Chapter 17: Backstabbed
"Why have you been coming to talk to me so often lately?" Nara Shikamaru asked, resting his chin on his hand in annoyance.
Haruko visits him so frequently that now, even when faced with her bright, sincere, all-knowing eyes, Nara Shikamaru can remain completely unmoved.
However, he clearly hadn't gotten used to Haruko's directness yet, saying, "Because I like chatting with Shikamaru!"
Nara Shikamaru was startled by her choking and reluctantly looked away, only to meet the gazes of the angry blonde and the resentful cat secretly watching from the seats below.
"..." This is so troublesome!
When he spotted them, Naruto didn't hide. Instead, as if summoned, he confidently ran over to them and asked in a coquettish tone, "Haruko, what are you talking about?"
"We were just chatting casually." Haruko Hayama restrained her urge to stroke his hand.
Once again receiving a perfunctory response, Naruto narrowed his eyes and directed his resentment at Shikamaru Nara behind her.
"We were really just chatting casually." Nara Shikamaru practically declared his innocence.
Having obtained no useful information, Naruto touched his chin meaningfully, then suddenly felt a sharp pain on his head. With tears welling in his eyes, he glared fiercely at the culprit.
Sasuke Uchiha felt no guilt whatsoever for hitting him, and even scoffed, "Idiot, do you think you're a detective?"
"Hmph, do you know what they're talking about?"
"That's Haruko's business, isn't it? Why are you so eager to find out?"
"I..." Naruto broke free of his shell, but he couldn't lose his momentum. "Can't I be curious!"
The two, who never had a moment of peace, started bickering again, while Haruko Hayama, sitting there, happily observed their "friendly" interaction.
Seeing that she didn't move, Nara Shikamaru took the initiative to ask her, "Aren't you going to try and persuade them?"
"Hmm? They seem to be having a good chat, why are you trying to persuade them?" Haruko blinked, genuinely feeling that the two of them had a good relationship.
"..."
Something's not right, something's really not right.
Nara Shikamaru stepped back thoughtfully; Haruko Hayama's behavior had been very strange lately.
In the past, she was always the one who would take the initiative to chat with Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha, and she would always be the first to mediate when the two of them started arguing. She rarely had time to talk to him.
But for some reason, Haruko has been repeatedly leaving the two of them behind to come to him lately. Not only does she chat with him about trivial things with unusually high spirits, but she also looks at the two arguing people with a strange sense of relief.
After racking his brains for a long time, Nara Shikamaru still couldn't figure out what was wrong with her.
However, he felt that he was the most innocent participant in this incident, having to be pestered by Haruko Hayama to chat while also facing the dark stares of those two guys.
They're practically starving creatures... Nara Shikamaru's lips twitched.
Haruko has been in a great mood lately. The thought of escaping from the protagonist's circle soon makes Sasuke Uchiha's grumpy face look much cuter.
Perhaps out of sympathy for her fabricated illness, Sasuke Uchiha was not as rude to her as he was to Naruto Uzumaki, and even took extra care of her in some small ways.
With this in mind, Haruko Hayama felt even more at ease entrusting Naruto Uzumaki to him.
No wonder he's the protagonist's best friend!
She can also deepen her relationship with her ordinary friend Nara Shikamaru; the dawn of victory has already arrived!
It's hard to say how Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha felt when they clearly noticed that she was ignoring them. However, Haruko's departure was so subtle that neither of them noticed and assumed that the other had angered her.
"Hey? Sasuke!" A playful voice rang out from the back of the classroom.
Yamanaka Ino skipped and ran to the middle of them, even squeezing in the extra Naruto Uzumaki, and flashed a sweet smile at Sasuke Uchiha.
Following closely behind her, Choji Akimichi, clutching his ever-present potato chips, remarked with a touch of fascination, "It's strange that you're all gathered around Shikamaru."
Haruko Hayama curiously observed them. She had met Ino Yamanaka and Choji Akimichi before at Shikamaru Nara's birthday party, and often saw them surrounding Shikamaru Nara.
Yamanaka Ino has short, light yellow hair, with a wispy fringe on one side pinned back with a blue bobby pin. She must love beauty, because every time Haruko sees her in the morning, she's wearing a different outfit.
Choji Akimichi has a head of frizzy, dark orange hair and chubby cheeks with red swirl patterns on both sides, making him look like a ramen roll. He seems to love food and is often called out by his teachers for eating snacks in class.
Previously, Haruko was so busy finding friends for the protagonist that she didn't have much time to talk to them.
But things are different now. After she fades out of the protagonist's sight, she can develop her own circle of friends. The two people who extend from her ordinary friend Nara Shikamaru will definitely be just as ordinary!
Looking at Choji Akimichi's ordinary-looking chubby appearance, how could he possibly be the protagonist?
Despite Yamanaka Ino's overly energetic and girlish image, she trusts all of Nara Shikamaru's friends!
Thinking of this, Haruko's attitude became even more enthusiastic, and she took the initiative to chat with them, "By the way, it seems that you and Shikamaru have been on good terms since you entered school. Did you know each other before that?"
"Eh, you didn't know?" Yamanaka Ino exclaimed in surprise.
Haruko tilted her head. "What do you know?"
Choji Akimichi chewed on a potato chip and explained indistinctly, "The three of us grew up together since we were little, and our parents also grew up playing together."
Seeing that he hadn't gotten to the point, Yamanaka Ino added, "Our three families, Yamanaka, Nara and Akimichi, have always had a good relationship. The three of us met because of our parents' arrangement."
Upon hearing the prestigious term "three families," Haruko Hayama felt a chill run down her spine.
"Although we can't compare to a prestigious clan like the Uchiha, our three clans are quite well-known in Konoha. How come you haven't heard of us?" Yamanaka Ino said, crossing her arms in surprise.
Haruko suddenly looked at Shikamaru Nara, whose face was full of trouble, and said incredulously, "The Shikamaru family too?!"
Having found an opening to speak, Uchiha Sasuke casually began, "The Nara clan practically controls Konoha's medical system, and the antlers of the deer they've raised for generations are very valuable medicinal materials."
"Wow, that's amazing!" Naruto Uzumaki, who had also learned something new, exclaimed enviously, and asked them with great interest, "Will you all become clan leaders when you grow up?"
Yamanaka Ino flipped her hair smugly. "Not necessarily, but probably."
Naruto's azure eyes gleamed with even greater envy, exclaiming that he hadn't expected them to be so amazing.
Haruko Hayama was also inwardly shocked, but her feelings were nothing more than indignation.
Undeterred and still trying to struggle, Haruko weakly retorted, "But Shikamaru hates trouble so much, he definitely won't become the clan leader, right?"
"His father is the current clan head, so Shikamaru can't escape it." Yamanaka Ino teased the helpless Nara Shikamaru, "Shikamaru might become the most unambitious clan head in the history of the Nara clan!"
"You guys are so annoying!" Nara Shikamaru was blushing with embarrassment as they yelled at him.
Haruko's last bit of luck shattered, breaking into countless pieces.
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