Hyuga Hiashi

Hyuga Compound.

Four small figures were weaving through it.

"Why is this place so huge? How are we supposed to find Hinata like this?"

Naruto was already completely turned around.

Shikamaru turned his dead-fish eyes toward Uzumaki Menma on his back. "Menma, you came to find Hinata, but you don't even know where she is?"

Uzumaki Menma scratched his cheek and said awkwardly, "I thought we'd find her once we got in. I didn't expect this place to be so big either."

Choji asked nervously, "Then what do we do now? We might not find her even if we keep looking. Should we retreat first?"

After thinking for a moment, Uzumaki Menma said, "Let's retreat for now. Once I know where Hinata is, we'll sneak in again."

Just as Uzumaki Menma and the other three decided to retreat and turned to leave the Hyuga Compound, they discovered in horror that someone had appeared behind them without their noticing.

Naruto asked warily, "Mister, who are you? Why did you show up behind us without making a sound?"

The person who had suddenly appeared behind the four of them was Hinata's father, the head of the Hyuga Clan, Hyuga Hiashi.

None of the four little intruders in the Hyuga Compound had an ordinary background, so Hyuga Hiashi could not afford to take them lightly.

Hyuga Hiashi said with a stern face, "Shouldn't I be the one asking that? What are you four doing sneaking into the Hyuga Clan's compound?"

Naruto, Shikamaru, and Choji all turned to look at Uzumaki Menma.

Uzumaki Menma's little face darkened. Why were they looking at him now? Couldn't they explain themselves?

Uzumaki Menma forced himself to say, "Mister, we came to find someone."

Hyuga Hiashi frowned. "You came to the Hyuga Compound to find someone? Who?"

"Hinata Hyuga. Mister, do you know her?"

Hyuga Hiashi looked extremely surprised.

He had not expected these four little ones to be looking for Hinata.

"What do you want with Hinata?"

Uzumaki Menma shamelessly replied, "What else could it be? We came to play with Hinata. Mister, if you know where she is, could you take us to her? We'd be really grateful."

Hyuga Hiashi studied Uzumaki Menma and the others for a long while.

Of the four—Uzumaki Menma, Naruto, Shikamaru, and Choji—the most troublesome was Uzumaki Menma.

Uzumaki Menma was Danzo's adopted grandson, and Danzo was a ruthless man. The Uchiha Clan, once Konoha's greatest clan, had been tormented terribly by Danzo.

Moreover, according to rumors circulating among Konoha's ninja, Danzo cared deeply for his grandson Uzumaki Menma and had high hopes for him.

Danzo was the person Hyuga Hiashi least wanted to deal with.

Extremely suspicious, cautious, insidious, ruthless, distrustful of others... none of those descriptions were excessive when applied to Danzo.

If he mishandled this matter, and Danzo accused the Hyuga Clan of coveting the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, they would not be able to clear their name even if they jumped into the Naka River.

Hyuga Hiashi wanted to send Uzumaki Menma and the others out of the Hyuga Compound immediately.

But these four little ones actually knew his daughter Hinata and even seemed to be her friends, which made Hyuga Hiashi deeply curious.

As far as he remembered, Hinata had barely left the Hyuga Clan a few times. When had she met them?

Seeing the shameless grins on Uzumaki Menma and the others' faces, Hyuga Hiashi made his decision.

"Come with me. I'll take you there."

The reason Hyuga Hiashi made this decision was Hinata.

Hinata's personality was simply too weak. With a temperament like hers, she was truly unfit to become a ninja.

If she had been an ordinary person, it would not have mattered. But Hinata was different. She was the eldest daughter of the Hyuga Clan and would bear the clan's responsibilities in the future.

That was why Hinata's personality had to change. She had to become stronger.

Yet no matter how Hyuga Hiashi tried to correct her, Hinata had not changed in the slightest.

The fact that these four little ones had dared to break into the Hyuga Clan's compound showed that they had plenty of nerve.

The fact that they still got him to lead the way after being discovered showed that they had thick skins.

If these four really were Hinata's friends, perhaps spending time with them might truly change Hinata's personality.

Hyuga Hiashi led Uzumaki Menma and the other three into a courtyard.

Voices came from within the courtyard.

"Hah! Ha!"

Uzumaki Menma and Naruto immediately recognized Hinata's voice.

Because the courtyard wall was rather low, Naruto jumped up and vaulted over it into the courtyard.

Uzumaki Menma patted Shikamaru on the shoulder. "Quick! Shikamaru, let's go!"

"Yeah, yeah. Carrying you is such a pain. Choji, give me a hand."

Shikamaru and Choji dragged Uzumaki Menma over the wall and into the courtyard.

Hyuga Hiashi's eyes twitched furiously.

There was a gate, yet they chose to climb the wall—and it was his wall!

Once all four of them had climbed into the courtyard, Naruto called out loudly to Hinata, "Hinata!"

Hinata, who had been training, turned around. When she saw Naruto and Uzumaki Menma, she froze in place.

"Huh? Naruto? Menma?"

Unable to believe it, Hinata rubbed her eyes hard. After looking again and confirming that it was Naruto and Uzumaki Menma, she asked in surprise, "Why are you here?"

Naruto walked up to Hinata with his hands behind his head and said with a grin, "Of course we came to find you so we could play together."

Hinata asked blankly, "Play together?"

Uzumaki Menma said, "Yeah. We worked really hard to sneak in and find you."

Hinata looked at Uzumaki Menma, who was being carried by Shikamaru, and asked in confusion, "Menma, what happened to you?"

"I'm fine. I was just tired and couldn't walk anymore. This is Shikamaru, and that's Choji. They're our good friends. They came with us to play with you," Uzumaki Menma introduced.

Shikamaru greeted her, "Hi, Hinata."

Hinata replied politely, "Nice to meet you, Shikamaru."

Choji opened another bag of chips and offered it to Hinata. "We're all friends now. Have some."

Hinata symbolically took one chip and thanked him. "Thank you, Choji."

"Alright, we can talk after we get outside. Let's go!"

"Wait!" Hinata said hesitantly. "I haven't finished today's training yet. I can't leave."

Naruto directly grabbed Hinata's little hand. "You can train tomorrow. It took us so much effort to find you. Come play with us."

The moment Naruto took her hand, Hinata's little face turned bright red. White steam rose from her head as she let Naruto pull her toward the exit.

But just as they reached the doorway, a tall figure blocked the entrance and asked sternly:

"Hinata, where are you going?"