Bamboo Forest

"Little bunny, be good, open the door. No, no, I won't open it."

Naruto walked through the forest with his hands behind his back, humming the children's song, his eyes searching everywhere for the missing cat.

A cat had run away from Mrs. Yamanaka's flower shop, so he registered it at the Hokage building and took on the D-rank mission for five thousand ryo.

Since the other teams were out on missions with their Jonin leaders during this period, only Team Seven was free. Naturally, this task fell to the unlucky Naruto.

It was because he acted on his own, recklessly taking Team Seven to chase Zabuza and Haku. Although they succeeded, it also infuriated Kakashi.

As punishment, Naruto had to complete twenty D-rank missions alone.

"Kitty, come out and go home with Uncle."

"Ino? Mrs. Yamanaka?"

After calling out a string of phrases that might attract the cat's attention, Naruto still heard nothing. He finally slumped onto a bench by the roadside in frustration.

"Naruto? What are you doing sleeping here?"

A familiar voice reached him. Naruto looked up and saw a head of blonde hair. Ino stood with her hands on her hips, looking down at Naruto slightly.

"Ino?" Naruto had no intention of getting up. It was getting late. "When did you get back to the village?"

"This afternoon. After the mission, Asuma-sensei gave us two days off." Ino sat down next to Naruto.

"My mother's cat is lost."

"Oh, I know about that. The Genin who took the mission was me." Naruto tilted his head back against the chair, pointing at himself with his finger.

Under the streetlight, the two were not far apart, casually sizing each other up.

Naruto wore a black T-shirt and loose, tan shorts. A completely indifferent, rogue-like expression was on his face.

"Hey, you!" Ino grabbed Naruto's clothes and said angrily, "If you accept someone's mission, show some effort!"

"Idiot!"

With that, Ino forcefully pushed Naruto to the other side of the bench. Naruto, completely unfazed, lay back down and said indifferently.

"Yes, yes, Miss Ino, you're the best. So, you find the cat, and I'll treat you to barbecue."

"That's your mission! What do you think you're doing lying around here!" Ino was exasperated.

"It's my mission, but I can hire you too." Naruto said with a carefree expression. "The village didn't say ninjas can't hire ninjas to do missions, right?"

"While that may be true, I have no obligation to help you find the cat!" Ino glanced at Naruto.

"Ino, you don't want Mrs. Yamanaka to be sad, do you?"

"You!"

"Stop with the useless nonsense, Ino. If you find it, I'll treat you to barbecue. Besides, you're out this late looking for the cat, aren't you?"

Hearing this, despite her annoyance, Ino had to compromise.

She suppressed her anger, stood up, walked in front of Naruto, and leaned down, looking at Naruto's face unhappily.

"Get up and look with me! Hurry!"

"Yes, yes." Naruto yawned as Ino forcibly dragged him up, pulling him forward by the hand.

"Honestly! Why are you like this!" Ino kept pulling Naruto forward, constantly complaining.

"Idiot! If you take a mission, do it properly! Who are you putting on this lazy act for? If you keep this up, don't you want to go back soon..."

"It doesn't matter if I go back or not." Naruto suddenly said. "I was planning to just sleep here on the bench for the night."

"Don't say things like that, let's hurry and look properly!" Ino paused for a moment, then continued to pull Naruto forward.

"Ino, I think I hear something over there." After listening carefully in the woods, Naruto pointed in a direction.

"Got it, got it!" Ino said impatiently.

Under the moonlight, Ino pushed past Naruto and walked forward, but she tripped and was about to fall forward hard.

Just as she was preparing to adjust her balance, Naruto grabbed her.

"What are you doing?" Naruto tilted his head, looking at her in confusion.

"Me? Didn't you see I tripped?" Ino said irritably.

"Oh, then I'm letting go." Naruto made a move to release her directly. Before Ino could react, her pupils suddenly constricted.

"Naruto!!"

After a scream, Ino desperately grabbed onto anything she could. Naruto, who was about to let go, was instead grabbed by his clothes as Ino flailed.

"What the hell." Naruto, caught off guard, let out a curse.

But it was too late. Naruto fell in the direction Ino was falling, and with a rip, his clothes were torn.

"Ugh!" Ino opened her eyes, and Naruto was lying on top of her.

Their lips didn't quite meet precisely, but her clothes had been torn by him, and his head was now resting by her neck.

"That spot! Something will happen!" Ino felt the warmth coming from her neck, and her face instantly turned bright red.

"Naruto! Get up!" Ino shouted, her face flushed.

"Don't tear my clothes!" Naruto shouted, followed by another scream, "Stop pulling! Your hands!"

After a period of chaos, Ino got up from the ground, wiped the moisture from her lips, and said.

"What did you do, you brat!"

"I didn't do anything, don't talk nonsense! Ino!" Naruto jumped up, covering his tattered clothes and said.

"How am I supposed to go home like this?"

The anger above Ino's head was almost visible, her fists clenched tightly. Just as she was about to teach Naruto a lesson, a meow was heard.

From the bamboo forest, a pure white cat with an elegant gait walked past the brawling pair and glanced at them.

Under a large green tree outside the Yamanaka Flower Shop, Ino took out a white shirt from behind her and handed it to Naruto, saying reluctantly.

"Here, you're not allowed to do anything weird with my clothes!"

"Huh?" Naruto pouted, "How could I do something like that? Besides, you were the one who tore my clothes first, so apologize sincerely, damn it!"

"How would I know if you would!" Ino retorted. The night had grown deep, and her voice suddenly softened. "Anyway, I'm sorry."

Hearing Ino, who was usually so assertive, apologize, even Naruto was startled and didn't know what to do.

"Well, since you apologized, I'll forgive you," Naruto said, scratching his head. "I was also at fault in this matter, so how about I treat you to some barbecue?"

Ino looked up and stared at Naruto with a complicated gaze for a long time, then asked.

"Do you really want to treat me to barbecue?"

"Yeah," Naruto nodded.

"Barbecue is expensive."

"I've saved up quite a bit of money from missions these past few days, and anyway..." Naruto said, "You don't need to worry about this."

"Alright then," Ino nodded. "Since you've sincerely invited me, I'll graciously accept."

"But this lady is still quite wealthy, so I'll treat you, dumbass."