During the Spring Festival, there's always been a tradition of boys giving girls gifts. But that usually happens when a boy is expressing his affection for a girl. But looking at Ren's eyes, he probably doesn't know what that means, does he? Hinata couldn't help thinking. It would be nice if Ren knew the meaning and gave her a gift for that reason, but it was fine now; she was truly happy to receive a gift from Ren anyway!
"Ren, what are you doing?" Hinata asked curiously, seeing him hold charcoal in his hand.
"Isn't it Spring Festival today? I'm going to have a picnic and barbecue by the river with my sister. What are you doing now? If you're free, you can come with me." Ren warmly invited. If there was a cute girl like Hinata around, he'd probably even eat two more bites of barbecue.
"Hey? Really?" Hinata's eyes widened with curiosity. "Can I participate too?" Hinata couldn't hold back her excitement at the thought of a barbecue. Just imagining it sounded very interesting. For a young lady from a prominent family who often stayed indoors and had few people to play with, a picnic and barbecue held a fatal attraction.
"Of course, it's more fun with lots of people when it comes to barbecue!" Ren said with a smile. "And my sister, TenTen, you've met her before. I believe you'll get along very well."
Hinata nodded. "TenTen is very easy to get along with. I like TenTen very much."
Ren took Hinata's hand. "Then you can come with me. We can buy some cooking utensils, and then we can go."
"!!" Ren actually held her hand! A sudden warmth spread through her small hand. Hinata's heart abruptly accelerated, as if a deer was about to leap out of her chest. Even breathing seemed to become a little difficult, and her brain, oxygen-deprived, lost the ability to think. Hinata's mind was now filled with: Ren is holding my hand, Ren is holding my hand, Ren is holding my hand...
Ren just held Hinata's hand and walked forward, completely unaware of Hinata's strange reaction behind him. It was no wonder Ren didn't notice it. The girls in the Naruto world were already a little more mature than in the world he lived in in his previous life. Even in peacetime, they knew about crushes and liking someone at a young age. But in Ren's eyes, these girls were still just a bunch of kids. Moreover, in his daily interactions with TenTen, he would often hold hands, hug, kiss foreheads, and... fight. Hmm... TenTen was a carefree girl who yearned for violence, no wonder she considered Tsunade her idol. So he didn't even consider that his casual hand-holding would cause such a big shock to Hinata's heart that it almost made her faint.
"Hey! Stop it!" At that moment, a youthful shout suddenly came from a distance. "Don't bully that girl anymore!"
Ren felt the voice seemed to be coming from his side, so he paused. Bullying girls? I'm not doing that? Isn't there only Hinata beside me? So he frowned and looked at the person who had just shouted. The young man was wearing an orange-red tracksuit and was sprinting towards him with all his might. It was Naruto!
"R-Ren-nii, why are you here?" Naruto immediately recognized Ren, instantly lowered his voice, and asked shyly, scratching his head.
Ren asked with a hint of doubt in his eyes, "Naruto, were you yelling at me just now? About bullying girls?"
Naruto's face suddenly became a little more embarrassed, and he gave a foolish smile, "This, this, this, I didn't recognize you as Ren-nii. I thought someone else was bullying the girl, so I wanted to step in and be a hero. If I had recognized you as Ren-nii, I definitely wouldn't have made such a mistake."
Ren smiled and asked, "Then who did you think I was bullying?"
Naruto pointed at Hinata and said, "It's this girl. I thought she was almost going to faint, and you were still dragging her away."
Ren: "???" He looked at Hinata again. Indeed, her face was as red as if she had a high fever, and she looked genuinely uncomfortable. He hurriedly asked, "Hinata, are you alright? Are you feeling unwell, or should I take you to the hospital?"
Hinata shook her head and whispered, "I, I'm fine, but Ren suddenly held my hand, I... I..." I may have fallen in love with Ren! An idea unconsciously bloomed in Hinata's mind. It was this thought that made her feel even shyer, and her brain lost the ability to think. In the Ninja Academy, she would hear Sakura Haruno and Ino Yamanaka talk about Sasuke, but Hinata never truly knew what liking was. Sakura Haruno and Ino Yamanaka said that when they saw someone they liked, they would blush and their hearts would pound, and they felt very sweet inside, and their eyes would always be fixed on him. Isn't this the same as her current situation? So, is Ren the one she likes?
"Ah, sorry." After Ren heard what Hinata said, it was only then that he realized he had been holding her hand the whole time, making her feel shy. He couldn't help but inwardly chuckle. Little Hinata's reaction is too cute; it almost makes a person want to tease her. Ren felt ashamed for the mischievous thoughts in his heart. Forget it, she's already like this, I can't tease her anymore.
Ren let go of Hinata's hand, then turned to Naruto and asked, "I'm going to the river for a picnic and barbecue. Do you want to come with me?"
"Barbecue? Does that mean there's meat to eat?" Naruto's eyes instantly lit up. For a child like him, who usually ate instant noodles and occasionally ramen, meat was a rare and delicious treat.
"Ren-nii! Please take me with you!" Naruto hugged Ren's thigh with a pleading expression.
"Pfft—" Ren was amused by Naruto. He gently pulled him up from the ground and said, "Let's go, the cooking utensils have been bought, and I estimate TenTen is already waiting for us by the river."
Naruto nodded cheerfully, afraid that Ren would go back on his word and not take him to the barbecue. Hinata also nodded, but felt that the palm of her hand was empty, and she seemed a little frustrated, as if regretting that she shouldn't have told Ren about holding hands just now. That was a hard-won opportunity to hold hands with Ren~
Soon, Ren took Naruto and Hinata to the agreed river. As expected, TenTen had already bought the ingredients and arrived by the river. And there were several familiar faces standing beside her. Rock Lee naturally needed no introduction, the walking sandbags and free sparring partner around Ren every day, Ren's loyal fan. When he heard about this kind of barbecue picnic, he was sure to be the first to rush over.
What Ren didn't expect was that the young master of the Hyuga family, Neji Hyuga, who always looked aloof at school, was here too? Was TenTen or Rock Lee familiar with him?
At this moment, Hinata, who was standing behind Ren, was clearly stunned for a moment, and then whispered, "N-Neji?"
"Miss Hinata, I didn't expect you to come to such an outdoor barbecue place. It really doesn't match your identity." Neji Hyuga said coldly to Hinata.
Ren walked over to TenTen's side and asked in a low voice, "Did you invite him?"
TenTen nodded and said helplessly, "Yeah, I met him on the street, and then he asked me where you were and said he wanted to challenge you. I disliked that he kept pestering me, so I brought him here, but the price is that all the ingredients for this barbecue were paid for by him."
Ren's eyes twitched. He couldn't help but mentally groan, TenTen, you really are a sharp little saver! At such a young age, you already know the truth of extracting payment from the wealthy! Very promising!