Hinata, Stop Pretending

Then she slapped Ino Yamanaka, who was not far away and still mooning over Sasuke, on the head, making the lovestruck Ino immediately glare at her.

Sakura raised a hand to stop Ino Yamanaka, who looked ready to strike back. She pointed at the classroom door, which had already closed, then at Hinata's seat.

Ino frowned deeply. After a few seconds, she said, "Forehead, what exactly are you trying to say?"

Sakura immediately felt like she nearly choked on a mouthful of old blood and almost dropped dead on the spot. What happened to their supposed understanding?

Hinata, About to Receive Help?

Shikamaru Nara, who had been idly bored nearby, spoke up. "Girls really are troublesome. Sakura obviously noticed that Hinata didn't bring her lunch."

"From what I remember, Hinata seemed to have never brought lunch herself. Every time it was time to eat, she would always go out alone."

"Although Sasuke was the same, you could clearly see that he brought lunch every time. Like me, he probably found girls troublesome and planned to find somewhere to eat by himself."

"But Hinata always came empty-handed and left empty-handed. Even when someone asked, she would only say she was going to eat outside the school. So yeah, girls really are troublesome creatures."

Shino Aburame, whose presence was practically nonexistent, suddenly said, "Since Hinata is the eldest daughter of the Hyuga Clan's main family, I imagine she wouldn't lack food to eat."

Shino Aburame's sudden voice made the other kids immediately turn to look at him. At that moment, the same thought flashed through all their minds: Who's this guy? Do we have someone like this in our class?

Only after a stretch of silence did they remember that there really was such a person in their class. He seemed to be Shino Aburame from the Aburame Clan.

Choji Akimichi, the cheerful little chubby boy, smiled as he kept tossing chips into his mouth. Between crunches, he mumbled, "Maybe Hinata feels that if she brought food herself, she wouldn't get full, so she goes out to eat."

The moment he said that, the others immediately rejected it. "Impossible!" Hinata's small, soft-looking body flashed through all their minds.

How could a girl like that possibly be a bottomless pit like Choji? Ino immediately said, "Choji, don't project your appetite onto us girls. Hinata definitely can't be a bottomless pit like you."

Sakura immediately sided with Ino. "A girl like Hinata definitely can't eat that much. I think there has to be some hidden reason behind this."

After placing Akamaru on the desk, Kiba Inuzuka gave a wicked grin. "I heard Hinata has a younger sister. Do you think there might be some connection?"

Gossip existed in every world, and wild speculation naturally never missed an opportunity—especially among this group of young, imaginative kids.

In an instant, they had imagined a whole slew of plots in their minds, enough to rival the palace dramas Hinata had watched in her previous life. The more they thought about it, the more terrifying it became.

Even Shikamaru Nara, who seemed drenched in the aura of a lazy bum, sat up and began thinking. The atmosphere suddenly grew heavy. Only Choji Akimichi continued chewing with a smile at the corners of his mouth, his eyes narrowed.

Sakura slammed her hand down hard on the desk. "Then there's definitely a huge problem here. When I saw Hinata today, I noticed she seemed different from before."

Ino said, "Exactly. Even though I didn't notice anything, Hinata is our classmate, so of course we should help her."

Children in this world were especially mature for their age. Perhaps under such an atmosphere, most of them appeared more cautious, and even one small secret of Hinata's could set their imaginations running wild.

It might have been too early to call them truly mature, but they could at least be called adorably mature.

If Hinata had analyzed them, she would have believed that everyone, Naruto included, often did ridiculous things at this age that made people laugh and cry.

But when faced with matters of right and wrong, they all had their own convictions. Whether they were right or wrong, it seemed that the word faith had been carved into their bones.

Then Sakura and Ino immediately turned their eyes to Shikamaru. Although this guy usually gave off the air of a lazy bum,

there was no denying that he really was smart. So whenever something came up, everyone would choose to ask for his opinion.

Those closer to him were even more willing to drag this lazy bum over—no, drag this lazy deer over—as their strategist.

Under the gazes of the two tomboys, Shikamaru Nara pressed a hand to his forehead and said, "What a drag! Well..."