After specifically thanking Naruto, and then thanking Kakashi as well, Hinata went back.
Her departing figure was light and buoyant, her happiness practically visible.
Watching her leave, Naruto thought, She's so cute. If I punched her once, she'd definitely cry for ages, right?
The moment that thought surfaced, he froze. It seemed no one else in this world could understand that joke anymore.
"Ah~" Naruto suddenly sighed.
Seeing him sigh out of nowhere, Sasuke shot him a strange sideways glance. "Hey, what's wrong now? Her injuries are healed. Aren't you happy?"
"You wouldn't understand."
With someone responding to him, Naruto's inner drama king took over. He wore an expression of anguish at being misunderstood by the entire world and wailed, "There's no going back. We can never go back."
Sasuke nearly rolled his eyes at the theatrics. Using a new phrase he had learned from Naruto, he mercilessly mocked, "Bitches be dramatic!"
Naruto looked up at Sasuke's pretty face and seemed to think of something. He suddenly laughed. "Old Pig, if only you were a girl."
Again with that "Old Pig" nickname. Sasuke did not understand what Naruto was implying, but it definitely did not sound like anything good.
In the end, he could not help asking curiously, "Why?"
"Then if I punched you, you'd definitely go 'waaah' and cry for ages."
"Heh." Seeing that Naruto could not say anything decent, Sasuke decisively turned to watch the arena.
Sakura gave Naruto a resentful look and let out a similar "Heh."
If Sasuke were a girl, then where would that leave me, Sakura Haruno?
The matches continued as usual.
Next up was Lee, with his watermelon haircut, thick eyebrows, and skintight jumpsuit.
His opponent was the unlucky Choji.
When Choji saw who he had drawn, his face fell. Even the chips