Naruto Namikaze dragged Nara Shikamaru along at a jog all the way to Chōza's house.
"Chōji! Chōji! Shikamaru and I came to play with you!"
Akimichi Chōji, who had been secretly munching on potato chips, nearly jumped out of his skin from the sudden shout.
He hurriedly shoved the stolen chips back where they belonged before turning to head outside.
"Chōji."
"Ah, Dad."
Akimichi Chōza walked over to his son, gently brushed the potato chip crumbs off the corner of his mouth, then opened the snack cabinet and pulled out six or seven bags of chips.
He handed them to Chōji.
"Go on. And remember to share your snacks with your friends."
"Mhm, got it, Dad!"
Chōji hugged the pile of chips and ran outside.
Watching his son's retreating figure, Chōza smiled.
"Not bad, Chōji. You've made some really good friends."
"Naruto! Shikamaru! I'm here!"
Chōji hurried outside.
"I didn't expect both of you to come looking for me together today. Here, I'll treat you guys."
"Whoa! The newest flavor of chips! Thanks a ton, Chōji!"
"Don't give them to me. Give them to this blond idiot."
Shikamaru was still extremely unhappy about Naruto dragging him out of his warm, comfortable house.
"Aw, come on, Shikamaru, don't be mad. What's so fun about staying home all day? We should be out playing more!"
Naruto violently shook Shikamaru by the shoulders.
Shikamaru's vision blurred from the shaking.
At moments like this, you really had to admire how terrifying a properly developed Uzumaki physique was.
As expected of Kushina's kid.
"Stop shaking me! Stop! I'm gonna die!"
In the end, Shikamaru compromised.
At the tender age of three, he had already grasped the cruel reality of the ninja world:
Strength decided everything.
Because he wasn't stronger than Naruto, he got forcibly dragged outside.
So next time, I'm definitely going to...
(Nara Shikaku, Nara Yoshino: Does this mean our son's finally going to bring glory to the family?!)
I'm definitely hiding somewhere Naruto can't find me.
(Nara Shikaku, Nara Yoshino: Of course. How could someone ambitious ever appear in the Nara Clan?)
"Oh right, what are we gonna play later?" Chōji asked.
"Obviously we ask Shikamaru," Naruto replied naturally.
Shikamaru was speechless.
So you only came to get me because you had no idea what to do?
Sigh...
Maybe if I prepare a play schedule for Naruto ahead of time, he won't come looking for me anymore.
Yeah. That might actually work.
"First we go get Kiba. Just the three of us isn't enough."
"Okay."
"Sounds good."
The three quickly gathered up Inuzuka Kiba, forming a four-man squad.
Aburame Shino: "Kiba and I were together just now, so it's actually a five-man squad. Please pay attention."
The four—no, five-member squad discussed things for a while and ultimately decided to head to Yellow Sand Paradise.
It was one of Konoha's classic children's amusement parks and wildly popular with kids.
You could build sandcastles there, dig pits, even sunbathe.
It was ridiculously fun.
The only downside was that you might get beaten afterward.
And sometimes by both parents at once.
Still, at three years old, it was exactly the age where getting smacked once or twice didn't matter at all.
...
Yellow Sand Paradise.
One of the ten major children's amusement parks Konoha planned to build.
Although only two had been completed so far, it was still a promising start.
Compared to the other one—the water park that was considered somewhat dangerous and required constant parental supervision—Yellow Sand Paradise was clearly more beloved by children.
After all, nobody could resist the temptation of escaping their parents' watchful eyes and playing however they wanted for an entire day.
In one corner of Yellow Sand Paradise—
"Ahem. Today we'll be learning cooking. Is everyone ready?"
The speaker was Inuzuka Nami, the precious daughter of Inuzuka Ryoha and Inuzuka Rinko, and part of Naruto's generation.
If she had been born a boy, Ryoha probably would've trained the kid thoroughly—with the whole "hitting means love, scolding means affection" style.
But since she was a daughter...
At the moment, Inuzuka Rinko and Inuzuka Nami were stuck in a weird little love-rival relationship.
You think you can steal my husband (Dad)? Dream on!!
"We're ready!"
"Woof woof!"
The replies came from:
Tenten, Yamanaka Ino, Hyūga Hinata, Haruno Sakura...
And Inuzuka Nami's ninja hound—the little princess of the canine world, Kanemaru.
Her golden fur sparkled brilliantly, soft and beautiful.
The first time Ryoha saw her at the kennels, he immediately thought:
Damn, my daughter is absolutely going to love this one.
(Women, no matter their age, always like shiny golden things. If it sparkles, even better.)
Even though Tenten was a year older than Nami, aura was a very real thing.
So Tenten naturally ended up playing with Nami.
As for Ino and Nami, they'd first met during one of the adults' gatherings.
At the time, they were the only two little girls there, so naturally they started playing together.
(Just like Naruto and Shikamaru.)
Sakura was Ino's good friend, so she got brought along too.
As for why Hinata was with them...
Remember when Hyūga Hiyasu brought Hinata along?
The moment Hiyasu saw Nami riding around wildly on a little ninja dog with a huge grin on her face, she decisively tossed Hinata beside her.
"Hinata, go play with her too. Nobody's going to bully you there."
Good grief. As expected of Ryoha's kid. She's got spirit.
Back to the girls' cooking class—
Nami held a long stick in her hand and pointed forward with utmost seriousness.
"Tenten, what dish are you planning to make?"
"Nami, I'm making sushi. This pile is rice, this one is seaweed, this one is shredded meat..."
Nami nodded in satisfaction.
"Tenten prepared very well."
"Thank you for the praise, Sensei."
The two of them were completely immersed in the roleplay.
"Ino, you... forget it. Just keep trying."
"That's so rude!"
Mainly because Nami stared at the lump of sand in front of Ino and, despite all three years of life experience, still couldn't think of a single compliment.
"Sakura, excellent work."
"Thank you, Sensei."
Looking at the neatly arranged sand bowls, sand vegetables, and sand cups laid out before Sakura instantly made everyone feel much more at ease.
Then Nami looked toward Hinata.
Uh...
Slightly better than Ino, maybe.
But with those adorable big eyes, Nami simply couldn't bring herself to criticize her.
(Yamanaka Ino: ??? So what exactly am I lacking?! I'm also a youthful, beautiful little girl, okay?!)
"Kanemaru, you..."
"Woof woof woof!"
"Well... your sense of aesthetics is different from us humans, so I guess that's reasonable."
(Yamanaka Ino: So I'm the only one who got criticized?! )
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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