A new day dawned.
Beize was up bright and early, since his first class was on the Will of Fire. It also showed just how much Sarutobi Hiruzen valued him. That old coot was a sly one—a total peeping tom. Beize was dead sure Hiruzen would be spying on the lesson through a crystal ball. Not because of him, though. Nah, it was all about Uzumaki Naruto and the others.
Beize stepped into the First Year Class A classroom and found only five kids there. He scanned the room, his eyes landing on a little girl in the middle row. She was bundled up in a long coat and pants, with short, dark blue hair. But what really stood out were her pure white eyes.
The Byakugan—a kekkei genkai unique to the Hyuga Clan, with its x-ray vision and insight powers.
[Current Task: Help your desk mate Hyuga Hinata get her scarf back.]
[Task Reward: Konoha Whirlwind.]
[Accept?]
Beize stared at the three lines of text popping up in front of him, and his mouth twitched. How the hell was he supposed to become her desk mate?
He mulled it over for a few seconds, then got a sneaky idea to game the system. Slowly, he walked over and plopped down right next to her.
"...?"
Hinata blinked in confusion. But her shy nature kept her from asking. She just ducked her head, her two fingers poking together nervously.
"I'm Beize, the teacher for First Year Class A," he said, turning to her. Her skin was pale as snow, like some fancy porcelain doll.
"T-Teacher... hello!" Hinata stammered, greeting him in a rush.
The Hyuga Clan were basically ninja royalty—big on rules and manners.
"No need to be so formal," Beize said with a gentle smile. "Mind if I sit here as your desk mate?"
He didn't jump straight into the scarf thing. Too pushy.
"Sure," Hinata replied on instinct, then tilted her head, her face full of puzzlement.
"I didn't finish prepping my lesson, and there's no seat at the front. So, I'll crash here with you for now." Beize flipped open his notes and bullshitted smoothly.
Total lie. But Hinata didn't question it—she bought it hook, line, and sinker.
Just then, three more lines appeared in Beize's vision.
[Current Task: Be the first student in class to catch Principal Sarutobi Hiruzen's attention.]
[Task Reward: Wind Release: Great Breakthrough.]
[Accept?]
Well, damn. This system wasn't as dumb as he'd thought.
Beize hit accept right away. It was a no-brainer—he was already planning to make a strong impression on Hiruzen in this first lesson. Call it playing the game, all about that loyalty.
Hinata just stared blankly at the handsome teacher. What a friendly guy.
But deep down, she felt a twinge of envy. If only she had that kind of personality, maybe her dad, Hiashi Hyuga, wouldn't keep getting disappointed in her.
"What're you looking at?" Beize had an idea brewing, but he noticed Hinata zoning out. Her big, watery eyes looked kinda dazed.
"N-Nothing," Hinata said, meeting his gaze. Her cheeks flushed pink in an instant.
"By the way, you haven't told me your name yet, Hyuga," Beize said with a grin.
"Huh?" Hinata shot to her feet, super embarrassed. "S-Sorry for the rudeness! I'm Hyuga Hinata!"
"See? There you go being all polite again." Beize reached out and ruffled her hair. "We're desk mates now, not teacher and student."
"S-Sorry." Hinata froze up, dropping her head again.
"Sit down and chat," Beize said, pulling his hand back.
Hinata obediently sat, legs together, hands folded neatly in her lap. Then something clicked, and she looked up.
"Um... how did you know my last name's Hyuga?"
"Your Byakugan, obviously," Beize said, eyeing her.
"D-Don't stare." Hinata turned away. "It's not pretty."
"I think it's cool," Beize said, then probed gently. "Why do you say that?"
"I..." Hinata hesitated, her face conflicted.
"We're friends now, right?" Beize smiled warmly.
"It's what they said." Her cute little face paled a bit. "They said the Byakugan looks ugly."
Beize thought, *Bingo.* That was straight out of the original story—the three bratty kids bullying Hinata. And the scarf from the task? Yeah, those punks stole it too.
"Something like that happened? Guess I gotta rein those kids in," Beize said, his expression turning serious.
"Huh?" Hinata froze. She hadn't expected that at all.
"You remember them?" Beize softened his tone. "Don't worry, I'm the teacher. I won't do anything harsh."
"I remember," Hinata nodded, then looked troubled. "But I don't know their names."
"No biggie." Beize waved it off. "Just describe 'em for me."
"Three boys, about my age... that's all I got." Hinata recalled as she spoke.
"That's plenty. I've narrowed it down to a few suspects. I'll check after class," Beize said with a smile.
Every class had its share of troublemakers. And with Hinata's description, it wouldn't be hard to spot 'em.
"Th-That's amazing!" Hinata blurted out.
In her mind, Beize was already the most reliable adult ever.
"Piece of cake," Beize said, shrugging. "I'll let you know when I have news."
"Thanks, Teacher Beize," Hinata said, her face full of gratitude.
Beize opened his mouth to reply, but voices from the doorway cut him off.
"Sakura, you think our teacher's some hot guy?"
"Who cares if the teacher's hot? As long as there are cute boys in class!"
Two little girls strolled in. One had pink hair tied with ribbons, her forehead bare and smooth. The other rocked a blonde ponytail, bangs covering her right eye.
Beize glanced over and clocked them right away: Haruno Sakura and Yamanaka Ino.
Sakura was one of the original story's heroines, teaming up with Naruto and Sasuke to save the ninja world. Not the MVP, though—just a lucky tag-along.
Ino was the "pig" in Konoha's new Ino-Shika-Cho trio, handling mind control and sensing. She crushed on Sasuke like Sakura did, but without the protagonist halo, she ended up as the blonde loser.
"He's so hot!" Ino spotted Beize and her eyes went wide.
"Is that our teacher?" Sakura perked up, asking.
(End of Chapter)