บท 174: Chapter 174 Meeting Jiraiya Together

"Isn't the New Year's Festival in a few days?" Naruto asked after being stunned for a while.

"You've really mix up the dates, haven't you?" Ino said, with her hands on her hips, and snorted, "Training must've fried your brain. At this rate, I'm afraid no one will want you anymore."

"Thank you, Ino."

"There's no need to thank me specifically for this kind of thing… When you say it like that…" Ino's face turned a bit red, and she mumbled, " It feels a bit awkward, like... like…"

"It's as if"

Ino's voice became too soft for Naruto to hear. He was already rolling up his sleeves, heading for the kitchen, 'As expected, Ino's culinary skills were quite limited. She cooked a lot of soup in one pot.'

Naruto sighed quietly, took out some ingredients from the fridge, and began cooking himself. Ino, seeing Naruto in the kitchen, sat nervously on the sofa.

It had taken all her courage to come here today. Even though she had pretended to be calm at the door…

"Ino." Naruto suddenly poked his head out of the kitchen and called out.

"Ah? What's wrong?"

"Come with me to meet someone later."

"Huh? Who?"

"Pervy Sage."

"Huh…?"

Ino sat on the sofa, trying to figure out who the Pervy Sage was. Suddenly, it dawned on her that there was only one person in Konoha who would call themselves a Sage, and her eyes widened in shock.

"Wait… Are you talking about Jiraiya-sama?"

"Yeah." Naruto leaned against the kitchen doorway, occasionally glancing at the pot in the kitchen as he spoke casually, "Besides him, there is no other Pervy Sage in Konoha."

"But that's Jiraiya-sama!" Ino's body stiffened as she widened her eyes, gripping the sofa tightly, "One of the legendary Sannin."

"What's so special about that? Haven't you met another Sannin already? She's always in the Hokage Tower, it's not like they're anything rare."

Ino was speechless, and when she turned around, she saw that Naruto had already gone back to the kitchen to continue his work.

"Of course, it seems ordinary to you, but she's the Hokage no matter what." Ino murmured to herself as she watched the drunken Kurama lying on the sofa, "It's a rare thing to see her even once before a mission. Since Tsunade-sama became Hokage, I've only seen her a few times in totals."

"You might not think much of Tsunade-sama, but it's not easy to meet the Hokage whenever you want. You're thinking too simply."

"I don't know, maybe, because we're closer." Naruto's voice came from the kitchen, "Anyway, you will understand when you meet him. Pervy Sage is not that great, he's just like any other person."

"Even if you say that, I'll still be nervous." Ino clenched and unclenched her hands, then looked back toward the kitchen, asking, "Should we bring a gift? Isn't today New Year's Eve?"

"I actually forgot about this, and I don't have anything prepared now, so forget it." Naruto said as he stirred the soup, "Let's just bring some food with us, he won't mind."

"Sigh… I suddenly don't feel like going…" Ino flopped onto the sofa, her face buried in a pillow as she began to feel her face heat up.

The kitchen was filled with bubbling sounds, and it seemed Naruto was chopping vegetables. The rapid sound of a knife on a cutting board mixed with the sound of sizzling oil as the freshly cut meat was dipped in batter and dropped into the hot oil, turning golden and puffy like cotton.

Even across the living room, Naruto's voice, mingled with the sizzling oil, reached Ino clearly.

"I won't force you to go. It's just that the Perverted Sage is about to leave on a mission. There won't be time to spend New Year's together, and I got the date wrong."

"I don't have anything special to give him, so I thought I'd just make some food to bring over. If I go alone, you'll probably be bored staying here, so why not come along?"

"… Okay." Ino muttered reluctantly.

After a while, Ino got up from the sofa and hurried into the bathroom. She turned on the light with a click and stood in front of the big mirror in the bathroom. After looking at herself again and again, her face fell instantly.

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?" She complained.

"What?" Naruto's voice came from the kitchen, but the sizzling sounds were so loud he didn't hear what Ino had said clearly, "Pink straps?"

"Go to hell, you pervert!" Ino's exasperated voice echoed from the bathroom.

"Weird…" Naruto muttered, standing in the kitchen as he took the freshly fried tempura out of the pan. He glanced out the window at the gloomy snow-covered landscape.

The sun hadn't set yet, and the kitchen was warm and cozy. From the living room, Naruto heard the sound of footsteps. He turned slightly to see Ino standing at the kitchen doorway, looking nervous and unsure.

The romanticism of a winter night was perfectly encapsulated in the warm, brightly lit living room and the sweater-clad girl who couldn't hide her thoughts. Standing there, all her feelings were written on her face.

"Isn't it too casual for me to dress like this? Is it okay to meet Jiraiya-sama dressed like this? It looks so ugly!"

"How about I go home and change into something else?"

"What do you think looks good? But I don't think I have any clothes that are too formal, they all look like this."

"Huh? Why are you spacing out? Seriously, are you even listening to me?"

Naruto came back to his senses, calmly lowered his head and turned off the fire. He reached for the plate with one hand and said as if nothing had happened, "You look good in anything you wear, there's no need to dress up."

"How can you say that?!" Ino's face turned red, "You can't meet an elder dressed like this. It's... too disrespectful."

"Elder?" Naruto narrowed his eyes as he was about to pick up the soup, "Are you talking about Pervy Sage? I suppose he could be considered an elder, but there's no need to be so formal."