Winning Himself Over

"Since you want to see it so badly, go ahead and look."

Kanami tossed the shoulder bag to Sakura.

The moment Sakura thought of the pendant she had carefully prepared for Sasuke still being inside, she shot him a vicious glare.

Hmph, if it gets broken, I'll beat you into the ground!

But as soon as she caught the bag, she sensed that something was wrong.

The bag felt feather-light, and no matter how she touched it, it seemed empty.

Her heart instantly sank.

Kanami smiled. "If you don't dare look, forget it. Give it back."

He had only meant to scare her. Maybe in the future, he might have been a little interested, but right now, in every sense, she was too young.

Did anyone really want to do anything to Sakura?

She was still an elementary schooler, wasn't she?

As he spoke, Kanami reached out to take the bag back.

Sakura quickly stepped back. "Wait!"

Why was he in such a hurry? He definitely had something to hide!

Maybe there was a hidden compartment inside!

Thinking that, Sakura could not help revealing a smug smile.

"Haha, you're scared!"

Sakura yanked open the zipper and rummaged around inside with her small hands.

Nothing. Still nothing!

How could there be nothing?!

Refusing to believe it, she stuck her head inside and searched for that so-called hidden compartment.

Tick-tock, tick-tock.

Second by second, time passed.

Kanami sat on the desk, watching Sakura stubbornly rummage through his empty bag, and could not help yawning.

"It's been several minutes already. Even if you were doing a magic trick, you should've made something appear by now, right?"

Sakura shot him a resentful look and threw the bag back at him.

"Hmph, then do it if you want to!"

As she spoke, Sakura shut her eyes tightly, puckered her lips, and a faint blush spread across her soft cheeks.

The setting sun happened to shine through the window onto her, making her look somewhat cute.

Kanami froze for a moment, then smiled faintly and walked out the door.

He had not expected Sakura to actually take him seriously.

A long while passed.

Sakura had been tensing her whole body for so long that her lips were beginning to ache. Only then did she notice how quiet it had become around her.

"Hello?"

She tried calling out, but no one answered.

Then, she cautiously opened her tightly shut eyes a crack.

Where was he?

When she did not see Kanami anywhere, she simply opened her eyes fully.

Then she saw through the window that Kanami's back had already appeared at the school gate.

Sakura threw open the window and shouted in embarrassment and anger, "Kanami!"

Hearing her, Kanami turned toward the window, waved at her, and left.

"Jerk! He just left like that!"

Sakura pressed her slightly sore lips, her heart pounding wildly in her chest.

"Kanami actually seems pretty handsome..."

Then she hurriedly shook her head and softly scolded herself, "Haruno Sakura, what are you thinking? Sasuke is your goal!"

Kanami slung his little shoulder bag over his back and walked into a barbecue restaurant.

His mother had not left him much property, but since he was the only one using it, he did not have to worry about running out of money. He could spend whenever he wanted, and if he really ran out, he could take on a few commissions. Hunting wild boars could kill time and make money at the same time.

"It'd be great if I could pry Hinata away from that blond brat."

When he was younger, he had already changed the scene where the blond brat saved Hinata, turning it into Red-Hair saving Hinata instead. Now, it depended on whether he would have a chance to get in touch with her later.

Kanami ate barbecue while planning out his future in his mind.

Then a gentle, pleasant voice reached him.

"Kanami...?"

Kanami looked over and saw Hinata walking in with three others.

He had just been thinking about Hinata, and there she was.

"Hinata? Shouldn't you already be home resting at this hour?"

Hinata lowered her head and shook it. "Teacher Kurenai brought Team 8 out for barbecue... She said she wanted to get to know us better."

"Oh, I see."

Seeing Hinata appear, Kanami had thought his cheat ability might be making his words come true.

Every child who traveled far from home got a system from Mother Blue Star. What about him? He was like an unloved child. He had traveled so far, even crossed dimensions, yet he had not been given some kind of gift package.

"Kanami, Teacher Kurenai and the others are calling me over..."

Seeing Hinata tugging at the hem of his clothes with her small hand, looking troubled, Kanami could not help curling his lips.

"Go on."

Hinata nodded gently and went to sit beside Kurenai Yuhi.

Kanami continued eating barbecue while eyeing the shochu on the adults' table next to him with envy.

There was no Sprite in this world, and minors were not allowed to drink shochu. He could only helplessly eat barbecue with fruit juice.

As Hinata sat beside Kurenai Yuhi, she kept lowering her head and sneaking glances in Kanami's direction.

Kanami is gentle and considerate, and he's such a nice person. But why is no teacher willing to take him in... Why is he always alone? Even at school... It seems like he doesn't have many friends. I wonder if I count as his friend...

Kurenai Yuhi chuckled. "You seem quite concerned about that Kanami."

Hinata's face immediately flushed crimson.

"Teacher Kurenai, I'm not..."

Kurenai Yuhi smiled. She had seen Hinata's little movements perfectly clearly.

"Woof, woof."

Their barbecue had just arrived when Akamaru poked his head out of Kiba Inuzuka's arms, wanting a lick.

"Akamaru!" Kiba grabbed Akamaru and tucked him back into his arms, tapping him on the head. "I'll give you some in a moment."

Akamaru let out a soft whine, his ears drooping pitifully.

"What a cute little dog. Here you go."

Kurenai Yuhi took out a fresh pair of chopsticks from the side, picked up a piece of meat, and fed it to Akamaru.

Kiba looked at Akamaru. "Hurry up and thank Teacher Kurenai."

"Whine, woof woof woof!"

"Such a good boy."

Kiba rubbed Akamaru's head.

Whether the others understood or not, Kiba clearly did.

"Alright, everyone, help yourselves."

After Kurenai Yuhi picked up a slice of barbecue, the other two began picking up meat to eat as well.

Shino Aburame: "..."

Phew.

Kanami rubbed his bulging stomach.

That hit the spot.

Although it lacked Sprite, the barbecue here was truly delicious.

He stood up, looked at Hinata, and smiled as he waved. "I'm leaving, Hinata."

"Ah! Okay!"

Hinata abruptly stood up.

Kanami smiled at her and left.

He and Hinata were desk mates in class, so they were somewhat closer. His relationship with the other classmates was fairly ordinary. He slept every day and did not deliberately act strange to draw attention like Naruto, so very few people paid attention to him.

The people around her were startled by Hinata suddenly standing up and could not help looking at her.

Feeling their gazes on her, Hinata blushed and hurriedly sat down, stuffing a slice of barbecue into her mouth as if nothing had happened.

But the blush that refused to fade from her face made her look anything but calm. She lowered her head, wishing she could crawl into a crack in the ground.

Kiba Inuzuka asked, "Hey, Hinata, wasn't that a bit of an overreaction?"

"Did you hear what I said?"

Hinata lowered her head and mechanically stuffed barbecue into her mouth. At that moment, her mind was filled entirely with Kanami greeting her. How could she hear anything from the outside world?

Have we already become friends? He probably just greeted me casually, right? No, that's not right. Then why did he only greet me?

The more she thought about it, the more confused she became, and the faster she picked up barbecue with her chopsticks.

Before long, Hinata had demolished more than half the barbecue.

Kiba Inuzuka shouted, "Ah, leave some barbecue for me!"

Watching Hinata's flustered appearance, Kurenai Yuhi became somewhat interested in the departed Kanami.

"Did he really pass the ninja qualification exam only because he was luckier than Naruto?"