"Hel—Help—Heeeelp! Murder! She's murdering her teammate!!"
A heart-wrenching, pig-slaughter-like screech echoed from behind, growing louder and sharper with every second. It was so jarring that Naruto, who had been walking at the front of the group, couldn't help but pause in his steps.
'Huh… Why does that voice sound so familiar?'
All of his attention had been focused on pampering the well-behaved Hinata snuggled in his arms, so Naruto had absolutely no idea what had happened to the trio behind him. Curious, he turned around, hoping to figure out what was going on.
"Hey, what are you guys—"
"Outta the way! Move it! Don't block the path!"
Before Naruto could finish greeting them, a small figure—face bruised and battered—barreled past him like a gust of wind, shouting in panic and stumbling along the way.
Hot on their heels was a sweet-smiling, blonde-haired girl with eyes curved into a friendly arc… except her entire body was radiating tangible bloodlust. She followed like a shadow, closing the distance of dozens of meters in a blink until she stood right before Naruto.
From just a glance, Naruto could already tell who they were—Shikamaru, who'd run his mouth too much and teased Ino into going full berserk, and now was fleeing for his life, and Ino, who had completely abandoned all ladylike restraint and entered rampage mode.
"Aww~ Don't be so dramatic, Shikamaru-kun. Murder? Isn't that a bit of an exaggeration?"
Despite sprinting at full tilt, Ino still kept her sweet, flowery smile. Her tone was soft and coaxing as she "reassured" the fleeing Shikamaru. Meanwhile, her fists clenched tightly at her sides, her delicate skin faintly bulging with tense veins.
"Stop running, silly~ Why are you in such a rush? I just want to have a nice little chat and play a guessing game with you~ Shiimaaku"
The syrupy sweet tone hit Naruto's ears like a curse. Deep in his bones, he felt a chill of terror crawl up his spine, making him instinctively step aside and clear the path for her.
At that moment, Naruto realized something—if Shikamaru's dash was like a strong breeze, then Ino's sprint was a full-blown hurricane. He could barely stand steady just from the force of her charge.
Given the shrinking distance between them, it was clear Shikamaru wasn't about to stop and "chat." On the contrary, Ino's "gentle" words had the exact opposite effect—he tensed up like a startled rabbit and used every ounce of strength he had left to speed up, legs pumping like a man possessed.
After all, even Naruto—who had been hardened through Kurama's emotional beatdowns and believed nothing could scare him anymore—was spooked enough by Ino's words to step aside for his own safety. There was no way Shikamaru, the actual victim here, would just obediently stop.
'What a joke! I'd have to be an idiot to fall for that!'
By now, Shikamaru's usually composed and delicate face had been reduced to a bruised mess, a canvas of blue and purple courtesy of Ino's "enthusiastic hospitality." Hearing her voice from behind made him snap in frustration and panic, limbs trembling as he shouted in protest:
"Ino, that's enough! You're hitting way too hard! I told you—it was just a joke! I didn't mean anything by it! If you come any closer, I… I won't go easy on you!"
"Oh~? So you've grown a backbone now?"
Ino laughed in outrage, her voice syrupy sweet as ever. Her smile widened dangerously, eyes narrowing into crescents as she stepped harder.
"Alright then… Stop running. I'd love to see what you mean by 'not going easy.'"
"Absolutely not! Don't even think about it! I'd have to be a total moron to fall for that!"
"Oh really? Then who was the little idiot who obediently stopped earlier, hmm?"
"I… I… I… A real man doesn't fight with mean girls! If I can't win, I can at least run away!"
"Hmm~? 'Mean girl,' huh? Are you talking about me?"
"…! Agh—n-no no no! Slip of the tongue! Total mistake, hahaha! I meant—a real man doesn't fight with girls! Yeah, that's it! Real men don't fight girls—OW! My butt! Ino, you're serious?!"
"Hmph. You dared offend me, and you thought you could get away with it that easily?"
"So low! You attacked me while I was talking! Don't you know the saying, 'A gentleman uses his words, not his fists'?!"
"Hmph~ Gentleman? I don't know about them… But unfortunately for you, I'm a full-blooded girl~"
"…! I—ugh—Is there no justice left in this world?! This is cheating!!"
As their voices gradually faded into the distance, the two figures—Ino chasing, Shikamaru fleeing—vanished into a blur of dust clouds, disappearing from Naruto's line of sight in no time at all. Their speed? On par with when Sasuke dashed out of the academy at full sprint!
"If I'm not mistaken… those two just now were… Shikamaru and Ino? You've got to be kidding me… They can move that fast?"
Naruto muttered in disbelief, his mouth twitching slightly. After a brief pause, he tilted his head, still trying to make sense of what just happened.
'Man, the survival instinct really brings out the best in people's athleticism… But what the heck were those two even doing?'
Though utterly baffled, Naruto's sharp eyes had picked up on at least one thing:
Shikamaru, brilliant tactician but famously lazy, had clearly pushed himself past his limits—but even then, he still couldn't outrun Ino. And given how explosive their chase was, there was no way either of them could maintain that pace for long.
This supposed game of tag was nothing more than a fleeting illusion. Sooner or later—probably sooner—Ino would catch up and capture him. It was only a matter of time. All Shikamaru was doing now was delaying the inevitable.
Still, thanks to their little escapade, the group's pace had unintentionally picked up quite a bit… In a way, maybe it wasn't such a bad thing?
…Probably?