Team assignments

Late at night, Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed inside the Hokage's Office.

He looked at the letter on his desk with a helpless expression.

The letter had left him in a quandary over the upcoming team assignments.

It concerned Hinata Hyuga, requesting that she be placed on the same team as Yemu.

The writer was, of course, the head of the Hyuga Clan, Hyuga Hiashi.

Faced with a request from the head of a major clan,

Hiruzen Sarutobi had to give it some consideration.

Besides, the Hyuga Clan had made a sacrifice for Konoha a few years earlier.

To avoid going to war with Kumogakure, the Hyuga Clan had voluntarily sacrificed Hizashi Hyuga, the head of the Branch Family.

Hiruzen Sarutobi had always kept that in mind.

His village, Konoha, was not some cold, heartless place.

To repay that debt, Hiruzen Sarutobi naturally had to consider Hyuga Hiashi's request, which was hardly unreasonable.

But if he did that,

it would mean losing the opportunity to build ties with other clans.

Originally, Hiruzen Sarutobi had planned to put Hinata Hyuga, Kiba Inuzuka, and Shino Aburame on the same team.

The three would complement one another: the Hyuga Clan's Byakugan, the Inuzuka Clan's ninja hounds, and the Aburame Clan's Insect Control Technique.

He doubted there was any ninja team in the shinobi world better suited to tracking and reconnaissance.

Moreover, all three were heirs to major clans. Bringing them together would naturally benefit their future development.

But now, a single letter from Hyuga Hiashi

had thrown Hiruzen Sarutobi's plans into disarray.

Several more days passed.

Everyone gathered in the classroom.

Somewhat surprisingly, Naruto Uzumaki was wearing a ninja forehead protector despite having failed to graduate.

"Now, I'll announce your ninja team assignments."

"From here on, your supervising teachers will guide your growth."

At Iruka-sensei's words,

many of the students filled with anticipation.

"What should I do? They're assigning Yemu to a team." Hinata Hyuga was a little nervous.

"Tch..." Qingxue Uchiha pursed her lips unhappily. Looking back at Yemu Hyuga, who seemed utterly unconcerned, she felt puzzled.

Why did Yemu look so casual about this?

Could he already know the team assignments?

"Next is Team 7. Its members are Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno, and finally, Sasuke Uchiha."

"All right!!"

Hearing that Sakura Haruno was on his team, Naruto Uzumaki couldn't help cheering happily.

At this point, Naruto Uzumaki still liked Sakura Haruno.

"Great!"

Sakura Haruno looked just as delighted, because she would be with Sasuke Uchiha.

"Damn it!!"

Sasuke Uchiha, on the other hand, couldn't feel happy. He had been hoping to be on the same team as Yemu Hyuga.

That way, he could push himself to become stronger.

Instead, the academy had saddled him with the dead-last Naruto Uzumaki and the lovestruck Sakura Haruno.

Look me in the eyes and tell me how I'm supposed to beat Uchiha Itachi like this!!

"Next is the roster for Team 8."

Looking at the list in his hand, Iruka couldn't help glancing at Yemu Hyuga, seated by the window at the back.

He wondered whether Yemu would accept this team assignment.

Below the podium, Hinata Hyuga clasped her small hands together, her heart racing wildly.

She knew that if she wasn't assigned to Yemu's team, they would have very few chances to go on missions together in the future.

"The members of Team 8 are Yemu Hyuga, Hinata Hyuga, and finally... Shino Aburame."

As Iruka finished speaking,

the classroom instantly erupted in an uproar.

Many of the boys were thrilled, because Qingxue Uchiha hadn't been placed with Yemu Hyuga.

Most were even hoping they might end up as Qingxue Uchiha's teammates.

It couldn't be helped. Qingxue Uchiha was beautiful, and she was no slouch in terms of strength, either.

A teammate like her was naturally the first choice for many boys.

"Huh??"

Hinata Hyuga blinked, seemingly unable to process what she had heard.

She looked at Qingxue Uchiha, seated diagonally ahead of her, whose face had turned exceptionally cold, and felt worried.

"Um, Qingxue, why don't we switch places?"

Hinata Hyuga offered the suggestion quietly, feeling miserable.

"Hmm?"

A flash of delighted surprise crossed Qingxue Uchiha's eyes, and she immediately turned around.

"Really?"

Looking at the hesitant Hinata Hyuga, Qingxue Uchiha slowly curled her lips into a smile.

"Huh?"

Hinata Hyuga looked dazed and bewildered. She had only meant to be polite.

Who could have imagined that Qingxue Uchiha wouldn't stand on ceremony at all?

It left her struggling to catch up.

"Pfft..."

"I'm kidding. I'm not that unreasonable."

Qingxue Uchiha patted Hinata Hyuga's head with a faint smile on her face.

"S-sorry."

Hinata Hyuga lowered her head. "If you want to join Team 8, Qingxue, I'll switch with you anytime."

"Then what if I want to join right now?" Qingxue Uchiha raised an eyebrow, instantly turning her teasing up to full force.

She had always been the sort to love and hate boldly. Otherwise, she wouldn't have ended up becoming a yandere.

"Stop teasing Hinata, you."

Yemu Hyuga cut into the conversation helplessly.

Looking at Hinata Hyuga, who was on the verge of being bullied to tears, he was speechless.

He suspected that if he weren't there, Qingxue might actually slash Hinata Hyuga a couple of times.

"What, Yemu? You seem awfully calm about us not being assigned to the same team."

Looking at Yemu Hyuga's utterly nonchalant expression, Qingxue Uchiha gritted her teeth in irritation.

Unable to help herself, she reached out with both hands and pinched Yemu Hyuga's cheeks hard.

"If anyone has any objections, you can come see me afterward."

Iruka looked helpless.

Unfortunately, he had no control over the team assignments.

Besides, village regulations stipulated that each team consist of two boys and one girl.

The two boys would engage in healthy competition, while the girl would smooth things over and strengthen their bonds.

Still, Yemu Hyuga's Team 8 really did seem off.

Having Shino Aburame compete with Yemu Hyuga to get stronger-wouldn't that just be a one-sided beating?

"Hey, Yemu, where are you going?"

Qingxue Uchiha watched Yemu Hyuga casually stand up with his hands in his pockets, feeling curious.

"Where else? To raise my objection, of course."

"Otherwise, who knows where you'll go tonight to secretly mope all by yourself?"

Yemu Hyuga smiled faintly and headed toward Iruka's office under the bewildered gazes of the other students.

Watching Yemu Hyuga's figure gradually disappear,

Qingxue Uchiha wore a faint smile on her delicate face as she muttered, "Oh, get lost. Who'd be heartbroken over you? You're just after my body."

Seeing Yemu actually leave, Hinata Hyuga panicked. "Qingxue, maybe I should volunteer to leave Team 8. These assignments came from above, after all. Yemu could get in trouble for this."

As she spoke, Hinata Hyuga started to get up and leave.

But Qingxue Uchiha caught her by the wrist.

"Trust that guy. He's a total pervert. There's no way he'd let me slip away so easily."

A trace of amusement shone in Qingxue Uchiha's eyes.

At least this counted as Yemu acknowledging her in his own way, didn't it?

Meanwhile,

inside the teachers' office,

the jonin instructors for the various teams had gathered, discussing the students assigned to them.

"Haha! Kakashi, looks like you've got a dead-last among your students!"

Standing beside Kakashi, Might Guy gave him a spirited thumbs-up.

The masked Kakashi Hatake looked speechless, seemingly accustomed to Might Guy's eccentric behavior.

Still, there really was a dead-last among the students he would be leading.

Naruto Uzumaki.

He seemed to be the son of Kakashi's teacher, the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, but Kakashi hadn't expected him to lack even a hint of his teacher's brilliance.

"Yemu Hyuga?"

Seeing that one of her students was actually the top graduate of this year's class, Kurenai Yuhi began to feel the pressure.

And for some reason, she kept getting the feeling that quite a few people were unhappy about Yemu Hyuga being one of her students.