Konoha Notes

Chapter 427 The Hinatas

Neji stared at the overturned bento box.

It appears to be made of lacquered wood, dark brown in color, with a fine grain around the edge; it doesn't look like an expensive piece.

His gaze then shifted to Naruto.

Naruto wore a green long-sleeved shirt underneath an orange short-sleeved shirt, the hem of which was slightly wrinkled. His trouser legs were stained with dust from his earlier fall. He exuded an aura completely unrelated to the word "meticulous."

Neji crouched down, picked up the lid of the box that had fallen to the side, and looked inside. There was no name or mark on it.

"Lord Shuji's things?"

Naruto sighed, "I just got it this morning, and it's turned into this..."

He reached out to touch the dent, as if he could flatten it.

Hinata's blush had completely faded. She stood at the door, her hands nervously twisting together.

“I’m sorry,” she said softly, “it’s...it’s my fault…”

Neji didn't respond. He took the box from Naruto's hand and carefully ran his fingers over the damaged parts—the paint on the edge was cracked, and a small piece of wood was dented, but the overall structure was intact.

He stood up.

"Wait here for a while."

After saying that, he turned and left through the rooftop entrance. As he passed Hinata, he didn't pause at all, and his white pupils didn't even glance at her.

Naruto then belatedly noticed Hinata's condition.

"Hey, it's okay!" He quickly waved his hand. "Brother Shuji wouldn't be angry about something like this!"

"This is just a box I grabbed from the kitchen. I'll just apologize properly! And I can use my allowance—"

As he spoke, he walked towards the door, but as soon as he got close, Hinata took a half step back, her back gently bumping against the iron gate.

Naruto's words stuck in his throat.

He suddenly felt like a bad guy who was forcing the other person, so he could only force a dry laugh and stop awkwardly.

Neji returned shortly afterward.

He was holding another lunchbox, also made of lacquered wood, but a lighter color and simpler design. He walked up to Naruto and handed him the box.

"Here, take this."

Naruto took it dumbly.

"Huh? What's this?"

"Lunch," Neji said succinctly. He bent down, picked up the damaged food box from the ground, then picked up the lid and carefully fastened the two together.

"Wait!" Naruto finally realized what was happening. "What are you going to do?"

"I'll find the same style to return to you."

Neji said this, and then turned and walked towards the door.

He stopped as he passed Hinata.

"Let's go, Lady Hinata."

The tone of this sentence was very flat, without blame or warmth.

Hinata heard this and shrank back.

She lowered her head, quickly walked to Naruto, and bowed deeply.

"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..."

Naruto stood alone on the empty rooftop, holding the unfamiliarly warm bento box in his hands, watching the stairwell where the two had disappeared.

I felt inexplicably depressed.

It's as if... I did something really bad.
-
Outside the iron gate, inside the stairwell.

Neji walked in front, with Hinata following behind, separated by three or four steps.

After descending two or three floors, Hinata finally mustered her courage and quickened her pace to catch up with Neji.

"Neji-nii-nii." Her voice was still soft, but this time it didn't tremble.

Neji didn't stop walking; he just turned his head slightly and used his peripheral vision to indicate that he was listening.

"Um... please, please have my lunchbox! I'll go back to the classroom and get it for you now!"

"And... there's still money for the food box... I'll pay for that too..."

"No need, Lady Hinata," Neji interrupted decisively. "In the future, please try not to follow unpredictable people to remote places alone."

Without waiting for Hinata's response, he turned the corner of the stairs and disappeared from sight. Hinata was left alone.

The footsteps faded into the distance.

She lowered her head, looking at her toes pressed together, her nails digging gently into her palms.

It's because of me again...
-
Neji opened Naruto's food box in a quiet corner behind the school building and ate all the remaining food inside.

Before the afternoon classes ended, he found Lee Locke practicing.

"Li, please ask for leave for me from the after-school intensive training class."

"Oh! Neji! Is there some urgent matter of youthful urgency?"

"Hmm." Neji didn't explain further, he just nodded.

After leaving the ninja academy, he first returned to his room in the clan compound and carefully cleaned the empty lacquered wooden food box, wiping it inside and out until it was spotless, leaving only the dents on the side that could not be smoothed out.

Then, he wrapped it in a clean cloth, held it in his hand, and walked towards the western outskirts of Konoha.

Neji arrived at the old house. The gate was closed and the surroundings were quiet.

Neji didn't knock on the door or make any sound. He walked to a tree not far from the door, stood there with his back straight, holding the cloth bag in his hands, and waited.

Time passed slowly, and the sunlight on the horizon gradually turned crimson, casting his shadow long and thin on the ground.

The door of the old house was only opened from the inside as the last rays of the setting sun were about to be swallowed by the distant mountains.

Senju Momoka noticed the boy under the tree.

"You are... that child from the Hyuga clan?"

Neji immediately bowed and said, "I am Hyuga Neji. I am very sorry to bother you."

"At this time..." Granny Taohua looked at the sky, then at the cloth bag in his hand, "Shuji changed the training time and asked you to come over in the evening?"

“No,” Neji straightened up, still maintaining a respectful posture, “that’s not it. I’ve come on personal business to apologize to Lord Shuji.”

As they were talking, Shuji strolled back. He saw Neji and Momoka standing at the front door. He raised an eyebrow slightly, but didn't say anything, just quietly watched the scene.

Momoka stepped aside to clear the doorway and said to Shuji, "This child has been waiting for you for some time." She then looked at Neji, "Come in and we'll talk."

In the courtyard, Xiu Si casually sat down at a low table placed under the eaves.

Neji knelt respectfully opposite him and carefully placed the cloth bag on the edge of the low table.

Grandma Taohua brought over tea and a plate of cherry blossom cakes.

After Granny Momoka left, Neji first placed the cloth bag on the low table and lowered his head.

"Lord Shuji, this afternoon, Naruto Uzumaki accidentally damaged your lunchbox due to my mistake."

“I have already given him my lunch. As for this lunchbox… I will find an exact replica to return. Until then, please forgive me.”

Shuji picked up his teacup: "I don't know whether to say that your Hyuga clan is too polite, or what."

"Is this something that I need to skip my special training class to talk about?"

The fact that Gaara and the others, who were also in the special training class, did not return already indicates that there were classes today.

"It was my recklessness."

"The dessert wasn't prepared just for me." Shuji put down his teacup and picked up a cherry blossom mochi. "If it's just for me, Granny Momoka would be lucky to even offer me a cup of tea."

“So, this snack,” Shuuji swallowed with his tea, pointing to the four remaining pieces on the plate, “is my compensation for what I received in advance. Look up.”

He ate some snacks with his tea. After finishing the whole sakura mochi, he rubbed his fingers together and reached out to untie the cloth bag.

The lacquered wooden food box lay quietly in the cotton cloth, with only the dent on the side standing out.

Xiu Si examined it for a moment, then reached out and opened the box, before closing it again.

"It still works," he said. "It's fine now."

“Lift your head up.”

Neji then raised his head again.

He picked up the second sakura mochi, but instead of eating it himself, he handed it to Neji.

“Eat up. If I eat it all by myself,” Shuuji laughed, “I’ll be the one getting nagged later.”

Neji looked at the sakura mochi handed to him, remained silent, and then solemnly accepted it with both hands.

"Yes," he replied in a low voice.

(End of this chapter)