"I can definitely do it!"
This time, Naruto focused intently, feeling the wind and adjusting his angle.
He threw it with all his might!
It didn't even graze the plushie, but instead hooked a hairpin.
Adjusting his strength again, he threw!
It strayed even further; he got nothing.
"The flight path of every ring is different; this is way too hard. One last try, I have to hit it!"
This time, Naruto gave up on aiming. Since every ring felt different anyway, he might as well rely on pure luck. This time, Naruto chose strength creates miracles!
The ring was flung out at high speed! As it turned out, the angle was too low; it clipped the head of a nearby Maneki-neko, bounced back, and landed perfectly on Kano's head.
"I'm sorry, Luna-chan, I didn't mean to."
Naruto apologized hurriedly, but Kano just gave a gentle smile and took the ring off her head.
"You caught me. According to the rules, you can take me away now~"
It was another heart-pounding shock; it felt as if Naruto had won the grand prize of his life. Kano also found teasing Naruto very entertaining and couldn't help wanting to see him flustered.
"Young man, here's the prize you won—a Cherry blossom wooden hairpin. It'll surely suit your little girlfriend."
"Well, Luna-chan isn't exactly..."
Naruto really didn't want to admit that Luna-chan wasn't his girlfriend, but he didn't want to embarrass her either. Kano neither confirmed nor denied it; she saw no need to explain their relationship to a stranger, and being misunderstood wouldn't hurt them.
"Are you giving the hairpin to me? I really like it, thank you, Naruto."
"Heh heh, you're welcome. I'm glad you like it."
"But if I'm going to wear a hairpin, this outfit doesn't seem quite right."
Her lively image with a ponytail, short skirt, and white stockings really didn't suit having her hair pinned up. However, Kano didn't want to disappoint Naruto and thought for a solution.
"Oh right, I saw a Yukata shop just now. How about we rent a Yukata and pair it with this hairpin?"
"Great! Let's go there now."
"I still remember where it is, follow me."
The girl led the boy by the hand toward the Yukata shop.
"It'll be inconvenient to hold the juice while changing, I'd better finish it quickly."
Kano took another large gulp, holding it in her mouth and swallowing it in three small gulps.
"Let me taste your juice."
Naruto handed the orange juice to Kano, but she didn't take it. Instead, she leaned her little head over, bit the straw, and took a sip.
This made Naruto blush; Kano was drinking from the juice he had already used.
"Yours is so sour. Mine is better; it's very sweet. Here, try some."
She was quite fair; after taking a sip of Naruto's juice, she let Naruto have a sip of her strawberry juice. Kano held the juice directly to Naruto's lips, and he took a small sip with a red face.
"Sweet, right?"
"Sweet."
Inside the Yukata shop, there were quite a few customers due to the festival. The two of them went to the children's Yukata section to start picking. After all, they were just kids who had just reached puberty—still children.
Originally, Kano wanted to pick one for each of them, but Naruto wanted to save some money and only rented one for Kano. Since it was Naruto's money, she didn't say much.
When it came to choosing the Yukata, Kano let Naruto pick, which put him in a difficult position.
"This orange one is nice, and this pink one is also good. Which one should I choose?"
Orange was Naruto's favorite color; he wanted the girl he liked to wear the color he liked. The other pink one had a cherry blossom pattern that matched the wooden hairpin. Naruto was torn between the two choices.
"Then I'll try them both on, and you can see which one looks better, okay?"
"That's an option too! Yeah, try them both."
Kano took the two Yukatas into the changing room, swapped out her short skirt and top for the orange Yukata, untied her twin tails, and pinned her hair up with the hairpin.
She tidied her clothes a bit in front of the mirror, swapped her heels for matching Wooden clogs, pulled back the curtain of the changing room, and gave Naruto a slight smile.
"How is it? Does it look good?"
She leaned forward, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear.
"It looks great!"
Kano spun around, letting Naruto see her from every angle—front, back, left, and right—and even struck a few poses as he requested.
"I'll change into the next one now."
Before long, Kano, now in the cherry blossom pink Yukata, pulled back the curtain again.
"And this one?"
Like a character stepping out of a painting, she left Naruto unable to look away for a long time.
"So beautiful. This one is more suitable."
Naruto murmured to himself; he had already made up his mind. Kano saw his decision and stepped out of the changing room, her clogs clicking as she walked to Naruto's side.
"Decided which one to rent?"
"Decided!"
They went to the counter of the Yukata shop.
"Ma'am, I'll buy both of these! How much?"
"Wait, Naruto, didn't we say we'd rent? Why are you buying them? Buying is much more expensive. And one set is enough."
"Luna-chan, just think of it as a gift from me. You look so beautiful in them."
"I don't want this beautiful sight to have an expiration date. I want to keep this beauty forever and ever!"
Even Kano couldn't completely withstand such sudden sweet talk, and her face blushed slightly at the right moment.
"idiot Naruto, aren't you embarrassed to say such romantic things in front of so many people?"
Naruto didn't say anything, just scratched his head and grinned foolishly.
Meanwhile, Jiraiya, who was peeping through binoculars from a distance, let out a "heh heh" laugh, preparing to use their date as material for his new book.
"Who knew Kano was such a 'glass cannon' (High attack, low defense)?"
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