Naruto: Freeloading is Great! 2 [46]

“Kyaaaa—!!!”

Naruto, pinned beneath Hoshino’s foot, let out an extremely girlish scream.

Expressionlessly tilting his head, Hoshino stuck both index fingers into his ears to block out the noise.

Naruto struggled fiercely, but the harder she fought, the harder Hoshino pressed down on her head, making escape completely impossible.

“You little traitor. I gave you one simple job—handing Iruka-sensei my withdrawal form—but you couldn’t even manage that. Still, since your meddling ended up giving me a good result, I'll let it slide this time. But… earlier, when you listened to Walking Wallet, I could still understand. Now you're even following Sakura-bro’s orders? Whose dog are you, exactly? Speak!”

“Kyaaaa—!!!”

Naruto's reply was concise and clear.

“Ignoring me? How about this—if you bark like a dog twice, I’ll let go, and you can go put on clothes. Deal?”

Hoshino’s twisted amusement quickly silenced Naruto’s screams.

Naruto whimpered quietly for a moment, then finally spoke up:

“Woof…”

“I said two times.”

“Uuu… Uuuuhh…! Woof, woof… I-I-I already barked. Hoshino, y-you better keep your promise!”

Hoshino looked down suspiciously at Naruto beneath his foot.

Isn't this brat agreeing a bit too readily? Not even a single word of protest?

Although he didn't quite understand the reason, Hoshino still lifted his foot.

Then…

“What are you still doing on the floor? Addicted to being a dog now?”

“Who’s addicted!? Not everyone’s like Sakura-bro, you know!”

“...Then why aren’t you getting up?”

“Y-you, turn around first…”

Hearing Naruto say this, Hoshino became even more puzzled.

Why do I need to turn around? It’s not like I’ve never seen his upper body—I touch it practically every day. As for below…

Absolutely nothing worth worrying about. Putting aside the fact that we’re both guys, Naruto’s the smallest guy in all of Konoha. He doesn't even need two hands to cover up—just one would be more than enough.

Unless… heh, this brat sure has grown bold, even learning to play tricks on me now?

“Hmm. Fine.”

Immediately after replying, Hoshino turned his back without hesitation. Naruto was genuinely shocked by this response.

Th-this easy?

This doesn't seem right. The Hoshino I know isn’t someone who would be so agreeable.

Could it be… Could Hinata’s influence have purified him, turning him from scum to a good man?

“Hoshino?”

“Hm?”

Naruto called out tentatively. Hoshino didn’t turn around, only answering in an indifferent tone.

No good—I still can’t believe it!

“Hoshino?”

“What now? If you have something to say, spit it out.”

“N-nothing... I just wanted to call your name.”

Naruto tested again and got the same result.

It’s true! He’s really reformed! It’s a miracle!!

Relieved, Naruto estimated the distance between herself and the bedroom. After a careful glance at Hoshino’s back, she took a deep breath, preparing to… sprint!

Hoshino: Now’s my chance!

Focusing all his attention into his ears, Hoshino waited. The moment he heard Naruto’s tiny movement behind him, he immediately spun around, unleashing a sweeping kick.

“Little brat, your daddy will always be your daddy! You think you can overthrow me?”

Shouting these triumphant words, Hoshino successfully tripped Naruto just as she started her dash.

Yes, Hoshino had intended this from the start.

Who was he? A man who’d watched countless TV dramas back on Blue Star.

Naruto’s plan—tricking him to turn around, then knocking him out from behind—he’d seen it at least ten, if not a hundred, times before.

Then…

Naruto, who'd put all her strength into charging, was tripped by Hoshino, who'd put all his strength into his kick. The forces stacked together perfectly.

“Aaaaaaaaah—!! Uhh, uhh, ugh… kaaa…!”

Completely unable to control herself, Naruto executed a spectacular one-and-a-half aerial flip, landing headfirst with a loud crash. Eyes rolled back, foaming at the mouth, Naruto immediately passed out cold.

When he realized Naruto had only tried to run away, not attack him, Hoshino awkwardly scratched his head.

“Uh… Uhhh…uhh…”

An accident—this really was an accident! I didn’t mean it!

H-he should be fine, right…?

This was way beyond their usual playful fights—very possibly a serious concussion!

“I-I should get him to a hosp— No, no, no… Absolutely not a hospital!”

Hoshino shook his head fiercely.

Just two days ago, he’d been invited to the Hokage’s office for a "friendly chat," and afterward, Kakashi had shocked him half to death.

If he took Naruto to the hospital, they’d definitely find out. Then… even if he didn’t die, he'd definitely end up crippled!

L-let’s check first… Naruto’s the Child of Prophecy, plus he has the Nine-Tails sealed inside him. With life force that strong, he definitely, d-d-definitely won’t have any issues…! Oh please, please don’t let there be an issue!!

His hands trembling from anxiety, Hoshino quickly rushed to Naruto, who lay sprawled unconscious in a starfish position, intending to carry him to—

Eh? Is this an illusion??

He only hit his head, right? Why did it disappear? Did it get knocked off?

Staring at an impossible sight, Hoshino rubbed his eyes hard, then looked again.

…It r-really disappeared? Can it drop off like an equip item?

With his brain turning fuzzy from shock, Hoshino completely forgot about Naruto’s potential concussion, instead frantically looking around the floor.

After searching for a long while, he found no trace of Naruto’s fallen “body part.”

I-it might not have dropped off. M-maybe it’s just too small for me to see.

Hoshino shifted position to the lower half of Naruto’s starfish-sprawled body, examining it carefully again.

Th-this can’t be real. Could something like this really happen twice in one day?

Could this brat be using Transformation Jutsu to trick me…?

But Naruto can’t do the Transformation Jutsu. And even if he could, getting attacked would have immediately reverted him.

Could it be… smaller than a toothpick?

Unable to accept reality, Hoshino sprinted to his room, searched madly through his things, and finally found a magnifying glass.

“This time, I’ll definitely see it clearly… Magnifying gla—no, Demon-Revealing Mirror, it’s up to you now…!”

...

Evening.

“Ugh… My head hurts…”

Naruto slowly sat up from the bed, rubbing her temples with her wrist.

“Bandages…?”

Noticing an odd sensation, Naruto pulled slightly at the cloth wrapped around her head.

She looked down at her arms, realizing at some point she’d been dressed in pajamas.

“...!”

Naruto abruptly yanked the blanket away—her sleep pants were neatly on. Pulling at her pants waistband, she saw her underwear had also been properly put back.

Naruto opened her mouth wide, wanting to scream, but no sound emerged.

Click~

The door opened, and Hoshino’s head peeked in furtively.

Whoosh!

His silver head instantly withdrew, and the door slammed shut loudly.

“…Eh? Ehhhhhh—!?”

Naruto, witnessing Hoshino’s suspicious reaction, felt her heart stop beating.

That shameless man… feeling guilty? He actually ran away in panic the moment he saw me!

Th-this… doesn’t this mean… I’ve already been defiled!?

“Hosh-Hoshino, get back here—!!!”

---

T/N: NO WAY HE FOUND OUT FINALLY! AMD JE FEE:S GUILTY!!!

This is a fan translation of 火影之软饭真好吃 by 肾亏能力者 All rights to the original work belong to the creator. Please support them by exploring their original work or sharing it with others if you can. Thank you for reading and supporting my efforts to bring this story to a wider audience!