Chapter 24: Izayoi and Father-in-law's Tacit Understanding
As Izayoi had told Hinata,
The graduation exam was finished soon.
After chatting a bit, the other students who passed the graduation exam came to the playground one by one.
Soon, Iruka Umino also came.
This meant that the familiar faces who were absent were all those who failed the graduation exam and were excluded.
If you look closely, you can see that the only face you know missing is Naruto Uzumaki.
"Students, thank you for waiting."
Iruka Umino took out a file board and smiled, "All of you have headbands. Now I'll accompany you to take profile shots."
"Teacher Iruka, where do I put the headband?"
A student raised his hand and asked.
"Anywhere on the torso is fine." Iruka Umino answered.
So, the students either wore headbands on their forehead, had them tied around their arm, wore them on their necks, or used them as hair bands, etc.
Hinata was one of those who wore it around her neck.
Izayoi had it tied on his left arm.
Once all of them had worn them, Iruka Umino took them to the roof of the complex building.
The photographer waited there for so long with a vertical camera.
After taking profile photos in line, the students could not wait to walk slowly or run out of the complex building towards the school gate.
At the school gate, several parents were already waiting in line.
There were some of the parents comforting their out-sorted children, and others looked at the school hopefully.
They all knew that the students who hadn't yet come out were all Genin who passed the graduation test.
With the students arriving, the school gate immediately came to life.
But this vibrant scene hurt some orphans who had no parents.
They either looked at this sight with envy or ran out of school without even trying to peek.
Sasuke Uchiha was the former and the latter.
With only a flicker of jealousy, he turned into an afterimage and disappeared.
Izayoi was neither the former nor the latter.
Because.
"Oniichan, sister, here, here."
A girl's voice was extremely loud at the school gate.
Wearing a yellow-brown kimono patterned with flames on the skirt, Hanabi was waving her little hands to Izayoi and Hinata.
At this sight, the edges of Izayoi's lips moved up ever so slightly, and Hinata smiled weakly too.
Izayoi half-kneeled and hugged Hanabi who ran towards him before going towards the school gate.
"Oniichan, sister, I came to pick you up."
Hanabi wrapped both arms around Izayoi's neck, noticed the headband on his arm for the first time, and inquired curiously, "Oniichan, is this the Genin headband?"
"Yes, here you go."
Izayoi nodded, took off the headband and offered it to Hanabi, then picked up Hanabi and grinned at Hinata.
Then the three departed from the school.
Several years had already passed, and Hanabi, who this year was seven years old, had also changed a lot.
In the original, Hanabi at this age still had shoulder-length short hair.
But seeing her sister having long hair, she also deliberately kept long hair.
Now her hair was long like in the theatrical version, and the two bangs were braided into braids.
In battle and training, she had straight black hair or she tied it into one ponytail. Added to her tough eyes and serious face, she already had some of Boruto's heroic appearance.
Perhaps because of precocity, Hanabi's development was much faster than Hinata's. She, who would grow to 1.7 meters in the future, had already grown to 1.32 meters, just short of a head from Izayoi.
In addition, Hinata at this age still had a chubby baby face.
But Hanabi's small face had lost a significant amount of baby fat and was already in the shape of a melon seed face.
Hanabi imitated Hinata, tied the Genin headband around her neck, and smiled at Izayoi, "Oniichan, to commemorate you and sister becoming Genin, let's have hot pot today."
"It's obviously Hanabi who wants to eat it."
Hinata used her long jade-like index finger and gently tapped Hanabi's forehead.
"Hehe."
Hanabi stuck out her tongue sheepishly and said, "Who told father not to let us eat this kind of thing? But Hanabi wants to eat hot pot today."
Izayoi couldn't help but laugh at Hanabi's cute expression, and immediately said, "Alright, we'll eat hot pot today."
"Good."
Hanabi clapped, and then 'pushed her luck', "Oniichan, I want to have a piggyback too."
"No."
Hinata glared and scolded, "Hanabi, you're so tall now, you can't do this sort of thing anymore."
"I'm seven years old this year, what's wrong with that."
Hanabi glared at Hinata, and then teased playfully at Izayoi, "Oniichan, please."
"No problem."
Izayoi at once let go of a hand and struck a strongman's stance, "Not to mention seven years old, even if Hanabi is as tall as Oniichan, you can still ride on your piggyback."
"As expected of Oniichan."
Hanabi at once struck an expression of gratitude, then slid off of Izayoi's arms and sat behind his shoulders.
"Really."
Looking at Izayoi in the lead, responding to Hanabi's instructions to go towards the market, Hinata sighed pitifully and then followed in tow with a warm smile.
Whoosh——
When the three left, someone, out of thin air, simply appeared in their stead.
Coming closer, he was a member of the Hyuga clan with a green vest and the same eyes as Hanabi and Hinata.
He was Hanabi's guard.
Hinata would usually have guards when she went out, so why not Hanabi?
But for some reason, he didn't keep Hanabi by his side, but silently guarded her in the dark.
Other than Hanabi, Izayoi and Hinata were aware of the guard's presence.
In the past six years, although Izayoi had not met Hiashi Hyuga, he had an implicit understanding with this future father-in-law.
The former took responsibility for pampering Hinata and Hanabi so that Hinata and Hanabi, having lost their mother, would be brought up in his love and indulgence; the latter was strict, so they could withstand the dignity of the rich family.
Hinata and Hanabi, living a high-pressure life at home, of course, relied heavily on Izayoi.
Only in front of Izayoi would Hanabi be so cheerful at this young age, with so much playfulness and naughtiness to her.
In front of Hiashi Hyuga, she was equally cheeky as in the original story.
The same was true for Hinata.
In order to buy hot pot ingredients, and to purchase Hanabi's favorite glutinous rice balls, bananas, milk, and Hinata's favorite cinnamon rolls, Izayoi accompanied the two girls to the market in order to eat hot pot at home.
The three of them occupied a long sofa after eating and drinking, digesting and conversing.
Sitting next to Izayoi, Hinata, who had at last lowered her guard and laid her head on his shoulder, suddenly said, "Izayoi-kun, it seems like only Naruto-kun in our school didn't graduate."
"Yes."
Izayoi, playing with Hanabi's bangs braids, nodded.
When the two of them approached the school gate, they saw Naruto Uzumaki sitting on the swing at first glance.
"Naruto-kun's chakra is that strong, why can't he at least master a clone technique?"
Hinata questioned very perplexed.
"Maybe his control of chakra is very poor."
Izayoi carelessly said, "His cultural grades are that poor, his shuriken throwing has improved little, and he always gets killed off first in every survival exercise. The only exception is the taijutsu duel. Maybe failure is good."
"Yes."
Recalling Naruto Uzumaki's performance in the last six years, Hinata agreed.
But neither she nor Hanabi, reclining against Izayoi's arms and lifting one eye to crinkle at him as if she were likely to doze off at any second, noticed that Izayoi's lips curved into a small smile when he relaxed.
(End of this chapter)
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