Early March. The grass was lush, and warblers sang in the breeze.
Warm sunlight spilled through the branches, painting the cherry blossoms a dreamy pink. Petals fluttered like scattered confetti in the wind, and fresh green leaves shimmered with vitality.
But the black-haired, white-eyed boy had no time to admire the scenery. The veins around his eyes bulged faintly as his milky pupils sharpened like blades. He assumed the opening stance of the Eight Trigrams Palms, blue chakra glowing faintly in his palms.
"Eight Trigrams: Vacuum Palm!"
A condensed block of chakra shot forward, distorting the air. The drifting petals were swept into a pink wave—
BOOM!
A dull impact shook the thick cherry tree violently, sending a storm of blossoms raining down. A deep palm imprint was left on the trunk, its force buried three inches deep without so much as cracking the bark.
Thunk! Thunk!
Two slender steel needles pierced through the falling petals, pinning them to the tree with unerring precision.
Bzzzt—
The needles trembled, their tips embedded firmly in the wood. The blossoms they skewered fluttered helplessly, forever anchored to the branch.
A girl in a pink qipao and a cropped jacket, her hair tied into twin buns, watched with amusement. Her almond-shaped eyes sparkled as she admired both the pinned blossoms and the cold-faced boy beneath them.
"ONE THOUSAND AND SEVENTY-TWO!!!"
A passionate roar shattered the tranquil atmosphere. The girl—Tenten—jolted, her appreciation of the scenery abruptly cut short.
She turned to see a green-spandex-clad boy who looked like a kappa doing one-handed push-ups—upside down. His arms trembled with exertion, sweat pouring from his forehead and soaking the ground beneath him into a perfect circle of damp earth.
"My teammates are such overachievers…"
Tenten sighed, rubbing her sore arms. Her round face scrunched into a pout.
She had graduated from the Academy last year and, by sheer luck, ended up in the same team as Hyūga Neji.
At the time, she had been so excited she couldn't sleep for a week—dreaming of sparking some romantic tension with the handsome Hyūga prodigy.
But instead of romance, she found herself trapped in a team of workaholics.
- Might Guy, the Blue Beast of Konoha, could carry a multi-ton stone pillar while running laps around the village—ten times in a row. And that was just one of his training routines.
- Neji, the so-called "genius," lived and breathed training. His Byakugan saw nothing but practice, practice, practice. His Eight Trigrams Palms could reduce a tree thicker than a man's embrace to sawdust.
- Even Rock Lee, who seemed unremarkable at first glance, was a training monster who pushed himself to the point of hospitalization.
Tenten had thought she was hardworking—until she saw these madmen. Compared to them, she felt pathetically weak.
She tried to keep up, but the physical gap between men and women made it impossible. After just half a day of shurikenjutsu practice, her arms would be so sore she could barely lift them.
"If this keeps up, the gap between us will only grow…"
No!
She shook her head, dispelling the negativity. Her eyes hardened with resolve.
She massaged her aching arms, watching her teammates train with a mix of admiration and frustration. Even the falling cherry blossoms lost their beauty in her eyes.
"Lee! Tenten! Neji! Break time!"
Guy's booming voice cut through the forest like a war horn. Tenten exhaled in relief as her teammates finally paused their training. Just hearing the word "break" made her rock-hard biceps soften slightly.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
A few moments later, Guy jogged into view, a massive stone staff balanced on his shoulders.
His steps were slow and heavy, his breathing steady despite the sweat pouring down his face. Clearly, he had just finished his village lap training and was cooling down with a weighted jog.
"Cooling down… with several tons on his back…"
Tenten suppressed the urge to scream.
After throwing thousands of kunai, shuriken, and meteor hammers in a single session, her arms felt like they were about to fall off. Meanwhile, Guy was out here casually carrying a boulder like it was nothing.
She found a sturdy tree stump, brushed off the petals and dust, and sat down.
Neji and Lee relaxed their muscles before pulling out four massive bento boxes from their packs and placing them on the stump.
Guy set down his staff, and the four of them sat cross-legged around their makeshift table—but didn't eat yet.
After intense training, blood pooled in their muscles, leaving their digestive systems sluggish. As taijutsu specialists, they knew better than to eat immediately.
They'd wait twenty to thirty minutes for their bodies to settle.
And during that time?
Q&A with Guy.
Even their breaks were optimized for improvement.
"Any training issues lately?" Guy asked, glancing first at Lee.
Neji trained in the Hyūga's Gentle Fist, which Guy couldn't teach. Tenten's weapon techniques came down to three things: accuracy, weapon quality, and physical conditioning—the first two of which she could handle herself.
"No problems here!" Lee said—but his expression was hesitant. His eyes darted around as if he wanted to say something but couldn't.
Neji and Tenten also shook their heads, but all three noticed Lee's odd behavior. Their gazes locked onto him.
"If there's a problem, speak up! The forbidden technique I taught you is dangerous—if you're doing it wrong, the consequences could be severe!" Guy urged, mistaking Lee's hesitation for training concerns.
"N-No, it's not about training—"
Lee's face turned beet red. His bandaged hands flailed in denial.
"Then… personal matters?"
Lee froze. His thick eyebrows scrunched together, his face flushing even darker.
Bingo.
Even Neji, usually indifferent, looked intrigued. And Tenten?
She leaned forward, eyes sparkling with gossip-fueled fire.
"Do you… have a girlfriend?!"
"N-No! I haven't confessed yet!" Lee blurted—then immediately realized his mistake.
Tenten's grin widened.
"Spill. Who is she?"
"She—She—" Lee stammered, his face now the color of a tomato. Under the combined pressure of Guy and Neji's stares, he finally squeaked out:
"Her name is Haruno Sakura… She's a trainee medic at Konoha Hospital. She treated me last time I… over-trained."
"Ooooh~ Sakura!"
Tenten dragged out the name teasingly. Lee looked ready to combust. Guy and even Neji cracked smiles, the training ground suddenly filled with laughter.
After enduring the teasing, Lee finally composed himself. He turned to Guy, his face still red but his voice earnest.
"Sensei… Sakura graduates from the Academy today. She's becoming a full-fledged medic. I… I want to give her a gift. And… confess. But I don't know what to get her… or how to do it. Please… teach me!"
He clasped his hands together and bowed deeply.
Guy's gleaming grin froze.
He had never confessed to a girl in his life.
Where was he supposed to get dating advice from?! And ever since adopting Hikari five years ago, he'd fully embraced fatherhood—romance was the last thing on his mind.
Five years ago… Five…
Wait.
Guy's brain short-circuited.
If Lee had graduated a year before Hikari, and Hikari was supposed to graduate this year… and Sakura was graduating today…
That meant—
Hikari was graduating TODAY TOO!
"WHAT TIME IS SAKURA'S EXAM?!" Guy suddenly barked.
"Uh… uh…" Lee, ever the airhead, blanked.
"The Academy graduation is split into morning and afternoon sessions," Neji cut in, watching Guy's panic with mild amusement. "My cousin is in the elite class—their exams were this morning. They're probably done by now."
"WHAT?!"
Lee and Guy jolted upright in unison.
Sakura (Hikari) was in the elite class!
"I HAVE TO GO!" x2
They snatched their bento boxes and the stone staff, vanishing in a green blur. A dust cloud erupted in their wake.
"Cough! Cough!"
Tenten waved away the dirt, utterly baffled.
"Lee's rushing to confess… but why is Guy-sensei in such a hurry?"
"His daughter is graduating today."
Neji's voice was calm, but a flicker of warmth passed through his eyes.
The image of a certain silver-haired girl, radiant as the sun, flashed in his mind. The Caged Bird Seal on his forehead burned faintly at the thought.
"So even you feel fear…"
"Guy-sensei has a DAUGHTER?!"
Tenten's jaw dropped.
"You know her."
"Huh?!"
Tenten's mind raced through every girl she knew—none of whom resembled Guy's boulder-shouldered, bowl-cut, bushy-browed appearance.
Her brain conjured an image of Lee in a dress.
She violently shook her head to erase the cursed thought.
"Who?!"
"Konoha's strongest genius in history. And the only one I will ever pledge my loyalty to."
Neji's gaze drifted to the cherry blossoms, the second half of his words left unspoken.
Strongest genius in history?
"Hikari… the Sun Chaser?!" Tenten gasped, her eyes bulging.
Ever since that girl slaughtered a Cloud Jonin at age nine, there had been no debate about who held the title of strongest prodigy.
Rumors even claimed she was the Third Hokage's final disciple—a direct successor to the Legendary Sannin. And the Hokage hadn't denied it.
Hikari was Guy's DAUGHTER?!
Tenten's mind short-circuited.
She had seen Hikari from afar during her Academy days—one glance was enough to make her join the fan club.
But comparing that ethereal silver-haired beauty to Guy's… unique appearance…
The world made no sense.
It was like finding out some random, average classmate was the Hokage's son.
"How is that POSSIBLE?!"
Neji didn't answer. Hikari's origins were… complicated.
He packed the untouched bento boxes and stood.
"Neji, you're leaving too?" Tenten called after him.
He didn't reply, just raised a hand in farewell.
All the Hyūga's rigid etiquette seemed forgotten.
Hikari had graduated.
The day they had promised each other was approaching.
He wanted to visit his father's grave—to whisper the good news where only the wind could hear.
Silence fell.
The training ground was empty now, save for Tenten.
Cherry blossoms drifted down, the only remnants of their training being the two petals still pinned to the tree.
"Everyone's gone…"
Tenten sighed, watching Neji's retreating figure.
Teasing Lee had been fun, but now her own unrequited crush weighed heavily on her heart.
She picked at her cold rice, then suddenly slammed the chopsticks down.
Pulling a kunai from her pouch, she glared at the falling blossoms with new determination.
"If those overachievers aren't here… this is my chance to OUTWORK THEM!"
Whish! Whish! Whish!
Her arms became a blur.
Thunk! Thunk! Thunk!
Needles skewered petals midair, pinning them to the tree in rapid succession.
Soon, the trunk was covered in a coat of pink.
Tenten grinned.
"I, Tenten, am the TRUE overachiever of Team 3!"