Konoha Village (Extra-Long Chapter)

"That brat Naruto Uzumaki!"

"He's still young, so I'll let it slide out of respect for Lord Third."

"Just wait. The moment he leaves the Academy and becomes a ninja, I'll make sure he pays for it."

Konoha, Yakiniku Q.

The clan heads of Konoha's upper and middle ranks had gathered there. The three Ino-Shika-Cho families sat together, and after getting drunk, Inoichi Yamanaka could not stop cursing.

Hyuga Hiashi, the head of the Hyuga Clan, sat at the next table.

He quietly ate his food and drank his wine.

Unlike the others, who either comforted or tried to persuade the drunken Inoichi Yamanaka, he merely glanced at him indifferently.

Then he muttered under his breath, "What a disgraceful lack of decorum."

What a bunch of small-minded fools. No wonder they had never managed to join the ranks of the top clans after all these years. Shouting and carrying on in a barbecue restaurant without the slightest sense of etiquette.

No wonder he raised that kind of daughter. The eldest daughter of the dignified Yamanaka Clan actually called some little boy her father.

The root of it lies right here. When the beam above is crooked, the one below cannot be straight.

And he even had the nerve to complain to the Hokage.

Ridiculous!

After sitting there for a while, Hyuga Hiashi could no longer stand the noisy environment. He found an excuse, left the barbecue restaurant with his attendant, and headed for the Hyuga Clan compound.

On the way home, he thought of Inoichi Yamanaka's earlier outburst and could not help smiling slightly.

He had clashed with Inoichi Yamanaka before, and their conflict had centered on their daughters. He felt that Inoichi spoiled his daughter too much, practically becoming her slave.

Meanwhile, Inoichi Yamanaka believed Hiashi suppressed his daughter too harshly, saying that constantly reprimanding Hinata would cause problems sooner or later.

And now, it was Inoichi Yamanaka's daughter who had developed a problem.

"How has Hinata been lately?"

"Young Lady has been improving almost every day."

"Mm."

His voice was calm, but he was in an excellent mood. Unlike that foolish, wild Yamanaka girl, his Hinata had truly satisfied him lately.

She was well-read and sensible, modest and understanding.

She had manners and poise.

A perfect young lady of a great clan.

Most importantly, she had been diligently training every day recently and improving every day. Even her timid nature had gradually been tempered into something sharper.

In the past, Hyuga Hiashi had worried most about Hinata's overly soft personality and how easily she could be taken advantage of. Now, she was slowly learning how to be firm.

Sure enough, strict fatherly education was the right approach.

Inoichi Yamanaka's unconditional indulgence of his daughter was completely unworkable.

Lost in thought, Hyuga Hiashi unknowingly arrived outside his daughter Hinata Hyuga's courtyard. At this hour, Hinata had probably already fallen asleep.

Normally, Hyuga Hiashi would never disturb his daughter.

But he had drunk a little today, and with Inoichi Yamanaka providing such a contrast, the usually stern Hyuga Hiashi failed to restrain himself.

Gently, he pushed open his daughter's door.

Seeing his daughter Hinata Hyuga's sleeping face beneath the moonlight, he revealed a rare smile.

Just as he was about to leave, he suddenly noticed a small box on her table. It contained rice balls, along with a small note.

His curiosity got the better of him.

Hyuga Hiashi gently picked it up and took a look. Then he froze on the spot, his eyes nearly filling with mist.

The note read:

(Dad, you've worked hard lately. These are the first rice balls I've ever made. I don't know whether they'll suit your taste, but I hope you'll like them.)

(OvO!!!)

Hyuga Hiashi stood there for a very long time. After barely calming his emotions, he gently put the note back and carefully left the room.

Then he instructed the guard not to tell anyone that he had come tonight.

Immediately afterward, Hyuga Hiashi returned to his own room to rest, looking forward to waking up early tomorrow.

Hyuga Hiashi had already decided that no matter how Hinata's rice balls tasted, he would say they were all right.

Hmm...

Would that make Hinata too full of herself? Maybe I should say they were average instead.

Mm, that was settled.

He would pretend that eating them was difficult, then say the flavor was average. That way, Hinata would have the motivation to improve next time.

As he thought about it, Hyuga Hiashi happily hummed to himself.

"Hmph hmph~!"

"Inoichi Yamanaka, you brat, you never expected this, did you? My life with my daughter is far better than yours."

The next day.

Hyuga Hiashi got up early, put on his usual white kimono, meticulously groomed himself, and waited in his room.

He waited for two hours.

From seven until nine, Hyuga Hiashi was beginning to lose patience. He muttered to himself, "As the eldest daughter of the main family, how can she sleep in? I must seriously criticize Hinata for this."

After waiting a while longer, Hinata still had not come looking for him. After considering it, Hyuga Hiashi called the guard outside into the room.

"Go wake Hinata and tell her to train. Don't think spring break means she can rest. Children of the Hyuga main family do not have that right."

"But..." the guard replied, "Lady Hinata went out early this morning."

"Hm?" Hyuga Hiashi froze. "Where did she go?"

"She said she had arranged to practice with friends at Training Ground 9."

She went to the training ground?

What about the gift for me?

Did she forget?

That child really is careless.

He consoled himself inwardly, but at that moment, Hyuga Hiashi already had a bad feeling. He quickly left his room and pushed open Hinata's door.

There was no gift anywhere...

"Who has Hinata been spending time with lately?"

"The Yamanaka Clan's eldest daughter, Ino Yamanaka..."

"Hm?!"

"And that demon fox brat called Naruto Uzumaki."

"Hm?!!!!"

Hyuga Hiashi's figure swiftly vanished from the Hyuga Clan compound.

Training Ground 9.

"Phew~!"

"Phew~!"

Hinata Hyuga panted heavily. Today, she had finally completed the chakra water-walking task Naruto had assigned her. Without any assistance, she had used only chakra attached to her feet to balance herself on the water, moving from slow walking to fast running step by step.

Thanks to Naruto's precise guidance and the foundation from her earlier tree-climbing training, she had completed the trial in less than three days.

She glanced toward Ino Yamanaka. At that moment, Ino could still barely maintain a walking pace and was not yet capable of running.

"Hinata Hyuga, don't get smug. Your lead is only temporary. Sooner or later, I'll surpass you in front of Dad." Ino Yamanaka held out her arms for balance, looking utterly unconvinced.

"Then work hard!" Hinata Hyuga waved at Ino Yamanaka with a smile. "I'll go play with Dad first."

After spending so much time together, she understood exactly what kind of words could strike at Ino Yamanaka.

After saying that, she ignored Ino Yamanaka, who had angrily fallen into the water, and ran cheerfully off the water onto shore.

"Damn it!!!"

"Hehe~!"

Hinata Hyuga's lips curled upward. She had realized that after spending so much time with Naruto, even the way she acted was becoming more and more like him.

But she did not dislike it.

Still, whenever she faced Naruto alone, she could not help blushing.

When she spotted Naruto lying beneath a tree and yawning, Hinata Hyuga's voice unconsciously began reverting to its original stammering state.

"Na... Naruto... did you open and eat the breakfast box I prepared for you?"

"I'm not eating it!"

The moment she approached, she saw Naruto looking furious. His expression was anything but pleasant.

"Ah... wh... what's wrong?" Hinata Hyuga felt her heart tremble.

Were the rice balls bad? Or did Naruto dislike the note I wrote?

"Food that isn't fed to me by Mom doesn't deserve to enter my mouth. I'd rather throw it in the trash." Naruto Uzumaki threw a tantrum as he spoke.

Upon hearing that, Hinata Hyuga let out a huge sigh of relief. Then, trembling slightly, she moved closer to Naruto and sat kneeling beside him. "Th-then... then... should I feed you?"

"Mom Hinata is the best!"

Naruto instantly smiled, rested his head on Hinata's lap, and opened his mouth. "Ah~!"

Seeing this, Hinata Hyuga smiled too. Her pretty face flushed as she slowly picked up the breakfast box she had packed. After opening it and seeing that the note was still inside, she knew Naruto had not even looked at it.

But it had the words she wanted to say written on it!

Seeing that Ino Yamanaka had not returned yet, Hinata Hyuga's heart began pounding faster. She was going to make a bold decision.

As she fed Naruto a rice ball, she personally said what she had wanted to tell him.

"D-D-Dad, you've worked hard lately. You've always been teaching me how to train... These are the first rice balls I've ever made. I don't know whether they'll suit your taste. I hope... I hope... Dad will like them."

"The taste is pretty average. You need to keep working hard, Mom!" Naruto said blissfully as he enjoyed being fed.

"O-okay, Dad. I'll keep improving."

"Mm-hm, Mom is such a good girl!"

Naruto raised a hand and rubbed Hinata's hair in encouragement.

Hinata's face reddened further, and then she let out a sweet laugh.

Not far away, Hyuga Hiashi watched this scene, his face alternating between green and white. He was a ninja who had never been ill, but today he experienced what it meant for his blood pressure to surge.

Taking a deep breath, Hyuga Hiashi locked eyes with the purple-haired ANBU blocking his path. In the end, he abandoned the idea of personally teaching Naruto Uzumaki a lesson.

In terms of strength, he feared no ANBU, but the ANBU were the Hokage's direct subordinates.

"Let me take Hinata away."

"Wait a little longer."

"I'll go demand justice from the Hokage!"

Hyuga Hiashi snorted coldly, turned around, and headed straight for the Hokage Tower.

However, upon arriving, he discovered that someone else was already angrily confronting the Hokage in the Hokage's Office over a similar matter.

"Lord Third, why won't you let me teach that brat Naruto Uzumaki a lesson? I can tolerate him calling my daughter Mom. That doesn't matter."

"But why did he make my daughter call him Master? If word gets out, how is my daughter supposed to face anyone afterward?"

The speaker was Tsume Inuzuka, the head of the Inuzuka Clan.

She was Kiba Inuzuka and Inuzuka Hana's mother.

After Inuzuka Hana returned home yesterday, she had been acting strangely, muttering to her dogs about things like "Thousand Years of Death," "bastard," "so strong," and "actually kind of handsome."

Tsume Inuzuka had not understood what was going on, so she had her ninja hound ask Haimaru, her daughter's ninja hound, about the situation.

She had been shocked once she learned the truth.

The eldest daughter of a clan that raised ninja hounds had actually become a ninja hound outside.

How could Tsume Inuzuka possibly tolerate that? She immediately gave Inuzuka Hana a harsh beating, then prepared to deal with the brat named Naruto Uzumaki as well. However, ANBU agents stopped her midway.

With no other choice, Tsume Inuzuka could only come to the Hokage Tower first and question Hiruzen Sarutobi.

"Actually..."

Hiruzen Sarutobi took a deep drag from his pipe. "I think this is a good thing!"

"This is a good thing?!"

Tsume Inuzuka slammed her fist onto the desk. "Then what would count as bad?"

If the man in front of her had not been the Hokage, Tsume Inuzuka would probably have started cursing already.

"Don't get so worked up!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed and took out a videotape.

"I'll show you something."

Since he had anticipated this, Hiruzen Sarutobi had recorded Naruto's battles with Inuzuka Hana and Izumi Uchiha.

Then, right in front of Tsume Inuzuka, he played the recording.

When the video ended, Tsume Inuzuka fell silent. It turned out her daughter had been the one to provoke him first, only to lose...

And she had lost twice despite teaming up two-on-one against someone five years younger.

Under those circumstances, how could Tsume Inuzuka have the nerve to stand up for her daughter and cause trouble for Naruto Uzumaki?

"Look. After Naruto defeated Inuzuka Hana and the other girl for the second time, he actually took the initiative to offer to teach them how to train."

Hiruzen Sarutobi pointed at the recording, where Naruto had spat out a huge fireball before offering to teach them. He looked quite gratified.

He saw in Naruto the selfless spirit Minato Namikaze had shown for the village.

"Look at how delighted Hana and the other girl are. Doesn't that count as a good thing?"

Tsume Inuzuka hesitated for a moment before ultimately saying nothing.

"I know what you're angry about. It's nothing more than the forms of address, and that's only a minor matter. Isn't it far better than having an openly hostile competitive relationship?"

"Besides, think about this carefully. Naruto only acts like this with Hana right now. From what I understand of Naruto, if you appear before him, his target might become you instead."

"So, are you sure you really want to go find trouble with him?"

Tsume Inuzuka's expression rapidly changed at those words.

She snapped, "If he dares call me Mom or make me a ninja hound, I'll beat his butt until it blooms."

"But how long could you keep beating him?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi smiled and continued, "You saw it yourself. At such a young age, he had already displayed strength far beyond that of a Chunin."

"..."

Tsume Inuzuka fell silent.

Hiruzen Sarutobi then consoled her:

"Don't take it too much to heart. Naruto only did this because he'd been suppressing himself for too long."

"I understand, Third Hokage. I was too emotional this time."

Tsume Inuzuka bowed deeply, sighed, and left the Hokage's Office.

As Tsume Inuzuka passed Hyuga Hiashi, Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at him.

"Hiashi, I know what you want to say."

"But I'm telling you, this is a good thing!"

"Naruto and Hinata have simply been suppressing themselves for too long!"

At those words.

Kakashi Hatake, the ANBU captain who had been following Hiruzen Sarutobi these past few days, was almost unable to hold it together. He felt that the words he had heard most often lately were "good thing" and "suppressed."

They might as well stop calling it Konoha and rename it Suppression Village!

Jokes aside, after that bit of mockery, Kakashi Hatake seriously began pondering a question.

Naruto...

Had he really been that suppressed?

Minato-sensei, I'm sorry. I failed to take care of Naruto.

All these years, I hadn't gone to see him even once. I didn't dare...

Elsewhere.

Naruto had already learned through overhearing Uzuki Yugao's thoughts that Hyuga Hiashi had come by. A smile spread across his face as he thought, Another chess piece found.

PS: Dear handsome, dashing, elegant readers, this humble author is kneeling to beg for your votes~!

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