"All right, everyone. Let's introduce ourselves."
The homeroom teacher clapped to get everyone started. The class was a little small, with only about thirty students, divided into three groups. Each group had five desks, with two students to a desk.
Hyuga Shinichi began observing his classmates. He didn't recognize some of the younger members of various clans or the civilian children; they might not have appeared in the anime or manga at all. After all, Namikaze Minato, the older Ino-Shika-Cho generation, and the "Golden Generation"—including the future heads of several other clans—weren't old enough to enroll yet.
Still, a few classmates caught Hyuga Shinichi's interest. In front of him sat Inuzuka Gai. To be more precise, Shinichi was interested in the little dog perched on Gai's head.
In his previous life, he'd spent plenty of time scrolling through short videos, so he'd learned a fair bit. He recognized the little dog sitting on Gai's head, wagging its tail as it looked his way, as a wolfdog mix. It looked like a cross between a dog and a North American gray wolf, with completely black fur.
It looked so cute that Shinichi wanted to give it a rub on the head. In his memories, Kiba Inuzuka's Akamaru had been this tiny when he was young, but had grown huge. This gray wolf mix would probably grow even bigger. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say it could swallow a kid in one bite.
Then there was Aburame Tomohiro, sitting beside Inuzuka Gai, bundled up from head to toe. He even hid his face behind his collar and dark goggles, then pulled on his hat, giving off a strong don't-come-near-me vibe.
What interested Shinichi about him was the creature he kept: a centipede crawled out of his right sleeve and onto the desk. It wasn't unusual for members of the Aburame Clan to keep bugs, but centipedes weren't insects. They were arthropods, right? And they ate insects. Was that really okay?
The next moment, a cluster of ants emerged from Aburame Tomohiro's left hand. Seeing that the centipede didn't attack them and just went about its own business made Shinichi curious.
Maybe he kept it because it was poisonous.
A voice brought Shinichi's attention back to the present and stopped him from thinking any further. Nawaki, beside him, was introducing himself.
"My name's Nawaki! My dream is to become a Hokage like my grandpa, someone who can protect everyone! Nice to meet you!"
Everyone applauded Nawaki. He bowed to thank them, then slowly sat down. That left Hyuga Shinichi as the last one to introduce himself.
"Hello, everyone. My name is Hyuga Shinichi. Nice to meet you."
This time, nobody applauded. They all just stared at Shinichi, because he looked so young. Most of the students were around four or five, and they'd be about ten by the time they graduated after six years.
"Hey, how old are you?"
The one speaking was Inuzuka Gai, sitting in front of Shinichi. Gai had noticed Shinichi staring at the Ninja Dog on his head earlier, but hadn't said anything. Now that he'd seen how small Shinichi was, he'd grown curious and asked.
"I'm two right now. I'll be three in a few months. Nice to meet you, Inuzuka Gai."
Shinichi answered loudly enough for the whole class to hear. With a sunny smile, he held out his hand to shake Gai's.
Some of the girls in class squealed. Shinichi was still very young, but he was handsome, and that bright smile made him the perfect sunny little cutie.
He was so charming that the girls could barely handle it. After all, they could watch him grow up.
Shinichi couldn't help thinking that children in the Naruto world really did mature early.
Inuzuka Gai froze for a moment, then grinned and reached out to shake his hand.
"Hahaha, I'm more than a year older than you. I'll look after you from now on. If you need anything, come find me."
"Woof!"
The little wolfdog mix on Gai's head wagged its tail and barked. It seemed to feel friendly toward Shinichi.
Nawaki joined the conversation, and Shinichi drew Aburame Tomohiro into it, too. Tomohiro sat beside Inuzuka Gai, pretending to play with his bugs while clearly paying attention to them.
The homeroom teacher let the students chat freely for ten minutes. When time was up, the teacher clapped to get everyone facing the front again and announced that class was officially starting.
The Ninja Academy curriculum was divided into five subjects: theory, physical training, personal reflections, history, and practice. Naturally, the new students started with theory. Their first lesson was about what chakra was.
Chakra was a power created by combining and activating spiritual and physical energy. Everyone's chakra had different attributes. The five main chakra natures were Fire, Water, Wind, Lightning, and Earth.
The teacher didn't go into much detail about Yin and Yang Release, since not everyone could learn about those two attributes. Finally, the teacher explained that training could increase the amount of chakra a person had, but everyone had their own limit.
After a full day of classes, the four walked home together, chatting and laughing. When they reached a crossroads, they realized their homes were in different directions. Nawaki spoke up.
"It's still early. Why don't you all come over to my place?"
"Maybe next time. I have to go home and practice my clan's secret techniques with Black Charcoal today. Not everyone's a genius who can master the Byakugan at such a young age."
Black Charcoal was the name of the little wolfdog mix. Inuzuka Gai held him in both arms to show him off as he answered Nawaki, taking a jab at Shinichi, too.
They'd become friends over the course of the day and had learned that Shinichi had awakened his Byakugan. They were all envious, especially Inuzuka Gai. He was an energetic kid at an age when he should be playing, but he still had to go home and practice his clan's secret techniques.
"Yeah, same here."
Seeing that both Inuzuka Gai and Aburame Tomohiro had things to do, Nawaki turned to Hyuga Shinichi, asking, "What about you?"
"Aw, I've got things to do, too. But you look so pitiful with no one to play with, so I suppose I'll come over to your place."
The other three stared at Shinichi, speechless as he put on an exaggeratedly reluctant expression. They all knew he was from the Hyuga Main Family. He probably didn't have much to do at home, and no one there would be keeping an eye on him. If he wanted to spend the night somewhere else, all he had to do was let them know.
After saying goodbye at the crossroads, Inuzuka Gai and Aburame Tomohiro headed down separate roads. Only Hyuga Shinichi followed Nawaki to the Senju Clan Compound.
As soon as they entered the Senju Clan Compound, Hyuga Shinichi began observing the area. It was called a compound, but it looked more like a small village with only a dozen or so households. Most of the residents were elderly men and women, with few young people around.
After Nawaki explained, Shinichi understood why there were so few people.
When Konoha had first been founded, many clans and civilians had joined. Though they lived in the same village, they weren't truly united. The First and the Second Hokage had looked to their own Senju Clan, one of the clans that had founded Konoha. Since they themselves were Hokage, they felt they should set an example.
So they had the Senju Clan abandon its surname and truly join Konoha's big family. In the end, even if not a single person still bore the Senju name, they would all carry the Senju bloodline, truly becoming the "Senju of the Forest" that linked everyone in Konoha.
As for the other clan that had helped found Konoha, the Uchiha Clan, its Kekkei Genkai meant they hadn't done the same.
The elderly people still living in the Senju Clan Compound were those who had been too old to take part in the change back then. They had also been proud of being members of the Senju Clan, so they'd stayed in the compound, protecting the last thing they held dear. Even without the Senju surname, they remained steadfast.
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