She is really good to her friends and even takes the initiative to help Sakura, despite their rocky relationship.
Although she likes Sasuke, she's completely natural and cheerful around him—never shy or flustered.
She's refreshing to be around. Even though she's surrounded by boys, she still retains her femininity.
Usually, pretty girls who act all haughty with boys come off as annoying, but you'll never think that about Ino.
Originally, Kaito was planning how to get close to Ino in the future, but he didn't expect her to come to him on her own the very next day. It caught him completely off guard.
To repay Ino, Kaito invited her to dinner at his place and even prepared a few dishes from Earth that he remembered from his previous life.
From that point on, Ino became obsessed with Kaito's cooking!
It was fine during the day, but come nightfall, Ino would show up at his door like clockwork.
She went from being a little shy to completely bold. At this rate, Kaito sometimes wondered if Ino's dad, Yamanaka Inoichi, might one day come after him with a kunai if they weren't still technically kids.
"If you want to capture a woman's heart, capture her stomach first," Kaito mused with a grin. "The ancients weren't lying!"
"Kaito! I'm full!" Ino patted her belly happily.
"Got it," Kaito nodded, picking up a tissue from the table and gently wiping a bit of sauce from the corner of her mouth.
Kids in the Naruto world mature fast. Ino looked at the handsome and focused boy in front of her, and her cheeks turned red like a ripe apple.
Her usual confident big-sister energy melted away, replaced by an unusual shyness.
Kaito could read her expression perfectly. He didn't need to be told what she was thinking.
He didn't bring it up, of course—but deep down, he was kind of glad. After all, as the saying from Earth went: Start building your love life early.
(FBI, Open up...)
"What do you want for dinner tomorrow?" Kaito asked while tossing the used tissue in the trash.
His voice pulled Ino out of her daze.
"Hmm…" She tapped her lip with her finger, thinking about all the delicious food she'd had over the past few days.
"Noodles! Let's have some noodles!"
"Alright," Kaito said, rubbing her forehead with a fond smile.
Ino blinked, clearly enjoying the affectionate gesture.
"Oh, right! I almost forgot—this is for you!" Ino suddenly remembered something and pulled a folded piece of paper out of the pouch tied around her waist.
Kaito took it and was a little surprised. It was currency—notes used all over the Naruto world.
He looked closer. There were denominations of 500, 1,000, 2,000, and even 10,000 ryo.
Adding them up, there had to be over 100,000 ryo!
Kaito raised an eyebrow. Ino was too young to be carrying that much cash. There was only one explanation—this must be her father Inoichi's secret stash!
"Where did you get this?" Kaito asked.
"I found it while cleaning some vases at home today!" Ino grinned proudly.
Kaito went silent. Yeah... that confirmed it. This was 100% her dad's hidden emergency money.
"And why are you giving it to me?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.
"You've been cooking for me non-stop. That stuff costs money! Just think of this as payment for all the dinners," Ino said with a playful smirk, regaining her big-sister energy.
Kaito: ...
He felt touched. It seemed like all his cooking over the past month hadn't been in vain.
But as much as he appreciated the gesture, he couldn't accept it. Not if he didn't want her father breaking down his door one day.
"Keep it. I'm not short on cash," Kaito said, wincing at the thought of returning the money.
That amount would've easily covered two months of living expenses.
"No way! I don't take back what I give!" Ino declared, full of pride.
"Alright, alright. I'll just hold onto it for you, okay? I'll give it back when you need it."
Still, Kaito was already stressing over how he'd return it to her dad. He couldn't keep the money, but he couldn't offend his possible future father-in-law either—especially not over hidden money.
The rest of the evening was filled with laughter and conversation. Kaito drew on jokes and stories from his previous life to entertain her.
Ino's cheerful laughs echoed through the living room, and before they knew it, it was already close to 9 PM.
That was her usual time to leave.
"Kaito! I'm heading out! Don't forget the noodles with extra gravy tomorrow!" Ino called out as she waved from the door.
"Got it," Kaito smiled.
He waited until Ino disappeared into her house before turning around and heading back inside.
Back in his room, Kaito pulled out a long-sealed box from the closet. It had belonged to his late father.
Inside, there was a bank book with over three million ryo, several scrolls containing ninjutsu, and some of his father's training notes—along with various other keepsakes.
Kaito slid the bank book under his tatami pillow. He would need it tomorrow.
His eyes moved over to the scrolls. Apart from some basic elemental jutsu, the most valuable one was definitely the B-rank Shadow Clone Technique.
When Kaito saw the scroll for the Shadow Clone Jutsu, his eyes lit up. Finally, a proper cheat skill!
Speaking of ninjutsu… it really frustrated Kaito. As a long-time Naruto fan, he could practically recite every jutsu from memory—
And yet, in this world, things weren't as simple as just saying "Shadow Clone Jutsu" and expecting it to work.
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