Birthday Party

Winter days were short. Bitterly cold winds swept in with dark clouds, blotting out the last rays of sunset. In the Yamanaka Clan flower shop near the center of Konoha, waves of laughter rang out from inside.

"Happy birthday!"

Several overlapping voices sounded through the room. As Ino blew out the candles on the cake, the lights came back on.

Clap clap clap...

A round of applause broke out. Everyone in the room looked at Ino before the cake with blessings in their eyes. After Shikamaru was the first to step forward with a gift wrapped in a purple box, the others gradually presented their prepared gifts as well.

"Ino, happy birthday!" A cute girl with pink hair stepped forward and handed her a fluffy Rabbit doll.

"Thanks, Sakura! It's so cute!" Ino exclaimed, happily accepting the gift Sakura handed her.

As Sakura watched Ino accept the gift, she furtively glanced around. Seeing Samu Kokaze standing to the side and watching with a smile, she leaned closer and whispered.

"Ino! Is that the person you told me about? He's so handsome!"

"Sakura!" Ino called out with slight dissatisfaction. Looking at Sakura's starry-eyed expression, Ino suddenly regretted inviting her to this birthday party.

Hearing Ino call her name, Sakura turned to her with an amused smile. "Don't worry! I'm not going to compete with you for him, even though he really is handsome!"

At the end, she still could not resist taking another look at Samu Kokaze's perfect, handsome face.

"I hope so! Honestly, I'm starting to regret inviting you!" Ino pouted unhappily.

"Choosing a guy over your friend! Ino, you're so petty!" Sakura snapped in indignation at Ino's words.

"Who are you calling petty..."

Bang...

Just as she was about to retort, something heavy hit the floor. Ino turned around and saw Choji carrying a huge burlap sack and setting it down.

Choji leaned against the sack, panting. He gave it a reluctant glance before revealing an honest smile. "Ino, this is my birthday gift for you. It's all the delicious food I secretly saved at home. I'm giving it all to you this time!"

As he spoke, a flash of heartache crossed his eyes.

Ino swallowed as she looked at the sack, which was as tall as she was. Seeing Choji's pained expression, she found it both funny and touching. Who gave a girl this much food as a birthday gift? Seriously.

"Thanks, Choji. I'll take all of it. It'll be good for you to eat a little less too. Look how fat you've gotten!"

As she spoke, she patted Choji's somewhat chubby belly.

Choji's pudgy little face scrunched up in annoyance. "I told you, it's well-fed, not fat!"

"Fine, fine! You're well-fed, okay? I'll definitely talk to Uncle Chōza later and have him help you lose some of that well-fed flesh."

Choji's pudgy face twitched. With a snort, he ran toward Shikamaru and Samu Kokaze.

"Shikamaru, didn't you tell Choji what kind of gift to bring?" Seeing Choji give Ino a whole sack of snacks, Samu Kokaze could not help asking Shikamaru beside him.

"How was I supposed to know Choji would bring his snacks? By the time I found out, it was already too late to change it, okay?"

Shikamaru could not help retorting.

"By the way, where's your gift? Why haven't you taken it out yet?"

Choji, who had just run over, heard Shikamaru's question.

With both of them looking at him, Samu Kokaze appeared extremely confident.

"The main character always makes his entrance at the very end. You'll see in a moment what the finest craftsmanship in the world looks like!"

Hearing Samu Kokaze's shameless boasting, Shikamaru and Choji snorted and turned away, unwilling to look at his smug face.

"Look, Naruto went over too!" Choji said, stuffing a handful from the snack bag in his hand into his mouth, apparently not stopping his eating even at Ino's birthday party.

Hearing Choji's words, Samu Kokaze put away his arrogant expression. Looking at Naruto as he walked over, he said seriously to Shikamaru and Choji beside him, "Naruto hasn't had an easy life. Unlike us, he doesn't have much spending money. Neither of you is allowed to laugh at whatever gift he gives her!"

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "Boring!"

Choji, however, very seriously put the snacks in his hand back into the bag. "I won't laugh at a friend."

Seeing Choji's serious expression, Samu Kokaze smiled. "Well, I was just saying. You both know what Naruto's life used to be like."

While the boys were talking over here, Naruto had walked up to Ino. His eyes were even filled with hearts as he looked at Sakura, until Ino's expression darkened further and further and she coughed.

"Ah! Ino, this is my birthday gift for you." Looking a little embarrassed, Naruto handed over the purple hair clip clenched tightly in his hand. "I wanted to buy something better too, but this was the only thing I could afford!"

Ino looked at the hair clip Naruto offered and smiled, happily accepting it. "I've received your feelings, Naruto!"

"This is the kind of hair clip I like, and I like the color too!" As she spoke, she immediately put it in her hair.

Naruto was delighted by Ino's reaction, then promptly went over to ingratiate himself with Sakura.

"These children really know how to make a mess!" Ino's mother said in another room as she looked at the room that had been thrown into chaos.

"Aren't all children like that? If I had a suitable partner, sometimes I'd want a child too!" Muzi, the woman Ino called Aunt Muzi, said with a smile as she watched the children making a fuss in the room.

"Muzi, if you wanted to find someone to marry, the line would stretch from the village entrance all the way to Konoha Hospital! Your standards are just too high!" Yamanaka Inoichi, dressed in shinobi clothes, could not help saying when he heard Muzi talking with his wife.

"Sigh! It's because I can't find anyone suitable that I have no choice! If a man like the Fourth Hokage pursued me, I'd absolutely agree right away!" Muzi said with a slightly annoyed expression upon hearing Inoichi's words.

Just as Yamanaka Inoichi became slightly lost in thought at the mention of the Fourth Hokage, Muzi pointed at Naruto and asked, "How did that child become friends with your little Ino too?"

Yamanaka Inoichi was briefly startled by the question. He looked toward Naruto and said, "Who Ino wants to be friends with is her freedom. Besides, that child's nature isn't bad, so I let her be."

"Oh! Then what about that little boy named Samu Kokaze? Last time, I saw little Ino was very concerned about him!" As she spoke, Muzi looked teasingly at Inoichi and his wife.