After giving Shishou a kiss on the cheek,
Ino, as if having done something mischievous, hurriedly ran off to help Choji with pest control.
Although she really wanted to stay with Shishou, she hadn't forgotten about her two other companions.
Shishou touched the spot where Ino had kissed him, feeling a mix of amusement and helplessness.
"Such an innocent peach."
Muttering to himself, Shishou put his mask back on and stood up.
After greeting Shikamaru and Choji, he left the area.
He continued searching through Konoha Village for a while.
Eventually, Shishou found Naruto, Sasuke, and Hinata at a factory.
Inside the factory, Kakashi was openly reading "Icha Icha Paradise," a book not suitable for children, without any regard for others' opinions.
Meanwhile, Naruto, Sasuke, and Hinata were working as laborers, helping with various tasks in the factory.
Seeing this scene, Shishou knew that Kakashi, like Asuma, was using repetitive and tedious work to temper Naruto, Sasuke, and Hinata's characters.
Naruto was impulsive, Sasuke was capricious, and Hinata was overly timid.
These three definitely needed good training to adapt to the life of a ninja.
Otherwise, considering Naruto and Sasuke's personalities from the original story, if they weren't the main characters, they would have been killed long ago.
"Darn it!"
After working as a factory laborer all morning, Naruto couldn't take it anymore and shouted at Kakashi:
"Kakashi-sensei, how much longer do we have to do this?!"
"This isn't the kind of mission I wanted. Let's go fight bandits or at least chase some fugitives."
"I heard that Shishou and his team have already left the village to fight bandits. Kakashi-sensei, take us too!"
Hearing Naruto's outburst, Sasuke also stopped his work and looked at Kakashi.
The repetitive and tedious tasks in the factory were getting on his nerves too.
On the other hand, kind-hearted Hinata continued to work diligently, not interested in fights and battles.
Kakashi kept reading his book, speaking leisurely, "When you can endure a whole day without losing your temper, then I'll take you."
"Oh, and Hinata, you're doing well today. Go take a break."
"Naruto and Sasuke can handle the rest."
Hearing this, Naruto and Sasuke were about to argue when they saw Kakashi tossing two small stones in his hand.
Seeing this, they immediately quieted down and resumed working diligently.
They knew from experience that getting hit by Kakashi's stones hurt a lot and left marks for two days.
Hinata lifted her head from her work, intending to decline Kakashi's offer and stay to help Naruto and Sasuke with the mission.
As teammates, it wouldn't be right for her to leave early.
But seeing Shishou observing from the side, she quickly changed her mind and ran over to him happily, asking:
"Shishou, when did you get back?"
Hinata had heard about Shishou's mission outside the village a few days ago.
"I came back yesterday, it was too late to find you all."
"Let's go for a walk."
Shishou explained, leading Hinata away from the factory under the envious and resentful gazes of Naruto and Sasuke.
They strolled leisurely through Konoha's streets, with Shishou carrying the gifts and Hinata blushing as she followed behind him.
Hinata glanced at Shishou, her face turning even redder.
Usually, they would go shopping with Ino, Shishou, and herself together.
Walking alone with Shishou like this was a first for her, making her extremely nervous.
Seeing Hinata's demeanor, Shishou wasn't surprised. He engaged in light conversation, sharing stories from his recent mission.
Hinata, after getting over her initial shyness, tried hard to think of interesting things she had seen in the past few days.
They wandered around the village, stopping occasionally to buy things and ended up eating ten bowls of ramen at Ichiraku Ramen.
At dusk, Shishou walked Hinata back to the Hyuga clan's compound.
Seeing Shishou leave, Hinata bit her lip and turned to enter her home.
With her half-brother growing older, Hinata and Hanabi's position in the Hyuga family had become increasingly awkward, making Hinata more reluctant to stay at home.
She walked to the farthest courtyard in the Hyuga compound and pushed the door open.
Hiashi Hyuga, her father, often sent Hinata and Hanabi to the outermost courtyard because seeing them reminded him of Hyuga Rimei, who was sent to appease the Flying Thunder God user, making him feel embarrassed.
Therefore, Hinata and Hanabi's courtyard was placed at the outer edge, out of sight.
However, because Hyuga Rimei was now with the Flying Thunder God user, the Hyuga clan didn't dare neglect Hinata and Hanabi. Their residence was actually the best, largest, and most luxurious in the Hyuga compound.
Hinata opened the door to find Hanabi practicing Gentle Fist in the courtyard, with Neji instructing her.
"Neji-niisan." Seeing Neji, Hinata quickly greeted him.
"Hinata." Neji nodded at her and continued teaching Hanabi.
After Hyuga Rimei unintentionally learned about Neji's concerns from Shishou, she secretly removed the Caged Bird Seal from his forehead a year ago, gave him many secret technique scrolls of the Hyuga clan, and warned him not to tell anyone.
Hyuga Natsu, seeing Neji as a fellow branch family member, also taught him some of her training techniques and occasionally guided him, acting as a semi-teacher to him.
Because of these reasons, Neji grew fond of Hinata and Hanabi, often coming by to give them pointers.
That night, after having dinner together, Neji left Hinata and Hanabi's home and returned to his own small courtyard.
Hinata changed into her training clothes and waited quietly in the courtyard.
"Sister." After dismissing the servants and activating the barrier to prevent Byakugan from spying, Hanabi joined Hinata, waiting quietly.
At ten o'clock,
a figure appeared before Hinata and Hanabi.
"Mother." Hinata and Hanabi happily stood up and ran into Hyuga Rimei's arms.
Since Hinata graduated from the ninja academy, Hyuga Rimei had been coming every night to guide Hinata and Hanabi's training.
After sharing a moment of affection with her daughters, Hyuga Rimei grew serious.
"Let's start training."
"Yes, mother."
Meanwhile...
Seeing Hyuga Rimei openly instructing Hinata and Hanabi, the hidden Uzumaki Kushina and Uchiha Mikoto, who had passed away, felt full of envy.
Because of their deceased status, they couldn't appear in Konoha, let alone in front of Naruto and Sasuke.
"Mikoto, I really want to teach Naruto too." Kushina sighed with envy.
"But we're already dead. Appearing in front of Naruto and Sasuke would cause problems." Mikoto sighed as well.
Kushina frowned, "How about we ask Tsunade for new identities?"
Mikoto's eyes brightened, "That's a good idea!"
"Let's go find Tsunade."
**********
This fanfiction is complete on my P@treon. If you want to read it, you can find it at p@treon.com/Betek. change @ to a