With a splash, Ino leaned back against the edge of the tub, while Hinata slowly slid into the water beside her, the clear water rippling slightly. Ino, who was staring at the ceiling of the bathroom, suddenly sighed and said, "Life really is like a race. Some people run fast, others run slow."
Hinata blushed all the way to her ears when she heard that.
As she looked at Ino, she suddenly felt a bit envious of her. And before she knew it, she had actually said it out loud.
"You're envious of me?" Ino raised her head, assessing herself before looking at Hinata, "What do I have that you could be envious of?"
Accidentally letting her thoughts slip out like that was embarrassing enough, so now, Hinata just wanted to drown herself in the bathtub, her face so red that blood seemed to drip out.
But after thinking it over, she realized there was no point in leaving her sentence unfinished.
So, relying on the courage that had been slowly accumulating since who knows when, Hinata spoke, her voice small and stuttering from the moment she opened her mouth.
"I envy you for being liked by others."
"There are a lot of people who like me." Ino's face remained calm when she heard that. She continued to lean back on the edge of the bathtub with her head tilted back, "Maybe it's because I don't make things difficult for others."
"That's what we call knowing how to read the atmosphere and say the right thing at the right time."
Ino completely relaxed, her body soaking in the warm water, as if she were floating on the ocean. She half-closed her eyes, staring at the ceiling light that emitted a soft yellow glow.
"Everyone has their own personality, some are round, some are flat, some are square, but it seems like I don't have one."
Hinata blinked, wondering if Ino had misunderstood her. That wasn't what she meant at all. But seeing that Ino started speaking, Hinata could only listen quietly.
With a splash, Ino's pale arm stirred the warm water in the tub, and she continued speaking.
"Not having a personality isn't necessarily a good thing. Sure, it's easy to get compliments like 'thoughtful' and 'considerate', but it's also easy to feel stifled. It's like anything goes, and nothing really matters."
"I have this idea that someone will like me no matter what in the future. As long as I show my considerate side, I will be praised countless times."
"Isn't that a good thing?" Hinata whispered, "I actually envy you for that, Ino. No matter what I do, I can't seem to get my father's approval."
"Of course it's not good." Ino turned to look at Hinata, half of her body emerging from the water as she leaned against the edge of the tub. She then said with a smile, "It's easy to lose yourself. Always considering the other person's feelings, standing in their shoes, and even when I want to be a little selfish sometimes, it feels too troublesome."
"It's like there's a voice constantly telling me to be well-behaved, considerate, and understanding. But sometimes, I just want to cry. However, I couldn't find a corner to cry, so I just keep it all inside."
"I always thought that one day, someone brighter than me would stand in front of me and ask if I ever feel sad, if I ever want to cry, or if I ever want to have a birthday that belongs only to me."
When she was talking about the second half, Ino suddenly choked up and she buried her head in the bathtub.
When Hinata looked at her like this, she suddenly felt sad. She didn't know whether she should feel more sorry for Ino or for herself. She was too afraid to hug someone else, so she hugged herself, leaning against the edge of the tub.
Slowly sinking.
She suddenly realized that Ino had understood the meaning behind her words right from the start.
It can be said that Ino was too sly… She knew she was loved, yet she still said those things.
Hinata had been too slow to catch on. Those words, almost like confessions, had gradually turned from dull blades into real knives. They were all laid out in front of her, leaving her no way to avoid them.
Now Hinata understood everything, but today was the day she had truly become friends with Ino, and yet it seemed they were heading toward a confrontation that wasn't really a confrontation.
It's too cruel, too tormenting, but this was the one thing Hinata didn't want to give up on.
The desire to understand her own feelings was like an obsession lingering in her heart, something she wanted to do even with her timid nature. She wanted to figure out whether Naruto was still that bright light in her heart.
But the one being illuminated now was no longer her, it was Ino.
Yet... Naruto had cared for her in the past, too. She hadn't forgotten those memories. Fragmented moments surfaced in her mind one by one, and Hinata began to feel like she was waking up.
'I didn't dislike leaning on his back, and I didn't dislike holding his hand. My heart had always raced. It had nothing to do with personality. This was just love.'
'Whether in the past or now.'
The wind was warm, the hand of the person she loved was warm, and her heart pounded every time they touched, however briefly. Her body didn't lie.
The bathroom was thick with steam, the soft yellow light casting hazy outlines of the two girls.
With a splash, Hinata suddenly stood up and looked at Ino, then said, "It doesn't matter whether one liked the old personality or the current one. What matters is that one still don't dislike it now. That's what's important."
Ino looked at her blankly, somewhat confused.
However, after she slowly came back to her senses, she realized...
'So she had been thinking about what happened in the tent, thinking about what happened just now, until she came up with a suitable answer?'
…
Outside the bathroom.
Water was boiling in the kitchen, and soup was simmering in the pot. The balcony window was wide open, and Kurama had retreated to a corner, avoiding any potential surprise attacks from the humans.
After changing his clothes and being busy for a long time, Naruto lay on the sofa, yawning, his eyelids heavy.
He didn't expect the two women to chase him out back then. The sudden accident caught Naruto off guard. At this moment, all he wanted was to make sure they didn't catch a cold, without feeling guilty or uneasy about it.
'In a blink of an eye, it is almost late autumn, then winter with snow, and then the New Year festival.'
'Time really did fly by, seemingly waiting for no one.'
Half-awake, Naruto suddenly heard the sound of a door opening, but because Ino and Hinata took too long to take a bath, he had temporarily forgotten about them.
Through a sleepy haze, he cracked his eyes open and saw the two girls whispering and pointing at him. He was momentarily stunned. It took him a few moments to remember what had happened, and then he suddenly sat up.
Naruto shot up from the sofa like a corpse coming back to life, startling both girls.
"Are you trying to give me a heart attack!" Ino exclaimed, clutching her chest.
"I just woke up and saw you two plotting something against me… You guys are really..." Naruto's words were cut off as Ino lunged at him and slapped a hand over his mouth.
"Don't say anything!"
"… I can't breathe! Let go!"
"Then don't say anything weird!" Ino warned, "Especially about me."
"I'm not that kind of person," he replied, "But what were you talking about in the bathroom? Why did it take so long?"
Hearing this, Hinata's face immediately turned red.