New Teammate

The next day, Yuun and Hana did not see Itachi. Instead, they received an order from the Hokage: "Chunin Itachi Uchiha possesses exceptional strength, has completed numerous missions with an extremely high success rate, and is hereby commended and transferred to the Anbu."

"What the hell?!" Hana angrily waved the transfer order in her hand. "Itachi joined the Anbu without even telling us, and he stood us up too!"

"You should try to understand him." Yuun was not particularly surprised, though he found it a little strange. Wasn't Itachi supposed to join the Anbu at eleven? Had that been moved up? "Once he joins the Anbu, the missions he takes will all be confidential. He can't keep spending every day with us like before."

"Hmph!" Hana turned her head away, seeming genuinely angry.

"Alright, when we have time, I'll go with you to find Itachi and get an explanation." Yuun smiled bitterly. He truly did not want to get involved with the current Itachi. Once Itachi joined the Anbu, every move he made would be under Danzo's watchful eye. Yuun did not want anything to do with that man.

"I don't need you to come with me." Hearing Yuun agree to accompany her, Hana's expression softened considerably. "Is Teacher Shibi going to stand us up like Itachi too?"

"Not likely. Teacher Shibi has been here for a while already," Yuun said casually. His control over the Byakugan had reached the point where he could use it at will. Although he could not avoid the physical changes caused by activating it, he no longer needed hand seals.

"Good morning." As soon as Yuun finished speaking, Shibi Aburame emerged from behind a tree not far away.

"What's so good about this morning?!" Hana's resentment had grown beyond even her fear of her teacher. "Teacher, Itachi has left our team, so we're down one person. What do we do?"

Shibi Aburame glanced at Yuun. When he saw Yuun shake the envelope from the Hokage's Office in his hand, he nodded. "The Hokage has allowed you to select a teammate from among this year's graduates, provided they are willing. Alternatively, you may draw lots and randomly assign a Chunin without a team to join you."

"Hayate is in his third year now, right?" Yuun turned to Hana and asked.

"Yeah." Hana nodded, her eyes lighting up. "Huh, having Hayate join us doesn't sound bad. He might not be as good as Itachi, but he'd make a perfectly acceptable little brother."

"Teacher, what if the person we choose hasn't graduated yet, but applies for early graduation?" Yuun asked. If he had to choose a teammate, he would rather pick a Genin whose background he knew than those veteran Chunin who had been around for years. Whether they were easy to get along with was secondary. If they sold him out at a critical moment, he would not even have a place to cry.

"This..." Shibi Aburame frowned slightly. "In principle, that is possible. But are you sure? A third-year student may not be able to keep up with your pace."

"You don't need to worry about that. Hayate is only in his third year because he enrolled late. He's nearly four years older than me, but his strength is not lacking," Yuun said confidently. Others might not know, but how could he not? Hayate was already twelve and had yet to graduate, but after graduating, he would become a Chunin in just one year. Even in Konoha, that was an exceptionally fast promotion.

"Even so, you should still look over these. I brought you information on several Chunin who currently do not have teammates." Shibi Aburame sighed softly. He had worried that the two children had spent all their time training and doing missions, leaving them unfamiliar with others, so he had specially prepared these files in advance. "Kurenai Yuhi graduated at nine and became a Chunin at thirteen. She is proficient in Genjutsu, though her taijutsu is somewhat unbalanced. She would work well with you."

"Ooh, she's a pretty big sister." Hana snatched the file and began reading it herself. When she saw Kurenai Yuhi's photograph, her eyes brightened and she cried out, "Yuun, how about we team up with this pretty big sister?"

"..." Yuun had the urge to cover his forehead and sigh. It felt as though someone had stolen his line.

"Mm, never mind. I hate alcohol." When Hana flipped to the hobbies section, she wrinkled her nose and muttered, "Next is Umino Iruka. Let me see..."

"Take your time looking. You can take today off and think it over. Decide whether you want to find one of your former classmates or contact someone from these files, then meet here again at this time tomorrow." Shibi Aburame coughed twice to draw Yuun and Hana's attention. "Remember to carefully consider whether your abilities complement each other, and try to choose someone whose personality suits yours as well."

"Yes," Yuun replied. "Thank you for the trouble."

"Remember to think it through carefully," Shibi Aburame said calmly, then used the Body Flicker Technique and vanished.

"Yuun, what about this one? Uzuki Yugao... Mm, another beautiful big sister." Hana's eyes were full of little stars. Who knew what she had seen in the file? Whenever Yuun wanted to look, she simply refused to let him.

"Hayate is older than you too, but I've never seen you call him big brother," Yuun could not help remarking.

"That's different." Hana spoke as though it did not matter. "Hayate is all sickly. Letting him be my little brother is taking care of him, okay? If he wants to be a big brother, it's simple—he just has to beat me."

"But I've never seen you call me big brother either." Yuun rolled his eyes and turned toward the Ninja Academy. After thinking it over, he still felt Hayate would be the better choice. They knew each other well and were already familiar with one another. Bringing him onto the team would at least save them the trouble of adjusting to each other.

"Hey, wait for me!" Seeing Yuun leave, Hana hurriedly put away the files and quickly followed after him.

Although two years had passed, the Ninja Academy was exactly the same as before. The two soon found the teachers' office, intending to ask which class Hayate was currently in. After all, Konoha's more than ten thousand ninja had all graduated from the Ninja Academy. Counting those who had been eliminated, each grade had at least five or six hundred students across more than a dozen classes. The best way to find someone was to ask a teacher directly.

"What? Hayate graduated? When?!" They were shocked as soon as they asked. Hayate had actually applied for early graduation a year ago. He had already been twelve at the time, and the school had no intention of making things difficult for him, so it approved his request immediately. Naturally, when Yuun came looking for him now, he could not find him.

"Hayate graduated and didn't even come find me!" Hana stomped her feet in fury. At their age, they would not casually visit one another unless they were especially close. Moreover, Yuun and Hana had been busy with missions and had never thought about it. Only now did they learn that Hayate had graduated and left.