章節 149: Chapter 149 Don't Leave
"Ugh, you!" Ino was startled, and after seeing that it was Naruto, she became irritable again, "Aren't you leaving?"
"Where to?"
"How would I know where you're going?!" Ino frowned, "Let me go."
"Alright."
"Then do it!" Ino's face flushed with embarrassment and anger. Though Naruto said he would let her go, he didn't actually do anything.
The next moment, Naruto did let her go, but he didn't move away from her.
The light behind the big green tree was dim, and they stood close together, though there was still enough space between them to fit two fists.
"You're not going?"
"I was lying."
Ino could sense that Naruto was laughing, and the flower in her hand was taken away by him. His voice seemed to be teasing her, "I was just waiting here for you. I didn't go anywhere."
"Why are you explaining so much to me? Who wants to listen to your nonsense?" Ino turned her face away in the darkness. The atmosphere was starting to get to her, but she didn't want to admit it.
The truth was, she really wanted to punch this guy right now. To the point that she could abandon the atmosphere and forcibly drag this bastard in front of her into the alley and beat him senseless.
"These flowers are nice." Naruto remarked.
"Pay up." Ino retorted unhappily, "Now, immediately."
"I don't have any money." His voice was a little hoarse as he grabbed her hand in the darkness, his eyes shining brightly like they were glowing.
Ino noticed the strange atmosphere, and her heart skipped a beat. After swallowing a mouthful of saliva, she spoke nervously, " If you don't have money… just… forget it. I… I need to go back now."
She tried to shrug off his grip and quickly realized her hand was held in his warm palm. Ino pretended not to feel it and lifted her foot to walk away.
"Don't leave…" Naruto's voice was low, as if he hadn't finished his sentence.
Ino waited for his next words, but they never came. It felt like an incomplete thought, stuck halfway, leaving her uncomfortable.
"Why?" Ino's heart softened a bit, but then she remembered she was still mad at him today, so she deliberately put on a stern face.
The back of the big green tree was dark, with no light to illuminate their faces. They could only guess each other's expressions through the sound of their breathing and the tone of their voices. Deprived of sight, her senses of smell, touch, and hearing became unusually sharp.
Ino could hear his increasingly rapid breathing, and her emotions began to stir as well. In the cramped, dark space, her body trembled slightly… not from fear, but from nervous anticipation.
"Things haven't been going well lately." Naruto said, his voice a little restrained, as if he was afraid someone else might hear and was trying to keep it between just the two of them.
There were still a lot of people on Konoha Street at night, with small groups of people strolling by. The sounds of laughter and chatter filled the air, coming and going in waves from the street.
Under the dim glow of the streetlamp, half-obscured by the large tree's thick foliage, a few people stopped in front of the tree, loudly chatting away.
They had no idea that two people were hidden in the darkness behind the tree, with their bodies almost pressed together and only two fists' width of space separating them. Naruto's warm breath brushed against Ino's neck as they stood there.
Hearing Naruto say he wasn't doing well felt like a knife to Ino's heart, completely melting away the anger she had been holding onto. She recalled the comments she overheard from people earlier that afternoon, and a wave of bitterness washed over her.
'Why did everyone seem to blame everything on a boy who was just trying to live his life? The adults should know better, yet they only knew how to gossip and speak ill of others behind their backs.'
Ino had wanted to step forward and confront them, to demand why they thought it was okay to treat Naruto like that. Even though she wasn't entirely sure of her feelings toward Naruto, she knew one thing for certain… she wanted him to be happy.
She hoped that the path he walked would be filled with cheers and support, not with gossip and thorns.
She still wanted to ask them why, but she knew she would likely be dismissed as crazy. As she thought about it, an absurd idea suddenly crossed her mind, 'If our roles were reversed, what would this guy do?'
'With his carefree attitude, he'd probably take advantage of the darkness, smash their houses, and then pin the blame on someone else. After causing havoc, he'd go home and sleep peacefully, feeling no guilt at all.'
'That's just the kind of person he was, always relaxed and lazy, yet with a cunning streak. Having a friend like him brought a sense of security, knowing I'd never be left to suffer alone.'
Only now did Ino realize that even someone like Naruto could uncomfortable too.
Naruto, meanwhile, was getting slightly intoxicated by the scent of Ino's soft, sweet fragrance. He couldn't even string his thoughts together properly. He wanted to say that he hadn't been doing well recently, and the mission intensity was a bit high.
For a lazy guy like him, it is better to lie at home and sleep than to go on missions every day.
But Tsunade is his direct superior, and the purpose of letting him do the mission is to improve his strength. After all, Tsunade doesn't know that a certain yellow-haired lazy guy has a system to rely on.
For a Shinobi, the fastest way to become stronger is through real combat, and no amount of theory could replace actual experience.
Tsunade understood this and acted accordingly, leaving Naruto with little room to refuse. Only when the village's backlog of missions was mostly cleared could he dare to request some time off from Tsunade.
Otherwise, Tsunade would definitely use the reason that the village is short of manpower and that he has to do some missions even if he doesn't practice, and continue to lure and pressure him to complete the mission.
Naruto's thoughts were on a completely different wavelength than Ino's. He was just a bit overwhelmed by the situation, struggling to contain his surging hormones.
So, his voice becomes hoarse, low, and rough.
But Ino believed that Naruto was burdened by too much negativity, and she thought he was barely holding it together. In a way, she wasn't entirely wrong, as Naruto did channel a lot of his stress into his more lighthearted behaviors, spending the rest of his time lying around and pretending not to care. The malice directed at him hadn't disappeared, but he had just grown numb to it.
"You said you… How-"
Before she could even finish her words, Ino couldn't help but put her free hand across her eyes, tears instantly streaming down her face.
Her uncontrollable sobs left Naruto flustered and unsure of what to do.
He was dumbfounded, thinking to himself, 'All I did was take a whiff of her scent… How could it become like this? How could she even notice that? Women are really terrifying!'
Ino's shoulders trembled as she cried, her breathing shaky, and tears streamed down her face.
"Come on, stop crying." He said nervously, "I didn't do anything, Ino, I..."
Before Naruto could finish his sentence, he felt her embrace him in the darkness.
Ino held onto him tightly as she cried, her sobs muffled against his chest, making sure no one else could hear.
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章節 150: Chapter 150 Hiding
In front of the big green tree, the light from the streetlamp is dim and weak.
An old couple who had just returned from visiting a friend stopped in front of the big green tree. Inoichi turned his head toward the direction of the tree, pointing to the area behind it, and asked curiously, "Rino, did you hear someone crying?"
Rino turned her head and looked at the green tree for a few seconds, then said with her eyes slightly shifting, "Really? Inoichi, why don't you go take a look?"
"Alright." Inoichi responded and walked over there.
Behind the big green tree, when Ino heard her father's voice, her mind went blank.
She quickly let go of Naruto, causing her sobbing to stop abruptly. However, the sudden silence made her body start trembling, and the tears continued to flow.
Listening to the increasingly clear footsteps of her father, Ino's heart was beating wildly. She was so nervous that she clung tightly to Naruto's neck. Leaning close to his ear, she whispered urgently, "What should we do?"
Naruto didn't respond with words. Instead, he gently pulled Ino to the side, trying to move them out of sight. He could feel Ino's rapid heartbeat and noticed how agitated she was, breathing heavily.
Sensing her distress, he held onto her hand, and the warmth from his palm helped Ino regain a bit of composure. And at this moment, Inoichi's footsteps were approaching. The two of them knew that if Inoichi took just two more steps, they'd be discovered with nowhere to hide.
Just then, Rino's voice called out from a short distance away, "Inoichi, I think Ino might still be in the shop."
"Hmm?" Hearing this, Inoichi turned his head to look at his wife, "Ino was still napping this afternoon. Is she already awake?"
Behind the big green tree, Ino covered her mouth tightly. At this time, her father's voice was only two meters away from them, with the tree providing just enough cover for them to hide.
"Let's go back and check on her. She's been working too hard on her missions." Rino said with a light chuckle.
"Okay."
After Inoichi said that, he turned around and walked back, and the sound of his footsteps slowly faded away.
"I need to get home right now!" Ino, as if jolted by electricity, quickly pulled her hand away from Naruto's, stammering as she backed out from the shadow of the tree, "You, you, you..."
Naruto was speechless at how quickly Ino's demeanor had changed. She stammered out a few 'you's, but ultimately couldn't find the words to express herself, her face flushing red before she spun around and dashed off.
Half a minute later, Naruto also stepped out from behind the tree. He stood under the tree for a moment, looking at the brightly lit Yamanaka Flower Shop, then turned and left.
Taking advantage of the night, he walked along Konoha Street to buy something to eat before heading home. The street, lined with shops and bustling like a string of lights, was crowded with people. Naruto blended into the crowd, casually scanning the food stalls along the way.
The sizzle of hot oil and the bright lights of the stalls were accompanied by the noisy chatter of people.
"Yes, I'll have some takoyaki and that one." He pointed at the golden food, but for a moment he couldn't remember the name, and he stood there without speaking.
"Tempura." Someone behind him reminded.
"Yeah, that." Naruto echoed, but when he turned around, he froze.
"What's with that look on your face? Surprised to see me?" Sakura asked with a smile.
Her eyes curved into crescent moons, her pink short hair and dark blue eyes reflecting the bright lights of the street and Naruto's astonished face.
Her skin was as white as snow, with bare arms that resembled lotus roots, naturally hanging at her sides.
"No, nothing, Sakura. Weren't you training at the Konoha Hospital under Tsunade-sama?" Naruto, recalling the awkward situation in the duty room last month, felt a bit embarrassed.
Her 'Who is Sasuke?' remark had truly shaken him. After that, with the heavy load of missions, he had simply avoided seeing her. Without Sasuke, Team 7 existed in name only. Kakashi had been handpicked by Tsunade as her successor, so he was busy training and completing missions to build up his experience, leaving little time to manage them.
Sakura had entered Tsunade's medical training program for further studies, while Naruto, serving as Konoha's temp worker, flexibly joined various Genin Teams for missions.
In general, the situation of Team 7 is like this: The rebellious Sasuke dropped out to seek revenge, Sakura took the initiative to take the postgraduate entrance examination and was admitted, the former mentor Kakashi was forced to pursue a doctorate, and only Naruto, the street drifter, remained stuck in limbo, unable to graduate as a Genin.
"Today happens to be my day off, so I decided to go out for a stroll." Sakura smiled naturally, as if she didn't remember what happened some time ago at all.
"But Naruto, you seem to have been quite busy lately. I haven't seen you or Kakashi-sensei in a while now."
"After the Chunin Exams, the village accumulated a lot of missions, so being busy was unavoidable." Naruto scratched his face and chatted calmly.
"Customer, your takoyaki and tempura are ready!"
"Oh, oh, thank you."
Naruto reached out to pay and took the food from the vendor. He turned to Sakura, intending to find an excuse to leave, but she quickly grabbed his sleeve and said, "Mine will be ready soon. Just wait for me a moment."
"Uh…"
With his attempt to escape preempted by Sakura, Naruto had no choice but to stand aside and wait. A few minutes later, Sakura emerged from the crowd, blowing on her steaming takoyaki.
"Come walk with me." She said with a smile.
"Okay." After a moment's thought, Naruto agreed.
The nighttime scenery of Konoha Street wasn't particularly impressive, even somewhat monotonous, with uniformly dim streetlights that seemed to be on the verge of flickering out. The sky was overcast, with neither stars nor a moon visible, just a dull gray.
Naruto walked ahead with the food in his hand, and his other hand in his pocket. Sakura followed a step behind, leisurely blowing on her takoyaki before taking a bite.
"Aren't you going to eat?" Sakura's voice came from behind.
"I've got a dog at home. I'll share it with him when I get back." Naruto replied lazily.
"Is it cute?"
"Not really, more like scary." He answered after thinking for a moment.
Sakura chuckled when she heard this, "Scary? What kind of strange creature have you adopted this time?"
"I found him by the roadside. He's a bit shy."
"Naruto." Suddenly, Sakura stopped walking, calling his name in a serious tone.
"Hmm?" Naruto, now four or five meters ahead of her, stopped as well. Then, he looked back at her, "What's up?"
"Are you avoiding me?"
"No." Naruto denied, but the extremely long distance between the two of them spoke volumes, "I just don't want any trouble. Do you still remember Sasuke?"
"Well…" Sakura frowned, "Are you asking me, or are you asking her?"
"What do you mean?" Naruto's eyelids twitched slightly.
"The Sakura you know is hiding." Sakura's eyebrows were curved as she smiled. She pointed at her head and said, "I still remember Sasuke-kun."
"Oh, that's too bad." Naruto said, and immediately turned to leave.
Hurried footsteps followed, and Sakura immediately ran in front of him to block his way, "Why are you reacting like that?"
"I'm not close to you, so there's nothing to talk about." Naruto replied, his tone completely indifferent.
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