Two Teammates

Yashui searched all around and finally found his teammate, a girl named Ogimachi Hachiko.

She was a girl. In a sense, she was very much like Sasuke; she often stared out the window, showing no interest in the arguments happening within the classroom. She sat alone in the corner at the back of the class, her reclusive nature no less than that of Naruto.

Her attire was very plain, with patches visible at the cuffs and collar. Perhaps Ogimachi Hachiko's family background was not very good.

Yashui had locked onto one teammate. Having never actually interacted with her, Yashui did not know what Hachiko's combat strength was like. But since they had become ninjas, they would have to charge into the fray; he wondered if Hachiko, as a girl, could accept all that came with being a ninja.

Once again, Yashui glanced at Hachiko and swallowed hard. Although a girl like Hachiko doesn't seem suited to be a teammate, he thought, she does have a certain charm; she might just be a ninja very well-suited to be a girlfriend.

The other teammate was named Kaoru Hinoji. Yashui hadn't heard this name yesterday, nor had he been able to identify anyone in the class as her.

Yashui shook his head. There were so many graduates, and he was a student who had graduated early. It was normal not to remember names since he wasn't familiar with the people in this class; once everyone was taken away by their jonin instructors, whoever was left would be Kaoru Hinoji.

Although he hadn't found Kaoru Hinoji, Yashui had found Choji Akimichi. If he remembered correctly, Yashui's jonin instructor should be Choza Akimichi.

Choza Akimichi was an elite jonin of Konoha, with extremely high attainments in taijutsu and the Multi-Size Technique. He was also the father of Yashui's fellow graduate, Choji Akimichi.

Yashui walked over to Choji and tried to strike up a conversation: "Um... Choji, may I ask what kind of person your father is? Is he very strict?"

Choji had eyes only for the bag of potato chips in his hands and didn't pay any attention to Yashui. Yashui had gone out of his way to leave his seat to ask him, yet he didn't answer at all. This made Yashui feel quite awkward.

"Choji, it wouldn't hurt to tell him," Shikamaru said to Choji. "However, you should ask what kind of person Asuma is. After all, Asuma is our future jonin instructor."

Hearing Shikamaru's words, Choji put down his snack: "You want to know my dad's personality, right?"

Yashui nodded.

"Alright then, but in a moment you have to tell us what kind of person Asuma is. After all, Asuma is our future jonin instructor." Choji simply repeated Shikamaru's words to Yashui verbatim.

"Fine."

"My dad... how should I put it... he's a good dad. Even when I don't do well on tests, he never scolds me. He often takes me out for barbecue... and then..."

Choji rambled on for a long time, all about how Choza treated him. This was all the fatherly love Choza had for Choji; as the saying goes, even a tiger won't eat its own cubs, so naturally, Choza would treat Choji unconditionally well. But for Yashui, it was hard to say.

"That's about it. Now you tell us about Asuma." Choji finished speaking and ate a piece of his snack.

"Asuma, huh... he might often treat the three of you to barbecue. Maybe he'll often play shogi with Shikamaru." Yashui was recounting the future daily life of Shikamaru, Asuma, and the others.

"It seems Asuma will be a pretty good person." Choji smiled and ate a potato chip after hearing Yashui's words. A jonin instructor who could treat him to barbecue was the most suitable thing for Choji.

"Shogi, huh... too bad I don't know how to play." Shikamaru didn't know shogi at this time; Shikamaru would learn shogi from Asuma. Poor Asuma—after he taught Shikamaru, he never won again.

"What a drag." After saying this, Shikamaru slumped back onto his desk and helped himself to a potato chip from Choji's snack bag.

The students in the classroom were being taken away one after another by their ins