Ino

The Crystal Ball they had gone to such trouble to steal from the Hokage Office was completely useless.

Unable to play with the Crystal Ball, Uzumaki Menma and the other four could only wander aimlessly through the streets of Konoha.

Although the villagers on the street looked at Uzumaki Menma and Naruto with displeasure, it did not affect them in the slightest.

Uzumaki Menma had never cared in the first place.

And now that Naruto was no longer alone, he could also ignore those malicious stares.

Suddenly.

The sound of a growling stomach rang out.

Uzumaki Menma, Naruto, and Shikamaru all looked at Choji at the same time.

Choji innocently stuffed a handful of chips into his mouth. "Why are you looking at me? I'm not hungry."

Since it was not Choji, Uzumaki Menma, Naruto, or Shikamaru, then it could only be...

When Hinata saw the four of them looking at her, her little face instantly flushed red.

Normally, after Hinata finished training each day, her mother would prepare food for her. But today, Uzumaki Menma and the others had suddenly come to ask her to play, so she had missed her post-training meal.

After so much time had passed, Hinata's stomach had long since become empty.

Hinata had kept enduring it, but she had failed to hold back, and her hungry stomach had growled.

Naruto asked, "Hinata, are you hungry?"

Hinata was so embarrassed that tears were already welling up in her eyes.

This was far too humiliating.

Seeing that Hinata was about to cry, Uzumaki Menma and the other three immediately panicked.

"Hinata, don't cry."

"There's nothing wrong with being hungry. We get hungry every day too!"

"Choji, hurry up and give Hinata your snacks."

"Hinata, this is all the snacks I have. Hurry and eat."

Uzumaki Menma and the others all tried to comfort Hinata.

As they watched Hinata start eating the snacks in small bites, Uzumaki Menma and the others breathed a sigh of relief.

However, although Hinata was eating the snacks in tiny bites, her eating speed made Uzumaki Menma and the others look at her strangely.

Wasn't this a little too fast? A bag of chips disappeared before they could even notice.

Within a few minutes, Hinata had finished all of Choji's snacks. There had been a full eight large bags.

Naruto stared in astonishment and muttered, "So... so amazing!"

Hinata lowered her head shyly. She had not expected being able to eat a lot to earn praise.

Those snacks had only barely taken the edge off Hinata's hunger. She was nowhere near full.

But at least her stomach probably would not growl again anytime soon.

Just as Uzumaki Menma and the other four were about to set off again, a voice came from behind them.

"Huh? Shikamaru? Choji?"

The five turned around and found a cute girl with short pale-blonde hair.

Shikamaru greeted her, "Ah, so it's Ino."

Naruto asked curiously, "Shikamaru, is she your friend?"

Shikamaru nodded. "Yeah. Choji, Ino, and I are family friends."

Naruto scratched his head in confusion. "What are family friends?"

Uzumaki Menma explained to Naruto, "It means the previous generation were friends with each other. For example, Shikamaru's parents are friends with Choji's parents."

Naruto suddenly understood. "So that's how it is. Then we're family friends too, right?"

Uzumaki Menma pursed his lips.

Forget it. He did not want to explain. The more he explained, the less Naruto would probably understand.

Ino asked curiously, "Are you going out to play?"

"Yeah. Want to come?" Shikamaru asked.

Ino shook the flower basket in her hand. "Maybe next time. I still have a lot of flowers to deliver."

Hinata looked at the flowers in Ino's basket. "They're so pretty."

Hearing Hinata praise the flowers in her basket, Ino smiled until her eyes narrowed.

Ino took out a daisy from the basket and handed it to Hinata. "This is for you. I'm Ino Yamanaka. What's your name?"

"Hinata. Hinata Hyuga. Thank you for the flower."

"You're welcome. I think this daisy suits you very well. Sometimes, flowers choose people too."

Uzumaki Menma and Naruto suddenly introduced themselves to Ino.

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki!"

"I'm Uzumaki Menma!"

Ino tilted her little head. She did not think she had asked for their names.

Still, since they had introduced themselves, Ino greeted them as well. "Hello."

Uzumaki Menma and Naruto kept staring at Ino, making her feel creeped out.

Ino took a step back. "Why are you staring at me like that?"

Uzumaki Menma and Naruto simultaneously pointed at the flowers in Ino's basket.

Ino had already given Hinata a daisy, so it should be their turn now, right?

Ino was speechless. So these two had their eyes on the flowers in her basket.

"These are flowers I need to deliver. I can't give them to you."

Uzumaki Menma and Naruto pouted.

What? They had thought they would get some too.

Ino's eyes suddenly darted around, and she changed her tune. "But you can help me make the deliveries. Afterward, you can each choose a flower from my family's flower shop."

Uzumaki Menma and Naruto nodded their little heads. "Sure, sure. We don't have anything to do anyway, so we can treat it like a game."

Seeing Uzumaki Menma and Naruto agree, Ino started distributing the flowers in her hand. She even pulled Shikamaru and Choji into it.

Shikamaru looked at the flowers in his hand and complained, "I never said I was going to deliver flowers."

Ino pushed Shikamaru and Choji along. "Just do me a favor. Hurry up and go."

Ino could not wait to finish delivering all the flowers.

After giving Uzumaki Menma, Naruto, Shikamaru, and Choji the addresses, Ino sat on a swing with Hinata and waited for them to finish their deliveries.

Ino asked curiously, "Hinata, how did you meet Shikamaru and the others?"

Thinking back on everything that had happened today, Hinata felt as if she were dreaming.

Even now, Hinata still felt like she was in a dream.

"Well... how should I put it? I met Menma and Naruto first. Later, because I wasn't allowed to leave home whenever I wanted, after meeting Menma and Naruto once, we never saw each other again. It was only after more than a month that we met again today..."

Hinata wore a radiant smile. "I never expected Naruto and Menma to come looking for me today. I thought they had forgotten about me. They came to my house with Shikamaru and Choji, then took me out to play... I'm really so happy. This feeling of having friends who think about you."

Ino smiled without realizing it. "It does sound pretty nice."

But Ino could not shake an ominous feeling. She kept feeling that something was about to happen later.

Although Shikamaru looked completely unmotivated and Choji looked a little dull, Ino was fairly reassured about them. Both of them were quite reliable.

But Uzumaki Menma and Naruto were another matter.

Ino's right eyelid was twitching wildly, and the ominous feeling in her heart only grew stronger.