Ino froze. She looked up at me. She saw the concern in my blue eyes. She felt the warmth of the towel. She looked at the crater I had just made with a A-Rank jutsu.
For a moment, the image of the annoying prankster Naruto vanished, replaced by a powerful, considerate ninja who could destroy the ground and then gently dry you off.
A faint blush appeared on her cheeks, distinct from the anger.
"I..." Ino stammered, pulling the towel tight. "You... you idiot. Watch where you aim that thing."
But there was no venom in her voice.
"System Notification," the voice said. "Ino Yamanaka attraction level increased by five percent. She has now entered the 'Potential Target' list. The Rito Effect will now occasionally target her."
("Great,") I thought. ("Double the trouble.")
"Okay!" I clapped my hands. "Training is over! I think we established that I win."
"You almost killed us!" Shikamaru yelled, wringing out his shirt. "And you made things incredibly awkward with Hinata!"
Hinata was currently hiding behind a tree, fixing her clothes.
"Details, details," I dismissed him. "Who is hungry for BBQ? My treat. I came into some money recently."
Choji’s eyes lit up. "BBQ? You are paying? Naruto, you are my best friend!"
As we walked toward the BBQ restaurant, with Ino stealing glances at me and Hinata walking very carefully to avoid tripping, I checked my final tally.
Shy Points Balance: One Thousand Three Hundred. (1800 total - 500 for the towel).
I was getting stronger. I had the Rasengan. I had the beginnings of a harem. And I had a team of ninjas who were slowly becoming terrified of my ability to cause accidents.
But as I looked at Ino, who was now adjusting her wet skirt, I realized something terrifying.
If the System made Ino clumsy too... the level of chaos was going to double.
("I need more points,") I decided. ("If I am going to survive two clumsy kunoichi, I am going to need the Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu just to catch them all.")
The smell of grilling meat is usually the best smell in the world. It smells like victory, satisfaction, and clogged arteries. But as we walked into Yakiniku Q, the smell hit me with a different vibe. It smelled like danger.
I had invited Team Ten for a BBQ lunch to apologize for nearly drowning Ino Yamanaka with a Rasengan. It seemed like the right thing to do. Plus, my "Shy Points" balance was sitting comfortably at one thousand three hundred, and I felt like a tycoon.
"Table for five!" I announced to the waiter.
"Right this way," the waiter said, eyeing Ino.
Ino was still wrapped in the white fluffy towel I had summoned from the System store. Her clothes were damp underneath, making the towel necessary, but walking into a restaurant like that made it look like she had just come from a spa... or somewhere more private.
"Naruto," Shikamaru sighed, dragging his feet. "People are staring. This is troublesome."
"Let them stare," I said, puffing out my chest. "We are ninjas. We are eccentric."
We squeezed into a booth. The seating arrangement was a tactical nightmare. The booth was designed for four people comfortably, maybe five if they were skinny. We were not skinny; mostly because Choji Akimichi took up the space of two people.
Choji slid in first on one side. Shikamaru sat next to him. On the other side, Hinata sat by the wall, I sat in the middle, and Ino took the aisle seat, still clutching her towel.
"I will order!" Choji declared, grabbing the menu with the intensity of a general reviewing a battle plan. "Ten plates of salted tongue! Ten plates of kalbi! Five plates of loin! And vegetables... no, forget the vegetables. More meat!"
"Choji, take it easy," Shikamaru muttered. "Naruto is paying, but don't bankrupt him."
"It is fine!" I said, sweating slightly as I mentally checked the weight of my frog wallet, Gama-chan. "Eat up! I need to build up my energy."
"So," Ino said, turning to look at me. The towel slipped slightly off her shoulder, revealing damp skin. "Naruto. That technique you used earlier. The spinning blue ball. Who taught you that? It wasn't in the Academy curriculum."
"System," I thought. ("Is Ino currently a target?")
"Affirmative," the System replied. "Ino Yamanaka is tagged as a 'Potential Harem Member.' The restaurant environment has high 'Slippery' and 'Messy' coefficients. Probability of Rito Effect: Eighty percent."
("Eighty percent?! That is practically a guarantee!")
"I... uh... learned it from a scroll," I lied to Ino. "Self-study. You know how it is."
"Impressive," Ino murmured, leaning closer. "I always thought you were just a goofball. But maybe there is more to you."
Just then, the waiter arrived with a tower of raw meat plates. He placed a charcoal grill in the center of the table. The heat radiated instantly.
"Meat!" Choji roared.
He grabbed the tongs and began throwing slices of beef onto the grill. The fat hit the coals, sending up plumes of aromatic smoke.
"Warning," the System chimed. "Smoke Screen Detected. Visibility reduced. Misunderstanding potential increased."
"Hey, Asuma-sensei is late," Choji said, flipping a piece of meat. "He said he would stop by to pay... I mean, to say hi."
"He is probably with Kurenai-sensei," Ino smirked. "They have been 'discussing tactics' a lot lately."
As if summoned by the gossip, the door to the restaurant opened. Asuma Sarutobi, the bearded, cigarette-smoking leader of Team Ten, walked in. And walking right beside him was Kurenai Yuhi, the leader of Team Eight.
"Yo!" Asuma called out, waving a hand. "You guys started without us?"
"Sensei!" Ino stood up to greet him.
This was the mistake.
Ino was sitting on the aisle seat. The floor of a BBQ restaurant is naturally a bit greasy. As she stood up, the towel she was wrapped in got snagged on the edge of the wooden booth.
.....
...