500 POWA STONES!!! *0*)9
Chapter 57: Dangerous Signals
The next morning, in the school classroom, Naruto rested his chin on one hand, listlessly flipping through "Mastery of Sealing Techniques" on his desk. Around him, classmates gathered in small groups chatting, the air filled with the relaxed atmosphere of a new semester.
Just then, the classroom door was gently pushed open and a familiar figure entered—Satsuki.
As usual, her raven-black hair fell smoothly, her pale cheeks bearing a hint of cool indifference. She walked directly to the seat beside Naruto and sat down, saying simply, "Good morning."
She really thinks she fooled everyone with that "skiing" excuse...
Naruto couldn't help but complain inwardly, though he responded naturally on the surface. "Morning, Satsuki."
Satsuki nodded slightly, then opened her textbook with the appearance of focused review. However, Naruto keenly noticed her ears seemed slightly red—apparently last night's "slip" hadn't left her completely unaffected.
But after a night's buffer, her embarrassment seemed forcibly suppressed...
Naruto secretly breathed a sigh of relief. If Satsuki had truly become awkward because of those words, he wouldn't have known how to handle it. This way, they could at least maintain their usual interaction pattern.
However, just as Naruto thought the morning would pass peacefully, an unexpected voice suddenly came from beside him.
"Um... you're called Naruto, right? Are you free right now?"
Naruto turned to see a blonde little girl standing before him with a slightly nervous smile.
Yamanaka Ino?
He naturally recognized her—the "Ino" of the Ino-Shika-Cho trio from the original Konoha 12. She liked Sasuke, but now... with Sasuke having become Satsuki, would Ino still be interested in her like in the original?
"Yes, I'm Naruto." He showed a friendly smile. "You're Yamanaka Ino, right? What's the matter?"
Ino seemed surprised that Naruto remembered her name, her eyes widening slightly. "You know me? Great!"
She leaned in a bit closer, lowering her voice to ask, "Um... are you and Satsuki close? I wanted to ask what kinds of hobbies she likes...?"
This question left Naruto somewhat confused. In the original, Ino liking Sasuke was understandable—a little girl liking a handsome boy. But now Sasuke was a girl! Could it be that even with the gender change, Sasuke's charm was still so powerful?
Ino's words suddenly caught in her throat.
Her originally energetic voice seemed cut off by some invisible force, the smile at the corner of her mouth freezing on her face, pupils slightly contracting.
So... so terrifying.
Her gaze uncontrollably shifted to Naruto's side—there, Satsuki was quietly watching her.
No, rather than "watching," it was more like "staring."
In the depths of those pitch-black eyes, something cold was churning, like an unfathomably deep, frigid pool.
Cold sweat instantly beaded on Ino's back... What, what kind of look was that?!
Though Satsuki had been coldly elegant in class yesterday, now those eyes carried undisguised hostility.
"Hmm? What's wrong, Ino?" Naruto asked in confusion, seeing Ino's suddenly frozen expression and the fear she was barely concealing.
"That... I have nothing else!... I'm very sorry!"
Ino suddenly stepped back, quickly bowing in apology before turning to run without daring to look back.
"...Eh?"
Naruto watched Ino's rapidly fleeing figure in bewilderment, completely unable to understand what had happened.
He turned confusedly to look at Satsuki beside him, but her expression had already returned to its usual coolness, as if that moment's terrifying gaze had been mere illusion.
"...Satsuki?" Naruto asked tentatively.
"Yes?" Satsuki tilted her head slightly, her tone carrying a hint of innocence.
"Just now, Ino she..."
"I don't know." Satsuki curtly interrupted him, then casually opened her textbook. "Maybe she suddenly remembered something."
---
On the other side, Ino fled back to her seat in panic, her face frighteningly pale, chest heaving violently.
"How did it go? Did you ask?"
Beside her, a pink-haired little girl immediately leaned over, eyes sparkling with anticipation. "Satsuki... what hobbies does she like?"
Originally finding it amusing that her friend had suddenly become interested in someone of the same gender, Yamanaka Ino suddenly grabbed Sakura's shoulders.
She took a deep breath and spoke in serious tone:
"I think you'd better stay away from that person, Sakura."
"Eh? Why?" Sakura couldn't understand her friend's sudden warning at all. She had been eagerly expecting Ino to gather intelligence on that aloof Uchiha heiress.
Ino's expression became unusually grave. "Listen carefully! Going down this path will be very dangerous! I almost got killed just now!"
"Killed? I don't understand what you're saying..."
"Anyway, just listen to me!"
---
Completely unaware of the near-incident, Naruto began class mode. Today Iruka was teaching about teamwork and survival skills when ninja execute missions outside the village.
Topics like identifying poisons, water purification, tracking and counter-tracking techniques.
Naruto found it quite useful—learning wilderness survival skills at school was refreshingly new.
After the morning lessons ended, the classroom gradually filled with the aroma of lunch. Satsuki, as usual, took out her carefully prepared bento box.
She was about to invite Naruto to eat together when she noticed his thoughtful gaze directed toward the back of the classroom.
"What's wrong, Naruto? Didn't make lunch? I can share mine with you."
Naruto shook his head. He had made a bento today—quite a lot, actually. His goal was naturally to make new friends and build bonds to earn system points.
"Satsuki, you know what? We used to train together because there weren't any peers our age to meet. But now..." His gaze swept across the classmates gathered in small groups around the classroom.
"Since we're in ninja academy, we should naturally make some friends."
Crack.
Satsuki's chopsticks made a subtle sound.
'Naruto... wants to make friends?' Satsuki's eyes narrowed slightly. The scene of that blonde girl fleeing in panic this morning suddenly flashed through her mind.
She slowly set down her chopsticks, the corner of her mouth curving in a perfect arc. Sunlight streamed from behind her, casting faint shadows on her delicate features, making that smile appear particularly profound.
"I see... so who do you want to be friends with?"
Naruto enthusiastically pointed toward the pineapple-head and chubby boy at the back of the classroom. "Look at those two—I mentioned yesterday, they're the heirs of the Nara and Akimichi families."
His voice carried barely contained anticipation. "They're the next generation Ino-Shika-Cho combination. If we could become friends with them..."
Satsuki's gaze followed Naruto's pointing finger. Shikamaru was lazily leaning against the window while Choji focused intently on unwrapping his bento, his face full of anticipation for the meal.
...Boys?
This discovery made Satsuki's eyes widen slightly. She suddenly realized something. Could it be!
In Satsuki's understanding of Konoha's social circles, she was the Uchiha clan's heiress, but Naruto was just an orphan with high talent but no background... if their future family circumstances didn't match...
Satsuki's heartbeat suddenly quickened... if Naruto wanted to establish himself in Konoha, he indeed needed to build his own connections.
'I see... he's already thinking that far ahead...'
"Oh, is that so?" Satsuki's voice suddenly became lighter as she nodded. "You're right, you should get along well with them."
Naruto was stunned, not expecting Satsuki to agree so readily. He felt something was off about her reaction but was confused by her sudden good mood.
"Then... I'll go over?"
"Yes, hurry along." Satsuki smiled and waved, watching Naruto walk toward the back of the classroom.
****
50+advance chapters at patreon.com/Eatinpieces