Hinata stood before him, young and shy, dressed as a boy. Naruto was briefly stunned.
Fortunately, he had prepared himself mentally and soon recovered.
Seeing Naruto looking at her with such a forlorn expression, Hinata grew flustered and hurriedly reminded him, "Naruto, we're going to be late."
Hinata gave a startled cry and hurried toward him, though her steps were rather restrained, as if she were injured.
Naruto quickly suppressed his shock and asked, "Are you hurt?"
The two walked side by side.
At his question, Hinata lowered her head and said softly, "I sparred with Neji yesterday evening... so..."
"Big brother Neji?"
Naruto's lips twitched. He was rather curious how aloof Neji would be after becoming a girl.
As they walked and talked, Naruto noticed that Hinata seemed much braver as a boy than in the original story. She even dared to strike up a conversation with him.
On reflection, that made sense. They were both boys, after all, so there was no romantic attraction between them. Naturally, Hinata wasn't quite so shy.
Ring... ring...
The warning bell rang, and they quickened their pace, rushing toward the classroom.
Naruto stepped into the familiar classroom and took one cursory look around. He nearly ascended on the spot.
It felt familiar and unfamiliar all at once.
With his hair tied in a sky-high ponytail, Shikamaru still looked half-asleep, his dull eyes lifeless and his expression miserable. Yet as a girl, he looked remarkably wise. ─=≡Σ(((つ•̀ω•́)つ
Choji had gone straight from a chubby boy to a chubby girl, full of energy and actually quite cute. ─=≡Σ(((つ•̀ω•́)つ
As for Ino after becoming a boy... uh... ─=≡Σ(((つ•̀ω•́)つ
She was not only more handsome but more flamboyant, constantly flashing a devilish smile. Her clothes were daring, too, exposing her barely defined six-pack. But when she spotted him, she rolled her eyes, clearly harboring no fondness for him.
Kiba Inuzuka, on the other hand, was pretty damn charming as a girl. He had quite a distinctive look. ─=≡Σ(((つ•̀ω•́)つ
Apart from his slimmer face and figure, the feminized Shino remained bundled up from head to toe, with no presence whatsoever. ─=≡Σ(((つ•̀ω•́)つ
Sakura as a boy... heh. She had lost the gentle-outside, wild-inside air she had in the original story and looked much more resolute. ─=≡Σ(((つ•̀ω•́)つ
Naruto carefully scanned the room. When his gaze landed on a certain girl with twin ponytails, his eyes lit up. ─=≡Σ(((つ•̀ω•́)つ
He couldn't help grumbling inwardly, Damn, Sasuke's the class heartthrob whether he's a boy or a girl. How is that even fair?
The moment Naruto and Hinata entered the classroom, Sasuke sensed the gaze from the doorway. He frowned and turned, finding Naruto staring at him with shining eyes. He gave a soft huff and looked away.
That left Naruto speechless.
He thought back to their interaction yesterday, then looked at Sasuke's cold indifference today.
Sure enough, women are fickle. Unbelievable...
The two entered the classroom and headed for their respective seats.
But Naruto paused briefly as he passed Sasuke.
Before he could ask anything, however, Sakura Haruno, Ino Yamanaka, and several male classmates whose names he couldn't remember all fixed him with threatening looks.
They seemed to be saying, Naruto, you'd better leave Sasuke alone, or you'll regret it.
Under a dozen hostile stares, Naruto glanced around. Only Hinata was watching him with concern; most of the other girls weren't paying attention.
"All right, all right."
Helpless, Naruto could only walk past Sasuke and return to his seat.
He had wanted to discuss a partnership with Sasuke, but the circumstances simply wouldn't allow it.
Soon, Iruka-sensei appeared with a textbook tucked under his arm.
Sure enough, it was just as Naruto had expected.
Iruka had become a woman, too. Compared with his looks, the scar running across the bridge of his nose was perhaps more eye-catching.
Naruto had spent all night refining chakra, then put himself through two hours of strenuous physical training early that morning.
The moment his backside touched the chair, his eyelids felt as heavy as lead.
Iruka-sensei had barely reached his third sentence before Naruto drifted off to sleep.
Sleeping in class-now that was Naruto's usual routine.
Iruka felt helpless at the sight. He couldn't let one bad apple spoil the whole barrel, could he?
He could only turn a blind eye and continue teaching.
The first lesson was general education-sleep.
The second lesson covered shuriken trajectory calculations-more sleep.
Only during the final period, a self-study session, did Naruto finally wake, bleary-eyed.
Seeing that Iruka-sensei wasn't in the classroom, Naruto stretched, then slumped over his desk to gather his wits and consider how to use the system to make money in Konoha.
The Naruto World had an underdeveloped food culture, and the various seasonings he had found in the system were incredibly cheap...
In that case, why not partner with Aunt Ichiraku and start a side business? A barbecue stall, for instance, sounded pretty good.
That way, customers could eat barbecue without it interfering with their ramen.
Ramen was the main course, after all.
It wasn't as though he hadn't considered becoming a seasoning supplier, but that would inevitably involve a much larger operation.
Then the Third and Danzo would uncover his secret with even a little investigation. After all, if large quantities of seasoning appeared in his hands without any traceable channels, he would have no way to explain their source.
But a single barbecue stall, partnered with Aunt Ichiraku, would be easy enough to explain.
Even if Root investigated, there would be a perfectly convincing explanation. Aunt Ichiraku could simply say that MSG was a delicious seasoning she had developed herself.
And he could easily clear himself of all suspicion.
With overpowered seasonings like MSG in hand, winning Aunt Ichiraku over would be easy. Staffing, however, gave Naruto a headache.
At that thought, he opened his eyes and looked at the girl Sasuke sitting ahead of him.
"Got it."
Considering how Root had plundered the Uchiha's assets last night...
The Third would surely play the kindly benefactor again today, using the same old trick of offering Sasuke financial assistance to take the first step toward brainwashing him into inheriting the Will of Fire.
All Naruto had to do was warn Sasuke beforehand and tell him about Konoha High Command's dirty methods. Given Sasuke's pride, he would never let the Third brainwash him. He might even refuse Konoha's so-called assistance outright.
But everyone had to eat. Without money, he couldn't buy food, and without food, he would starve.
Then couldn't Naruto appeal to reason and emotion, recruit him, and get him to help out at the barbecue stall?
And that wasn't all.
Sasuke knew Fire Release, and Naruto needed fire for his barbecue...
This deal... is brilliant.
With that thought, Naruto grabbed the textbook belonging to the classmate beside him and ripped out a blank page.
The previously quiet classroom instantly erupted into chaos.
"Naruto, how could you tear my book? You owe me a new one!"
The unremarkable classmate was furious at seeing a page ripped right out of his textbook.
The commotion was loud enough to immediately draw the surrounding students' attention.
Once they learned what had happened, apart from a few indifferent students such as Shikamaru and Sasuke...
Everyone looked toward Naruto.
Hearing that, Naruto froze and glanced down at the textbook. Apparently, he really had torn the wrong one.
"Ah, sorry about that. I thought it was mine. How about I give you my textbook instead?"
Naruto might have been devious, but he wasn't unreasonable. Once he realized he had torn his classmate's book, he hurried to make amends.
But the classmate flew into a rage, pointing at Naruto's nose and shouting, "You jinx! Who wants your textbook? My parents won't even let me play with you. As if I'd take your book!"
"Exactly! My parents said I'm not allowed to play with him, let alone take anything he's touched!"
"A kid without parents really has no manners."
Most of those speaking were the class's nameless little lackeys.
None of the children from major clans-the Ino-Shika-Cho trio, the Hyuga, the Aburame, or the Inuzuka Clan-said anything. Clearly, their parents hadn't told them such things.
At those words, Naruto's anger flared.
He shot to his feet and glared viciously at his deskmate. "Who are you calling a parentless brat with no manners? Say that again!"
Before you continue