"Wait, Shikamaru!"
Her eyes flashing, Ino Yamanaka spotted the door plaque bearing Yukina's name. She suddenly took a quick step forward, grabbed Shikamaru Nara by the foot, and blurted out as she tugged him to a stop before the door.
"What is it, Ino?"
Shikamaru Nara turned around in confusion and looked at Ino Yamanaka, who had suddenly grabbed him.
"Yeah, what is it, Ino?"
At the same time, Akimichi Choji, who had also stopped, looked at Ino Yamanaka with a puzzled expression and asked.
"This Hyuga Yukina—since her name was carved on the Monument of Spirits, she was a hero, right?"
Ino Yamanaka kept looking at the plaque as she spoke, asking something seemingly unrelated.
"Yeah. If her name was carved on the Monument of Spirits, she must have made major contributions to the village. And her era coincided with the Third Great Ninja War, so she was most likely one of the village's heroes."
Shikamaru Nara paused slightly. After exchanging a glance with Akimichi Choji, he answered, somewhat bewildered.
Clearly, neither of them knew why Ino Yamanaka had suddenly stopped them and asked such a question.
There didn't seem to be anything relevant about whether Hyuga Yukina had been a hero or not.
As he spoke, Shikamaru Nara exchanged another look with Akimichi Choji, both of them equally lost.
"Then, if she was a hero, wouldn't it be a little inappropriate for us to barge into her room like this?"
Still looking at the plaque without turning around, Ino Yamanaka spoke.
Inappropriate? Shikamaru Nara and Akimichi Choji both froze at those words.
"As a girl, I wouldn't really like something like that."
Just as the two paused in surprise, Ino Yamanaka suddenly turned around and gave them a toothy smile.
Yet somehow, her face seemed tinged with sorrow.