Hmm…
As her father’s darling girl, the apple of his eye, Ino had clearly done something to displease Mr.
Yamanaka.
Thinking that far, Yuuga’s eyelid twitched, and he decided not to pay a visit to the Yamanaka house any time soon.
It would be hazardous to his health.
“Ino, thanks.” Yuuga held the plain, elegant lunch box in one hand and shook it at her in thanks.
Without her he really would have gone hungry, and having food was the best thing there was.
Ino rolled her eyes at him, tied the bundle back up and said, “Let’s go, we’ll find somewhere quiet on campus to sit down and eat.
What are we standing around here for?
Barbecue’s great in the moment.
That’s what you get for showing off yesterday.
Well…
though I enjoyed it too.”
“How could you not?” He gave her stomach a look of open distaste and clicked his tongue twice.
“Don’t tell me you stuffed yourself so full you were too embarrassed to wear your midriff top today.”
Ino’s face went flat.
“Would it kill you to keep your mouth shut?”
Today was the school festival, the biggest day of the year for the Academy.
Students, teachers and everyone else were busy, moving all over the grounds, and the whole campus had a lively air to it.
Since arriving in this world Yuuga had put together a few sets of ordinary clothes, most of them black everyday wear.
To suit the occasion he had wrapped bandages around his legs and changed into a black and white ninja outfit, which looked clean and steady.
The festival had not started yet.
The boys were busy hauling things out of the classrooms to their stalls around the campus, the girls were helping, and there was sweet flower tea being handed out.
Yuuga followed Ino to a quieter spot and opened the lunch box.
He picked up a rice ball with his hand and put it in his mouth, and the moment he bit down a faint floral scent mixed with the savor of fish spread across his tongue.
The rice ball was still warm, the rice sweet and sticky, and he let out a satisfied noise.
“Mm.
That’s good.”
“Of course it is, Mom made it, and it’s Dad’s favorite kind.
If it’s good then hurry up and eat.” Ino sat on the wooden bench with the lunch box set aside, sounding bored.
“It’s so dull being with you.
I want to go see Sasuke, he’s so cool.”
Yuuga swallowed his mouthful with some resentment and cursed Sasuke silently.
The kid really had ruined thousands of girls.
A man with the protagonist’s halo could pull in the ladies, no question.
Once he had finished breakfast, Ino packed the lunch box away and took off with the bundle in her arms, calling back as she ran, “Yuuga, remember to come eat lunch with me at noon.
If you forget you’ll go hungry.
Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
Bye!”
“Yes, yes, off you go, Miss Ino, I won’t see you out.
Good luck at the school festival.” Yuuga waved her off.
Breakfast had put a lot of life back into him.
He checked the Game Perspective, saw that the light point was still some distance away, and headed toward it.
When Yuuga got near the light point, it turned out to be an office.
He had barely reached the door when the System’s chime came through.
[Ding!
Quest triggered: Campus Patrol.
Assist Iruka with the campus safety patrol!]
So it was guard work.
Yuuga had a rough idea now, so he knocked twice on the door of Iruka’s office and said loudly, “Iruka-sensei, it’s Yuuga.
May I come in?”
“Come in.”
Yuuga pushed the door open and saw Iruka bent over his desk writing with his brows drawn together, in the standard ninja outfit Konoha issued, looking a few degrees more serious than usual.
At the sound of the door Iruka set down his pen and looked up at Yuuga coming in, with no trace of surprise.
“Are you here about the school festival, Yuuga?”
“Huh?
How did you know?” Yuuga rubbed his head and looked at Iruka, a little embarrassed.
Iruka shrugged, wearing a “see, I called it” expression.
“Nobody’s seen you in over a month.
I figured you’d been shut up at home long enough and would come out to take a job.”
“I ran into Ino, Shikamaru and Choji yesterday and we ate together.
Ino told me you had work here and said I should come sign up.
I should have gone to your house yesterday, but something came up and I didn’t make it.
So I came today to try my luck and see if I could still get the job.”
Yuuga rubbed his neck as he said it.
Signing up was normally done in advance, but he had gotten too caught up talking with the bookstore owner yesterday and it had slipped his mind.
“It’s fine, we haven’t filled the spots yet.” Iruka did not seem to mind.
“Here’s the situation.
The school festival is a school-wide event with nearly 600 students, and the principal is worried about accidents, so he had me find people to patrol.
If I remember right, you’re at genin level now, so breaking up scuffles between kids shouldn’t be a problem.
Can you take charge of walking around the school later?”
“No problem.
I’ll keep order properly for you, Iruka-sensei.” Yuuga nodded and accepted.
Just keeping order was simple enough for him.
He already had genin strength, and as long as he didn’t run into someone above genin causing trouble he could handle it.
Besides, any student at the Academy who reached genin level would have graduated long ago.
This job really counted as a freebie.
“Right, as for pay, I’m giving everyone else eight thousand ryo for the day.
For you, how about ten thousand?” Iruka thought for a moment and held up a “1” at Yuuga.
“Iruka-sensei, you’re amazing.
Thank you so much.”
Hearing that, Yuuga showed no embarrassment at all.
His eyes lit up and he laid the flattery on thick, because two thousand ryo bought a lot of instant noodles.
Konoha’s missions had five tiers: S-rank, A-rank, B-rank, C-rank and D-rank.
D-rank was the simplest, with basically no fighting involved, and even an ordinary person could take one.
Looking after pets, helping dig up taro, finding lost items, that sort of thing, with a commission of around 1,000 to 50,000 ryo, so the pay Iruka was offering was high.
As for the higher-ranked missions, the pay was better, but Yuuga had neither the inclination nor the ability to touch them for now.
Genin were like college students, they were everywhere.
He had no wish to go out on one mission and drop dead.
“All right, go on and get to work.
Good luck, and come find me in the office after the school festival ends.
I’ll settle up with you then.” Iruka clapped Yuuga on the shoulder.
“Don’t worry, the heavy duty of keeping the campus safe is in my hands.”
Out the door of Iruka’s office, Yuuga stretched first, then strolled out of the building at his leisure to wander around the campus, determined that not one violent incident would occur on the entire grounds.