5 a.m.
Naruto stood by the river, waiting for Guy to come pick him up. At first, he thought Guy might just be late, but by 7 a.m., there was still no sign of him.
"Did he forget? Or is he testing me like Kakashi... No, I'm more sure it's the first one."
Letting out a small sigh, Naruto eventually walked away, heading back to his apartment to take a shower. At least he could still run along the way back.
At the Ninja Academy.
Naruto walked into the classroom. He noticed some students chatting, then made his way to the seat next to Ino.
Before that, he passed Hinata and greeted her.
"Good morning, Hinata-chan."
"Ah, good morning, Naruto-kun..."
Naruto smiled. "As cute as always."
Hearing Naruto's words, Hinata's face immediately turned red. She trembled slightly and looked like she could faint at any moment.
Her reaction made Naruto chuckle. He decided not to tease her further.
"Hey, why are you sitting here again?" a voice came from beside him as he sat down.
Naruto ignored it.
"Are you deaf, Naruto?" she raised her voice.
Naruto turned and held a finger to his lips, signaling her to be quiet.
"Shhh, Ino, keep it down. You're being really noisy."
Unexpectedly, Ino bit Naruto's finger.
Crack!
"Ouch! Why did you bite me? Are you a dog, Ino?" Naruto protested in frustration.
"I don't mind being a dog if it gets you to leave," Ino replied, crossing her arms. "So go away. I don't want those rumors to spread any more than they already have," she added, lowering her voice.
"So, you still care about those rumors, huh? I thought tough Ino wouldn't be bothered by them," Naruto said sarcastically.
Ino pinched Naruto.
"Ugh, Ino, stop it. You're always so violent with me," Naruto complained.
He rubbed the red mark where she had pinched him. It was visibly red, showing how hard she had done it.
"Anyway, Naruto, why are you sitting with me?" Ino finally gave in and asked.
"Honestly, I don't really know. I saw you sitting alone and felt sorry for you, so I decided to sit with you."
Ino tried to pinch him again, but Naruto dodged this time.
"You know? I used to sit with Sasuke. Even though we weren't close, we still sat together. But Sasuke started avoiding me and wanted to be alone. That left me sitting alone too. Now seeing you in the same situation made me pity you."
Naruto explained his strange reason for sitting with Ino, as if he had done her a favor.
Ino's expression froze. "This jerk... He's so annoying."
"Whatever. I don't want to hear your nonsense anymore," Ino turned away, clearly fed up.
"Already mad? Hey, Ino."
Naruto tried to talk to her, but she ignored him.
"Hey, Ino, I have an idea about the rumor. Aren't you at least a little curious?"
Ino glanced at him, her expression skeptical but intrigued. "What is it?"
Naruto leaned in and whispered,
"What if you became my girlfriend?"
Ino was stunned for a moment. She didn't know how to respond. But once she snapped out of it, she immediately tried to punch Naruto.
Naruto blocked the punch.
"Why are you hitting me?" he asked.
"Because you're saying nonsense again," Ino replied sharply.
"Are you serious? Think about it. If we dated, we'd be validating the rumor, and eventually, it would die down on its own."
Naruto tried to explain.
"Besides, you're beautiful. Of course I wouldn't mind dating you," he added.
Ino flinched slightly. She almost fell for his seemingly sincere tone. If it weren't for the smug smile on Naruto's face, she might have believed it was a real confession.
Ino's expression heated up. She was clearly furious with Naruto. She couldn't hold it in anymore and began throwing punches.
Naruto dodged, but Ino kept attacking him.
The two ended up in a play-fight of dodge and strike.
Unknowingly, they only made the rumor spread even more.
"Shikamaru, look at them… They're fighting again."
Shikamaru, who had been trying to nap, looked up and saw them. "Yeah, they are."
"Aren't you worried?" Chouji asked.
"Worried about what?"
Shikamaru adjusted his posture and looked at Chouji.
"Well, they're both our friends, and seeing them fight all the time… I don't think it's a good thing," Chouji shared his thoughts.
"Here's the thing. You know they're dating, right?"
"Yeah, I guess so…"
"Then there's nothing we can do. Couples argue sometimes—it's normal," Shikamaru continued.
"Hmm, I see. That makes sense." Chouji felt more at ease. He opened his fourth bag of potato chips.
"What are you two talking about? They're just fighting. Why would you believe they're actually dating? That's ridiculous," Kiba scoffed. He didn't buy Shikamaru's words.
But unfortunately for Kiba, neither of them responded. They simply returned to whatever they were doing.
"You jerks, ignoring me like that."
Time passed, and Iruka finally came in to begin the theory class. The lesson went smoothly, and near the end, he made an announcement.
"Alright, you all get a 20-minute break now. But after that, you must return because today, the Hokage-sama will be visiting the academy to give a short speech."
After the announcement, the class burst into chatter.
"The Hokage-sama is coming?"
"Yes! I've really been waiting for this!"
"Me too. The Hokage is so generous. Even with so much work, he's taking the time to visit the academy."
"Of course. That's why I'll be the next Hokage!"
Kiba joined in the excited conversation. Meanwhile, people like Shikamaru, Chouji, Sasuke, and others didn't show much reaction.
Naruto's eyes narrowed slightly.
"Hiruzen... What are you planning, old man? I hope this doesn't turn into something troublesome."
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I don't want to type too much, but just know that this Naruto is different. He's still Naruto, but his feelings toward others may have changed—because of *him*.
And as for Hiruzen, don't worry… I've prepared something for him.
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