Back then, Uchiha Madara said, "The Hidden Leaf is one entity. Without the tree, the leaves cannot flourish, and without the leaves, the tree cannot survive for long." He named the village the Hidden Leaf Village, proving that he still cared about the village and the dream he shared with Hashirama Senju, holding onto hope.
His words turned out to be prophetic. Now, the tree is gone, and the leaves are almost gone too.
Except for Ino and a few elders, hardly anyone remembers the name Uchiha Madara anymore. However, the name of the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, is practically a household name.
Even if someone truly didn't know, the massive head on Hokage Rock is hard to miss. Anyone with a bit of curiosity would ask around and find out.
Haruno Sakura didn't have Ino's family background. After their friendship fell apart, she studied hard and achieved excellent grades. Although the village always referred to him as the First Hokage, she quickly connected the title to Hashirama Senju.
Shikamaru would hesitate before using an Exploding Tag, Hinata would get excited for half a day over a Kunai giveaway at a shop, and Ino was so broke she started considering "renting out spare rooms." As a civilian ninja, Haruno Sakura was even poorer. She wanted the First Hokage's treasure—badly.
Without informing anyone, she placed the scroll at the bottom of her backpack, planning to study it carefully when she got home.
For now, she had something more important to do: study hard and surpass Ino in academic performance! This was directly related to winning back Sasuke's heart—at least that's what she thought. While treasure was important, love was even more valuable!
Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji ran into the boisterous Kiba Inuzuka at the school entrance. Seeing the three of them skipping class, the dog lover looked completely unfazed. Holding Akamaru, the ninja dog he had raised since childhood, he followed them.
"What are you guys up to?"
"Going for barbecue. Kiba, wanna come?" Shikamaru asked.
"Why not? Let's go!" Kiba Inuzuka never knew how to refuse free food and agreed without hesitation.
The three-year-old ninja dog Akamaru, knowing he could get a free meal, barked happily twice.
Ino glanced at Shikamaru, her expression saying, "You know we don't have enough money, and you're inviting more people? Are we really going to wash dishes at the barbecue place today?"
Shikamaru lazily shrugged, indicating there was nothing he could do. They had already run into him—it's not like they could say they were going home to study, right?
One more person meant one more mouth to feed. And judging by Kiba's attitude, he was clearly planning to bring Akamaru along, which meant two mouths.
Ino scratched her head in frustration. Money was getting tighter. Maybe they should call Naruto? She remembered Naruto seemed to have some money.
"Since there are already four of us, and you're the only girl here, why not call one more companion?" Shikamaru nudged his chin, signaling her to look to the right.
Who? Ino followed his gaze and saw Hinata carefully carrying a bucket, preparing to go back and clean.
Call Hinata too? Good grief! If we call her, we're definitely not going to have enough money!
Ino understood Shikamaru's intention perfectly—he wanted Hinata to help share the cost.
Even a skinny camel is bigger than a horse. No matter how down on their luck the Hyuga clan was, they were still one of the top noble families in the Hidden Leaf. As the eldest daughter, Hinata had a decent allowance, and with her gentle personality, she spent very little. At this stage, she was definitely a wealthy woman—at least that's what Shikamaru thought.
Ino was a bit speechless, thinking that even the wisest can make mistakes. With unequal information, even Shikamaru's IQ of 200 wouldn't help. "What? Is there something I don't know?" Shikamaru, being sharp, immediately noticed Ino's hesitation. He didn't know the reason behind it but carefully observed Hinata.
What could Ino say? That Hinata, despite looking pitiful, weak, and helpless, could eat a lot? That was something she couldn't bring up.
Well, hopefully, this girl was indeed a little rich lady.
Quickly, Ino grabbed Hinata, who looked as timid as a little rabbit and seemed easy to bully.
"Hinata, come on, let's go eat barbecue."
"Ah, this... we're still in class, what about Sparrow-sensei?" Hinata was completely bewildered, at a loss on how to refuse. "They're all boys, just keep me company, come on. We've been classmates for so many years and haven't eaten together. Today's perfect to bond. I remember your birthday is in December, right? Haha, you're three months younger than me." Ino pulled and dragged the heiress of the Hyuga clan out of the school.
Two girls, three boys, and a dog—this lineup wasn't too odd.
As they walked, Ino did some mental calculations.
Among the Konoha 12, three were from the previous year, already graduated and currently unreachable, so they could be ignored.
Sasuke, that cold-faced guy, didn't need to be invited. Even if the sun rose from the west, this self-proclaimed "avenger" wouldn't join a bunch of classmates for barbecue.
Naruto was busy cleaning the wide noodle tears off the Hokage Rock, and Haruno Sakura had also been tricked by Ino. With these three out, twelve minus six equals six. Currently, they had five people. Who was missing from the Konoha 12?
"Are you looking for me?"
"Huh?" Ino turned around and saw a boy in a beige hooded jacket, wearing sunglasses, with most of his face covered, standing not far behind her to the left.
They were already outside the school.
She paused, "Shino, have you been following us?"
"I followed this guy here," Shino Aburame pointed at Kiba Inuzuka, the dog lover beside him.
Wow! Ino was amazed.
A living person had followed them for over a hundred meters without any disguise and was only just noticed. His presence was truly low-key! Not becoming a ninja would be a loss to the ninja world.
"Then let's go eat barbecue together?"
"Alright."
His reply was as straightforward as ever.
The Yamanaka, Nara, Akimichi, Hyuga, Inuzuka, and Aburame clans—all six families were ninja clans in the village, with the Hyuga clan, Hinata's family, being a prestigious clan that once rivaled the Uchiha clan.
They didn't intentionally exclude civilian ninjas, but unconsciously, the six of them ended up together, leaving civilian ninjas out.
Entering the Barbecue Q Restaurant, the slightly plump owner saw them, especially the chubby Choji, as if she had seen family.
"How many of you?"Boss lady, six people.""
"Got it!"
The life of a ninja often involves working at night and resting during the day, leading to a very chaotic schedule. Even at around 10 in the morning, there were quite a few people eating at the barbecue restaurant.
Ino spotted her father's subordinate, while Shikamaru noticed a senior member of his clan. They each went over and politely greeted them.