I Like It

"What's wrong?" Naruto asked Ino.

"I don't know, I'll go up and take a look."

Ino got up and left the counter. Halfway up the stairs, she turned back to look at Naruto, pointed at Coco on the table, and said irritably.

"Drink it all."

Naruto didn't know what he had done to offend her. He glanced at the steaming sweet drink on the table and remained unmoved.

What do you do when you're at your loneliest?

"Of course, it's the Explosion Art at the top of the hour."

On the outskirts of the forest in the Land of Rivers, where the trees were as green as jade, Deidara gave Sasori a slightly arrogant smile.

Scorpion remained silent, continuing to maneuver the Hiruko puppet forward.

"Don't go! Did I say something wrong?" Deidara chased after him. "Whether it's loneliness or any other emotion, everything will be sublimated in the instant of the explosion."

He walked sideways beside Scorpion, waving excitedly as he spoke.

"Senior, art is the eternity of a moment, and so is an explosion."

Scorpion continued to slowly move forward, controlling the Hiruko Puppet. The puppet was ugly and hunched over, its body completely covered by a red cloud and black cloak.

"Let's go." Sasori's voice came from inside the puppet. "Since we've already decided to capture the Tailed Beast, why not take advantage of the turmoil in Sunagakure and make our move sooner? What are we waiting for by dragging our feet?"

Sasori was somewhat agitated. He had originally been just a pure avenger. Konoha White Fang had killed his parents, and Chiyo had kept it a secret from him. But lies cannot stand the test of time; they will eventually melt away under the scorching Nikko.

He sought revenge, killing everyone responsible, only to receive news of Konoha White Fang's suicide.

Originally, he joined the Akatsuki Organization with the intention of venting his hatred, but he found that the organization seemed to be a mixed bag and that it was slow and indecisive in doing things.

Akatsuki is no longer the Akatsuki who was purely driven by revenge, which makes him feel increasingly bored.

"That being said, I also feel that the people in the organization are not very bright," Deidara said, tapping his head. "Although they keep talking about some great goal, I always feel that they are just talking the talk."

"Those two undying, disgusting guys have been making money all these years, occasionally killing a few people, but they don't seem to have done anything else. They're just wandering around like headless flies, and it's getting more and more boring staying here."

"If it weren't for surpassing Itachi Uchiha, I would have left long ago. What kind of people did I recruit? A bunch of weirdos, either obsessed with money or heretics."

"A group of people who understand art completely and have no ambition whatsoever."

Deidara launched into a long rant, like a junior complaining about the company to his older brother, then glanced at Sasori with a slightly respectful look and offered his suggestion.

"Since this mission is going to be boring anyway, why don't we take a look at Sunagakure while we're at it?"

"Even if we get there, we can't act on our own; it's pointless," Scorpion said.

"Fine." Deidara said indifferently.

He could have been playing with Kurotsuchi in the office, but he chose to use Explosive Clay instead. He rejected his beautiful, leggy junior sister, only to be easily persuaded and recruited by Itachi Uchiha.

To him, everyone in the Akatsuki Organization was talented, but they were also very unpleasant to talk to.

It's so painful to see explosions as art, yet not to receive recognition for them.

Fortunately, the senior is also an artist, and although his technique is a bit abnormal, at least he has some topicality. Although I always feel that the senior doesn't quite approve of the organization, and looks like he might defect at the slightest disagreement.

But I'll just get by day by day, and as long as I can bomb people everywhere, that's fine.

Cool!

In the Yamanaka Flower Shop.

Naruto sat behind the counter, bathed in warm light. The thunderstorm outside showed no signs of stopping, Ino hadn't come downstairs yet, leaving him alone in the shop on the first floor.

Gazing at the street shrouded in white mist at the entrance, my thoughts drifted away.

I don't know Akatsuki Organization are up to, but dealing with them would be quite difficult. Even just the Immortal Duo would be extremely troublesome to handle.

He's not the Original Naruto, and he doesn't have the Talk no Jutsu. His verbal talent is essentially limited to silent attacks, but these can only provoke and psychologically damage opponents.

Encouraging people to strive for improvement? That seems a bit difficult.

I wonder when the system will release a reward that guarantees 100% Talk no Jutsu. But I doubt there will be anything that outrageous, otherwise next time we might get Protagonist Halo reward.

But then again, since there's no such thing as Talk no Jutsu or Protagonist Halo, the Villain Debuff naturally disappears as well.

After thinking it over and over, Naruto came to a conclusion.

Suspicious!

So far, the plot is developing normally, but I have also changed the course of many things.

Jiraiya had already gone to investigate the Akatsuki Organization ahead of time, and before he returned to the village, no one knew the Akatsuki Organization's whereabouts. Perhaps the Tailed Beast capture plan was brought forward, or perhaps it was delayed.

Everything is unknown.

Based on the information gathered so far, it seems that the Four Great Nations are all eyeing Sunagakure. After all, it's about the succession of the Kazekage, which directly impacts the future status of the Land of Wind.

What people like to see is the disintegration of the Land of Wind, the so-called whale fall, and the birth of all things.

Meanwhile, the Land of Wind's Pakura, Chakra mines, and Purple Gold are coveted by various nations. If the Kazekage's succession truly encounters problems, it's only a matter of time before the Land of Wind is gradually devoured and annexed.

Not knowing how many days of vacation he would have, he looked at the heavy rain outside the door and secretly wished that he could be notified to gather on the last day of his vacation.

There was a commotion upstairs. Ino stopped at the corner of the stairs but showed no intention of coming down.

Naruto looked up at her and realized that she had changed into a blue apron. With a hint of helplessness on her face, she waved to him, signaling him to come up.

"Me?" Naruto pointed to himself.

Ino nodded without saying a word, only sighing. She stood with her hands on her hips, her golden hair falling beside her ears, obscuring her fair neck.

He held onto the wooden handrail as he went upstairs, and only then did he hear the girl's voice.

"My mother said you should stay for dinner."

Boom!

Outside, a torrential downpour illuminated the dimly lit first floor of the flower shop, where the counter, bathed in yellow light, was deserted.

The two stood on the stairs, one tall and one short.

"Just because of your mother's wishes?" He looked up at her, as if he wouldn't go upstairs until he got a reply.

Ino, looking somewhat helpless, with an expression that said, "I don't know where you get all this fuss from."

"And that's what I mean too."

"That's good." He smiled and walked past Ino.

But after going up to the second floor, he turned back. Ino thought he was going to say something again, but Naruto just hurriedly went downstairs and brought up the hot sweet drink.

Do you want some?

"I won't drink it."

"But I won't drink it. It's getting cold, and it would be a waste to leave it there."

"Let it be a waste." Ino frowned. She didn't know what kind of trouble Naruto was up to this time, but she still patiently argued with the man.

"Take a sip," he said.

"I don't."

The two made quite a commotion on the stairs. Yamanaka Rino changed into some casual clothes and peeked down from the second-floor living room.

"Come up and talk to me, it must be tiring to stand there."

"Okay." Ino sighed, took the cup from someone's hand, and was about to go upstairs when she saw Naruto looking at her indifferently.

She took a perfunctory sip from the cup, then turned and went upstairs.

"You silly child, can't you just come up and drink it? Why do you have to make them bring you a hot drink?" Yamanaka Rino grumbled for a few moments before making way for her.

"Oh." Ino went into the kitchen, somewhat sulking.

Naruto sat upright on the sofa in the second-floor living room, glancing out of the corner of his eye towards the kitchen. Yamanaka Rino went to the balcony, seemingly to collect laundry. The balcony appeared to be connected to the rooms, so one didn't need to go through the living room.

The rain pounded against the window, and everything outside the balcony was a white blur. The flowers on the stone platform trembled in the cold rain and wind.

A moment later, Yamanaka Rino came out of the room.

Even after removing her makeup and changing into casual clothes, she still couldn't hide her elegant and noble aura. Like a concubine in a TV drama, every move she made exuded grace.

"The rain is so heavy." She walked across the living room toward the kitchen, as if talking to Naruto and Ino. "The Ninja Academy is completely surrounded by parents."

"Parents were picking up their children everywhere. The school's iron gate had fallen down, and the area in front of the school was a mess. The children couldn't find their parents and were wandering around."

"In the past, our Ino didn't need to answer the phone in this kind of weather; she could handle it on her own. After all, she's a ninja, and even though she's young, she should be able to stand on her own."

"If the rain is too heavy, it's safer to catch it," Naruto whispered, offering his opinion.

Of course, this was just a casual remark, nothing more than idle chatter. It's impossible for Yamanaka Rino to turn around and find a time machine to travel back to Ino's childhood and pick her up from school just because of a single sentence.

Ino herself has probably long forgotten that afternoon when she was soaked to the bone, everyone else had left, and she was left alone, looking at the heavy rain and wondering when she should run home.

Fortunately, the Ninja Academy has no shortage of orphans, and there are quite a few children running in the rain.

That's roughly it.

Ino, head bowed, silently chopped vegetables in the kitchen. Having an excellent memory isn't always a good thing; many unpleasant memories are impossible to forget.

So much so that a careless remark could trigger another bout of emotional distress for her. But she couldn't show it on her face; being too understanding made it difficult for her to act impulsively.

Even expressing feeling wronged feels like a hassle.

Discussing whether or not to accept the offer was pointless, and Yamanaka Rino didn't take it to heart. She paused for a moment in the center of the living room, then gave Naruto a polite smile.

"That's true," she said lightly.

She became a ninja at the age of twelve, found someone she liked at fourteen, married Inoichi Yamanaka at eighteen, and didn't fall in love with that silent man until she was twenty-one.

Her youth wasn't exactly glamorous, but it was also very fortunate.

She didn't say a single word to the person she liked, so there was no beginning and no end. She maintained her composure, as was her usual style.

Inoichi Yamanaka allowed her to maintain her dignity, giving her all the dignity of a noblewoman. She had a happy family, owned a flower shop, and even her daughter was so reliable that she didn't have to worry about her at all.

Naruto looked at that polite smile and smiled back.

"Yes."

He answered politely, without saying anything unnecessary or inappropriate. He watched Yamanaka Rino go into the kitchen, and then heard the two of them talking quietly inside.

He leaned back on the sofa, not at all reserved, casually grabbing a cushion and using it as a support against his chest. The sofa faced the balcony, and a thin streak of lightning flashed below the clouds.

With a deafening roar, thunder shook the earth.

Naruto was completely lost in thought, staring blankly at the torrential rain outside the balcony, pondering the events of the past few days. He wondered if Orochimaru would be furious at not being able to find the Death Reaper Mask, and if he would suffer the perpetual burning sensation in his soul.

A short while later, Ino came out of the kitchen carrying a warm bag of cocoa. She wasn't wearing an apron, so she probably handed it over to Yamanaka Rino.

She didn't say anything, but sat down next to Naruto, with a little distance between them.

After a long while, Ino spoke softly.

"Thanks."

He turned and glanced at Ino, but the girl quickly looked away, appearing somewhat flustered.

"Thank me for what?"

Upon hearing this, she hesitated for a moment before gripping the now-cold cup tightly, her ten fingers encircling the outer wall of the cup. She gripped it so tightly that her knuckles turned slightly white.

"What you just said," she said softly, her voice barely audible beyond the sofa's reach, "That you should pick me up."

"I was just saying it casually, after all, it's impossible to achieve," he admitted frankly.

"I know," she said, gripping the cup tighter as if trying to draw out the remaining heat from inside. "I know everything."

"I came home soaked in the rain. No one was home. My father was still working, and I didn't know where my mother was."

"But at dinner, my mother praised me, and I felt a little better then. It's really nothing, they all love me."

Naruto handed the pillow over. Ino paused for a moment, then put down her cup and took the pillow.

She curled up, as if trying to cram the pillow into her small body. Her voice was somewhat unsteady at this moment, as if her emotions were also somewhat unstable.

But soon, everything returned to normal.

"But thank you anyway."

"I don't really care that much about getting caught in the rain. I just sometimes want to say something in response, but I always find it too troublesome and I don't want them to bring it up again."

"They think it's something to brag about, but every time it's brought up, I feel a little uncomfortable for some reason. I just don't have a reason to tell them not to mention it anymore, and I don't know what to say."

The thunder was deafening, and the French windows on the balcony shook violently twice.

Taking advantage of the brief silence, she turned to look at Naruto. Her lips were pursed, and her voice was soft, quite different from her usual tone.

"I'm very happy that someone is speaking up for me now."

A smile appeared on her face, a genuine smile from the heart.

"I really like this feeling, and I really enjoy it."

Boom!

A deafening clap of thunder, louder than before, followed by a flash of lightning across the balcony. He saw Ino's lips moving, but the sound was completely drowned out by the thunder.

I got my rabies vaccine today, I'll update more tomorrow.