Graduation Was Just Around the Corner

"Summer, graduation's just around the corner. What are you planning to do afterward?" Hyuga Gen asked.

"My mother doesn't want me to become a ninja. She's afraid I'll get hurt, so she wants me to stay in the Main House and help out," Hyuga Natsu said.

"What do you want to do?" Hyuga Gen asked again.

"I want to look after Lady Hanabi. The clan head really dislikes her, and she's so pitiful. She's so young, and none of it was her fault." Hyuga Natsu sounded indignant. From calling him Uncle Hyuga to calling him Lord Clan Head, it was clear that she was rather dissatisfied with Hiashi.

"Yeah," Hyuga Gen sighed along with her. Hanabi Hyuga really was innocent. Her mother had suffered complications during childbirth, and although Hanabi survived, her mother had died.

Because her birth had cost her mother her life, people gossiped that she was cursed. Hiashi Hyuga also believed that she was responsible for her mother's death, so he ignored her and never showed her any affection.

If even her own father ignored her, it was only natural that the household servants looked down on her too. Her situation was easy to imagine.

Honestly, you couldn't blame her for what happened when she'd only just been born. Fortunately, Hanabi had a good big sister, Hyuga Hinata, who often spent time playing with her.

But Hyuga Gen knew how busy Hinata was. Hiashi Hyuga was raising her to be his successor, so she had to train constantly. As a member of the Main House, she had to set an example.

That left her with little time to spend with her younger sister, Hanabi. Even though she knew about Hanabi's situation, there was nothing she could do in front of Hiashi Hyuga.

If you asked who Hyuga Hinata feared most, the answer was undoubtedly her father, Hiashi Hyuga. Hinata wouldn't back down even when facing Pain, but if she ran into Hiashi, she probably wouldn't even dare breathe too loudly.

"Big Brother Gen, maybe you should quit being a ninja too. It's dangerous." Hyuga Natsu looked into Hyuga Gen's eyes, worry in her voice.

"If I quit being a ninja, what would I do instead?"

"You could go into business. With your brains, Big Brother Gen, I'm sure you could become the richest person in the world someday," Hyuga Natsu replied, her eyes sparkling.

"Haha, business takes strength too. Without it, you can't protect the money you earn. Becoming a ninja is a faster way to get stronger."

"But, Big Brother Gen..."

"Natsu, don't you trust my strength? Even if I can't win, Xiaojin can help me escape. Don't worry." Hyuga Gen hurriedly cut her off before she could finish.

Looking across Shippuden, there were very few people who could fly. In the early stages, there were almost no flying ninja at all. More appeared later on, but there still weren't enough to count on both hands.

Hyuga Gen couldn't help remembering the scene in Shippuden where Kakashi pursued Deidara. If not for the special ability of Kakashi's Sharingan, they wouldn't have had any way to attack Deidara.

If Deidara had really wanted to escape, hardly anyone could have stopped him. Unfortunately, he'd gotten overconfident and let Naruto bait him, then Kakashi's Kamui accidentally twisted off one of his arms.

Hearing Hyuga Gen say that, Hyuga Natsu thought of all the other tricks he had up his sleeve and felt a little reassured. She tilted her head and rested it on his shoulder, quietly watching the sunset in the distance.

The young man and woman leaned against each other in the sunset, staying that way until night fell.

Seeing the girl beside him asleep, with drool even slipping from the corner of her mouth, Hyuga Gen couldn't help smiling. Hyuga Natsu looked incredibly cute like this.

When it was clear she wasn't waking up, Hyuga Gen picked her up and stood, ready to take her home. He didn't dare let her spend the night there. The older he got, the more intimidated he was by Hyuga Mikoto.

Lying in bed, Hyuga Gen thought about what Hyuga Natsu's mother, Hyuga Mikoto, had said earlier:

"Since Natsu's asleep, just let her sleep at your place. Why bring her back? You wouldn't do anything inappropriate to her, would you?" Hyuga Mikoto had asked with a warm smile.

For some reason, that smile had sent a chill down Hyuga Gen's spine. Was this what they meant by a smiling tiger?

What Hyuga Gen hadn't noticed was that Hyuga Natsu had actually woken up halfway home. After he left, Hyuga Mikoto had helplessly woken her daughter, who was pretending to sleep.

She could see how much her daughter liked Hyuga Gen. She wasn't blind. Ever since that boy had saved her life during the Nine-Tails Incident, her daughter had been attached to him.

She'd tried to pull her daughter away from him, but it hadn't worked very well. At least the boy seemed decent, even if he was popular with women. There wasn't much she could do now, so she decided to leave them be.

With graduation coming up, Hyuga Gen felt a little excited. He'd soon become a ninja and get to explore a much wider world.

Then he thought of Uchiha Izumi, and his excitement faded. He probably wouldn't be able to leave Konoha anytime soon, because he had to save her.

He couldn't leave Konoha before Uchiha Itachi massacred his clan. If he left, he might miss his chance, and then, following the events of Shippuden, Uchiha Izumi would die.

Hyuga Gen would never allow that to happen. The best plan was to stay in Konoha. In Shippuden, Izumi had been killed by the Masked Man in Konoha while returning from a mission.

People awakened by the Sharingan became obsessive and mentally unstable. Hyuga Gen still believed in the theory he'd heard in his previous world.

After all, the Sharingan awakened when someone experienced an intense emotional shock. It was only natural, in Hyuga Gen's view, that someone who had gone through such extreme distress might become unstable.

Most Uchiha who awakened their eyes were emotionally volatile. They were quick to lose their tempers, and Hyuga Gen had seen their obsession and madness with his own eyes.

Only a handful, like Uchiha Itachi and Shisui, had become more loving after awakening their eyes. And to Hyuga Gen, that kind of love was abnormal too.

As long as it meant greater peace and stability for the village, they could give up everything they had. They could even kill their own parents and every member of their clan for the village's peace. Hyuga Gen didn't think a normal person could do that. If it had been him, he might have rebelled along with them, even if they all died. But he could never bring himself to kill his own parents.

Hyuga Gen suddenly remembered that Uchiha Itachi had been ill throughout Shippuden. He could more or less guess what had made him sick.

Even if he'd killed his parents for the sake of peace in the village, Itachi couldn't have felt at ease. He'd probably buried all his pain deep inside. How could someone not fall ill after carrying that burden for so long? That was his sickness of the heart.

The reason he'd held on for so long without dying was probably that he couldn't let go of Sasuke. Once he saw that Sasuke had grown up and no longer needed him to worry, he stopped forcing himself to carry on and went to the other world to atone to his parents.

Although the three of them had once been on good terms, Hyuga Gen didn't think Uchiha Itachi would spare Uchiha Izumi because of that. At most, he might avoid killing her himself.

Hyuga Gen had already made up his mind: after becoming a ninja but before the Uchiha Clan Massacre, he'd find a way to stay in Konoha, taking only E- and D-rank missions and never leaving the village, until the day came.

He wouldn't let this kind and beautiful girl, who had once given up her seat for him, disappear from his world.