(Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Jujutsu kaisen. All the love and respect to the actual creators and i hope they get the sloppiest top)
[A/N: yoskiiis, sorry bout the long break, i need a bit of time to get used to balancing my studies with all the other bullshit, anyways enjoy]
[Chapter Start]
[First Person POV]
I opened the door to the Hokage's office before walking inside, Kakashi right behind me. It looked exactly the same as it did in the anime—the usual stacks of paperwork littered the top of the oval table, behind which sat the old man. Hiruzen Sarutobi. He looked a lot more youthful than the one I had in memory, an air of power and wisdom adorning him as his eyes landed on me and Kakashi.
"Hakari Hyūga and Kakashi Hatake," he acknowledged. "First of all, I would like to personally congratulate you two for becoming genin, and also for becoming the youngest to do so in the academy's entire history."
"Thank you, Hokage," Kakashi said, bowing his head a bit.
He tilted his head to see Hakari not even facing the Hokage—except he was staring at the portraits of the past Hokage on the wall.
Hiruzen cleared his throat, causing the Hyūga to straighten up and face him.
"You might want to listen closely, Hakari. Before I hand you your headbands, I am going to inform you of your team arrangements," Hiruzen said, taking out two black Leaf headbands from the drawer of his desk.
The two snow-headed children's ears perked up.
"Fortunately for you two, you get to stay on the same team, as from this year's usual graduating batch there is a genin team with only one genin."
The two grinned before Hiruzen continued.
"Your jōnin instructor is Daichi Inuzuka of Team 11." He paused, eyes darting to the clock which hung near the door. "He should be at the Akimichi barbecue place next to the academy along with your teammate."
Hiruzen outstretched his hand with the two headbands. Kakashi stepped forward and took one, and shortly after, Hakari did so as well.
"Today," Hiruzen continued, "you are granted these headbands as recognition that you are no longer simply students of the academy, but shinobi of the Hidden Leaf—individuals entrusted with the authority to act, to fight, and when necessary… to kill in this village's name."
The words hung in the air, heavy and unsoftened.
"For many," he said, "this moment is framed as pride. A symbol of growth. But that is a lie we tell children so they will walk forward without looking too closely at what waits ahead of them."
Hiruzen leaned back, eyes never leaving them.
"The truth is that the headband is not a reward. It is a burden, and a reminder that from this moment onward, the blood on your hands—whether spilled directly or indirectly will belong to the village as much as it belongs to you."
"This village was not built by heroes," Hiruzen went on. "It was built by people who made terrible choices in impossible situations, and then chose to live with the consequences so that those who came after them would not have to."
"That belief—the idea that the next generation must be protected even at the cost of one's own life is what we call the Will of Fire."
Hiruzen turned to Kakashi first.
"Kakashi Hatake," he said, his voice hardening. "You possess extraordinary talent, discipline, and instinct. But talent alone creates shinobi who survive battles, not shinobi who preserve people."
"Hakari Hyūga."
The room seemed to narrow around him.
"You were born with power that few in this village can comprehend," Hiruzen said carefully. "Power that invites fear, ambition, and greed in equal measure. Power that will isolate you if you allow it to define you." Hakari met his gaze steadily.
"Understand this," Hiruzen continued. "Strength does not absolve you of responsibility. It magnifies it. Every decision you make will ripple outward, and people will suffer or survive because of choices you may never even remember making. If you allow yourself to stand above others, you will eventually stand alone. And when that happens, no amount of power will save you from becoming something this village must fear rather than protect."
the silence stretched.
"When you wear these," Hiruzen said quietly, "you carry the weight of every shinobi who fell believing this village was worth dying for—and the lives of those who will die if you fail."
The Kage let a moment of silence pass for the two genin to take it all in.
"That's all. You two should get going."
The two stood there for a moment longer than they should have before walking out of the office and into the hallway.
Goddamn. I guess no wonder everyone in Naruto is a willing martyr. The Will of Fire does not play. I l now want to run straight to the frontlines, I thought, the adrenaline rushing through my veins as I walked down the stairs.
"So… partner in unavoidable future trauma, are you excited about meeting our team?" I asked, glancing at Kakashi as we reached the ground floor.
"I guess, but I'm not too sure about the two of us being on the same team," Kakashi replied, in his usual tone, though I could sense the playfulness in it.
"What? Why would anyone not want to be on my team?" I voiced out.
The bickering between us continued until we made it to the Akimichi BBQ place. We entered the place and quickly spotted our sensei. I mean, the Inuzuka marks on his face were a giveaway.
He noticed us as well and gestured for us to come over and sit. There was a girl sitting opposite him.
She was our teammate—dark, shoulder-length hair tied up in a high ponytail, swept bangs just reaching over her sharp, catlike black eyes. She wore a navy blue short shirt, and over it she wore a black jacket. The Leaf Village headband lazily hung from her neck like a bandana. She wore black shinobi pants and shinobi sandals.
Our sensei, Daichi Inuzuka, was a tall, buff man. He had short, spiky brown hair, a Leaf headband tied proudly over his forehead, and a small slash-like scar over his right cheek. He wore the regular jōnin shinobi male kit.
It was a four-seat rectangular table, and Kakashi sat next to Daichi, leaving me to sit next to our teammate.
"Now that everyone of Team 11 is present, let's start off with the introductions," Daichi spoke up, a smile adorning his face. "My name is Daichi Inuzuka. My likes are dogs and sunny days, my dislikes are people who are indecisive, and my dream is to open a dog shelter."
He said it with a lot more enthusiasm than I had expected from a jōnin, but I guess it's good that he isn't a stoic, uptight guy.
He turned his head to Kakashi.
"My name is Kakashi Hatake. My likes are training and spending time with friends, my dislikes are anything that annoys me, and my dream is… I don't have one," Kakashi introduced, giving his teammates an eye smile.
I chose to introduce myself next, as it didn't seem like my new raven-headed teammate was going to.
"My name is Hakari Hyūga. My likes are annoying my friends. My dislikes are the elders of my clan and also the clan head. My dream is to become the strongest," I announced, finishing it off with the usual arrogant grin, gaining a raised eyebrow from the girl.
She let out a small sigh.
"My name is Shizuka Nara. My likes are playing shōji and cloud-watching. My dislikes are loud people and people who don't know boundaries. My dream is to be able to sleep for however long I want," she exclaimed lazily.
"All right! Now that we are all acquainted, I will explain your next objective, but first—we eat," our sensei revealed, just as a whole tray of barbecued meat was brought to our table.
Already, from the small time we spent together, I could guess that I was going to get along well with my sensei.
While we ate, Daichi explained to us that we apparently hadn't become actual genin yet, because we still had to do one last test. Of course, I knew what test he was talking about—the bell test. I already knew the objective of that test, remembering how Minato had conducted the same test with his team.
None of my teammates objected to the whole "us still not being genin" thing. I mean, I expected it from Kakashi, but even Shizuka? Well, I guess she is a Nara.
After we finished eating, our sensei left, having paid the tab. The three of us remained outside the Akimichi BBQ place.
Shizuka let out a sigh. "It was good to meet you. I'm going to head home," she said, stepping forward and flashing a small smile.
"Wait!" I objected. "We should get to know each other's fighting styles so that we don't trip over each other's toes tomorrow."
Kakashi's eyes widened a bit. I guess he wasn't expecting my reasoning to actually be valid for once.
Shizuka hesitated for a bit, probably debating between turning around or acting like she didn't hear me.
"As much as I want to disagree, that makes a lot of sense," she said, turning around with a curious look on her face. "But… how do you know that the test is even a physical one? It could be a written one."
"Why do I have a feeling that you know what the test is?" Kakashi voiced out, a suspicious look in his eyes.
"Kakashi, my dearest friend," I exclaimed, "you are correct. I, the ever-most noble Hyūga clan prodigy, know not only what the test is, but even how to pass it easily."
I imitated the pompous tone of Masayori.
Shizuka adopted a tired look on her face, which was mirrored by Kakashi.
"But first, we'll have to go to a training ground, because it is indeed a physical test," I said, and before any of my teammates could say anything, I began marching off toward the training grounds.
"Is he always like this?" Shizuka asked, glancing over to Kakashi before the two began their trek after the Hyūga.
"Oh, he is much worse. He just hasn't become familiar with you yet," Kakashi replied, and from the eye smile he gave, she gulped.
[Third Person POV]
The newly made trio arrived at the nearest empty training ground. Hakari stopped in the middle of the clearing, sitting down and crossing his legs. The Hyūga's teammates reluctantly sat down as well, forming a triangle.
"Now can you elaborate?" Kakashi asked.
"No need to rush, my white-haired friend…"
The deadpan look on Kakashi's face changed Hakari's next reply.
"Fine. The test we are going to face is called the bell test," he continued. "We are going to have to go against our sensei, who'll have two bells with him, and our objective will be to get the bells from him. However, the actual aim of the test isn't to get the bells—I mean, I could get them if I wanted to."
Hakari exclaimed the last bit, coming off a bit arrogant, at least according to the Nara, who just rolled her eyes.
"Anyways, we are getting sidetracked. Obviously, three fresh genin aren't expected to outwit a jōnin. That is because the real aim is teamwork!" Hakari finished off.
"So we just have to work together?" Kakashi stated, wincing his eyes in concentration.
"I mean, it makes sense. We've been taught at the academy that our village values teamwork over all else," Shizuka said, a thinking look adorning her face as she recalled her time at the academy.
"Which is why we should get familiar with each other," Hakari said before continuing. "More specifically with you, Shizuka."
"Sure, but can we get this over with quickly?" she agreed.
"Do you have plans or something?" Hakari asked, standing up.
"Yeah, you could say it's something like that," she replied, standing up, followed by Kakashi.
"All right, so I am basically like the strongest," Hakari bragged, and before she could reply, he added on, "in any and every field of being a ninja."
The Nara deadpanned, her eyes meeting Kakashi's, who just shook his head.
"Is this kid serious? I mean, he is who all the teachers talk about," she thought to herself.
"This isn't going anywhere, so let's do it my way. I will blurt out everything I know about you two, and you can just fill me in on the things I am missing," she exclaimed after thinking for a bit.
She, along with a couple of her classmates, had gone to watch the spars of the year-ones because of all the hype about the two standing before her, especially the Hyūga.
The two nodded, agreeing with her.
"Hakari, you are a close-combat taijutsu specialist, which isn't surprising considering your last name. You seem to be really adept at chakra control, so you have potential to be a ninjutsu and genjutsu specialist. Despite being a Hyūga, I noticed that you don't use their fighting style, which I'm going to guess is due to possessing the Six Eyes. And lastly, you have another bloodline limit—Limitless which is an invisible barrier of sorts, and as far as I've seen, impenetrable," she blurted out, adopting a thinking look as she recalled the exams of the Hyūga she had watched.
Kakashi seemed impressed by her analysis of Hakari, while the boy himself seemed to be in thought.
"Guess you aren't a Nara for nothing," Hakari said before continuing. "You hit everything right on the head, except for the part about my bloodlines, which isn't surprising, so I'll explain."
"The Six Eyes allows me, in the simplest terms, to see everything and chakra at an atomic level, and it allows me to manipulate chakra perfectly. And Limitless isn't a barrier—it is the most basic application of it. Limitless allows me to bring the concept of infinity into existence and manipulate it," Hakari explained, taking a moment for the Nara to absorb the information, her brows furrowing in confusion.
"The easiest way to explain it is to just show it," Hakari suggested, meeting her gaze.
He held out his hand toward her.
"C'mon, no need to be shy," he teased, gesturing for her to do the same.
She puffed her cheeks before obeying, succumbing to her curiosity. She held out her hand, to which Hakari stepped forward, his palm inching toward hers before stopping about an inch away.
"Take a look," Hakari said, nodding his head, a childish grin on his face as she did as told.
Her eyes widened a bit. She had seen it from afar, but experiencing it was different. She tried to touch his palm, adding a bit of force—she couldn't.
"You probably can't see it, but it isn't a barrier in the common sense. The closer your hand comes to mine, infinity is applied, which slows your hand down the closer it gets, until it comes to the point where you never reach me," Hakari explained, closing his hand around hers, intertwining his fingers around hers, however never touching.
Shizuka's cheeks gained a faint blush before she pulled her hand back.
"All right, I get it. Next—you," she said, turning toward the other white-headed prodigy, who seemed to be lost in thought, staring up at the sky.
She ignored the smug grin on Hakari's face, which he had gained after seeing the pinch of pink appear on her face.
[A/N: This chapter was supposed to be longer but i have to go to the gym and you want a new chapter. so this is a win win for both of us.
expect another chapter before the year 2029 and YES 2027 is pushing it.
anyways, feel free to ask any questions you may have.]