A gentle touch traveled from Kurenai Yuhi's fingertips to Takasaki's palm.
As expected of a mature woman, her hands were so soft.
That was Takasaki's first thought.
Unlike Hinata's shy fingertips or Ino's confident palm, when Takasaki felt Kurenai Yuhi's hand against his, he sensed a tender grace—the softness of a woman who had moved beyond youth and into maturity.
It was as if the mere touch of her fingertips let him feel that Kurenai-sensei had many worries hidden in her heart.
All it would take was peeling away her defenses, layer by layer, and listening to her gentle thoughts.
The key was that Takasaki didn't have the mind to appreciate any of this right now.
What student caught cheating on a final exam would have time to ponder romance?
He was waiting for Kurenai Yuhi to lecture him.
But the next moment, a soft, warm sensation swept across his palm.
Huh?
Before Takasaki could react, he saw Kurenai Yuhi lower her head and carefully examine his palm. "Where's the cheat sheet? Takasaki, your right palm is perfectly clean."
The palm of Takasaki's right hand was as clean as if he'd washed it with facial cleanser.
There wasn't a trace of writing—or even dust.
Kurenai Yuhi turned her head toward Sakura Haruno. "Sakura, are you sure you didn't see things?"
What?!
The other students in the classroom looked confused.
"That can't be. I definitely saw it with my own eyes," Sakura Haruno said, sounding incredulous.
Hinata looked at Takasaki's clean palm and, relieved, began to ponder.
She didn't believe Sakura Haruno had been mistaken.
She'd seen Ino write the cheat sheet on Takasaki's palm herself.
So why had it disappeared?
Takasaki must have done something.
He probably used some special ninjutsu, secretly getting rid of the cheat sheet just as Kurenai-sensei checked his palm, Hinata thought.
That was the only explanation.
Everyone else in the class thought Takasaki was a dead last, but Hinata knew how strong he was.
At least when it came to ninjutsu, he was very capable. He'd mastered the Three Body Technique long ago; he just kept a low profile and didn't want to show off.
Earlier, at her family's estate, Takasaki had even used the Three Body Technique to fool Neji three times with ease.
So...
Takasaki must have mastered other techniques, too.
At that moment,
Takasaki had no idea that he'd become even more mysterious in Hinata's eyes.
He was wondering why the cheat sheet on his palm had disappeared.
After all, he knew very well that he hadn't done it.
Wouldn't it take at least Water Release to remove the writing from his palm?
And yet the only ninjutsu he knew was the Three Body Technique. He couldn't use Water Release at all.
Suddenly, Takasaki seemed to realize something. Kurenai-sensei knew Water Release!
And just now, he'd felt a soft warmth pass from Kurenai-sensei's palm to his.
Kurenai-sensei was helping him!
Something shifted in Takasaki's mind, and he looked up at Kurenai-sensei.
But Kurenai Yuhi didn't look at him. Instead, she turned back to Sakura Haruno and said, "Sakura, come take a closer look. Cheating on an exam is serious, so you shouldn't make accusations lightly."
To the other students, Kurenai-sensei was simply holding Takasaki's hand. She hadn't even glanced at him, and her impartiality was beyond question.
Only Takasaki knew the truth.
As Kurenai Yuhi held his hand, the pad of her index finger slowly brushed back and forth across his palm. It was as if she were soothing him, or telling him, I'm here. Don't be afraid.
Kurenai-sensei's hand feels so nice. That was Takasaki's most honest thought at that moment.
But why was Kurenai-sensei helping him?
Takasaki couldn't figure it out.
He owed her for this.
If he wanted to ask why, he'd have to wait until the exam was over and speak with Kurenai-sensei in private.
"Takasaki didn't cheat? There's no cheat sheet on his palm?" Sakura Haruno stood up in disbelief.
She leaned forward to peer at Takasaki's right palm.
There really wasn't any writing.
That didn't make sense.
She'd seen Ino write the cheat sheet on Takasaki's right palm with her own eyes.
Had she remembered wrong? Had Ino written it on Takasaki's left palm instead?
Sakura Haruno pointed at Takasaki's left hand. "Show us your left hand."
Takasaki turned his left hand over without hesitation. There was no writing there, either.
Sakura Haruno froze in her seat, looking thoroughly distressed.
Takasaki didn't say anything.
It wasn't that he didn't want to defend himself. He felt guilty, so he simply kept quiet.
Seeing that he didn't even protest when he was wrongly accused, the other students' disdain for Takasaki faded somewhat.
Some even felt sorry for him.
It was obvious Takasaki had been falsely accused. Kurenai Yuhi could vouch for him.
Hinata felt reassured.
Ino quietly breathed a sigh of relief, but a huge question remained in her mind.
What on earth had happened?
She'd written the cheat sheet on Takasaki's hand before the exam. She knew he hadn't been falsely accused, so why hadn't Kurenai Yuhi found it?
How had Takasaki managed that?
Ino didn't think of ninjutsu.
Hinata had considered that possibility, but she thought Takasaki himself had done it.
Who would have thought a teacher would help a student cheat?
Not even Takasaki himself.
If Asuma hadn't gone outside to smoke and had stayed in the classroom, his keen sensitivity to chakra would have let him detect the signs of a technique in the chakra gradually fading from Takasaki's palm.
But he was outside smoking at that very moment, trying to figure out how to hold Kurenai Yuhi's hand as soon as possible.
He didn't just fail to notice what was happening in the exam room.
Even though his girlfriend's hand had been held by Takasaki for nearly a minute, he hadn't realized it.
Ino lowered her head and worked on her exam.
Naruto was doing the same.
More accurately, Naruto was busy cheating. With everyone's attention fixed on Takasaki, he hurriedly copied the notes on his hand and frantically filled in his answers.
Naruto was also a little relieved.
Thankfully, his seat was a fair distance from Sakura's.
If he'd been sitting next to her, she might have reported him instead.
Of course, Naruto was also puzzled about how the cheat sheet on Takasaki's hand had disappeared.
"I'm sorry, Kurenai-sensei. I must have seen wrong," Sakura Haruno said dejectedly.
"You don't need to apologize to me. You should apologize to Takasaki." Kurenai Yuhi gently placed Takasaki's hand on the desk.
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