During a bright and sunny day, Otaku Hyuga was currently in his room within the Hyūga Compound. He sat at his desk and practiced writing Hiragana for a few hours. One entire day had passed since Otaku had met Asami's little brother, Obito Uchiha. And Otaku has yet to hear from his other friend, Kushina Uzumaki.
Knock. Knock.
Otaku gasped when he heard a few knocks on his door. He put down his brush and turned toward his door. "Come in."
Within a moment, the door had opened and a person was seen walking inside of a room. "Hello, Otaku."
Otaku had gasped when he saw a man walk in.
There was a man, whom has a height of six feet and three inches tall. The man also possessed a pair of blank white eyes that can activate the Byakugan at will. Symbolizing that he was part of the Hyuuga Clan. His skin was fair and his hair was long, dark, spiky and tied within a long ponytail that goes down to his upper back. He had dressed in a Jounin outfit-which consists of dark blue pants, dark blue long-sleeved shirt, a forest colored-green Jounin vest and fingerless gloves with a single metal plate on the back of each hand. He wore a dark blue forehead protector to cover his forehead. His name is Tanoshii Hyuuga. And he is Otaku's father.
"What's wrong?" Tanoshī chuckled. "Are you too big and cool to greet your old man?" He said as he kept staring at Otaku.
"D-Dad! You're back from your mission!" Otaku chanted as he jumped from his desk. "
"Mm-hmm." Tanoshī nodded and pointed his left thumb at himself. "I finally came home after spending three weeks in the Land of Waves." Tanoshī said.
"This is my father, Tanoshī Hyūga. He's a special Jōnin and is a former member of the Anbu Black Ops. I don't get to spend much time with him, though. Nor does my mother. My dad is always working. Taking hard assignments across the Five Great Nations that would take weeks to complete. Sometimes, they would be far away from Konoha. I know he does it to provide for me and my mom, but. It would be nice to do a little family bonding, once in a while. I've heard he's completed over six missions ever since he was a Genin."
"I'm happy you made it back safe and sound." Otaku smiled.
"Yeah. Your mother probably would've punished me if I didn't come back in one piece." Tanoshī had joked. He then glanced past Otaku and noticed Otaku's Genin headband lying on his bed.
"Sorry that I couldn't make to your Genin graduation." Tanoshī had apologized, embarrassingly.
"It's okay. I knew that you wouldn't make it on time." Otaku smiled and shook his head no.
"Well, I'll tell you what. After I surprise your mother, how about you and I go out and celebrate your Genin status tonight?" Tanoshī suggested.
Otaku had gasped. "Really?"
"Mm-hmm." Tanoshī raised his right index finger toward Otaku. "We'll celebrate you becoming a Genin, there."
A big smile had suddenly appeared on Otaku's face as he was excited to hear what Tanoshī had suggested. "Okay!"
Later That Night...
Within the streets of Konohagakure, Tanoshī Hyūga had taken his only son, Otaku out to a local restaurant at night called, the Ichiraku Ramen shop. Everything was alive and the atmosphere was great. So far, there were six seats and besides them two, one other customer had sat on their far left. The time was dusk and the crescent moon was levitating in the sky.
"Itadakimasu!"
Both Otaku and Tanoshī had prayed to the Gods after receiving large bowls of delicious noodles. Tanoshī had ordered one bowl of Miso Ramen and Otaku had ordered a bowl of Udon.
"So, dad? How long will you be in town?" Otaku asked.
"Who knows? Maybe I might take a week or two off?" Tanoshī had guessed as he and Otaku were slurping the noodles from their bowls.
"Why that long?" Otaku asked as he picked up another noodle string with his pair of chopsticks.
"I don't know. Sometimes, I just get the feeling that your mother has been feeling very lonely, lately..." Tanoshii had thought of his wife, Tomoko Hyūga being angry.
Otaku chuckled, embarrassingly. "Uh, yeah..." Otaku had thought of his mother, Tomoko Hyūga crossing her arms and glaring down at him with her Byakugan activated.
"So, Otaku..."
"Yeah, dad?" Otaku replied.
"A little birdy told me that you've been seeing someone, lately..." Tanoshī had teased.
"S-seeing someone?" Otaku replied, feeling a bit nervous.
"Mmm-hmm." Tanoshī nodded. "You know. A girl."
"A girl?" Otaku asked in response. "Um... yes. What about it?"
"Is this girl special?" Tanoshī asked.
"Um... yeah. But not only that, but-she's very strong-and very cute, too!" Otaku said, than gasped. 'Wait a second. Did I just say that she was very cute?' Otaku then thought of Kushina.
"Cute, huh?" Tanoshī raised his left eyebrow. "You must've been very lucky to meet this strong and cute girl."
"I guess you can say that." Otaku nodded his head, repeatedly.
"Otaku. Tell me..." Tanoshī said.
"Hm?" Otaku had blinked.
Without warning, Tanoshī had leaned his body closer to Otaku's. Than, he moved close toward Otaku's right ear and begun whispering it. "Is she that foreign girl from the Land of Whirlpools? The one with the red hair-"
Otaku gasped, then his head jerked away. "K-Kushina?"
Tanoshī laughed in response. "See? You do know who I'm talking about."
"Um... why bring her up, though, anyway? Did something happen to her?" Otaku asked as he looked at his ramen bowl.
"Hmm." Tanoshī shrugged a bit. "Not that I know of. And if I did, then I would probably be forbidden to reveal any kind of intel about her current whereabouts." Tanoshī said as he stared at his bowl filled with soup and ramen.
"Oh."
"But, I did hear that you both were assigned under Sakumo's watch." Tanoshī said as he placed his hands together.
"Sakumo-sensei?"
"Mm-hmm. He's one of a kind." Tanoshī had bragged a bit.
"Yeah. I feel kind of lucky to be on the same squad as him." Otaku said.
"And I also heard he refused to let your team participate in this year's Chūnin Exams." Tanoshī said.
"I know." Otaku looked down at his bowl of udon and looked at his reflection. "Sakumo-sensei said we weren't ready for it."
"Do you think that "you're" ready for it?" Tanoshī asked Otaku if he was ready to participate in the Chūnin Exams.
Otaku frowned. "To be honest... I don't know. But the exams do sound really exciting and fun, though. But I also heard it can be dangerous."
Tanoshī stared at Otaku's side for a moment and sighed. "Listen. You are half right about the Chūnin Exams. It is a dangerous test. And it isn't meant to sound, nor be nowhere near fun. The exams exists to test the limits, skills and knowledge of each and every Genin that exists-just to see which Genin is eligible to be promoted to Chunin." Tanoshii stated.
"I know that, dad." Otaku said, while making eye contact with his father, temporarily. "And I also know that you can become a Chunin without taking the exams. But, it's just... I also I don't want to let "them" down." Otaku muttered.
"Them?" Tanoshī had asked.
"Mm-hmm." Otaku nodded. "My friends. Asami and Kushina. They would've liked to take the Chunin Exams, too. I honestly would've been happy if we all took it, together."
Tanoshii kept quiet for a moment. 'He probably thinks that them not taking the Exams is his fault.' Tanoshii had thought. "Listen, Otaku." Tanoshii had placed a hand on his left shoulder. "You shouldn't try to please anyone-nor should you try to change who you are. You should try focusing on being the best Otaku Hyuuga you can be."
"Thanks, dad. Even if it means, coming from you." Otaku said.
Tanoshii's eyes then glanced around and looked at the ramen shop. 'This place hasn't changed a bit.' He thought. "Hey, Otaku. Did I ever tell you that this is where I took your mother on our first date?" Tanoshii had asked.
"Um... no. You haven't." Otaku shook his head no.
"Really? Because, I could've sworn that I told you when you that story when you were at least four yea-hey, is that Lord Third Hokage outside the shop?" Tanoshii had suddenly changed the conversation and directly pointed outside past the ramen shop curtains.
Otaku had gasped and turned his back around and faced the Ichiraku Ramen curtains. "Really? Where?" He quickly jumped out of his seat and poked his head outside the Ichiraku Ramen curtain.
As Otaku had turned his back, Tanoshii's eyes had a sneaky look in them. He quickly grabbed his pair of chopsticks and swiped one of Otaku's udon noodles.
After thirty seconds of looking, Otaku poked his head back in behind the Ramen curtains. "Hey, dad. I don't see Lord Thir-AAAAAAHH!" Otaku yelled when he turned his back around and saw his dad stealing one of his udon noodles. "Dad! What are you doing?"
"What? I'm just trying your udon." Tanoshii said, casually.
"B-b-b-b-bu-bu-bu-but, that's my bowl of udon noodles!" Otaku pouted and pointed at his udon bowl.
"I'm paying for both these meals. You could at least me sample it." Tanoshii said, then chuckled.
Otaku then hung his head down in defeat. 'He's right. I don't have enough money yet to pay for my expensive bowl.'
Tanoshii laughed a bit. "Hey, cheer up. You can some of my Miso noodles."
Otaku quickly lifted his head up. "R-really?"
"Yeah. You're my son, after all. It's the least I can do, since I ate from your bowl." Tanoshii said, then pushed his bowl closer to Otaku's udon bowl.
"O-okay!" Otaku quickly ran back to the table and stared at Tanoshii's Miso bowl. He stared down at the toppings inside the Miso bowl. 'Okay, since dad ate some of my udon, it's only fair that get something that he hasn't eaten, yet.' Otaku thought as he stared and tried to decide which ingredient should he eat. The one remaining sliced boiled egg that Tanoshii had not eaten, one of the mushrooms, one of the two sliced Naturomakis, one of the sliced beef or the noodles... 'Which topping should I eat, first?' Otaku had thought for half a minute. He kept pointing his chopsticks at each topping and every different topping. Not knowing which he should pick.
'Otaku sure likes to take his time.' Tanoshii had thought.
"Ah! I know!" Otaku stuck his chopsticks into his dad's Miso ramen bowl. "I'll take this one!" Otaku grabbed one of the Narutomaki toppings with his chopsticks.
"Are you sure about that one?" Tanoshii asked.
"Mm-hmm." Otaku nodded. "The Narutomaki has good quality in protein and calcium. Also, it's made of white fish." Otaku then placed the Narutomaki topping onto his tongue. But when he did it... 'Eh?' Otaku suddenly felt the burning sensation spread across his lips and his tongue suddenly felt ignited. His white pupils had shrunken a few centimeters as he felt the spice. Otaku then suddenly fell on his knees and begun coughing like crazy from the hot spice.
Tanoshii laughed in a friendly manner. "I guess you're not a fan of spicy Miso ramen, huh?"
"Y-you ordered s-spicy... Miso Ramen?" Otaku kept coughing.
"I did. Wait, you don't eat spicy foods?" Tanoshii asked as he tried to remember.
"I..." Otaku coughed. "I'm not really into foods with spices in it!" Otaku coughed again.
"Oops." Tanoshii then clasped his left hand on his left head, embarrassingly. "I guess it slipped my mind. I must've accidentally drowned one of the narutomaki in the spicy sauce." Tanoshii chuckled. He then looked over the ramen counter. "Hey, can you get my son a glass of water?"
A Few Moments Later...
Otaku and his father, Tanoshii Hyuuga were then seen side by side, leaving the Ichiraku Ramen shop and walking back toward the Hyuuga Compound. Otaku seemed in a pouty mood as he walked. His eyes met the ground.
"Aw, cheer up, son. You know I was just messing around with you." Tanoshii said in a playful tone.
"I know, but... I just don't liked getting into eating spicy foods." Otaku said while in a pouty mood. He felt embarrassed.
Tanoshii looked at Otaku as he said that, then looked at the sky. He then looked at the shining stars in the night sky. There were a few stars that heavily resembled the face of Otaku's mom, Tomoko. Tanoshii had smiled. "You know... I used to do the same thing to your mother, when we were younger."
"Huh? Really?" Otaku asked as he looked at Otaku.
"Yeah." Tanoshii had nodded.
"H-how did it go?" Otaku had asked.
"Well..." Otaku's eyes begun to roll around, looking at different corners. "When Ichiraku first opened up, I took your mom there on our first date. I fed Tomoko a Narutomaki which I had dipped in spicy Miso soup-the next thing I knew, she attacked me with the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four palms technique." Tanoshii said as he raised a single finger.
Otaku gasped in shock. "R-really? Mom actually did that?"
"Yep. After that, I was unresponsive and was in a hospital for four days straight." Tanoshii said as he lifted up four fingers from his right hand.
'Mom was really that strong to use the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four palms when she was younger? Gee... I wonder, how did mom and dad get together, then?' Otaku had thought, while feeling a bit scared.
"Right now, you're probably thinking... "why would I get with your mother, if she was the one who had put me in a hospital?" Tanoshii had guessed.
"Ah?" Otaku stared at Tanoshii. 'How did he know that?'
"Well in case you weren't thinking of that, the answer is clearly simple. I had gotten with your mother, because of the fiery temper she had then and still has today. It's what made me fall in love." Tanoshii had pointed out.
"Fiery temper? You mean, like a strong will?" Otaku had asked.
"That's exactly right." Tanoshii had replied.
"You think mom is strong-willed? I kind of thought she was really scary." Otaku asked, while flinching.
"Otaku. A strong-willed person doesn't always mean that you have to be scary or bossy or that you have to go out and pick on people. That's what you call, "bullying." A strong-willed person is someone who has high self-esteem. Someone who respects themself to where they don't let other people walk over them. No matter the circumstances." Tanoshii had explained to Otaku what a strong-willed person was.
"Oh." Otaku said, then thought of his friend, Kushina.
"Hey, Otaku. If you ever find love one day, make sure that you fall in love with a girl who's strong-willed. Like, your mother." Tanoshii said.
"Um... okay..." Otaku had gulped.
A Few Minutes Later...
Otaku and Tanoshii Hyuuga had arrived in front of the gate of the Hyuuga Compound. They had been talking all the way from the Ichiraku Ramen shop, until now.
"Well, here we are. Home sweet home." Tanoshii said as he looked up and read the Hyuuga Clan sign. He then begun walking toward the gate.
Otaku then had stood still as his father, Tanoshii had walked toward the gate.
As Tanoshii had walked toward the gate, he didn't hear Otaku's feet stepping on the dirt behind him. He then turned around to see Otaku standing in place. "What's the matter, Otaku? You're not planning on camping out here, are you?"
"Mmph!" Otaku muffled, then shook his head no. "No, dad. There's just something I've been thinking about for a little while."
"Oh? What is it?" Tanoshii had asked.
Otaku then gulped and looked at Otaku. "Dad? Do you think..."