Friends

Sasuke Uchiha's words made the entire hall seem several degrees colder. The usually lazy Shikamaru looked at Sasuke Uchiha in surprise.

Sasuke's performance tonight made him feel that his opinion of Sasuke over the years had been completely wrong.

This orphan of the Uchiha Clan was far more terrifying than imagined, whether in intelligence or execution. No, something still wasn't quite right.

Shikamaru didn't believe he could have been so wildly mistaken. Yet Sasuke Uchiha's performance had genuinely astonished him. So there was only one possibility.

Shikamaru's eyes lit up slightly. Someone was helping him. That was right—someone had been secretly helping Sasuke Uchiha, helping him plan this gathering.

As the brains of the Twelve Konoha Rookies, Shikamaru saw things from an entirely different perspective than these children.

In his view, from a political standpoint, tonight's banquet had gathered the Uchiha, Nara, Yamanaka, Akimichi, Hyuga, Inuzuka, and other most prominent clans of Konoha.

Moreover, both he and Choji were highly likely to inherit the position of clan head in the future. Hinata was the little princess of the Hyuga Clan, and she had even brought the previous generation's number one, Hyuga Neji, as her bodyguard.

There was also that blond kid, Naruto. Others might not know, but Shikamaru knew very well that the boy was Konoha's jinchuriki, the entire village's strategic-level weapon.

With that, it would not be an exaggeration to say that Konoha's future had gathered in this hall.

Konoha's future surrounded the Uchiha orphan. Shikamaru could even imagine that quite a few people in Konoha would be unable to sleep tonight.

Still, Shikamaru didn't quite understand why his father had allowed him to come. According to clan tradition, they should have stood on the Hokage's side.

And the Uchiha orphan... theoretically, he was destined to have no Wu connection to becoming Hokage. Unless...

Shikamaru shook his head, throwing those dangerous and complicated thoughts out of his mind. They were too troublesome and too dangerous; just thinking about them was unbearable. Better eat something first. If nothing else, Sasuke Uchiha had really spared no expense tonight.

He had ordered all kinds of luxurious, expensive meals from Konoha's hotels. Couldn't they see Naruto and Choji were too busy stuffing their faces to even talk?

As for Ino and Sakura, they were competing for spots beside Sasuke. Right, Sakura was actually the only exception here. She was the only purely civilian ninja, an ordinary ninja with no bloodline and no secret techniques.

But she wasn't ordinary either. Shikamaru knew that Sakura's academic grades were excellent—the kind that might even surpass his if he got serious.

So Sakura was also an exceedingly rare talent, one suited for administration.

No, no, he couldn't let his thoughts wander. Shikamaru hurriedly speared a huge piece of beef from Choji's plate and shoved it into his mouth, completely ignoring Choji's nearly murderous glare beside him.

At the banquet, some of the children ate, some sulked in jealousy, and the atmosphere was quite lively. But Sasuke Uchiha seemed a little distracted.

He was wondering what kind of ninjutsu Aoba Kamikawa would teach him.

"Hey, Sasuke, what are you thinking about? Eat something. This moonfish is seriously delicious. If you don't eat it, I'm going to finish it all."

Naruto's booming voice jolted Sasuke awake. Looking at the feast, with Wu of it remaining, he finally joined the fight for food.

A group of half-grown boys were at the age when they could eat the most. Although Sasuke had prepared plenty, this bunch still wiped it all out.

Fortunately, Shikamaru and the others had brought plenty of snacks at their families' instructions. The boys and girls could still chat together while eating snacks.

Sasuke also noticed that the delicate little princess of the Hyuga Clan had an astonishing appetite. The huge pile of food near her had basically disappeared into her stomach with Wu sound at all.

And while the little girl devoured food, she kept secretly looking at Naruto.

Tch, a guy like Naruto has girls who like him too? Sasuke grumbled inwardly, but he remembered that detail.

That was right. This was also one of Aoba's requirements: during the meal, he was to observe his classmates' preferences and their relationships with one another.

Oh, and there was Nara Shikamaru. Jonin Aoba had specifically told him that if he had any questions, he could ask Shikamaru.

The Nara Clan had served as Konoha's advisers for generations, and the clan head generally also served as the head of the Jonin Council. They could be said to hold tremendous power.

But why did Shikamaru look nothing like someone so formidable? He was clearly just a lazybones with Wu motivation.

Sasuke grumbled inwardly as he forcefully committed these things to memory.

When night grew late, the children eventually had to go home.

Sasuke saw his classmates off one by one at the door. But when it was Hinata's turn, he directly called out.

"Naruto, escort Hinata home for me, then come back and help me clean up."

Then he spoke to Hinata, whose face had turned red and who looked ready to faint.

"Please forgive any shortcomings in my hospitality." Hyuga Neji looked at Sasuke in surprise. Sasuke had given Hinata a very formal bow, as though this were an official exchange between two clans.

Unfortunately, Lady Hinata did not feel that at all. She merely blushed and glanced toward Naruto in the distance.

This young lady is beyond saving. That was Neji's most direct thought.

"Hey, Sasuke, I can walk Hinata home. But why do I have to help you clean up? Everyone's already leaving."

"Because this determines whether I bring one lunch or two lunches from now on."

"Um, Sasuke, I can stay and help you clean up too." Sakura timidly raised her hand. But Sasuke replied very seriously.

"No, you should go home now. It's already very late. Your parents should still be waiting for you. Forgive me for saying so, but you should cherish being waited for."

"Ah." Sakura suddenly didn't know what she was feeling.

Sasuke is so gentle, so kind. Why did heaven have to be so cruel to him? Seeing Sakura already fall into some strange state, Sasuke could only feel somewhat Wu-helpless.

He couldn't help recalling the conversation he had had with Aoba Kamikawa that day.

"You are the last Uchiha. If you die, there will be nothing left of the Uchiha. Even if you become the strongest ninja, you alone cannot support a clan."

So what exactly did that mean? I had to have lots and lots of children in the future? With Sakura? But she didn't look like she could bear many children.

Unaware that Sasuke's train of thought was already about to blast into space, Sakura Haruno eventually left with a lovestruck expression on her face.

After that, Naruto also returned to Sasuke's living room with a deeply unwilling look on his face.

"What the heck? There's so much trash, and so many bowls and chopsticks. How long are we going to be cleaning?"

Seeing Naruto start complaining before he had even begun working, Sasuke could only give a Wu-helpless look.

"Fine. As long as you help me clean all this up, you can take half of the remaining drinks and snacks."

"Ah!!! Sasuke, let's get started right now!!"

"..."