Why Are You So Good to Me?

Bang.

The hinges of the old wooden door were kicked to pieces by Sakura Haruno. The entire door sagged against the frame, wobbled a few times, and then crashed onto the floor.

Seeing this, Sakura froze for a second. She hunched her head and guiltily propped the door back up, as if terrified that Takasaki might discover what she had done.

She called out Takasaki's name a few more times, but there was still no response.

Across the street, a cleaning lady pushing a trash cart shouted at her, "Girl, I've seen you standing there since early this morning. Are you looking for Takasaki?"

"You know Takasaki?" Sakura turned around.

"I do. That boy is very polite. Both his parents are gone, poor thing. But when I got off work last night, I saw him packing his bags. I asked him where he was going, and he said he was moving."

He really had moved!

A wave of irritation suddenly surged in Sakura's heart.

How could he? He didn't even tell her he was moving, making her wait all morning for nothing!

If she had this kind of time, she could have spent it waiting for Sasuke!

"Where did he move to?" A glimmer of hope remained in Sakura's heart.

If she knew where Takasaki had moved, she could still catch up to him.

Given Takasaki's financial situation, he couldn't have moved very far; it had to be somewhere nearby.

After all, the closer one got to the center of the village, the higher the rent, and Takasaki definitely couldn't afford those prices.

This area was near the outskirts, so the rent was cheap.

Maybe Takasaki hadn't even reached school yet. If she hurried, she might still have a chance to walk to school with him and get written into his diary.

"Takasaki moved to... I asked him last night, and he told me, but I can't recall the name of the complex right now."

The cleaning lady pondered for a moment, then pointed toward the center of the village: "It's that new development that was finished last year. I remember now—it's called Konoha Bay!"

Konoha Bay?

That high-end complex right next to the Shimizu River with the perfect landscaping and exorbitant housing prices?

Impossible!

The cleaning lady finished clearing the trash from the bin across the street and pushed her cart away. Sakura still couldn't believe Takasaki could afford to move into Konoha Bay.

Let alone Takasaki.

Even she, with all her saved-up pocket money, could only afford one month's rent at Konoha Bay.

How could a guy like Takasaki, who lived on Leaf Village relief subsidies every month, have the money to pay such expensive rent?

Takasaki must have been bragging to the cleaning lady. It's typical for a loser like him—bad grades, desperate for others' approval, so he goes around boasting. If I hadn't read his diary, I wouldn't even know he spends his days fantasizing about marrying a bunch of wives. What a delusional fool.

Sakura had waited for Takasaki for so long only to find she was in the wrong place, and she was already in a foul mood.

The thought of Takasaki writing in his diary about wanting to marry many wives later on only made her more annoyed.

Why did he have to like this girl or that girl in his diary, but never her?

This kind of differential treatment was truly unfair, even if she didn't think much of Takasaki herself.

Thinking of this, she shoved open the wooden door she had kicked in, stepped inside to take a look, and confirmed that Takasaki was indeed not there. Her composure finally snapped.

She stomped out, completely losing her cool, and cursed at the empty, dilapidated house: "What the hell! Moving without telling me is one thing, but then you have to brag to the cleaning lady with a fake address? Is that really necessary?"

"You made me wait all morning for nothing! You've really wasted my time. I could have slept in instead! I didn't even have time for breakfast because I was waiting for you. A girl's time is precious!"

Not far away.

Sasuke, wearing his Uchiha clan attire and carrying a shoulder bag, walked over slowly with his hands in his pockets.

The Uchiha clan territory was on the outskirts of the Leaf Village. Sasuke passed by Takasaki's house every day on his way to and from school, and he often ran into him.

Running into him often didn't mean they were close.

On the contrary, even when Takasaki used to take the initiative to greet him, Sasuke wouldn't even acknowledge him.

The reason was simple.

He only wanted to focus on becoming stronger, so he hated losers and anyone with poor ability, just as much as he hated Naruto.

At that moment, Sasuke saw Sakura standing at Takasaki's door, shouting angrily at the house.

After listening for a few seconds, Sasuke understood what was happening: "Sakura Haruno."

Hearing this.

Sakura's words stalled. She could recognize Sasuke's voice even if her ears were covered.

Was Sasuke calling her?

Was Sasuke actually taking the initiative to speak to her?

Sakura turned around and, sure enough, saw Sasuke standing across the street, hands in his pockets, tilting his head to look at her.

The arrogant look on his face was, in Sakura's eyes, nothing but handsome.

Her heart skipped a beat. Trying her best to maintain a ladylike image, she asked gently, "Sasuke, are you talking to me?"

She couldn't spare the energy to vent her frustrations at Takasaki's old house; if she could walk to school with Sasuke, she could accept such an outcome.

"You've been waiting all morning for that dead-last Takasaki to walk to school?" Sasuke frowned slightly.

Wasting time waiting for a dead-last?

The strong never wait for the weak.

The strong only cherish their time to make themselves even stronger.

Sasuke could not understand Sakura Haruno's behavior.

He tilted his head, his gaze turning disgusted, and he let out a disdainful "Heh." "Idiot."

Leaving those two words behind, Sasuke turned his head away, refusing to look at Sakura Haruno again. With his hands in his pockets, he walked away straight ahead without a hint of reluctance.

Sakura Haruno stood rooted to the spot.

She felt as if she had been struck by lightning.

It took a full half-minute for her to snap out of her daze, followed by an increasingly furious roar: "Ahhhhh, Takasaki!! You made Sasuke hate me even more! It's all your fault!!"

Ichiraku Ramen.

Takasaki had no idea that Sakura Haruno had been waiting for him at the gate of his old house all morning.

She had eventually grown impatient, even kicked in his door, and ended up being called an idiot by Sasuke.

At this moment, he was inside Ichiraku Ramen, enjoying a delicious bowl of noodles.

Hinata sat beside Takasaki, waiting for him in silence.

Hinata actually wanted to strike up a conversation with Takasaki so that he might mention her more often in his diary, but the problem was she didn't know how to find a topic.

Seeing Takasaki finish his bowl of noodles, she asked, "Takasaki-kun, if you aren't full, you can order another bowl. I'll pay for it."

Takasaki held the bowl, which now contained only broth, took a large gulp, and let out a satisfied sigh. "I'm full. Thank you, Hinata. You're so good to me; I've already sponged two meals off you. Once I become a ninja and have money, I'll definitely treat you back."

"Y-you're welcome." Hinata's face flushed slightly.

"Why are you being so good to me?" Once he was sure Hinata had paid the bill, Takasaki asked curiously.

This question caught Hinata off guard.

Her gaze met Takasaki's for a split second before she hurriedly looked away.

Not being one to lie, she instinctively wanted to bring up the Diary, but the moment the thought crossed her mind, she felt a sudden, intense sense of crisis.

Her intuition told her that if she ever told anyone about the Diary, she would die immediately.

It wasn't just a girl's intuition, but a warning given to her by the Diary itself.

The matter of the Diary must never be spoken of.

"Hinata, I remember we didn't have much interaction before, but ever since you brought me to your home yesterday to teach me the Three Body Technique, you've seemed to take special care of me. Why is that? I'd really like to know the reason." Takasaki wiped his mouth with a napkin and asked again.