Elsewhere, in the camp's office.
This girl was beyond saving! Kakashi set down the document in his hand, gently rolled up the document scroll, and placed it beside the desk. Then he looked at Yukina, sitting in front of him with a bowl in her hands, grinning foolishly, and could not help shaking his head, his eyes filled with helplessness.
An hour and a half had passed since Chiba left. An hour and a half had passed since Chiba ladled out the pot of wild pheasant soup now sitting on Yukina's desk before leaving and told her to drink it.
The girl from the Hyuga Clan had remained like this the entire time.
The smile at the corners of her lips, one she wanted to suppress but simply could not, had remained there until now.
She had sat there without saying a word or taking a single sip. She had not even noticed when the soup went cold, foolishly smiling for an hour and a half.
Still, speaking of which, it really was...
Once Chiba caught on, his offensive was truly fierce. He had gone straight to stewing soup to nourish her body.
Usually, no one could tell, but that dull-witted fellow had actually come up with something like this and utterly bewitched the girl.
As the helplessness crossed his face, this thought flashed through Kakashi's mind.
What came to mind was what had happened after he and Yukina sent all the students without missions back to the village at nightfall and returned.
When they opened the door, a rich fragrance had rushed at them. They had both been busy all day, and their stomachs had nearly started growling. Looking closely, they saw Chiba sitting on the threshold of another doorway. Somehow, he had made a fire and set a