Chapter 41 — Companionship Is the Longest-Lasting Confession of Love (Patreon)

An hour later.

On the Ninja Academy training ground, students from each grade and class had been separated into small groups and gathered in neat formations.

Class 1-A.

“School will be closed for a week. Remember to come back to class after the holiday.”

Iruka stood at the front of the group and announced the week-long break.

“Yes!”

“Got it.”

“Remembered.”

The responses were scattered and half-hearted. Iruka didn't get angry. This was hardly the time for that.

“Alright, dismissed!”

As soon as he gave the order, the students scattered in all directions.

The Ninja Academy had only just reopened, yet before they knew it, they were already being given a week-long holiday.

Outside the academy gates—which had effectively become the gathering point by now—a large number of parents were already waiting anxiously.

Parents from the various ninja clans were also standing around, nervously waiting for their children.

The parents of the first-year students, however, were as calm as could be.

They had already heard from the teachers who were maintaining the cordon outside the academy that the first-year students had been in the auditorium when the incident occurred, and the Hokage himself had been there at the time.

With so many ANBU present, all the new students had made it out safely.

As for the students from the other grades, those who had reacted quickly had simply jumped from the second or third floors.

For students in the second grade and above, jumping down from a height of ten or so meters was already hardly a problem.

The academy grounds were also relatively spacious, with the buildings spread far apart, so those who managed to jump down successfully had suffered no serious injuries.

However, some classes had apparently reacted too slowly, and a portion of their students had died.

That was why many parents of the older students were extremely worried.

Before long, students gradually began emerging from the academy.

Some parents burst into tears of joy upon seeing their children!

Those who couldn't find their children, however, broke down in grief.

Naruto and Hinata slowly made their way toward the “gate.”

After glancing around, they immediately noticed Uchiha Izumi standing to one side.

There were also quite a few parents from the ninja clans of their class.

What Naruto hadn't expected was that even Hiashi Hyuga had personally come.

Hiashi also noticed Hinata walking together with Naruto.

Far from being displeased, he gave Naruto a friendly nod.

After all, they could practically be considered comrades now.

If it weren't for Naruto, his daughter might have been sent to Kumogakure by Konoha.

There was simply no way Hiashi could bring himself to dislike Naruto.

Did he know that Naruto and Hinata had slept together back then?

Yes!

Did he know that Hinata had spent more than half an hour changing clothes before leaving that morning?

Yes!

So he had already guessed that once Hinata came to the academy, the two little brats would inevitably end up together again.

He had long since mentally prepared himself for it.

The Fourth Hokage's son would eventually have his identity revealed, and Naruto was more than worthy of becoming part of the Hyuga clan.

Besides, Naruto was currently all alone.

If the time came, having him marry into the Hyuga family probably wouldn't be a problem either.

Forget it.

He would simply let the children's relationship develop naturally.

Putting those thoughts aside, Hiashi walked over.

“Uncle Hiashi.”

A genuine smile appeared on Naruto's face.

After all, this was his future father-in-law. Naturally, his smile was sincere.

“Father.”

Hinata, on the other hand, felt a little guilty.

She lowered her head and walked over to Hiashi.

She had no idea that her father had already gone as far as thinking about having Naruto marry into the Hyuga family.

She was still worried that her father might forbid her from interacting with Naruto.

Hiashi nodded, then turned toward Naruto.

“It's time for me to take Hinata home.”

“Alright. Take care on the way home, Uncle Hiashi. See you later, Hinata!”

Naruto politely bid them farewell.

Hinata secretly turned her head and waved at Naruto, not daring to say a word.

Meanwhile, seeing Hiashi leave, Uchiha Izumi was just about to walk over when she suddenly stopped again.

A little girl wearing clothes embroidered with the Yamanaka clan crest suddenly ran over to Naruto.

Behind her, a pink-haired girl with a ridiculously large forehead kept making encouraging gestures.

“Uzumaki Naruto, my name is Yamanaka Ino. Can we be friends?”

Ino boldly ran over and extended her hand.

She looked courageous on the surface, but the nervous expression on her face and the worry hidden deep in her eyes betrayed her true feelings.

“Sure. You can just call me Naruto.”

Naruto smiled and gently shook Ino's hand.

There was no way he could refuse when a little girl was asking to be his friend.

From a distance, Sakura saw Naruto shake Ino's hand and excitedly shouted,

“Yeah~!”

Ino's already-red face immediately became even redder.

“Mm, Naruto. You can call me Ino too. See you next week.”

After saying that, Ino hurriedly ran back to Sakura.

Sakura looked at her with an expression of exasperation.

“Ino, why didn't you take the opportunity to get closer to him? Didn't your parents have something to take care of and couldn't come? You could've asked Naruto to walk home with you!”

Ino had already used up every ounce of courage she possessed just by taking the initiative to ask Naruto to be friends.

How could she possibly dare to continue talking to him?

Of course, she couldn't admit that.

That would be way too embarrassing!

“Sakura, what do you know? If you become too clingy right after meeting a boy, he'll end up disliking you.”

“I did it perfectly. I became his friend and then left, leaving a deep impression on him without giving him the chance to know anything about me. That leaves room for his imagination.”

“Then he'll become curious about me. He'll wonder why I wanted to be friends with him, what kind of person I am, what I like, what we'll talk about the next time we meet, and what that meeting will be like.”

“Before he knows it, he'll be eagerly looking forward to seeing me again!”

She made it all up on the spot, yet somehow managed to make every word sound convincing.

“Wow~! Ino, you're amazing! How do you know so much?”

Sakura was completely stunned.

Her face was full of admiration.

She didn't understand any of it, but somehow, it sounded incredibly profound!

……

Meanwhile.

“Pfft!”

Uchiha Izumi, who had just walked over to Naruto, couldn't help bursting into laughter.

“Naruto, are all the girls in your class this dramatic?”

Ino and Sakura hadn't been speaking very loudly.

But with Izumi's strength already at the level of a jonin, a distance of several dozen meters meant nothing to her.

As long as she wanted to listen, she could hear every word perfectly.

Naruto merely smiled without saying anything.

Izumi wasn't about to let him off that easily.

Instead, she began teasing him.

“Well, well, Naruto-sama! You haven't even been here for half a day, and you've already managed to pick up two little girls!”

“How could they possibly compare to you, Izumi-chan? Come on, let's go home.”

As he spoke, Naruto took Uchiha Izumi's hand and began walking home with her.

Although Izumi was always nagging him, and Naruto often wore an annoyed expression around her, that didn't mean he actually disliked her.

He only acted that way because Izumi always treated him like a little child.

That was what really annoyed him.

Perhaps things would change once Naruto officially grew up.

As for the other girls, none of them could compare to Izumi.

Neither Ino nor Hinata.

To put it bluntly, Naruto was simply attracted to them physically at the moment.

He was being honest about it.

There were also some lingering feelings from his previous life mixed into the equation.

Perhaps after experiencing certain things together in the future, those feelings might undergo a qualitative change and develop into genuine affection.

But at this stage, there wasn't much emotional attachment.

Izumi was different.

They had been together day after day, morning and night.

Naruto had already grown accustomed to having Uchiha Izumi by his side.

If one day Izumi suddenly wasn't there anymore, he would definitely feel extremely uncomfortable.

After all...

Isn't companionship the longest-lasting confession of love?