Hinata Was Still Awake

The aroma of grilled fish slowly and steadily spread. Naruto took out a few simple seasonings from his backpack and sprinkled them evenly over all the grilled fish.

The Kakkō burned fiercely, and time flew by in the blink of an eye.

The water source was some distance from the tent, so everyone went to wash up. Shino Aburame a Mushishi, was particular about who she went into the water with; Kiba Inuzuka liked to wash with dogs; and Hinata had to train, so she would wash up a little later.

Naruto walked a short distance downstream, threw the Nine-Tails into the water, and tossed a bottle of sake in as well. He then stood on the bank with his arms crossed, watching the fox drink.

Under the moonlight.

"Are you serious?" Nine-Tails rose from the water, baring its teeth.

"Hurry up and drink, stop dawdling." Naruto said nonchalantly, tossing out several more bottles of alcohol and yawning. "I'm going to take a shower nearby. Call me when you're done."

Nine-Tails didn't reply. Instead, it gathered all the bottles on a rock, submerged itself in the water, and leaned against the rock to avoid the rushing current. Under the moonlight, the waterfall resembled a silver river, Nine-Tails, with its paws on the bottles, tilted its head back and chugged the bottles down.

Not long after, Naruto swam the completely drunk Nine-Tails in the water several times and carried it back to the vicinity of the tent, where he threw it next to the extinguished fire to dry.

Inside the tent.

"Afraid of me? Why?" Naruto asked, frowning as he looked at Akamaru and Shino Aburame, who were hiding far away.

"The bug is uneasy," Shino said, staring at the drunken Nine-Tails in the corner.

"Naruto, what exactly did you pick up?" Kiba Inuzuka said helplessly as he hugged Akamaru. "Akamaru is trembling with fear right now."

"What? It's just a regular Fox-dog." Under the bright yellow tent light, Naruto gently kicked the Nine-Tails, who was completely fast asleep. "Look at it, it's already like this, how scary can it be?"

"Anyway, let's wait for Hinata to come back first, and then ask her if she'd like to sleep next to you." Shino said with his hands in his pockets, "The fear that's a biological instinct is hard to overcome in a short time."

Akamaru huddled in Kiba Inuzuka's arms, gripping tightly with his claws, looking like he absolutely refused to let go.

Footsteps sounded outside the tent, Hinata lifted the tent flap and came in. She usually gave herself extra training to improve her strength.

"Ah, Hinata's back just in time." Kiba Inuzuka walked over and pointed to the spot next to Naruto, saying, "Hinata, you can sleep next to that guy."

"Ah!" Hinata's mental preparation crumbled instantly, her face flushed crimson, her whole body trembled, and her voice was weak, "Okay."

Kiba Inuzuka paused for a moment, not having heard clearly, and seemed to realize the ambiguity in his words. Just as he was about to explain, Shino spoke up.

"Both the insects and Akamaru are afraid of Naruto's Fox-dog, so we had to ask Hinata to sleep there."

Each person had their own sleeping bag, and the tent was spacious, so generally it didn't matter where they slept. However, even when the Nine-Tails was drunk, its oppressive power over lower-ranking animals remained formidable.

Hinata was so shy she couldn't speak. Naruto had already put on his bathrobe, squinted at the three people talking quietly and raised his voice.

"Actually, I could just throw this thing out and pick it up again in the morning, and it wouldn't notice."

As soon as the words were spoken, the tent fell silent. Shino, Kiba, and Hinata all focused their attention on Nine-Tails, who was lying in the corner of the tent.

Completely drunk, the Nine-Tails was unaware of its fate and rolled over into a deep sleep.

"Absolutely not!" Dog lover Kiba Inuzuka reacted vehemently, exclaiming, "It's your companion too! How can you treat your adopted dog like this!"

Shino didn't speak, but nodded slightly in agreement with Kiba Inuzuka's point of view.

In Team Eight, there is a Mushishi and a Trainer. Both families have been dealing with animals for generations, so their appreciation for pets is naturally higher than that of ordinary people.

"Alright, alright." Naruto chuckled, thanks to the two of them, the scumbag Nine-Tails avoided being thrown out.

"But Hinata will be shy, won't she?" He pointed at Hinata and said abruptly, "After all, unlike my partners who train with me every day, this is my first time with you guys."

"You bastard! Don't talk so disgustingly!" Kiba Inuzuka was disgusted and threatened, "If you dare to do anything to Hinata, I'll beat you up."

"Huh? Did you just speak? Your language skills, which are at a prenatal level, are completely incomprehensible."

"You!"

Seeing the two arguing, Shino took a step forward and said to Hinata.

"Hinata, are you sure you can do it?"

Hinata blushed deeply, her eyes lowered. She had already said it once but no one had heard her, and now she had to say it again...

"It's okay. If you're really embarrassed, I can sleep in that spot," Shino said, her voice devoid of any emotion.

"But would Kikaichū be unable to tolerate it?"

"Indeed, just sleeping in a tent makes the insects very uneasy," Shino said truthfully.

"If that's the case, I... I can do it." Hinata's eyes lowered further, and her voice grew softer. "I can't cause trouble for everyone."

Shino didn't speak, unsure of what to say. The Hinata family's motto of not causing trouble for others was deeply ingrained, so he could only nod.

The tent gradually quieted down, and the four people lay in a row in their sleeping bags.

Naruto was sleeping on the far left, next to Hinata, then Kiba, who was holding the trembling Akamaru in his arms, and on the far right was Shino Aburame.

Perhaps because Kikaichū are more sensitive than dogs, the Kikaichū inside Shino were extremely restless. The culprit, Nine-Tails, was fast asleep, lying in the left corner of the tent.

In the middle of the night, Hinata was so nervous that she couldn't sleep at all, opened her eyes and breathed heavily. She felt a burning sensation on the left side of her face, as if it were being roasted over a fire.

For no apparent reason, I thought of the campfire, the grilled fish, and the embarrassing thing that happened the day before yesterday.

Ino and her mother actually witnessed that kind of thing. Although I was so nervous at the time that I didn't realize it, I was still so embarrassed that I couldn't sleep all night after I got home and crawled into bed.

Thinking back on that feeling now, um...

Hinata blushed again.

She instinctively shook her head violently, trying to calm herself down. Just then, Hinata caught a glimpse of Naruto out of the corner of her eye; he seemed to have been watching her the whole time.

Naruto was half asleep when he opened his eyes and saw Hinata wandering around. He stared at her for a while.

Hinata's body stiffened instantly. She turned her head and stared at Naruto. A wave of unprecedented sorrow washed over her, as if her whole body had softened.

Her heart was pounding, and the dim environment made her feel both ashamed and nervous, as if she were about to burst into flames.

Although Naruto didn't say anything, he just looked at her, but Hinata felt as if she could hear his voice echoing in her ears.

"This is also part of the training."

Hinata's mind was in complete chaos, and her face was burning so badly she almost fainted.