Chương 80: Injured Hinata
The next day.
Naruto opened his eyes in bed, staring at an unfamiliar ceiling for a moment, then remembered that he had moved into a new place.
He groggily sat up from the bed, staring silently at the dim room. The apartment was eerily quiet, and there was no sound of knocking at the door.
For some unknown reason, it seemed that the higher-ups hadn't restarted the Anbu's Jinchuriki monitoring program.
It seemed like someone had deliberately intervened...
Kakashi didn't have that kind of power, and the only person with close ties to him left was...
...
"I'm the Toad Sage of Myoboku Mountain, and what's with you calling me a perverted sage, kid?"
Jiraiya was lying on the roof, grumbling, then put away his binoculars and stood up, looking at Naruto, who had an unhappy expression.
"I heard you let the Nine-Tails out the other day?"
"Yeah."
Naruto, wearing an orange hoodie with a hood, stood on the roof and looked out, saying without concern.
"I let it out."
"You've got guts," Jiraiya said, becoming interested. "Are you really fearless?"
"But the higher-ups can't do anything about you. Konoha has never had a perfect Jinchuriki, and you gave them hope. Even if you do something excessive, they'll forgive you."
"Someone like me can be forgiven?" Naruto yawned, hands in his pockets, his dead-fish eyes staring at Jiraiya. "Perverted sage, don't try to fool a kid."
"I'm curious, how did you do it? You... have you already met the Nine-Tails?"
"Yeah."
"And how was it?" Jiraiya asked.
"It was nothing, just a regular tailed beast," Naruto replied.
"You can say that...?" Jiraiya was speechless, staring at Naruto for a few seconds. "What new term is 'regular tailed beast'?"
Naruto didn't respond to the question. After a moment of silence, he asked, "So, the Anbu sent you to find me just to ask this?"
"Not exactly," Jiraiya's gaze turned serious. "Naruto, train with me."
"No."
"What...?" Jiraiya was surprised at Naruto's firm rejection. "Don't you want to get stronger?"
"I do."
"I'm one of the legendary Three Ninjas, the Toad Sage!"
"No."
"Why not?"
"No reason, I just don't want to train."
Hearing this, Jiraiya was taken aback, staring at Naruto for a few seconds, then said, "How can you get stronger with such laziness?"
"I don't know," Naruto replied bluntly. "Training is so troublesome. I'm not interested at all. I'd rather stay home and sleep or read."
"Anyway, if you get too strong, they'll start suspecting you, or you'll be assigned some random dangerous mission."
"Your reasoning is so..." Jiraiya sighed. "It's fine to say that to me, but don't go spouting it in the next higher-ups meeting."
"Since you don't want to train, how about we go find someone? Once we find them, I won't force you to train anymore."
"Whether we find them or not, I'm not training."
"The authority over you is in my hands," Jiraiya said.
"...Who are we looking for?"
Seeing Naruto compromise, Jiraiya's expression softened. "One of the Three Ninjas, Tsunade, the future Fifth Hokage."
"I've heard of her." Naruto nodded. "Perverted sage, don't you want to be the Fifth Hokage? You could totally do it."
"You know quite a bit for a kid," Jiraiya squinted. "Have you been getting close to the Yamanaka clan recently? Is that where you heard it?"
"Something like that," Naruto replied evasively.
"My fate is already sealed." Jiraiya patted Naruto on the shoulder and turned, striking what he thought was a cool pose. "Kids like us won't stay in one place forever."
"This is the true way of the ninja!"
"Hmm." Naruto still had his dead-fish eyes.
"Your attitude is really cold, Naruto. What's your ninja way?" Jiraiya asked.
"To live," Naruto answered.
"Don't say such depressing things. You really are unlucky, huh?" Jiraiya patted Naruto's shoulder a few times. "Never mind, the most important thing now is finding Tsunade."
"The high-level meeting about how to handle you will start soon, and the Fifth Hokage has a lot of voting power. Finding Tsunade won't harm you."
"Got it."
"You don't have to worry too much. Even though I don't know how you got involved with the Yamanaka clan, the Ino-Shika-Cho trio always work well together. The two advisors are in a decent mood."
"Also, I have voting power too. Heh."
...
Jiraiya set the departure date for tomorrow morning.
It was still early, and Naruto sluggishly turned down a small alley, planning to buy some things. The new apartment was too empty, and there were many things he hadn't bought yet.
The furniture from his old apartment had been damaged by rain, and Naruto was too lazy to move it.
Halfway through, he suddenly remembered something.
That guy, Doyu, was probably still hiding in the abandoned building. Since he was leaving tomorrow, he could spare some time to check on her tonight.
The road was quiet, with dappled shadows from the trees. This road, aside from being a dead-end that led to Konoha Street, had another fork that led to the Hyuga clan's residence.
While wandering, Naruto found that dead-end and decided to climb over it to get to Konoha Street 404.
While lost in thought, he looked up and saw a small figure with short hair, long sleeves, and pants, walking briskly toward him. She glanced at Naruto and walked up.
"What happened to you?"
"...Nothing."
Hinata jumped in surprise and, seeing Naruto, her face immediately turned red. She stood stiffly, not moving, with an awkward and nervous expression.
"Did you twist your ankle?"
"No." Hinata hurriedly shook her head, not daring to look up at Naruto. Her voice dropped low. "I can handle it myself, Naruto-kun, you don't need to worry about it."
"What's this?" Naruto squatted down, slowly pulling up the leg of Hinata's pants. "You always try to act tough in weird situations."
"Naruto-kun..." Hinata's face turned even redder, her whole body trembling. "You can't."
"One of your legs is almost bruised, and there's a five-centimeter scratch. Aren't you going to treat it?" Naruto squatted and looked up, locking eyes with the uneasy Hinata.
Hinata lowered her head, her face showing anxiety.
Naruto gently touched the bruise, and Hinata let out a small sound.
"Does it hurt?"
"Ah? I..." Hinata's hands nervously rubbed together, her thumbs crossing back and forth due to her anxiety. "I can handle it myself."
"Hinata."
"What?"
Naruto didn't get up, still squatting, and pointed at Hinata's anxious hands.
"Are you going to form seals on me?"
"Ah, no!" Hinata suddenly pulled her hands apart, awkwardly placing them behind her back.
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