"Hm, alright. It's getting late. Tomorrow is the team assignment exam, so you should head back early and prepare. I won't keep you any longer."
"Understood, Hokage-sama."
After Kakashi left, the Third watched the direction he departed in and gave a light shake of his head. Having been Hokage for so many years, he could naturally see through Kakashi's thoughts after all, the eyes don't lie.
But fortunately, their ideas aligned, which saved him some trouble.
...
The next day
For this team assignment exam, Furina unusually arrived at the classroom bright and early. After all, today was the famous scene where Naruto and Sasuke would kiss. If she came late and missed it, that would be far too regrettable.
After casually finding a seat in the back row by the window, she saw there weren't many people yet. Furina propped her head up and gazed out the window, idly spacing out.
After some time passed, as students gradually trickled in, the classroom slowly grew lively. Everyone gathered with their familiar classmates, chatting excitedly about their futures ahead.
Furina didn't feel lonely at all. Right now, she only cared about whether the iconic scene would still happen she had been looking forward to it for ages.
Sakura was once again confessing her love to Sasuke, while Naruto watched from the side. Mm~ things were progressing very smoothly. Nice, nice~
Naruto jumped onto the desk in front of Sasuke and locked eyes with him. There was even someone fooling around in front just right. It looked like the situation she had been worried about wouldn't occur. Perfect.
Just as Furina raised her camera, ready to capture the moment at any second, she suddenly felt someone gently poke her with a finger. Turning her head, it was Hinata again.
"Is something the matter, little Hinata? I'm a bit busy right now I can play with you later~"
Faced with Furina's tone that sounded almost like she was coaxing a child, the courage Hinata had just mustered instantly evaporated. Blushing and lowering her head, she opened her mouth but didn't know what to say.
She had just seen Furina holding the camera again with a mischievous smile directed at Naruto, so she felt the other girl was probably about to take some not-so-good photos. That was why she came over, hoping to stop her.
But Hinata had clearly overestimated herself. After being brushed off by a few words from Furina, her attempt ended in failure, and her mind went completely blank for a moment she didn't know what to do.
While Hinata was dazed, one of the classmates fooling around behind Naruto finally gave a strong shove. Naruto lost his balance and fell straight toward Sasuke.
Then, the long-awaited hilarious scene finally unfolded. The moment she saw the two of them kiss, while everyone else was still stunned, Furina had already found the perfect angle and frantically pressed the shutter. The whole sequence flowed together seamlessly pure silk-smooth enjoyment.
"It's over." After noticing what happened between Naruto and Sasuke, as well as Furina's actions, Hinata knew the thing she had been worried about had finally occurred. She still hadn't managed to stop Furina-san.
"Sorry, Naruto-kun." While Hinata was quietly blaming herself, the rest of the class had finally come back to their senses. Once they realized what had happened, the boys and girls in the class displayed two completely opposite reactions.
The boys were all looking extremely amused some were holding it in, while others burst out laughing outright.
But joy for some meant sorrow for others; people's happiness and sadness aren't always shared. While the boys were happy, the girls in the class all looked upset.
"Naruto, what the hell did you do?!!"
"I didn't want to kiss that stinky Sasuke at all! Someone just pushed me out of nowhere!"
By now, Naruto had already separated from Sasuke. Seeing the angry girls come up to question him, he didn't think the accidental kiss was any big deal and just casually explained.
But right now the girls were all furious, and Naruto's nonchalant attitude undoubtedly fueled their anger even more. At this point, Naruto also started to sense something was wrong.
Looking at the crowd of girls closing in around him, Naruto hurriedly tried to explain, but they clearly weren't listening anymore. If things continued like this, a beating was unavoidable.
Just as the girls were about to take action, Furina who had been watching the show from afar suddenly decided to intervene. After all, she had just enjoyed Naruto's misfortune; watching him get beaten up right after would make even her conscience ache a little.
But just as she stood up to stop them, she noticed that the Hinata who had poked her earlier was now lying on the desk, her eyes filled with worry. A glint of amusement flashed through Furina's eyes as she quickly walked over to her side.
"Little Hinata, you wouldn't want your Naruto-kun to get beaten up by that group of girls, right?"
Hearing the soft question by her ear, Hinata quickly turned her head and met Furina's gaze. In those heterochromatic eyes, Hinata seemed to catch faint traces of laughter.
"Please help Naruto-kun, Furina-san."
After saying that, Hinata hurriedly lowered her head again. Even so, Furina could still see the deep blush on her face clearly, that one sentence had taken every ounce of her courage to say.
Furina could only sigh inwardly at how excessively shy young Hinata was. Using lines like that from her Japanese netizen days on her really had no effect at all.
"Alright, don't blush anymore. I'll help your Naruto-kun. But in exchange, you have to keep what I photographed earlier a secret between us just our little secret, okay?"
Without giving Hinata time to think, Furina instantly used Body Flicker to appear between Naruto and the group of female classmates, separating them once again.
"Furina, what are you doing?"
"Furina, don't tell me you're trying to help that guy Naruto? He just kissed Sasuke-kun!"
"Exactly. Furina, you're defending Naruto so much don't tell me you like him?"
...
"So fast!" Unlike the girls who were upset about Furina stopping them from teaching Naruto a lesson, Sasuke who was sitting to the side couldn't help but widen his eyes slightly. He hadn't noticed Furina's arrival at all just now.
Didn't that prove her strength far surpassed his? No, no that couldn't be right. She might just be especially skilled at Body Flicker, and besides, he hadn't activated his Sharingan. That must be it.
But at this moment in the academy, the highly noticed Sasuke went unnoticed in his abnormality because right now, every eye in the classroom was focused on the suddenly appearing Furina.
And now, as the center of attention, Furina listened to the crowd's doubts and even some remarks she didn't like, yet she still maintained a faint smile, as if she hadn't heard them at all.
However, the words that followed were far less gentle than her outward appearance suggested.
=====
New Story posted:
One Piece: Collective Viewing of the Future, Starting from God Valley