135 Chapter 135

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About an hour before the departure of Shikamaru.

After the incident in the park, Ino returned home with a swimming gait. She still didn't understand why he did this, but the touch of his lips still gave goosebumps all over her body. A pleasant warm feeling in my chest just turned my head. All that Ino wanted was to sing and dance, she walked home in high spirits, even too high. People passing by looked back in bewilderment at the strange girl, glowing with happiness. Smiling brightly, she did not pay attention to the glances thrown in her direction at all.

At the same time, Kiba, Chоji and Naruto emerged from the alley and unexpectedly collided with the blonde. The girl did not even notice how someone appeared on her way. With a loud bang and a low cry, Ino slammed into Chоji. The guy didn't even stagger, but his friend had to take a couple of steps back to restore balance.

- O! Ino, hello! Naruto waved.

Kiba nodded and the petty Akamaru barked amiably a couple of times. The blonde herself rubbed her nose with displeasure. Chоji's face changed and he took a couple of steps back, hiding behind Naruto. Evil Ino is not a very pleasant companion, he knew it firsthand. You see, Uzumaki also sensed something and looked at Kiba with panic. The same one grabbed Akamaru and disappeared into thin air. Chоji and Naruto exchanged glances and with wry grins turned their attention to Ino. It's too late to run ...

Yamanaka rubbed her little nose a little more, and then looked at her friends. A fat man in a gray sweater and a blond in a bright orange jumpsuit. It was easy to find them out. Only Ino remembered Shikamaru again and ran away with a soft squeak. Chоji and Naruto looked at each other once again.

- What is it with her? The blond asked.

Chоji watched his fleeing friend thoughtfully, then nodded glumly.

- Shikamaru ...

- Shikamaru? What are you talking about? Naruto asked in bewilderment.

"It's simple," Chоji chuckled, "Not evil Ino — either happy Ino, or happy, or maybe all at once. Only Brother Shikamaru can do that.

"There it is ..." Naruto nodded understandingly, and then sharply raised his head and smiled: "Look!"

- O! Chоji looked at another acquaintance in the distance. A blue shirt with a long collar, dark hair and a face indifferent to everything in the world. Sasuke Uchiha walked in an unknown direction, as usual, looking at the people ahead without much interest. He rarely went to this part of the city, but sometimes he had to. Nobody was going to cook dinner for him.

Chоji didn't even have time to wave to his classmate when Naruto found himself next to the Uchiha with a bullet.

Sasuke immediately stopped and held out in displeasure.

- What have you forgotten here blond?

- NS? Blond? - Naruto sighed offendedly: - I wanted to say hello, and you, as always ...

The Uchiha frowned, but then turned away slightly and muttered softly:

- Hey.

Naruto immediately smiled and ran to his friend. Chоji had already gotten close to these two when Sasuke began to fight off the pesky Uzumaki. The relationship of these two is not at all what it might seem. If Sasuke's friend number one needs to be pointed out, that answer is too obvious, even if he makes a displeased look every time he meets Naruto. Uzumaki himself always sticks to his friend and insisted on constant sparring and training together. Usually Sasuke had to agree, and lately he hasn't been against it at all. So these two became friends even before their graduation from the Academy. Although the constant crowds of girls annoyed both. They made Sasuke nervous because of their loudness and annoyance, and Naruto for their reasons, sometimes even with envy, and sometimes with something else ... In any case, these two did not try to beat each other as before. Naruto was not much different from the very "Naruto" which Shikamaru could call him, but training made him a little more confident and quite a bit raised his abilities to the proper level. Although, since then a lot of water has flowed under the bridge, and the blond has clearly slowed down in progress due to frequent bouts of laziness. Only with Sasuke he could train, while alone it was given to him less and less. The lack of attention was taking its toll. The Uchiha, on the other hand, trained harder to surpass his annoying comrade. He may look dumbstruck, but he was considered one of the most talented students in the group, unless, of course, you consider Naruto's possession of shinobi history, chakra control theory and many other subjects. In practice, he is undoubtedly one of the best. It was this that annoyed Sasuke - some lazy fool bypassed him in the most important ninja skills ... Naturally, the Uchiha remembered Shikamaru, so it's easy to guess who Sasuke still considered the unspoken rival in front, besides, of course, Naruto.

Chоji walked over to his friends and nodded.

- Yo. How is Sasuke's life?

- It was fine, until someone showed up ... - the Uchiha flashed an irritated look in the direction of Uzumaki.

The blond smiled proudly, and Chоji sighed.

- You, as usual ...

- Well, then! Naruto grinned contentedly.

Sasuke snorted in annoyance, but then decided to move the topic and asked:

- How is Shikamaru?

- Shikamaru? Chоji was surprised, "I thought you weren't very familiar."

"We met once," the Uchiha glanced at Naruto again.

Uzumaki laughed and nodded.

- There was a case, then Sasuke and I decided to run, and then Shikamaru, well, I asked him to show some technique.

Chоji grinned.

- Did he run away as usual?

"If only," Naruto glanced at Sasuke and smiled. "Someone decided to compare their abilities."

Sasuke snorted, turned around and said:

- I have to go.

- Hey, I haven't told you yet! Uzumaki protested.

"Fuck off ..." Sasuke muttered.

"Eh," Naruto turned to Chоji, looking at the back of his departing friend. "Okay, I'll follow him, otherwise he'll be offended all week." Running away, Uzumaki shouted, "Say hello to Shikamaru!

"Definitely." Chоji shook his head with a grin and turned to walk home. It was already evening, it's time to have supper ... Distracted by the slowly floating clouds, Akimichi closed his eyes and smiled:

- What a quiet day, right now I would eat it properly, mm ... - wiping off the running saliva, the guy quickly looked around and exhaled with relief.

Suddenly, for no reason at all, someone shouted, and then a strange guy rushed towards Akimichi at great speed. A gray robe and a protector of Liszt on his head, and a familiar face ... But suddenly, the runner was overtaken by a green something, at an unimaginable speed. Chоji jumped away from this pair of madmen in shock and pressed against the fence. Both swept by as quickly as they appeared, raising a huge cloud of dust behind them.

Might Guy started training his new student for quite some time. Surprisingly, on Rock Lee grew by leaps and bounds in his abilities. Even Chоji was amazed at the boy's speed. At the Academy, they met, but did not intersect often. Shikamaru had already pointed out Li's abilities at one time, so Akimichi remembered him.

"It happens ..." - Shaking off the dust, Chоji spat in displeasure, "Ugh!" It even got into my mouth.

Looking around, Akimichi found a crowd of surprised faces. Mostly there were only ordinary people here, but there were also a couple of Jonin. For example, a man with a cigarette and an attractive woman with attractive scarlet eyes. Asuma followed the departing silhouette of his old comrade and let out a slight chuckle.

- He doesn't change at all.

"The Power of Youth works wonders," smiled Kurenai.

Chоji distracted himself from these two and decided to quickly go home before another trouble happened. He certainly does not intend to be late for dinner today!

That evening in Konoha, life went on as usual. Someone worked hard at the training ground, like Neji and Tenten, someone performed a crazy push-up punishment accompanied by a strict teacher, someone diligently counted their beetles, and someone took care of their dog with affection ...

At the same time, the happy Ino was taking a shower and humming a tune, familiar only to her. Sakura hadn't got out of bed for an hour and was staring thoughtfully at the ceiling. Far from here, in silence and loneliness, Hinata Hyuga accompanied the floating clouds with a slight smile. The day was slowly drawing to a close.

The sun slowly hid behind the horizon and a long, lonely shadow stretched out in front of the gates of Konoha. A guy with a backpack was leaving his house with a light and confident step ...