SS019

Waking up on the morning of his twenty-third day of helping the Hyuga trio train, Seikun immediately sensed a change. It was hard to describe, but it was like a low vibration permeated the air, making it feel tense and palpable.

'So, it finally happened...' concluded Seikun, exhaling a sigh as he rose to a seated position on his bed. In his previous experience, the Uchiha Clan Massacre had occurred near the end of April, so he was starting to think it might not occur. It was still possible that it hadn't, as it was presently the second day of May, but even if that were the case, something major must have happened for the air in Konoha to feel thick with tension.

Choosing to pretend everything was normal, Seikun started preparing for his day like any other. He honestly expected someone from the Hyuga to arrive and inform him that training had been canceled, but since none did, he ran over to Sakura's house, where Ino had spent the previous night.

Contrasting the tense atmosphere Seikun was feeling, there didn't appear to be any drastic changes in Konoha itself. It was early morning, but the people of Konoha were business as usual, happily chatting away at street stalls, gathering outside grocers, or dragging their feet to their respective destinations as if nothing were amiss...

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As he had been permitted to do so, Seikun entered Sakura's house as if it were his own, the aroma of bacon and the sound of something sizzling in a pan permeating the air. 

"That you, Seikun!?" shouted Sakura's mother, Haruno Mebuki, a relatively tall, fair-skinned woman with dark green eyes and shoulder-length blonde hair with a single clump of bangs that came to a point in the center of her face.

"Yes, it's me, Mrs. Haruno!" affirmed Seikun, prompting Mebuki to pop her head out of the kitchen and say, "The girls haven't come down yet. You're free to head up, but no mischief, young man."

"I know, Mrs. Haruno..." responded Seikun, smiling wryly as he rubbed the back of his head. He was tempted to point out it was Ino and, as a result, Sakura, who was always pressuring him, but he knew it was better not to try and make excuses in such situations. Instead, he made his way up to the second floor, rounding a corner to the end of the hall where Sakura's bedroom was situated.

As there had been incidents in the past, which Seikun was almost certain weren't entirely coincidental, he made sure to both rap the door and call out, "Hey, it's me," in a clearly discernible tone.

Answering the door in Sakura's stead, Ino, wearing a pair of turquoise silk pajamas with a collared top and shorts, unabashedly scratched her belly from beneath the hem of her top as she said, "You're right on time. Sakura and I were looking through a swimsuit catalog, and we need your input on something."

"Okay...?" responded Seikun, spreading his arms slightly as Ino moved in for her usual hug. Seikun had been hesitant about the interchange in the past, but after more than four months and at least a dozen hugs per day, his body moved of its own accord, and they usually ended up hugging for several seconds before separating.

With their embrace eventually coming to an end, Seikun entered Sakura's room with Ino, pulling him by the hand. The space was even smaller than his apartment at 4x4m, and since Sakura's family wasn't particularly well off, there were very few decorations and her only furniture was her bed, a wardrobe/desk combo that took up nearly a quarter of the room, a thatch hamper for laundry, a standing mirror, and a small circular table with three frilly cushions positioned next to each other.

Taking his designated cushion at the center, Seikun gave Sakura, who had a habit of counting how long he hugged Ino, a similarly lengthy embrace before asking, "So, what's this about swimsuits...?"

As Seikun turned his attention to the magazines spread out on the table, a few of which resembled something Naruto might use as inspiration for his Sexy Jutsu, Ino explained, "We were arg—I mean, we were trying to come to an agreement on which type of swimsuit is best for appealing to stone-headed idiots. Have you seen the kinds of swimsuits people wear outside the village? It makes what we have seem like ordinary clothes."

"I can assure you...most people don't wear swimsuits like these..." stated Seikun, shaking his head as the model in the magazine that was open on the table wore a bright red spaghetti-strap bikini that left very little to the imagination. It looked great on the model in question, but if Ino or Sakura wore something similar and attempted to appeal to him, he might need to unironically talk to their parents about being stricter...

"That's why I was saying," said Sakura, pulling up her legs and wrapping her arms around her exposed knees as she argued, "Ino seems to think the best way to appeal to a boy is by showing as much skin as possible. I, on the other hand, keep telling her it's better to leave certain things to the imagination..."

"Sakura is right..." said Seikun, no hesitation. He already felt the duo was toeing the line with matching but differently colored silk pajamas. If he were the type to allow his eyes to wander, it would almost be too easy to get a glimpse of something he most definitely shouldn't be trying to steal a glance at. Not for a few years, at the very least...

"Seriously?" asked Ino, looking annoyed and slightly disappointed as she asked, "You're telling me you prefer the swimsuits we have available in the village to the ones in these magazines?"

"It's not the swimsuit's appearance, but the one wearing it that makes it appealing..." contended Seikun, his expression calm and his voice level as he added, "You and Sakura are two of the cutest girls in the entire village. And, once you grow up, you're bound to be two of the most beautiful. You don't need skimpy swimsuits or clothes to show off. Everyone will already be looking at you..."

"..."

"..."

Taken aback by Seikun's nonchalant yet sincere-sounding words, Ino felt awkward while Sakura blushed to the tips of her ears. They frequently felt frustrated with the lack of interest Seikun showed in them, with him often staring off into space, but when he complimented them, it reminded them that he wasn't ignoring them. Instead, he was just trying to be respectful in his own weird, introverted, and inexplicably conservative way...

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After refusing Ino's suggestion to just turn around while she and Sakura changed, Seikun ate breakfast with the two girls before they made their way to the Hyuga Clan Compound. There, they immediately noticed security was much tighter than usual, but after a cursory search of their bags and persons, the trio were permitted inside as usual.

Having received permission from Hiashi a few weeks prior, Hinata, Hanabi, and Neji now wore significantly lighter clothes than their traditional Hyuga training outfits. They still had to wear their chainmail undershirts, but now Hinata wore a thin black tee with a deep v-neck collar and dark blue Ninja pants that terminated halfway down her calves, leaving a few centimeters of exposed skin above her toeless sandals. Hanabi and Neji wore similar pants, but the former's were dark grey while the latter's were a matte, off-white color. As for their tops, Hanabi was sleeveless and matched the hue of her pants, while Neji wore a kind of short-sleeved kimono top with very wide sleeves.

As they had seen Seikun, Ino, and Sakura approaching before the trio's arrival at the training hall, Hinata, Hanabi, and Neji were waiting for them in a corner of the room that now had weights ranging from 5kg to 500kg, a rudimentary fly machine, a harness attached to a large stone block on a rug, and a leg press.

"Big brother~!" exclaimed Hanabi, making her way over ahead of Hinata and Neji to give Seikun her usual hug.

"Good morning, you three," said Hinata, adopting a relaxed smile as she folded her hands over her lap and gave a slight bow. She had been a bit tense when the training sessions first began, but as her father had made a number of concessions to allow Seikun to train them his way, she felt a lot less stressed. It wasn't a quick transition, but she felt the Hyuga Clan Compound was gradually becoming a less oppressive place to live.

"Is today the day we do some actual training...?" asked Neji, standing with his arms crossed. He couldn't deny that Seikun's methods were beneficial, as he was much stronger and faster than before. However, as it had been weeks since he had a proper spar, he was concerned that his skills would begin to deteriorate.

"Maybe this afternoon," responded Seikun. "For now, I want to teach you all something I picked up on while observing Ninja run around the village. It might be a little difficult for Hanabi, but I think the rest of you should be able to pick it up quickly."

"I can do it as well..." protested Hanabi, puffing out her cheeks. And she had good reason to believe it. After all, despite being five years younger than everyone present, she wasn't actually that far behind them in terms of strength, speed, and Chakra control. There was a reason that she had surpassed her sister in the canon at a very young age; she was a genuine prodigy. Had they still been at war, not only would she have been allowed to enter the Academy, but she could easily become a Genin between the ages of 5 and 8, much like Kakashi and Itachi.

"I have absolute confidence in your abilities," said Seikun, extending his right hand to caress the top of Hanabi's head. The young Hyuga initially smiled brightly in response but then reverted to a pout as he added, "But you're much younger than everyone here, so I want you to be careful and take things slowly."

"Big brother is stupid," retorted Hanabi, promptly removing Seikun's hand from her head and sporting a deep frown as she waited to hear what they would be doing for training.

Sporting a wry smile, Seikun went on to explain the mechanics of walking on various surfaces, starting with the reinforced walls of the training hall. Sakura, unsurprisingly, picked it up immediately, so he had her practice at low elevations using a weighted backpack. Ino struggled a bit as she was afraid of heights and prone to vertigo, but with Seikun promising to catch her if she fell, she managed to get halfway up the wall in a relatively short period, albeit after forcing him to catch her dozens of times.

Fortunately, thanks to Seikun purposely expressing his concern, Hanabi didn't attempt to follow Ino's example, as she was prone to do. Instead, she gave it her all to master the technique as quickly as possible, making her way up the wall and eventually walking along the ceiling's central beam after just a few attempts. This was largely due to the Byakugan allowing her to see how others manipulated their Chakra, but since it took Hinata over an hour and Neji around twenty minutes, Hanabi's ability to walk on walls in less than ten made it clear who the real genius of the Hyuga Clan was...

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Though it took a few days, allowing rumors and speculation to spread like wildfire, Hiruzen eventually confirmed Seikun's suspicions by announcing that a great tragedy had befallen the Uchiha. Far more important, at least to Seikun, it was also announced that one of the village's elders, Shimura Danzo, had lost his life attempting to prevent the incident. This left Seikun more than a little confused, but things became marginally clearer when it was revealed that Itachi and Shisui were jointly responsible. And instead of Sasuke being the sole survivor, there were six other Uchiha children who survived the massacre, their ages ranging from seventeen months to three years old...

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