Taking Over Team 8

"Honestly..." Yuun had just left the Hokage Building, looking somewhat helpless. "What a headache..."

The Third Hokage had just made him a suggestion: serve as an instructor for a batch of new graduates. Yuun would not have minded if that were all. An instructor's job was simply to train the team members into Chunin, and in his memory, aside from Naruto, most of Konoha's new generation advanced to Chunin rather quickly. So long as he was not assigned Naruto's team, he did not care.

But the Third Hokage had still given Yuun a difficult problem, because he would be leading Team 8. To put it more directly, the three people on Yuun's team would be Hinata Hyuga, Shino Aburame, and Kiba Inuzuka. No matter what, Yuun would retain the initiative as their instructor, but just imagining how awkward the atmosphere would be while leading them gave him a headache.

Yet Yuun had no other choice. A request from the Hokage to lead a team could not be refused; it was a Jonin's duty to begin with. Besides, Yuun had received a favor of no small consequence from the Hokage last year, so he could hardly bring himself to refuse. Choosing another team was not very feasible either. Most Genin squads already had Jonin instructors. Of the three teams confirmed to graduate from the newest class, Naruto's Team 7 was obviously impossible. The Hokage would not allow the Nine-Tails' Jinchuriki to have too much contact with a clan ninja whose identity was so strongly marked as Yuun's. As for the new generation of Ino-Shika-Cho, they were connections the Third Hokage had reserved for his own son.

The Third Hokage had also lived through that era of war. A figure known as the "Shinobi Hero," how could he possibly be unaware of Danzo's and the various ninja clans' private maneuvers? It was simply that he no longer possessed the strength or resolve he had in his youth to sweep everything aside, so he could only choose to turn a blind eye and leave his son a way out.

The Ino-Shika-Cho clans might not count as great clans, but the three families had been allies for generations, and together they formed a considerable force. Even the Hyuga Clan would not dare underestimate them. Furthermore, the current heads of the three Ino-Shika-Cho clans were all exceptional. The Third Hokage, who understood Konoha inside and out, naturally knew that after his death, the three clans would surely hold enough influence in Konoha. With the bond of teacher and students between Asuma and the new generation of Ino-Shika-Cho, Asuma would also be able to protect himself.

That left only the current Team 8. Although there were other Genin besides these three teams, they were merely cannon fodder cultivated by Konoha. Those Genin had already been judged to have no potential while still at the Ninja Academy. Unless a Jonin took a liking to them, they could only wait to be randomly assigned after graduation, eventually being led by Chunin on missions.

"Leading a team..." Unable to think of a way to refuse after pondering for a long time, Yuun could only begin trying to convince himself to accept reality. Though leading Genin meant he would be unable to take on high-level missions for quite some time, thirty percent of the rewards from missions completed by the Genin under his command would go directly to the supervising Jonin. Even for five years after the team disbanded, ten percent of the team members' mission rewards would still go to their former instructor.

Even if the Genin failed their instructor's assessment, the instructor could still claim the reward for one C-rank Mission. Konoha used this to encourage Jonin to take the job seriously. A village needed Chunin and Jonin as its backbone, but it also needed a large reserve of Genin.

"Yuun?" Just as Yuun was about to persuade himself, someone suddenly called out to him from behind.

"Mm, Anko." Turning around, he saw two female ninja. One was his former teammate, Mitaraishi Anko. The other wore a dress wrapped in bandages and had a pair of red eyes. She had to be Anko's friend, Kurenai Yuhi.

"Long time no see." Anko strode over in a few quick steps and sized Yuun up. "Looks like you got taller."

"..." Yuun's face darkened. "Is that all you pay attention to...?"

"Well, don't sweat the small stuff." Anko slapped Yuun's shoulder hard, fully displaying her tomboyish nature. "So, when did you get back?"

"Yesterday." Yuun shrugged and looked at Kurenai Yuhi beside Anko. "And this is?"

"Hello, I'm Kurenai Yuhi." Kurenai, the oldest of the three, graciously extended her hand toward Yuun.

"Hello, I'm Hyuga Yuun." Yuun smiled and shook her hand. "It's nice to meet you."

"Hehe, I know who you are." They released each other's hands after a brief shake, and Kurenai smiled softly. "Anko mentions you quite often—the 'White Gale' of Konoha, Hyuga Yuun."

A year ago, Yuun might not have deserved a title of his own, but now he could accept it calmly. "I wouldn't dare boast before a newly risen Genjutsu expert. Even I can't instantly kill an Elite Jonin."

"It was just good luck." Kurenai covered her mouth and laughed, clearly pleased by Yuun's words.

"You two!" Feeling ignored, Anko cried out unhappily. "Don't act like I'm not here!"

"Haha..."

Anko had gone shopping with her best friend when she ran into a friend she had not seen in a long time, and she was delighted. She invited Yuun to join them at a newly opened shop for dango. Yuun checked the sky, and seeing that it was still early before noon, nodded in agreement.

"That's roughly the situation." After explaining his recent circumstances, Yuun picked up a skewer of dango and put it into his mouth. "I've said so much already. Your turn."

"What is there to say? My team disbanded, so I've just been killing time taking B-rank Missions alone. It's not like you, where you can easily complete an A-rank Mission by yourself." Anko spoke indistinctly with her mouth full of dango.

"...Then... what about Hana?" After hesitating for a long time, Yuun finally asked.

"Hana?" Anko stared at Yuun for quite a while before curling her lips. "She's working at Konoha Hospital now. She's already a first-class physician."

"No way..." Cold sweat poured down Yuun's face. He had once let Hana bandage him when he was injured, and that girl's technique was not something ordinary people could endure. She had become a first-class physician like that?

"What are you worried about?" Anko shot Yuun a look full of disdain. "Hana's a veterinarian."

"That makes more sense." Yuun nodded.

"Speaking of which." Anko took a sip of mung bean soup. "Now that you're back at this time, did they drag you off to lead a team as an instructor?"

"What?" Yuun glanced at the unconcerned Anko, curious. "You got assigned some Genin too?"

"Yeah." Anko casually picked up a skewer of dango and stuffed it into her mouth. "But I'm thinking I'll just eliminate them all when the time comes. Getting some reward money wouldn't be bad either. What do you think, Kurenai?"

"I want to try first." Kurenai answered with a smile. She was not particularly fond of mung bean soup, and after merely smelling it, she set the cup down. "After all, it's my first chance to lead a team. I want to give it a try first. If I find good prospects, I'll take them on."

"That works too." Yuun thought for a moment, his gaze shifting toward the Ninja Academy. "Come to think of it, the Ninja Academy should be holding its graduation exam about now, shouldn't it?"