In the blink of an eye, it was time for new students to enroll in the Ninja Academy.
Uchiha Clan Compound
Itachi packed his belongings early in the morning.
He was dressed in his ANBU uniform, and after slightly adjusting the ANBU sword on his back, he prepared to leave.
Suddenly, there was a slight sound behind Itachi. He turned around to see Sasuke puffing up his cheeks with a slightly dissatisfied look on his face.
"Brother, you're a liar," Sasuke muttered.
Hearing this, Itachi smiled and said, "I have a mission. I'm sorry."
Today was the first day at the Ninja Academy. Originally, Itachi had promised Sasuke that he would accompany him to school along with their parents.
But he had just received orders from the Hokage to join an ANBU mission.
Although there were no particularly urgent tasks during this period, as a ninja, obeying orders was a priority, especially in the ANBU.
Itachi had just joined the ANBU, so he had to be more cautious in his actions.
Although Sasuke was still young, he understood this principle.
"Oh."
He murmured softly and lowered his head, disappointment quietly spreading in his eyes.
Seeing this, Itachi chuckled and waved him over.
Sasuke hesitated slightly before walking toward Itachi.
When he came in front of his brother, Itachi stretched out his hand and, with two fingers of his right hand, poked Sasuke gently on the forehead.
"Forgive me, Sasuke. Next time, I'll definitely be by your side."
"You always say that."
Sasuke muttered quietly, but his dark eyes couldn't help but fill with joy.
"Then it's a promise—you can't lie to me!"
Sasuke stared at Itachi, waiting for his answer.
"Yes, it's a promise!"
Itachi responded firmly, then stood up, performed the Body Flicker Technique, and disappeared from Sasuke's sight.
A large crowd had gathered in front of the gate of the Ninja Academy.
Among the crowd were many parents and incoming freshmen, all with smiles on their faces.
For an ordinary family, it was a great honor for a child to be selected to study at the ninja academy.
These children were not like those from ninja clans in the village who had received systematic training since early childhood.
Clan children occupied more than half of the admission quota, so it wasn't easy for children from ordinary families to be selected.
In the noisy atmosphere, someone suddenly noticed a family of three approaching.
Minato and Kushina had both changed out of their ninja attire today and wore ordinary civilian clothes.
"Hokage-sama."
The one who had noticed Minato's family spoke up immediately as the Hokage approached.
As soon as he finished speaking, the eyes around him gradually turned in that direction.
The noisy atmosphere suddenly became quiet.
"Good morning, everyone," Minato responded calmly to these gazes with a friendly smile.
Many people nodded at him, and then their eyes turned to Naruto and Chiharu standing between Minato and Kushina.
Most people understood why Minato was dressed this way—he had also come to accompany his children to school.
Being stared at by so many people, Naruto looked a little uncomfortable.
Chiharu's big eyes kept scanning the crowd, finally falling on a few people.
She left Minato and Kushina's side, then looked through the gaps between the crowd and finally spotted her target.
"Sister Hinata!"
Chiharu raised her voice slightly and waved at the girl at the edge of the crowd.
When Hinata heard the voice, she turned and saw Chiharu.
A look of joy immediately appeared on her fair little face.
However, she did not dare to call out, and even the smile on her face was suppressed in an instant.
Seeing Hinata's unusual reaction, Chiharu's light golden eyebrows furrowed slightly.
"Let's go."
Just as Chiharu was about to turn around and look at her parents, Minato had already walked up to her, patted her shoulder, and then walked toward the crowd.
Kushina and Naruto followed suit.
The crowd respectfully made way for Minato's family, and Minato thanked them several times.
"Hokage-sama."
Seeing Minato approaching, the adult next to Hinata turned around and spoke respectfully.
"Hiashi, long time no see."
Minato smiled. The people around Hinata were of course the head of the Hyuga clan, Hyuga Hiashi, and several clan attendants.
"Hokage-sama."
At this time, Hinata, who seemed quite reserved, also spoke very politely.
"Well, Hinata, you've grown taller again."
Minato had met Hinata before. He then turned sideways, making way for Chiharu and Naruto behind him.
"I heard that you are good friends with my Naruto and Chiharu."
Hinata pursed her lips. In fact, she and Chiharu and Naruto had only met once before, so she didn't dare to casually claim friendship.
Before she could answer, Chiharu had already dragged Naruto in front of Hinata.
"Sister, we haven't seen each other for so long. I've missed you so much."
Chiharu let go of Naruto's hand, grabbed Hinata's hand, and gave her a warm smile.
"Um."
Hinata wasn't very good at speaking. She just smiled and nodded gently like a little deer.
She raised her eyes, looked at the boy in front of her, and said, "Naruto-kun, hello."
"Hey, we'll be classmates from now on. Please take care of me," Naruto smiled at Hinata generously.
"You're Hinata? What a cute girl."
At this time, Kushina stepped forward and squatted down. She stretched out her hand and gently rubbed Hinata's hair.
"Hello."
Hinata obviously didn't know Kushina yet, but she still responded politely.
"Sister, this is our mother," Chiharu on the side hurriedly introduced.
"What a polite and sweet child. If Naruto behaves recklessly at school in the future, you must help keep an eye on him."
Kushina said with a slightly worried expression.
"Mom!"
Naruto curled his lips in embarrassment. His mother was already looking for someone to help manage him before he even started school, which made Naruto feel very self-conscious.
"Naruto is your child—he must be a genius. You should let him take good care of Hinata," Hiashi stepped forward and smiled at Naruto.
"Leave it to me!" Naruto immediately patted his chest confidently.
"This kid is getting too proud of himself again," Kushina said with a bemused smile as she glanced at Hinata.
"Wow, he's so handsome!"
At this moment, many young girls in the crowd sighed admiringly.
"Minato, Kushina, you're here quite early."
A light laugh came from behind, and the Minato family all turned to see who had arrived.
Seeing the person coming, Kushina couldn't help but smile.
"Mikoto, you're here."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Support me at p@treon.com/goldengaruda and check out more chapter of this or more early access chapter of my other fanfic translation.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~