After realizing that the person who had "suddenly ambushed" her was Furina, Hinata visibly relaxed. As long as it wasn't someone else noticing her, that was fine. As for Furina… she was already somewhat used to it.
"Eh, what are you holding a camera for?" After snapping out of it, Hinata also noticed the camera in Furina's hand. Perhaps out of curiosity, or maybe to change the subject, she immediately asked.
"Oh, this? It's just to capture some interesting moments." As Furina spoke, Naruto on the stage began performing his Transformation Technique.
Noticing Naruto's movements, the smile on Furina's face grew even brighter. "Like right now, for example."
Once Naruto's modified Sexy Jutsu appeared, Iruka across from him instantly sprayed a nosebleed and flew backward just like in the anime. In that very instant, Furina silently pressed the shutter button.
Perfect. The prince's black history has been added to the collection. If he ever wants this photo back in the future, she could definitely extort a nice price from him.
"Furina-san, isn't doing that a little… not okay?"
Just as Furina was secretly gloating in her heart, a soft question came from beside her. Although Furina's action had been extremely quick, Hinata who had been paying attention in advance still caught it.
"Hinata, do you really think it's not okay? I know what you're thinking~ Are you hoping I'll share it with you? Hehe."
"Ah, no, no, that's not it!" Hearing Furina's misunderstanding, Hinata instantly lost whatever thoughts she had earlier. The blush on her face grew even deeper as she hurriedly explained herself.
"Re~al~ly~?"
After Furina teased Hinata a few more times, the Iruka who had just flown backward stood up again. Just from his expression, it was obvious his mood was far from good right now.
"Naruto!!"
...
After lecturing Naruto some more, Iruka announced the precautions for tomorrow's graduation exam and declared the end of today's class.
After class ended, Furina didn't rush to leave. Instead, she continued watching the plot being broadcast in the other world.
After watching for a while, Furina discovered that her "secretly photographing" Naruto had actually been captured on camera too. A wave of embarrassment from getting caught doing something naughty washed over her.
"Sexy Jutsu, huh? Pretty interesting. Gotta say, Naruto's got some serious charm even now."
"Yo, tone it down up there you're doxxing your IP."
"Why is everyone's attention on Naruto? Didn't you guys notice that when Naruto used Sexy Jutsu just now, Furina snapped a photo of him with her camera? I didn't expect Furina to have that kind of naughty hobby… liking her even more now."
"Yeah, her reaction speed is insane. Everyone else in the frame was still stunned, but Furina already had the camera out and snapping pics. Peak photographer status."
[Affection Points +1 +1 +1.....]
After noticing that most of the barrage didn't really care, Furina stopped dwelling on it. She just had to be a bit more careful with moments when the camera was on her.
With that in mind, Furina didn't linger any longer. In the blink of an eye, time jumped to the next day the graduation exam.
During this period, Furina had been debating whether to get involved in the plot where Naruto steals the Scroll of Seals. If she did, beating up Mizuki and showing off would definitely earn her a ton of Affection Points.
But in the end, Furina chose to pass. After all, that event was designed for Naruto. She was just an outsider. Getting involved like that would surely draw the attention of the Third Hokage.
More importantly, that old schemer Danzō would notice her too. She knew exactly what kind of person he was. With her strength still not sufficient right now, it was better not to attract so much attention.
Besides, she already had a cheat system. In the future, punching Kaguya and kicking Madara shouldn't be a problem. There was no need to put herself in danger for such a small gain.
Once everyone had arrived, the graduation exam began as scheduled. Not long after, Furina who had already finished her test saw a dejected Naruto walking out of the testing room with his head hung low.
Although she knew exactly why he looked like that, Furina still pretended not to know and asked softly.
"Yo, what's wrong? This isn't like you at all, Naruto."
Hearing Furina's voice, Naruto didn't even lift his head. He just sighed and said,
"Don't even ask. I just embarrassed myself big time during the test. My clones looked pathetic. Forget it, you're a genius Furina; you wouldn't understand someone like me."
"Who says I don't understand? Don't believe me? Look." Seeing Naruto act so "untrusting" toward her, Furina naturally wouldn't accept it. She immediately formed a clone according to her memory one that looked just as half-dead as his had during the test. The only difference was that the clone also took Naruto's appearance.
When he saw a clone in almost the exact same miserable state as his own during the test, Naruto froze for a second before starting to yell.
"What the heck?! Furina, were you peeking at my test from the door just now? And why did you make the clone look like me?! Do I have no dignity?!"
Hearing Naruto's questioning, Furina first let out a light chuckle, then put on a slightly upset expression as she answered his earlier question.
"I didn't peek at all~ Don't wrong me. I was just imitating how I looked when I practiced before. As for why I used your appearance…
It's because you just now acted like you didn't believe me like I wouldn't understand you, like you wanted to draw a clear line between us. I can get upset too, you know~"
Faced with Furina's "misunderstanding," Naruto clearly panicked a little. He had only said those things earlier because he was feeling down and hadn't been paying attention.
He absolutely didn't mean it that way. After all, Furina was one of the very few people in all these years whom he could truly call a friend.
Even when others were willing to talk to him, he could still sense that they were wary because of his status as the Nine-Tails jinchūriki. But Furina was different.
She seemed completely unaware of the village rumors about him being the Nine-Tails vessel. The way she treated him was exactly the same as how she treated everyone else as if he were just an ordinary person.
To others, that might not mean much. But for Naruto, who had been looked at through tinted glasses for so many years, it was incredibly precious.
Moreover, when it came to his far-fetched dream of becoming Hokage despite being the dead-last student, Furina never mocked or discouraged him. Instead, she chose to believe in him and encourage him something no one else did.