Zou Hyuga's appearance immediately put Naruto on guard, and he stepped in front of Hinata.
Faced with Zou Hyuga, Naruto felt afraid. He could chase away other children, but not adults. Even so, he stood protectively in front of Hinata despite his trembling legs.
"Uncle Zou?"
Hinata recognized Zou Hyuga and stepped out from behind Naruto. She had seen him just an hour earlier.
"Uncle? I'm only eighteen, and I'm already an uncle..."
Pressing a hand to his forehead, Zou Hyuga began to question his life. He had thought he was young, yet here he was, being called an uncle.
After hearing Hinata, Naruto came over too and said with a smile, "Oh, so you're Uncle Zou. You must be from Hinata's clan, right? But you were way too slow. Hinata nearly got bullied just now."
"No, Naruto." Zou Hyuga shook his head. "I stayed out of sight because I saw you show up."
"Oh, I see. Looks like I didn't need to step in."
Naruto scratched his head awkwardly, then asked in confusion, "But how do you know my name, Uncle Zou? I don't think we've ever met."
"I'm a ninja." Not wanting to explain too much, Zou Hyuga pointed at the forehead protector on his head.
"A ninja..." A trace of gloom crossed Naruto's face before his smile returned. "Uncle Zou, I'm going to become a ninja too. Then the people in the village won't hate me anymore."
"Then keep working hard." Although he took issue with being called an uncle, Zou Hyuga still offered encouragement.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah!" Naruto nodded repeatedly. Though the encouragement had been rather perfunctory, he was still happy. At least someone had treated him as a normal child rather than the Nine-Tails Fox.
As Zou Hyuga led Hinata back toward the Clan Grounds,