Changed My Mind

"Are you really alright?"

As they parted ways, Ino looked at Uzumaki Naruto, who was leaning against the wall just to stay upright, with a hint of worry.

"How about I walk you home, like last time?"

There had been an occasion before when Uzumaki Naruto had overtrained to the point of exhaustion and couldn't recover for a long time; it was Ino who had helped him back.

"No need to trouble yourself." Uzumaki Naruto grinned. "I've learned my lesson. I specifically saved some chakra this time. Look."

With that, Uzumaki Naruto formed a cross seal. With a poof and the dissipation of white mist, a Shadow Clone of Uzumaki Naruto appeared beside him and hoisted the original body onto its back.

"See? No problem at all."

"Alright then."

Ino's gaze lingered on the Shadow Clone for a moment, and she couldn't help but recall the rumors that Uzumaki Naruto had failed his graduation exam because of the Clone Technique... That had to be a joke, right? If Uzumaki Naruto could master a B-rank ninjutsu like the Shadow Clone, how could he possibly fail at a mere Clone Technique?

"Don't forget about the ninja photo shoot the day after tomorrow, and the class assignment briefing," Ino reminded him. "I think you should skip morning training the day after tomorrow. Just take it easy; you've been pushing yourself hard enough lately."

"Yeah, I was planning on making the day after tomorrow a rest day anyway," Uzumaki Naruto replied readily. "Tomorrow will be the last day of training for this period."

"Mm."

Ino nodded, hands clasped behind her back, her toes scuffing the ground unconsciously. She neither spoke nor left, lingering for reasons unknown.

However, Uzumaki Naruto didn't seem to find this strange at all, resting quietly on the back of his Shadow Clone.

And so, the two of them stood in silence at the entrance of the training ground for a while longer.

Finally, Ino tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and said softly, "Well... see you tomorrow?"

--They usually said "Goodbye" when parting, but for some reason, Ino suddenly wanted to use a different phrasing today.

"..."

Clearly, Uzumaki Naruto noticed the difference from their usual routine. He was slightly taken aback at first, then he looked up, his eyes crinkling into a brilliant, radiant smile.

"Yeah! See you tomorrow!"

"Eh?"

Watching Uzumaki Naruto's sun-like smile, Ino froze for a moment. But before she could get a good look, the impatient Shadow Clone simply turned and ran off with the original body on its back.

Not until the figures of the two Uzumaki Naruto vanished at the end of the street did Ino slowly turn around, her thoughts uncertain.

Is Uzumaki Naruto... actually kind of good-looking?

The fleeting glimpse from just a moment ago had been so quick that Ino doubted if she had seen correctly.

But thinking back carefully, she realized she had never truly seen Uzumaki Naruto's face clearly during this time.

It was either covered in dust and grime, or his hair was too long and obscured the upper half of his face... and his appearance from back in school had long since blurred in her memory.

In truth, this wasn't a big deal, but because Ino was a visual person, she cared about it quite a bit.

After all, her crush on Sasuke was less about liking the person himself and more about the fact that he was the most handsome; at her core, she just liked handsome guys.

Just as Ino was walking home, caught in her own thoughts, a voice called out from behind:

"Ino!"

Ino turned at the sound, and upon seeing who it was, her face quickly shifted into a warm, welcoming smile.

"Reika! Aoki! Saki!"

Ino hurried to meet the three classmates who had called her, habitually adopting a lighthearted tone.

"What are you guys doing here?"

"Well, the notice about the class assignments the day after tomorrow came out, so we thought we'd come to the training ground to practice our kunai throwing," said Aoki, the boy leading the group, as he gazed intently at Ino with a gentle expression.

"Yeah, this whole time has felt like a vacation, just goofing off."

"Suddenly hearing that we'll have a Jonin instructor makes me feel a bit nervous."

"Haha, yeah, it really did feel like a vacation."

Soon, the two girls and one boy were chatting away with Ino.

After the brief pleasantries, the three of them exchanged glances for some reason, appearing hesitant. Finally, the boy spoke up.

"Um, Ino?"

"Yeah?"

"Just now at the training ground entrance, were you chatting with Uzumaki Naruto?"

"Yeah, what about it?"

Ino answered naturally, not sensing anything amiss.

But upon hearing this, the three of them wore strange expressions on their faces.

"Ino, how could you hang out with that dead-last?"

One of the girls' remarks caused the smile on Ino's face to freeze. Before she could respond, the other girl continued.

"Ino, didn't your parents tell you to stay away from Uzumaki Naruto?"

"Yeah, I heard he did some terrible things to the previous generation. We shouldn't have anything to do with him."

"Besides, he's not a good person to begin with. Not only are his grades poor, but he also disrespects the past Hokage, scribbling all over the Hokage Rock. I even heard he hit a villager the other day."

"That's not true." Ino finally found a gap to interject. "He's the same age as us, how could he have done anything to the previous generation? And does having bad grades or pulling pranks make someone a bad person? As for hitting that villager, there were extenuating circumstances!"

"Ino..."

Before Ino could finish, a girl interrupted, "Regardless of the circumstances, hitting people is just wrong."

"Exactly, it takes two to tango. No matter what, Uzumaki Naruto is definitely in the wrong. How can a ninja abuse violence like that!" another girl added.

"What do you mean 'it takes two to tango'?" Ino said, laughing in anger. "And Naruto was the one pushed to the ground first. Is he just supposed to let people bully him?"

"..."

Although the three heard Ino's rebuttal, their attitudes didn't change in the slightest. On the contrary, after exchanging glances, they even wore expressions of pity, as if they had expected this all along.

"Ino, I know you have a kind heart," Aoki said earnestly. "But Uzumaki Naruto isn't worth you defending him like this."

"I'm not defend—"

"Ino, you must have been tricked by that dead last! My mom said he's the embodiment of evil." Reika grabbed Ino's hand, speaking sincerely.

"Huh?"

"I've got it!" Saki added from the side. "It must be that his parents did something terrible to the village! That's why the adults are so angry! Doesn't Naruto have no parents? Who knows what they did."

?

Ino's expression turned completely cold. She shook off Reika's hand, but Aoki immediately leaned in again, his expression serious as he lowered his voice, trying to sound as reliable as possible.

"It's okay, Ino. Tell us the truth—is that Uzumaki Naruto threatening you with something?"

With that, Aoki placed one hand on Ino's shoulder and patted his own chest with the other, swearing, "Don't be afraid, I will definitely protect you!"

"..."

"Yeah, Ino, it's fine. Anyway, you must stay away from Uzumaki Naruto. That guy only causes trouble every single day."

"My dad even said that getting close to Uzumaki Naruto brings misfortune, like he has some kind of curse on him."

"Ino, we're doing this for—"

"Ugh, so annoying."

"...your own good... huh?"

One of the girls blinked, thinking she had misheard. "Ino, what did you say?"

"I said, so annoying."

Ino raised her eyebrows, the excitement on her face long gone, and said coldly:

"Can you all just shut up?"

As a young lady of the Yamanaka Clan, Ino didn't consider herself superior to others, but the pride in her bones left her with no patience to maintain even a facade of politeness.

Ino swatted Aoki's hand off her shoulder, and finding him too close for comfort, she shoved him away. Once done, she suddenly sneered:

"So, does that mean I'm not a good person now, too?"

"...Uh."

The three looked at each other, completely unable to comprehend this unexpected situation. The two girls wore expressions as if they had been wounded by Ino's words, while the muscles in Aoki's face twitched—his pride had been stung.

Ino noticed, of course, but couldn't be bothered to care.

With a cold expression, she tossed her blonde hair back like a dignified flower on a high peak. She swept her gaze over the silent trio and said slowly in an unquestionable tone:

"Aren't most of the things you're telling me just guesses? Since they're guesses, stop acting like they're facts. Talking to yourselves like that is really stupid."

"And, Saki."

Ino suddenly stepped forward, her gaze sharp as a blade, staring fixedly at Saki's face:

"Since you know someone is an orphan, stop making up stories about their parents." Her fingertip poked Saki's chest firmly. "Otherwise... something bad really might happen."

Ignoring Saki's pale complexion, Ino walked straight past the three of them, leaving them behind. She really didn't want to waste any more time on these people.

But after taking a few steps, she stopped.

"Oh, I forgot."

"Naruto was indeed a dead last in the past. You weren't wrong about that."

Ino turned to the side, lifting her chin slightly, and glanced at the three behind her with a condescending look.

"--But he isn't anymore."

"Naruto is very strong." Ino's gaze focused on Aoki, and she scoffed, "So stop trying to protect me. You couldn't beat Naruto."

Aoki's expression turned the color of liver in an instant. Being mocked to his face by the girl he liked made him feel so stifled he nearly vomited blood. He clenched his fists, suppressing his impulse, and growled through gritted teeth:

"How could I possibly be weaker than that dead last!"

"...Ino! Why are you treating us like this! Why are you favoring that jerk!"

"Hah."

Ino twitched the corner of her mouth, not even bothering to offer a half-sentence in reply, and strode away, leaving the three of them behind.

This time, she was truly gone.

She knew that even if she explained herself to those three, it would just be a waste of breath.

The prejudices held by the villagers had long since piled up like a mountain; words alone were far too powerless to shake them.

However, being too lazy to explain did not mean she didn't want to.

Having witnessed the agonizing time Naruto had endured, a sense of anger, one that felt like she was sharing his burden, welled up within her.

Why did everyone treat him this way when Naruto had done nothing wrong?

Ino walked faster and faster, yet the direction she headed was the opposite of the way home.

"Forget it, I've changed my mind."

Having failed to find Naruto's shadow along the way, she simply headed straight for Naruto's house.

Regardless of what Ino's change of heart entailed, or that she was currently storming over to apprehend Naruto, Naruto was completely oblivious to it all.

Even if he had known, he would have had no time to care.

Because the moment he pushed open his door, the uninvited guest before him gave him a sudden jolt.

A man with his right arm wrapped in bandages and his left eye covered stood brazenly in his room, showing not a shred of awareness that he was an intruder.

Hearing the Space Gate open, the man turned his head toward Naruto without haste, his dead fish eye showing no sign of embarrassment for trespassing, his left hand still holding an open copy of Icha Icha Paradise:

"Yo, Naruto, you're back."