Kiba glanced at the shy Hinata beside him and the semi-transparent Shino. With neither of them speaking up, he had no choice but to take the lead.
The real issue, however, was that Kamizuki Hikari hadn't given them any room to refuse.
Forget the Hokage's orders—now that the three Suna shinobi were already here, turning them away would be downright rude.
"Welcome to Konoha! I'm Inuzuka Kiba, nice to meet you!"
"Let me reintroduce myself—Temari." Temari stepped forward, immediately picking up on Kiba's helplessness.
Seeing his two problematic teammates, she couldn't help but feel a sense of kinship.
One little brother obsesses over puppets, and the other just wants to kill people—what's an older sister supposed to do in this situation?
With that thought, Temari extended her right hand toward Kiba.
Kiba stepped forward and shook it briefly before letting go.
Just because his family specialized in raising dogs didn't mean they lacked manners. As a member of one of Konoha's noble clans, Kiba had been raised with proper etiquette.
"Your team's skills are really impressive. I hope we get a chance to spar someday!" Kiba said.
"Definitely!" Temari replied with a polite smile, easing the tension in the air.
"Since you're all getting along, why don't you three show them around Konoha?" Seeing Kiba take the initiative to host the Suna shinobi, Hikari felt rather pleased.
This way, he could openly slack off.
Just thinking about it made him happy.
Slacking off was his lifelong passion.
Kiba's eye twitched. Right now, he really didn't want to look at Kamizuki Hikari. But since Hikari was a Konoha chūnin—and one he couldn't beat yet—he had to show some respect.
"Alright, if that's what you say, Hikari-senpai, we'll handle it."
"No problem at all!"
In front of a beauty like Temari, Kiba found himself unable to refuse.
"Gaara, you'll behave this time, right?" Hikari reached out and gently patted Gaara's head, ignoring Kurenai's stunned expression before calmly withdrawing his hand.
"Young people have more fun together. Kiba, if you want to become Hokage someday, you've got to learn how to host guests properly!"
That left Kiba speechless.
As a young man who dreamed of becoming Hokage, how could he refuse such a statement?
"Leave it to me!"
"I'll make sure this goes perfectly!"
Pumped up, Kiba turned to Temari and the others. "Follow me! When it comes to the best food and fun spots in Konoha, if I don't know about them, no one does!"
Temari: "...?"
Was that something to brag about?
Watching the six of them leave, Hikari instantly relaxed. He found a shady spot under a tree and sprawled out, completely ignoring Kurenai's exasperated glare.
"Hikari, have you forgotten something?"
"Not that I can think of. I just handled the Suna team perfectly, didn't I?" After some serious contemplation, Kamizuki Hikari truly couldn't recall anything he'd neglected.
"I'm not talking about them—I mean Yakumo!" Kurenai clenched her fists, her fingers itching to punch Hikari's carefree face.
Yakumo...?!
Oh crap.
Hikari sprang up like a fish leaping out of water.
"Uh, you know I've been busy lately, so I kinda forgot about Yakumo's treatment."
"You—!" Kurenai had finally had enough. Her fist shot toward Hikari's face.
"After all the faith Yakumo placed in you, I can't believe this!"
Hikari tilted his head, dodging the punch.
Looking at the furious Kurenai, he felt a tiny twinge of regret. He really wanted to tell her, "Do you even realize that if I weren't such a principled man, I could've had my way with you a hundred times over by now?"
Daring to treat him like this? What if he had accepted Yakumo's offer and made Kurenai his slave?
The dark thought flickered through his mind before being swiftly crushed by his sense of justice.
As a morally upright young man, Kamizuki Hikari would never do something so unethical.
Unless someone volunteers, of course. Then he won't refuse.
"Kurenai, don't be so mad!"
"After the hospital examined Yakumo, they must've prescribed some medicine. Has she been taking it regularly?"
Kurenai retracted her fist, glaring at Hikari's shameless face. She decided to hold back—for now.
"I'm not mad. I just feel sorry for Yakumo. You're completely shameless—you hurt the heart of such a pure girl. Scumbags like you deserve to be cut into a thousand pieces!"
"Yeah, yeah, my bad, my bad."
He really had messed up this time.
"Tell Yakumo to come to my place tomorrow. I'll give her a proper checkup then. Happy?"
Kurenai eyed him suspiciously.
"I have training with Team 8 tomorrow. You're not planning to take advantage of Yakumo while I'm gone, are you?"
"Let me make this clear—if Yakumo gets hurt, I will never let you off!"
Faced with Kurenai's complete lack of trust in his character, Hikari could only smile.
"Relax. I prefer mature, beautiful women. Someone like... Yakumo isn't my type."
He'd almost teased Kurenai by saying "someone like you", but remembering that Asuma was back, he quickly dismissed the thought.
Women with partners are off-limits. No homewrecking—that was his rule.
"That's what you say, but I still don't trust you."
"Fine, then I won't treat her. Handle Yakumo's condition yourself."
He knew from the original story that ordinary medical methods couldn't help Kurama Yakumo recover. If Kurenai didn't want his help, he had an excuse if Yakumo asked.
"Wait!"
Seeing that Hikari wasn't bluffing, Kurenai realized she'd gone too far.
She overreacted.
"Just... help Yakumo, please."
"Her health is the priority."
After this half-hearted concession, she hesitated before adding, "If you really like Yakumo, at least don't take advantage of her now. Her body is too weak... "
"Do you really think I'm that desperate?" Hikari asked, hoping to salvage his reputation.
But Kurenai's answer was immediate and firm.
"Yes. Ask me a hundred times, and the answer won't change. Give it up."
(Hikari: If I had known it'd end like this, I should've just accepted Yakumo's offer back then!)
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