Ino Takes the Initiative

The classroom was noisy.

Shino Aburame was fiddling with his bugs.

Shikamaru rested his chin on his hand, studying a shogi manual; he found the final exams incredibly dull, thinking it would be far more interesting to go home and play against his old man.

Choji was busy stuffing his face with potato chips.

Takasaki and Naruto had stopped joking around; both had pulled out their textbooks, adopting a "last-minute cramming" attitude to read a few extra pages and try to memorize some key points.

Sasuke sat at his desk, fingers interlaced and pressed against his chin. As he pondered, he muttered to himself, "I can finally become a real ninja. That man—I will kill him with my own hands!"

"He graduated at the top of the class, and I certainly can too!"

As for Sakura Haruno, who was constantly beside him and pestering him, Sasuke only found her noisy.

Sakura was in a great mood right now.

It wasn't just because she had already devised a plan to deal with Hinata and get Takasaki to record her name in his diary a few more times; it was also because, at this time of day, Ino would usually be fighting her to chat with Sasuke.

Yet today, the moment Ino arrived in the classroom, she just sat at her desk in a daze, lost in thought.

Perhaps she was nervous about the upcoming final exams because she hadn't studied well.

Sakura couldn't be bothered to pay attention to Ino; her focus was entirely on Sasuke.

As for Takasaki, that dead last...

She really didn't want to waste her energy on him while Sasuke was around.

At this moment.

Ino sat at her desk, her consciousness clearly sensing the presence of the diary.

She had read both of the diary entries Takasaki had written.

She had been furious when she read the first one, feeling that Takasaki was insufferably flirtatious, but she only calmed down after receiving the 10% chakra increase reward from the diary.

It was only when she realized her chakra had genuinely increased that Ino grasped the importance of the diary.

So much so that when she saw the flirtatious tone in Takasaki's second entry, Ino wasn't as angry as before; she only hoped Takasaki would write her name again so she could receive a reward.

Yet, her name hadn't appeared in the second entry; it was almost entirely filled with Hinata's name.

More importantly, Hinata had even received an extra reward because her name had been mentioned enough times.

At that moment, Ino had truly felt her composure shatter.

Not just because she hadn't received a reward.

But because she realized that she wasn't the only one with a diary—others had them too, at least Hinata did!

In other words, there would be people competing to interact with Takasaki just to get him to record their names in the diary more often.

Therefore, the fact that Hinata had taught Takasaki the Three Body Technique, as recorded in the second entry, likely meant that Hinata had taken the initiative to seduce Takasaki.

Impressive.

Ino wasn't jealous of Hinata at all; if anything, she admired Hinata for being able to set aside her pride as the young lady of the Hyuga Clan.

After figuring all this out, Ino had tossed and turned all night yesterday, unable to sleep.

She had thought about it then: should she take the initiative to approach Takasaki and get him to write her name more often in his next entry?

But Ino just couldn't bring herself to do it.

She was the young lady of the Yamanaka Clan.

Even if the Yamanaka Clan wasn't as famous in Konoha as the Hyuga Clan, they were still a major family—at the very least, far better than a commoner family like Sakura's.

Especially compared to a commoner like Takasaki, who had no parents, no relatives, and relied on Konoha's welfare subsidies; for her to speak to him was already doing him a favor.

More importantly, Takasaki was the class dead last, ostracized by his peers.

This made Ino even more reluctant to interact with him.

The problem was that the diary Takasaki wrote offered her a chance to become stronger.

Once she became stronger, her Yamanaka Clan could also grow and prosper, and all she had to do was set aside her pride and interact with Takasaki.

As long as she interacted with him enough to keep him mentioning her name in future entries, she would receive more rewards. Perhaps she could even lead her Yamanaka Clan to surpass the Hyuga Clan.

Ino had been thinking about this from the moment she left for school until now.

She glanced back toward Takasaki's direction.

Takasaki and Naruto, those two dead lasts, were focused on their textbooks, clearly cramming at the last minute.

Naruto, in particular, had his hands pressed together and was bowing to his textbook; he was one step away from offering sacrifices and lighting three sticks of incense for it.

"Hinata and I are both young ladies of noble families. If she can set aside her pride and take the initiative to approach Takasaki, why can't I?"

Ino took a deep breath, silently cheering herself on.

Setting aside the fact that Takasaki was the class dead last whom everyone ostracized, and setting aside his status as a commoner with no family background or parents, Takasaki wasn't actually impossible to interact with.

Just as a loser needs courage to actively pursue a goddess, Ino needed courage to set aside her pride and reach out to Takasaki, whom she viewed as utterly hopeless.

She closed her eyes and took deep, steadying breaths, looking visibly nervous. However, she made such a fuss about it that Hinata, sitting in the seat to her front-left, took notice.

Hinata turned around, her gaze landing on Ino as she asked with concern, "Ino, are you nervous about the upcoming exam? You're sweating on your forehead."

Hinata offered kindly, "Do you need to go to the infirmary? I can go with you."

If anyone else had said this to Ino at that moment, she would have simply taken it as a gesture of goodwill.

But coming from Hinata, Ino felt only provocation and a sense of showing off.

She opened her eyes, leaned forward slightly, and stared straight at Hinata with a smile. "How could I possibly be nervous about an exam? My abilities are more than enough to handle it, but some of the boys in class aren't, so I've decided to help one of them."

With that, Ino stood up, picked up a black ballpoint pen from her desk, and walked toward Takasaki's seat.

Since she had already made up her mind, Ino no longer felt any hesitation.

She sat down beside Takasaki with effortless grace and spoke politely, "Takasaki, can I help you with the upcoming exam?"

Naruto, who had been bowing to his textbook nearby, looked up at the sound of her voice.

Seeing that it was Ino, who excelled in her studies, his expression turned one of disbelief. He muttered, "So Takasaki didn't just trick Hinata into helping him cheat on the upcoming exam, he even tricked Ino!"

"We're both dead-last losers with terrible grades, so why hasn't a single good student ever wanted to help me? What exactly is the difference between me and Takasaki?"

"It seems there are still many things about Takasaki that are worth me learning seriously."

Naruto wasn't the only one in class who noticed Ino's actions.

Hinata did, too.

When she had heard Ino mention wanting to help a male classmate earlier, she had felt a twinge of envy.

At the very least, it showed that Ino had the courage to approach a boy in front of so many classmates.

Yet, this was the very courage she lacked.

Raised under the oppressive education of the Hyuga Clan elders since childhood, she was not only shy and timid in private, but she also became incredibly self-conscious whenever she was in a crowded place.

For instance, after noticing Takasaki arrive in the classroom, she had desperately wanted to approach him and try to create opportunities for him to record her name in his Diary more often.

But wanting to was one thing.

The problem was that as soon as she entered the classroom—an environment filled with people she knew—her body seemed to stop obeying her. Just making eye contact with Takasaki made her blush uncontrollably, let alone actively approaching him.

So, when Ino said she would take the initiative to help a boy and actually followed through with it, Hinata felt genuine envy.

After all, it was something she couldn't do.

It wasn't until she saw Ino walk to the back row of the classroom and start talking to Takasaki right in front of her that Hinata realized the truth.

The person Ino wanted to help was Takasaki!

Hinata was stunned at first, and once she recovered, her envy only deepened.

At the same time, she felt a bit of pity for Ino, muttering to herself, "It's just a pity that Ino doesn't have a Diary. Otherwise, an act like this would very likely be recorded by Takasaki in his next entry, earning her a reward."

It was fortunate that Ino didn't have a Diary.

Otherwise, just watching Ino approach Takasaki like that would have inevitably stirred a sense of crisis in Hinata's heart.

Meanwhile, Sakura Haruno also noticed Ino's movements.

She had spotted Ino the moment she stood up and started walking in her direction.

At the time, she assumed Ino was still trying to compete with her for a chance to chat with Sasuke, and she even intentionally blocked the way with her body to prevent Ino from getting close to him.

To her surprise, Ino walked straight past and headed to the back row, sitting down beside Takasaki and seemingly chatting with him about something.

Such behavior left Sakura completely baffled. "Ino didn't rush to chat with Sasuke today, but instead ran off to chat with Takasaki? What is she thinking? Isn't she afraid of being laughed at?"

She had to admit that Takasaki was indeed handsome.

The key was that for a boy, being handsome wasn't enough; one also needed a good family background, academic performance, and strength.

Takasaki possessed none of these three things, which was why he was just as disliked as the plain-looking Naruto.

"When did Ino's taste get so low? Even if she can't compete with me for Sasuke, she doesn't have to go for Takasaki."

Sakura glanced at Takasaki with deep disdain and muttered, "He doesn't even have a Diary. Approaching him won't get her any benefits; it'll only ruin her own reputation. Oh, you foolish Ino."

Sasuke had long been annoyed by Sakura.

Seeing her stop and look toward the back row, he felt his ears get a moment of peace. He glanced at Sakura and let out a soft, "Idiot."

When would this idiot, Sakura, who confessed to him every single day, finally stop pestering him?

His eyes were set only on revenge, not love.

Takasaki heard the movement beside him and turned his head, only to find Ino sitting next to him. He looked puzzled. "Ino?"

In his memory, his relationship with Ino was only slightly better than his relationship with Sakura Haruno.

His relationship with Sakura Haruno was such that if he took the initiative to greet her on the street, she would only glance at him with a look of annoyance.

Ino was different.

Even if Ino was just as repulsed by his status as a dead-last as Sakura Haruno was, she at least didn't show it openly; if they met on the street, she would still offer him a polite smile.

Overall, it was a relationship just a tiny bit better than that of strangers, not even reaching the level of friends.

What did it mean that Ino had now taken the initiative to sit beside him?

Though he was puzzled, it didn't stop him from taking the opportunity to examine Ino's appearance at close range.

Her light blonde hair was tied into a conspicuous high ponytail, and with her large eyes, high nose bridge, and smiling lips, her features and temperament were very similar to Eimi Fukada, a teacher from his past life.

She wore a white sleeveless top paired with a light green sleeveless jacket.

The zipper of the sleeveless jacket was left open, allowing Takasaki to clearly see the slightly protruding chest beneath Ino's white shirt.

The lotus bud was just beginning to show its tip; a young girl at this age was just right.

Thanks to Sakura Haruno often competing with Ino for Sasuke's attention, Ino already had the awareness to use her figure to attract Sasuke, so her attire was not as conservative as Sakura Haruno's, which could be seen from the lower half of her outfit.

In the sweltering summer, Ino wore a pair of tight denim shorts.

They were so short that one could describe them as barely covering her, with her panties faintly visible underneath.

Fortunately, Ino was still a young girl and not as maturely developed as she would be in two years; otherwise, wearing denim shorts of this length might have revealed a few strands of suggestive curly hair.

Of course, if Ino had been Takasaki's wife by then, such a phenomenon would not occur.

Because they would be shaved clean.

If there was one part of Ino's body that made Takasaki unable to resist looking a few extra times, it was definitely her lower abdomen.

Perhaps because adolescent girls grew and developed quite rapidly, the white shirt Ino wore on her upper body seemed a size too small, leaving her lower abdomen exposed.

Her navel was small and sexy.

The smooth, fair skin on her flat abdomen would surely feel like a virgin's touch if one were to stroke it.

Takasaki didn't deliberately stare at Ino's figure—after all, he still had to keep up appearances—so he asked in confusion, "Ino, what do you mean by helping me?"

"Teacher Kurenai Yuhi will be coming in with the test papers in a moment. Given your usual written test scores, it might be difficult for you to pass."

Ino twirled the pen in her hand and continued, "The teacher emphasized the key points for the content of the upcoming written test during class. Since you weren't listening carefully, you definitely don't know them. How about this: I'll write all the relevant knowledge points on your hand. Just be careful when you peek during the exam, and don't let the proctor catch you."

Ino emphasized, "Even if the teacher catches you, don't sell me out. That's all I can do for you."

Takasaki understood; Ino was going to help him cheat!

In fact, when Ino first sat beside him and asked if he needed help, he had guessed that this might be her goal, but he hadn't expected it to be true.

What Takasaki couldn't understand was why Ino would want to help him.

What was in it for her?

In his daily life, he and Ino were merely acquaintances who nodded to each other; they didn't even count as friends.

After speaking, Ino didn't wait for Takasaki's puzzled reaction; she reached out, placed her hand on the desk, and grabbed Takasaki's palm.

The contact between their palms made Ino's cheeks flush with an imperceptible red, and she felt slightly warm.

It also made her palm tremble noticeably.

Ino had once thought that the first boy she held hands with had to be Sasuke, and it could only be Sasuke; only Sasuke was worthy of her.

Yet, the appearance of the Diary had changed many of her thoughts all at once.

Even last night, she hadn't imagined that she would be holding hands with Takasaki, let alone that she would be the one to initiate it.

For now, she couldn't worry about all that; everything was to make herself stronger and to make the Yamanaka Clan stronger.

She could no longer let Hinata continue to receive extra rewards.

She really wanted to experience what it felt like to receive an extra reward.

Ino pressed her palm firmly, pulling Takasaki's hand toward her, and began to write the knowledge points on his palm with the pen, very seriously.

As Ino lowered her head to write, the slanted bangs on her forehead hung down onto Takasaki's wrist.

With the trembling of Ino's pen tip, the tips of the bangs resting on Takasaki's wrist also trembled.

It made Takasaki feel itchy inside.

Especially the sensation of his own palm gently pressed against Ino's small hand made Takasaki feel incredibly comfortable.

Earlier at Ichiraku Ramen, when he linked fingers with Hinata, he could feel the shyness in Hinata's fingertips.

Right now in the classroom, being written on by Ino with a pen, he could feel the unique, poised temperament in Ino's palm.

At the same time, he was still very confused: "But Ino, why are you helping me? Our usual relationship doesn't seem to have reached this point."