At six o'clock in the evening,
Hyūga Yū returned to his small home in Apartment 205 on Konoha's Tea Street. He carried with him the unease of knowing the countdown for the "Byakugan Leak Incident" had begun, along with an indescribable sense of anticipation.
To the side, Hyūga Natsu had already virtuously prepared his slippers. She closed the apartment door behind him and stood there with a gentle smile, watching as Yū looked for a place to set down the wooden case containing his giant bow within the cramped space.
Hyūga Yū: "I'm home. (Tadaima)"
Hyūga Natsu: "Welcome back! (Okaeri)"
It felt as though this exchange had happened countless times before. They didn't resemble twelve or thirteen-year-old lovers or fiancés, but rather an old married couple who had lived together for years.
But in reality,
Hyūga Yū held no such romantic or marital affection for Hyūga Natsu.
Likewise, he could sense that Natsu harbored similar sentiments toward him.
They did not love each other, nor was there any cliché of love growing over time. They merely played their respective roles in this relationship, mutually extracting the benefits it brought, while dancing appropriately along the boundaries drawn by social discipline and moral systems.
At least, that was how they saw it themselves.
However, this didn't stop them from fitting the stereotype of a model engaged couple in the eyes of others.
This was largely thanks to Hyūga Natsu.
Whether in public or private, she displayed the gentle demeanor of a Yamato Nadeshiko,
Just like right now—
"Shishi, did you get into a fight with Hyūga Tetsu?"
"No."
"I saw everything, you know."
Hyūga Yū changed into his slippers and looked up quizzically. "So?"
Hyūga Natsu suddenly smiled.
"I'm very happy."
"Why?"
"Because this is the second time I've realized my place in your heart, Shishi."
"When was the first?"
"This morning."
Hyūga Yū was choked up by her words. He lowered his head, let out a chuckle, and asked:
"What's there to be happy about in that?"
Hyūga Natsu giggled. "Because I also discovered that, besides me, there are many other people who care about you, Shishi."
Hyūga Yū was startled by this remark and hurriedly waved his hand. "Are you talking about Hyūga Tetsu? Hey, hey... he has a crazy crush on you."
"He does not."
Hyūga Natsu hummed with smug satisfaction. Standing behind Hyūga Yū, she pushed him toward the dining table now that he had changed his slippers. Then, she delivered a shocking statement:
"As the saying goes, 'The bystander sees clearly'!"
"According to my observations, liking Hyūga Natsu is just an excuse for that child, Hyūga Tetsu, to get close to you—the one he actually admires."
Hyūga Natsu punched her palm as she delivered her verdict. "Hmm... It's probably like back in the Academy, when Asuma Sarutobi wanted to get close to Kurenai, so he first thought of ways to get close to Kurenai's best friend."
"That is an absolutely wild theory you have there!" Hyūga Yū's mouth twitched slightly. He decided he needed to set his little fiancée straight.
There was no way a background extra like him and Hyūga Tetsu had that kind of weird relationship like Naruto and Sasuke!
"Although Hyūga Tetsu was our classmate at the Academy, as you know, whether it was during school or after graduating and going to the battlefield, we had almost no intimate interaction. We haven't exchanged more than ten sentences."
"Besides, how could a mediocre guy like me be someone anyone looks up to?"
"Hee."
Hyūga Natsu smiled noncommittally.
"But, Shishi, for all those misunderstood actions you took at the Academy, it was the 'total stranger' Hyūga Tetsu who stood up for you behind the scenes and suppressed those rumors."
Hearing this, Hyūga Yū recalled that such things had indeed happened. He immediately turned his head away and muttered a defensive explanation, "That was just him acting on his own accord to maintain the Hyūga Clan's reputation, that's all."
"Hai, hai~"
Hyūga Natsu nodded with a beaming smile, pushing Hyūga Yū to sit down at the small round table in the narrow apartment.
However, at this moment,
The table that should have been set with dinner was empty of food.
Instead, there were only three scrolls labeled "Ninja Tools," "Sword," and "Provisions."
Seeing this, Hyūga Yū froze for a moment, then raised his head to look at Hyūga Natsu, who was already sitting on her knees across the round table with a cheerful expression.
"This is...?"
"I helped you pick these out at the ninja tool shop today. Ninja tools, protective gear, a ninja sword, and some specially made food pills."
"You..." Looking at the three scrolls on the table, Hyūga Yū felt a bit at a loss. Just as he was about to question her, he was interrupted by Hyūga Natsu raising her fair white hand.
"I received the loan documents. Also, I'm actually the first to receive the bank statements regarding changes to your account, Shishi."
"Although I don't understand why you spent one million ryo in a single afternoon;"
"Nor do I quite understand why you refused Elder Takahiro's appointment letter;"
"And I understand even less why you asked me to contact Lord Genko to try and join the Main Family's guard unit."
"But..."
Hyūga Natsu suddenly put away the smile on her face. After a long silence, she pointed at the three scrolls on the table and spoke in a slightly hoarse voice:
"Just to be safe, I prepared these for you."
She spoke like a wife about to send her husband off to the battlefield.
But the reality was, she was the one who was about to step onto the battlefield.
Seeing his little fiancée with such an expression,
The final blurry parts of the entire event finally became clear in Hyūga Yū's mind.
He suddenly pursed his lips, a flame of incomprehensible anger rising in his eyes. He sat up straight and rigid, looking gravely at the girl sitting across the round table.
"So..."
Hyūga Yū gritted his teeth and questioned, "You were the one who asked Hyūga Genko in advance to have him reject my application to the guard unit?"
It had been strange that Hyūga Genko refused his entry.
Hyūga Yū had learned from the Main Family Elder, Hyūga Takahiro, that the Young Lord's father, Hyūga Takasuke, was looking for clansmen who knew medical ninjutsu to protect the departing team.
And Hyūga Yū was one of the few ninjas in the clan who had mastered medical ninjutsu.
Even if Hyūga Yū's strength was low, Hyūga Genko shouldn't have refused.
After all, a medical ninja only needed to keep up with the team and provide medical support. As clearly stated in the second clause of the Three Rules for Medical Ninja proposed by the Sannin Lady Tsunade:
[Medical ninja must never stand on the front lines of combat.]
Therefore,
The greatest obstacle preventing Hyūga Yū from protecting his fiancée was, in fact, his fiancée, Hyūga Natsu herself.
"Oh my... oops. I've been found out."
Hyūga Natsu stuck out her tongue and gave a dorky smile.
Hyūga Yū ignored his fiancée's attempt to diffuse the atmosphere with cuteness. His face sank as he continued to ask:
"When was it?"
Hyūga Natsu exhaled and confessed in a muffled voice, "Before you met with Elder Takahiro, I guessed that you definitely wouldn't sign that appointment letter."
"However,"
She lowered her head, her tone gradually becoming quieter and somewhat dejected, sounding like the buzzing of a mosquito.
"If it's you, Shishi, I thought that even if everything was arranged in advance, you would eventually solve all the obstacles one by one."
"So,"
Hyūga Natsu suddenly raised her head. A smile blossomed on her face like a white orchid, carrying a hint of sheepishness and a plea for mercy.
She extended her fair, slender hands, presenting her wrists before Hyūga Yū. Narrowing her crescent-moon eyes, she gave a silly chuckle:
"Mr. Hyūga Yū, I am here to surrender!"
"Please, you must accept my apology gift!"