I Treat You as a Friend, Yet You Want To

Anko thought to herself that this person was quite shameless, yet had beautiful eyes, with slightly drooping corners that resembled hooks. She wasn't the gentle type; rather, she was rather flamboyant.

He exudes an aura of boundless youthful energy, perfectly complementing his vibrant age. It's as if that's how youth should be—warm, bright, and irresistible.

She opened her mouth, then felt her throat go dry, and muttered "sick" to herself. She didn't know whether she was cursing herself, Naruto, or both of them.

In short, after feeling a bit of discomfort, she quickly let go.

"Ahem, I'm going to wash too." With that, she dashed off.

Naruto didn't take it to heart and had no other feelings for Anko; he just thought her toes with painted nails looked pretty. Otherwise, he didn't want to get involved with stupid women and lower his IQ.

After a while, Anko's hair was also wet, and she ran back clutching her clothes, looking furtive, which suggested something was amiss.

"Were you bitten by a snake?"

"You're the one who got bitten by a snake, you jinx!" Anko looked a little uneasy. She had just lay down when she realized something was wrong, so she immediately sat up cross-legged.

Naruto stared at the scroll of the Reaper Death Seal, turning it over and over. He had gotten it from Tsunade a long time ago, saying he wasn't going to practice it and was just looking at it casually.

Tsunade couldn't resist his persistence and had no choice but to give it to him. She figured no one would actually use this thing; only an idiot would learn such a technique.

"What's wrong? You have heat rash?" Naruto glanced at her impatiently.

"Can't I sit down if I don't want to?" Anko changed to a more comfortable sitting position, which was somewhat unseemly.

Naruto glanced at her, then couldn't help but glance at her again.

What are you doing now?

"Why do you care so much about me?" Anko said, disgruntled. "Can't I sleep?"

"Okay." Naruto had nothing to say. He looked away again, staring at the Hand Seals on the scroll, and then suddenly added, "Do as you please."

"Oh."

An hour passed, and the only sound outside the tent was the night wind. Naruto had set up traps around the tent to scare away wild animals and to serve as a warning.

Under normal circumstances, no reckless wild beasts would dare to venture in.

Under the dim light, Naruto was looking at the scroll, while Anko was lost in thought.

He glanced at Anko occasionally, a slight smile playing on his lips. She's always daydreaming; her mind's completely blank. What a foolish woman.

After a while, Anko felt the light in the tent was a bit too bright. She squinted and looked up for a while, and sure enough, it was very dazzling. She lowered her head, feeling a little dizzy.

Naruto, taking a moment to steal a glance at her, happened to see her suddenly lower her head. He couldn't help but wonder, "Could something be wrong with her? Could she be seeing things?"

Who would be that stupid?

I wanted to ask again, but then I remembered that Anko had told me not to meddle, so I gave up. But I had only been looking at the scroll for a few seconds when I heard a thud next to me.

"What's wrong with you?" he asked, looking at Anko lying on her sleeping bag.

Anko was too embarrassed to say that staring at the light for too long made her dizzy and her head buzzing, so she simply ignored him. Naruto was a little worried that the woman was really dead, so he put away the scroll, got up, and moved over.

The tent wasn't very big; given his size, he had to crawl over it.

"Wake up." A gentle slap landed on Anko's face, and she immediately opened her eyes.

"What do you want?" she asked, sounding annoyed.

"Let's see if you're dead or not." He spoke frankly, "Speaking of which, although you're weak, you're quite resilient. You've managed to survive until now with the Curse Mark of Heaven around your neck."

Seeing Naruto mocking her again, Anko became even more irritated. A nameless anger surged within her, and the sight of her wide-open neckline only fueled her unbearable frustration.

"Can I have a kiss?" she asked, almost as if possessed.

"Are you out of your mind?" Naruto returned to his original position. "I treated you as a friend, and you want to surpass me? Huh?? You stupid woman."

"Tch, I was just asking, I didn't mean it seriously." Anko sat up, looking bored. "Don't say such suggestive things."

"Huh? Didn't you bring it up first?"

"I wasn't thinking about that either." Anko rolled her eyes and shrank into her sleeping bag, leaving only her head sticking out.

"Oh, I see. So you're a vegetarian. My apologies for not recognizing you earlier."

"No, it's just that men are too much trouble," Anko said, looking at the top of the tent. "I'm not an eighteen-year-old girl anymore, and I have absolutely no intention of dating."

"Work is already so boring, I can't imagine having someone sleeping next to me and being woken up at any time. Besides, I don't want to fulfill the duties of a girlfriend and be subject to all sorts of restrictions."

"I'm not as gentle as Hong, and I can't be controlled by anyone."

"Oh, so you're heading straight for the target? That's really impressive," Naruto exclaimed, then took the scroll out again to continue reading.

"If only toys were alive, they'd be alive when turned on and dead when turned off." Anko started spouting outrageous remarks again, making sarcastic comments bit by bit.

"Your ideals are way ahead of their time; they'd be revolutionary in any era," Naruto couldn't help but say. "Are you really a woman?"

"It's genuine," Anko said. "I just think that relationships between men and women are too complicated, and things that are too heavy are not suitable for me."

"Toys are better; you don't have to worry about what others think."

"Is that so?" Naruto raised his eyelids slightly. "Unfortunately, it's not very warm."

"But as long as I can find someone who matches my taste, that's fine. I don't need to spend time with him or give him any responses. He's my ideal boyfriend," Anko said, Teuchi.

"I don't completely agree, but I still think what you said makes a lot of sense." Naruto replied, propping himself up on his hand while looking at the scroll.

"As expected of you, you were just going through the motions while reading the scroll. You must have had a hard time." Anko was speechless.

"It's no trouble at all, just a small favor."

"The capable should do more work. Speaking of which, would you prefer Ino or Hinata?" Anko suddenly became interested and asked with a gossipy look on her face.

Upon hearing this, Naruto put down the scroll and stared at her curiously.

"What do you mean by 'choose'?"

"Just choose." Anko suddenly stopped, turned to look at him, "Hmm? Something's not right with you!!! Aren't you tired of this? You're keeping secrets from both sides, there's bound to be a time when you'll be found out."

"What are you talking about? When have I ever kept it a secret?" Naruto spread his hands. "Love is a matter of mutual consent, and besides, I haven't reached that point yet."

Which step?

"Get out of being single."

"Oh, oh." Anko thought about it carefully and felt even more that he was a scumbag. "You deserve to die, Naruto Uzumaki. Being so fickle will get you struck by lightning."

"Oh, I don't believe that," Naruto replied dismissively.

"Not devout at all, someone like you." Anko rolled over in her sleeping bag and muttered, "I'm actually quite envious of you, at least you don't get tired of interacting with people."

"However, your social skills are a bit too good, aren't they?"

"To correct you, we haven't started dating yet," Naruto said.

"What difference does it make? It's bound to happen sooner or later. Everything will happen naturally," Anko said. "I'm rather curious to see what you'll choose then."

"Pure love needs no choice." He picked up the scroll and continued reading, saying casually.

"I'm so envious I'm drooling," Anko murmured. "Ugh, it's so annoying. I wish you were like me, growing old alone. That would make me feel better."

"What kind of dark thoughts are you having?" Naruto asked, his face full of questions. "Oh, right, Kakashi is all alone too, so you can feel better about that."

"Kakashi, he's different from us." Anko waved one hand outside her sleeping bag. "How many people can step down from the position of Anbu Captain? He might just be the next Hokage."

"How did you know?" he asked in surprise.

"Lord Tsunade has already made it clear, how could she not know?" Anko asked, looking puzzled. "You didn't know?"

"I know, but I thought you didn't," Naruto explained, then turned and asked, "When did you make that statement? How come I didn't know?"

"Not long ago, maybe last month or the month before last. I can't remember." Anko racked her brains, but finally gave up.

Naruto was taken aback. Tsunade was fishing too? Did she have to be so obvious about Danzo? It's true that sophisticated tactics often employ the simplest methods?

He thought back to the Inuzuka Clan incident; Tsunade said she'd settled it, and that was that. He wondered what Tsunade was planning, but it didn't seem like a simple matter.

After chatting for a while, Anko fell asleep.

With a click, the light went out.

The next day, early in the morning.

The two squatted by the river to wash up, brushing their teeth and rinsing their mouths in unison. Anko seemed completely unconcerned about what they had said the night before, and suddenly started to continue their conversation from before bed.

Naruto didn't find it abrupt or awkward at all. He knew that Anko was always like that, and they had always gotten along like that for years.

Sometimes we bump into each other on the street, exchange a few words, and then part ways. The next time we meet, without exchanging greetings, we immediately start chatting again, and it doesn't feel awkward at all.

Do you have a particular fetish for feet?

"No."

"Nonsense! I saw you looking at my feet that day." Anko washed her face with water and put away her toothbrush. "I was staring at you."

"Oh, so what? Can't I take a look?" Naruto said nonchalantly, washing his face and pulling out two clean white towels from his Sealing Space.

He handed one to Anko, then wiped himself haphazardly.

"Tsk, you don't even spare your friends, you're really shameless." Anko wanted to say that she was indiscriminate in her pursuit of food, but she felt that was inappropriate and would make her seem low-class.

"Who said anything like 'can I kiss you' last night?" he retorted mercilessly. "You're the shameless one, you old woman."

"Okay, it is a little shameless, but isn't it normal to like eighteen-year-olds?" Anko argued. "Is it wrong?"

"To be clear, we're not friends," Naruto said. "You're just lowering my IQ."

"Then why not ****?" Anko said casually, and as soon as she said it, she was stunned.

Their eyes met briefly, then they looked away in unison.

"Ahem, speak too fast," Anko said.

"I understand, I understand." Naruto scratched his face. "It's normal to talk in your sleep in broad daylight. Let's keep going."

"That's true, but we still have important business to attend to." Anko stretched and peeked at the sun through her eyes. "If all goes well today, we should be able to reach the border of the Land of Fire."

Continue on the road

A day passed quickly, and as dusk fell, two figures emerged from a forest on the border of the Land of Fire, exchanging a glance.

"Thank goodness, we finally made it." Anko breathed a sigh of relief.

"This pace is just right. Actually, being a day later wouldn't matter," Naruto added. "There's no rush either, since you won't be able to take a vacation when you get back anyway."

"Don't mention vacation to me anymore, it's all because of you," Anko complained.

"There's a river over there, let's rest first." He didn't respond, pointed ahead, and skillfully changed the subject, "Let's walk that way, we can get there before it gets completely dark."

"Oh oh."

They walked a little further, and it got dark earlier than expected. The journey was much longer than Naruto had anticipated, so much so that the moon had already risen while they were still on their way.

"Didn't you say you'd be here soon?"

"The estimate was slightly off, but it's okay," he said stubbornly. "It'll be there soon, just a little while longer, hang in there, we'll be there soon."

"I believe you, I'll be a dog," Anko gasped. "Did you lead us the wrong way?"

"That's right, it's this one! I'll eat it if I'm wrong."

"I was wrong," Naruto quickly admitted. "Who would have thought there were two paths here, one above the other? They're stacked together like... well, you know!"

This is the border of the Land of Fire. Vast stretches of the Forest of the Land of Fire extend here, gradually changing from a strip to scattered ridges. At its end lies a narrow plain, and to the west is the Valley of the End.

The moonlight fell on this somewhat rough, Striped Plain, as if draped in a silver veil.

"Stop talking nonsense and lead the way!" Anko's voice came from behind him.

"I can't believe you still believe me, I'm so touched." He made a fake sobbing sound twice, "I'll never call you stupid again."

Anko gritted her teeth in anger, "Didn't you slip and pull me down? You bastard! You're not just saying you'll share the burden, are you?"

She clearly saw that the guy slipped and grabbed her from the side, causing her to fall down with him before she could react.

Damn it, he's okay, he just tripped and hurt himself. That guy... he's a complete scumbag!

"Alright, alright, I've already admitted my mistake, haven't I?" He carried Anko in the right direction. "Besides, carrying you is my way of atoning for my sins."

"If you're still not satisfied, I'll just let you, you perverted woman, take advantage of me."

"I don't care about waiting, what did you say?" Anko frowned, thought for a second, and then made a decision, "This is fine."

"Oh no? You really want to be friends with me?"

"Is this how you treat your friends?" Anko angrily slapped him on the shoulder. "You're quite adept at using the 'share your troubles' tactic! You deserve to die!"

"The seal is going to be broken tomorrow, and my foot is injured again. Who knows if you'll abandon me and run away? What if I die there and never wake up? It would be such a waste if I never even tried."