is the presence of a Jonin?

He snorted coldly and said to Chiba, "Taki Chiba, just you wait."

Chiba remained expressionless, too lazy to say anything more.

"Let's go!" Hyuga Yukyō quickly left with his two teammates.

Watching the three figures leave, Chiba snorted and then turned back to Yukina. "Are you okay?"

Uchiha Hirohiko also looked over with concern.

Hyuga Yukina shook her head. "I'm fine."

"Won't this cause you any trouble?" Chiba had acted on impulse and stepped in front of her without thinking. Now that he had calmed down, he remembered how troubled Yukina had looked. Would what he had done cause her problems?

"No." Hyuga Yukina said, "Father knows about our dinner, and he agreed to it."

Chiba nodded, letting out a breath of relief.

At that moment, Kushina Uzumaki also walked over. She looked over the three of them and nodded when she saw that none of them had been hurt or suffered any losses.

Then she patted Chiba on the shoulder and said, "Chiba, if you run into trouble again, I allow you to decide whether to attack or counterattack. You must never suffer a loss."

Chiba looked at Kushina Uzumaki, stunned.

Kushina... was she this kind of person in the original story?

Then again, the original story had only shown her personality as the Fourth Hokage's wife and Naruto's mother. It had never described her teenage years.

And from the line her friend Mikoto Uchiha had said—"So Kushina has things she's afraid of too?"—it was clear that Kushina was the type who feared neither heaven nor earth.

Scenes from the original story flashed through Chiba's mind, and he nodded a beat late.

By then, Kushina Uzumaki had already led Uchiha Hirohiko and Hyuga Yukina into the BBQ restaurant.

"Chiba, are you coming? If you don't, I won't save you a seat!" Kushina Uzumaki stuck her head out and called.

"Coming!" Chiba snapped out of it and ran inside.

Well, whatever. It doesn't matter what Kushina's personality is like! I don't want to suffer a loss either! Chiba thought.