What Kind of Monster Are You

When Hinata returned to the Hyuga compound, it was already getting dark.

A chill crept in, and she instinctively pulled her coat tighter. She hurried across the street, rushing home. The moment she arrived, Hinata let out a small sigh of relief.

Silently, she pushed open the door, then turned around and gently closed it again.

As she turned around, she noticed that the room with the Hanabi in the courtyard was still lit. Before she could even react, the door opened, and a girl rushed out.

The lights in the room suddenly poured out, like a bright yellow cloth falling at her feet.

The courtyard was bitterly cold. Hyuga Hanabi was bundled up like a cotton doll, her face flushed red from the Hanabi Hyuga. She walked gracefully up to Hinata and called out to her.

"Elder sister."

"Hanabi, what are you doing?" Hinata wanted to say, "It's so cold, why did you come out like this?"

"Sister, I met someone today who asked me to give you his greetings," Hanabi said, shaking her head. "He said his name is Naruto."

"Huh? Naruto." Hinata's eyes widened in surprise, and she blinked rapidly, pointing a finger. "... What did he say?"

"He asked my sister if she'd been very busy lately?" Hanabi said.

"It's not too busy. After the mission, I still need to train, so..." Hinata Shikai to herself, then suddenly stopped when she realized that what was in front of her was just Hanabi.

"Hanabi, what did you say afterward?"

Hanabi Hyuga was a little confused as to why her older sister had suddenly become so nervous, but she still told the truth.

"I said my sister is probably very busy, she has to go on a mission."

Upon hearing this, Hinata secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

"That's fine."

"Huh?" Hanabi Hyuga tilted her head, looking puzzled. "What did you say, sister?"

"No, it's nothing." Hinata waved her hand, looking a little embarrassed. "I know, you should go to sleep early. I'm going back to my room too!"

"Good."

Hinata hurriedly returned to her room, pressed herself against the door, clutched her chest, and let out a long sigh of relief. She pursed her lips, a relaxed smile spreading across her face.

She deftly removed her backpack, took off her ninja tool pouch, and placed it on the table. Under the bright light, she quietly took off her thick coat and tossed it aside.

Hinata's room has a separate bathroom. With a beep, all the lights turned on. She leaned against the wall and took off her shoes, revealing her bare, alabaster-white feet.

As if testing the waters, her fair toes parted and slowly stepped onto the cool tatami mat, letting out a soft sigh as she gently covered it. Then she placed her other foot firmly on the tatami.

The room temperature rose slowly as the light switch was turned on. Hinata undressed and walked slowly towards the bathroom. After filling the tub with bathwater, she emerged again with light steps.

She saw a faint smile on her face in the full-length mirror, her eyebrows slightly curved, and the fatigue from the mission instantly disappeared.

Hinata stood in front of the mirror, turning her body slightly. After looking at herself for a while, she seemed somewhat dissatisfied. So she took off another piece of clothing, admired herself for seven or eight minutes, and then turned and walked briskly into the bathroom.

The bathwater in the tub was crystal clear. With a splash, Hinata seemed to cling to the edge of the tub as she entered. The beautiful, white lines of her back made the water appear even clearer.

The girl was preoccupied with a mix of emotions: worry about her sudden departure from Naruto, and joy about today's events. She suddenly realized something: she had been too passive.

It is difficult for outsiders to get close to the Hyuga Clan. Even Shino and Kiba, who are in the same class, will only wait outside the Hyuga Clan's base when they go on missions.

Naruto's identity is sensitive, so it's impossible for him to contact her casually.

Furthermore, she had heard that Naruto was training with Jiraiya. She was busy with missions and didn't have much time, so if she kept hoping to meet him by chance...

Perhaps, in the future, I will only be able to learn about Naruto through other people's words, just like today.

Actually, it wasn't that she had absolutely no time; it's just that she instinctively didn't want to get close. That day, Ino's words had triggered her, and she'd gotten into the habit of avoiding the situation.

But now Hinata finally understands that no matter how much she tries to escape, Naruto's words can still stir her heart for a long time.

Actually, she wasn't doing well.

In Team Eight, she was the worst student and was always afraid of holding the class back. But her classmates were all very kind, and that kindness was like a hot knife coated in sugar for her.

The pain was deeply pierced to her heart, yet she had to pretend to be comforted, which only made her feel worse.

Her father had never given her a second glance; it seemed that everything about her, including her, was a joke. A joke in the eyes of the family, a failure in her father's eyes.

"Is it alright no matter what?" she murmured, her pupils unfocused as she stared at the bathroom light.

With a splash, her jade-like body slowly sank into the water.

With a whoosh, Naruto angrily lifted Nine-Tails out of the pet bathtub.

"Kurama, you deserve to die!"

"Why did you touch the soy sauce in the kitchen? Are you crazy?! Ugh! You poured it all out!"

"Damn it! Didn't I clean it up?" Nine-Tails said, somewhat indignantly. "It's all because of you, you stupid human, that you had to leave the bottle in that place!"

"Are you drunk?! You bastard! That's not a wine bottle, it's clearly soy sauce!" Naruto was speechless, wishing he could throw this scoundrel out the window right then and there!

"You've made a mess of the kitchen, and now you're covered in soy sauce! If I hadn't happened to see it, you'd have wanted to crawl onto the sofa, wouldn't you?"

"I didn't! Let me go!" Nine-Tails was still trying to argue.

"Dream on." Naruto shoved Nine-Tails into the water and swished it back and forth like he was washing a mop.

"You! Gurgle, gurgle... wait and see!" Nine-Tails Fox threatened.

"Tch." Naruto scoffed.

After rinsing the Nine-Tails clean, he didn't bother to blow-dry its fur, telling it to find a hairdryer and do it itself. The Nine-Tails- Tails looked resentful, but Jonin for the sake of the hundred bottles of wine!

So the wet Nine-Tails stood up, walked around on its own two feet, found the hairdryer on the sofa, and started drying its fur.

The next day.

It suddenly started raining in the early morning, and Naruto slept until noon. He didn't wake up until the sun was high in the sky. Thinking that he had to go to Tsunade to learn the Summoning Jutsu in the afternoon, he simply got up and washed up.

I grabbed a quick bite for lunch and then strolled leisurely to the foot of the Hokage Building.

Judging that it was about time, he went up to the fifth floor with ease and pushed open the door to the Hokage's Office without knocking.

Tsunade was just taking a sip of her drink when her peripheral vision met Naruto's as he entered through the door. Not a drop of wine touched her throat; it flowed down her neck, past the majestic snow-capped mountains, and into the white jade forest.

Naruto blinked, his gaze lingering, and coughed to cover his embarrassment.

"Lord Tsunade, you seem to be in a good mood. With Lord Shizune not here, you may begin."

"What?" Tsunade hurriedly put the wine glass into the drawer, hiding it along with the jade porcelain wine bottle. She fanned the air and said, "Kotetsu Hagane are really outrageous. They came in reeking of alcohol to deliver documents."

"Even though the person is gone, there's still a lingering smell of alcohol here."

Naruto was utterly speechless. This guy was the Fifth Hokage, yet his ability to lie so blatantly was so natural. It was as if it were his right to do so, as if he had no sense of shame whatsoever.

"What are you doing here?" Tsunade suddenly asked.

Naruto looked up at the ceiling. "Lord Shizune sent me to supervise Lord Tsunade's work and to confiscate your tools of the trade."

"What tools? I don't understand you at all." Tsunade somewhat guiltily.

"Don't hide the wine in the drawer, hand it over." Naruto said in a serious tone, as if Shizune had really instructed him. "Hurry up, or I'll go find Lord Shizune."

It just so happened that Naruto and Shizune were very close, so he deliberately used Shizune's tone to say, "Hand it over." Tsunade immediately felt even more guilty and, without suspecting anything, had no choice but to take out the bottle and glass.

"I'll keep these safe for Lord Tsunade for now." Naruto reached out and stuffed the sake bottle and cups into his robes.

"What a downer." Tsunade propped her head up with one hand, staring at Naruto with a hint of resentment, while the latter remained expressionless.

"Lord Tsunade, I want to learn the Summoning Jutsu!" Naruto said.

"Here you go!" Tsunade tossed a scroll aside in an annoyed manner, turning around with her chair. "The Hand Seals are all in here. Figure it out yourself."

"No, Lord Tsunade, you're not going to teach me?" Naruto, somewhat bewildered.

"I'm not in the mood anymore!" Tsunade. "Either you train by yourself, or give me back the sake. Choose one."

Naruto took the scroll, looked at the wine bottle, and then at Tsunade.

"Then I'll practice on my own."

Tsunade: "."

She hadn't expected Naruto to actually take the scroll and run away. Staring at the empty office, Tsunade frowned slightly. It was still raining outside; where was that guy going to train?

On the open-air balcony of the Hokage Building, Naruto stood sheltering from the rain under the dry eaves. Holding a scroll in his hand, Naruto unfolded it, a puzzled look on his face.

Just a few simple prints? But I can't understand them at all!

Should we go back and ask?

Forget it! Figure it out yourself. You can learn Summoning Jutsu anytime, but seeing Tsunade get humiliated is a first. It would be such a waste to back down now!

It's just a combination of Hand Seals anyway, it's not that difficult.

"Is this the seal of Hai (亥)? Xu-You-Shen-Wei (戌-酉-申-未)?"

"What are those two handprints in the middle?" He was a little confused, so he simply squatted down and put the scroll on the ground. "It should be okay to imitate them casually, right?"

"At worst, the summoning will fail; it's just a failure."

After forcibly forming a few hand seals, the clumsy Hand Seals finally became more proficient. The last step was to inject Chakra and begin Hand Seals.

"Hai-Xu-You-Shen-Wei!" Naruto's fingers flew up and down, like he was playing cat's cradle.

He deliberately interspersed a few unfamiliar handprints in the middle, and after completing them all in one go, he felt his palms become extremely heavy! It was as if he was about to lose control because of the weights hanging on his hands, so he couldn't help but shout!

"What kind of monster are you? Quickly reveal your true form!"