Early spring, third month. Grass surged, orioles sang.
Warm sunlight poured down in shimmering sheets. Pink cherry blossoms clung to the branches like rosy clouds, and whenever the wind passed through, petals scattered in a soft storm. Fresh new leaves unfurled, vivid green and alive.
A black-haired, pale-eyed boy had no interest in any of it.
The veins at the corners of his eyes bulged faintly. His milky-white gaze was sharp as a blade. He raised the opening stance of the Eight Trigrams Palm, and a faint blue glow gathered in his palm.
"Eight Trigrams: Air Palm!"
Chakra, compressed almost like a brick, blasted forward. Light warped and twisted. The drifting petals were swept into rippling pink waves.
Boom.
A dull impact shook the thick cherry tree violently. Blossoms poured down like a torrential rain. A deep palm print was branded into the trunk, the force contained rather than explosive, yet driven so far in it bit into the wood.
Thud. Thud.
Two needles, thin as hair, shot out. They pierced two blossoms in midair and, riding the momentum, pinned them to the tree.
Buzz.
The needle heads sank completely into the trunk. Their tails quivered nonstop. The blossoms swayed in the wind, but could no longer fall.
A girl in a pink qipao-style outfit with a short side-fastened top and twin buns smiled with bright eyes. Senbon were tucked between her fingers. Her brown-black eyes admired the blossoms pinned to the trunk, and just as much, the cold, handsome boy beneath the tree.
"One thousand seventy-two!"
That hot-blooded shout shattered the quiet.
Tenten, who'd been enjoying the scenery, had her mood ruined. She turned her head.
A boy in a green jumpsuit, looking like a kappa, was doing a one-handed handstand. His arm trembled as he bent and straightened. Sweat dripped from his hairline in steady drops, soaking the ground into a round patch of dark, wet earth.
The shape of that wet patch looked suspiciously like his watermelon haircut.
My teammates are all psychos!
Tenten let her aching arms hang, her face scrunched into misery. Her round cheeks puffed into little buns of despair.
She'd graduated from the Academy last year, and by sheer luck, she'd been assigned to the same team as Hyūga Neji.
She'd been so excited she barely slept for a full week, convinced she'd finally get the chance to spark something romantic with the handsome genius. Close quarters meant opportunity, right?
No sparks.
Instead, she discovered this team was packed with tryhards. From teammates to teacher, every single one of them was a tryhard among tryhards.
Konoha's Noble Blue Beast, Might Guy, a man who could shoulder a stone staff weighing several tons and run ten full laps around the village like it was nothing. A terrifying lunatic.
And that was only one tiny item on his training menu.
Then there was Hyūga Neji, the "genius." In those Byakugan eyes, there was only training, training, and more training. He muttered about main house and branch house like a curse, and his Eight Trigrams Palm struck left and right so brutally he could pulverize a tree too thick for an adult to hug.
Even Rock Lee, who usually kept a low profile, was a training maniac too. He didn't lose to Guy-sensei or Neji in the slightest. If anything, he was worse. A taijutsu monster who could literally train himself into collapsing and being hospitalized.
Tenten had thought she worked hard.
Watching these beasts, she suddenly felt pathetic.
She wanted to train with them, but the gap in physical conditioning between boys and girls was too huge. She simply couldn't train the way they did. Even spending half a day practicing weapon throws left her arms aching so badly she could barely lift them.
If this continued, the distance between them would only grow.
No.
She shook her head hard, clearing the noise from her mind, and her eyes sharpened with resolve.
She clenched her fists, massaging her arm muscles to speed recovery, while watching her two teammates train themselves stronger and stronger. Even the cherry blossoms raining from the sky lost their beauty in her eyes.
"Lee, Tenten, Neji, you can rest now!"
Guy's booming voice thundered through the grove.
Tenten, who'd been quietly spiraling in anxious self-hatred, saw the duo finally slow down. Her mood steadied. Even her biceps, hard as stone, felt like they softened a little.
A moment later, Guy jogged over, a heavy stone staff balanced across his shoulders.
His steps were slow and heavy. His head was drenched in sweat, yet his breathing was steady. Clearly he'd just finished his run-around-the-village training and was jogging to ease the strain in his legs.
Right. Jogging. While carrying several tons.
Tenten swallowed down her urge to complain and found a thick, flat tree stump. She brushed off the dust and fallen blossoms.
Neji and Lee relaxed their muscles, then pulled out four large bento boxes from their packs and placed them on the stump.
Guy set down his weight staff. The four of them sat in a circle around the stump, but none of them touched their chopsticks.
After intense exercise, blood pooled in the muscles and the stomach moved slowly. This was the worst possible time to eat.
They were all taijutsu specialists. They knew the drill. They would wait twenty or thirty minutes for the blood to return and digestion to normalize.
And that waiting time was usually when Guy answered questions.
In a team full of tryhards, even pre-meal time had to be squeezed until it bled.
"Any problems with your training lately?" Guy asked, as usual, looking at Lee first.
Neji trained in the Hyūga clan's Gentle Fist. He didn't need Guy's guidance.
Tenten's specialty, weapon throwing, boiled down to three points: accuracy, weapon quality, and physical conditioning. She could handle the first two herself. Guy could only help by pushing her conditioning, and even that had limits.
"Mm… no problems," Lee said, but his expression hesitated, his eyes flickering like he was hiding something.
Neji and Tenten also nodded, saying their training was fine. All three of them noticed Lee's oddness at the same time. Their gazes gathered on him, waiting.
"If something's wrong, say it. The forbidden technique I taught you is dangerous. If you train it incorrectly, the consequences can be extremely serious," Guy warned quickly, assuming Lee was embarrassed to ask.
"No, it's not about training…"
Lee's face flushed crimson. His bandaged hands waved frantically.
"Then it's about your personal life?" Guy asked.
Lee stopped waving. His dark face turned redder, his thick brows pinching together. Guy had hit the mark.
Even Neji's cool expression cracked with curiosity. And Tenten, who had always been nosy by nature, practically leaned forward, her gossip flames roaring.
"Don't tell me you've got a girlfriend!"
"N No! I haven't confessed yet!" Lee blurted in panic.
He'd just confessed his heart out loud.
Tenten's grin turned triumphant, the fire in her eyes burning brighter.
"Spill it. Who is she?"
"She… she…" Lee's face went so red it looked like it might smoke. Even Guy and Neji began urging him with their eyes. Only then did Lee squeeze out, shy as a dying candle:
"Her name is Sakura Haruno. She's a trainee medical ninja at Konoha Hospital. I was hospitalized after overtraining a few days ago… and she was the one who took care of me."
"Ooooh. Sakura!" Tenten sang, drawing out the sound on purpose.
Lee's embarrassment detonated. Even Guy and the usually stoic Neji couldn't hold back their laughter. For a moment, the training ground was filled with lighthearted warmth.
After being teased for a while, Lee finally got used to it. He turned to Guy, face still burning, and asked seriously:
"Guy-sensei, Sakura graduates today and becomes an official medical ninja at the hospital.
I want to prepare a graduation gift for her, and use the chance to confess. But I don't know what gift is appropriate, and I don't know how to pursue a girl. Please teach me!
Please!" Lee pressed his palms together and bowed deeply, sincerity overflowing.
Guy's grin, teeth sparkling, slowly froze.
He had never confessed to a girl in his life.
Where was he supposed to learn how to confess, or how to choose a gift? And ever since he "adopted" Konome five years ago and got promoted into the "uncle" generation, he'd had even less interest in starting a family.
Five years…
Wait.
Guy suddenly realized something was very wrong.
If he remembered correctly, Lee had graduated one year earlier than Konome. This year should be Konome's graduation.
And if Sakura graduated today…
Then Konome also graduated today.
Damn it!
Lightning seemed to strike his skull. Guy slapped his forehead.
He'd forgotten Konome's graduation.
As a father, how could he miss a day this important?
"What time is Sakura's graduation exam?" Guy blurted.
"Ah, um…" Lee was the type to be careless about details. He stood there with his mouth open, unable to remember the exact time.
"Academy graduation is split into morning and afternoon," Neji said, watching Guy's panic with a thoughtful look. "My little sister also graduates today. Her elite class took the exam in the morning. At this time, it should already be over."
"What!"
Guy and Lee, the kappa master and disciple, gasped in unison.
Sakura, and Konome, were both elite class students.
"I have something to do, I'm leaving first!" x2
The two of them shot to their feet, snatched up the bento boxes and Guy's heavy stone staff, and vanished in a gust of green wind. The ground erupted with dust and smoke.
"Cough cough!"
Tenten, who hadn't even processed what happened, was choked by the dust.
She covered the bento with one hand and her mouth and nose with the other, watching the yellow-brown cloud fade into the distance, her head full of confusion.
"Lee is rushing because he'll miss the best timing to confess. But what's Guy-sensei's problem?"
"His daughter also graduates today," Neji answered.
His calm eyes flickered with a strange softness.
Thinking of that silver-haired girl who shone like the sun, even the Caged Bird seal on his forehead sent a burning sting through him.
So even you feel fear.
"Guy-sensei has a daughter?" Tenten asked, stunned.
Once the dust settled, she glanced around the training ground that now held only the two of them. She tucked her bangs back and looked at Neji, who seemed unusually talkative today.
"You know her too."
"Huh?"
She had only wanted an excuse to keep chatting with Neji, but now her curiosity burned.
Among all the girls she knew, none looked even remotely like Guy-sensei.
As she imagined Guy's tough face, shiny bowl cut, and thick eyebrows, her brain involuntarily produced an image of Lee in girls' clothes.
She shook her head violently, flinging the cursed thought away, and stared at Neji even harder.
"Who?"
"The strongest genius in Konoha's history," Neji said, watching the cherry blossoms dance in the air. The second half of his sentence stayed buried in his heart.
The strongest genius in Konoha?
Tenten's face went rigid with shock. She shouted the name without thinking, eyes wide as bells.
"You mean… Konome Taketori!"
Since the girl had killed that Kumogakure jōnin five years ago, there had never been a second candidate for Konoha's "Number One Genius."
And in the past two years, rumors had spread from nowhere, claiming she was the Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi's final disciple, a junior of the Legendary Sannin in terms of lineage. Hiruzen himself never denied it, which only made her halo brighter.
Konome Taketori was Guy-sensei's daughter?
Tenten remembered seeing her from afar at the Academy. One breathtaking glance had made her join the fan club on the spot. Then she looked at Guy-sensei's face, which could not possibly be called handsome, and the world suddenly felt absurd.
It was like discovering some forgettable, average classmate was secretly the Hokage's son.
"How is that possible?"
She couldn't accept it. The genius girl she'd admired for years… was Guy-sensei's daughter?
Neji didn't answer.
Konome's background was complicated, and it wasn't something to explain too openly.
He packed the bento boxes, sealed them, and put them back into his bag. Then he rose and walked in the direction Guy and Lee had vanished.
"Neji, you're leaving too?" Tenten called, still drowning in shock.
He didn't answer. He only raised a hand and waved without looking back. All the Hyūga rules, etiquette, and restraints seemed to have been tossed aside in that moment.
Konome had finally graduated.
And the day they had promised each other was drawing near.
He wanted to bring the food to visit his father, and quietly recite this good news to him in his heart.
In the blink of an eye, the enormous training ground was left with only Tenten.
Cherry blossoms drifted down softly from the branches. Only two blossoms, pinned by senbon to the trunk, still refused to fall.
"They're all gone."
Tenten watched Neji's lonely back disappear and let out a helpless sigh.
Teasing Lee had been fun. But when it came to her own crush and her own confession, all she felt was a heavy ache.
She shoved a few tasteless bites of cold rice into her mouth, set down her chopsticks, and pulled out senbon from her weapons pouch. When she looked at the falling blossoms again, her eyes had turned firm.
"If those tryhards aren't here… and I don't grind right now, then when will I ever?"
Decision made, she flipped up in one swift motion. Her arms carved countless afterimages through the air.
Thud thud!
Senbon shot out, piercing blossom after blossom. Slowly, the brown trunk of the cherry tree was dressed in a thick coat of pink.
Tenten was the real monster of Team Three.
The tryhard among tryhards.
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