She Seemed to Have Noticed Some Strange Trait

"Are you really not afraid of being seen?" Naruto stared at her, speechless, wondering how she could be so bold.

"How about it? Couples usually do these kinds of daring things, right?" Sakura didn't hold back at all.

Naruto: "."

"Exciting my foot! Who would get excited about something like this?" Naruto grabbed her foot without hesitation, sipped his tea with one hand, and played with it for a while before putting it back.

"Why did you suddenly think of me?" He refocused his attention on the table, intently picking at his food. "Usually at this time, aren't you busy with your cultivation and work?"

"I'm here to mooch a meal from you. There's Lord Shizune at the Medical Unit and Ino at the Hokage's Office, so I don't have to run between the two places," Sakura said after taking a bite of her food.

"Why was Ino transferred to an office?" Naruto paused for a moment, put down his chopsticks, and looked up to ask.

"Let's just temporarily transfer her. Who knows what's going on at the Hokage Building?" Sakura said without looking up. "Now that you know where she is, aren't you going to go and coax her?"

"We need to eat first, we can't go on an empty stomach," Naruto said.

"How will you thank me for telling you this?" she asked.

"Free meals?"

"Deal." Sakura ate her food carefully, bite by bite. "I'm counting on you for the next two weeks. I'm almost starving."

A two-week secondment? That's quite a long time. Naruto had a general idea, but he didn't think much of it. It was just a secondment; it wasn't anything too unusual.

"Are you short of money?"

"It's a real struggle! The salary at Konoha Hospital is barely enough to make ends meet," Sakura complained as she put down her chopsticks after finishing her meal.

"Being able to become Lord Tsunade's disciple is already very fortunate. It would be too much to ask for special treatment. Besides, I've recently taken a fancy to a house."

"Huh???" Naruto was puzzled. This is interesting. Buying a house in Konohagakure.

"Aren't you an only child?"

"Yes," Sakura said, clenching her little fist. "I don't plan to tell my parents; I'll buy it secretly."

"Let me guess, you're not planning to buy the apartment next door, are you?" he asked, frowning as he stared at Sakura.

"No.

"That's good."

"I'll buy your apartment and become your landlord," she said.

"What?!" Naruto nearly jumped to his feet. "Are you alright? What's wrong with you? What a waste of money!"

"I've inquired, and you're renting this place. I want to buy it directly," Sakura said, counting on her fingers. "I'm still a little short of money."

"Wait, do you have a grudge against me, Sakura Haruno?"

"No, no." Sakura turned away, looking shy.

Seeing this, Naruto's eyelids twitched involuntarily, and he stared at her as he spoke.

"You have no grudge against me, yet you still want to make me homeless?"

"Hehe, I just wanted to see what it's like to be your landlord," Sakura said, half-jokingly, leaving Naruto somewhat puzzled about her intentions.

"Whatever," Naruto said. "How much more money do you need?"

"You want to lend it to me?" Sakura seemed a little excited.

"I can think about it. It's not good luck to borrow between friends, so I'll just give it to you directly," he said after thinking for a moment.

"Real?"

"It's fake." Naruto rolled his eyes at her and ruffled her hair again. "What nonsense are you thinking? I'd have to be crazy to lend it to you."

"What do you have to offer in exchange?" he asked casually, leaning back in his chair.

"All of them," she said, half-jokingly.

Naruto turned his head away from her, pondered for a moment, and then remained silent. Seeing that he didn't speak, Sakura also fell silent, and the two looked at each other across the table.

"Are you serious?" he asked.

"Yes, I'm serious!" Sakura nodded.

"We'll see. I'll come over for dinner tomorrow, that's all." He stood up and said.

"You're cooking yourself?" Sakura was a little surprised, thinking to herself, "You can't really cut costs just because I'm eating here, can you? That would be treating me like I'm not an outsider."

No, that's not it.

"Oh, so where should we eat tomorrow?"

"Where are you going?"

"Um?"

"Of course I won't do it, you should."

"??????" Sakura was stunned, looking at Naruto with a puzzled expression. "Are you serious?"

"Of course." Naruto was already preparing to leave. "Money doesn't grow on trees, so we should save where we can. As for the ingredients, I'll prepare them for you."

"Tenten, so remember to wear black stockings with your jeans."

Sakura stared in disbelief as Naruto paid and turned to leave. She lowered her head and thought for a moment, "Isn't this practically selling myself? A free cook?"

It seems like I'm not losing money, but it also seems like I'm not making any profit. It's really frustrating.

Afternoon.

Naruto found Hinata, who was on vacation, and immediately took her hand, leading her to a secluded spot in the Bamboo Forest. The air was cool and shady, with a gentle spring breeze.

Hinata's face flushed red, and she dared not look up the entire time, fearing she might run into her clansmen. She carefully controlled her breathing the whole way, and finally arrived at the Bamboo Forest without any major incidents.

"Um, Hinata, do you still have the sake from last time?"

"Huh?" Hinata was stunned for a moment, then looked up and asked, "What kind of sake?"

"It's the kind of liquor you feed to the Fox-dog, please get me some more, please!" Naruto said, gripping Hinata's hand.

"Um... um, it's no problem." Hinata's voice gradually lowered. "Um... Naruto, let me go first, I'll get it for you right away."

"I want a bottle." He didn't let go immediately, but instead squeezed her soft, boneless hand. "Do you have a bottle?"

"Yes." Hinata's voice trembled almost as she watched a clansman walking towards her from a distance, her body nearly collapsing.

"Hmm?" Naruto turned his head and obviously noticed the passerby. Without thinking too much, he pulled Hinata over and hugged her, hiding them together behind a tree.

He planned to ask Nine-Tails for a favor, but he was too proud to admit it and didn't want to lower himself. Wanting to lure Nine-Tails, he approached Hinata to ask for the Hyuga Clan's secret sake.

While holding Hinata, he was still plotting how to lure Nine-Tails) into his trap. Suddenly, he sensed something amiss with the girl in his arms and looked down to check on her.

Hinata blushed all the way to her ears, and her body felt like it was about to melt into water, almost making him dizzy.

"Hinata, are you alright?" He helped Hinata up.

"I'm fine." Hinata quickly escaped from Naruto's arms, took a few steps back and almost fell, and stammered, "I'll go back first, wait for me a while."

Watching Hinata's hurried departure, Naruto glanced at the passersby who had already left, a thoughtful expression on his face.

He knew perfectly well that Sakura was just good at joking; she'd run away the moment things got serious—she was such a coward. But Hinata wouldn't be the type to enjoy thrills, would she?

It seems they've noticed something strange about Hinata.