Mrs. Yamanaka immediately caught the point and asked, "You went to get your hair washed?" "Washing hair" was much more serious than "drinking."
"Yeah, I received news about Orochimaru this afternoon... Hokage-sama kept Shikaku and me back, trying to analyze Orochimaru's escape route based on existing intelligence and movement patterns. We were exhausted, so Shikaku suggested getting our hair washed..." This kind of "hair washing" misunderstanding shouldn't be taken lightly—and he was telling the truth; it really was Nara Shikaku's suggestion.
Mrs. Yamanaka stared at Inoichi Yamanaka's expression for a while before nodding and saying, "Fine, I'll take your word for it. Wait a moment..."
Mrs. Yamanaka got up and went to the kitchen. Soon, she brought out the hot food that had been simmering and uncovered the pots one by one.
The mixed aromas wafted through the air, greatly stimulating the appetite.
"Here... this Sour Soup Fish was made by our daughter herself. And this Fermented Bean Curd, this bowl of Meatball Soup... they were all saved for you. We waited a long time for you to return, but since you didn't show, Ino and I ate first—hurry and try it, our daughter's cooking isn't something you get to eat easily..."
Mrs. Yamanaka's tone was mixed with pride and joy. Despite her young age, Ino was extremely talented in the culinary arts.
However, her laziness was also very real—unless she truly craved something, she wouldn't step into the kitchen at all. More often than not, she would cook a dish once to teach her mother, and once her mother learned it, she would just eat what was prepared... It was fortunate that her own skills weren't quite up to par and the flavor always fell a bit short, otherwise, who knows how long it would take to taste her daughter's cooking again.
It wasn't easy to eat a dish personally prepared by Ino, and a feast with several dishes like today was even rarer.
Inoichi Yamanaka immediately regretted it: "Why did I go to get my hair washed? I must have been possessed. I should have come straight home after work!"
Nara Shikaku has led me astray!
...Compared to Inoichi Yamanaka, who was full of happiness eating the rich and delicious dinner his daughter had personally prepared upon his return, Nara Shikaku's experience coming home was far more miserable.
As soon as he got home, he was pushed out the door by his wife. Nara Yoshino asked, "What are you coming back for? Why don't you just die out there?"
Nara Shikaku looked bewildered and tried to explain, "I, I came home quite early today..."
"Quite early..."
"Tell me, what's with the scent on you? Why is there another fragrance? Where did you go fooling around? And with whom?"
"Do you even care about this family anymore..."
Inside the house, Shikamaru held his breath and tiptoed back to his room, pulling the quilt over himself, covering even his head—as long as I cover myself tightly enough, no one will notice me. He kept chanting in his mind, "I'm invisible, I'm invisible..." When the city gates are on fire, one must stay far away from Dad to avoid giving him the chance to shift the blame... Well, if I'm already asleep, Mom wouldn't drag me up for a lecture, right?
Little Shikamaru was already "highly experienced," so much so that it was heart-wrenching.
And his dad, Nara Shikaku, had more than one prior offense when it came to throwing his son under the bus—better you than me; usually, it was the son who ended up bearing the brunt of everything.
Tears!
The high-decibel accusations spread through the night. The clansmen were already used to this; they all shut their windows tight and pricked up their ears.
The next morning, Inoichi Yamanaka saw Nara Shikaku yawning incessantly and asked gloatingly, "Shikaku, what's wrong with you? Did someone boil you last night?"
Nara Shikaku sighed, "Sigh, don't mention it. Yesterday, my better half..." He glanced around and lowered his voice, "Made me kneel on a washboard half the night. I just went to get my hair washed, who did I offend? Is it easy for me? What's even more infuriating is that brat Shikamaru—he actually pretended to be asleep... otherwise, I wouldn't have been so miserable..."
Inoichi was speechless, thinking to himself, "Right, right, then you wouldn't be miserable, but your son would be. You really know how to shift the conflict."
"Hurry up! What, didn't you eat? Am I starving you? Run!" Nara Yoshino chased after Shikamaru with a broom in her hand. If Shikamaru slowed down even a little, he'd get a smack on the butt. The surrounding shops were used to this scene; it was nothing out of the ordinary—Nara Yoshino had been training her son like this for over a year.
Shikamaru had a look of utter despair, spacing out as he ran, his mind wandering who knows where—
Usually it was fine, but could today's breakfast even be called breakfast? A box of plain white rice, no seasoning, no side dishes. When he wanted to add a raw egg, his mother roared at him... "Add what? You're being picky about your food?"
...However, Shikamaru was good at finding joy in hardship—he still found something good about today. Because of the "interaction" between his mom and dad yesterday, they woke up late today. He finally got to see the real sun as soon as he woke up, and he finally managed to eat breakfast before training—regardless of how the breakfast was, at least he ate first today... After practicing the Shadow Secret Technique and then practicing shuriken and Kunai throwing, more than half the day had passed.
Shikamaru finally had some free time to go find Ino.
"It would be great if I could train with Ino..." Shikamaru thought to himself, but unfortunately, his suggestion was rejected by Yoshino time and again—don't think she didn't know that Ino spent all day either reading or playing the zither, with no training in sight. Nara Yoshino's eyes were filled with murderous intent: "You just want to be a turtle, don't you? Lying there motionless as much as you can..."
The sound of the zither was like a babbling mountain spring, making one feel as if they were sitting by the fountain in Konoha's Plaza Park, listening to the sound of the water... Shikamaru's mood instantly brightened as he greeted Ino, "Ino, I'm here."
"Mm."
Ino nodded to him and gave a response.
Today, Ino wore a deep purple robe, with only two large peony patterns on the sleeves.
It was a kind of beauty that felt sophisticated and distant—Ino was still Ino, yet she had become inexplicably noble.
Her near-silvery blonde hair was tied back and secured with a long hairpin, decorated with translucent white and green cloth flowers. On her face, she wore a light blue mask that covered her forehead and entire face, leaving only her eyes exposed. On her hands were thin gloves of the same color as the mask. This added a touch of mysterious beauty.
"Ino, what's wrong with your face? Isn't it stuffy like that?" Shikamaru was a bit surprised by the gear on Ino's face.
Ino said, "Mom said I've gotten a bit tanned... so I'm covering up for sun protection. Getting tanned is a very serious matter for a girl."
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