Early morning. The fiery sun had barely peeked over the horizon, and the air was still cool, carrying a slight sting with each breath that invigorated the spirit. Nᴇw ɴovel chaptᴇrs are published on 𝕟𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕝⟡𝕗𝗂𝗋𝖾⟡𝕟𝕖𝕥
Kamizuki Hikari and Tenten came to a stop after their morning run. Beads of sweat rolled down their faces, gathering at their chins before falling to the ground with a soft—
"Hikari-senpai, your stamina is pretty good!" Tenten casually pulled out a storage scroll, unsealing a towel and handing it to Hikari. "I never see you training, so I thought your endurance would be terrible!"
Kamizuki Hikari took the towel, catching a faint, pleasant fragrance. Without thinking, he brought it to his nose and sniffed.
"Senpai, that’s really rude!" Tenten puffed her cheeks, her face flushing like rouge as she glared at him with wide, indignant eyes.
"I just noticed your towel smells different from mine, so I couldn’t help it." Hikari defended himself, refusing to admit he’d acted on impulse.
"Hmph, fine, I’ll forgive you."
Tenten wasn’t actually angry, just a bit embarrassed seeing Hikari sniff her personal item.
"Well, thank you for your great magnanimity, Tenten!" Hikari teased.
"Words are cheap—how about something real?" she shot back.
"Didn’t I have Ino deliver a gift to you yesterday?" Hikari wiped the sweat from his face, looking at her in confusion.
"Yesterday was yesterday, today is today. Just because you ate yesterday doesn’t mean you don’t need to eat today, right? By that logic, yesterday’s gift has nothing to do with today!" Tenten argued.
As a wealthy girl, she didn’t care about the gift itself but cherished the thought behind Hikari giving her something.
The gesture mattered most.
"Now that you mention it, I forgot to eat breakfast!" Hikari rubbed his stomach. Luckily, he’d eaten a lot last night and hadn’t done much, so he still had some energy.
"Wait, doesn’t Izumo-senpai make breakfast? Don’t tell me you overslept again?" Tenten eyed Hikari suspiciously, scanning him up and down.
After a moment, she took a step forward.
"Senpai, you didn’t change clothes, and you reek of alcohol. Were you at some shady place last night?" She took two steps back, staring at him sternly.
"Where would I even go?" Hikari flicked her forehead lightly.
"Drinking with geishas, obviously! I heard from Gai-sensei that you’re close with Jiraiya-sama, and he’s always staying at those sketchy inns, so you..." Tenten trailed off, then yelped. "Ow! Why’d you hit me? Are you admitting it, Hikari-sempai?" She smirked, looking smug, as if she’d caught him.
Hikari sighed and flicked her forehead again.
"That little head of yours is full of nonsense. At your age, you should focus on training and getting stronger, not learning about this kind of stuff."
"It’s your fault for being so shady, making me think that way!" Tenten smoothed her hair. Hikari’s flicks were gentle—they only messed up her hairstyle without actually hurting.
"How am I shady? Don’t listen to Gai’s nonsense!" Hikari defended his honor.
"I trust Gai-sensei more!"
"Fine, fine, I trust him too. But yesterday, I was just drinking with Tsunade-sama, then crashed at Kakashi’s place."
"Why not go home? Did you and Izumo-senpai fight?"
"Ah, it’s a long story. You’re too young—"
"I’m not young!" Tenten bared her teeth like an angry kitten. "Stop treating me like a kid, senpai, or I’ll get mad!"
"Alright, alright, Tenten is all grown up. The thing is, Tsunade introduced the head nurse from Konoha Hospital, Mikan, to Izumo. They went home together last night, so I didn’t want to intrude. That’s why I crashed at Kakashi’s."
"Oh, that’s good. I thought you were turning into a bad influence!" Tenten patted her chest in relief.
"Anyway, today I need to look for a new place. If Izumo’s getting married, I should give him some privacy."
"Really? Senpai, how about somewhere near my house? If you’re interested, I can ask around for you!" Tenten’s eyes sparkled at the idea.
If Hikari lived close by, she could keep an eye on him and make sure he didn’t go astray.
"We’ll see. I already asked Kakashi to handle it." Seeing the eager glint in her eyes, Hikari felt an instinctive sense of danger and quickly made an excuse to dodge her offer.
He wasn’t sure what Tenten was thinking, but as a single man—especially one about to start writing a new book—he wanted a quiet place where he could work undisturbed.
At the very least, somewhere nobody would bother him.
"Oh... Well, if Kakashi-senpai can’t find a good place, you have to tell me!" Tenten insisted.
"Sure, sure, absolutely!" Hikari nodded.
Absolutely won’t tell you.
Under the morning sun, Kamizuki Hikari checked the time, then glanced toward the training ground’s entrance.
"Tenten, is it already seven?" Unsure of his own estimate, he turned to her for confirmation.
The wealthy girl pulled a watch from her sealing scroll, checked it, and nodded. "Yep, it’s seven, senpai."
"Those brats still aren’t here? Do they not take me seriously? Hmph. When they show up, Tenten, make sure you teach them a lesson."
As Gai’s student, Tenten’s taijutsu wasn’t on par with Lee or Neji’s, but compared to the average genin, she was far stronger.
The Ino-Shika-Chō trio were elite genin at best. Even if Shikamaru had been promoted to chūnin, it was due to his intelligence, not his physical skills.
"Don’t worry, I’ll take good care of them." Tenten promised, patting her chest again.
Hikari glanced at her and lowered his voice. "Tenten, I’ll tell you a secret."
"Go ahead, senpai!" Tenten whispered back, thrilled.
In her mind, Hikari sharing a secret meant he saw her as someone close—someone special. She wasn’t going to miss this chance.
"Tenten, don’t pat your chest like that. I heard girls who do that... won’t grow much."
Tenten looked down at her flat chest, barely budding, and took a step back, crossing her arms protectively.
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