Class Assignment

The next day, the day of team assignments arrived.

Hyuga Ningxue woke up on time as usual, completed her morning training, and prepared breakfast and a bento.

She began trying to get used to the weights on her legs during her daily routine.

Although her movements were slightly sluggish and her gait looked a bit like she was dragging her feet, this was only the beginning; she believed she would get used to it eventually.

As for Neji's method from yesterday, well, it was indeed effective; she had made a little progress.

Arriving at the academy once again, the atmosphere in the classroom was even more restless than the day before.

Today would determine their squads and instructors for a long time to come, marking the starting point of everyone's ninja career.

Ningxue walked silently to her seat, ignoring the commotion around her.

She saw Naruto loudly complaining about something.

Sasuke remained coolly seated in the corner, drawing the secret gazes of the girls, while Sakura and Ino engaged in a silent battle of glares over who would be on Sasuke's team.

But before long, they began to bickering over the seat next to Sasuke, a move that drew in many other girls, and for a moment, the classroom was filled with the voices of girls.

"I got here first, this is my seat!"

"It was me... me!"

"I'm sitting next to Sasuke!"

So noisy, was the thought of most people, though some were certainly envious of Sasuke.

Because he had effortlessly snatched away their childhood sweethearts.

Ningxue silently put in her earplugs, feeling grateful for her habit of wearing them; although some sound still leaked through, it was enough to keep from being disturbed.

Ningxue quietly flipped through a novel, looking like someone who turned a deaf ear to the world outside and focused solely on her studies.

But not long after, the classroom suddenly went quiet, which made Ningxue quickly put away her book, thinking the teacher had arrived.

However, when she looked up, she witnessed something she would never forget for the rest of her life.

Since Ningxue sat by the window and Sasuke and Naruto sat in the middle, from her perspective, she had a clear view of the two of them kissing.

"..." Ningxue.

"!!!!" All the girls.

The next instant, a massive shriek and wail nearly blew the roof off the classroom.

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

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

"Ugh—!!!" Naruto leaned against the desk, dry-heaving with an expression like he'd just eaten excrement (though he probably didn't know what that tasted like, at this moment, he felt that this was exactly what it tasted like).

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

Sasuke, meanwhile, was beet red, gagging and trying to spit it out.

Just like that, the entire classroom descended into chaos.

Ningxue silently took out one earplug, rubbed her eyes to confirm it wasn't a hallucination or auditory illusion, and then silently put it back in.

She turned her head, expressionless, and looked out the window.

"Namu Amida Butsu." (Great Compassion Mantra)

The chaos finally ended with Iruka breaking up the fight and Naruto being beaten until he looked unable to function.

Naruto lay slumped over his desk, looking aggrieved and furious.

Sasuke sat in his seat, wondering if there was any way to make the entire class lose their memories.

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

"First, congratulations on becoming full-fledged ninjas starting today."

"But you are still novice genin; the real hardship starts now."

"From today on, you will be organized into three-man squads and carry out missions under the guidance of a jonin instructor."

Hearing that they would be in three-man squads, the students below began to whisper to their neighbors, hoping to be on a team with their friends.

After waiting for the students to discuss for a moment, Iruka continued.

"To ensure the balance of abilities in each squad, the instructors will decide the groupings."

"I will announce them now."

"First squad..."

"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."

Ningxue listened calmly. As expected, the main characters were still grouped together. But that was fine.

As for my teammates... Sugiyama Tetsu and Nakamura Daisuke were both unremarkable commoner boys in the class. From what I recalled, their strength was average, and their personalities seemed to lean toward one being hot-blooded and impulsive, while the other was somewhat... lazy?

Well, whatever. Once I'm able to go on missions on my own, they can do whatever they want.

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

Once Iruka left, the atmosphere in the classroom became increasingly restless. The newly grouped teammates began searching for one another, sizing each other up, and whispering in hushed tones.

Ningxue, however, remained in her seat, making no move to seek out her two teammates, Sugiyama Tetsu and Nakamura Daisuke.

After all, there were only two people in the class with the surname Hyuga; she was confident the two of them would come to her.

Sure enough, before long, a black-haired boy with a perfectly proportioned physique—the clear result of frequent training—and a competitive glint in his eyes, approached.

He was accompanied by a slightly chubby, brown-haired boy who looked a bit disheveled but wore a lazy, simple smile on his face. They stopped right in front of Ningxue.

"Um... Hyuga-kun, hello. I'm Sugiyama Tetsu," the black-haired boy spoke first, his tone tinged with hesitation.

"I'm Nakamura Daisuke. Nice to meet you," the slightly chubby boy said, scratching his head with a guileless, honest smile.

Ningxue looked up and gave a slight nod.

"Hyuga Ningxue."

Her tone was cold, making Sugiyama Tetsu look as if he wanted to say something to ease the tension, but he opened his mouth and found nothing to say.

Nakamura Daisuke, meanwhile, maintained that same lazy smile, as if he didn't mind at all.

"So... I wonder who our instructor will be?" Sugiyama Tetsu tried to strike up a conversation.

To this question, Ningxue gave only a brief reply.

"We'll know this afternoon."