Ino's Terror

Seeing Ino's reaction now, it seemed she had remembered what Naruto had done to her.

Naruto remembered it vividly as well.

Not long after arriving in this world, Naruto had needed an opportunity to "change" his attitude toward the village. By sheer coincidence, Ino Yamanaka had run straight into the line of fire.

The reason behind Naruto and Ino's conflict back then had also been Sakura.

At the time, Sakura confessed to Sasuke again. Naturally, the outcome was the same as her first confession when she was seven or eight—it ended in failure.

By another coincidence, Naruto had "once again" become a witness.

This time, however, there was another witness: Ino Yamanaka.

But Ino Yamanaka had not known the full story and had only assumed Naruto was the one who made Sakura cry.

Although the two girls had long become rivals and cut ties because they both liked Sasuke,

both Ino Yamanaka and Sakura knew that their friendship was not something so easily abandoned.

Thus, Ino Yamanaka had angrily sought out Naruto and hurled insults at him.

At the time, Naruto had racked his brains but still could not find a reasonable way to change the higher-ups' view of him.

Ino Yamanaka's emotional behavior toward Naruto had been an enormous help.

Thanks to her, Naruto had been able to turn his terrible attitude toward the village into "indifference" and "confusion"—then gradually transform it into what it was now.

As for what Naruto had done to her...

He had not done much. He had merely slapped the unreasonable Ino across the face.

The handprint on her face had brought Inoichi Yamanaka to the school the next day.

Because of this, Mizuki, their homeroom teacher, had specifically sought out Sakura and let everyone learn the truth.

Perhaps unwilling to take a slap for nothing, and emboldened by having her father at her side to support her, Ino had started pestering Naruto again...

Then, right in front of Inoichi Yamanaka, Naruto slapped Ino again.

The second slap had naturally been deliberate.

Naruto had not expected Inoichi Yamanaka to come to the school, so he had simply slapped Ino again in front of him—

—It was a rare "coincidence" that allowed him to come into contact with Konoha's higher-ups. Naruto had to reveal his desire to "turn over a new leaf" through an air of "understanding" and "acceptance."

Naruto's unexpected encounter with Inoichi Yamanaka had happened because his daughter had been "bullied" by Naruto, and Naruto had even repeated it right in front of Inoichi Yamanaka—

—Yet Inoichi Yamanaka had still shown remarkable magnanimity. It was through that conversation with him that Naruto had caused Hiruzen Sarutobi to begin changing his opinion of him.

Come to think of it, Naruto had been able to receive Hiruzen Sarutobi's faint support at the beginning, which had restricted Danzo from making another move against him.

Ino Yamanaka could be said to deserve much of the credit.

By that logic, he should actually have thanked Ino Yamanaka.

Naruto returned to the present and glanced at Ino's current expression.

It was enough to frighten her.

Naruto had just been about to let the matter go and call Sakura away.

But Ino still forced herself to endure her fear of Naruto and made a threat.

With the Chunin Ninja Exams approaching, Naruto had little interest in paying any more attention to Ino.

A young girl's threats were utterly harmless to Naruto.

Naruto needed to avoid every unnecessary complication. Just as he had considered before—every possible accident had to be eliminated before the Chunin Ninja Exams officially began.

But Ino's threat, by sheer coincidence, made it impossible for Naruto to ignore her.

—"I really don't understand how someone who couldn't even use the Three-Body Technique properly suddenly became a Genin. Someone like you, becoming a ninja, will eventually only end up as a rogue ninja!"

Ino's words did not mean she had thought deeply about what she was saying, nor did she truly believe it.

She simply thought threats had to be ruthless enough.

So, whatever words would make things sound the most serious, those were the threats she used.

And there came the unexpected complication.

Naruto, who had already started to leave, kept his expressionless face and walked straight up to Ino.

Seeing Naruto's face so close at hand, along with that expression she had seen before and would never forget for the rest of her life,

the courage Ino had forced herself to summon crumbled in an instant.

Her entire body trembled. Rarely shedding her assertive manner, she stood there helplessly in a fragile state.

"Naruto!"

Shikamaru Nara spoke up at that moment, frowning at Naruto.

Naruto ignored Shikamaru Nara and raised his hand toward Ino.

Recognizing the exact same motion Naruto had made back then, Ino forgot that even if she did not dare resist him, she could still run away...

...Ino immediately shut her eyes in fear, instinctively choosing to endure whatever Naruto was about to do to her.

Yet the pain she expected did not strike her face.

Naruto's hand rested on Ino's left cheek. Her body had gone cold from fear, and her icy cheek could feel even more keenly the scorching warmth radiating from his palm.

Only then did Ino cautiously open her eyes. The moment she did, her gaze collided with Naruto's.

Naruto still wore that indifferent expression.

Ino did not even dare move her face away and simply allowed Naruto to stroke her.

"Say, Ino. I have a question. I hope you'll answer honestly—what is Team 10 planning to do now?"

There was neither threat nor pleading in Naruto's question.

His tone was merely calm, yet Ino answered without hesitation, "Asuma Sarutobi-sensei originally said he would take us out for barbecue, but he suddenly said he had something urgent to do and left. We're planning to go have barbecue ourselves now."

"What a coincidence. Sakura and I were just discussing what to eat for lunch."

Naruto looked toward Choji, who had been eating chips beside them. "Could you bring Sakura and me along? I'll pay for the barbecue, and Choji can eat as much as he wants."

"Really?! That's great!"

With food as bait, there was no way Choji could refuse.

"What do you think, Shikamaru?"

Naruto then asked for Shikamaru's opinion.

"Hey, hey, Choji, can't you see what's happening here...?"

Shikamaru first voiced his dissatisfaction at how easily Choji had been bought off.

But perhaps because it was too troublesome, Choji probably had not noticed the tense standoff between Ino and Naruto at all.

In the end, Shikamaru did not vent his displeasure.

Then, with his listless eyes, Shikamaru glanced at Ino, who was completely under Naruto's control, before looking back at Naruto. "Naruto, Ino didn't mean any harm."

"Neither did I."

Just as Naruto said, he bore no ill will toward Ino. Everything he was doing now was merely meant to scare her.

As for kindly treating Team 10 to barbecue, that was also so he could spend more time frightening Ino and ensure she would not mention her earlier claim that "Naruto equals a rogue ninja" to anyone else.

At the very least, she could not say it again before the Chunin Ninja Exams began.

"...What a pain. If I'd known it would be this troublesome, I shouldn't have found it too troublesome to stop Ino from saying nonsense earlier."

"So, Shikamaru, your opinion..."

"I have no objection. Ino was the one who said nonsense this time, and she was in the wrong first—letting her properly remember why you made her cry before isn't a bad thing. We're all Genin now. We're no longer little brats at the Ninja Academy who can say whatever they want."

Shikamaru chose to agree as well.

Finally, Naruto fixed his attention on Ino.