18 - Chicken dinner...

Konoha...

In the park outside the Uchiha compound...

While the others played in the park beside the academy, Ino was playing with Sakura and her friends at the park beside the Uchiha compound.

"Do you still play with those two demon brothers, Ino?" One of the girls asked, smirking.

"Don't say that. Ino only plays with her friends from the Nara and Akimichi clan, right Ino?" Sakura quickly interjected, trying to defend her friend.

"Yes, I don't play with them. It's just that they come to annoy us when we go to the park beside the academy," Ino lied to prevent her friends from hating her.

"Then you shouldn't go there. Why don't you stop playing at that park then?" Girl 3 suggested.

"Yes, you should stop playing there and come here in the afternoon to play with us, Ino," Sakura said, agreeing with the idea to protect her friend.

"But they don't want to come here," Ino said, sounding helpless.

"Then you should tell your parents and ask for their help," Sakura suggested. "Do you want me to talk to your mom?"

"No, I will do it, Sakura," Ino replied quickly.

"Fine, oh look, Sasuke-kun came," Girl 5 said, excitedly changing the topic.

•••••••••

Another day...

"You went to play with them again," Girl 2 asked, annoyed.

"What can I do? I don't have a choice," Ino said with a sigh of helplessness.

"Don't be too harsh on her, girls. I know she's trying," Girl 4 said, defending Ino.

"Yes, I am. Anyway, I want to tell you something fun," Ino said with a smile.

"I knew those two brothers were no good, and from what you said, the little brother you called Kirito is finally becoming a menace. I think Hokage-sama will throw them out soon," Girl 5 said, laughing.

"Yes, I also think that," Girl 3 added.

After they finished laughing at Kirito, Sakura said, "Anyway, I think you should stop playing with Shikamaru and Choji as well. I don't see why you'd want to play with them, as they're causing you to talk to those two. I don't want you to get hurt."

"Don't worry. I don't think they are that bad," Ino said, trying to reassure her friends.

"No, I heard they are the worst. You know, the other day..." Girl 2 started saying negative things.

"Really, I also heard they stole..." Girl 6 added.

"And..." Girl 1 chimed in.

"Also..." Girl 4 contributed.

"Yes, Ino, listen to us. They are bad news. You should stay as far away from them as you can," Sakura concluded, nodding in agreement.

Ino got a bad impression of the twins after hearing all this negative talk from her friends and decided to avoid talking to them and ignore them from now on.

•••••••••

Later that afternoon...

When Ino went to the park, she saw Kirito running behind the chicken, and one time it flew over his head, making her laugh.

After that, she forgot about all the negative things her friends said and went to play with her friends.

"Hey, Kirito, here, drink some water," Ino offered as she handed him a bottle of water.

"Thanks, Ino. You're a good friend," Kirito said, smiling widely as he quickly drank the water.

"No problem..."

•••••••••••••••••••••

A few kilometers away from Konoha, beside the great lake...

After three weeks of training, Kirito was finally able to catch a single chicken, and he set a target to catch ten chickens in one go to start his training.

After working hard, he learned to be patient and focused during the hunt rather than chasing the chickens aimlessly. As a result, he became skilled enough to catch the chickens effortlessly with little effort.

"Sensei, I did it," Kirito said as he proudly presented the tenth chicken to Saito. The other nine chickens were tied beside Saito with a rope.

"Good work, kid. You did well. Now you can catch twenty chickens in a single hour. You've improved a lot," Saito praised him.

"What do I do with it, Sensei?" Kirito asked as he received a sharp kunai from Saito.

"Don't you want to learn how to cook chicken and make chicken roast?" Saito said with a smile.

"Yes, I want to, Sensei," Kirito replied with a happy smile.

"Okay, now do exactly what I do," Saito instructed as he quickly and skillfully cut the head off a chicken with his kunai. "Now it's your turn."

"But it will die," Kirito hesitated as he couldn't bring himself to do what Saito did, and he saw the headless chicken jump around before dying.

"Don't worry too much about it, just do it. Don't you want to eat chicken and share it with your friends?" Saito encouraged him, tossing the chicken's internal organs into the lake for the fish to eat, right in front of Kirito's eyes.

"Okay, Sensei, I will give it a try," Kirito said with a determined look. He took a deep breath and followed Saito's instructions, quickly killing the chickens one by one so he wouldn't have to hear their sounds.

After everything was done, they cooked the meat and ate it. However, for Kirito, the chicken didn't taste as good as it did before, and he decided to give all the chicken meat to his friends and brother to eat. He lost his appetite after killing the chickens.

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