"I…"
Seeing Naruto hesitate as if wanting to speak but holding back, Furina felt that she had teased him enough. If she kept up the act any longer, she would start feeling guilty herself. She quickly dropped the stern expression and smiled instead.
"Alright, alright, stop overthinking it. I was just kidding around. Seeing you in such a bad mood, how about I treat you to something delicious?"
"Really? Awesome! Then let's go right now!"
After Furina's interruption, Naruto who had still been feeling a bit down just moments ago had already returned to his usual self. It seemed like he had already moved past the failure of the earlier exam.
...
"Look, order whatever you want. Don't hold back with me."
"Ah, how come it's all dango? I thought you were going to treat me to Ichiraku Ramen."
After sitting down at a dango shop and glancing at the menu, Naruto couldn't help but feel a little surprised when he saw that almost everything was sweet. Although he knew Furina loved sweets and he didn't mind eating them himself, making sweets the main meal… wasn't that a bit unhealthy?
Moreover, he remembered that the girls in their class were always trying to eat fewer sweets to maintain their figures. So how come Furina's entire diet seemed to consist of this? Did she not care about her figure at all?
Thinking this, Naruto subconsciously glanced at Furina, who was sitting across from him idly gazing out the window. At that moment, the sunlight outside happened to shine right onto her.
Furina's already exquisitely beautiful face gained an extra layer of charm under the sunlight, causing even Naruto to space out for a brief instant.
"What are you looking at me for? Look at the menu. There's no writing on my face."
Furina easily noticed Naruto's gaze, but since he had already confessed his feelings for Sakura back at school, she didn't think too much of it and simply reminded him casually.
"Ah, oh, right." Naruto hadn't expected such a slight glance to be caught by her. Feeling awkward, a trace of guilt also rose in his heart.
Just as Furina had thought, he had already liked Sakura for a long time and had even discussed with Furina how to pursue her. Yet now he was having those kinds of thoughts about Furina what a sin.
Perhaps because he felt a bit embarrassed inside, Naruto didn't say much during the meal. The whole process was somewhat quiet, while Furina was naturally happy to enjoy her food in peace, focusing entirely on the delicacies in front of her.
After they finished eating, it was already around afternoon. Furina knew that if she stayed with Naruto any longer, a certain someone might start getting anxious.
Right now, she could already sense someone using rather clumsy hiding techniques to observe the two of them from a distance. The identity of that person didn't need guessing it was none other than Mizuki, who had been conducting tests alongside Iruka today.
The impact of the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique on Naruto went without saying, of course. She naturally wouldn't interfere.
"Alright, it's getting late. I still have some things to do, so I won't hang around with you anymore. See you."
After saying goodbye, Furina headed off in the opposite direction from where Mizuki was hiding. After all, if she really ran into him, she would have to force herself to talk to that guy and she didn't want to exchange a single word with someone like him.
Meanwhile, Mizuki in the distance let out a sigh of relief when he saw Furina leave. If she had stayed with Naruto the whole time, his plan would have been much harder to carry out.
Although Furina was just a student who had recently graduated from the academy, those heterochromatic eyes of hers seemed to possess some kind of magic. Whenever he made eye contact with her, he had the feeling of being completely seen through, which irritated him to no end.
But fortunately, that annoyance had now left. Once he obtained the forbidden scroll's techniques, there would be nothing left for him to fear.
Carrying beautiful fantasies, Mizuki adjusted his smile to look as kind and approachable as possible before walking toward Naruto.
"Naruto, you're here too, huh."
...
Back home, although she now had the cheat system that allowed her to directly add points, Furina still carried out her daily training routine.
There was no helping it she had never really slacked off in her cultivation over all these years, and it had long since become a habit. If she really did nothing at all, she would actually feel a bit uncomfortable.
After finishing training and taking a bath, Furina lay on a recliner in her pajamas. Her fair, delicate feet swayed back and forth in the air, light and graceful. If this scene were broadcast, someone would probably complain about why the food wasn't placed on the table.
"I spent so much time with Naruto today, yet there wasn't even a single shot of me. Sure enough, forcing it doesn't work."
After watching the broadcast for a while, Furina realized she hadn't appeared at all and felt a bit speechless. But she quickly tossed that small emotion aside.
Because the content had now entered its climax Mizuki had revealed his true colors and was confronting Naruto. She had to admit, this cross-era technology was impressive; it really gave the feeling of being right there in the scene.
"Eh, so it was hidden here. I was wondering how there could be zero shots of me at all."
During the classic pre-power-up flashback sequence for the protagonist, Furina finally saw the long-awaited appearance of herself. After the memories of her and Iruka encouraging Naruto finished playing,
Naruto as in the original story, created thousands of shadow clones and directly beat Mizuki down to his knees, letting him experience what "overwhelming numbers" really meant.
"Damn, that felt good. That little brat has been yelling for so long; now he's finally satisfied."
"Iruka-sensei really is like a father figure to Naruto. Without him, Naruto's life would probably be even worse than it is now."
"As expected, the protagonist is invincible after a flashback. But surprisingly, there was actually some screen time for Furina in the memories."
"What's so surprising about that? From the very beginning, their interactions showed they got along well. I wish I could get teased by a pretty female classmate too."
"The guy above, no pretty female classmate for you. How about a male classmate instead?"
...
[Affection Points +1 +1... +1]
A few days later
"Furina, I've reviewed your records. Your performance in the academy has been outstanding in every aspect. However, it seems your relationships with your classmates aren't particularly good. Is there any reason for that?"
The speaker held a pipe in his mouth, his tone gentle, looking every bit like a kind old man. But the Furina sitting across from him was unusually serious at this moment.
After all, the person facing her was Sarutobi Hiruzen, known as the strongest Hokage in history. Most of Konoha's residents found it difficult to act casually in front of him.
Moreover, if Furina wanted to join Team 7 and thereby gain more Affection Points, it would depend on how she performed right now. She had to seize this graduation interview opportunity.