Hinata, Stop Pretending

Spittle flew everywhere. "Say that again if you've got the guts!"

Sasuke glanced sideways at Naruto and said blandly, "Boring."

Just as the situation was getting out of control, the classroom door was pushed open. Sakura and Hinata entered, and for a moment, everyone in the classroom turned their attention to them.

But most of the students were looking at Hinata. The instant she felt that pressure, she obediently lowered her head.

Most of the students' gazes only lingered for a moment. For example, Choji Akimichi, the chubby boy in a green jacket, was squinting as he constantly fed food into his mouth.

Shikamaru Nara, a boy with black hair tied into a short ponytail, was leaning on his desk and occasionally muttering about how troublesome everything was.

Ino Yamanaka, a girl with long blond hair and revealing clothes, was staring hard at Sakura. Naturally, Sakura refused to back down and glared right back at her.

Kiba Inuzuka, whose face was painted with mysterious markings and whose clothes looked rather shabby, was currently teasing a little white dog.

Shino Aburame sat in the corner, wearing dark glasses and wrapped up from head to toe, his presence almost nonexistent.

Nine of the Konoha 12 Genin were already present. The other three—Tenten, Rock Lee, and Neji Hyuga—were a year older than them, so naturally they would not be here.

Once everyone stopped looking at Hinata, Naruto returned to his seat, and the focus shifted entirely onto Hinata.

Although children in this world matured relatively early, kids their age naturally still loved gossip.

A girl whispered, "Hey, Hinata finally came today! I wonder what she was doing?"

Hinata was a member of one of Konoha's two great clans. Oh, no, it should be said that the Hyuga Clan was now Konoha's strongest clan.

Naturally, quite a few people paid attention to Hinata. Even the slightest change concerning her was enough to send the students' imaginations running wild.

The same was true for Sasuke, of course. But with Sasuke's cold and aloof demeanor, winning himself little male and female fans in this class at this age was simply too easy.

So whenever they discussed Sasuke, they did so with a hint of respect. Because of Hinata's personality, though, they were somewhat bolder around her.

The two girls' conversation naturally caught everyone else's interest. They all pricked up their ears and listened quietly.

Another girl said, "I heard that—"

Shikamaru Nara turned his head and glanced at them. "Since Hinata didn't come to school, given their age, they'll probably come up with some cliché story about an engagement or something."

"Anyone a little smarter will connect it to Sasuke, since the Uchiha Clan Downfall has become common knowledge."

"They'll probably let their imaginations run wild and think that Hinata missing school a day early meant the Hyuga Clan was preparing to make a move against the Uchiha Clan, leading to the Uchiha Clan's destruction."

"Then they'll think Sasuke will suddenly lash out at Hinata at some point for the sake of his clan."

He then sighed. "What a pain. Instead of thinking about this stuff, I'd rather think about leisurely drinking tea and playing shogi beneath blue skies and white clouds."

And the two girls' conversation indeed developed in roughly the direction Shikamaru had described, with the final conclusion not differing much from what he had said.

After entering the classroom, Hinata kept her head lowered and quietly walked to her seat before sitting down. By then, Sakura and Ino were already at each other's throats.

The reason was that when they entered the classroom, Ino had looked at Sakura provocatively for a while. It was probably something along the lines of: "What are you looking at?" "Looking at you. So what?" "Try looking again." "Fine, I will."

Choji Akimichi: These chips taste pretty good. Hmm, tonight I'll go eat barbecue with Dad.

After sitting down, Hinata glanced at Sasuke from the corner of her eye. She wanted to see how much he had recovered after a day's time to process the destruction of his clan.

From her point of view, there did not seem to be any change. But she could feel it—or perhaps she could understand it without even thinking.