So She Made Up for Him and Forgot All the Bad Things

"The Konohagakure Yamanaka Clan, they've existed even longer than the village itself." Naruto looked around. "How come your grandmother lives here?"

"This used to be a piece of land belonging to the clan. My maternal grandmother and my father and mother did not have a good relationship, so naturally they did not want to leave the ancestral land."

"My parents were both very busy with work when I was little and didn't have time to take care of me," Ino explained. Her facial features were gentle and clean, and she was incredibly beautiful in the bright Nikko.

"So you gave it to your grandmother?" Naruto asked, already roughly sketching out an image of a stern-faced old lady in his mind.

"Yes." Ino nodded. "My maternal grandmother was very stubborn. Although she eventually kept me at my mother's request, she was indifferent to me."

"The food I was given when I was little was terrible, almost inedible. Later, I ate something unclean and almost lost my life. My father took me back to Konohagakure."

Naruto looked up, his eyelids twitching, and asked in a low voice.

"Then what happened to your maternal grandmother?"

"Later I learned that the year my mother insisted on marrying my father, my maternal grandmother fell seriously ill. She didn't tell anyone and didn't let anyone come back."

"My mother thought that my maternal grandmother still hated her, so she always felt guilty. But every time she went back, she was scolded severely, so she stopped coming."

"After that incident, they... they forbade me to come again."

Ino walked forward with her head down. It must have rained yesterday, because the path was a bit muddy. Her shoes were covered in mud, but she didn't seem to notice.

"Actually, my grandmother had been ill for many years and it cost a lot of money. We couldn't afford to hire a maid anymore, and she couldn't cook. She was taking medicine every day."

"The year I came here, my grandmother fell and injured her hand while cleaning the house for me. She used the money she would have spent on medicine to buy me food. Her cooking wasn't very good, and it always took her a long time to prepare it."

"When I ate something wrong, my grandmother panicked and asked someone to take me to the doctor. When my father arrived, she scolded him."

"Later, when I secretly went back to see her," Ino stopped, her voice choked with emotion, "She was dying. If I hadn't gone back then, I would never have had a grandmother again."

Naruto gently hugged her, and waited for Ino to calm down before he spoke to comfort her.

"It's alright, the past is the past. You've come back to see your grandmother again, haven't you?"

"Also, don't cry later, or your grandmother will think I've bullied you."

Ino burst into laughter through her tears and gave him a push.

"You've always been bullying me."

"You can't just say things like that. What do you mean I've been bullying you all along? Honestly, didn't you enjoy it?! Ino, don't suddenly hit me!"

The old lady's ancestral home was quite large, and most of the courtyard was overgrown with weeds. However, the courtyard where the old lady lived was empty but very clean.

Outside the courtyard gate, he noticed that Ino seemed very nervous and couldn't help but ask her a question.

"You come here often, why are you still nervous?"

"Grandmother doesn't like outsiders." Ino glanced at him worriedly, biting her lower lip nervously.

Naruto was stunned for a moment, his head buzzing.

"Didn't you tell the old lady beforehand?"

"No." She shook her head, and seeing Naruto gasp, she quickly explained, "Although Grandmother doesn't like outsiders, she actually won't..."

"Tsundere?" Naruto asked tentatively.

"Don't say that." Ino tugged at his sleeve and lowered her voice. A spring breeze blew, and she nodded quietly.

"Oh, that makes things easier," he muttered to himself.

Knock on the door.

An elderly woman with silver hair stood at the door. She noticed that Ino's serious expression softened slightly, but when she glanced at Naruto beside her, her brows furrowed slightly.

"Grandmother, who is he?" Ino saw the old lady frown and her heart skipped a beat. She quickly explained.

"Naruto Uzumaki." He spoke before Ino could say anything, "Ino's friend, who came with her to visit her grandmother."

He didn't know what to call the old lady, and he couldn't really call her that. So he just followed Ino and called her that, since he would have to change how he addressed her sooner or later anyway.

The old lady's back was slightly hunched, and her face, as white as tree bark, was marked with age spots. Her silver hair was neatly styled, and she had a very serious expression.

"Grandmother," Ino called out as if pleading.

"Come in, I'll cook for you." The old lady glanced at Naruto, slowly turned around, and walked unsteadily into the yard.

"Don't mind her. That's just how my grandmother is. She's actually very kind-hearted." Ino lowered her voice and, as the old lady walked ahead, pulled Naruto's clothes and whispered in his ear.

"I understand," he replied.

He wasn't particularly enthusiastic during their first meeting, habitually observing the old lady. Based on what Ino had said, he guessed the old lady's personality was rather aloof, so he immediately gave up the idea of giving her a gift.

While cooking, he pulled Ino and said, "Get your old lady out of here, I'll cook."

"Huh? Is that even possible? My grandmother won't let me cook." Ino was a little surprised. "She'll get angry if I insist on doing it."

"I won't be angry. Your old lady wouldn't dare to make her precious granddaughter do anything, but I'm different." Naruto gently pushed her. "If you don't believe me, let's make a bet."

"What are we betting on?"

"Come closer, I'll tell you."

"No, it's definitely not good news." Ino pushed him and said smugly, "I won't gamble anymore, I'll trust you this once."

"He's going to cook?" The old lady was a little surprised. She looked Ino up and down a few times. Time flew by. It seemed like only yesterday that Ino was knee-high.

Ino didn't know that the old lady was actually reminiscing about the past. When she saw the old lady staring blankly, she thought she was unhappy and immediately became nervous.

"Grandma, what's wrong?"

"Well, let him do what he wants." The old lady had no expression, but seemed a little unhappy. "Ino, come sit with your grandmother in the room for a while."

"Oh, okay, Grandmother." Ino smiled brightly; he had really guessed right.

"He really went to cook." Ino pulled half of her body back from the doorway and said with a grin, "Grandma, he offered to cook because he was worried that you would have a hard time cooking."

Hearing this, the old lady was somewhat displeased. She thought to herself that she was still here, and people were already taking the side of an outsider, but she wouldn't get angry at Ino.

When did you two meet?

"It's been a long time, hasn't it? When did you meet?" Ino looked up and thought for a moment. "We met when we were very young, but we really started to have contact the year we graduated from the Ninja Academy."

"What, you haven't told me much about this before?" The old lady leaned back in her chair.

"I did say that!" Ino lowered her voice a little, "But... I only said it when you were asleep, so it's not my fault."

Old lady. "."

The sounds of stir-frying, the crackling of flames, and the clattering of woks coming from the kitchen made it sound like renovations were underway.

"Can he cook?" the old lady couldn't help but ask in a stiff tone.

"Maybe." Ino ran to the door, leaned half her body out to look, and listened to the noise, but she was a little unsure of herself.

She swallowed hard and said, "I'll go check it out."

Old lady. "."

Less than two minutes later, Ino rushed back. The old lady was still leaning in the chair, her posture unchanged, and asked her from a distance.

"What did he say?"

"He said," Ino's expression was a little grim, "That it's no problem."

When Ino asked him why cooking was like demolishing a house, he just turned around in front of the blazing flames and gave a shameless smile.

How can I make my presence known to the old lady without making a fuss?

Ino didn't know what Naruto was up to, but she knew he was trying to please his grandmother for her sake. Although she complained, she was still touched.

"What's his name?"

"Naruto Uzumaki, Grandmother." Ino leaned closer and combed the old lady's hair, her eyes shining.

"He said he wanted to cook?"

"Yes!" Ino said, "Actually, he's quite nice, Grandmother. You know, once on my birthday, Naruto set off fireworks for me all by himself."

"Well, he's not bad." The old lady was sparing with her words.

"Yeah, Naruto! It's just that he can be a bit sarcastic sometimes and likes to annoy me." Ino realized she'd let something slip and quickly tried to cover it up.

"Actually, I wasn't angry; I was just pretending."

She had completely forgotten about the tears she shed on the steam train, and in front of the old lady, she only spoke well of them and never spoke ill of them, nor did she dare to mention that Hinata was between them.

"Hmm." The old lady nodded and didn't say anything more.

Before long, the food was served.

Four dishes and a miso soup, authentic Konohagakure flavor. Naruto rarely cooks, but he watches Sakura cook more often and has taken notes of it.

It's not too difficult to replicate it. The taste isn't as good as Sakura's, but it's still pretty good.

The old lady took a bite without saying a word, simply eating slowly and deliberately. Naruto raised an eyebrow, thinking to himself that this old lady was indeed a bit arrogant.

However, judging from her elegant way of eating, as if she could eat food of any quality, she seemed to be indifferent to wealth or poverty, honor or disgrace.

It's not hard to guess that before Ino was born, the old lady probably lived a life of aristocracy. Then came the things Ino mentioned, and now she's abandoned by everyone, with only her little granddaughter left.

Thinking about this, Naruto felt a strange sense of guilt. It was as if he were taking away the old lady's only family member who could talk to her, but he quickly felt relieved after a moment's thought.

This can hardly be considered robbery; Ino was originally his. Besides, the old lady gained another relative. It was a buy-one-get-two-free deal—no, a free three-person deal! He made a killing, even with tears in his eyes.

Besides, only an old lady gets this kind of treatment. If it were Hyuga Hiashi, he definitely wouldn't be so proactive.

"Delicious!" Ino Outer Path.