Ino Yamanaka: "Ah~!"
Ino Yamanaka: "Damn pink-hair, I'm so jealous!"
Sakura Haruno: "Hmph, a little blondie thinks she can beat me?"
End of remarks.
The two plastic besties shot sparks from their eyes.
Hanabi, caught in the middle, blinked.
She picked up a dango and asked, "Want some?"
"Ah~"
"Hanabi's so cute~"
Thanks, Hanabi~"
Grab it or it's gone!
Sakura moved faster.
Ino refused to be outdone.
She hugged the unsuspecting Hinata in one swoop.
Pressing against Hinata while pouting, she said, "My taste back then was ridiculously bad."
"How did I ever pick her?"
"Sigh… the real treasure girl was right beside me all along, and I never noticed~"
"Ino… d-don't grope… it tickles~"
Hinata blushed, putting up a token struggle.
In the end she still fell to Ino's devilish claws.
Little Hanabi couldn't escape the calamity either.
["Phew~"]
["Of course, even if something unpleasant happened."]
["Still, everything is early days."]
["Today's lunch is on teacher—eat till you drop."]
[Kakashi showed a smile.]
[The dead-fish eyes were gone; his gaze held fresh light.]
[The three turned to glance at him.]
[Sasuke, hands in pockets, looked away without a word.]
[Sakura lifted her fair neck. "At least you're sensible."]
[No need to hide what you're thinking.]
[Naruto had said he still liked everyone's truest side.]
[Besides, they'd known each other for years; they knew everything about one another.]
["Let's go."]
["The crowd's thinner now."]
[Naruto put on his trademark gentle smile.]
[Kakashi exhaled in relief.]
[Sure enough, he'd guessed right!]
[But soon Kakashi forced down his excitement.]
[In truth, Konoha was complicated.]
[He didn't have much confidence.]
[He only thought: he'd missed protecting his teacher's child in childhood, so he absolutely couldn't miss protecting him in the future.]
[Otherwise…]
[Kakashi shook his head, not daring to imagine how badly he'd be beaten when he reached the Pure Land World.]
[For now, Kakashi believed he should first shield Naruto—at least help him keep this information safe.]
[Once the Third Hokage caught wind of it, the consequences would be unthinkable.]
[In the future… he'd still protect Naruto; if anything looked wrong, he'd make Naruto stop at once.]
[Having thought it through,]
[Kakashi let out a long breath.]
[His whole mental state improved a lot.]
[Seeing him in high spirits,]
[Naruto said no more.]
[He'd originally wanted to give Kakashi another jolt.]
[Who'd have thought Kakashi was already near his limit.]
[Well, his arrival was "hope," not "despair."]
[So a weaker tolerance was fine.]
[Besides, what Naruto had planned to say would have been the biggest shock of Kakashi's life.]
[Naruto began to wonder: should he let Kakashi know?]
[In the end, Naruto decided—better to wait a bit longer.]
[Now wasn't the right time.]
[Inside the Sealing Space.]
[The Great Fox picked its ears, uninterested in Naruto's twists and turns.]
[It was far keener on those illustrated storybooks it had read earlier.]
[They described plenty of content that could make humans blush.]
[Many situations were just like the old Kushina and Minato Namikaze.]
[A wicked curve lifted at its mouth.]
[Just wait and see, you bratty wretch!]
Thinking this, the Great Fox brushed an ear with a claw, then imitated humans by smoothing its 'hair' back.
Huh?!
Pure Land World.
Uzumaki Mito froze.
She instantly sensed something off.
That gesture… why did it look so familiar?
Seems I've seen it somewhere… wait, isn't that the little habit I do every time I sit at my dressing table?
Uzumaki Mito's fine brows drew together; a bad premonition welled in her heart.
[Before long.]
[Team 7 arrived at Ichiraku Ramen.]
["Boss, the usual."]
["Coming right up~"]
[Teuchi answered cheerfully, then looked toward Sasuke.]
["Oh?"]
["Sasuke-kun, long time no see."]
[Sasuke gave a slight nod.]
["Same as Naruto."]
["Give me a moment—coming right up~!"]
[Uncle Teuchi laughed, then turned to Kakashi.]
["Kakashi?"]
[Teuchi was stunned; he glanced at the three kids wearing forehead protectors.]
[Then back at Kakashi.]
[What a coincidence?]
[Teuchi looked behind Kakashi.]
[No sign of the ever-present Might Guy.]
[Looks like it really was true.]
[As Konoha's busiest ramen shop, Teuchi obviously knew more than ordinary vendors.]
["Yo~"]
[Kakashi chuckled. "Then I'll have my usual too."]
["Got it."]
[Teuchi asked no more and turned to prepare ramen for the four.]
[After a brief silence,]
[Kakashi looked at Naruto, who was clearly taller than Sasuke.]
["Well, we still have to go through the formalities."]
["After all, it has to be written on the evaluation form."]
[Kakashi smiled.]
[You could tell from his eyes that he was smiling.]
[He was reminding Naruto.]
[Naruto returned the smile.]
[Kakashi chuckled inwardly—what was he thinking?]
[This kid didn't need his reminder at all.]
["All right."]
["Then let's start with self-introductions."]
["Self-introduction? How do we do that?" asked Sakura.]
["My name is Kakashi Hatake."]
["Likes and dislikes… mm… let's keep them secret for now."]
["Dreams… also secret for now; as for hobbies… well, secret too."]
["Introduce yourselves like that," Kakashi said, eyes curved in a smile.]
[Everyone: "..."]
[Even Uncle Teuchi was speechless.]
[Ayame, drawn by the noise, also shook her head helplessly.]
[What kind of self-introduction was that?]
["In the end we only know your name—and it's something we already knew."]
[Sakura was equally exasperated.]
This scene
made many roll their eyes in unison.
What kind of self-introduction was that?
Might as well just say your name so we know what to call each other.
["All right, your turn now."]
[Kakashi acted as if he hadn't heard Sakura's complaint.]
[Looking at Naruto, he felt a stir of anticipation.]
[However—]
["Hmph!"]
["My name is Uchiha Sasuke."]
["There's nothing I like or dislike."]
["If I must name something, it's ambition."]
["My ambition is to kill that man with my own hands!"]
[At this moment, Sasuke's face was full of murderous intent.]
[Ambition, huh?]
[Kakashi glanced at him—this ambition was certainly wild enough.]
[The Uchiha boy's issues were indeed serious.]
[In Sasuke, Kakashi once again saw his former self.]
["Good, next."]
["My name is Haruno Sakura. What I like… mm, not a thing, but a person."]
["I love Naruto-kun the most; just being with him feels as sweet as eating candy~"]
["And also…"]
[Before she could finish, Kakashi gave her a roll of the eyes.]
["Next."]
[He cut Sakura's introduction short.]
[Teuchi and Ayame couldn't help laughing.]
["My name is Uzumaki Naruto."]
["Likes and dislikes are temporarily secret."]
["My dream… is to become the man who becomes the Fifth Hokage."]