Naruto: Freeloading is Great! 2 [33]

Hyūga Hanabi, a little loli whose potential far surpasses Hinata’s, is the true future heir of the Hyūga clan.

Although Hanabi is just a baby right now, Hoshino himself is only six years old, so this shouldn't count as an old cow eating tender grass, right?
No matter who you compared Hanabi to, she'd win—she was genuinely Konoha’s future number-one rich-beauty .

Why call her number one?

First, the Uchiha clan would soon be exterminated, making the Hyūga clan unquestionably the largest family.

Second, even though Hanabi couldn't compete with cheat-code monsters like Sasuke and Naruto, surpassing Hinata would be a breeze. She’d definitely become the next Hyūga clan head, right?

Just imagine: with such a future top-tier white-rich-beauty right in front of him, if he could just become her husband, he’d comfortably spend the rest of his life leisurely at home, slacking and degenerating in peace. How could anyone resist such temptation?

Besides being the number one rich-beauty, Hanabi had other bonus points.

One, this little baby seemed to have a natural physiological liking towards him. If he frequently visited Hinata’s house and took care of Hanabi often, his success rate in winning her heart would surely skyrocket.

Two, Hanabi was only a baby. Using diaper-changing as an excuse, he could easily confirm certain unmentionable areas. That way, he wouldn't have to worry she might turn out male, like that gorilla Sakura-bro.

Three, both Hiashi and Hinata would provide support.

First, Hiashi: Hiashi clearly had a favorable impression of him and fully supported him courting his daughter.
Sure, Hiashi’s support was aimed at Hinata, not Hanabi, but that difference hardly mattered.
When the time came, he just had to play out a scene:
“Father-in-law, I’m terribly sorry. After all these years, I realized my true love is Hanabi!”
Then Hinata would jump in with:
“Exactly! I never liked Hoshino-san anyway because the one I love is Naruto-kun!”
A perfect resolution.

Speaking of the support from Hanabi’s father, next was her sister.
He was one of Hinata’s few good classmates, and moreover, he was the close buddy of her beloved Uzumaki Naruto. It shouldn’t be difficult to occasionally have Hinata whisper nice things about him to Hanabi.

The timing, the place, and the people—all three were in alignment.
Clearly, the heavens themselves were nudging him to pursue Hanabi.
Yes, this was divine will, absolutely not driven by his impure motives.

Thus, suddenly overcome with gratitude, Hoshino grabbed Hinata’s hands emotionally:

“Hinata… thank you. I really, truly appreciate it… Because of that H-book incident, I’d completely given up hope on finding a wife. Who knew you'd end up solving such a huge problem for me?”

“Eh? Solving your wife problem… ah! A c-confession? Are you confessing so suddenly…?”

“It’s not sudden, not at all. Didn’t you already realize my true feelings back in the main hall?”

Although he didn’t want his perverted ideas discovered, Hoshino knew that Hinata had already figured out his designs on Hanabi.
Since things had come this far, why not seize this excellent opportunity?
Sure, Hinata might misunderstand him as someone fickle enough to change affection after only a few days, but since he had no feelings for her anyway, that didn’t matter at all.

“But I haven’t… I haven’t mentally prepared myself for us becoming family yet…”

“No rush, Hinata. You can take your time to prepare your heart. After all, we’re both still young, and we have plenty of time ahead of us to slowly cultivate our feelings.”

Hinata hesitated for a moment, sounding a bit disappointed:
“Hmm… mmm, we do have plenty of time. Then…then I'll follow your lead. Right now, we just need to confirm our relationship clearly. That—that’s what you mean, right?”

“Confirm relationship? That… Hinata, can you really decide that on your own?”

Hoshino eyed Hinata skeptically.
Even if she was the older sister, surely this was still her younger sister’s life, not something she could arbitrarily decide.
Maybe Hinata was just being stubborn because she shouted firmly at Hoshino:

“I can absolutely decide!”

“So confident? Whatever, we’re agreed then, okay? You said it yourself, don’t you dare forget!”

“Mm… we agreed. From now on, you're my—Eh? Where are you going?”

Hoshino, already imagining his glorious future, excitedly took off running down the hallway.

“I’m afraid you'll regret it, so I need to escape right now… And besides, if I stay any longer, I’m afraid I won’t be able to control myself when I see your little sister. I might hug and kiss her uncontrollably!”

“‘L-little sister’!? You’re so… so impatient already… Actually, if you really insist that much, it’s not—not entirely…impossible.”

But Hoshino had already dashed far away, so he didn't hear Hinata, who was covering the space between her legs and blushing furiously.

Seems this girl also really likes Hanabi… she even said “also,” huh. These sisters truly have a deep bond.

After informing Hiashi he needed to head home, exchanging polite words about visiting frequently in the future, Hoshino finally left the Hyūga patriarch’s residence.

With such enthusiastic support from Hinata, he had to thank Naruto properly.
If it weren't for that brat, Hinata would never have agreed so readily.
Thinking of how happy she’d looked earlier… tsk, tsk. Was she that relieved after finding out he didn’t like her?
A goddess really was a goddess—though her brain had a few loose screws, her inner nature was still perfection itself.

“Ah, what a lucky day today is.”

Basking in the friendly smiles of the Hyūga clan members within their compound, Hoshino felt so blissful he was practically ascending to heaven.

Should I try walking sideways?

The moment he exited the Hyūga grounds, his tail practically pointed to the sky as Hoshino arrogantly began swaggering sideways.

Thud—!

Before Hoshino had sidestepped more than a few steps, he collided head-on with someone.

“Who dares get in this lord’s way—uh…”

“After Uchiha, now Hyūga as well… Come along, Hokage-sama is—”

Seeing the ANBU member he had collided with raise his right hand, Hoshino cut him off immediately, not waiting for the ANBU to finish the sentence.

“Stop! I know what you're about to do—I'll handle it myself!”

No helping it. After being knocked out by Kūsū, his neck still throbbed painfully. Another hit there would—
Haha, the pain would be so bad my head wouldn’t even lift.

To avoid further injury, Hoshino decisively approached the nearby wall, violently bashing his head against it.

...

Inside the Hokage’s office.

The Third Hokage rubbed his forehead in exasperation, staring speechlessly at the ANBU operative holding an unconscious Hoshino, who had both eyes tightly shut.

---

T/N: FAMSFGIASGA

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!