Team Assignments

The next day, the day of team assignments arrived.

Ning Xue woke up on time as usual, completed his morning training, and prepared breakfast and a lunchbox.

He began trying to get used to the weight on his feet in daily life.

Though his movements were a little slower and he looked somewhat like he was dragging his feet when he walked, this was only the beginning. He believed he would get used to it eventually.

As for Neji's method yesterday, well, it really had worked. He had made a little progress.

When he arrived at the academy again, the atmosphere in the classroom was even more restless than yesterday.

Today would determine their teams and instructors for a long time to come. It concerned the starting point of everyone's ninja career.

Ning Xue silently walked to his seat, ignoring the noise around him.

He saw Naruto loudly complaining about something.

Sasuke was still sitting coolly in the corner, drawing furtive looks from the girls. Sakura and Ino were having a silent standoff over who would get to be on Sasuke's team.

But before long, they began arguing over the seat beside Sasuke. Their actions drew quite a few other girls into the fray, and soon the classroom was filled with girls' voices.

"I got here first. This is my seat!"

"It's me... me!"

"I want to sit next to Sasuke!"

So noisy. That was what most people thought. Of course, some were jealous of Sasuke.

Because he had effortlessly stolen away their childhood sweethearts.

Ning Xue silently put in his earplugs, feeling grateful for his habit of wearing them. There was still some noise, but as long as it did not disturb him, it was fine.

Ning Xue quietly flipped through his novel, looking like someone deaf to the world outside, focused only on reading the sages' words.

But before long, the classroom suddenly fell silent. Ning Xue hurriedly put away his book, thinking the teacher had arrived.

But when he looked up, he saw something he would never forget for the rest of his life.

Since Ning Xue sat by the window while Sasuke and Naruto sat in the middle, he had a clear view of the two kissing.

"..." Ning Xue

"!!!!" The girls

The next instant, enormous screams and wails nearly blew off the classroom ceiling.

"Ahhh! My Sasuke-kun is no longer pure!"

"Naruto, you idiot! I'm going to kill you!"

"Bleurgh—!!!" Naruto clutched the desk and dry-heaved, wearing an expression like he had eaten shit. Though he probably did not know what shit tasted like, at that moment, he felt this was exactly what it must taste like.

"Naruto... you... you bastard! I'm definitely going to kill you!!!"

Sasuke's face was bright red as he clawed at his throat, trying to throw up.

Just like that, the whole classroom became a complete mess.

Ning Xue silently removed one earplug and rubbed his eyes, confirming that what he had just seen was not an illusion or auditory hallucination, then silently put it back in.

Expressionless, he turned to look out the window.

"Namo Amitabha Buddha." (Great Compassion Mantra)

This chaos finally ended after Iruka mediated the fight and Naruto was beaten so badly that he looked unable to take care of himself.

Naruto lay sprawled over his desk, looking both aggrieved and furious.

Sasuke sat in his seat, wondering what method could make everyone in the class lose their memories.

Once the classroom had barely regained order, Iruka began his speech.

"First of all, congratulations. From today onward, you are ninjas capable of standing on your own."

"But you are still rookie Genin. The real hardship begins now."

"From today onward, you will form teams of three and carry out missions under the leadership of a supervising ninja."

Upon hearing that they would be in teams of three, the students below began whispering with their nearby classmates, hoping they could be assigned to the same team as their friends.

After allowing the students to discuss it for a while, Iruka continued.

"To ensure that each class is balanced in ability, the teachers will decide the assignments."

"I will announce them now."

"Then, Team 1..."

"Team 7: Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke."

"Team 8: Hyuga Hinata, Inuzuka Kiba, Aburame Shino."

"Team 10: Nara Shikamaru, Akimichi Choji, Yamanaka Ino."

"Team 11: Hyuga Ningxue, Sugiyama Tetsu, Nakamura Daisuke."

Ning Xue listened calmly. Sure enough, the main characters had still been placed together. But that was fine too.

As for his teammates... Sugiyama Tetsu and Nakamura Daisuke were both unremarkable civilian boys in the class. As he remembered, their abilities were average. One seemed rather hot-blooded and impulsive, while the other was somewhat... lazy?

Whatever. Once he could take missions on his own, they could do whatever they wanted.

After the assignments were finished, Iruka emphasized the importance of teamwork and informed everyone that their respective supervising ninjas would come to the classroom that afternoon to meet their team members.

After Iruka left, the classroom became even more restless. Members of the newly formed teams began seeking one another out, sizing each other up, and speaking in low voices.

Ning Xue remained in his seat and did not take the initiative to seek out his two teammates, Sugiyama Tetsu and Nakamura Daisuke.

After all, there were only two people in the class with the Hyuga surname. He trusted that they would come find him.

Sure enough, before long, a black-haired boy with a perfectly proportioned physique, clearly the result of frequent training, and a competitive gleam in his eyes approached Ning Xue with another boy.

The other had a slightly chubby build and looked somewhat messy, but he wore a lazy yet innocent smile and had brown hair.

"Um... Hyuga, hello. I'm Sugiyama Tetsu." The black-haired boy spoke first, his tone carrying a hint of probing.

"I'm Nakamura Daisuke. Please take care of me." The chubby boy scratched his head, smiling somewhat foolishly.

Ning Xue raised his head and gave a slight nod.

"Hyuga Ningxue."

His tone was cold. Sugiyama Tetsu seemed to want to say something to ease the atmosphere, but after opening his mouth, he did not know what to say.

Nakamura Daisuke, meanwhile, maintained his somewhat lazy smile, as though he did not care.

"Um... I wonder who our supervising ninja will be?" Sugiyama Tetsu tried to find a topic.

Ning Xue gave a simple answer to that question.

"We'll know this afternoon."