An Ill-Fated Bond!

"Itachi, Izumi, Shisui?"

"You three."

He stopped, curiously pushing up his glasses.

Itachi Uchiha's gaze drifted away. Somewhat tsundere, he refused to look at him directly. "Today..."

Before he could finish, Izumi excitedly shouted, "Yuzuru! Happy birthday!"

Yuzuru Hyuga chuckled softly and leisurely turned his gaze toward Itachi Uchiha.

Standing beside Shisui under Yuzuru Hyuga's stare, he could only sigh helplessly. Somewhat awkwardly, he pulled a wrapped gift box from behind his back.

"Happy birthday."

"And mine!"

Impatiently, Izumi also took a small square box from behind her back.

Shisui awkwardly scratched his head with a smile. "Sorry, I was on a mission yesterday. I only heard from Itachi this morning that today was your birthday, so I had to prepare something in a hurry."

As he spoke, Shisui held out a beautiful katana.

Yuzuru Hyuga accepted the long blade, hugging the other gifts to his chest. He spoke softly, sincerely and happily. "Thank you."

"Though it's only afternoon, now that I've received your gifts, I should treat you all to a meal no matter what." Yuzuru Hyuga smiled as he suggested, "Ramen? It won't fill us up too much or spoil dinner."

"Sure!" Izumi did not care what they ate!

She walked cheerfully to Yuzuru Hyuga's side. Reservedly, she said nothing more, but her lovely eyes roamed over him as she asked curiously, "Yuzuru, I haven't seen much of you lately."

Ever since Itachi had taken the initiative to stop their morning training some time ago, she had not seen Yuzuru Hyuga in a long while either.

"Yeah, besides classes every day, I have to train too. I've been busy."

Yuzuru Hyuga gave a simple explanation, while Izumi lowered her head somewhat dejectedly. "Yeah, Yuzuru, you're already a fifth-year student. Even if I enroll next year, you'll be close to graduating, right? We won't be able to attend classes together."

"As expected of Yuzuru!" She used praise to conceal her slight disappointment.

Yuzuru Hyuga merely smiled, while Itachi said quietly, "Father said he won't let me enroll until next year. By then, Yuzuru will be close to graduating too, right?"

Yuzuru Hyuga nodded, then reassured him, "If it's you, Itachi, even if you don't enroll until next year, you should be able to graduate early in two years at most."

"If there's no war, it's better to properly enjoy school life." Shisui seemed to want to say more, but ultimately held back.

He adjusted the forehead protector on his head and sighed with feeling. "Time really passes quickly. It feels like yesterday you were all still little children, but today you've already begun walking the path to becoming ninja."

Izumi could not help but tease him. "Brother Shisui, aren't you a child too?"

"Is that so? Hahaha!" Shisui froze for a moment, then burst into laughter. At some point, he had actually forgotten his own age.

Thinking of that, Shisui could not help sighing inwardly, but he also felt a bit more fighting spirit—wasn't he working so hard and risking his life so that the children of the future would not have to become like him?

As long as they followed the Will of Fire, this village that had been shrouded in darkness for so long would eventually welcome lasting light.

For now, Shisui remained full of hope for the future.

Yuzuru Hyuga smiled faintly. The four chatted and laughed as they walked, but before they had gone far, someone vaguely familiar seemed to flash through his sight.

Stopping, Yuzuru Hyuga was just about to speak when he saw a girl in white hurriedly hide herself in an alley, seemingly unwilling to let him discover her. After a moment's consideration, he still called her name.

"Kaoru, did you come to take me home?"

Kaoru Hyuga had no choice but to step out from the shadows of the alley.

She wore the same oversized black coat Hinata had worn as a child. Her long hair hung loose, partially veiling her eyes, and she looked somewhat gloomy. When Yuzuru Hyuga called her, she hid both hands behind her back, her expression tense. "Sorry, Young Master Yuzuru. I just didn't want to disturb you and your friends."

"Did you come to celebrate my birthday?" Yuzuru Hyuga guessed her intention.

Even Itachi Uchiha had thought to bring birthday wishes to him at the school gates. How could Kaoru Hyuga have forgotten?

It was simply that, when she saw him with his friends, she suddenly did not dare disturb him.

"Mm... a gift." Kaoru Hyuga cautiously brought the hand behind her back forward, revealing a small gift box.

Yuzuru Hyuga accepted the gift with a smile. "Thank you. Come with us. We're just going to eat."

"I... can come too?" Along with her delight, Kaoru Hyuga's expression held some unease—she had never considered herself Yuzuru Hyuga's friend.

"Of course." Yuzuru Hyuga smiled and turned to explain a few things to his curious friends.

When they learned that she was currently serving as Yuzuru Hyuga's "guard," they could not help but look at her with newfound respect.

She looked about Shisui's age, yet she could serve as Yuzuru Hyuga's guard?

This girl was no ordinary person!

For Yuzuru Hyuga's sake, even the somewhat introverted Itachi Uchiha obediently greeted her.

After brief introductions, the group set off again. Kaoru Hyuga quietly followed behind Yuzuru Hyuga, acting like she was invisible. Even Izumi gave up trying to talk with her after receiving little response from a few exchanges, and instead returned to Yuzuru Hyuga's side to ask him all sorts of questions.

When they reached the entrance to Ichiraku Ramen, Yuzuru Hyuga could not help laughing as he lifted the curtain.

A pair of dead-fish eyes slowly glanced at him from a seat.

Kakashi sat in a corner seat with one hand propping up his chin. Seeing Yuzuru Hyuga, he nearly instinctively sighed—if this guy also came to eat ramen around this time often, should he consider finding somewhere else?

"Senior Kakashi." Shisui greeted him with some surprise, then smiled. "I didn't expect you to be here too."

"Yeah, Shisui. Good afternoon." Kakashi's attitude toward Shisui was neither warm nor cold, but since they were both currently in the ANBU, they were still closer than ordinary acquaintances.

Although Kakashi did not quite agree with some of Shisui's naïve attitudes, who could dislike a passionate and kind fool?

At most, he only felt that it was not worth it for him.

"Why don't we eat together? Today is Yuzuru's birthday. Ah, I forgot to introduce you—this is Yuzuru Hyuga." Shisui had just begun introducing Yuzuru Hyuga when he vaguely sensed the unnatural air between them.

Yuzuru Hyuga smiled and nodded at Kakashi. "We meet again, Senior Kakashi."

"Yeah." He answered somewhat coldly.

"Today is my birthday, and I'm treating. Why not celebrate with me? In the future, perhaps we'll never have another chance like this." After Yuzuru Hyuga spoke, Kakashi could not help sighing softly.

Sure enough, I should just leave.

Could it be that heaven is punishing me for being too lazy?

Forget it. Starting tomorrow, I should take on a few missions.

Work hard and try to leave the ANBU within two years—no, if I can do it within one year, that would be even better.

For the first time, Kakashi felt the urge to leave the ANBU—he had a feeling that if he kept getting entangled with this little guy, he would sooner or later fall into serious trouble.

Sigh.

An ill-fated bond.