Hinata Enrolls

Today was opening day at the Konoha Ninja Academy in the Land of Fire.

Hinata and Kamizuki trained in the practice room until six in the morning, then finished their morning practice and returned to their rooms. They changed clothes and washed up before coming out for breakfast.

After breakfast, Hiashi took the two siblings and set off for school.

Hiashi looked to be in a wonderful mood today. Holding one child by each hand, he walked along the road to school.

Hinata and Kamizuki followed obediently, each holding one of Hiashi's big hands. Kamizuki looked at Hiashi. His expression was still stern and imposing, but his calm gaze gave away his good mood.

Some might ask, "With eyes as white as cataracts, what the heck can you tell from his gaze?"

The author's very serious and responsible reply to you is: "How should I know? If you're so clever, go ask Kamizuki how he can tell."

As Hiashi's family walked along the road to the Ninja Academy, they once again became the center of attention for all the onlookers.

That was hardly surprising. These days, the Hyuga and Uchiha clans were considered Konoha's two strongest clans.

As the head of the Hyuga Clan, Hiashi's standing and reputation in Konoha were easy to imagine.

Some bolder villagers even came over to greet Hiashi, and he returned each greeting politely.

After walking for about ten or twenty minutes with the two children, Hiashi finally arrived at the Ninja Academy's entrance.

Once they reached the gate, Kamizuki saw just how many people had come today. He spotted quite a few familiar faces in the crowd.

There were students from Kamizuki's year, like Rock Lee and Tenten, as well as the new first-year students in Hinata's class. He saw Uzumaki Naruto, standing alone with whisker-like marks on his cheeks; Inuzuka Kiba, with a little dog perched on his head; Uchiha Sasuke, riding on Itachi-sama; and Akimichi Choji, crunching away at a bag of potato chips. He spotted just about everyone from Hinata's year who had appeared in the anime.

After greeting all his old acquaintances, Kamizuki went with Hiashi and Hinata to complete Hinata's enrollment.

Once the paperwork was done, Hiashi headed home. He still had family matters waiting for him.

After seeing Hiashi out of the school gate, Kamizuki accompanied Hinata to her classroom.

As soon as they reached the door, Hinata grew timid. She hid behind Kamizuki, who was just a little taller than her, and peered into the classroom.

Seeing Hinata like that, Kamizuki could only smile helplessly. He encouraged her and gently ushered her into the classroom.

Watching Hinata enter with such a hesitant step, Kamizuki couldn't help but smile wryly. He grumbled to himself, "Anyone who didn't know better would think I was Hinata's big brother. Heh..."

Just as Kamizuki was about to turn and head to his own class, he spun around and nearly stumbled into someone.

He was about to see who he'd bumped into when he realized he knew the man. It was Umino Iruka, the homeroom teacher for Hinata, Naruto, and the others.

In the original story, Iruka had grown up in a happy family. But the Nine-Tails Incident destroyed that home, and he witnessed his parents, both Jonin, sacrifice themselves to protect the village.

Afterward, Iruka's personality changed drastically. At school, he was the class clown, but when he was alone, he often hid by the Konoha Memorial Stone and wept. It wasn't until Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Third, noticed what he was doing and patiently comforted him that he gradually recovered.

After being promoted to Chunin, he decided to join the Konoha Ninja School, where he could nurture more talent and strength for the village.

As a teacher, Iruka was good at bringing out children's potential and training shinobi who could strengthen Konoha. He usually worked as an instructor, but when urgent missions came up, he gave them his all. He was very capable and trusted by Konoha's leadership, headed by Sarutobi Hiruzen.

After Naruto started attending the Ninja Academy, Iruka treated him like a younger brother. Aside from the Third, Sarutobi Hiruzen, he was the first person in Konoha to acknowledge Naruto.

When Kamizuki first watched the anime, it was the opening arc, where Mizuki, a fellow Ninja Academy teacher, tricked Naruto into stealing the Scroll of Seals, that drew him in and gradually made him a fan.

Coming back to himself, Kamizuki apologized to Iruka, feeling rather embarrassed.

Iruka didn't seem bothered at all. "You're Hinata Hyuga's younger brother, right? Hyuga Kamizuki?"

"You know me?" Kamizuki asked, unable to hide his surprise.

Iruka smiled knowingly and nodded. "Of course I know you. You were the top newcomer last semester!"

Kamizuki felt awkward hearing that. He rubbed his head and was about to say something when the bell rang.

In the end, Kamizuki could only say goodbye to Iruka before hurrying off to his classroom.

The first day of the new semester passed much like that, and Hinata gradually began to adjust to life among her classmates.

It was a weekend afternoon, and neither Hinata nor Kamizuki had classes. In the practice room, Hiashi was patiently and carefully teaching them the Gentle Fist.

Hiashi looked at his son, who was practically a prodigy, with great satisfaction. Lately, he had noticed that his son's chakra reserves and Gentle Fist had both improved tremendously. His progress was like a rocket taking off, and it delighted Hiashi.

Looking at his prodigious son, Hiashi couldn't help but think:

Over the past few years, the Hyuga Clan had remained a renowned great clan throughout the Ninja World. But compared with the Hyuga Clan of Konoha's founding days, it was nowhere near the same.

Since Hinata and Kamizuki were born, the younger generation of the clan had made pretty good progress.

There was his own son, whose improvement was practically prodigious.

Then there was his younger brother Hizashi's child, Hyuga Neji. Neji had plenty of talent, though he was a little too proud.

And there was his eldest daughter. She wasn't as prodigious as her brother, nor as talented as Neji, but Hiashi had watched her train hard alongside her brother over the past few years.

The task of revitalizing the Hyuga Clan would fall to these younger generations. He would have to make sure they received the best training.