Inside the Hokage's office, Hiruzen took a slow drag from his pipe, his eyes fixed on Haruki's application to lead a team.
Minato and Kushina were expected choices.
The Ninja Academy was one of the key places under Anbu surveillance, and ever since Haruki took over as vice-principal, Hiruzen had been keeping an eye on him.
And Haruki had certainly delivered some surprises.
Whether it was his dedication to the Will of Fire or his way of passing down the stories of the previous Hokage, the kid had been doing a solid job.
But what pleased Hiruzen the most was how Haruki compared him to the Hokage before him during one of his lectures.
People called him the strongest Hokage, but he knew better. Forget Hashirama Senju, even his younger brother, Tobirama Senju, was leagues ahead of him.
Hiruzen exhaled a cloud of smoke. "This is tricky."
Minato was a commoner, the top of his class, and a solid choice. So, no issues there. Kushina, on the other hand, was a bit more complicated. She was a candidate to become the Nine-Tails' Jinchuriki.
Very few people knew about this, but the Uzumaki clan had always been perfect Jinchuriki candidates.
Take Mito Uzumaki for example, she had carried the Nine-Tails for decades without a single incident.
A Jinchuriki was Konoha's biggest deterrent against the rest of the ninja world. They had to be reliable. They had to serve the village.
Kushina being an orphan was just an added bonus.
As long as they treated her well, there was no risk of her ever betraying the village.
Hiruzen stroked his beard, considering the possibilities. From that perspective, maybe it wasn't such a bad thing for her to be Haruki's student.
He trusted Haruki.
So far, the boy had shown absolute dedication to the Will of Fire. He was loyal to Konoha and willing to give back to the village.
Besides, he was dating Tsunade. That alone made it pretty much impossible for him to turn against the village.
What really gave Hiruzen a headache was the third student Haruki had chosen.
Mikoto Uchiha.
'Why would he even think about getting involved with the Uchiha?' Hiruzen frowned. He and Danzo had always followed their teacher Tobirama Senju's strategy, divide and suppress the Uchiha clan.
Haruki was someone he had marked as a future Hokage. That meant he shouldn't be associating with the Uchiha at all.
"Hokage-sama, Mikoto Uchiha's file."
An Anbu appeared, handing over the documents.
"Hmm." Hiruzen took the file and began reading through it.
He didn't have much of an impression of Mikoto.
Now that he looked deeper, she was just a regular Uchiha, not even someone who had awakened the Sharingan.
"This shouldn't cause any issues." He sat in silence for a moment.
While he had been suppressing the Uchiha in subtle ways, things hadn't escalated to outright oppression yet.
Since Mikoto wasn't a genius, there was no need to make a fuss.
Hiruzen picked up his pen, made a small mark on the document, and approved Haruki's application.
Meanwhile, Kushina was happily humming a tune, something she hadn't done in a long time, not since the fall of the Uzumaki clan.
The thought of Haruki leading her team filled her with excitement for her future as a ninja. Honestly, she had always had a somewhat embarrassing thought in her heart.
Having experienced war as a child, she longed for a peaceful and stable life. Haruki's presence made her feel that way.
Somehow, at some point, she had started to see him as someone like her mother, gentle and kind, but also strong.
"Kushina!"
"What?" Kushina frowned and huffed.
Minato looked at her, feeling a little conflicted.
'Why does she always look at me like that? Did I do something to disappoint her?'
"Starting today, we're teammates. Please take care of us!"
Kushina thought back to yesterday, how Minato had worked so hard to teach her the Rasengan.
Her irritation faded slightly, and her tone softened. "Let's do our best together."
"Yeah!" Minato nodded enthusiastically.
The two of them made their way to the meeting spot Haruki had told them about the night before.
———
Third Training Ground
"Sensei!"
Kushina spotted Haruki from a distance and waved excitedly.
Minato felt a slight pang in his chest. He was jealous. 'When will I get that kind of reaction from her?'
"Sensei." Minato greeted Haruki with a small bow, then glanced around. "Where's our last teammate?"
"No rush, they'll be here soon," Haruki replied with a smile. Then he raised an eyebrow at Minato.
"What's the matter? You that eager to meet the cute girl?"
"I'm not! I'm not! Sensei, don't say weird things!" Minato panicked, sneaking a quick glance at Kushina.
To his disappointment, she didn't react at all.
Haruki chuckled but didn't push further. Instead, he turned toward the other side of the forest.
"She's here."
Minato and Kushina followed his gaze, listening for approaching footsteps.
"Mikoto?" Kushina blurted out in surprise.
The girl with jet-black hair and dark eyes walking toward them was none other than Mikoto, one of the few friends Kushina had in the entire village.
"Kushina." Mikoto's eyes lit up slightly at seeing her, but unlike Kushina's enthusiasm, she remained calm and composed.
To be honest, she had been surprised when she found out Haruki had chosen her as a student.
She was a few years older than Kushina, but because her talent was only average, she had returned to her clan after graduating from the Academy.
If things went as expected, she was simply going to be used to preserve the Uchiha bloodline.
And in truth, that was exactly the plan.
Within a few years, she would likely be married off to Fugaku.
Mikoto shifted her gaze toward Haruki.
She had heard about Haruki long ago.
During the Second Great Ninja War, he had made a name for himself alongside Tsunade and had even become her boyfriend. But what stood out the most was the fact that, somehow, even the Uchiha clan didn't dislike him.
For a clan as proud and difficult as the Uchiha, that was rare. It was precisely because of that reputation that her parents had agreed to let her become his student.
Haruki pulled out two small bells and gave them a shake. "I've got a little test for you three. It's simple, if you can grab a bell, you pass."
Kushina frowned. "Sensei, aren't you missing a bell?"
"Kushina, Sensei is testing our teamwork." Minato answered before Haruki could say anything.
Haruki smirked slightly. 'Smart kid.'
"But I was asking Sensei," Kushina shot back, turning away from Minato.
Minato's face stiffened at her blunt response.
Mikoto, standing beside them, couldn't help but smile faintly. She could tell exactly how things stood between the two.
"Alright, that's enough chit-chat." Haruki shook the bells again before tying them to his waist.
"I'll only be using the strength of a Chunin, so I'm looking forward to what you can do."
As soon as the words left his mouth, all three of them vanished. None of them rushed in blindly.
Rather than waiting in place, he casually strolled toward the forest. To keep things fair, he didn't use his sensory abilities, meaning he had no idea where the three were hiding.
Of course, if they attacked directly, he'd see it coming.
A sudden shift in the wind caught his attention.
Haruki glanced up. Several shuriken were raining down on him.
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