The next day.
Kitahara Hitoshi opened his eyes as the morning light streamed in through the window without curtains.
He looked at the window, as usual.
Under normal circumstances, his pet rabbit would be sitting there.
It would stay curled up on the blanket, sometimes grabbing a smaller blanket to cover itself, gazing at the moon in silence.
After all, that window was the only place in the room where the moon could be seen clearly.
The rabbit's only real hobby was sitting there in a daze every night, staring at the moon until dawn.
But today, something was different.
The rabbit was still in its usual position but frozen in place like it had been struck by a petrification jutsu.
"I'm going to ninja school," Kitahara Hitoshi said, stretching as he sat up.
At the sound of his voice, the usually cold and expressionless rabbit actually turned to look at him.
But.
"By tradition, I'll be assigned to a ninja team," Kitahara Hitoshi said as he dressed. "A team of three. Then we'll be given a jōnin instructor."
"If you're interested, it's not impossible to bring you along… hmm, never mind. You're not interested."
The rabbit turned its back to him again.
Super cool.
Yep.
Even his ninja rabbit didn't want to interact with him today.
Still, thinking Shinobu was acting like always would be fake.
Because after he sent Naruto off last night, Naruto had gone to Iruka, excitedly showing off the forehead protector he received through the makeup test. Then he wandered around half the night before heading home.
Kitahara Hitoshi also went to bed quite late.
The rabbit had clearly witnessed all of that, yet it still kept up its nightly routine.
It didn't sleep, just stared at the moon like it was lost in its own thoughts.
But.
Something had changed.
Instead of watching the moon, last night, it watched him.
So he ended up being stared at by his rabbit in the dead of night.
Without blinking.
Like a tailed beast, it didn't need sleep or anything. That was pretty convenient.
"Well, I'm heading out," Kitahara Hitoshi said after finishing his morning routine.
As a self-sufficient kind of guy, he'd already cooked his breakfast.
He enjoyed a leisurely lifestyle and wouldn't treat himself poorly.
When he got to the first floor, he turned back and glanced at the apartment window.
And there it was—his gaze met the pure white eyes of the ninja rabbit.
He had caught it spying on him red-handed.
But even when caught, the ninja rabbit's expression remained indifferent.
Cold and detached.
"Do pets not have feelings or something… How am I supposed to train this kind of behavior…"
"Eh?"
Kitahara Hitoshi stopped mid-step as he walked toward the ninja academy and glanced around the corner.
There, crouched in the alley, was a girl with long black hair and pale white eyes, wearing a blue coat.
Kitahara Hitoshi stared at her.
"Ugh… sleepy…"
The girl mumbled.
"No way… why do I feel like Kitahara-kun is nearby…"
"Is this an illusion?"
"Damn it, who would dare cast genjutsu on a Hyuga clan member?"
"How could I fall for this?"
"Well, whatever. Come here, Kitahara-kun~"
She spread her arms and lunged.
"…"
Kitahara Hitoshi watched her calmly, unmoved.
"Mm… so cold," she said after bumping into him.
Black Hinata gave up the act and stood up honestly. "Why do you always ignore me?"
"Is this some kind of fun for you? Making me wait like this?"
"So, why exactly are you waiting for me at the corner again?" Kitahara Hitoshi asked, his tone calm.
He knew that if he didn't interrupt her here, she'd talk for half an hour straight.
"Well…"
"Looks like you figured it out."
"I'm not allowed to join a squad," Black Hinata said with a sigh. "According to Hyuga clan tradition, clan heirs don't get assigned to a regular ninja team."
"They receive personal instruction within the compound."
"My father is teaching me directly, passing down the Hyuga clan's techniques."
"Ugh…"
"So basically, I can't leave the compound freely."
"That means I won't get to be on the same team as you," she said, clearly upset. "It's like they're stealing away the few happy moments I get to have."
"…" Kitahara Hitoshi didn't respond right away.
Black Hinata's situation never existed in the original manga.
In the original timeline, despite being the heiress of the clan, Hinata wasn't acknowledged by Hiashi and was allowed to join a regular genin team like any branch family child.
But now, Hiashi was personally training her.
This meant the current Hinata's path had diverged drastically from the original.
It also confirmed that Hiashi truly intended to raise her as the next clan head.
"Isn't that a good thing?" Kitahara Hitoshi asked. "Learning the Hyuga clan's inner teachings."
"No, it's not!"
Black Hinata shook her head firmly.
"A genin team has two guys and one girl!"
"That means…"
"Your teammates will definitely include another girl!"
"Is it Sakura? Or Ino?"
"Ugh…"
"That wide-foreheaded girl Sakura—she says she likes Sasuke, but everyone knows she just likes pretty boys!"
"If you let her spend time with you every day…"
"She'll definitely fall for you!"
"And that Ino girl, always playing cute when you walk by the flower shop…"
Black Hinata looked furious.
"Alright, enough."
Kitahara Hitoshi gently placed his hand on her head.
"This is how standard ninja squads are structured," he explained. "They're assigned to encourage team development and shared growth."
"It's the village's tradition."
"Don't make baseless assumptions. I'm not exactly popular with girls anyway," he added, telling a harmless lie.
"Really?" Black Hinata looked at him skeptically.
"Yeah," Kitahara Hitoshi nodded. "Look, this forehead protector completely ruins my look."
Konoha's forehead protectors had the uncanny ability to suppress a person's appearance, something nearly every male ninja had silently agreed upon.
"Oh…"
"Well, okay then," Black Hinata nodded, visibly relieved.
She understood she couldn't stop Kitahara Hitoshi from joining a team.
But thankfully, he was still dense.
So dense, in fact, that even if there were girls on his team, she wasn't worried.
"…" Kitahara Hitoshi stayed quiet.
Naruto might not understand, but he certainly did.
He had received over 200 love letters already.
Of course.
He was still too young to take action, so he simply kept them all and figured he'd check how their senders looked in the future.
Still, since Hinata seemed to be aware of things now, he'd need to be more discreet the next time he got a letter.