Self-Strategy

"Since you want to see it so badly, go ahead."

Feng An tossed his shoulder bag to Sakura.

The moment Sakura remembered that the pendant she had carefully prepared for Sasuke was still inside, she shot him a vicious glare.

Hmph, if it gets damaged, I'll beat you into the ground!

But as soon as she caught the bag, she sensed something was wrong.

The bag was feather-light. No matter how she felt around inside, it seemed completely empty.

Her heart instantly turned cold.

Feng An smiled. "If you don't dare look, forget it. Give it back."

He had only meant to scare her. Maybe in the future, he might have had some interest, but right now, in every sense, she was way too young.

No one seriously wanted to do anything to Sakura, right?

She was in elementary school, for crying out loud.

As he spoke, Feng An reached out to take the bag back.

Sakura quickly stepped back. "Wait!"

In such a hurry? He definitely had something to hide!

Maybe there was a hidden compartment inside!

As that thought crossed her mind, Sakura couldn't help smiling smugly.

"Haha, you're scared!"

Sakura abruptly pulled open the zipper and rummaged around with her little hands.

Nothing. Still nothing!

How could there be nothing?

Refusing to accept it, she stuck her head inside, searching for that so-called hidden compartment.

Tick-tock. Tick-tock.

Second by second, time passed.

Feng An sat on the desk, watching Sakura stubbornly search through his empty bag, and couldn't help yawning.

"It's been several minutes already. Even if you were doing magic, you should've made something appear by now."

Sakura glared at him resentfully and flung the bag back at Feng An.

"Hmph, then do whatever you want!"

With that, Sakura tightly shut her eyes, pursed her little lips, and a faint blush spread across her soft cheeks.

The evening sunlight streamed through the window and fell over her, making her look just a little cute.

Feng An froze for a moment, then smiled faintly and headed out the door.

He hadn't expected Sakura to actually take him seriously.

A long while passed.

Sakura, whose entire body had been tense, began to feel her lips growing sore. Only then did she notice that it had become strangely quiet around her.

"Hey?"

She tried calling out, but no one answered.

Then, she cautiously opened a tiny slit between her tightly closed eyes.

Where was he?

When she didn't see Feng An anywhere, she simply opened her eyes.

Through the window, she saw Feng An's back already at the school gate.

Sakura threw open the window and shouted in embarrassment and anger, "Feng An!"

Hearing her, Feng An turned toward the window, waved at her, and left.

"Jerk! He just left like that!"

Sakura pressed her slightly sore lips, her little heart pounding wildly in her chest.

"Feng An is actually pretty handsome too..."

She immediately shook her head and muttered to herself, "Sakura Haruno, what are you thinking? Sasuke is your goal!"

With his little shoulder bag on his back, Feng An entered a barbecue restaurant.

His mother hadn't left behind much property, but he was the only one spending it, so he didn't have to worry about running out of money. He could spend whenever he wanted. If he really ran short, he could always take on a few commissions. Hunting Wild Boars would kill time and earn money too.

"It'd be great if I could steal Hinata away from that little blond brat."

When they were younger, he had already altered the scene where the blond brat saved Hinata, changing it into Redhead saving Hinata. Now, it depended on whether there would be a chance for them to interact later.

As Feng An ate barbecue, he planned out his future in his head.

Just then, a gentle, pleasant voice called out.

"Feng An...?"

Feng An looked over and saw Hinata walking in with three others.

He had just been thinking about Hinata, and Hinata appeared.

"Hinata? Shouldn't you already be home resting at this hour?"

Hinata lowered her head and shook it. "Kurenai is treating Team 8 to barbecue... She said she wanted to get to know us better."

"Oh, I see."

When Feng An saw Hinata, he had almost thought his cheat was making his words come true.

Every child traveling far from home had a system gifted by their Blue Star mother. What about him? Like some unloved child, he had traveled so far, even crossed dimensions, yet he hadn't been given a starter gift pack.

"Feng An, Kurenai and the others are calling me over..."

Seeing Hinata nervously tugging at the hem of her clothes, Feng An couldn't help curling his lips into a smile.

"Go on."

Hinata nodded softly, then walked over to sit beside Kurenai.

As Feng An ate barbecue, he eyed the shochu on the adults' table next to him enviously.

This world didn't have Sprite, and minors weren't allowed to drink shochu, so all he could do was eat barbecue with fruit juice.

After sitting beside Kurenai, Hinata kept her head lowered, occasionally sneaking glances in Feng An's direction.

"Feng An is gentle and considerate, and he's a good person too. But why is no teacher willing to take him in... Why is he always alone? Even at school... It seems like he doesn't have many friends. I wonder if I count as his friend..."

Kurenai smiled lightly. "You seem quite concerned about that Feng An."

Hinata's face immediately turned bright red.

"Kurenai, I'm not..."

Kurenai smiled knowingly. She had seen Hinata's little movements perfectly clearly.

"Woof, woof."

Their barbecue had just arrived when Akamaru poked his head out from Kiba's arms, wanting a lick.

"Akamaru!" Kiba grabbed Akamaru and stuffed him back into his arms, tapping him on the head. "I'll get some for you in a moment."

Akamaru let out a soft whine, his ears drooping pitifully.

"What a cute puppy. Here you go."

Kurenai took out a fresh pair of chopsticks and picked up a piece of meat to feed Akamaru.

Kiba looked at Akamaru and said, "Say thank you to Kurenai."

"Whine, whine, woof woof!"

"Good boy."

Kiba rubbed Akamaru's head.

Whether the others understood or not, Kiba clearly did.

"Alright, everyone, help yourselves."

After Kurenai picked up a slice of barbecue, the other two began taking meat as well.

Shino Aburame: "..."

Feng An rubbed his bulging stomach.

He was thoroughly satisfied.

Although there was no Sprite, this barbecue restaurant was genuinely delicious.

He stood up, smiled at Hinata, and waved. "I'm leaving, Hinata."

"Ah! Alright!"

Hinata abruptly sprang to her feet.

Feng An smiled at her before leaving.

In class, he and Hinata sat together, so they were closer than he was with the other students. His relationships with everyone else were fairly ordinary. He slept every day and didn't deliberately fool around to draw attention like Naruto did, so hardly anyone paid him much notice.

Hinata's sudden movement startled the people around her, and they all turned to look at her.

Feeling their eyes on her, Hinata flushed and hurriedly sat back down, stuffing a slice of barbecue into her mouth as though nothing had happened.

But the blush that stubbornly refused to leave her face made her look anything but calm. With her head lowered, she wished she could find a crack in the ground to crawl into.

Kiba asked, "Hey, Hinata, aren't you overreacting a little?"

"Did you hear what I said?"

Hinata kept her head down, mechanically stuffing barbecue into her mouth. Her mind was completely filled with Feng An greeting her. How could she hear anything from the outside world?

"Have we already become friends? He was probably just casually saying goodbye, right? No, that's not right. Then why did he only say goodbye to me?"

The more she thought, the more confused she became, and the faster she picked up barbecue with her chopsticks.

Before long, Hinata had devastated more than half the barbecue.

Kiba shouted, "Ah, leave some barbecue for me!"

Watching Hinata's flustered appearance, Kurenai developed a slight interest in the departed Feng An.

"Did he really pass the Ninja Qualification Exam just because he was luckier than Naruto?"