The moment for team assignments had finally arrived.

  Inside the Ninja Academy cssroom, students were being called out one after another by their soon-to-be team leaders.

  “Kakashi Hatake, Rin Nohara, and Uchiha Obito—I'm your jonin instructor. Come with me,” a sunny-looking blond man stepped into the room, smiling like the sun itself.

  It was none other than the future Fourth Hokage of Konoha, Namikaze Minato. That lethal combo of strength and charm—humble, approachable, and anything but arrogant—made it easy to see why he’d been chosen over Orochimaru. The Snake Sannin might’ve been powerful, but his cold and shadowy aura never had a chance against someone like Minato.

  In Konoha, after all, the Hokage wasn’t just the strongest ninja. He had to be someone the whole vilge could look up to.

  “No way… Kakashi, am I dreaming?! Our teacher is the Yellow Fsh!” Obito pinched his own cheek hard—yep, not a dream.

  “Stop shouting,” Kakashi said coolly, nudging Obito along. He wasn’t about to leave a bad impression on Minato-sensei by looking like a bunch of overexcited kids.

  Rin said a quick goodbye to Miketsuki before following them out the door.

  As the trio disappeared, Miketsuki couldn’t help wondering what kind of person his instructor would be. His teammate was Uchiha Ruri—ranked top two in the css. That had to warrant a jonin-level leader, right?

  “Shimizu Miketsuki, Uchiha Ruri. Come with me,” a man with a long ponytail and a fk vest walked in, nodding to Kurenai and Anko before turning to leave.

  Miketsuki followed without a word.

  …

  A clearing in the woods somewhere in the vilge.

  “I’m Yamanaka Haiichi. I’ll be your jonin instructor, and leader of Team Hai-Ichi. Heiji, come over and say hi to your new teammates,” Haiichi said, motioning to the boy already waiting there.

  He was around twelve or thirteen, with long bck hair and pale white eyes—clearly from the Hyuga cn.

  “I’m Hyuga Heiji,” he said ftly. It was hard to tell if he was just stoic or suffering from a Kakashi-level case of emotional constipation.

  “I’m Shimizu Miketsuki. Nice to meet you both,” Miketsuki replied politely. He considered himself pretty decent at social cues—and in the ninja world, the overly friendly ones were often the ones to watch out for.

  “I’m Uchiha Ruri. Let’s keep the missions from getting too boring, shall we?” Ruri replied, eyeing Heiji with open disdain. Typical Uchiha-Hyuga tension.

  “Don’t mind Heiji,” Haiichi quickly stepped in to defuse the tension. “He’s just not good at expressing himself. He’s only two years ahead of you guys anyway—might as well treat him like a peer.”

  Leading a team was never easy. Haiichi could only hope these three would build some real bonds during missions.

  “You all seem lively enough. Let’s get to know each other better. Why don’t you each talk a bit about what you're good at, and what your current goals are? Like me—I specialize in sensory ninjutsu, and my goal right now is to help the vilge win this war and bring peace as quickly as possible. Heiji, you’re up.”

  “As you can probably tell, I’m from the Hyuga cn. I specialize in taijutsu and sensory skills. As for my goal—right now, it's just to survive this war,” Heiji said coolly.

  No surprise there. Everyone in the ninja world knew what the Hyugas were known for—just like the Uchihas and their fire style and genjutsu.

  “I specialize in genjutsu and fire release, standard Uchiha fare,” Ruri said proudly, head tilted slightly upward. “My goal? Get stronger. Nothing else.”

  Ever since the graduation exam, she’d been acting... excited. Almost eager for war.

  Miketsuki had no idea what went through a battle maniac’s head. There was no way she liked war, right? Even the most militant Uchiha didn’t enjoy bloodshed.

  If she really did, though… maybe she’d been born in the wrong era. Had she been around when Madara left the vilge, she probably would’ve followed him without a second thought.

  “I specialize in lightning and earth release, along with some sensory skills,” Miketsuki said. “Goal-wise… surviving the war, same as Heiji.”

  And after surviving—settling the score with Kirigakure. But that part, he kept to himself. No point saying something that sounded completely ridiculous coming from a fresh grad.

  “Oh? I saw the short bde on your waist and figured you were into kenjutsu,” Haiichi pointed out.

  “This?” Miketsuki unsheathed it with a quiet shhk. “It’s called Mistcutter. A birthday gift from my father and his team.”

  When he said “team,” he instinctively gnced at Ruri.

  Ruri frowned slightly. “What’re you looking at me for while talking about your sword?”

  Yup. Not much communication between Uchiha En and his daughter, it seemed.

  Miketsuki wasn’t about to get caught in someone else’s family drama. He had more pressing matters—like staying alive through a world war.

  “That’s a beautiful bde,” Haiichi said, a little awkward now. He already knew about Miketsuki’s parents—both lost to the war. Definitely not a topic worth lingering on.

  Heiji looked like he was about to say something—probably a polite compliment—but Haiichi jumped in quickly to change the subject.

  “Alright, sounds like everyone’s gotten acquainted. Let’s go grab some ramen—my treat!”

  “I’m in,” Miketsuki said.

  “Same here,” Heiji added.

  “I’ll pass. I’d rather use the time to train,” Ruri said ftly, turning away.

  “That’s… a bit of a problem,” Haiichi scratched his head.

  “Come on, Ruri,” Miketsuki said. “If we don’t build some teamwork now, we’ll mess up ter during missions. Poor coordination could get someone hurt.”

  They’d been cssmates long enough that Miketsuki had developed a pretty good strategy for handling her.

  Ruri seemed to consider it, her face twisting in reluctant calcution. Eventually, she looked away and muttered, “...Fine. If it’s about mission efficiency, then I guess I don’t have a choice. Let’s just get it over with.”

  As they headed for Ichiraku, Haiichi shot Miketsuki a discreet thumbs-up from behind.

  Big W for the team negotiator.

  “Hey, Haiichi-sensei?”

  “Yeah? What’s up, Miketsuki?”

  “I heard most new teams get tested by their jonin. You know, like a bell test or something?”

  “Oh, that?” Haiichi grinned. “No need for that. You and Ruri are literally the top two graduates this year. If you’re not qualified, we might as well send everyone back to the Academy.”

  “Fair enough.”

  …

  After ramen.

  Haiichi cpped his hands and addressed the group.

  “Alright, Team Hai-Ichi, listen up. Go home tonight and get your gear in order. We’re meeting at the vilge gate tomorrow at 7 a.m. sharp. We’ve got a mission—escort duty for a supply caravan heading to the Wind Country front. I’ll give you the full briefing on the way. Any questions?”

  “Nope.”

  “Great. Team Hai-Ichi, dismissed!”

  …

  “That was fast,” Miketsuki muttered as he wandered the streets of Konoha.

  He wondered what was going on with Rin’s team. Knowing Minato, he might be putting them through that bell test nonsense.

  He considered using the Six Eyes to peek in on them—but that felt a little too much like stalking. Yeah, no thanks.

  “Guess I’ll go work on my jutsu,” he said to himself. With nothing much to pack, he headed off to the secret training spot he and Rin had used for years.

  The war might’ve started, but his grind never stopped.

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