Ino's Envy

"Naruto, could you carve one for me too? It's really amazing." Ino could not help saying as she looked at the lifelike little wooden carving.

"And me! Carve one for me too." Kiba Inuzuka also leaned over.

Sakura could not help wanting one as well, but before she could speak, Naruto spoke first.

"Sorry, I can't."

Naruto put away the wooden carving, glanced at Sasuke with a half-smile, and deliberately put on a smug expression.

That display enraged Sasuke, but unfortunately, he truly knew nothing about carving. It was a complete defeat, and he could only helplessly turn away to avoid looking at Naruto.

[Experience Points +1]

[Experience Points +1]

The continuous Experience Point notifications gradually improved Naruto's mood, but the frequency of the notifications slowly began to drop.

Naruto could not allow that, so he turned to Sasuke and said, "Second Pillar, you need to learn more and observe more in the future, understand?"

"You..."

Sasuke was so angry his liver seemed ready to burst. It felt like that nickname, Second Pillar, would never come off.

[Experience Points +1]

"What? Still not convinced? Fine, I'll show you another trick today."

After saying that, Naruto took drawing paper and pens from his desk, then carried them outside the classroom.

The sight made the entire class curious. One by one, they could not resist following him, and even Sasuke followed along unwillingly.

After they left, Hinata, who had arrived late, finally reached the classroom door.

She entered from outside with a dejected expression. Her adorable little face was filled with disappointment, clearly showing that she was in low spirits.

She was still agonizing over why Naruto had suddenly left the moment he saw her at the school entrance. That was also why she was unhappy.

As someone with a secret crush, she cared deeply about Naruto's thoughts. Now that Naruto had suddenly stopped paying attention to her, she believed she must have done something wrong.

So, feeling down, she spent a long time thinking at the school entrance, yet could not figure out what had happened. That was why she arrived late to class.

"Huh? Why is no one in the classroom?"

Hinata had originally been clenching her little hands sadly, but after entering the classroom, she discovered that it was completely empty.

The sight left Hinata utterly confused. She scratched her head with her little hand, not knowing what was going on.

However, she did not intend to dwell on it, because figuring out how she had made Naruto unhappy was more important. So she returned to her seat, her little face tense as she began to think.

Time passed bit by bit. Soon, the classroom door opened, and Sasuke walked in from outside looking utterly dispirited.

But when Sasuke saw Hinata in the classroom, he froze for a moment, then gave a self-mocking smile.

"They really look alike. I never thought Naruto had reached this level already. Sigh!"

After saying that, Sasuke returned to his seat, lowered his head, and remained silent, looking utterly miserable.

Hinata was completely bewildered by this series of events. She did not understand what Sasuke meant by that, but as she pondered it, other students gradually began arriving outside the classroom.

The moment these people entered, they looked at Hinata, then whispered among themselves. "She really looks alike, just like the real thing. Naruto is incredible."

"Yeah, she looks so similar. I always thought Naruto was useless, but I never expected him to have such a skill hidden away. That's really impressive."

The discussions rose one after another. Listening to them, Hinata felt as though her little head had turned to mush.

She had no idea what had happened or why everyone was looking at her. And if they were praising Naruto, why were they looking at her? The situation left her adorably dazed.

Gradually, more and more students filled the classroom. Every person who entered looked at Hinata a few times before gathering together to whisper, and even Sakura and Ino were no exception.

Hinata was even more confused now, her heart itching to know what exactly had happened.

It was also at this moment.

Naruto, the center of the incident, walked in from outside and leisurely returned to his seat.

Hinata really wanted to ask Naruto what was going on, but when she remembered what had happened at the school entrance, she grew worried again and did not dare ask.

Whoosh!

A small ball of crumpled paper was thrown over. Hinata hurriedly caught it. She looked at Naruto, who had thrown the note, and joy welled up in her heart.

She quickly unfolded the note and looked at its contents.

[I left you a gift. Come take it from my desk after school this afternoon. Also, if you want to talk to me these next few days, pass notes.]

Hinata was puzzled by the contents of the note, but she understood that Naruto was not angry. Her heart finally relaxed somewhat, though she still could not understand the class's discussions, and the gift also left her curious.

Thus, she spent the rest of the day in a daze. Only after school in the afternoon did she see Naruto point at his desk before watching him leave the classroom.

Filled with deep curiosity, Hinata walked over in small steps and took out the gift from his desk to inspect it.

It was a gift shaped like a scroll, its appearance resembling a ninjutsu scroll. But the moment Hinata carefully opened it, her large eyes widened.

Because there was actually a portrait of her inside the scroll. In the painting, she wore a shy smile, and the blush on her cheeks and her features were drawn with startling lifelikeness, practically identical to the real thing.

Moreover, she was standing by a small river in the painting. It was the scene from when they had eaten together yesterday.

Naruto had clearly painted it based on that scene, and it reminded Hinata of the warm moment they had shared over that meal yesterday. Her heart immediately felt wonderful.

"Hinata, does it look good? I'm so jealous of you. I begged Naruto to paint one for me, but he ignored me." Ino walked over as she spoke, her eyes filled with envy and admiration.

Sakura, who was packing up her things nearby, also came over and said sourly, "Naruto treats you way too well. Not only did he paint you, he even carved a wooden sculpture of you."

"A wooden sculpture?"

Hinata froze at those words, then immediately checked the desk.

Soon, she took out a wooden carving. The carving of her face was exquisitely lifelike, like a work of art, and she could not bear to put it down.

Joy surfaced in her heart. Hinata had never felt so happy, nor had she ever been as delighted as she was now. Her large eyes even curved into crescent moons with happiness.

Nearby.

Sakura and Ino continued talking, discussing it with endless envy, making Hinata even happier.

Elsewhere.

Naruto was walking quickly toward home, preparing to exchange for Saiyan Blood. He had gained a generous amount of Experience Points this time, enough to exchange for quite a few things.

However, something unexpected happened.

The four ANBU ninja who should have been monitoring him had somehow been reduced to only one. While that surprised Naruto, he also vaguely understood that the village's attitude toward him had changed.

"Graduation is coming soon. Could the Forbidden Scroll incident from the original story be about to happen? The Multi-Shadow Clone Technique sounds pretty good too." Naruto muttered to himself as he walked away quickly with a smile.