106 Father

Ino smirked as she cat-walked up to Sato and put her finger on his chest, poking him in the ribs.

"You never came to visit."

Ino cracked a big smile; she was teasing Sato hard for breaking all contact. 

She figured Sato would give up and apologize like Shikamaru usually does, especially when she was standing centimeters away from his face, trying to embarrass him.

But Sato was not Shikamaru; he blinked and held Ino's waist directly. 

"Aah!"

Ino yelped; whatever she was expecting when teasing Sato, being teased back was not among them.

"What happened? Why stop? Keep talking; tell me all about how I left you alone."

Sato said lightly, and Ino's face turned red. Normally, she was the one flirting; this was totally unexpected for her.

"Sorry.. I was just teasing you because you never came to visit."

Ino gave in very quickly; she did not have experience with this. This was especially embarrassing for her because Sato was her childhood crush secretly. 

She would never forget Sato shattering a whole playground in one punch; those multicolored eyes of Sato were permanently marked in Ino's memory. 

"Now you are feeling ashamed? Haha"

Sato laughed and left Ino before Hinata came and started throwing a temper tantrum.

"Why did you let go?"

Ino muttered under her breath; she was visibly disappointed that Sato let her go, even when she asked him to let her go, making Sato twitch his eyes.

Choose one, dammit.

"What a drag, Sato. Did you come to participate as well?"

Shikamaru stepped in helplessly and eased the atmosphere. He had seen three girls walking towards Sato.

And two of them had barely hidden anger on their faces. Shikamaru didn't want Ino to get into trouble.

"Yes, we are giving the chunin exams too. Oh, you guys are here.

"Everyone, this is Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji, my childhood friends."

"And this is my teammate Haku; he's a great guy. My friend Karin, she's new, and this is Hinata, my wife."

But Shikamaru's worries were unnecessary; Sato introduced everyone normally. 

Although what he said was shocking to everyone,. 

"Wife?! Noooo!!"

"Haku's a boy?! But he's prettier than Ino!!"

"What a drag."

Ino, Choji, and Shikamaru exclaimed with shock. Ino's face was gray; she had lost her colors. Shikamaru was twitching his lips, thinking about Sato's team. Choji, on the other hand, was furiously eating chips.

"Nice to meet you."

Hinata coughed and smiled; she seemed happy with Sato's introduction. 

"Nice to meet you."

Ino grumbled but greeted Hinata with some reluctance. 

It feels bad when someone steals your childhood crush. Ino really felt humiliated for some reason, like she wasn't good enough. 

But she kept her thoughts in her head. She was not socially inept; Ino knew when to say what.

"By the way, Hinata, can you inform Samui and Darui sensei about the murder? They should know what to do."

Sato asked Hinata to inform the adults. Tell them how Orochimaru killed three of their teammates. They can make a fuss in Konoha using this information. 

"And make sure to show your curse mark as proof. Anko Mitarashi from Konoha has the same curse mark. Konoha can't pretend Orochimaru didn't kill them."

Sato added, this way Konoha has to pay them compensation. This was entirely Konoha's fault anyway. 

Hinata nodded seriously. She will get it done. Sato smiled in relief, then told Haku.

"And Haku, you take Karin with you. Register her with Hidden Cloud."

"The faster we do this, the better, or hidden grass might make trouble."

Haku nodded, and Karin felt excited; she was looking forward to leaving the hidden grass. That place was a hellhole.

*Swish*

Hinata, Haku, and Karin vanished using body flicker. Haku took Karin with him, as she didn't know about body flicker.

Now Sato was alone with Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji. Ino felt this was a great opportunity to get some information on Hinata.

"Sato kun, do you want to eat? Our team was just about to have lunch."

Ino smiled and asked innocently, but Sato could feel a different emotional smell coming off her body, one that was definitely not innocent.

Sato shrugged and decided to tag along anyway; he too wanted to catch up with them.

"Okay, let's go. Wait, let me leave a shadow clone. I wanted to meet Naruto and Sasuke; they can meet with my shadow clone."

*Poof*

Sato created a shadow clone; he had learned this technique from Itachi. Now it was showing its use.

"I'll show you a barbecue place; it's run by my family; we can go there today."

Choji took it upon himself to treat Sato. Ino silently gave him a thumbs up.

Choji's family restaurant had private compartments. She was so going to use this opportunity. She wanted to know if Hinata's and Sato's relationship was real. She needed to know this.

"What a drag."

Shikamaru smiled a wry smile; he could read Ino like an open book. He assumed Sato could do the same.

His father once told him that Sato Nii had an IQ comparable to his. Shikamaru would not underestimate Sato's mind.

It took the group of friends five minutes to reach the barbecue restaurant. Ino was holding Sato's hand closely; she was trying to make him speak using her charm.

They were currently making their way to their private compartment.

"Ino, you are here; who... is this?"

When a voice called Ino from another compartment, Ino's face quickly turned red, then blue.

"Father! What are you doing here?!"

Ino gritted her teeth. Why was her father here when she was hanging out with Sato? She wanted some privacy, okay?

"Am I here to eat? Shikaku and Choza are with me too. This is Choza's restaurant, you know."

"Forget about that; you didn't tell me who this young man is. Are you a friend of Ino?"

Inoichi, Ino's dad, asked Sato with a small smile. But his eyes were looking at Ino hanging from Sato's hand. Which made it obvious what Inoichi was trying to do.

Sato twitched his lips. He didn't expect to meet Inoichi here. From the looks of it, he probably didn't recognize Sato. Or he wouldn't be acting this way.

'I wonder if he will attack me if I piss him off. Can I resist a mind-body switch?'

Sato smirked internally; he was thinking of messing with Ino's father a little.

Advanced chapters ahead on patréon

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