Most of the classmates in the class already knew each other, so the three people assigned to the same class quickly became familiar. Team 11 was no exception.
"Sakurai Haruo, father Sakurai Gen, a special Jonin of the Sealing Team."
Haruo's information surfaced in Yuta's mind. Yuta had a slight guess about the teacher's team assignments. Whether it was himself, a member of the Uzumaki Clan, Nao, who possessed the Byakugan and could observe Chakra flow, or Haruo, whose father was a special Jonin of the Sealing Team, all three had an inherent advantage in Sealing Technique.
"The Sealing Team?" Yuta thought to himself.
"From now on, we're teammates. Let's go to the dango shop for lunch, my treat," Nao said, holding Yuta's arm.
Yuta nodded, "Sounds good. The dango shop seems to have new flavors recently."
"No… how about we split the bill? It would be too embarrassing for Hyuga to treat us," Haruo quickly waved her hand.
"What's the big deal? I'll treat you this time, and you can treat me next time. Let's go, let's go," Nao said nonchalantly.
Haruo hesitated, "Then… alright."
After the Ninja briefing, the school would give students a short period of time to socialize. They would return to their classrooms at 1 PM to wait for their Jonin teachers to claim their students.
After lunch, the three returned to the classroom and sat waiting. Jonin gradually took their Genin teams away.
"Team 11." Uzumaki Rikuto walked into the classroom and spoke to the three in the corner.
"Let's go," Yuta called out. The three followed Rikuto out. Looking at Rikuto's red hair, Yuta thought to himself, "I was wondering who our squad leader would be. I didn't expect it to be a Ninja from the Uzumaki Clan."
The four arrived on the rooftop. Uzumaki Rikuto turned and sat down, saying to the three, "First, let's introduce ourselves. My name is Uzumaki Rikuto, Jonin. I like many things, and I dislike quite a few. I don't want to talk about my dream for now."
After speaking, Uzumaki Rikuto gestured to Yuta.
"Uzumaki Yuta. I like pretty little… *cough cough*, I like slightly spicy food. I dislike old men who like to peep at others. My dream is to make a certain idiotic fox give up sweets," Yuta said, looking up at a spot in the sky where there was an abnormal Chakra presence.
"*Cough cough*." Hiruzen Sarutobi, who had heard Yuta's words through Ninjutsu, couldn't help but cough twice awkwardly. He hadn't expected his Far-Sight Technique to be discovered.
"Hyuga Nao. I like Yuta. I dislike women who like Yuta. My dream is to marry Yuta," Nao said loudly, as if declaring her ownership.
Rikuto's mouth twitched twice, "Is that considered a dream?"
"Sakurai Haruo. I like things related to Sealing Technique. I dislike physical training. My dream is to become a powerful Sealing Ninja," Haruo said.
"A good dream," Rikuto, a Sealing Ninja himself, deeply agreed with Haruo's dream. However, now was not the time for praise. "You are not yet truly Genin. There will be a test tomorrow, and if you don't pass, you'll be sent back to the Ninja Academy to restart."
Nao questioned, "Teacher Rikuto, I've never heard of such a rule before."
"Well, you've heard it now," Rikuto did not soften his tone because of Nao's Hyuga Clan status.
"Tomorrow at 1 PM, gather at Training Ground 13 outside the village. Before that, you must prepare your combat tools with the mindset of facing a mortal enemy. Whether it's shuriken or explosive tags, it's up to you. Remember not to be late." With that, Rikuto instantly left the rooftop, leaving the two who hadn't fully grasped the situation.
"Then, let's listen to the teacher and go back to prepare," Yuta, the only one among the three who had anticipated this situation, stood up and said.
Team 7 has the bell test, Team 8 is a search and rescue mission… Could Team 11's test be about Sealing Technique?
Yuta left the rooftop full of questions. Nao shrugged helplessly at Haruo and chased after him, "Yuta, let's go home together."
Back home, seeing Naruto who was also troubled, Yuta did not reveal the truth about Kakashi's test. Instead of telling Naruto, it was better to let nature take its course. Yuta did not want to do anything that might change the plot. Knowing the development of the world line was Yuta's biggest trump card.
The next morning, Yuta bought a small amount of Kunai shuriken and two smoke bombs at the blade tool shop. As for explosive tags, Yuta chose to forgo them due to their high price.
Arriving at Training Ground 13 outside the village, Nao and Haruo were already waiting.
"Yuta, you're here! I went to your house to look for you just now, but no one was there," Nao ran over and skillfully linked arms with Yuta.
"Haruo, are you ready?" Yuta asked.
"Yes, Yuta, don't worry, I won't hold everyone back," Haruo replied loudly, a little nervous.
"This really is…" Yuta slowly walked over to Haruo, suddenly putting his arm around Haruo's neck. "What are you doing? I told you we're teammates now, why are you still so distant? Don't call me 'Yuta,' just call me Yuta."
"O-okay, b-but Yuta, could you… could you put your hand down?" Haruo said, her face flushed red.
Yuta looked at Haruo in confusion, "You're both boys, why are you shy?"
"Th-that…" Haruo's voice was almost inaudible.
"Thud."
Nao punched Yuta on the head, freeing Haruo from his clutches.
"Are you okay? Yuta doesn't know the truth, sorry about that," Nao smiled apologetically.
Yuta was completely confused by their conversation. The truth? What truth?
Seeing Yuta still hadn't reacted, Nao rolled her eyes, "Is Yuta an idiot? Haruo is a girl."
"Eh? Eh!"
Yuta stared at Haruo in a daze. Only then did Yuta belatedly realize that Haruo's skin was indeed much better than an average boy's, and her figure was also more slender.
"No, I… uh, I really didn't know. I always thought you were a boy. I-I'm sorry," Yuta reacted and quickly bowed his head to apologize.
"It's okay, many people mistake me for a boy," Haruo shook her head.
After this incident, the atmosphere between the three became awkward for a while. However, unlike Yuta, a certain fox was laughing very happily.
"Hahaha, I'm dying of laughter! Yuta, you really didn't know that girl was a girl?" Kurama raised his hand and made a gesture of hugging the air, mimicking Yuta's tone, "You're both boys, why are you shy? Puhahahahaha, I'm dying of laughter!"
Yuta's face turned red as he shouted, "I've never paid attention to other students in the class! Haruo always dressed like a boy, how was I supposed to know!"
"What are you explaining for, idiot? You're a Ninja, you might as well kill yourself!" Kurama burst into laughter. Opportunities like this, to mock Yuta when he couldn't talk back, were rare. How could Kurama let it go so easily?
Yuta knew he was in the wrong and exited his mental space, enduring Kurama's taunts. Just as Yuta's patience was reaching its limit and he was about to use Sealing Technique to shut Kurama up, Uzumaki Rikuto arrived at the training ground on time, carrying a small dog.
"Good, you weren't late, which has improved my impression of you quite a bit. Now, I will announce the test rules."