Naruto: Freeloading is Great! 2 [10]

Left-hand entrance.
Blue.
Men’s toilet.

“Huh? What’s this weird thing?”

Ino stood in front of a urinal, utterly confused. It was made of the same material as a toilet, but shaped so strangely—what on earth was it used for? She felt like she’d heard of it somewhere before.

Where… where had she heard it?

She lowered her head, thinking for a moment. Then her expression changed to sudden realization. She smacked her right fist into her left palm.

“I remember! Last night Dad laughed and said—what was it again…”

‘Ino, Daddy will tell you this. In the men’s toilets, there’ll be a row of white things about this high, shaped like this, curved inward. If you see those, then you’ve definitely gone through the wrong door. But my daughter’s so clever—takes after me—she’d never make such a low-level mistake, wahahahaha…!’

Huh? Huuuh!?

“Th-this is bad! Hoshino and that fox brat tricked me into the wrong place!!”

Realizing she’d been duped, Ino’s eyes nearly popped out of her head. But no matter what—

Pat, pat, pat…

Wh-why now of all times—why was someone else coming in!?

Hearing footsteps approach from outside, Ino was convinced that entering the wrong bathroom would forever stain her life with shame. She glanced around frantically, then darted into the nearest stall and slammed the door shut.

At the same time, Sasuke wasn’t as terrified as Ino, but her feelings weren’t much better.

She slipped carefully inside. From the look of it, aside from herself, only “Hoshino” was here.

“Phew… good.”

Exhaling with relief, Sasuke walked straight to the stall Ino had hidden in and knocked twice.

“Hoshino, I want to talk to you.”

“—!”

“Hoshino? Why aren’t you answering?”

Inside, Ino’s heart nearly burst out of her chest from panic.

Why—why did it have to be Sasuke!? And why did Sasuke have to think Hoshino was in here!?

Th-this… this meant she couldn’t just stay silent and pretend to be some random boy using the toilet!

“Mm… mm, yeah.”

Desperate, Ino pressed her voice low, trying to imitate a boy and keep her words as short as possible.

She was terrified Sasuke would recognize she was a fake.

But she couldn’t stay silent either. If Sasuke thought “Hoshino” wasn’t answering, she might panic, bend down to peek through the crack under the door, or even break it down. Then Ino would be finished!

“Um… Hoshino, I… I have a request. No matter what, you must agree to it.”

Sasuke’s voice was hesitant and bashful. She had no idea the person inside wasn’t Hoshino. The tone sounded a little different, but she assumed Hoshino was just “charging up for a big move,” which explained the odd voice.

She went on talking, without suspicion. Ino quietly breathed a sigh of relief—but her danger wasn’t over.

She still had to worry that Sasuke might notice the voice was off, or that the real Hoshino might walk in at any moment. Worse, if she gave answers totally unlike Hoshino’s personality, she’d be exposed.

Mom, Dad, someone save me. This place is terrifying…

Already close to tears, Ino forced herself to keep up the disguise.

“Mm.”

“Mm? Does that mean yes—you agree?”

“Mm.”

Not even waiting to hear the request, “Hoshino” answered twice in quick succession. Sasuke was so moved by his “devotion” that for a moment she nearly blurted out she wasn’t really a boy. But in the end, she swallowed it back down.

“Since you agreed, then I’ll say it. From now on… don’t do those overly close… those couple-like things with Naruto anymore. It makes her uncomfortable.”

Thud—

Ino smacked her forehead against the wall of the stall.

“Hoshino?”

Sasuke’s voice still came from outside, but Ino couldn’t reply.

She needed to sort this out.

First—Sasuke and Naruto being in some kind of relationship seemed certain.

Then—Hoshino, who once brought flowers and confessed to her, for some reason had gotten involved with Naruto too.

So, Sasuke and Naruto were lovers on the surface. But in private, Naruto was two-timing with Hoshino. And now Sasuke, realizing she’d been cheated on, had come here to assert her claim.

Th-they’re all gay!?

Uzumaki Naruto, with just your own strength, you bent two men at once and now they’re fighting over you. That’s terrifying!

Wait—wait a minute…

As shocking as this was, hadn’t she just stumbled onto a golden opportunity?

If she helped Hoshino and Naruto get together, then once Naruto broke up with Sasuke… Sasuke would be hers!

The conclusion was clear: she wanted Sasuke, Hoshino wanted Naruto. That meant both she and Hoshino wanted to split up SasuNaru.

They were allies!

“I-I’ve said all I needed to. Anyway, if you… if you can’t hold it back anymore, come find me. Just don’t go to Hinata or that Gorilla Sakura. See you later!”

“Mm… mm.”

After saying her piece, Sasuke ran out of the bathroom.

Inside, Ino collapsed to the ground, on the verge of a breakdown.

Wh-why did it sound like Hinata and Sakura were involved too? What roles were they playing in this mess? She’d have to watch carefully back in class.

Please don’t tell me this isn’t a love square anymore… but a love hexagon…?

A hexagon? Waaaaaahhhh——!!!!

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T/N: DID YOU NOT HEAR SASUKE CALL NARUTO A HER OMGGG EVERYONE IS DEAFFFFFF

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!