Yakiniku Q

Carrying the token from the mayor of Santa Village, the Genma Team returned to Konoha. Under the leadership of Genma Shiranui, they arrived at the mission hall in the Hokage Building to submit their completed A-rank mission.

After finishing the mission, Sakura Mangetsu and Mai Shiranui began clamoring to go eat barbecue, insisting on dragging Genma and Kamizuki along with them.

As two grown men, Genma and Kamizuki felt their faces burning with embarrassment as they were dragged through the streets by the two girls, but they had no choice but to give in.

The four of them entered Yakiniku Q, a barbecue restaurant with quite a reputation in Konoha, and ordered two large platters of meat skewers. The two girls tried to order a few bottles of shochu, but were met with two flicks to the forehead from Genma.

With a look of annoyance, Genma said to the girls, "You two are only fifteen or sixteen, not even twenty yet, and you want to drink? Hmph!"

The two girls rubbed the spots where Genma had just flicked them, both wearing expressions like they had been bullied by a villain.

Watching this self-destructive behavior from the side, Kamizuki found it truly difficult to suppress his laughter.

Since the girls had just been bullied by Genma—who was their elder and teacher—they couldn't do anything to him.

Still fuming, the two girls looked for a target to vent their frustration, and their eyes landed on Kamizuki, who was struggling to hold back his amusement.

Like beasts long trapped in a cage that had finally found an exit, the two girls pounced on Kamizuki and began to retaliate against his body.

Under this round of retaliation, Kamizuki's own temper began to flare.

It wasn't that our friend Kamizuki was particularly petty; it was just that Mai Shiranui was wearing an outfit with very little fabric, and the fullness of her chest gave Kamizuki the urge to have a nosebleed.

Just as Kamizuki was becoming hopelessly trapped in the girls' relentless mental and physical assault, Kurenai Yuhi and Asuma Sarutobi walked through the restaurant entrance with the members of their respective squads.

Hinata, who had just walked in with Kurenai, saw her younger brother having a lively time with the two girls. She walked behind Kamizuki, feeling a bit shy, and whispered "Kamizuki" softly. Perhaps her voice was too quiet, or perhaps Kamizuki was too distracted by the two girls, but he didn't hear anyone calling him.

Hinata called out twice more, and seeing that Kamizuki still didn't react and was still messing around with the two girls, she gathered her courage and poked Kamizuki in the back with her finger.

Only then did Kamizuki break free from the girls' entanglement. He turned around and saw that it was his gentle, kind, and shy older sister, Hinata Hyuga.

Kamizuki immediately stood up from between Sakura Mangetsu and Mai Shiranui and stepped in front of Hinata, glancing behind her to see that quite a few familiar faces had followed her in.

After a moment of thought, Kamizuki suggested that since it was such a coincidence, why not sit together? Wouldn't it be much livelier?

Genma and Asuma were close friends, so they both felt this was a great suggestion and had no objections.

As for Kurenai, it went without saying; not only was this a suggestion from Hinata's brother, Kamizuki, but given her secret relationship with Asuma, she had no reason to refuse.

As for the six little brats following Kurenai and Asuma, that was even less of an issue. As long as Choji Akimichi could eat barbecue, he wouldn't care who he was eating with!

Hinata, of course, was more than happy to eat barbecue with her brother.

As for Shikamaru Nara and Shino Aburame, one was afraid of trouble and the other was indifferent, so neither had any objections.

As for Kiba Inuzuka and his puppy, the moment his dog Akamaru saw Adou, who was sleeping soundly under the table, it jumped out of Kiba's arms to go play with him. Seeing this, Kiba had no objections either.

Finally, seeing that everyone else agreed, Ino Yamanaka consented as well; in truth, she was someone who enjoyed a lively atmosphere.

Seeing that everyone agreed to Kamizuki's proposal, Genma Shiranui called the restaurant owner over and asked him to move them to a spot that could accommodate a larger group.

The owner looked at the dozen or so people and scratched his head in a dilemma. After a moment of thought, he finally pushed three tables together, allowing the dozen of them to sit in a circle.

Seeing that they were all in agreement and seated, the owner wiped the sweat from his brow, silently giving himself a thumbs-up for his own cleverness.

Before long, the waiter brought over platter after platter of fragrant, mouth-watering meat skewers, along with some drinks.

The group of kids, who had been laughing and joking, smelled the aroma of the meat and immediately stopped their chatter, beginning to scramble for the skewers on the table.

The sky had already turned dark. It was unknown how long they had been eating in the restaurant, but eventually, they all emerged, stuffed and satisfied.

Through this gathering, the relationships between the members of the three squads had grown much closer.

Upon the announcement from the three lead Jonin that they would have a three-day holiday starting tomorrow, the young ninjas were overjoyed.

After hearing about the holiday, Mai Shiranui suggested to the group that since everyone was off tomorrow, they should all go to the hot springs on Hot Spring Mountain, not far outside Konoha.

Hearing this, everyone raised their hands in agreement. After setting the time and place for tomorrow's departure, they all headed back to their respective homes.

If you like this book, please remember to add it to your bookshelf so you don't lose it next time.