Give You Money to Spend

Knock, knock, knock, the bathroom door rang.

Hearing the sound.

Tayuya was somewhat speechless. "Didn't you just walk right in?"

"Really? I don't remember." Naruto's voice came from outside the door. "Anyway, it's impolite not to knock. May I come in now?"

"Whatever." Tayuya was a little annoyed, burying her head in the bathtub.

She really didn't know what to do, so she simply gave up. Anyway, her life had always been like this, dark and twisted.

It doesn't matter what happens anymore, and the money I earn is meaningless. She felt a bit down, a feeling she had never experienced before, and she didn't know what to do.

I can't say I hate it, nor can I say I like it; my subconscious urge is to run away.

The door was pushed open.

Naruto took a hair towel, placed it on the shelf, and turned to leave. Suddenly, he noticed that Tayuya was unusually quiet, so he asked her a question.

"What's wrong with you?"

"Here's your money back," Tayuya said, huddled in the bathtub.

"Why are you suddenly bringing this up?" Naruto realized that there was a problem with picking her up, but he didn't regret it too much. He just wanted to take care of Tayuya.

She knew nothing; Orochimaru's upbringing was flawed, and he didn't care about his cannon fodder subordinates. This gave him an opportunity to trick her into coming.

"I don't want to stay here anymore. I'll give you all the money I owe you," Tayuya said in a muffled voice.

"That won't work."

"Why?" Tayuya turned her head, not caring about being shy, amidst the splashing water, "I'll give you back the money, I won't owe you anything, all that debt is settled."

"This isn't about money; it's not calculated that way."

"Isn't it just about money? I just want to get money from you and scam some food," she said.

"I know all this, and I don't care." Naruto's eyes were calm, showing his ease, or rather, he had long expected this day.

I even wondered Tayuya just disappear without a trace one day, and I might have to spend some time looking for her. But thankfully, that kind of trouble didn't happen, saving me a lot of trouble.

The reason Naruto went to such lengths to keep Tayuya was simply to leave himself a way out.

He is no longer the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki; he now possesses the strength of one and a half Nine-Tails, and he also keeps a dog-fox by his side.

God knows how the villagers will react when all these things come to light.

Furthermore, Konoha High Command Tsunade of Konoha. Shikamaru's personality differs from his father's; he seems to have no interest in politics. Among the Konoha 12, with his current connections and strength, becoming Hokage would be a piece of cake.

Tsunade had once subtly mentioned to him that the Hokage position would eventually be his if he wanted it. Tsunade was the Fifth Hokage, Jiraiya and Kakashi were both Hokage candidates, and the Ino-Shika-Cho clans were on good terms with him.

The same applies to the Hyuga Clan, Inuzuka Clan, and Aburame Clans. As long as he doesn't do anything reckless, he can stay in the Hokage reserve team and eventually become the strongest Hokage.

But anything can happen, and besides, Naruto never wanted to become Hokage.

He stayed in Konohagakure not because of a sense of belonging, but simply because his strength wasn't particularly high and he didn't want to cause too much trouble for the time being. However, unless he became Hokage, he was destined to leave Konohagakure.

It's fine if Kakashi is the next Sixth Hokage, but who will take over after Kakashi retires? He'll always be someone people are wary of, so it's best to plan to leave as soon as possible.

After leaving, perhaps he will rebuild the Land of Whirlpools; the twenty-seven masks have given him a new direction. He doesn't want to search alone; he will most likely take Tayuya with him.

It's hard to say how things will develop in the future, but Tayuya is Naruto's backup plan. If the worst happens in the future, he can still turn to Tayuya.

Therefore, from the very beginning, he never intended to restrict her freedom; she could go wherever she wanted. He didn't care what she wanted to do, and he didn't object to her taking on Exchange Place missions.

But avoiding him won't work.

The so-called debt of the soul is nothing more than a mark that makes Tayuya always remember him. Repeated and repeated, the debt is virtual, but it will keep piling up as the feelings deepen.

"What do you mean by not caring?" Tayuya felt a little wronged. If it weren't for him, she wouldn't have fallen for money.

She never cared about money before, and had never spent any. It was all because of his talk about selling her soul that she started caring about money, and now that bastard says he doesn't!

"You don't need to pay me back. I can give you a lot of money, if you need it," Naruto said directly.

"Then what are you after?"

"What's the point? Do you need a reason to give someone money? Do you? I just give it to someone I like."

"You like me?" Tayuya asked.

Naruto had to admire her thought process, but in a sense, he was after something. So, she seemed to be right.

"Yes." He nodded.

Tayuya a moment, then curled up in the bathtub, showing neither blush nor joy or disgust. She simply stared blankly ahead, lost in thought, at the plain-colored tile.

Naruto instinctively sensed something was wrong, but he remained calm. He watched Tayuya curled up like a kitten leaving home for the first time, her face showing nervousness.

He didn't know what Tayuya nervous about, but he knew it was necessary to say something to calm her down.

"There's a reason why I'm willing to pay for you. You remember, back in Konohagakure, we ate a lot together."

"I didn't have many friends at that time, so we should know each other very well, even though you lied to me back then. But I had already guessed it, so I didn't care."

Naruto blinked and struggled to say these words.

"We have an emotional connection; we eat and play together, so it's easy for us to develop feelings for each other. The main reason I'm willing to give you money is because I don't need it."

"You only give me money because you like me?" Tayuya asked in a muffled voice. "So, were the times you were nice to me in Konohagakure also because you liked me?"

"Yes." Naruto nodded.

"But there's nothing about me that's likable. I don't even know what liking someone means," Tayuya said, somewhat confused. "Does liking someone just mean giving them money?"

"That's not entirely true. Giving money is just a way of showing affection." Naruto didn't know why the topic had swirled around money, but for now, he could only try his best to argue.

"You have many admirable qualities, for example..."

"For example?" Damn it, Tayuya looked up at him.

Naruto was speechless for a moment; it wasn't easy to find a few good qualities in Tayuya. Although her love of bathing, cleanliness, and the fact that it wasn't awkward to play with her were Tayuya qualities in Naruto's eyes.

However, these advantages are not enough when they are on the surface; at least, mentioning them might make people feel disappointed, thinking, "Oh, that's all there is to it."

But now, Tayuya watching him, and if he disappointed her at this moment, things might become even more difficult. In his haste, he didn't have time to think things through.

"Install air conditioning!"

"Huh?" Tayuya was stunned for a moment, seemingly not understanding what Naruto meant.

The water in the bathtub was clear and completely transparent. Ripples spread across the surface, reflecting Tayuya's stunned face.

"You know how to install air conditioners?" Naruto gestured with his hands, a little guilty. "Have you forgotten? That time you came to my house in Konohagakure disguised as an air conditioner installer."

"Oh, that wasn't an act. We were out of money for food. We had no choice but to do that temporarily, and also gather information on the side," Tayuya explained. "So, that's considered an advantage?"

"Doesn't that count? Girls who can install air conditioners are amazing, okay?" Naruto said seriously.

"Real?"

"Really." Naruto nodded; he genuinely thought it was cool that someone could install their own air conditioner.

"I know more than just these," Tayuya said.

"Huh?" Naruto was also a little flustered. He didn't know if his guess would work.

He saw the girl look up, her long, wet red hair covering her small face, and slowly reveal a small, cautious smile.

Seeing this, Naruto secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

"Are you still living there?" Tayuya asked.

"He's gone. Something happened, and he moved." Naruto said. "He's currently living in Konoha Street 404, and he'll probably stay there for a few more years."

"Will you come here again?" Tayuya had already turned her head away, curled up in the bathtub with her legs drawn up to her chest, the water level reaching her chin. Her voice was devoid of emotion, and she glanced at him quickly out of the corner of her eye.

"Yes, I'll probably come more often after a while." Naruto predicted that after some time, when facing Pain, there would be no need to hide the secret that he wasn't the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki anymore.

Since he's no longer the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, and with Tsunade and Jiraiya, he doesn't have as many restrictions.

"Oh." Tayuya nodded.

A silence fell over the bathroom, but the atmosphere was already strange enough; after all, who would try to reason with someone in front of the bathtub? Normally, this would be considered abnormal behavior.

Realizing he should leave, Naruto coughed slightly. "Um... you take a bath first, I'll go to the bathroom downstairs."

Upon hearing this, Tayuya suddenly stood up from the bathtub with a splash, which startled Naruto.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

Tayuya didn't seem shy at all. She just stared into his eyes for a second or two before stepping out of the bathtub, dripping wet. She walked past him and ran straight out of the bathroom.

Under the bright yellow light, Naruto looked slightly dazed.

"They ran away?"

Isn't this shyness taking a bit too long to process? Did she just run back to her room? But it's probably for the best; at least they've talked things out this time.

As long as she doesn't try to avoid him, it doesn't matter what Tayuya does, even if she goes somewhere far away. As long as she accepts this place, she'll eventually come back.

She has nowhere else to go, so this place must at least be her home.

As long as she remembers him, that's enough. As for the question she's pondering—why should he be nice to her? Naruto could give her a hundred reasons to convince her. Does one need a reason to be nice to someone?

There's absolutely no need for lust or simply to kill time. But none of that matters anymore. He'll judge by actions, not intentions. Now, he just wants to be kind to her, who asks for nothing in return.

But just as the thought crossed his mind, he heard footsteps again outside the wide-open bathroom door. He turned to look, wondering why they were back again.

Outside the bathroom door, a girl with skin as smooth as jade held a large handful of Land of Fire currency in her arms, her red hair sticking wetly to her face.

He scooped up the scattered banknotes and presented them to him, saying...

"Here you go, flowers."