Changed My Mind

"Are you really all right?"

As they were parting, Ino looked at Naruto, who could barely stand while leaning against the wall, and felt a little worried.

"How about I take you home like last time?"

Once, Naruto had trained so hard that he'd been completely drained and hadn't recovered for ages. Ino had helped him home then.

"No need to trouble yourself." Naruto grinned. "I learned my lesson. This time, I made sure to save some chakra. Look."

With that, Naruto formed a cross-shaped hand seal. Poof! As the white smoke cleared, a Shadow Clone of Naruto appeared beside him and carried the original on its back.

"That takes care of it."

"All right."

Ino's gaze lingered on Naruto's Shadow Clone for a moment. She couldn't help thinking of the rumor that Naruto had failed the graduation exam because he couldn't use the Clone Technique... Was this supposed to be a joke? Naruto had even mastered the B-rank Shadow Clone Technique. How could he possibly be unable to use a mere Clone Technique?

"Don't forget the ninja photo shoot and the class assignment meeting the day after tomorrow," Ino reminded him. "I think you should skip morning training that day and take a break. You've been pushing yourself hard enough lately."

"Yeah. I was planning to make the day after tomorrow a rest day anyway," Naruto readily agreed. "Tomorrow's the last day of training for now."

"Mm."

Ino nodded, clasped her hands behind her back, and absentmindedly scuffed the ground with her toes a few times. She neither spoke nor left, as if she were dragging her feet for some reason.

Naruto didn't seem to find anything strange about it, though. He quietly lay across his Shadow Clone's back.

The two of them stayed in silence at the entrance to the training ground for a while longer.

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

—They'd always said "Goodbye" when parting before. For some reason, Ino suddenly wanted to try saying something different today.

"..."

Naruto had clearly noticed the difference too. He paused for a moment, then lifted his head, his eyes curving as he broke into an incredibly bright smile.

"Yeah! See you tomorrow!"

"Huh?"

Ino froze at Naruto's sun-bright smile, but before she could get a good look, his impatient Shadow Clone had already run off with the original on its back.

Only after the two Narutos disappeared at the end of the street did Ino slowly turn around, a tentative thought forming in her mind.

"Is Naruto... kind of handsome, too?"

The glimpse she'd caught of him had been so brief that Ino wondered if she'd imagined it.

But as she thought back, she realized that she truly hadn't seen Naruto's whole face in all this time.

Either his face was covered in dirt and grime, or his hair had grown so long that it obscured the top half of it... And the way he'd looked back in school had long since faded from her memory.

It wasn't really a big deal, but Ino was a bit of a pretty-boy enthusiast, which was why she cared so much.

After all, her fondness for Sasuke had less to do with liking him as a person and more to do with him being the most handsome. In essence, she just liked handsome guys.

As Ino walked home, caught between one thought and another, someone suddenly called out from behind her.

"Ino!"

At the sound of her name, Ino turned around. The moment she saw who it was, her face brightened into a friendly smile.

"Reika! Aoki! Saki!"

Ino hurried over to the three classmates who'd called to her, instinctively adopting her usual cheerful tone.

"What are you doing here?"

"The class assignments are coming out the day after tomorrow, so we thought we'd come to the training ground and practice kunai throwing," said Aoki, the boy at the front, gazing deeply at Ino with a gentle expression.

"Yeah. We've been treating the past while like a vacation and spending all our time playing."

"They suddenly announced we'd be getting a jōnin instructor, and now I'm kind of nervous."

"Ha ha, yeah. It really has felt like a vacation."

Before long, Ino and the two girls and one boy were chatting away, all talking over one another.

After a little small talk, the three exchanged a few glances for some reason, as if they were hesitating over something. In the end, the boy spoke up.

"Um, Ino."

"Yeah?"

"Were you talking to Uzumaki Naruto just now, by the entrance to the training ground?"

"Yeah. Why?"

Ino answered naturally, not thinking there was anything unusual about it.

But the three across from her wore strange expressions at her reply.

"Ino, why were you hanging around with that dead last?"

The smile on Ino's face froze at one girl's remark. 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 something really bad to the previous generation. We shouldn't associate with him."

"And he's not a good person anyway. His grades are terrible, he disrespects the Hokage of the past, and he scribbles all over Kage Rock. I heard he even hit a villager before."

"That's not true." Ino finally found an opening to speak. "He's the same age as us. How could he have done something to the previous generation? And having bad grades and playing pranks doesn't make him a bad person. As for the villager incident, there's more to the story!"

"Ino..."

Before Ino could finish, one of the girls interrupted her. "Whatever the reason, hitting someone is wrong."

"Exactly. It takes two to tango. No matter what happened, Uzumaki must have been in the wrong. How can a ninja abuse their strength like that?" said the other girl.

"What do you mean, it takes two to tango?" Ino laughed in disbelief. "And Naruto was pushed to the ground first. Was he just supposed to let people bully him?"

"..."

Though the three heard Ino's rebuttal, their attitude didn't change at all. On the contrary, after exchanging looks, they wore expressions of pity, as if they'd expected this.

"Ino, I know you have a kind heart," Aoki said earnestly. "But Uzumaki Naruto doesn't deserve you sticking up for him like this."

"I'm not—"

"Ino, that dead last must have tricked you! My mom said he's the embodiment of evil." Reika took Ino's hand and spoke sincerely.

"Huh?"

"I've got it!" Saki chimed in. "His parents must have done something bad to the village! That's why all the adults are so angry! Naruto doesn't have any parents, does he? Who knows what they did?"

?

Ino's expression turned completely cold. She shook off Reika's hand, but Aoki immediately stepped closer, his expression solemn. He lowered his voice, trying to make himself sound reassuring.

"It's okay, Ino. Just be honest with us. Is that Uzumaki Naruto threatening you or something?"

As he spoke, Aoki put one hand on Ino's shoulder and thumped his chest with the other, making a solemn vow. "Don't be afraid. I'll protect you!"

"..."

"Yeah, Ino. It's okay. Just make sure you stay away from Uzumaki Naruto. All that guy does is cause trouble."

"My dad also said that anyone who gets close to Uzumaki Naruto will become unfortunate. Apparently, there's some kind of curse on him."

"Ino, we're only trying to..."

"Ugh, you're so annoying."

"...you're really..." One of the girls blinked, thinking she'd misheard. "Ino, what did you say?"

"I said you're annoying."

Ino raised an eyebrow. The cheerful look on her face was long gone. She spoke coldly.

"Can you all just shut up?"

As the young lady of the Yamanaka Clan, Ino didn't think she was better than anyone else. But the pride in her bones left her with no patience at all for keeping up appearances.

Ino raised a hand and knocked Aoki's hand off her shoulder. Then, finding him far too close for comfort, she took the opportunity to shove him away. Only after that did she give a cold laugh.

"So I'm a bad person now, too?"

"...Uh."

The three stared at one another, unable to understand this turn of events, which they'd never imagined. The two girls looked as if Ino had hurt their feelings, while the muscles in Aoki's face twitched. His pride had taken a blow.

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

With a cool expression, she swept back her golden hair and looked over the three silent faces like a proud flower atop a lofty peak. Her voice carried an unmistakable authority as she spoke slowly.

"A lot of what you've told me is just guesswork. If it's only a guess, don't act like it's the truth. Making things up as you go really makes you look stupid."

"And Saki."

Ino suddenly stepped closer, her gaze like a blade as she stared hard at Saki's face.

"If you know someone's an orphan, don't make up stories about their parents." She jabbed a finger into Saki's chest. "Otherwise... something bad really might happen to you."

Ignoring Saki's deathly pale face, Ino walked straight past the three and left them behind. She really couldn't be bothered to waste any more time with them.

But after taking a few steps, she stopped.

"Oh, I forgot."

"Back then, Naruto really was a dead last. You weren't wrong about that."

Ino turned partway around and lifted her chin slightly, looking down at the three behind her.

"—But he isn't anymore."

"Naruto is strong." Ino focused her gaze on Aoki and sneered. "So don't bother trying to protect me. You can't beat Naruto."

Aoki's face instantly turned the color of pig liver. Being mocked to his face like that by the girl he liked made him so miserable he could have vomited blood. He clenched his fists tightly and forced down his urge to lash out, managing only a low, gritted growl.

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

"...Ino! Why are you treating us like this? Why are you taking that bastard's side?"

"Heh."

Ino curled her lips. She couldn't even be bothered to reply, simply leaving the three behind as she strode away.

This time, she was really gone.

She knew that even if she tried to explain things to them, it would be a waste of breath.

The villagers' prejudice had already piled up into a mountain. Words alone were far too weak to move it.

But not wanting to explain didn't mean she didn't want to.

After witnessing the grueling stretch Naruto had endured, Ino now felt a flash of anger as if she were experiencing it alongside him.

Why was everyone treating Naruto like this when he hadn't done anything?

Ino walked faster and faster, but she was heading in the opposite direction from home.

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

She hadn't seen Naruto anywhere along the way, so she decided to head straight to his house.

Whatever Ino had changed her mind about, and even as she was storming over to arrest Naruto, Naruto knew nothing about any of it.

And even if he had known, he wouldn't have had the time to worry about it right now.

Because the unexpected visitor before him had startled him the moment he opened his front door.

A man with his right hand wrapped in bandages and his left eye covered stood brazenly in Naruto's room, showing not the slightest awareness that he was an unwelcome guest.

At the sound of the door opening, the man calmly turned to look at Naruto. His one fish-like eye showed no embarrassment whatsoever at having broken into someone's home, and he held an open copy of Icha Icha Paradise in his left hand.

"Hey, Naruto, you're back."