By now, Hyūga Yū had long since abandoned any fantasies of waking up with the Tenseigan like some fanfiction protagonist—breaking the shackles of the Caged Bird Curse, launching a coup d'état, rewriting the Hyūga clan's contradictory laws, marrying a busty Tsunade, and ascending to the throne of Hokage.
Thirteen years inside the Hyuga Clan had long since shown him the reality that differed from those fantasies.
To be honest, apart from the few things about being forced to serve the main house — acting like a beast of burden, kowtowing and genuflecting, giving headlong obeisance, doing 90-degree bows and loudly chanting ridiculous phrases — which grated on him, the clan's material provisions really were without fault.
They provided food and lodging; the village's orphan subsidy, the clan's secondary stipend, the elders' private third payment — none of them had ever been late even a single day. After adulthood they allocated housing, and the clan policy even included assigning wives.
Besides the insanely expensive ninja scrolls, tools, and the instruction from high-level shinobi — which were naturally hard to obtain — the branch families' lives from cradle to grave were laid out and taken care of down to the smallest detail.
That was the real reason the Hyuga's main-branch vs. branch-branch system had persisted: the clan was genuinely wealthy, and they were willing to spend it.
Under those conditions, no matter how much the branch families resented it, that discontent tended to stay confined to individuals and to the currently segregated batch of branch family members.
But understanding didn't equal acceptance.
Hyūga Yū did not have the habit of kowtowing to people or performing 90-degree bows while shouting "Hontōni mōshiwake gozaimasen" [I am truly sorry]. Even if he had to follow local customs, he could only accept a few superficial daily etiquettes at most.
So even though he knew he lacked natural talent as a shinobi, he still wanted to become a Chūnin — he wanted to risk his life to stop being dependent on others, to stop kneeling and kowtowing!
And yet, right now, standing before the prodigy girl from the branch family and faced with the absolute seriousness of her promise to him, Hyuga Yu suddenly went quiet.
Hyuga Natsu was the wife the clan had assigned to him — his fiancée.
No matter how he'd planned things, he hadn't expected that Natsu, who would later serve as Hanabi's personal maid, survive Pain's attack, and flee the Fourth Great Ninja War, would at this moment be joining him as part of the escort for the main-house young master Hyuga Genko — and would go with him to the battlefield of the Third Great Ninja War.
"What's wrong? Yu-kun, you look awful…" she said.
"Nothing." Hyuga Yu drew a deep breath, lifted his head, and smiled with narrowed eyes at the little-loli fiancée before him.
"'Yu-kun' sounds so strange coming from you. Just call me 'Lion,'" he said.
"Lion?" Hyuga Natsu couldn't help a small snort of laughter. "If I call you that, it feels like I'm giggling."
Hyuga Yu suddenly said, "I will protect you."
Natsu froze at that, looked up, her long, curled lashes fluttering; a faint flush rose to her face.
"What did you say?"
"Let's go, Natsu. Please take me to see Young Master Genko."
Half an hour later, Hyuga Yu found himself in the reception room of the main house, facing the unlucky young master who would one day have his Byakugan stolen by Kirigakure.
The main-house young master, Hyuga Genko, appeared very young — around eighteen — dressed in a white kimono and with the standard Hyuga features: black hair, pale eyes, handsome features. Apart from the smooth forehead without a forehead protector, he looked like an adult version of Neji Hyuga.
"You're… Hyuga Yu?" Genko said, holding a printed résumé and making his appraisal of the boy sitting square-backed opposite him.
"I've heard of you," he added.
"You were a little one-sided in your academy grades?" he asked.
"Yes." Hyuga Yu nodded.
"In academics, you scored full marks in math, chemistry, and physics, and zeros in everything else."
"For ninja basics, apart from full marks in basic swordsmanship, you barely passed tool-throwing, taijutsu, and Body Replacement Technique; the rest you failed outright."
Hyuga Genko flipped through the résumé and asked, "Why such a skewed profile?"
Hyuga Yu answered immediately, "Because I trained taijutsu with the Might Guy father-and-son, and I also went to Konoha Hospital to learn the basics of medical ninjutsu."
Genko frowned slightly, then asked again, "Why train under the Might Guy family for Konoha's Strong Fist? Isn't the clan's Gentle Fist stronger than that inferior taijutsu?"
Yu did not dare be careless and replied at once, "I've learned both Strong Fist and Gentle Fist. Strong Fist is simply better at conditioning the body — it can help speed up the process of activating the Byakugan."
When Genko heard that his concern was about activating the Byakugan, his expression softened.
In school, two types of people were memorable: geniuses at the top of the ranks, and pathetic tail-enders. A tail-ender from one of Konoha's leading clans was even more conspicuous.
Genko had heard rumors about Hyuga Yu's lack of natural talent: his chakra reserves were meager, barely qualifying him as an ordinary shinobi, let alone as a Hyuga. Activating the Byakugan requires far greater chakra reserves for Hyuga clan members than it does for ordinary ninjas.
Once he realized Yu's strange behavior in the academy was all to open his Byakugan, Hyuga Genko gave him a sidelong look and respected the boy's determination.
Before this, including Genko himself, many in the clan hadn't believed Yu could awaken the Byakugan within three years of graduation. Yet unexpectedly, at last year's Chūnin Exams, he truly had opened the Byakugan early and stood all the way to the final ring.
Although even Obito Uchiha at the time, another tail-ender, hadn't won.
Genko continued, "So you learned medical ninjutsu during your academy years? What medical techniques can you do?"
"D-rank chakra recovery technique, chakra needle-and-thread; C-rank surface suturing; B-rank fine lesion extraction," Yu answered.
"Not bad." Genko nodded and offered a smile. "With that talent — having opened the Byakugan and learned so many medical techniques — Hyuga Yu, you've worked hard."
"As a reconnaissance ninja you're still lacking," he added, "but as a medical ninja you're quite competent, and you just happen to fill a gap our clan lacks."
He thought for a moment, then, remembering the message the main-house elder had sent, arranged, "I will report this to the main branch. From now on, the clan will cultivate you more toward the medical-ninja track."
"When the village issues deployment orders, I'll arrange for you to be placed in a rear camp to study with the medical ninja stationed there."
Hyuga Genko closed the résumé and looked at the lowered-headed youth before him. "Any objections?"
Hyuga Yu suddenly lifted his head, his expression serious. "Yes."
"Hm?"
"I apply to go on missions with the unit — to be part of your escort."
Genko's brows tightened. He snapped the résumé shut and tossed it on the table with a slap, looking at him coldly. "I said: as a reconnaissance ninja, you are not qualified."
Hyuga Yu raised his chin; beneath heavy bangs his pale eyes shone with stubborn light. He insisted, "I can!"