Rorin welcomed Hyūga Hiashi into the room and served him a cup of hot tea.
The two sat facing each other. After taking a sip, Hyūga Hiashi asked with concern,
"Rorin, how have you been lately?"
"Pretty good, Hiashi-san. What brings you here today?" Rorin asked, puzzled.
Hyūga Hiashi spoke softly, "What, do I need a reason to come see you? You never visit the Hyūga clan compound to see me either."
Rorin quickly waved his hands.
"I've just been really busy lately and forgot to visit. I'll definitely come by in a few days."
Hyūga Hiashi smiled and said,
"Alright, no need to wait for later. I actually came this time to talk to you about something. In a few days, it'll be my daughter's birthday. I'm here to invite you to the banquet."
Rorin paused for a moment, then nodded.
"No problem, Hiashi-san. By the way, which daughter's birthday is it?"
"My daughter Hinata's birthday."
Rorin nodded. After chatting a bit more, he escorted Hyūga Hiashi out. Stroking his chin, he began thinking about what kind of birthday gift to prepare for Hinata.
After a while, inspiration struck. He immediately headed out toward Nara Shikamaru's house.
"What do you need our photo for?" Nara Shikamaru asked in confusion.
"Well, it's Hinata's birthday soon. I want to prepare a gift for her," Rorin said with a grin.
Among the Twelve Rookie Ninja, the ones he was closest to were Nara Shikamaru and Rock Lee. For something like this, Shikamaru was the first person he thought of—after all, Rock Lee wasn't even in the same graduating class as Hinata and the others.
Nara Shikamaru went home, retrieved a group photo, and handed it to Rorin while muttering,
"What kind of gift needs to be this mysterious?"
"Hehe, you'll find out when the time comes." Rorin examined the photo, then looked up and asked,
"Do you have a photo of Team 3—Rock Lee's team?"
"Huh? What a drag. Why don't you just go ask them yourself?" Shikamaru said lazily.
Rorin pressed his palms together and smiled.
"Please, I'm counting on you."
Even though he complained, Shikamaru still went back inside, rummaged around, and eventually found a group photo of Team 3.
After getting the photos, Rorin left excitedly.
Time flew by, and soon it was Hinata's birthday. That day, she wore a kimono and looked especially beautiful.
Because he had been preparing her gift, Rorin returned to the Hidden Leaf Village quite late, carrying a bundle on his back.
When he arrived at the Hyūga clan compound again, he was no longer stopped and went straight to the main hall. Hyūga Hiashi was entertaining Tsunade. The banquet was grand—after all, it was the birthday of the Hyūga clan's princess.
After some effort, Rorin finally found Hinata. Coincidentally, all the Twelve Rookie Ninja who should be present were there.
Rock Lee waved when he saw Rorin.
Rorin walked over, and taking advantage of Hinata's birthday, he formally got to know Haruno Sakura, Hyūga Hinata, Hyūga Neji, Aburame Shino, and Inuzuka Kiba. He had already met the others on previous occasions.
After exchanging greetings, Nara Shikamaru glanced at the bundle on Rorin's back and asked,
"What's that behind you?"
Rorin jolted, almost forgetting the gift. He quickly set the bundle down, untied it, and smiled at Hinata.
"Hinata, happy birthday. This is the gift I prepared for you. I hope you like it."
Inside were thirteen cloth dolls, each resembling Rorin and the Twelve Rookie Ninja, crafted with remarkable accuracy. Everyone was stunned.
These dolls were made after Rorin rushed back to the Land of Mountain Streams, where he had his shop employees work overtime based on the photos and his own modeling.
Only then did Nara Shikamaru understand why Rorin had asked for the photos. But he soon noticed something odd.
With a twitch of his lips, he asked, "Rorin… why is Naruto's doll life-sized, while the rest of ours are smaller?"
Hyūga Hinata looked at the Naruto doll on the ground, her cheeks slightly flushed, her index fingers nervously circling each other.
Seeing her reaction, Rorin could tell she liked it and felt pleased. To be honest, he had originally planned to make only a Naruto doll. But that would've been too obvious, so he added dolls of everyone else—including himself.
With his hands behind his head, Rorin said casually,
"Oh, well, after finishing Naruto's doll, I ran out of materials. To make everyone's dolls, I had to scale yours down."
Everyone was speechless. Internally, they thought: Who would believe that besides Naruto? Actually… even Naruto might not.
They all silently understood the truth.
At that moment, Hyūga Hinata walked over and said softly,
"Thank you, Rorin-kun. I really like your gift."
Rorin smiled. "I'm glad you like it."
...
After the birthday banquet ended, Hyūga Hinata placed the dolls in her room, putting Naruto's doll in the most prominent spot so she could see it first thing every morning.
Meanwhile, on the way home, Nara Shikamaru and Rorin walked together.
Shikamaru casually asked, "By the way, Rorin, how did you know about Hinata and Naruto?"
Rorin was startled. That's right—he hadn't known Hinata or Naruto before, so how could he know Hinata liked Naruto? He hadn't even considered that when giving the gift. He glanced at Shikamaru—was this guy really that perceptive?
Rorin could only play dumb. "Know what? Shikamaru, what are you talking about?"
Shikamaru clicked his tongue but didn't press further. He waved his hand.
"Forget it. See you." Then he went straight home.
The matter wasn't pursued further, and Rorin's life returned to normal.
In the following days, he focused on developing the deeper power of his Shikotsumyaku and improving the Leaf Dragon God taijutsu.
Time passed quickly during training. Soon, the year Konoha 61 came to an end, and the beginning of Konoha 62 arrived.