Capítulo 35: New Style
"Let's see..." Standing in front of Naruto, Tsunami pursed her lips and carefully scanned your face, then asked "Short or long?"
"As you wish."
Nodding and with a concentrated face, Tsunami began to take the strands of hair around Naruto's face and began to cut carefully, spending the next few minutes cutting anything that looked wrong and stopping every now and then to look at it closely.
Pulling a razor out of the box, Tsunami began to carefully shave his sideburns and then went behind and lifted his hair to cut the short hair that was beginning to extend down his neck.
After more than half an hour, Tsunami finally backed up a few steps and blinked in a daze.
"..."
"..."
After a couple of minutes where they just stared at each other, Naruto finally broke the silence and asked hesitantly "Are you sure everything's okay?"
"Y-yes" Nodding quickly, Tsunami put away the scissors and razor and smiled "It's ready."
Standing up, Naruto looked at himself in the mirror and raised his eyebrows in surprise "Not bad... it looks good."
Unlike the sloppy cut he usually sports, where long locks grow messily in all directions, Tsunami carefully took care of shaping his hair. She specially cut his long sideburns and the hair around his face, and then directed his entire cut backwards. The result was a new style in which his hair fell wildly back, while his slightly curly locks covered enough to make it look like his crimson hair was one big mane and formed a style that perfectly matched his naturally sharp fangs and his wild attitude while training, something Tsunami thought about more than once when cutting his hair.
"I like how it turned out, Tsunami, thank you" Turning his gaze to Tsunami with a smile, Naruto waved the long sleeves of his yukata and continued "For everything."
"It is we who should be thanking. We'll be leaving in half an hour, I'll go change" Shaking her head while smiling slightly, Tsunami picked up her box and replied, then turned and walked out the door.
Looking at his face in the mirror, Naruto nodded with satisfaction and walked towards the door, then out and down the stairs.
Looking at the duo in the living room, Naruto carefully scanned their clothing.
Having a yukata similar to his own with the wave embroidery, the only difference he noticed on Sasuke was that instead of having crimson strokes, Sasuke had white strokes and a dark blue belt, while Sakura's yukata was pink with yellow strokes surrounding the waves and a purple belt.
"..."
"..."
Turning their gazes, Sasuke and Sakura stared at Naruto and scanned him closely, remaining in total silence for a long time.
"So how cool do I look?" chuckling as he walks up to them, Naruto asked.
"This is weird, but..." With a strange face, Sakura continued "You look... really good."
"When did you get your hair cut?" With the same strangeness on his face, Sasuke asked.
"Tsunami did it"
"You call her by her name?"
"Well... we've been living together for three months now, and I really don't like wearing honorifics" Shrugging his shoulders, Naruto continued "But this yukata feels really nice, no doubt rich people's clothes are on another level"
"I feel kind of nervous" Looking down at her clothes, Sakura continued "They said the party would be in our honor and I don't know what that means"
"Neither do I" Stretching her body, Naruto continued "But they said the king sent cooks to prepare a feast, so I couldn't be happier"
"I feel weird without the weights" Flapping his arms, Sasuke muttered.
"I still don't understand how they knew our measurements..." With a strange face, Sakura muttered.
"Well, Tsunami washes our clothes, it wouldn't be weird for her to know the sizes."
"..."
"..."
"What?" noticing the look on the duo's faces, Naruto asked "Do I have something on my face?"
"You get your clothes washed?" frowning slightly, Sakura asked.
"Yes" Cocking his head in confusion, Naruto asked "You don't?"
"I go out to wash it in the river" Shaking his head, Sasuke replied.
"Me too."
"Oh..." Scratching his cheek, Naruto commented "I guess it's her way of saying thanks for training Inari."
"Come to think of it... they even give you more food."
"Even Tazuna-san eats less."
"Well, what can I say, they finally recognize my awesomeness" Snorting, Naruto folded his arms and continued "And take off those long faces and make the most of today. Who knows when we might have another moment to relax again with exams around the corner and then the future as ninjas... it would be a miracle if we had a day of peace."
"Don't be so pessimistic, life as a ninja isn't that bad."
"You don't know how much I wish I was that naive" Shaking his head, Naruto continued "But it's not for nothing that only a handful of ninja make it to old age."
"..."
"Naruto's right" Looking at Sakura, Sasuke continued "The average life expectancy of a ninja is no more than 30 years."
"..."
"But don't worry, it will be a while before we do such difficult missions, and I trust that when the time comes, no one will be able to stop you."
"Don't treat me like a child" Snorting as she rolls her eyes, Sakura continued "And yes I knew the probability of dying was high... but I never thought it would be this high"
"What do you expect? We're part of an army in a world of endless conflict" Shrugging his shoulders, Naruto continued 'It's normal for casualties to be high'
"We're not at war anymore"
"And that doesn't mean we're battle-free. Konoha has had more losses in times of peace than in times of war"
"Of course not."
"Think about it a little before you answer."
"..." Raising an eyebrow, Sakura looked up as she took her time to think, then looked down in surprise and exclaimed "Damn, it's true!"
"Welcome to reality" Chuckling, Naruto turned his gaze as he sensed presences coming down the stairs and looked at the boy in a simple grey yukata running down next to Tazuna who was wearing a similar yukata.
"Wow!" looking at Naruto with surprise as he ran around and watched him closely, Inari exclaimed "You look great Naruto-niichan!"
"Surprise attack!" Throwing a slow punch towards the boy's face, Naruto exclaimed.
"Always ready!" slamming his fist to the side with his palm and reaching up to punch Naruto's hard stomach, Inari smiled proudly "You're so slow!"
Laughing, Naruto looked up at Tazuna and asked "You've been to a party like this before?"
"I've been to a few that the king organizes" Nodding as he looked closely at Naruto, Tazuna laughed and continued 'Who knew this wild child could be so classy when he changes his clothes.'
"I'm sorry I can't say the same for you."
Laughing openly, Tazuna puffed out his chest and snorted "I may not look it, but I was quite the ladies' man when I was your age"
"Until you got married."
"The love of your life always changes everything" Nodding with a faint wistful smile, Tazuna sighed.
Staring at the old man for a moment, Naruto turned his gaze to the sunset visible beyond the window and commented in an attempt to change the subject "It's rare not to see you drinking when you don't have work to do."
"There will be plenty of good quality alcohol today, obviously I have to save my throat for that" Instantly erasing his melancholy, Tazuna laughed cheerfully and continued as he rubbed his hands together in anticipation "For some reason the King thinks you guys are very good at drinking and enjoy it a lot, so he sent quality alcohol and in large quantities."
"How did you come to that conclusion?" With a meaningful smile while observing the wily old man, Naruto asked.
"Sigh We'll never know" Shaking his head while sighing, Tazuna continued "You know how nobles are"
"I don't know."
"You've never seen nobles?"
"Should I?"
"You're a Konoha ninja, I thought it was common to see them around."
"Maybe I have seen but I didn't recognize them" Thinking for a moment, Naruto shrugged his shoulders and continued "Not that I'm interested"
"Don't let them hear you say that or you'll be in serious trouble" Looking at Naruto seriously, Sasuke continued "If a noble places a complaint against you with the Hokage, they can suspend you for a while and even punish you by taking away your pay or something similar"
"Really?" raising his eyebrows in surprise, Naruto continued "Just because I say I'm not interested?"
"It's clearly disrespectful" Snorting, Sakura continued "You're supposed to treat them the same way you treat the Hokage, at least with the nobles of the fire country"
"Great, more restrictions" Rolling his eyes, Naruto continued "What else can't I do? I'm forbidden to defend myself in case I'm attacked?"
"In fact you can only defend yourself when it's an attempt on your life... I understand they can capture you if they have a legitimate claim and if you resist, you'll be considered a criminal even in our village" Thinking for a moment, Sasuke continued "You have to know that even the Hokage has to be slightly subservient to nobles, let alone recent graduates like us"
"Please tell me no nobles aren't coming today" Turning his gaze towards Tazuna, Naruto pleaded.
"Relax, they only paid for the party, nothing more" Chuckling, Tazuna continued "Even if they did come, the nobles of my country don't have half the power that the nobles of your country have, so even if you beat up one or two, there shouldn't be any problems."
"Father, don't incite fights" Snorting as she walks down the stairs, Tsunami continued "And I hope you behave yourself today, I'll be keeping an eye on you."
Turning his gaze towards Tsunami, Naruto watched her carefully and gave a silent thumbs up.
Having her long dark hair carefully combed past her neck and flowing freely down her chest, Tsunami stepped down elegantly with her typical soft smile while a tight purple yukata with beautiful flowery details stood out even more thanks to her light makeup.
"Are we all ready to go?" looking at everyone, Tazuna asked with anticipation.
"We're leaving" Nodding as she took Inari's hand, Tsunami turned to Sakura and smiled kindly "You look beautiful Sakura-kun."
"Thank you, you too"
"We're leaving!" Opening the door loudly while his face was already blushing from the pure excitement of knowing that today he will not only drink well, but also eat well, Tazuna led the group quietly through the silent forest towards the party venue.
Walking through the quiet forest, Tsunami turned to the silent Sasuke and asked "Your yukata fit you well?"
"Yes, thank you very much" Nodding while lowering his gaze to his yukata, Sasuke replied.
"That's a relief" With a slight smile, Tsunami turned to Naruto who was chatting happily with Tazuna and interrupted them "Don't you feel uncomfortable with yours?"
"Mn?"
"Your yukata"
"Oh, not at all" Shaking his head quickly, Naruto waved his arms and continued "In fact I think it's much more comfortable than my clothes... though it wouldn't be much use for fighting."
Rolling her eyes, Tsunami replied "And that's exactly why it's not made for fighting."
"There are yukatas for fighting?"
"There are some that are looser fitting to give you more mobility" Nodding, Tazuna interrupted "The fabric is usually a bit thicker and is generally worn by nobles to hide light armor underneath"
"Tazuna-san, will the party be on the bridge?" noticing the path to where they were headed, Sakura asked with interest.
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