Residence
Hinata once again arrived carrying a pile of ingredients.
But the moment she stepped into the living room, she froze.
"Why are you two here?"
She stared in disbelief at Shizuka and Ameno, who were already inside Nagi's house.
Both girls replied in unison:
"Training."
Hinata narrowed her eyes slightly. For some reason, the word training sounded a little suspicious coming from the two of them.
After finishing lunch together, the four of them headed toward the private training ground.
At the Training Ground
Shizuka, Ameno, and Nagi began their routine training with practiced familiarity.
Nagi sat cross-legged in the center, entering meditation.
Each girl held one of his hands and began circulating chakra, synchronizing their chakra flow as they trained together.
Watching this scene, Hinata's eyelids twitched.
She sighed helplessly.
"So they finally discovered the trick to training together with Nagi…"
Although she felt a little jealous, she couldn't interrupt them while Nagi was training.
At that moment, Shizuka suddenly asked,
"Hinata, did you use to train with Nagi like this too?"
"Mm."
Hinata nodded.
"Since you two can train with him as well, then make sure you help him properly."
Shizuka smiled mischievously.
"In that case, you can join us too. You could even hug Nagi while training."
"Huh? Hugging during training?"
Hinata looked confused.
"You didn't know?" Shizuka asked.
"No."
Indeed, Hinata had never heard of such a thing.
For the past few years, she, Naruko, and Satsuki had only trained with Nagi through sparring or by holding hands to circulate chakra.
Training while hugging him was completely new to her.
"Well… if you say it works, I'll try it."
Hinata immediately stepped forward and hugged Nagi from the front, then began circulating her chakra.
Soon, she felt the same training effect as during their usual sparring practice.
She couldn't help but feel both happy and disappointed.
Happy—because this meant she could spend more time close to Nagi under the excuse of training.
Disappointed—because she hadn't discovered the method herself.
Thinking about this, she wrapped her arms around Nagi's neck.
Her cheek pressed against his, gently rubbing against it.
Her thoughts began drifting further.
She slowly moved her lips closer—
But—
Shizuka and Ameno simultaneously grabbed her arms.
"That's enough!" ×2
Hinata frowned at them.
Shizuka and Ameno explained:
"You're younger than us. If you do something like that, it'll only make Nagi uncomfortable."
"Tch."
Although she didn't like hearing it, they were right.
Nagi had always kept a very clear boundary regarding relationships between boys and girls.
If she tried something like that now, he would definitely lecture her—
"Like hell I care! Today I'm stealing Nagi's first kiss!"
Hinata suddenly broke free from their grip and lunged forward.
But—
Nagi's head automatically tilted aside, avoiding her lips.
"!!" ×2
Hinata tried again.
And again.
Every attempt was effortlessly dodged.
Finally, she grabbed Nagi's head with both hands—
Only to be pushed away by an invisible burst of chakra.
Hinata sighed.
"So it really doesn't work…"
"What's going on?" Shizuka and Ameno asked.
Hinata explained:
"When Nagi enters deep meditation during training, his body goes into a subconscious autonomous state.
"Any kind of sneak attack automatically triggers his body to dodge.
"We once tried to sneak a kiss while he was sleeping—uh, I mean, sneak an attack—but his body avoided it automatically."
"I see…" ×2
However, something puzzled them.
They remembered that Captain Samui had once hugged Nagi from the front—and when no one was looking, she secretly licked his cheek.
And Nagi hadn't dodged that time.
"Anyway," Hinata continued, "that's why we've always been frustrated—AH! What are you doing!?"
While she was talking—
Shizuka suddenly kissed Nagi's cheek.
As she pulled away, she even licked his cheek playfully.
Nagi didn't dodge.
Shizuka turned toward Hinata with a smug expression.
"See? Nagi didn't avoid it."
"WHAT!?"
Hinata refused to believe it and moved her lips close to Nagi's face again.
But once more—
His head turned away automatically.
"…."
"WHY!?"
Shizuka and Ameno secretly laughed.
Thanks to Hinata's outburst, they had finally figured it out.
Ameno smiled and explained gently:
"You're still young. Nagi's body instinctively rejects and avoids behavior that's too early for someone your age."
Shizuka nodded.
"That's right. You're only around twelve, after all. There's no way Nagi would accept something like that."
"!!!"
Hearing that, Hinata suddenly remembered something.
Nagi had once criticized early dating, saying that kids their age should focus on study and training.
For the first time in her life—
Hinata felt sad about her own age.
Reactions
Tobirama Senju: "Hmph. Children don't understand these things. My disciple is right—at that age, learning and training should come first."
Mito Uzumaki: "Wait, Tobirama… did you teach him that?"
Tobirama Senju: "Why would it need teaching? That's common sense."
Tsunade: "No wonder you're still single, Second Grandpa."
Mei Terumi: "But romance is also an important part of life."
Kushina Uzumaki: "Exactly! When Minato and I were that age… hehe. He was really cute back then."
Jiraiya: "If everyone thought like that all the time, life would be pretty boring."
Hashirama Senju: "That's right, Tobirama. Having someone by your side is a wonderful thing."
Of course, some agreed—and others disagreed.
Madara Uchiha: "Hmph. Hashirama, for once I agree with Tobirama. At Nagi's age, strengthening himself should come first.
"If he's distracted by romance, then when the Ōtsutsuki arrive, he won't even know how he died."
Izuna Uchiha: "In our era, early marriages were simply for continuing the bloodline. No one spent their time thinking about romance.
"Otherwise, you'd die on the battlefield without realizing it.
"…Wait."
"Hahaha! I get it now!"
Madara Uchiha: "Izuna, what do you understand?"
Izuna Uchiha: "Hahaha! Brother, you'll understand later. But if I'm right… the Konoha you and Hashirama built is going to look pretty embarrassing."
Madara Uchiha: "?"
Hashirama Senju: "?"
Tobirama Senju: "Heh. I see. I hate to admit it, but you're actually right."
Madara Uchiha: "..."
Hashirama Senju: "..."
For some reason, it felt like their younger brothers had better teamwork than they did.
Tobirama & Izuna:
"Of course. You two fought each other for over ten years."
"We spent ten years outsmarting each other."
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