That afternoon was hectic. First, I had to administer the academy test, and then there were all the reports I needed to compile and submit to the academy headmaster. Thank goodness for Shadow Clones.
For a moment, I considered revealing the exact reason for my praise of Hinata, but I decided against it. Right now, the village was desperate for new recruits, and if the skill she displayed during our spar wasn't a fluke, she could easily fit in with the early graduates.
She didn't strike me as someone seeking glory and violence, especially at such a young age. So, I carefully doctored her file, ensuring she sounded impressive for landing a clean hit on me, a feat no other kid I tested had managed, not even remotely.
With a bit of luck, nobody would notice my edits, and with even more luck, she would grow strong while being safe within the village.
I also managed to corner Inoichi to get an update on how Sakura performed. From what he told me, she did pretty well in everything except taijutsu, so I didn't have to worry too much. And sure enough, just a few days later, an official letter arrived for Sakura.
She, along with the Ino-Shika-Cho trio, had been accepted. Now, I can only pray that she starts taking her training more seriously, though I'm not expecting any miracles. She and Ino, in particular, will likely need to experience the dangers of being a ninja before they change, as both are quite headstrong.
At least there's a five-year window for that to happen. Hopefully, I can now train in peace for a few years, and if no mission goes wrong, that would be perfect, too.
Again, perhaps I was asking for too much, but one can dream, right?
With all this newfound free time, I dove back into training, once a week with Izumi to improve her eyes, and no less than five times a week to work on my own skills.
I still tried to visit the most remote training grounds, but with the Uchiha becoming quite popular, I sadly had to vacate my old spot.
Hinata didn't take long to find me; although she spent a few days just observing my training from the edge of the woods without saying anything.
For a moment, I feared she was entering that infamous stalker phase, but as days passed, she mustered up the courage to actually approach me.
It happened right in the middle of my agility training, where I had a Shadow Clone hurl waves of Senbonzakura petals at me. I stopped as I sensed her coming out from behind a tree, removing my blindfold and wiping the sweat from my forehead. I took a moment to look her over.
She wore the same basic training gear I had seen many clan kids wear, but hers was in light purple instead of the traditional green. She looked genuinely happy about something, likely the news of her acceptance to the academy.
"Glad to see you're not just here to watch, Hinata," I said with a mischievous smile. I knew she was around every time she showed up, and now she realized she had been caught.
She looked down, embarrassed.
"I just... I didn't know what to say," she mumbled quietly, though I could hear her clearly.
"A simple, 'Can I join?' would have been enough," I replied, chuckling but also serious. I didn't need anything elaborate. Just a straightforward question.
"And the answer is yes, you absolutely can."
"Th-Thanks…" she managed to say, though her stutter was quite pronounced.
It seemed that step one of our training would have to focus on building her confidence as she would need a lot of it.
Figuring out how to boost her self-esteem, however, was a tough challenge. I decided to go with the basics; hopefully, she'd gain confidence as she grew stronger.
I wasn't a children's therapist, and on top of that, I was still socially inept, always had been, in both my past life and this one.
"Let's start with the basics: taijutsu, chakra control, nature transformation, and possibly basic ninjutsu," I listed slowly, giving her time to digest the information.
It was a long list, but she didn't need to master everything right away.
"Isn't that... a lot?" she asked, looking confused and possibly intimidated by the sheer number of things included in those categories.
"It is, but I never said getting strong is easy. You will bleed, sweat, and hurt yourself... But in the end, you'll grow stronger." I said bluntly.
There was no sugarcoating it: training was hard, and if you wanted to grow quickly, you had to push yourself beyond your limits, something Gai exemplified. He destroyed his body every day, allowing it to heal itself and getting stronger over time.
That was the path to power: from a young age, you dedicate yourself to it and mold yourself into a weapon. Whether for the village or for yourself, the motivation doesn't matter; the will to continue every single day does.
"T-The Hyuga clan doesn't use ninjutsu; we only use our Gentle Fist," she said, expecting me to back down. But I wasn't a normal training partner.
"You don't have to tell them you can use ninjutsu, but the Byakugan gives you a huge advantage at long range. Not using it just because of tradition sounds... unwise," I replied, barely restraining myself from accusing the entire Hyuga clan of being idiots.
"And as far as the Gentle Fist goes, I've already shown you that it can be beaten." I continued, hoping she would learn more than just finger poking. "On top of that, ninjutsu training helps with chakra control, which will make your taijutsu stronger too." I finished, dangling a golden opportunity before her.
I wasn't lying; the more chakra control you had, the better and more efficient your reinforcement became. This would apply to the Gentle Fist as well; more control meant that power could be channeled more efficiently into those finger pokes.
Still, I could tell that convincing her to learn ninjutsu would not be easy. She looked conflicted and maybe a little scared.
I sighed dramatically.
"Let's just start with taijutsu and chakra control," I said, conceding for now, but we would talk about ninjutsu later.
She nodded, looking relieved, and got into a taijutsu stance, chakra already flowing through her body.
I suppressed another smile; she was already learning. I could confidently say that I had found a new training partner.
Only a few weeks had passed since I started training with Hinata, and I had an epiphany, a revelation, a mystery of the universe had been revealed to me. I understood why Itachi enjoyed those grueling days of endurance training so much.
That smug smirk of his was etched into my mind, and now I finally understood. It was incredibly satisfying to watch someone suffer through the torture we devised for ourselves: running, weight carrying, full-contact sparring, more running, and finally, punching training dummies without any chakra reinforcement.
All of that was part of what we called 'hell day.' And that was just the morning session, or as Itachi referred to it, warm-up.
The afternoon focused on sparring until one of us hit the ground, followed predictably by more running and punching training dummies.
I tried to warn Hinata not to join in yet, that she should wait for next month's endurance training, but she could be a stubborn little princess when she wanted to be. She insisted on joining me and quickly discovered why I had warned her. But even though she could barely sit up after the morning session, she kept trying.
I actually had to delay star of the afternoon session, waiting until she fall asleep shortly after lunch. She would have joined me otherwise, and that could have been dangerous for her.
Pushing yourself is necessary, but pushing too hard can lead to injury. As her de facto teacher, it was my responsibility to ensure she didn't hurt herself.
I actually began to question my understanding of her character. In the original timeline, she was neither this driven nor this talented. That could either be my memory getting spotty or a genuine change in the timeline, but whichever it was didn't matter to me, nor would it ever.
She clearly was like this here, and I would have to work with her as she is, not as I remember her from an anime.
"Why do you train so hard? I've seen chunin run away from that kind of training," I asked her with concern as I carried her home.
She had woken up in the middle of the afternoon and decided to join back in, with predictable results.
It would make her stronger, but would she continue like this forever, or would she burn herself out?
She was half-asleep again, her head resting on my shoulder as she rode on my back, just like Sakura always does when I carry her.
"I want to prove... that I can be strong too," she said softly, almost in a whisper, but her words carried intent. "I want to make sure I won't need saving ever again." I couldn't fault her for that; she had been kidnapped only a few months ago, and I imagined that the Hyuga clan didn't have any therapists on payroll.
She seemed to throw herself into training to escape the feeling of helplessness. It was a coping mechanism, and maybe a bit of paranoia. I could at least understand that; my own paranoia had already forced me into rather stupid decisions multiple times.
"I see…" I said slowly, trying to sound as reassuring as possible. "It looks like I'll be carrying you home more often." I let out a soft laugh, hoping to improve her mood a little.
"You'll be crushing through these kinds of days in no time. You're already strong, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise," I added, saying what I believed she needed to hear the most. I wan't lying, though. She was incredibly strong for a seven-year-old.
Hinata let out a soft squeak and buried her head into my shoulder. Positive reinforcement is a powerful tool, and I intended to use it as much as possible.
Hopefully, she wouldn't misunderstand my praise as some kind of romantic gesture, but I could clearly feel her heart rate spike when I finished speaking.
"Well, those hopes are completely crushed already... Hopefully, I'm not in a Yandere Hinata timeline," I prayed silently. "Marzanna, if you hear me... please don't..." I practically begged in my mind. I had to have faith that my prayers were heard.
Sneaking into the Hyuga compound was much easier than I expected; they were forbidden from using their Byakugan to look for something inside the village outside of emergencies. If they weren't, privacy would be nothing but a myth for everyone living even remotely close.
With Hinata's guidance, I quickly found her house and entered through a window directly into her room. It was rather spartan-looking, with little to no decorations or toys. However, the sheer size of it would make it a good training place for a young child.
"Here I go obsessing over training again…" I thought bitterly. I truly needed a hobby.
I didn't look around too much, deciding to leave as quickly as possible. I wasn't in the mood for coming up with excuses for the many obvious questions I would need to answer if caught there.
I simply placed her down on her bed and promptly jumped back out of the window after checking for any sentries. Luckily for me, there didn't seem to be any guards posted near Hinata's room, so I got out safely.
"She's going to make me carry her more often than necessary, won't she?" I questioned quietly as I made my way home.
In my mind, I thought it was healthier for her to focus on training than on me. I wanted her to develop drive, not obsession.
A few more weeks passed in relative peace. I trained more with Hinata; the academy was off for summer break, and I was summoned to Hiruzen's office.
Apparently, it was regarding a very important assignment, but the last time I heard that, I ended up testing kids in taijutsu, so my hopes were not high.
I entered the office, and the table in front of Hiruzen was cluttered with stacks upon stacks of paper.
Whoever wishes to become Hokage is clearly a masochist or a bureaucrat... I wondered which is more shameful to admit in public.
"You called for me, Hokage-sama?" I asked. Although I didn't have the highest of hopes, I was still curious about this 'important assignment.'
"Indeed, I did. Good to see you're on time, Ryuuzaki-kun," he said, a small smile appearing on his face.
Now I was sure I wouldn't like this assignment at all. He had given me this exact same smile on such occasions as sending me off to test the academy applicants or promoting me to chūnin so I can fight in a war.
"So... what's the mission?" I asked, eager to get this over with.
"Well, you see," he said, deliberately pausing for dramatic effect, "the chūnin exams are to take place in Takigakure in September, and I need a strong team to participate." At this point, I had even more questions.
Did he want me to lead a team? Or did he want me to compete as a genin for some reason? Neither option sounded appealing, but I stood there and let him speak.
"I have it on good authority that Izumi-chan and Hana-chan are quite capable... so I want you to prepare them to take the exam as a team of two," he said, still flashing that innocent grandfatherly smile.
I froze for a second. That wasn't so bad. Why try to sound so… reassuring?
"I take it you expect trouble during the exams," I guessed, and by the slight nod I received, I seemed to be correct.
"Iwa will be sending a one-man team; the application has already been submitted," he confirmed.
It wasn't all that surprising. Whoever is being sent must be quite impressive; a solo participant doesn't appear often, the last one being Itachi.
"And what exactly would my job be out there? I don't look all that intimidating," I said, unsure of Hiruzen's plans.
I had previously witnessed his planning abilities, and I was not impressed with the last one.
He looked a little taken aback for a second before responding.
"I would've thought Inoichi or Shikaku would have already told you," he sighed, opening a drawer and pulling out a small book shortly after.
"Your actions during the war have made Kumo rather angry with you," he said calmly while leafing through the pages until he found what he was looking for.
He turned the book towards me, and I finally recognized it. It was a book of official bounties, known as a Bingo Book among hunter-nin. I looked at an image of my face. The pink hair, green eyes, and black facemask were all there.
"Rather impressive for one your age," Hiruzen declared with a chuckle. "An A-rank bounty is unheard of for someone so young. Although they don't even know your real name," he continued as if describing a simple dish. Although there was barely hidden pride in his voice.
This was my face on an actual bounty board, and he didn't seem to be alarmed by it at all. At least they didn't get my full name, so if I went maskless, I should be safe in the Land of Fire, and with some luck, in most places.
"Look," he continued, now sounding like a proud grandfather, "they even gave you a moniker. Those are even rarer than high bounties."
He was right; very few people are known by a moniker, but considering they didn't have my name, it made sense they had to give me something to identify me by.
Bracing myself, I prepared to hear the most edgy title from both of my lives or something Yugito thought would be funny.
"Please tell me it's not something weird," I almost pleaded, eager for Hiruzen to be done with it.
He slipped the book back towards me, and there it was. Under 'Known Aliases' were two entries.
One was 'Ryuu,' an obvious choice; at least Yugito had heard Itachi call me that at least once. The second made me groan loudly.
"Bloody Blossom? Really? Well, I guess it could be worse..." I wasn't sure how to react to this.
"So... you're sending me there as a power move," I concluded.
He wanted to show that Konoha has impressive genin too and possibly showcase his new rising star, even if I were just a team leader instead of a participant.
"Correct once again, Ryuuzaki-kun. I know you and your team will make me proud," he beamed at me over the table.
At least I had time to train Hana. She had a long way to go to catch up with Izumi, but with around two months and a good training schedule, anything was possible.
"I take it that Hana and Izumi have already been informed," I guessed again, receiving a nod from Hiruzen.
"What about Aoba-snesei? I take it he will be busy with something else." I asked, although I was sure I already knew the answer.
Hiruzen simply nodded. He possibly alrady puled Aoba from his teaching position and reassigned him towards high-ranked missions.
"Alright, mission accepted, Hokage-sama." It wasn't as if I could say no anyway.
Considering Iwa is sending someone impressive, I wouldn't put it past Taki to send their Jinchūriki into this brewing shitstorm.
I figured Izumi and Hana would get a taste of at least one 'hell day' just like Hinata did. At that thought, I couldn't help but smirk. Maybe training people isn't that bad after all...