["I… I… w-waaaah~!"]
[Before the pink-haired girl could finish speaking, tears burst from her eyes.]
[Little Naruto looked a bit embarrassed.]
["Sorry. I'll be 'it' this round."]
[Indeed, making someone be 'it' all morning was a bit too much.]
["Alright, Sakura, let's hurry up and hide. There's no way Naruto will find us~!"]
["Mm~!"]
[Seeing how flustered little Naruto looked, Ino immediately knew he wasn't good at comforting people.]
[She stepped forward at once, grabbed Sakura's small hand, and pulled her away.]
[Little Naruto glanced at Ino with a bit of gratitude.]
[Ino turned back and winked at him.]
["Alright then—next round, I'll be 'it'. You'd better hide well~!"]
[Little Naruto took a deep breath and steadied his emotions.]
[Next, he had to be a good 'it', so that everyone would get a chance to kick the can he was guarding.]
[Closing his eyes, he silently counted to sixty.]
[When little Naruto slowly opened his eyes—]
[there wasn't a single child to be seen in the park.]
[But… with just one glance—]
[he noticed the pink hair hidden in the bushes.]
['Does Sakura think that as long as she hides her front, she won't be discovered?']
['No. This round, I have to let Sakura kick the can at least once—otherwise she'll definitely feel terrible.']
[Thinking that, little Naruto began walking in that direction.]
["Where could everyone be?"]
["Could they be hiding in the bushes?"]
["If you didn't hide well, I'm going to find you~!"]
["Huh? What's that?"]
["Looks like someone's foot… wait—there's movement behind me!"]
[Little Naruto suddenly changed direction and ran the other way.]
[Hearing footsteps right behind her—]
[Sakura was so scared her whole body trembled.]
[Suddenly, she felt a cool draft on her backside.]
['Oh no! Like this, Naruto will find me!']
[She hurriedly pulled the exposed lower half of her body back into the bushes.]
[Little Naruto didn't leave. Watching Sakura's trembling movements, he shook his head helplessly.]
Sakura: "..."
"Hahahaha~" Ino burst out laughing.
Sakura clenched her fists, head lowered, cheeks burning red.
Having your dark history exposed like this—
how was it any different from doing your business in public?
"It's okay, Sakura!"
Ino held back her laughter and patted Sakura on the shoulder.
"Besides, even if Black-Frame Naruto had an ulterior motive, he was still pretty gentle."
"Otherwise, someone would've cried their eyes out again."
Sakura kept her head lowered and muttered bitterly,
"Once this comparison viewing ends, Naruto, you're dead!"
Down below, Naruto—who was watching with great interest—suddenly felt a chill down his spine.
["Shikamaru, found you."]
["Chōji, you're over here."]
["Ino, hiding here is dangerous—you might fall. Come down first."]
[Before long, little Naruto had found everyone.]
[Even while hiding earlier, he had paid attention to their preferred hiding spots.]
["Naruto, you're amazing. You found us so fast," Chōji said helplessly.]
["If you hadn't been eating chips while hiding, I might not have found you that quickly," little Naruto said with a smile.]
["Huh? Sakura still hasn't been found?" Ino asked in disbelief.]
[Shikamaru rolled his eyes and clasped his hands behind his head.]
["What a pain."]
[Seeing this, Ino followed Shikamaru's gaze thoughtfully.]
[Sure enough, she spotted the pink hair hidden in the bushes.]
[Way too obvious.]
[In Ino's view, even she could find Sakura easily—let alone Naruto.]
['Is… Naruto deliberately not finding Sakura?']
['Then he must be trying to let Sakura kick the can once and save us, right?']
[Thinking that, Ino's gaze toward little Naruto changed subtly.]
["Sakura!"]
["You're the last one left! Please hide well and find a chance to save us~!" Ino shouted.]
[The other kids followed Ino and began cheering Sakura on.]
["I'll find Sakura soon," little Naruto said cheerfully.]
[Then he deliberately ran toward the distance—]
[conveniently, the exact direction where Sakura was hiding.]
[Hearing the approaching footsteps, Sakura was so scared she didn't even dare breathe.]
[But soon, a gentle breeze brushed past her face, and the footsteps grew farther away.]
["She must be hiding near the fountain, right?"]
[Little Naruto even deliberately left behind a line for Sakura to hear.]
[The fountain was almost the farthest spot from here.]
[Watching him leave out of the corner of her eye,]
[Sakura let out a breath—but still didn't dare move.]
[After a long while, Ino couldn't stand it anymore and hurriedly urged Sakura to come out and save everyone.]
[Finally, Sakura gathered her courage and rushed out.]
[—Clang!—]
[Watching the can fly far away, Sakura's small face turned bright red.]
[This was her very first time kicking the can.]
["Sakura, you're amazing~!"]
[As the childhood 'big sister', Ino naturally didn't hold back her praise.]
["Ah! Sakura actually kicked it!" little Naruto appeared quickly.]
[Everyone scattered again in laughter.]
[After that, under little Naruto's control—]
[almost everyone got to kick the can once.]
[Smiles bloomed on every face.]
[Only Ino and Shikamaru noticed little Naruto's intention.]
[Shikamaru clasped his hands behind his head and walked up to him.]
["What a pain… let me be 'it' next," Shikamaru said.]
["Yeah, I can do it too," Ino said, stepping beside Naruto and pinching his arm.]
["You really think we couldn't tell?"]
["You don't need to do this!"]
[Ino lowered her voice, speaking fiercely—but softly.]
['I was found out?' little Naruto froze for a moment.]
[But on second thought, it made sense. Shikamaru looked lazy, but he seemed smart. And Ino was very observant.]
[Besides, he had only treated them as children and hadn't hidden things too carefully.]
[After all, aside from Shikamaru and Ino, weren't the other kids all happily smiling?]
Yamanaka Ino: "Hmph. Did you really think you could fool my sharp eyes?"
Uchiha Izuna: "This child… what a pity. If not for that fool Senju Tobirama, Black-Frame Naruto—no, both Narutos—would've grown up healthy."
Senju Tobirama: "Is this never going to end? Is everything my fault now?!"
Uchiha Izuna: "If it's not yours, then whose is it?"
Senju Hashirama: "Mine, mine."
Uchiha Madara: "Hashirama, at least you know."
Ino shrank back slightly. With all these ancestors arguing in the chatroom, she didn't dare interrupt.
On the black-framed screen, the game was nearing its end.
[Little Naruto stopped being 'it'.]
[Shikamaru took over instead.]
[After Ino explained everything, Sakura finally understood what had happened during her one and only successful kick.]
[With Ino embellishing the story, Sakura was so touched she cried again.]
[Crying still counted as time—so the 'crybaby' was once again the first to be found.]
[Before long, Shikamaru had found everyone.]
[After finding Sakura first, Shikamaru focused on searching for little Naruto.]
[The game ended, leaving the kids still wanting more.]
[At that moment, three figures appeared at the park entrance.]
["That's the child, right?"]
["Yeah. He's practically a carbon copy of Minato."]
["Ino seems to like that kid quite a bit."]
["Uh… Shikaku, putting the kids together like this—is it really okay?"]
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