Little Ino, the Beauty of This World

Naruto rushed up the stairs, reaching the top floor of the Hokage Building, then slowed his pace. He cautiously moved to the door of the Hokage's Office and peeked inside.

Tsunade was working, and judging from her expression, she wasn't in a good mood.

At the doorway, Naruto was still debating whether to go in. Shizune, looking at Naruto peeking with his butt sticking out, asked him a question.

"Naruto, you..."

Okay, now I have no choice but to go in.

In the Hokage's Office, Shizune came in, delivered some documents, and left. Tsunade looked up at Naruto with a frown and asked in an annoyed tone.

"What's the matter?"

"Get it stamped." Naruto nervously took out the application form.

Tsunade glanced at it, thought for a moment, and then covered it with her hand. She didn't give him a hard time, just gave him a few instructions, and let him go.

Back at the mission center, I slammed the stamped application form onto the table.

"Hurry up, stop dawdling," Naruto said irritably, a stark contrast to his subservient demeanor in the Hokage's Office earlier.

"Right away. It will be ready soon."

The old man had already left, leaving a young woman in her early twenties to deal with Naruto. She looked flustered and overwhelmed, like a hostage being threatened.

The matter wasn't complicated. No one knew what the old man said, but the little girl was quite frightened.

Naruto pursed his lips but didn't say anything. After completing the formalities, he took his mission form and went to report to Asuma.

These days, even high-ranking officials have tasks to complete. What can he do, being alone and idle anyway?

Asuma smoked a cigarette, staring at the task sheet covered in stamps in his hand, turning it over and over. Hmm, procedural justice, no problem there.

He just couldn't understand whether this person had some other purpose.

The sparks flickered, and the cigarette was completely finished.

He looked up at Naruto. "Naruto, could you please step outside for a moment? I'm not feeling well right now. This is the men's restroom, after all, and although you're a man too,..."

"Ahem." Naruto withdrew.

When Asuma came out, the first thing he said was, "Let's go, Naruto Uzumaki, let's go see them."

Asuma had clearly heard about the morning's High-level Meeting; his address was mostly a joke, and he even patted Asuma on the shoulder. As a direct descendant of the Hokage, he was happy to see this outcome.

"Who are you going to see?" Naruto was momentarily stunned.

Afternoon.

Choji swallowed the grilled meat whole, his beady eyes sweeping around before Naruto and Ino opposite him.

"I'm telling you, Naruto, you're really not being fair."

"What's not enough?"

Naruto spread his hands, the table filled with familiar friends. His body had grown taller, and with long arms and legs, he comfortably leaned back on the long sofa, with Ino sitting beside him.

"Such a big thing, why didn't you tell us?" Shikamaru was also lying on the sofa, holding a glass of watermelon juice in his hand.

"How can I explain this? I don't know either," Naruto said, pursing his lips. "Besides, it happened so suddenly, and nothing bad has happened yet, hasn't it?"

"However, this might not be a bad thing, at least we don't have to be on edge," Shikamaru said ambiguously, deliberately avoiding the topic of Jinchuriki.

Ino was unusually quiet, preparing the sauce on the side.

Obviously, the incident had just occurred, and the group didn't dwell on their morning conversations, quickly shifting their focus to the mission.

"Something's not right. Why did you suddenly decide to join our mission?" Shikamaru glanced at Naruto suspiciously, then at Ino, and asked.

"What's going on?"

"Huh?" Ino blushed for a moment, feeling a little guilty.

She knew why Naruto insisted on interfering, but the more she understood, the hotter her face became. In that instant, she tried her best to distract herself and dismiss the thought.

"This mission is too dangerous for you. I'm worried about Ino," Naruto was about to say Ino a sharp pain shot through his waist, which was hidden by the table, making him stutter.

"I'm worried about Master Jiraiya's safety. I have a good relationship with him, so I wanted to join in."

Shikamaru and Choji didn't notice Ino's subtle actions, but Asuma, sitting on the outermost edge, did. He simply smiled, then stood up and said with a slightly melancholy air.

"I'm going outside for a smoke."

"Hmm?" Ino turned her head, as if she realized something.

Shikamaru frowned. "Teacher Asuma, didn't I tell you to smoke less? Why are you smoking again?"

"This one," Asuma, already with a cigarette in his mouth, "The last one for today."

Naruto also noticed that Shikamaru and Asuma had a deeper bond. Ino liked flowers, Choji was more interested in food, and Shikamaru, with his exceptional intelligence, was more compatible with Asuma.

Watching Asuma leave the store, Naruto felt a little desolate. Had he betrayed the old bachelor? But wasn't he quite close to Kurenai Yuhi?

Forget it, I'm still a herbivore youth, there's no reason for me to care about these old men's love secrets.

"Naruto, do you know Master Jiraiya of the Fire Temple?" Choji put down his chopsticks and suddenly asked.

"We're pretty close," Naruto said after a moment's hesitation. "Master Jiraiya and Teacher Asuma both worked in the Twelve Guardian Ninja, so we're even closer."

After eating and drinking to their hearts' content, Asuma paid the bill; he was truly not short of money. A complete second-generation rich kid, his life was almost perfect except for the fact that he was unmarried and looked old.

Born into the impeccably Third Hokage, Asuma had everything he could want at a young age. However, the Third Hokage's statement that Konohagakure Hokage wasn't the most important person in Konoha instantly made Asuma, this delinquent, think the Hokage was a very low-class person.

He resolutely turned against his fans and rebelliously left Konohagakure to become a private bodyguard for the Daimyo of the Land of Fire. What a story of a young man leaving home, only to return as a Dragon King ten years later.

Bah! The delinquent Asuma has had enough of his revelry and has returned to Konohagakure dressed as one of the villains.

The Third Hokage Hokage, Hokage's father, forgave him with a smile, allowing him to inherit the Sarutobi Clan's business. He also had a Kurenai Yuhi, waiting for him—a perfect example of a second-generation winner in life.

This time, the timeline has shifted slightly forward, and Chiriku narrowly escaped death. Therefore, this mission primarily involves investigation and searching, not pursuing the Immortal Duo.

The main task is to investigate the Fire Temple, follow the clues for a period of time, and protect the Chiriku for a while until the mission ends.

If the investigation yields no results after a period of time, the mission will most likely be canceled.

So apart from Naruto and Ino, no one really took this mission too seriously. After all, it was just a simple investigation and search centered around the Fire Temple, which was generally safe.

Asuma left on business, and Shikamaru and Choji also went back together, leaving Ino and Naruto alone in their seats. Naruto was about to say something when someone outside glanced at them and left.

It was a rather wary look in his eyes. He glanced at me, stopped in his tracks, and turned to leave.

Naruto was speechless. What bad luck! He even ran into the Hokage Building crowd while having a meal.

"Shall we go? I'll take you back?" Naruto turned to look at Ino.

Ino thought for a moment and said, "Let's go to your place."

Naruto was flattered. Ino hadn't visited him for a while, and he almost thought she had been traumatized by his excessive force.

"Okay!" he agreed first.

"Don't overthink it." Ino glanced at him and skillfully tied her golden ponytail up. "I just have something to ask you, but it's not convenient to do it in the store."

"What's up?"

"Well, nothing's wrong. We'll talk about it when we get there," Ino said.

Upon hearing this, Naruto felt uneasy. First Tsunade, then Ino— each reacted differently. Had he stirred up a hornet's nest?

However, the Nine-Tails' departure is indeed more dangerous than stirring up a hornet's nest. At least the latter is a Tailed Beast that eats people without blinking an eye and doesn't even feel nauseous, but Naruto doesn't think so.

Even the most ferocious Tailed Beast have to cower before power, but women are obviously several times more complex.

The road wasn't too long, and they soon came to an end. Ino walked ahead, while Naruto followed slowly behind, occasionally quickening his pace to get ahead of her.

However, Ino didn't seem to react much, choosing to ignore it as if she hadn't seen it.

Ino silently went upstairs, took out her key, expertly inserted it into the lock, and the door creaked open. Naruto followed; the door wasn't locked.

Pushing open the door, Ino was squatting in the entryway, not saying a word.

She curled up, hugging her knees with both hands, her dazzling blond hair seemed to lose its luster, and she lowered her head, burying her face in her knees.

The afternoon Nikko slanted in through the crack in the door, falling on his feet.

The smiling face that was about to crack a joke disappeared, and Naruto was a little at a loss. The hot Natsuhi breeze blew in from outside the door, carrying the fishy smell of dried Aoba.

"Ino?" Naruto suddenly became awkward. After calling out the name, he didn't know what to say. He stood there, opened his mouth, but couldn't say anything.

Ino is very good at reading the atmosphere, and naturally, she is more likely than others to find clues from all kinds of true and false rumors and get the answers she wants.

In fact, she could see the awkward situation Naruto was facing. Having spent so much time with him, she naturally understood his personality and knew that he wouldn't want to join the upper echelons for no reason.

It was simply a necessary move given the circumstances. What others considered Naruto's prowess, she didn't see as such.

The so-called prestige was merely a consequence of his status as Jinchuriki, something he was forced to do. Now that Naruto is suddenly no longer Jinchuriki, which should be a good thing, Ino still feels uneasy.

Perhaps she felt that the whole thing had nothing to do with her, and even though Naruto was no longer Jinchuriki, it seemed like nothing had changed, and she could only watch helplessly.

He pulled Ino's arm away, trying to help her up, but was startled by the look in her face. Her small face was wet with tears, and her eyes were red and swollen as if they were inflamed.

It's strange that some people can cry without making a sound.

He was thinking this when his heart suddenly skipped a beat.

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