"You know… it feels like you've known us for a long time already, Naruto-kun…?"
Faced with Hinata's unexpectedly curious question, Naruto's smile froze on his face. The cheerful expression that had seemed so natural moments ago stiffened like a cracked porcelain mask. After a brief pause, he awkwardly tilted his head and subtly avoided Hinata's innocent gaze. Cold sweat began to form on his forehead, and within seconds, a fine layer of sweat covered his skin.
'Wait… what's Hinata trying to say? Don't tell me… she's figured out I'm not actually Uzumaki Naruto?!'
On the surface, Naruto tried his best to remain calm and collected, but inside, his thoughts were spiraling into chaos. The corner of his mouth twitched almost imperceptibly as anxiety began to take over.
'No, no, that's not it… that's impossible. Calm down. Think. From the very first moment we met, I was already "Uzumaki Naruto" to her. There's no way she'd notice anything strange… right?'
But that hopeful thought barely had time to settle before a series of memories surged through his mind—ending with a flash of that snowy night when they first met.
'But what if… she's not asking whether I "replaced" Naruto… what if she's asking something else entirely?'
Just as Naruto was starting to calm down a little, a new wave of doubt came crashing in. His brow furrowed instinctively as he began mumbling internally, unraveling one wild guess after another.
'Could she know I'm a transmigrator? No… impossible. Maybe she thinks I'm from the future? Hmm… doesn't seem like it either… then what the hell is it…?'
"N-Naruto-kun? Naruto-kun?"
While he was caught in the depths of his thoughts, a soft voice—tinged with an edge of panic—pulled him back to reality.
"Huh? What is it, Hina—uh?"
He turned instinctively toward the voice, only to find Hinata's eyes red and watery, her lips trembling as if she were about to cry. His already-frozen mind ground to a complete halt.
"H-Hinata? Hey, Hinata, what's wrong?"
"Hic… hnn…"
"UWAAAH?!"
Two seconds of delayed reaction later, Naruto's brain finally restarted. And the first thing it processed… was Hinata's tearful face, already overflowing with tears.
His instincts flared like sirens.
The spoiled-wife protector mode deep within Naruto roared awake, utterly obliterating any sense of logic. In the blink of an eye, it seized control of his body.
He didn't have time to think. All his energy went into awkwardly, desperately trying to comfort the sobbing girl in his arms.
…
After who knew how long—and after burning through all his tricks and nearly drying out his mouth—Naruto finally managed to calm the crying mess in his arms. And only then, through her tearful hiccups and muffled sobs, did he start to piece together what had happened.
He let out a sigh—half helpless, half relieved.
"Ahh… so that's what this was about…"
Looking down at the girl clinging to him for dear life, arms and legs wrapped around him like he might disappear if she let go, Naruto's expression softened with exasperation and affection.
He adjusted his hold, keeping her snug in his embrace so she wouldn't slide off from exhaustion. His gaze, somewhere between a smile and a sigh, landed on the now-embarrassed girl nestled in his arms.
"So… you just wanted to ask whether I looked into your profiles before the entrance exam? That's it?"
"Hnn… mm…"
Faced with his amused gaze, Hinata—the one who'd asked the question—suddenly grew bashful. She lowered her head, unable to meet his eyes, and buried her face deeper into his chest. Though her voice was muffled and faint, she still tried to explain.
"I-I only asked because… Shikamaru-kun said… that you're the proctor… s-so I thought…"
Naruto raised an eyebrow. "So you were worried that, because I'm this year's entrance exam proctor, your parents might've spoken to me ahead of time… and that's why I've been treating you all with extra care?"
He deliberately put on a serious face as he spoke, though his hand never stopped gently brushing through her hair, calming her as always.
"And because of that theory… you were scared that everything I've said to you so far might've just been polite lies. Right?"
"Eep?! I—I mean… uh…"
"Relax." Naruto chuckled. "Shikamaru was right. I am the proctor. But everything I've done for you—all of it—was because I wanted to. No one asked me to. And besides…"
He let the sentence hang on purpose.
Sure enough, Hinata peeked up at him, eyes curious, hands nervously fidgeting.
Seeing her reaction, Naruto grinned and leaned in to plant a kiss on her soft, slightly chubby cheek.
"Everything I told you before was true. So just grow up quickly… and be ready to take the Uzumaki name, alright~?"
"Huh? Uzumaki name? Why would I—wait… wait, wait, WAIT?! Naruto-kun?! You mean—?!"
"Yup. To put it simply…"
Seeing her flustered panic, Naruto barely held back a laugh. He cleared his throat and teased with mock solemnity:
"It means that someday, you'll marry me and become my wife. Don't worry—your father already agreed to it~"
"HUH?! WH-WHAT?!"
…
"Sheesh, you really gave me a heart attack. I seriously thought I blew my cover and you'd figured out I was a transmigrator or something…"
As the girl in his arms settled back into her bashful "steaming teapot mode," Naruto finally breathed a true sigh of relief.
'Good grief, my poor heart… girl, don't you know dropping lines like that out of nowhere could scare someone to death?'
Now that the tension had melted away, he found himself smiling wryly. His gaze lingered on her flushed, delicate face—and in that moment, all the panic and fear he'd felt earlier faded, leaving only warmth and indulgence.
"As compensation for scaring me so badly… from now on, you're staying by my side, alright? I'll protect you for the rest of my life… my sweet little darling~"
…Of course, completely lost in his moment with Hinata, Naruto didn't notice—
—just a short distance behind them, someone was staring at the scene with a completely broken expression, like they'd lost all faith in life.
After being "abandoned" by his teammates and chasing after them out of breath, this poor soul had finally caught up—only to be greeted not by his friends…
…but by a mountain of soul-crushing, stomach-churning dog food that outclassed even his best stash of snacks.
There was no escaping it.
That was the moment the final member of the Ino-Shika-Chō trio unwittingly unlocked a very special achievement.
And thus, in this year's entrance exam "event," the entire Ino-Shika-Chō squad… was wiped out by the same shining, shimmering fate:
Massive public displays of affection.