Noon, at the gates of Konoha.
Team Gai’s four mbers gathered there.
"So..." Neji looked up at the familiar gates, a puzzled expression on his face. "Gai-sensei, why are we eting here?"
Lee: "..."
Maito Gai thought for a mont, scratching his head, but still couldn’t figure it out.
"Ah, you’re right! Why are we here?" Gai exclaid, as if Neji’s question had just made him realize the oddity.
Neji facepald, feeling like he had disgraced himself beyond redemption.
’Hyūga Clan, I’m sorry. I can’t go back.’
"Enough, you two!" Tenten shouted, stopping their antics with an exasperated glare.
(Neji: Tenten, let explain! I wasn’t fooling around with Gai-sensei! I’m not like that!)
Unfortunately, Tenten couldn’t read minds—and even if she could, she wouldn’t bother with Neji’s right now.
"Isn’t it because last year, Gai-sensei spent so much on training gear that he couldn’t afford food, so he got into the habit of coming here to mooch off Hikari-senpai?"
"Exactly! That’s it! Tenten, you’re so smart!" Gai’s eyes sparkled as he gazed at her in admiration.
"Yeah, Tenten is really smart. I didn’t think of it, and even Neji didn’t know!" Lee chid in, dragging Neji down with him.
Neji silently rolled his eyes, shooting Lee a ntal Byakugan glare, then went still.
"No wonder I kept heading here subconsciously—it’s because of Hikari’s influence!"
Gai finally understood, then glanced at the two new gate guards before shaking his head. He didn’t recognize them.
"Speaking of which, Hikari is at Training Ground 10 ntoring so new shinobi. As their seniors, why don’t we go give them so pointers?"
"Great idea, Gai-sensei! I support it!" Lee, the ever-loyal fanboy, was all in.
Neji, however, kept his Byakugan fixed on Gai.
’The Ino-Shika-Chō clans? Pfft. The Hyūga are the strongest in Konoha!’
"Gai-sensei, those three kids Hikari-senpai is training are a year younger than us. Wouldn’t fighting them be a bit unfair?"
"Not at all! Kakashi and I used to do the sa back then—we were always sparring. And we turned out just fine!" Gai countered, using himself as an example.
Tenten opened her mouth to argue but quickly realized it was pointless trying to reason with Gai’s stubbornness, so she gave up.
"But since I have money for food today, I won’t bother Hikari. How about this—tomorrow at noon, we’ll all go find him. I’ll make a bet with him, and you guys have to win!"
Gai gave his students a stern look—especially Tenten—as if to emphasize the gravity of the situation.
"This is about whether we get a free al tomorrow! No leaks allowed. Anyone who spills the beans will face the wrath of my Seventh Gate!"
"Gai-sensei is amazing!" Lee enthusiastically played his role as Gai’s hype man.
Neji had no objections. He didn’t need the free al—what he wanted was to defeat Kamizuki Hikari. If he couldn’t challenge Hikari directly, beating his students would still feel satisfying.
As for Tenten... she was tempted to sneak off and warn Hikari in advance, but Gai’s intimidating stare made her back down.
To be fair, Gai only mooched off Hikari when he was broke. Afterward, he’d take on a ton of missions to pay him back or split the bill.
Maito Gai wasn’t the type to take advantage of others.
Tenten raised her hand. "Uh, Gai-sensei, can I take the afternoon off?"
"Tenten, are you feeling unwell?" Lee, ever the caring teammate, asked with concern.
"Of course not!" Tenten denied. "If I were sick, do you think I would’ve trained with you guys this morning?"
"Then what’s wrong? If you need help, I’m here for you!"
"Well..." Seeing their worried expressions, Tenten hesitated before finally deciding to explain.
"Well..." Tenten hesitated under their concerned gazes but decided to spill. "Hikari-senpai’s brother, Kamizuki Izumo, is dealing with so personal relationship stuff. Hikari-senpai wants to find a good house near my place. He’s super busy, so I thought I’d take the afternoon off to help him look for one!"
(anwhile, the "super busy" Kamizuki Hikari was lounging at Training Ground 10, basking in the breeze and warm sunlight, living his best life.)
Gai stroked his chin, his eyes gleaming brighter as he listened.
"As expected, Tenten, you’re the smartest! Near your house, huh? Let’s hurry back for lunch, then go help Hikari find a place! That way, our excuse for tomorrow’s challenge will be even more convincing!"
(Hikari: So you know your excuse is flimsy, huh?!)
Tenten wanted to refuse.
She had a tiny ulterior motive for helping Hikari find a house.
If she was the only one who knew where his new place was... wouldn’t that an she could sneak over whenever she wanted?
"Target: Ichiraku Ran—CHARGE!"
Gai sprinted off at top speed, with Lee hot on his heels.
"Tenten, let’s go!"
Neji called out to her before following suit.
---
Training Ground 10.
"Achoo!"
Kamizuki Hikari, comfortably resting in his hammock, suddenly sneezed.
"Who’s talking about ?"
"My stomach’s growling... Maybe this is a sign that it’s lunchti?"
As he muttered to himself, three pairs of eyes stared at him longingly.
"Hikari-senpai, we’re hungry!" Ino was the first to speak up.
"Then go eat! Bring sothing while you’re at it—now that you ntion it, I’m starving too!" Hikari rubbed his stomach, feeling the emptiness within, before letting his hand drop limply.
"Hikari-senpai, I’m so hungry! Like, really, really hungry!" Ino couldn’t take it anymore—she stepped forward and started shaking his hammock.
"If you’re hungry, go eat! What, do you expect to spoon-feed you?" Hikari opened his eyes and gave her a weary look. "I’m teaching you all these amazing skills, and instead of repaying , you’re shaking like a tree? My heart... it aches!"
Like hell it does!
Ino fud internally, but against Hikari’s shaless stubbornness, she was powerless.
"Hikari-senpai, we just wanted to ask what you’d like to eat!" Shikamaru, being the smarter one, tried a better approach.
"Hmm... How about wild boar roast today?" Hikari perked up at the chance to choose.
"But the wild boars live too far from here, so..."
"Fine, let’s go with fish!" Hikari switched gears instantly.
"The fish are right over here. Hikari-senpai, please lead the way!"
-----
Read 40 advanced Chapters on my P@treon.
/KakuzuTL
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