Hearing Hinata’s sudden words, Akali, who was still in Hinata’s arms and lightly sniffing the faint scent of daisies on her, froze.
Akali raised her head again and looked into Hinata’s earnest eyes: “Huh?”
“What do you mean ‘huh’?” Seeing Akali’s dazed expression, Hinata, who had just realized she had been impulsive, felt her cheeks flush, and the shyness she often experienced crept back into her heart.
But the old saying goes, if I’m not embarrassed, then everyone else is.
The original Hinata didn’t understand this principle, but the current her seemed to have figured it out without being taught.
Therefore, bracing herself against the shyness welling up in her heart that made her want to cover her face and run away, Hinata said quietly:
“You… you were the one who said you wanted to be… to be kept by me.”
The first step is always the hardest, but once she started, Hinata spoke more and more fluently:
“So, name your price. If my allowance isn’t enough, I’ll borrow from Hanabi. If even adding Hanabi’s isn’t enough, I’ll beg Father!”
“If Father still won’t give it to me, I’ll make a scene!”
“But still, I am the eldest daughter of the Main Branch, and Akali is so amazing—you even defeated Sasuke—you are the greatest genius of our generation, so Father will definitely agree!”
As she spoke, Hinata was surprised to find that if she really wanted to ‘keep’ Akali, there was actually a possibility of it working.
And while she called it ‘keeping,’ it was actually ‘nurturing.’
After all, Akali is also a girl; she wouldn’t be able to marry into the family, which would naturally lower her father’s hostility.
And it’s only because the Hyuga joined Konoha in recent years.
If this were the Sengoku era, the Hyuga would have had the custom of keeping retainers.
Akali is such a genius; this would just be funding a genius in advance.
For a Ninja clan, this counts as a normal investment.
And while you might say investing in a genius and poaching people over the Hokage’s head is a bit taboo…
…Hinata and Akali are friends!
Forget about investment; what’s wrong with a young lady helping a friend?
Enthusiastically, Hinata grabbed Akali’s hand in return: “How about this—let’s put the spa, hot springs, and everything else on hold for a while, and you come home with me to meet Father first?”
“Uh, this…”
Akali didn’t answer, but instead tried to pull her hand away from Hinata’s grip.
Then Akali understood.
Hinata was genuinely serious; right now, her grip on Akali’s hand was like an iron clamp, fully displaying the palm strength trained through Gentle Fist.
Sensing Hinata’s attitude, Akali didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
Seriously, sister, I was joking!
And that’s the problem.
Right now, Akali really couldn’t just laugh and say to Hinata, ‘Bro, I was joking.’
That would be too awkward, unless Akali wanted to throw away the relationship she had accidentally built with Hinata.
At the same time, Akali couldn’t agree either.
She was a free bird; she couldn’t voluntarily enter a cage.
So, Akali took a careful look at Hinata.
Although Hinata was gripping her hand tightly and her gaze didn’t waver, deep within those eyes—where even the pupils were pure white—Akali saw a trace of deeply hidden shyness.
Akali understood.
Hinata had also acted on impulse and just couldn’t back down.
So, Akali rubbed her chin and feigned deep contemplation:
“Isn’t it a bit too early to meet the parents!”
Hinata was stunned, and then her pretty face instantly flushed, and even her earlobes turned completely red!
“Akali!”
Realizing what she meant, a shy and angry Hinata slapped Akali.
The slap wasn’t heavy; in fact, one could say it was soft.
Combined with the softness of Hinata’s palm, it only gave the comfortable sensation of being lightly brushed by a soft feather.
“Hahaha!” Akali let out a crisp laugh at the success of her prank.
Seeing Akali like this, Hinata could only pout and roll her eyes at her, chiding coquettishly:
“I wanted to give you money, but you didn’t want it. In that case, just hold onto your two thousand ryo and starve to death!”
Of course, despite saying that, both Akali and Hinata knew that Hinata wouldn’t really let Akali starve to death.
Therefore, after their emotions had calmed down, Hinata took the initiative to speak.
“Let’s go. We’ve already spent too long at the school!”
The two walked out of the school, preparing to head to the Hyuga shop.
However, it seemed like Akali wouldn’t get her way today.
Naruto and Sasuke, Naruto and Sasuke—after Sasuke left, Naruto came!
Or rather, he hadn’t left at all!
Ever since Iruka announced the end of school, Naruto had been waiting at the school gate.
“Akali, you’re finally out! What did Iruka say to you? Why did it take so long?”
At the same time, Naruto also saw Hinata beside Akali, but his impression of Hinata was just that of an ordinary, shy female classmate.
So, Naruto just nodded at Hinata to acknowledge her.
Then he looked at Akali expectantly: “The graduation exam starts in a month. Akali, what’s our plan for this month?”
Ever since he agreed to Akali’s grand film project, Naruto had been looking forward to how Akali would lead him to become stronger.
It just so happened that Iruka announced the exam time and also announced that this month would be free for them to arrange.
Wasn’t this the time for him to overtake the others?
Naruto couldn’t wait!
But clearly, Naruto didn’t see the pain on Akali’s face.
She was so stupid, really.
How could she have forgotten that there was still Naruto here?
But since things had come to this, Akali had no choice but to repeat what she had said to Sasuke:
“The plan is to rest today, and then meet at Training Ground 23 tomorrow morning at 9 o’clock.”
“As for exactly what we’ll do, can we talk about that tomorrow?”
“Okay!” Naruto nodded.
Having been trained by Akali for a while, he was much more obedient than Sasuke.
So, he didn’t ask further.
He glanced at Hinata beside Akali, guessed that Akali might still have things to do, and left directly!
“Heh!” Such an understanding Naruto made Akali’s mood improve temporarily.
Well, temporarily.
Because sometimes, fate just loves to tease people.
After Akali dismissed Naruto and turned to look at Hinata, she suddenly discovered that Hinata wasn’t looking at Naruto, but was looking in a certain direction with an unhappy expression.
Following Hinata’s gaze, Akali looked over curiously.
Beside a telephone pole, a nondescript middle-aged Hyuga Ninja was standing there quietly, watching their side.
Facing Hinata’s gaze, the Hyuga Ninja, who was clearly from the Branch Family, had a respectful expression.
But just looking at his straight back, it was obvious that such respect was only on the surface.
What the arrival of such an uninvited guest meant went without saying!