After picking Natsu up that morning with dark circles under his eyes, Xue Ge took her running around Konoha.
With a student to train, he could no longer follow his own pace entirely. In a sense, learning to control his body to match someone else's condition was a special kind of training too.
It was his first day training Natsu, and Xue Ge wanted to leave her with some good memories. So, after training until a little past eleven, he took her to the shopping street for lunch.
As the two walked down the busy street, Xue Ge continued telling Natsu the story he had left unfinished yesterday.
Today, however, they happened to run into familiar faces.
"Minato-senpai," Xue Ge said, looking at Minato, who had Kushina with him. "Aren't you out on a mission?"
"No, I'm staying in Konoha for a few days, chatting with my teacher," Minato said. "Besides, ninja need rest too. Our squad spent the first half of the year carrying out all kinds of missions almost without a break. Consider this our vacation."
Before Xue Ge could say anything, Natsu caught on beside him and exclaimed in delight, "Is he Minato Namikaze?"
"You need to call him Minato-senpai too," Xue Ge corrected her.
"Hello, Minato-senpai!" Natsu Hyuga waved at Minato in greeting.
Minato looked a little confused. "This child is-"
"Natsu Hyuga. She's my student, more or less." Xue Ge patted Natsu on the head. "I told her about you."
"I'm going to surpass Teacher Xue Ge!" Natsu declared, her hands on her hips.
Minato rubbed his chin. "From the Hyuga Clan-looks like you've been doing quite a lot lately."
Xue Ge nodded and looked at Kushina behind Minato. "And this is-"
"My name is Kushina Uzumaki. You're Waterbird River Xue Ge, right? I hear