Hearing the greeting, Naruto looked up and saw the white-eyed girl standing on the riverbank. She looked at him, then quickly lowered her gaze to the ground.
Naruto had just reached the end of his training session.
He thrust forward with both fists horizontally, producing a dull sound.
Dropping his stance, Naruto came to shore, picked up his shirt, and spoke while putting it on. "Oh, Hinata. Did you come here to visit?"
"Um... Choji and Shikamaru came too. They're talking with Sasuke." Hinata didn't dare watch Naruto get dressed. She kept her head down, looking at her sandals—her ten small white toes peeking out.
After Naruto finished dressing, he looked down and could see the top of Hinata's head and her slightly pink neck. Seeing she was studying her feet, he said, "Hinata, there are lots of rocks on this mountain. You shouldn't wear open-toed sandals like that. You'll hurt your feet."
Naruto didn't really understand it. It seemed like in Konoha, all ninjas wore these open-toed sandals. Didn't they realize how inconvenient such footwear was for training and traveling?
Since he'd started serious training, he'd stopped wearing them.
Hinata responded softly, then raised her head to look at the tall Naruto. "Is this how Naruto-kun trains? It looks really difficult."
"It's not difficult." Hearing Hinata's words, Naruto shook his head. "I don't feel it's hard at all. Because I want to become strong."
"Become strong?" Hinata didn't fully understand the meaning behind that yet. She asked curiously, "Is becoming strong Naruto-kun's dream?"
Naruto shook his head again. "Becoming strong is just a means to achieve my dream."
"Does Hinata have any dreams?"
"I..." Hearing Naruto's question, Hinata couldn't answer right away. Her dreams were simple—she hoped to earn her father's approval. And of course, to get closer to Naruto.
Seeing Hinata's hesitation, Naruto smiled gently. He rubbed her head with his large hand. "Hinata, work hard at your training. It's okay if you don't have a clear dream right now. But if you work hard, when a dream does come, you'll already be one step closer to achieving it."
"You know, dreams belong to those who work hard."
Speaking about this, Naruto had deep understanding. If he hadn't trained so hard, he wouldn't have been able to make friends like Sasuke and the others.
"Yes, I understand, Naruto-kun." Feeling the warmth of the large hand on her head, Hinata felt fighting spirit rise within her at that moment.
Naruto gave her unprecedented strength.
"Let's go. Don't keep Choji and the others waiting. That guy probably came here hoping for roast lamb." Naruto started walking.
Hinata followed behind him.
Naruto walking ahead seemed tall as a mountain. She felt very safe.
The thought came to Hinata suddenly.
"Baaaaaaa!"
Suddenly, a goat leaped out from the grass beside the path. The moment it jumped out, Naruto's large hand grabbed it and tucked it under his arm.
"Hey, isn't that the goat that scared me earlier?" Hinata thought it looked familiar.
The trapped goat kicked its legs frantically, but its struggle was like tickling compared to Naruto's strength.
At this moment, the goat had only one thought: My life is over! I just wanted to scare the little human girl, but instead I scared myself and got caught by the big demon! How shameful!
It knew many of its ancestors and companions had been caught by this big demon using various strange excuses, all to satisfy his appetite.
"Naruto-kun, the poor goat is crying so pitifully." Girls had soft hearts.
"Oh, is it?" Naruto looked at the goat bleating frantically under his arm in a puzzled way. Then his arm muscles flexed, and the goat immediately went limp.
"Look, it's not crying anymore." Naruto said with a smile.
Hinata: (°□°)
Naruto continued on his way. When he got back to the wooden house, he saw Choji, Shikamaru, and Sasuke talking in the yard.
"Wow, Naruto! You're so good to me!" Choji shouted happily when he saw the goat under Naruto's arm.
What followed was a barbecue feast.
After setting up the charcoal, Sasuke immediately lit it with Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu. The level of heat was perfect. Naruto couldn't help but nod approvingly. Sasuke's Fireball Jutsu was finally proving useful.
When the charcoal was ready, Choji eagerly began grilling the prepared lamb skewers.
Naruto also joined the barbecue effort.
Soon, the aroma of meat filled the air. Sprinkling on a handful of cumin, Naruto looked up and saw Hinata watching him grill. He handed over a finished skewer. "Here."
"Huh?" Hinata didn't react for a moment. After a few seconds of stunned silence, she took the lamb skewer from Naruto's hand. "Thank you, Naruto-kun!"
"You're welcome. Eat up!"
Hinata began eating in small bites.
"Is it good?"
"Mm! It's delicious!" Hinata nodded enthusiastically.
"Then eat as much as you want! We run a breeding farm—plenty more where that came from!" Naruto laughed.
During the barbecue, Naruto spoke up. "Why don't we all watch the fireworks together during the Summer Festival?"
"Sure!" Choji was the first to answer. He'd figured out that following Naruto always meant delicious food.
Shikamaru and Hinata also agreed.
"What about you, Sasuke? Want to watch the fireworks together?" Only Sasuke hadn't expressed an opinion. The other four looked at him expectantly.
"...Alright," Sasuke agreed after a moment.
Hearing Sasuke's agreement, Naruto breathed a sigh of relief.
The next day, Sasuke created two shadow clones. One transformed into Naruto and went to school.
Having missed a month of classes, neither Sasuke nor Naruto could afford to skip anymore.
Learning that Sasuke had returned to school, Sakura and Ino were very happy.
But soon, they couldn't maintain their happiness. They noticed that Naruto was acting more and more like Sasuke now—even his facial expression had become cold and aloof.
Iruka was also pleased to see both Naruto and Sasuke coming to study. He hoped they would attend school normally from now on.
This was every teacher's wish.
It was just that Sasuke and "Naruto" seemed somewhat stiff. They became less talkative and didn't like moving around much. They sat upright at their desks even after class.
Others assumed they were just in bad moods.
In reality, Sasuke needed to conserve his shadow clones' chakra.
"Sasuke, Naruto, wait a moment..." After school, Iruka's voice came from behind.
Sasuke and "Naruto" turned their heads to see Iruka-sensei running over. "Sasuke, Naruto—the teacher would like to treat you to ramen."
After saying this, Iruka felt a pang of anxiety. Treating Sasuke was fine. But Naruto, that bottomless pit, would probably bankrupt him again.
However, considering what Sasuke had been through, as a teacher, he felt obligated to help his student work through the trauma.
A teacher's duty wasn't just instruction, but also nurturing the whole person.
"No need, Iruka-sensei. We still have things to do..."
Sasuke politely declined Iruka's kindness. He had no choice but to refuse. Right now he existed as chakra and couldn't actually eat.
Unless he could manage it like Nine-Tails did—but that required wrapping food in chakra and pretending to digest it, which seemed far too complicated.