Hinata Was So Shy She Passed Out, Changes in the Course of Fate

"Naruto, where's your Bento?"

"I didn't bring one. My home isn't far from here, so I'll go back to eat."

Naruto stood up.

He politely declined the Bento invitation from the Ino-Shika-Cho trio.

"I've been trying to lose weight lately. You can have mine."

"You don't need to lose weight. You're still growing, so you can't skip meals."

With a smile, Naruto declined Ino's offer and walked out of the classroom.

Hinata opened her own Bento. With her head lowered, she seemed to be thinking about something, her face still flushed red in an adorable way.

"Come on, he's already gone. Even if you wanted him to eat your Bento, you don't have the chance now."

Ino instantly burst out laughing at Hinata's reaction.

"I... I didn't... I'm not..."

"Don't be nervous. Naruto's already out of the classroom."

"Mm, I'm not nervous."

Seeing this, Shikamaru and Choji stopped calling for Ino.

"Eat when we get back. Don't you want to see where Naruto lives?"

Ino's eyes darted around, and she suddenly grabbed Hinata and ran outside.

Hinata glanced at her Bento and swallowed.

Her face red, she said, "Th-this isn't good, is it? If Naruto-kun finds out, I..."

Before she could finish, Ino cut her off.

"If he finds out, we'll just go in and hang out for a bit. We can even try Naruto's cooking!"

"My family owns a flower shop. I want to give him some flowers, and later I can use checking on how they're growing as an excuse to visit."

But after only a few steps, Ino suddenly stopped.

Hinata was confused, but when she looked up, she saw an older girl running down the stairs.

The girl jogged over to Naruto, took his hand with obvious familiarity, and led him outside.

Then she knew what was going on.

The moment he returned home, Naruto's eyes turned cold.

But they quickly returned to normal.

Sure enough, the Anbu Ninja watching me is still around. He just doesn't dare lurk openly nearby anymore and has disguised himself as a vendor downstairs.

Sarutobi Hiruzen still uses the "Live Streaming Artifact" to watch me from time to time.

But it's happening much less often now.

At least I won't have to keep pretending, even in my own home, from now on.

Thinking this, Naruto took a deep breath, as though he had shed invisible shackles.

"I couldn't tell, Naruto. You're pretty clean."

"It's not that I'm clean. I just don't have any furniture to put here."

Pfft—

Tenten couldn't hold back her laughter.

"Even if you had money, you wouldn't buy any. I'm starving, Little Brother~"

"Mm, I'll get cooking right away."

"I want stir-fried eggplant, potatoes, and peppers~"

"Okay."

After Naruto entered the kitchen,

the smile vanished from Tenten's little face as she thoughtfully looked around the empty room.

Then she opened the front door.

"If you've heard enough, go back and eat your Bento."

Caught red-handed, Hinata instantly turned into the Steam Princess.

Ino, on the other hand, wasn't embarrassed at all.

Instead, she called softly toward the kitchen.

"Naruto, sorry to bother you. We don't want to eat our Bento at school. Can we eat at your place?"

"Whatever."

Naruto really did know we were secretly following him all along.

He didn't refuse, so that means he agreed~

She glanced at Tenten before pulling Hinata inside.

Once the two girls entered, they saw how impoverished Naruto's home was.

Then they heard the sounds coming from the kitchen.

For a moment, both fell silent.

Even Tenten no longer had the mood to compete with Ino.

They knew Naruto had it rough, but they hadn't expected it to be this rough.

Tenten was better off, feeling mostly heartache for Naruto.

Ino, meanwhile, was shocked and furious.

Ever since she had first noticed Naruto, she had continued paying attention to him.

Whenever he tried to buy something, he couldn't get it. People would curse at him for no reason as he walked down the street. As long as he appeared, everyone would hate and target him.

When she saw the vegetables Naruto had grown on his balcony, along with the faded fishing gear sitting in the corner, she could guess how he had lived all these years.

Hinata bit her lower lip. She had never known Naruto lived like this.

The first time she had seen Naruto, she had thought he was amazing. They were both children, yet he feared nothing and was incredibly brave.

She had never expected that, like her, he had been forced into becoming that way.

But why did he always have a smile on his face?

The meal was rather quiet.

Only after Naruto had Ino and Hinata try his cooking

did things begin to change.

"Delicious!"

"Wow~"

"Naruto-kun, you're amazing~"

"Naruto-kun, can I discuss something with you?"

"Let's hear it." Naruto neither agreed nor refused.

"How about this? I'll tell my mom not to make me Bento anymore, and I'll come eat here from now on, okay?"

"I'll pay for the food. Um... Choji's family owns a barbecue restaurant, so we can bring him along too. From now on, we'll prepare the ingredients every day, and you can cook for us, okay~?"

As she spoke, she clung to Naruto's arm and kept shaking it.

Girls who knew how to act cute really had an advantage.

Naruto had been somewhat hesitant, but he couldn't withstand even Tenten joining in with the pleading.

Even Hinata looked eager to try.

But when she thought of her family's situation, she felt too embarrassed to say anything.

"Naruto-kun... I... I can't prepare ingredients... but I have money!"

Seeing her muster courage from who knew where, Naruto smiled.

"Eat some more. One Bento probably isn't enough for you, right? There's still plenty left. How could you have the strength to train if you go hungry?"

Mmm—!!!

There it was, the iconic scene.

Hinata turned into the Steam Princess and passed out from embarrassment.

Naruto's words lit the fuse, but the fatal blow was Naruto personally placing a piece of meat into her bowl.

Of course, the absolute critical hit was her little stomach choosing that exact moment to let out a delighted cheer.

Grrrrumble—

Although he was teasing Hinata, both Tenten and Ino could tell that Naruto had agreed to their request.

The two little girls exchanged a glance.

(＾-＾)V~

"Your mind works really fast!"

Tenten made no effort to hide the admiration in her eyes.

Ino naturally accepted it with delight.

Then the two suddenly remembered that they were still rivals.

They immediately switched back to fierce expressions.

That afternoon,

Iruka still had the students continue practicing the Chakra Extraction Technique.

Not everyone was a genius.

The Chakra Extraction Technique course would take at least around a week.

As for the students who had already refined Chakra,

some slept lazily while others whispered to each other.

"Is that so?"

"Though it sounds troublesome, it's pretty interesting."

Shikamaru immediately noticed the hidden meaning in Ino's eyes.

He was very smart.

Thinking of how the villagers treated Naruto,

he understood what Ino meant.

Choji didn't think that much.

He heard that Naruto could cook, and that it was delicious. If even Ino said so, then it had to be more than just ordinarily tasty.

Besides, it was only some meat. Telling his dad definitely wouldn't be a problem.

"I'm going. Tomorrow, I'll bring a big portion of meat."

"Then I'll prepare some medicinal food," Shikamaru said.

"Hehe, tomorrow I'll bring some flowers over to plant first~"

"I... I have money... I'll buy drinks for everyone."

Are they planning to turn my house into their hangout spot?

Naruto smiled and shook his head. The Konoha 12 were still so immature. Looking at them with his psychological age, they all seemed adorable.

Just then, Ino mysteriously said, "Let me tell you something. When we came to school earlier, Tenten told me that Naruto is really good at fishing. He also knows how to set traps and catch prey."

"He's caught wild rabbits, wild boars, and all sorts of things!"

At that, Choji and Shikamaru's eyes both lit up.

Meat! The wilderness! Barbecue!

Fishing? Setting traps?

Though it sounded troublesome, it all seemed pretty interesting. He was feeling a little motivated now!

And so, although Ino hadn't fallen out with Pink Hair because of Uchiha Sasuke... in truth, she simply liked competing with Sakura.

But now, she was already gradually drifting away from Pink Hair.

After all, Pink Hair's eyes were now filled only with Uchiha Sasuke.

Ino, meanwhile, had discovered that Hinata and Tenten were much more interesting.

Naruto didn't continue participating in the conversation. Instead, he lowered his head onto the desk and pretended to sleep while secretly training.

This was good too. With this cover, he could train without worry.

Perhaps Hinata would become different from the original story as well.

Shy enough to pass out...

Naruto felt that it was entirely because she expended too much energy every day.

Her appetite was huge too, so she was always left hungry.

After all, she possessed the purest Byakugan.

Her talent was far greater than that.

Unfortunately, she wasn't Naruto. She didn't have Kurama inside her, though she did have a stable source of nutrients. There was some, just not much...

So among the Konoha 12, he and Hinata were both malnourished.

Only after becoming a ninja, earning money from missions, and having some time to allocate freely

did Hinata slowly begin making up for her nutritional deficiencies. As for where those nutrients went, there was no need to say.

Naruto guessed that perhaps... before a mission, she ate at home. After completing it, Kurenai treated everyone to another meal. Before going home, she used her mission earnings to buy more food. Then she got home just in time for lunch or dinner.

And yet she still went to sleep hungry at night.

Hahaha~