Gone

With heavy rain approaching, Naruto couldn't find his tent.

"Didn't bring it?" Konohamaru clutched his head, his face filled with shock. "Naruto- nii, what are you saying?!"

"Where's my tent? Where's my tent?"

"What, your tent?" Naruto picked up Konohamaru, who was rushing towards him, and said lazily, "Maybe he remembered wrong, or maybe he didn't bring it at all."

"Then we'll get rained on," Udon said honestly.

"Are we really going to get rained on?" Moegi looked worried. "It was sunny in the village during the day. I should have brought a tent this morning."

Konohamaru was still struggling desperately, while Naruto squinted at the sky and said, "The mountains and forests are rainy, and these things can't be completely predicted."

"Anyway, let's find a place to take shelter from the rain first."

Another clap of thunder sounded, Moegi screamed, collapsing to the ground in terror.

"Moegi, get up! We need to find somewhere to shelter from the rain!" Konohamaru, who was being lifted into the air, kicked his leg and urged Moegi.

"No! Thunder is scary!"

Udon, who was standing nearby, also walked up to Moegi and advised, "Moegi, don't be stubborn, the downpour is coming soon."

Naruto remained completely unhurried, shuffling his slippers on the floor before casually setting Konohamaru down. He glanced at the three children in disarray and spoke calmly.

"If you keep making a scene like this, I'm going to have to prepare to leave work."

Inside the tent.

The six children from the Ninja Academy huddled at the innermost part of the tent, while Ino and Hinata sat on the outer side of the tent, heads bowed, one on each side, creating a somewhat somber atmosphere.

"Um," Ino spoke first, "This can also be considered a test."

"Huh? What?" Hinata was lost in thought Hinata Ino suddenly spoke, startling her and leaving her momentarily flustered.

"Sorry, I was just spacing out," Hinata apologized softly.

"There's no need to apologize for that, it's okay." Ino felt a little embarrassed, as if she had scared her, but she couldn't help but overthink things.

Hinata was probably worried about that guy, that's why she was distracted. Damn it.

Why do I feel a little jealous?

Why should anyone care about that guy? I'm not worried about him at all. That kind of scum deserves to be rained on. He might as well be struck by lightning.

All he does is take advantage of young girls all day long, and he's so shameless.

"What does Ino mean by 'exam'?" Hinata asked gently, a smile already appearing on her face before she looked up. "Are you referring to the results of this exercise?"

"Yes, it shouldn't just be about having us lead these kids in a drill." Ino glanced at the dark sky outside and analyzed seriously.

"Hinata must have encountered traps and bandits disguised as Ninja Academy teachers on her journey, right?"

"Yes, we encountered them on the way, but we made it through without any problems." Hinata nodded, pursed her lips, thought for a moment, and then lowered her head to say, "It wasn't too difficult."

"The difficulty isn't high, but if you're not prepared beforehand, it'll probably be a complete mess. And those unexpected situations are what really show Genin's ability to lead a team."

"So I think this should be linked to the daily assessments of Genin, and used as an assessment criterion for promotion to Chunin," Ino said methodically.

"If that's the case, arriving on time is considered acceptable, right?" Hinata asked.

"Yes, so we'll start our journey as soon as the rain stops," Ino said without reservation. "The rain in the mountains is heavy and fast, it won't last long."

"Thank you, Ino," Hinata said earnestly.

"No need to be so polite." Ino smiled, then glanced outside the tent. "You don't need to worry about that guy either; he'll get there smoothly even if he comes with us."

"I wasn't worried about Naruto." Hinata's face flushed.

Ino: "."

"But that bastard doesn't seem to care about the Chunin Ninja Exams at all. Knowing his personality, he probably wouldn't care even if he found out. He just wants to finish as soon as possible and go home to sleep."

"Naruto wasn't like this before." Hinata looked up, her face slightly flushed. "He used to be very proactive, but then something happened and he became like this."

"I hadn't paid much attention before." Ino frowned. "Anyway, that guy became really annoying starting a few days before graduation. But Hinata, you should have known him for a long time, right?"

"Um."

"Hinata," Ino suddenly called out to her.

"What's wrong?"

Hinata looked at Ino, her eyes reflecting a calm light, but Ino's words disrupted her composure the next moment.

"Do you think that guy's previous personality was better, or his current lazy personality?" Ino asked casually, but she wasn't just asking about his personality.

His gaze swept over Hinata, then paused.

Everyone faces this dilemma: do you like a person or just their personality? People change. Take a celebrity whose career collapses; the aura that once surrounded them vanishes. When they seem like a completely different person, it's understandable that fans quickly unfollow them.

Because of the change in personality, it's no different from becoming a completely different person; only the physical appearance and memories remain the same.

Hinata was silent for a moment, then lowered her gaze, curled up, hugged her legs, and mumbled something.

"Should."

The tent was eerily quiet. Six children huddled inside, holding their breath as they listened to the conversation of the two older girls at the door. Thunder rumbled, and the mountain wind swept through the forest.

A little girl lowered her voice and whispered.

"I think our older sister seems to like that blond older brother."

"No, it's another older sister."

"But they're all talking about that person, could it be..."

"How could that be? That kind of thing can't happen. Adults wouldn't do that!"

With a loud crash, the torrential rain poured down, pounding against the tent with a rattling sound. The six children exclaimed in unison, "Wow!" and listened intently, finding everything novel and fascinating.

Hinata's thoughts were interrupted by the sudden downpour, and for a moment she didn't know what to say.

Suddenly, they heard hurried footsteps outside the tent. Hinata and Ino looked out and saw a blurry figure rapidly approaching the tent.

What is that?

"It looks like a person."

Ino was also a little unsure. Although it was only afternoon, visibility in the old forest was already low, and with the heavy rain approaching, the area outside the tent was basically shrouded in gray.

The dark figure, soaking wet, was outside the tent with its lights on. Before the person had even stopped, their voices were already audible.

"We don't have a tent, let's take her in."

As she spoke, the figure bent down and shoved someone inside. Ino recognized Moegi by the light. Without asking any questions, she and Hinata helped Moegi inside.

The tent, which wasn't too crowded before, suddenly became cramped with Moegi's arrival. Naruto was bent over, holding onto the outside of the tent, and his whole body was soaked.

"Where are the other two?" Ino asked, referring to Konohamaru and Udon.

"Naruto, let those two come over too," Hinata said.

"No need." Naruto refused the two directly, his dark blue eyes fixed on Moegi, who was still sobbing. "The two of them will come with me to find a cave to take shelter from the rain."

Upon hearing this, Moegi paused for a moment.

"How can that be? What if you get wet?" Hinata asked with some concern.

"Of course you can." Naruto said coldly. Hinata was slightly surprised and looked up at Naruto, only to find that his gaze was fixed on Moegi.

"Moegi." His eyes were cold, and his voice was as calm as still water. "A ninja who can only cry is useless. I'm taking Konohamaru and Udon with me."

"It's fine if they get soaked in the rain, I won't send them over. They'll have to clean up your mess. You go with these two older sisters, we can talk after the exercise is over."

Through the tent, Ino looked up at Naruto, who was soaking wet, and saw the tent, Moegi, herself, and Hinata's faces reflected in his calm eyes.

After saying that, Naruto left.

Moegi couldn't hold back and burst into tears.

Hinata and Ino exchanged a glance, then quickly looked away. Hinata suddenly felt that Ino's question was rather sharp, so sharp that she could no longer numb herself and ignore her true feelings.

Was it the person she liked, or his personality? That one glance outside the tent just now confirmed her Naruto would never return to his former self; that forever warm and bright person was gone.

She realized she couldn't avoid the question, even if she could cleverly evade it and use some clever tricks to pretend she didn't understand. But when the night was deep and quiet, and no one was around...

Those thoughts would creep up the edge of the bed, relentlessly questioning her, leaving her nowhere to escape.