Wager

Before long, word that Kiba Inuzuka had been kicked unconscious reached the teachers.

The teacher from the infirmary arrived first and carried Kiba away on a stretcher.

Naruto, who had injured someone, naturally caught the attention of the arriving homeroom teacher, Iruka.

"Naruto Uzumaki, you brat, causing trouble again!"

Naruto first looked at Hinata Hyuga, who had been accidentally flustered by his teasing and was now sprawled on her desk, drowsy and half-asleep. He silently said sorry to her. He really had not meant to do it.

Then he turned his gaze to Iruka.

From his memories, Iruka had not yet shown Naruto any goodwill. His parents had died in the Nine-Tails' Attack, and he had not yet reached the point of forgiving Naruto.

This was a little troublesome.

"What are you standing there for? Get out and stand in the hall as punishment!"

???

Shouldn't you at least ask what happened first?!

Seeing the anger on Iruka's face, Naruto instinctively wanted to talk back.

But in the next moment, Hinata Hyuga, who had just been lying on her desk, reached out and grabbed Naruto's sleeve, then shakily stood up.

Her eyes drifted uncertainly, and her voice was as soft as a mosquito's buzz, but she still bravely spoke up for Naruto.

"Iruka-sensei."

"Kiba was the one who tried to bully Naruto first. Everyone in the class saw it. Naruto was only defending himself."

"Please, Sensei... don't wrong an innocent person!"

As the class's famously well-behaved girl, Hinata Hyuga's words carried considerable credibility.

Iruka froze for a moment, then looked somewhat blankly at the others.

Then Ino Yamanaka, seated not far away, glanced toward Naruto Uzumaki and stood up as well.

"Iruka-sensei, I can testify!"

Ino Yamanaka might have been a boy-crazy girl who liked handsome guys, but she had a strong sense of justice.

Sakura Haruno had often been bullied because of her broad forehead, and Ino had always been the one to stand up for her.

Later, the two girls had fallen out because they liked the same handsome guy, Sasuke Uchiha, but that had not buried Ino's nature of loving justice.

Besides, Ino Yamanaka thought Naruto looked pretty cool today.

"Kiba really was the one who started it. Naruto ignored him at first. Kiba was the one who tried to hit Naruto."

Once someone took the lead, more people voiced their stance. Choji Akimichi, Shikamaru Nara, Shino Aburame, and the others all stepped forward to explain what had really happened.

The classroom became noisy.

But every voice pointed to the same thing.

Iruka had wrongly blamed Naruto. Iruka froze, his breathing growing heavier. When he looked at Naruto again, there was a little more guilt in his eyes.

In his eyes, Naruto was the demon fox.

But Naruto was also his student...

Yet because of hatred and prejudice, he had jumped to conclusions and blamed everything on Naruto Uzumaki.

Was that right?

Iruka did not continue pursuing Naruto's responsibility, but neither did he apologize. He simply turned around and left in silence.

No one knew what he was thinking at that moment.

After Iruka left, Naruto openly thanked everyone who had spoken up for him.

"Thanks, everyone!"

Naruto grinned and fixed his gaze on Hinata Hyuga, the girl who had been the first to speak for him.

After speaking up for Naruto, Hinata had immediately returned to her seat, and her little hand had released Naruto's sleeve.

Perhaps sensing that Naruto was looking at her, her little face turned rosy. She tilted away her fair, jade-like cheek, a few loose strands of hair brushing past her ear as a faint fragrance drifted from her.

[Hinata Mama was amazing today!]

[First, when Kiba Inuzuka provoked Naruto Uzumaki, she stood up intending to help Naruto Uzumaki. Then, when Naruto Uzumaki was about to be punished by Iruka, she was the first to stand up again.]

[A mother who protects her child is a good mother. Naruto Uzumaki really wanted to rub Hinata Mama's hair and give Hinata Mama a huge reward!]

System, you were way too perverted.

What a filthy and disgusting thought!

Naruto ignored the system and softly called out to Hinata.

"Hinata Mama~!"

In an instant, Hinata's earlobes turned red as well.

How interesting!

"Um... there are too many people right now..."

Hinata clenched her teeth and did not dare turn around to look at Naruto. At that moment, she had completely lost the courage and boldness she had shown earlier.

She wanted to tell Naruto that, at the very least, he should not call her Mama when people they knew were around. It was simply too embarrassing.

But she was afraid Naruto would get angry, so she did not dare say it aloud.

However, she still had a backup plan.

If she could not say it, then she could write it.

Before long, class began, and the classroom quieted down. This was a theory class about how ninjas refined chakra.

Naruto had already learned it through the lottery and had no interest in it.

The children from the major clans had also learned it long ago through instruction from their families, so many of them quietly did their own things during this class.

And Hinata took advantage of this opening.

Slowly, she pulled an exquisite, adorable wallet from her pocket and handed it to Naruto beside her.

"T-take... please take it~!"

There were lots of people around, please take it?

What did that mean?

Combining Hinata's two statements, Naruto could not make heads or tails of it, so he took the wallet she offered and held it in his palm.

He weighed it.

It was quite heavy.

When he opened it, it was filled with banknotes. On top of the notes was a small slip of paper.

Several densely written lines covered the note.

(Since I'm Mama, I should be responsible for my child...)

(So, this is the allowance I'm giving Naruto. There are 1.5 million ryo.)

(Of that, 500,000 ryo was borrowed from my younger sister, but Naruto doesn't need to worry. I'll pay it back soon.)

(I feel like Naruto is very poor.)

(You just need to live a little better.)

(Um... that's all.)

After reading those lines, Naruto was stunned. He really had not expected Hinata to take it seriously and give him money.

And she had been so generous about it.

He had indeed said that he wanted Hinata to wash his clothes, cook, clean, and earn money to support him, but that had only been a joke in the moment.

Yet because of one joke from him, Hinata had taken out so much money.

It was hard not to feel touched.

Was this really the Overlord Leaf Ninja Village he lived in?

Since transmigrating here, he had run into nothing but shitty nonsense every day, making his hostility especially heavy. That was one reason he had shown no restraint when kicking Kiba earlier.

Now...

That hostility had genuinely been dispelled a little by this little girl named Hinata Hyuga.

Naruto did not act cool by returning the wallet to Hinata and declaring that he did not need a girl's money to support him. He truly was short on money.

His monthly living allowance was only 1,000 ryo.

Ichiraku Ramen cost between 60 and 90 ryo, so if he ate ramen outside for every meal, Naruto could only afford a dozen or so bowls per month. He was extremely strapped for cash.

Now, this rich young lady Hinata had casually handed him 1.5 million ryo. How many bowls of ramen could that buy?

Even after nine years of compulsory education in his previous life, Naruto felt a little dizzy and could not quite calculate it. It was simply too much.

So he did not put on any macho act. He would first accept Hinata's money to get through this difficult period, then repay her many times over in the future.

[666, he finally got to live off a woman. That one call of Mama wasn't wasted.]

[Pay it back? Pay back what money?!]

[Evil Naruto Uzumaki thought that once he turned Hinata Mama into another kind of identity in the future, he wouldn't need to pay it back, right?]

[If he really had to repay it, evil Naruto Uzumaki planned to repay it in an extremely perverted way!]

Damn it, could you stop blurting out my inner thoughts all the time?!

No!

Could you stop always fantasizing about me?

Without arguing further with the system, Naruto put the wallet into his pocket, wrote a note, and handed it to Hinata.

It read: (Thank you, Hinata Mama. Love you, OVO!)

Naruto clearly saw Hinata Hyuga's entire body tense up the instant she accepted and opened his note.

Then...

She began swaying~!

Seeing that, Naruto could not help but smile slightly.

She really was shy.

After quite a while, class ended, and Hinata Hyuga finally snapped out of her daze over the words "love you."

Ever since she could remember, Hinata Hyuga had never heard anyone say those words to her. Not her stern, unsmiling father, nor her elegant mother.

But...

Today, Naruto Uzumaki had...

Even though it was only written words.

The impact it had on Hinata Hyuga was unimaginable.

"What did Naruto mean by that?"

"Was it between family members..."

"Or..."

A blush rose across her pretty face again. Hinata Hyuga did not dare think any further and quickly shook her head, driving away those messy thoughts.

It was not until Naruto Uzumaki stood and left that Hinata Hyuga barely remembered that she had meant to write him a note reminding him not to call her Mama in front of people they knew.

"Naruto~!"

Watching Naruto's departing back, Hinata Hyuga shyly lowered her head.

Forget it. She would find another chance next time.

Thinking that, she carefully tucked Naruto's note into her book.

She smiled for no apparent reason.

"Hinata, what are you smiling about?" Ino Yamanaka suddenly leaned over.

Hinata Hyuga jumped, her whole body trembling as she explained in a quavering voice, "N-no, nothing."

Ino Yamanaka gave her a look and curled her lips. "There must be something. Did Naruto say something to you? I saw you two making little moves the whole class."

"..."

Hinata Hyuga did not answer. She lowered her head in silence.

Seeing her attitude, Ino Yamanaka grew even more curious, as if a kitten were scratching at her heart.

She wanted to know!

In the afternoon, there was an outdoor combat class. The first-year ninja academy students had already begun learning some basic ninjutsu, and sparring practice had officially started in the second term.

It was now the third term.

Once this term ended, they would be second-year students when they returned next term.

"I heard Kiba woke up from his coma and has gone to Konoha Hospital to recuperate."

"I think he was too embarrassed to show his face, so he went to the hospital."

"That makes sense. After all, he was defeated by Naruto, the dead last. I'd be too embarrassed to show my face too."

Because what had happened that morning was so absurd, the students' discussions had not faded with time. Instead, they only became more and more intense.

However, because of Naruto's identity as the "demon fox," few people came to talk to him. Most children had been instructed by their parents.

"Don't get close to that child!"

"Don't become friends with him!"

"Stay away from him!"

But Choji Akimichi, who had also suffered bullying because of his "obesity," did not dislike Naruto as much as the others did.

He could empathize more than anyone with Naruto being excluded, so he immediately came over and lowered his voice to ask Naruto how he had done it.

Shikamaru Nara and Shino Aburame in the back row also pricked up their ears to listen.

Naruto's gaze fell on Sasuke Uchiha in the front row.

Looking at Sasuke Uchiha's perfectly straight back, Naruto could practically guarantee that he was eavesdropping too. He was just acting cooler than everyone else.

Since that was the case.

Then listen closely. I'm about to show off.

"I originally planned to get along with you all as an ordinary person, but all I got in return was bullying."

"I'm done pretending!"

"I'm an unparalleled genius. I'm coming clean!"

???

Shikamaru Nara tugged at the corner of his mouth, utterly speechless.

He had always hated trouble. Seeing Naruto making such a spectacle of himself, he unconsciously took two steps back, trying to get away from Naruto.

"Seriously impressive!"

Choji Akimichi's eyes widened with envy.

He was one of the few children in class with a relatively normal brain, and he openly showed his envy toward Naruto.

Sasuke Uchiha curled his lip.

When it came to geniuses, the only person in all of Konoha he acknowledged was his brother, Itachi Uchiha. Other than his brother, he was number one.

Everyone else was trash!

And now, Naruto Uzumaki, that dead last, had merely defeated some Kiba and already dared to boast behind his back, calling himself a genius.

Ridiculous!

There was only one genius here, and that was him.

Sasuke Uchiha turned with a serious expression and looked in Naruto's direction. "Hey, dead last. During practical combat class later, do you dare fight me?"

The challenge came from the cool, stern-faced boy in an arrogant tone.

The stench of showing off hung in the air.

Instantly.

Every sound came to an abrupt stop.

"Sasuke, you're so cool!"

Sakura Haruno led the way, and many girls immediately began cheering for Sasuke Uchiha.

"As expected of Sasuke! Even challenging someone is so cool!"

"..."

"Go, Sasuke!"

Hearing the girls' cheers, even though Sasuke Uchiha had no interest in them, he could not help but raise the corners of his mouth slightly.

"So, dead last? Do you dare?"

The skies had cleared, the rain had stopped, and Sasuke Uchiha felt like he was on top again!

At that moment, Naruto finally understood why Sasuke Uchiha had the nickname Sunny Sasuke. He had thought he would need to provoke Sasuke several times before taking the bait.

After all, Naruto had just instantly defeated Kiba Inuzuka. Anyone should have known that he was not easy to deal with now.

Yet this fool Sasuke Uchiha had come right over on his own before Naruto had even provoked him.

Naruto took a deep breath.

He raised his eyes and looked at Sasuke Uchiha.

"Sure!"

The moment he said it, Sasuke's brainless fangirls exploded.

Sakura Haruno was the first to speak up. "Naruto, there's no way you can beat Sasuke! Just admit defeat already!"

The other girls chimed in. "Exactly! What makes you think you can fight Sasuke?"

Ino Yamanaka was shaking her head back and forth. On one side was Sasuke Uchiha, whom she liked; on the other was Naruto Uzumaki, whom she had just started finding interesting.

She had been thinking of becoming friends with Naruto Uzumaki. Did she have to make a choice already?

Damn it!

Only Hinata Hyuga silently moved over to Naruto's side and softly said,

"Good luck, Naruto."

At the same time, she silently worried for Naruto.

Although Naruto had beaten Kiba Inuzuka that morning.

Sasuke Uchiha had always been first, after all.

She silently prayed for Naruto, but then she heard Naruto speak to Sasuke again.

"Just fighting like this seems kind of boring. How about we bet something?"

"Fine!"

Sasuke Uchiha did not care what they bet. With all the girls flattering him, his confidence had already swelled to the extreme.

Now he only wanted to put Naruto in his place as quickly as possible, so he agreed without hesitation.

"What are we betting?"

"Your mom!"

"?"

[Evil Naruto Uzumaki revealed his true face. He would use this wager to claim Sasuke Uchiha's mother, Mikoto Uchiha, for himself.]

[Hehehe!]

[Sasuke Uchiha, fall into hell!]