Observing Hinata's expression, a flicker of amusement crossed the usually languid eyes of Ryūshin. Just as Naruto said! Just by looking at her current demeanor, he knew Hinata definitely had feelings for Naruto.
Rinne, too, showed a thoughtful expression. Hinata-nee says she and Naruto-nii are very good friends. And above "very good friends"… is being boyfriend and girlfriend.
Yup — Hinata definitely likes Naruto-nii.
With that thought, a brilliantly sunny smile blossomed on Rinne's face.
Not far away, Neji, watching the changes in the three before him at the mention of Naruto's name, twitched the corner of his mouth inexplicably.
Being a year older than Hinata and her cousin, he would occasionally keep an eye on Hinata's social circle at school in his spare time. Therefore, he vaguely knew that Hinata liked Naruto.
Seeing this tiny girl casually expose a secret that even Uncle Hiashi didn't know, Neji internally screamed countless WTFs.
Good grief… I thought the kids would talk about childish things, but she jumped straight to advanced-level romance talk. Are Academy first-years really this precocious nowadays!?
Off to the side, Hanabi was completely stunned.
Who am I? Where am I? What is even happening? Why is everything going in a direction I never expected? And who the heck is Naruto??
According to Hanabi's expectations, when kids gathered together, the conversation should've gone like this:
"Want to play hide and seek?"
"Okay, okay!"
"Wow, you're so good at hide and seek! Let's be friends!"
"Okay!"
That's how it was supposed to go.
But reality?
Reality was like this.
Why were they bringing up someone called Naruto right away? Everyone else seemed to know who he was, but she had absolutely no idea!
She'd been excluded from the conversation from the very start!
Hanabi suddenly felt extremely wronged. The others weren't following the script at all — she couldn't get a word in. Her friendship-making plan was a total failure.
Little sister-in-law depressed.jpg.
But Hinata wasn't doing much better.
Looking at Rinne — adorable, bright-eyed, smiling like sunshine — Hinata felt more and more inadequate by comparison.
She's so cute… while I'm clumsy, shy, and nowhere near as lovable as her.
If I were Naruto-kun… of course I would like a girl this cute…
So, Naruto-kun really doesn't like me?
After a suffocating session of tragic overthinking, Hinata was on the verge of tears — yet a tiny sliver of hope still lingered.
Forcing a smile at the wide-eyed, innocent Rinne, Hinata asked:
"Rinne-chan… why did you suddenly bring up Naruto-kun?"
Rinne tilted her little head, then beamed brightly:
"Because this afternoon, Naruto-nii said he likes Hinata-nee!"
"Ah, I knew it... Huh?"
Hinata had been seconds away from spiraling into despair the moment she heard Rinne and Naruto were together earlier today… but the sudden twist broke her brain completely.
Naruto-kun said — in front of Rinne — that he liked me.
Naruto-kun… likes me?
If Hinata's mental theater could be displayed, tiny chibi characters would be running around inside her head screaming:
"WARNING! WARNING! Brain processing capacity critically insufficient!"
Hinata's face, which had just gone from bright red to pale, now rapidly flushed again — but this time it was no simple blush.
Her whole face was as red as a freshly boiled crab.
You could practically see the steam puff-puff-puffing out of her head.
Seeing this, Rinne tilted her head in confusion:
"Huh? Hinata-nee? Did I say something wrong? Do you not like— mmph!"
Rinne's words were cut off as Ryūshin covered her mouth. Ryūshin sighed internally as he held his adorably clueless sister. If I let you keep talking, you're really going to break Hinata.
Neji, on the side, also shook his head silently, feeling he had completely fallen behind the times.
I'm only twelve… so why do I feel completely out of touch with their topics already?
Aren't shinobi supposed to prioritize missions and training?
What is even happening right now!?
Hanabi, meanwhile, was completely dumbstruck.
Everything was happening way too fast.
She, a self-proclaimed genius, couldn't even process it.
She didn't even know who this "Naruto" person was, and suddenly everyone was saying this Naruto liked her big sister!?
Thinking about how she couldn't even participate in the conversation earlier, and then seeing her sister acting so weird, Hanabi silently added Naruto's name to her blacklist.
This Naruto is a huge BAD GUY!
Not only did he prevent her from making friends, and make her unable to join the conversation…
He even wanted to steal her most beloved big sister!
This stupid Naruto better not let me catch him.
If I catch him, he's going to be in BIG trouble.
Gentle Fist warning.jpg
When Hizashi arrived at the courtyard, he saw the five kids sitting in an odd, heavy silence.
Looking at their strange expressions, he scratched his head in confusion.
What's with kids nowadays?
Shouldn't they be playing ninja games or something?
He tried giving his son a questioning look.
Neji returned a completely baffled expression — clearly saying:
Don't ask me, I have no idea either.
Hizashi remained puzzled, but remembering that Hinata's future marriage was being discussed inside, he pushed aside his curiosity and said to her:
"Hinata, come here for a moment. Your father has something to ask you."
Hearing that her father wanted to speak with her, the frozen, blue-screened Hinata finally reacted a little.
She stood up dazedly and followed Hizashi.
Her mind was still stuck on a loop:
Naruto-kun... likes me.
What a wonderful day this is.
Rinne-chan… you're an angel…
Hizashi noticed that Hinata was clearly not in a normal state, but he didn't need to overthink it.
He simply turned and gently patted her head:
"Hinata, the matter we're about to discuss is extremely important. No matter what, you must answer honestly according to your heart, alright?"
Hinata saw his serious expression and finally snapped out of her daze a little.
Her brain, previously mush, finally regained some clarity.
Her face was still red, but she nodded obediently:
"I understand, Uncle Hizashi."
Then she followed him into the room.
Hinata entered, bowed politely to Hoshiyomi and Tsunade, and just as she was about to gather all her courage to answer her father's questions—
She heard her father ask:
"Hinata, I heard you like Naruto. Is that true?"
Ehhhhhhhhhh???
...
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