Chapter 27: Hinata
The next day.
Naruto's days were still spent grinding through a mountain of D-rank missions. Sakura, having taken Naruto's advice, had discussed with Kakashi how to begin her path as a medical ninja.
Kakashi, in turn, had found her a teacher in the medical unit—Yu.
Yu was a medical ninja of the same era as Kakashi, part of Konoha's golden generation. While medical ninjas from that period generally had high survival rates, the fact that Yu had lived to the present made him one of the standouts in his field.
Though not as famous as Tsunade, in the current situation, there was no way Kakashi would know where Tsunade was anyway. As a jōnin, Yu was more than capable of teaching Sakura.
"Kakashi, is this your student?" Yu asked, dressed in the white uniform of a medical ninja.
Sakura nervously looked at him. He was a man in his early twenties, about the same age as Kakashi. He wore a pristine white medical ninja uniform and a tall medical cap.
On his chest was a large red cross emblem. Several other medical-nin nearby also cast curious glances at Kakashi.
"It's an honor to meet you. Please take care of me." Sakura bowed politely. "My name is Sakura Haruno. I look forward to your guidance."
"Hey, Kakashi, your student's got a lot more manners than you," joked another medical ninja, Kanpō, stepping forward.
"Shut it," Kakashi replied with his signature dead-fish eyes.
"I heard Kakashi brought a student?" Another voice echoed from within the medical unit. A medical ninja named Suu, wearing a white square cap, emerged.
"And it's a cute girl, too. Rare sight." Another medical ninja, Goton, with a square face, came out of a consultation room.
"She's joining our medical unit?" asked one of two medical-nin carrying a stretcher, a man named Kitō, stopping mid-step to look.
"That's great news," said Baikusa, the ninja at the other end of the stretcher with a smile. "We've been short on hands lately. Big help."
"Eh?" Sakura's face turned crimson. She hadn't expected so many people to come forward at once. Flustered, she glanced at Kakashi for help.
"They're always like this," Kakashi reassured her. "I've been injured so many times I've gotten familiar with the whole bunch."
Sakura nodded, still a little dazed, as her journey in the medical unit began.
Kakashi, however, didn't have much time to personally train all three of his students. With Sakura handed over to the medical unit and Naruto occupied with D-rank missions, his main focus now rested solely on Uchiha Sasuke.
Perhaps it was because Sasuke, like him, was a Sharingan user. Kakashi had taken a special interest in him.
After all, true Sharingan users were rare. With Obito's eye transplanted into his own, Kakashi could only make do with what he had.
For now, the only student he truly cherished was Sasuke.
...
While nearly all of Team 7 was busy training, one stray from the "Will of Fire" teachings was sprawled in a hammock deep in the Konoha forest, fast asleep.
Ever since returning from the Land of Waves mission, Naruto had paid the price for his recklessness: he had to complete twenty D-rank missions alone before being allowed back into Team 7.
So far, including last night's task of finding Mrs. Yamanaka's cat in the bamboo grove, he had completed a grand total of five.
And then… he'd given up.
"When am I ever gonna finish twenty? I should just hire someone to do them," Naruto muttered, staring at the patch of sky between the leaves above.
Which was exactly what he did. He had picked up a D-rank trash collection mission from the Hokage's office and paid fifty thousand ryō to an academy student to do it for him.
"Man, I'm practically a saint, giving part-time jobs to poor academy kids," Naruto stretched and curled back up in his hammock.
He had completely stopped caring. He wasn't worried about the village discovering his Lava Release. They were bound to find out eventually—Kakashi had probably already reported it.
He didn't bother hiding the fact that he had money either.
Even if Anbu were keeping tabs on him, he couldn't care less. The village couldn't do a thing to him. All of Gatō's treasure was safely stored in his system inventory.
Even if the village wanted to investigate, they had no way to trace it. It wasn't unusual for ninjas to come back from missions with unexpected windfalls.
Otherwise, with the meager pay from regular missions, only Konoha's elite could support families. The rest couldn't survive on mission wages alone.
He had to admit, this carefree lifestyle felt great.
Eyes half-closed, he didn't know how long he'd been dozing when he slowly opened them to see a figure standing before him.
"Hinata? When did you get here?" Naruto jolted upright, coughing violently.
The girl in a light-purple hooded coat flinched at his reaction, glancing at him nervously before quickly averting her eyes.
[Nine-Tails' Approval: 2.3%]
The mechanical voice echoed in his mind, and Naruto froze for a moment. He hadn't done anything this time.
Why did her affection progress increase?
"I got back yesterday," Hinata said, face flushed, eyes squeezed shut. "Kurenai-sensei said we won't be taking missions for now… so we're training for the Chūnin Exams."
Her small frame trembled slightly, clearly nervous.
"Oh, so you're free then?" Naruto grinned.
"Mm." Hinata nodded.
"By the way, how'd you even find me?" Naruto scratched his head. "This spot's pretty out of the way."
"Byakugan," Hinata murmured, lowering her head in embarrassment.
"Oh, so it was the Byakugan?" Naruto leaned in curiously, clicking his tongue in fascination.
"N-Naruto-kun," Hinata leaned back slightly, eyes shut, trying to escape his gaze. "It… it doesn't look nice."
"It looks nice."
"Eh?" Hinata's eyes flew open, staring at him in surprise. "Naruto-kun, what… what did you say?"
"Up close, your Byakugan's actually pretty nice," Naruto said with a smile.
"Mm." Warmth spread through Hinata's chest. In truth, most of Konoha's villagers didn't view the Hyūga kindly, considering the Byakugan an ill omen.
Even within the Hyūga clan itself, these eyes carried an inescapable burden. The Caged Bird Seal… that turquoise mark…
"Hina, wait here for me," Naruto suddenly said before dashing off.
Hinata stood there, stunned, unsure what to do as his words echoed in her ears.
About half an hour later, Naruto returned, a small, bulging pack strapped to his back, clearly stuffed with things.
"Come on! I'm taking you somewhere!" Without another word, he grabbed Hinata's hand and took off running.
My hand… Naruto-kun is holding my hand?
Hinata's mind went fuzzy as her face turned bright red again. She didn't even think to ask where they were going, simply letting him lead her forward.
(Support me and read ahead on Patreøn: patreøn.com/craxxtranslations.
3 new chapters are released daily—thank you for your support!
Powerstone Event: For every 50 powerstones, 1 chapter will be unlocked.)