Guiding Teacher

"After you finish eating, go out for a walk with Hinata," Hiashi suddenly said to Yuun.

"..." Glancing at Hinata, who looked like she was about to faint, Yuun nodded with a mixture of amusement and helplessness. "Yes, I understand."

Before long, under Hiashi's scrutinizing gaze, the two left the Hyuga Estate together and began the first date of their lives.

"Um... should we get something to eat..." The moment the words left his mouth, Yuun could not help cursing himself for being an idiot. Fortunately, Hinata merely froze for a moment before lowering her head, looking as though she would let Yuun decide everything, sparing him from too much embarrassment.

"How about... we go to Hokage Rock?" After thinking carefully and making sure there was nothing inappropriate about the suggestion, Yuun finally spoke. "I remember the scenery there being quite nice."

"..."

"..."

"...You can decide..." After waiting for what felt like forever, Yuun finally heard Hinata's voice, no louder than a mosquito's buzz.

"Then..." Looking at Hinata as she lowered her head and traced circles with her fingers, Yuun hesitated. Then, gritting his teeth, he reached out and took her small hand. "Let's go!"

"Ah..." Suddenly having her hand grabbed by Yuun, Hinata was nearly startled out of her wits. In the end, though, she obediently let him lead her away.

"This is the place." Yuun pointed to an open area ahead. "This was where I came most often to practice the Gentle Fist. Back then, I came here every day or two, sometimes for several days in a row."

"...Does training here really make that much of a difference?" Hinata finally could not help asking. Part of the reason she had lost to Hanabi Hyuga at eleven was because she did not want Hanabi to become part of the Branch House because of it, but another part was that she had truly been too weak at the time. Now that she knew how Yuun trained, she could not help feeling tempted. After all, even her father had highly praised Yuun as a genius.

"This..." Yuun thought for a moment and answered with some hesitation. "Maybe it helps a little. I only came here because the feeling of my fingers and palms cutting through the wind while training made me feel pleasant. I'm not really sure whether it benefits training."

"I see..." Hinata was somewhat disappointed, but she knew there really were no shortcuts in training. Otherwise, geniuses would not be so rare.

"Hehe, don't think too much about it." Holding Hinata's slightly cool hand, Yuun's mind wandered somewhat. His age was what it was; if Hinata had not been so young, he would not have minded taking things a step further. "Tomorrow, I'll give you a surprise. For now, just happily go shopping with me. Don't girls all like shopping?"

Though eighteen-year-old Yuun was only a little over five feet seven, Hinata was still under five feet tall, leaving a full head of difference between them. This meant Yuun had to crouch halfway down to face her. Hinata had not expected him to suddenly crouch in front of her either. The instant their eyes met, her face turned bright red.

"Hinata! No way..."

After taking a rather decent afternoon nap in bed and casually washing his face, Yuun headed out. Yesterday's date with Hinata had been cut short by some force majeure, but at least their relationship had grown much closer than before. Regrettably, it had also produced an unfortunate consequence: for almost the entire afternoon, whenever Hinata saw him, she would enter blushing-and-silence mode. Of course, that was not a problem. Things would get much better once she got used to it.

Today was the day Hinata and the others were assigned to teams. Yuun had already confirmed that he would take Team 8. The three members of Team 8 all had rather close ties to him anyway, so it was not bad for him to be responsible for them.

"Yo, Kurenai." When Yuun arrived, he saw Kurenai Yuhi coming out of the office. Before leading a team, they had to come to the office to complete some paperwork, so Yuun was not surprised to see her here. There was something else he was curious about, though. "Why isn't Anko with you?"

"She caught a bad cold and is still lying in the hospital." Kurenai smiled helplessly. "I still have to go request leave for her later."

"So that's what happened." Yuun laughed silently. Thinking of Anko, who was usually so carefree and unconcerned about everything, now having no choice but to lie miserably in a hospital bed, was indeed rather funny. "Have you finished the paperwork? So, which team are you leading?"

"What else could it be?" Kurenai said with some dissatisfaction. "This year's students really aren't much. Even the top class is only at this level."

"It's been peaceful for over a decade, after all." Yuun smiled. "Don't be too demanding with these young people."

"Pfft." Hearing Yuun speak so solemnly, Kurenai could not help laughing. "You make it sound like you're so much older. I asked Anko about it—you're only eighteen yourself. Aren't you embarrassed to call them young people?"

"Why did she even tell you that?" Yuun's mouth twitched as he shrugged helplessly. "Anyway, I'm still older than these little guys."

"Hehe, I won't keep talking to you." Kurenai smiled, then turned serious. "I still need to go to the classroom. Let's chat again when we have time."

"Sure." Yuun smiled as well.

"Bye-bye." Carrying the students' files, Kurenai headed toward the classroom. After watching her leave, Yuun turned and pushed open the office door.

"Hi, Iruka." Seeing Iruka writing something at his desk, Yuun greeted him.

"Uh..." Iruka looked at Yuun, then at the document in his hands, hesitating slightly. "Jonin Yuun?"

"That's me." Yuun nodded.

"So it really is you." Iruka was still somewhat surprised, which was only natural. After all, the last time he had met Yuun had been several years ago. In just a few years, Yuun had grown from a teenager into someone with a title of his own.

"Help me with the paperwork first. Don't keep the students waiting too long." Yuun smiled. He did not want to waste time here.

"Oh, right." Iruka flipped through the documents. "Let me see... Jonin Yuun, you'll be leading Team 8. Its members are Shino Aburame, Kiba Inuzuka, and Hinata Hyuga..."

After spending more than ten minutes completing the paperwork, Yuun followed Iruka's directions and quickly found the classroom where the graduating class was gathered.

The classroom door opened, and the previously noisy room instantly fell silent. Who knew whether the person coming in would be their guiding teacher? For a first meeting, everyone wanted to make a good impression.

Of course, it was not completely silent. Amid the quiet, a small cry of surprise stood out particularly clearly. Just as the students were about to turn around and see who dared cause trouble at a time like this, Yuun spoke.

"Shino Aburame, Kiba Inuzuka, and Hinata Hyuga of Team 8, please come with me." Once Yuun finished speaking, whispers began rising in the classroom again.

"So that's a Jonin? He's so handsome." Some starry-eyed girls held their cheeks and struck shy poses.

"I wonder what our guiding teacher will be like?"

"His eyes are so strange."