章節 136: Chapter 136 I Want to Experience What It's Like to Be Relied On
The light inside the tent was too dim to see clearly. Naruto could only make out Hinata's general outline, and could feel that she seemed a little uneasy at the moment.
Hinata's mind was in a whirlwind of emotions, filled with scenarios like 'I can't secretly hold your hand behind our teammates' backs', making her so embarrassed that she felt like she might explode.
Just as she was lost in her confusion, she heard a faint rustling sound near her ear. Suddenly, she felt a hand rest on her forehead, gently patting it as if to comfort her.
"Mmm…"
Hinata, whose shoulders had been trembling slightly, immediately calmed down, her eyes misting over.
The next day, before dawn.
Hinata opened her eyes and found that Naruto's sleeping spot was empty. Her expression was blank for a moment before she quickly came back to her senses.
'It seemed that I had fainted last night.'
Curling up, she carefully cupped her gradually blushing face, as if trying to hide her small, flustered self.
The morning mist still lingered as the group set out again.
Due to their wariness of Naruto's fox dog, Shino and Kiba walked together, maintaining a considerable distance between themselves and Hinata and Naruto.
Seeing the gap between the two groups, Hinata and Naruto exchanged a small smile.
"We should be able to reach our destination today," Hinata said softly.
"Well, do you still need to train today?" Naruto asked, referring to Hinata's routine of spending extra time on training. Yesterday, she had trained until late before returning.
Hinata nodded and said, "If I can't keep up with Kiba and the others, I'll only be a burden to everyone."
She glanced at Naruto, who seemed to have completely forgotten about what happened the night before and showed no sign of bringing it up. She couldn't help but pursed her lips, her thoughts in turmoil.
Sure enough, when the group set up camp again, Hinata quietly went off on her own to train.
Since this place is deep in the heart of the Land of Fire's forest, surrounded by towering trees, sleeping in the trees would be safer than setting up a tent. Lighting a fire in the old forest is not a good option, so the four of them can only make do with dry rations.
"We should reach our destination by midday tomorrow, so there's no need to rush." Shino said, crawling into his sleeping bag first.
At this time, sky was still not fully dark, and Kiba also got into his sleeping bag. From a distance, Shino and Kiba's sleeping bags looked like two bugs firmly attached to the tree trunk, neatly lined up together.
Naruto was not sleepy, so grabbed Kyubi by the scruff of his neck and went to find Hinata. After all, staying there would only make Akamaru and the insects uneasy all night.
In the forest.
Hinata fiercely struck out with her palm, sending a blast of wind, her hand surrounded by a fine layer of blue Chakra.
The Hyuga Clan's Shinobi excelled in close-quarters combat and mid-range attacks, using Chakra to form needles to pierce their enemies. As she was doing now, Hinata was practicing her air palm, honing her fundamental skills.
"Hinata." Naruto, holding Kyubi, landed in the clearing and walked up to her in a few steps.
"Naruto-kun, what are you doing here?"
Hinata stopped her air palm practice, suddenly realizing that she was only wearing a quick-drying fishnet training outfit for convenience. She immediately felt unsure of where to put her hands.
Noticing Hinata crossing her arms in front of her, Naruto awkwardly averted his gaze and said, "I came to check on you."
"Okay." Hinata lowered her head and said nothing more.
"Since I have nothing to do, why don't I train with you?"
"Ah, is that okay?" Hinata did not refuse. She always remembered not to be shy, and tried to ask in what she thought was a calm tone.
"Of course it's okay. I actually enjoy spending time with you, Hinata."
"Eh?" Hinata became flustered again, waving her hands in a panic, blurting out, "N-No way, people like me only cause trouble for others."
"Honestly, I'd really like to be bothered by you, Hinata."
"T-That kind of... that kind of thing…" Hinata's face turned even redder, "I'd feel useless if I did that."
"It's not like that." Naruto denied, "It's good to work hard, but don't put too much pressure on yourself all at once. Hinata, you're actually really strong, you just haven't had the chance to show it."
"But…" Hinata pursed her lips and didn't dare to look up.
"In any case, becoming strong is a long process, not something that happens overnight." Naruto said earnestly, though he was perhaps the least qualified to say such words, doing so without a hint of embarrassment.
This certain lazy individual with a system casually reached out, patting Hinata's head, taking full advantage of his recent growth spurt in height.
A few months ago, he had been the shortest among his peers and had harbored an almost pathological jealousy of anyone taller. Now, his mindset was finally stable, and he reveled in a shameless sense of satisfaction.
Naruto narrowed his eyes and smiled, "Before you become stronger, Hinata, I'd really like to know what it feels like to be relied on by you."
At these words, Hinata's mind went completely blank.
When she was a child, her father had criticized her for being weak and timid, not fit for any significant role, telling her that it was enough just to be someone who didn't cause trouble for others. So, she had grown increasingly timid, more and more afraid of fighting with others.
With someone she liked, she was even more timid, always feeling as though she was on the edge of a cliff, too scared to make any move toward closeness. She feared troubling others and didn't know how to deal with the consequences.
Even though the people around her were kind and repeatedly told her not to worry about bothering them, it wasn't the same. The more they reassured her, the more she wanted to prove herself.
'But now... the person I liked had just said he wanted to know what it felt like to be relied on by me.'
'Although it was embarrassing, somehow…'
"Ah…"
To her surprise, Hinata didn't blush. Instead, she smiled with her lips pressed together, though tears started to fall uncontrollably, like autumn leaves that couldn't be stopped.
"Are you crying?" Naruto's words ruined the atmosphere.
Fortunately, Hinata had already calmed down by then. At this moment, she was stimulated by his comment and her face turned red again. She quickly covered her flushed cheeks with her hands.
"Ah! I-I'm not, I just..."
"Then I'll give you a gift as an apology." Naruto suddenly said. Hinata couldn't keep up with his thoughts and, before she could react, found a kunai placed in her hand.
It was an ordinary kunai, but the handle had a special rune, as if it had been hastily carved not too long ago.
"This is?"
"It's just an ordinary kunai." Naruto explained, "The thing at the end is just for decoration. Anyway, you should keep it with you."
Naruto felt somewhat helpless. The system only gave him one Flying Thunder God Kunai, so if he wanted a second one, he'd have to make it himself. However, he wasn't very good at that sort of thing, so he had to settle for a makeshift version whenever he had time.
It could be used, but how many times it would work was another matter.
"Alright, thank you, Naruto-kun." Hinata carefully stored the kunai, placing it in the innermost layer of her ninja tool pouch.
"Um…" Hinata seemed to remember something, looking like she wanted to say something but hesitated.
"Just remember what I said earlier," Naruto said, "And don't cry anymore."
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章節 137: Chapter 137 Sly Fox, You're Good At Playing!
"What are those two brats doing over there, crying and laughing instead of obediently searching for the Bikochu?"
A voice sounded in the darkness, and three Shinobi, a woman and two men, revealed themselves from their camouflage in front of a tree trunk. The woman, Suzumebachi, frowned as she observed Hinata and Naruto from a distance.
Jibachi, the blonde-haired man with a face that looked like a scumbag, adjusted his glasses and sneered, "Probably playing Shinobi house."
The large, dark-skinned ninja, Kurobachi, clenched his fists and said, "Why don't we tie up those two pieces of trash and force the remaining two go find the Bikochu?"
"Let's wait a bit longer. Bikochu is crucial for the revival of our Kamizuru Clan. We must not let it fall into the hands of those little Konoha brats." Suzumebachi said.
"Also, one of the other two brats seems to be from the Aburame Clan."
"The Aburame Clan!" Kurobachi gritted his teeth and said, "If it weren't for them, our Kamizuru Clan wouldn't have declined to this point."
The weaselly-looking Jibachi smirked and said, "Which is why we can't let them off. But they're just a bunch of Genin. It won't be too late to torture them slowly after they find the Bikochu."
"However, we should still be cautious. The closer we get to them, the more agitated the bees we've summoned become." Suzumebachi added.
"Hehe, so that means we just need to keep an eye on that brat from the Aburame Clan." Jibachi said.
…
The next day.
Naruto and Team 8 arrived at the valley where Bikochu were located. It was a round, sunken basin that, when viewed from above, resembled the most primitive and dense forest.
The view was one of lush greenery, with towering trees and thick vines blocking out the sun. At first glance, the entire area looked like a giant natural insect terrarium, with shades of green overwhelming the landscape.
Standing on the edge of the cliff at the basin's rim, Naruto shaded his eyes from the harsh sunlight as he squinted into the distance.
The sunlight illuminated the center of the basin, and Naruto could almost see wisps of smoke rising from it. The forest in many places seemed unnaturally dense, as if wild green monsters were growing unchecked.
"Where the heck is this Bikochu?" Naruto complained, "If we have to search every inch, how long will it take to find them?"
"It's right down there." Shino said, standing on the edge of the cliff.
"Then what are you waiting for? Let's go down now." Kiba said, "The sooner we find it, the sooner we can go back. We've got a few tails following us, too."
They had long discovered the three Iwagakure's Shinobi with poor hiding skills, but in order not to disturb the habitat of the already endangered Bikochu, they decided to catch the insect first before dealing with their tails.
"Naruto, you should stay here." Shino suddenly said.
"Huh?" Hinata was the first to react.
"Bikochu is right below us, and it'll get scared off by Naruto's fox dog." Shino explained, pointing to the circular basin below, "Naruto, stay here while we go down and search for a while."
"If the three of us fail to find it, then Naruto will come down with the fox dog to flush out any insects hiding in the shadows, and we'll finish up together."
What Shino meant by 'finish up' was dealing with the three Shinobi following them. With four against three, they had the advantage.
"Fine by me. I'll just wait for you guys here." Naruto replied nonchalantly.
Watching the other three slowly descend the cliff, Naruto immediately pulled out his sleeping bag and, without a second thought, found a shady spot and crawled in.
Kyubi, on the other hand, was in a hurry.
"Brat, get the sake out before you sleep! I'm dying for a drink! Hurry up!"
"Tsk." Naruto glanced at Kyubi and said disdainfully, "Anyone who didn't know better would think you had a... sexually transmitted disease. There's no sake around this season, and doing missions is hard work, you know."
"You think I look like someone with money? I'm secretly in debt for tens of millions of ryo."
"Then make that woman pay off your debt!" Kyubi said without any hesitation, "Get some money and buy me some sake!"
"Living off a woman?" Naruto curled up in his blue sleeping bag like a wriggling worm, poking his head out to glare at Kurama and shouted excitedly, "What? Do you think I'm some kind of shameless freeloader?"
"… Aren't you?" Kyubi said hesitantly, "Your moral bottom line is the worst I have seen in the past hundreds of years..."
"Enough! Shut up! I don't want to hear it anymore!" Naruto cut him off.
"So, you're going to get me the sake?"
"No, I just don't want to hear you talk anymore. Go complain somewhere else." Naruto rolled over, "Besides, I work very hard every day. It's about time you pull your weight and contribute to the household!"
"Go to hell, brat!" Kyubi lunged at him and swung his claws.
"Kurama, you've crossed the line!" Naruto quickly rolled out of the way, jumping out of his sleeping bag and drawing the Kusanagi Sword!
"I've had enough of you, brat!" Kyubi bared his teeth, revealing rows of sharp fangs, "Today, I'm going to show you what a Biju really is!"
With that, Kyubi tilted his neck back, and a small Bijudama appeared directly in his throat!
In an instant, the cliffside was engulfed in a whirlwind of sand and stone. Half the cliff dimmed as an overwhelmingly terrifying aura filled the air.
At the foot of the cliff, the three members of Team 8 and the three Iwagakure's Shinobi that followed them all looked up towards the cliff in shock.
"Naruto is still up there." Hinata instinctively turned, already running dozens of meters before stopping herself and looking back at Shino.
"Let's go and take a look!" Shino made the decision almost instantly.
But just as quickly, everything returned to calm, as if nothing had happened.
"What's going on?" Kiba frowned deeply and was about to say something when he was stopped by Shino.
"Kiba, don't move! The Bikochu is right at your foot!"
The three of them stopped moving. They didn't know about the situation on the cliff. It seemed like just a minor incident. However, the disturbance had scared the Bikochu out of hiding, creating a situation where they had to choose between two options.
Hinata was the one closest to the cliff, and Shino immediately said, "Hinata, you go check on Naruto. Kiba and I will handle things here."
"Okay!"
On the cliff, Naruto snapped his fingers, and Kyubi's Bijudama suddenly vanished, while Kyubi instantly became weak and exhausted. Naruto lazily grabbed Kyubi, rubbing the Kusanagi Sword back and forth across his fur.
"What were you saying earlier? I told you to behave! So behave yourself!" Naruto quickly sheathed the Kusanagi Sword and gave Kurama a couple of solid knocks.
Kyubi, completely drained of energy, hung limply in Naruto's grasp like a defeated dog, his eyes filled with despair.
"I was wondering why you suddenly became an alcoholic. Turns out drinking helps you regain your strength. Sly Fox, you're good at playing!"
Naruto casually carried Kyubi towards the edge of the cliff. He wanted to see if anyone came up to check the situation. As he peeked over, he saw Hinata rushing toward him.
He was about to wave and signal that he was fine when he suddenly froze. At this time, Hinata was followed by a swarm of bees.
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