"Seriously, hurry up, it's freezing out here!" Naruto complained despite himself as he listened to Samu Kokaze.
"Didn't you just say you didn't feel cold?" Samu Kokaze teased as he pushed open the door and turned back.
"Wasn't I just worried you'd be cold?" Naruto argued loudly, his face red.
Samu Kokaze was speechless. "Fine, I won't argue with you. Ino and the others are probably getting impatient waiting!"
The two carried the box into the room.
Under the moonlit night sky, a middle-aged man in black ninja attire suddenly appeared on a rooftop across the street. His dark face showed no emotion as he stared at the house whose door had just closed.
"The brat's senses are quite sharp," the figure on the roof murmured.
Suddenly, the middle-aged ninja closed his eyes and pointed one hand toward the ground. A mental ripple so faint it was nearly imperceptible spread into the surroundings.
After a while.
"Two guards at nine and twelve o'clock, three hundred meters away. Chunin-level chakra."
"Two high-energy chakra signatures inside!"
As he spoke, he slowly opened his tightly shut eyes, his brow furrowing slightly.
"Guards?"
"Looks like one of the brats inside is important. Forget it, I'll wait a little longer. There's still time."
As his whisper faded, the Konoha streets shrouded in darkness held no sound but the howling wind.
"Is this the gift you got for Ino?" Shikamaru walked over as he watched the two enter with a chill around them, looking at the chest-high box they had carried in and asking Samu Kokaze.
"Hehe! Feng specially prepared a super, super... uh... anyway, it's Ino's birthday present!" Naruto pointed at the box, wanting to say something, but judging by how he got stuck halfway through, he clearly had not seen it either.
Shikamaru gave Naruto a disdainful glance, then stepped back as Ino approached, giving the two of them some space.
Watching Ino trot over with anticipation in her eyes, Samu Kokaze said softly, "Happy birthday, Ino." He patted the box beside him and smiled. "You really gave me a hard problem. To make sure you'd be satisfied, I used every bit of my skill to make this. Open it and see if you like it!"
"Mm!" Ino nodded a little shyly, her face flushing as she reached expectantly for the cardboard box.
Muzi, who was chatting with the Yamanaka couple in another room, could not help saying when she saw the large cardboard box being carried in, "Guess what gift that brat gave little Ino!"
"Who knows what that brat brought?" Yamanaka Inoichi felt annoyed as he watched Ino run over with flushed cheeks.
"Look at the way he chased girls when he was young, then look at you when you were young. Tsk, tsk!"
Seeing Inoichi's displeased expression, Muzi clicked her tongue in amazement and looked at the Yamanaka couple teasingly.
"No matter what, I'm still far better than an old unmarried woman in Konoha like you!" Inoichi snapped back unhappily, his anger flaring after Muzi mocked him.
"You...!" Muzi's eyes widened. Her charming yet intellectual face looked thoroughly irritated; clearly, she had not expected Inoichi to say something like that. She snorted coldly and ignored him.
"Why are you two still acting like children?" Ino's mother covered her mouth and laughed as she watched them bicker.
"Big sister, he went too far!" Muzi, still sulking, rolled her eyes upon hearing Ino's mother. She ran over, grabbed her arm, and coquettishly complained.
"All right, all right. I'll deal with him tonight!" Ino's mother said helplessly as she looked at Muzi acting like a young girl.
"Hmph!" Muzi gave a dainty snort and smugly looked toward Yamanaka Inoichi, whose eye twitched continuously.
Riiip...
"So beautiful!"
Sakura, who had somehow run up close, gasped as Ino tore open the cardboard box and revealed a life-sized statue of herself.
"Let me see! Let me see!"
Naruto, who had been standing nearby, heard the cry and pushed his way inside with all his might.
"This guy!!!" Sakura gritted her teeth, a vein bulging on her forehead. Her small fists clenched tightly as she felt the body behind her continuing to shove forward without the slightest restraint. She spun around and punched Naruto squarely in the head.
"You bastard, stop squeezing against me!"
Along with Sakura's shout.
Bang! A body hit the floor.
Naruto lay on the ground with a fist mark on his face and blood spurting from his nose, while Sakura held her punching pose.
Shikamaru, who had been listless all along, stared with his mouth wide open. Even Choji dropped the chips in his hand to the floor and looked over in disbelief.
"So violent!" Shikamaru opened his mouth as if to say something, but in the end, those were the only three words that came out. Beside him, Choji stuffed a handful of chips into his mouth and nodded in wholehearted agreement.
Samu Kokaze looked at Naruto lying on the ground, sympathy flashing through his eyes. Sakura, whom countless Naruto fans in his previous life had called Lady Sakura, was not someone a kid like you could take advantage of. See? You got beaten up.
Still holding her punching pose, Sakura saw Naruto lying on the ground and immediately flushed scarlet. She abruptly straightened up and looked around anxiously, panic written all over her little face.
"It's not what..."
Before Sakura could explain, Samu Kokaze coughed dryly. "Well, we didn't see anything. Really! Right, Shikamaru, Choji?"
As he spoke, Samu Kokaze looked toward the two stunned boys nearby.
Hearing that and seeing Sakura's gaze shift toward them, the two nodded wildly as though their heads had motors installed.
"It really isn't..." Sakura began to explain again, but she was interrupted once more. Ino looked at her in surprise. "I really didn't expect you to have such a fiery temper, Sakura!"
"Fine! Think whatever you want!" Seeing that they had already decided she had violent tendencies, Sakura got angry the moment she looked at Naruto lying on the ground with his eyes open, staring at her. She kicked him irritably.
"If you're awake, stop pretending to be injured on the floor!"
At Sakura's shout, Naruto rolled to his feet and chuckled foolishly.
Sakura glared resentfully at Naruto, snorted coldly, and turned away from him.
Samu Kokaze smiled at the two bickering children. Ignoring them, he removed the cardboard box completely. As the life-sized wooden statue carved from Violet Goldwood was fully revealed inside the room, gasps arose from every corner.
"Well? Do you like it? I searched the warehouse for ages before I found the wood to carve this."
Standing nearby, Choji slowly pulled out another chip from the bag in his hand and put it in his mouth. Looking at the violet-gold life-sized wooden statue before him and smelling the familiar scent in the air, he asked Shikamaru uncertainly, "Is this the material we just saw being sold for fifty thousand ryo?"
"Probably," Shikamaru replied, equally uncertain as he looked at the carving.
Then he sighed. "He really went all out."
Before you continue