A Hand She Couldn't Break Free From, So It Was Only a Little Jealousy

Shikamaru and his group found a very popular restaurant, but seeing the crowds thronging the place like dumplings being boiled in water, they immediately felt that it was going to be a bit of a hassle.

After inquiring a bit, I learned that the normal wait is two hours. You can't leave either; if the person calling the number isn't there, your reservation is void. Shikamaru immediately deflated upon hearing this and lost interest in eating.

But since the two girls in my group liked it, I scratched my head and had no choice but to wait in line.

"Where's Choji?" Shikamaru asked, turning around.

Choji had already asked if he could pay extra to skip the line, but it wasn't really skipping the line; it just meant booking one of the most expensive tables. Soon after, he brought back the news.

"There's a queue over there too, but it'll be shorter." Choji waved the ticket in his hand and said in a simple and honest way, "Let's go, don't crowd here, let's go inside and wait."

"Those two haven't arrived yet. Are we going to lose them?" Shikamaru asked, frowning, his gaze sweeping past the crowded people. "Let's go inside first. I'll come out and meet them later."

The night was bright, Konohagakure Street were ablaze with lights, spreading out in a disc-like pattern from one end of the village in all directions.

Two blond figures walked slowly, close together, through the bustling night market street. The surrounding area was filled with the lively chatter of passersby.

The blonde girl had a slender, curvaceous figure. Her long hair was casually tied in a ponytail, and her face, full of natural collagen, had no flaws. Her skin was as white and delicate as ice cream.

The young girl, inexperienced in such matters, exuded youthful energy from every inch of her body. She feigned modesty on her face, but her gaze kept glancing intentionally or unintentionally at the boy beside her.

The boy was dressed casually in a white short-sleeved shirt and black shorts, with a head of fluffy blond hair. He seemed to be saying something, his gaze wandering over the roadside stalls.

"The people of the Land of Hot Water are really idle, there are hot springs everywhere. By the way, would you like this?" Naruto said, grabbing a boxed dessert from a stall.

Before Ino could answer, Naruto paid. It didn't matter whether Ino ate it or not; even if she just carried it, it was fine, he wouldn't lose out by buying it anyway.

"I don't want to eat," Ino complained.

"Give it back to me, I'll give it to Choji." Naruto said, reaching out to take it.

"No! Confiscated!" Ino quickly protected the small cake, looking at Naruto with displeasure. "Buy another one yourself, but you can't buy the same one as me."

"You... they only sell that one kind of cake."

"I don't care!" Ino snorted and pinched his hand.

He was somewhat speechless, but he hadn't thought of bringing Choji any small cakes. Choji loved meat and puffed snacks; as Choji would say, eating colorful little cakes wasn't a man's choice.

"He's even possessive when he's eating cake, I'm speechless," Naruto muttered.

"Ahem!" Ino felt a little guilty; he had actually seen through her, but she would never admit it.

"Where were we? Oh right, the Land of Hot Water." Naruto rubbed his hands, continuing his chatter with Ino as they walked, "The girls in the Land of Hot Water are wonderful, every single one of them..."

"Ah!!! Ino! Why did you step on me?"

"It was an accident!"

"How could that be? You did it on purpose!"

"So what if you did it on purpose? Who told you to be such a lecher!" Ino glared at him. "You're neglecting your duties on missions and have become corrupted by following Lord Jiraiya."

At this moment, in a market town of a small country.

Jiraiya, Jiraiya, suddenly shivered and sobered up. He looked around drunkenly and wondered why he suddenly felt a chill on his back.

"This is a method of extracting information, so don't blame me," Naruto said shamelessly, shifting the blame onto Jiraiya, implying that the disciple should die before the master.

"Besides, I wasn't even eighteen yet at the time; I was just watching from the sidelines. It was the Pervy Sage actually took the initiative to extract information. I didn't do anything."

"Then you're not allowed to look either!"

"I don't want to see this either!" Naruto argued. "The Pervy Sage is drunk (the girl's legs are too white), what if something happens if I don't watch? (It's not illegal to pay to watch)."

"Hmph!" Ino walked straight ahead.

Naruto, following behind her, touched his nose, sweating for himself. The girl's possessiveness grew increasingly blatant and open as she matured.

He doesn't dare mention Hinata in front of Ino, nor does he dare mention Ino in front of Hinata. He doesn't know how long this veil of secrecy can be maintained.

"When did those two start?" he suddenly asked Ino as they walked down the street.

"What?" Ino was stunned for a moment.

"Girlfriend."

"Oh, you mean Keiko and Tamako? We've known each other for quite a while," Ino said. "During the New Year Festival, the parents meet up quite frequently."

Upon hearing this, Naruto raised an eyebrow, thinking to himself that he hadn't heard of this name before. There were quite a few small clans in Konohagakure, and many of them had close ties with the Ino-Shika-Cho Clans.

It's not hard to understand why marriage alliances are considered a way to strengthen family ties.

"A marriage alliance?" Naruto asked bluntly.

"I don't think so." The girl turned around and smiled at him. "After all, there wasn't much of a better choice, and there was a foundation of feelings between us."

"And you?" he asked.

"What?" Ino was stunned for a moment, then suddenly realized what she meant, and her face turned red. "I... I didn't! Why are you asking me this?"

"Just asking."

"Oh, oh." After saying that, Ino suddenly realized what she meant, and a smug smile appeared on her face. "You're jealous?"

"No," Naruto said, taking her hand and leading her forward.

"You're lying!" Ino seemed very happy, her eyebrows and eyes relaxed.

There was a flower stall ahead, with dazzling warm lights hanging on it. Without thinking, Naruto took out some money with his other hand, bought a bouquet of flowers, and handed it to Ino.

In this way, Ino could only hold the flowers in one hand and have his hand held by the other.

He glanced back, a slight smile playing on his lips, thinking to himself, "If I can completely dominate your hands today, I can completely possess your life tomorrow."

Jealous? Not at all, okay, just a little bit.

However, just ask around the whole of Konohagakure 'll know who's in charge. Anyone who dares to come near you will have their head twisted in their hand.

"Okay, I like you." Naruto said without turning around, pulling Ino through the crowded throng.

The voice wasn't drowned out by the crowd; no matter how noisy the surroundings were, the voice of the person you liked was always the most special. Ino's heart fluttered for a moment, and she smiled, her eyes like crescent moons and her eyebrows like wisps of smoke.

There are many beautiful things in the world: some people reunite after a long separation, others watch the snow in winter and listen to the rain in Natsuhi. Even though they are often apart, Ino still feels happy to hear his open expression of affection.

It's fine to just hold hands and walk down the street like this, as long as it's him.

When Shikamaru saw the two in the crowd, his gaze lingered on their clasped hands for a few seconds. Looking up at Ino's hands, which were laden with flowers and cake, he shrugged.

"Are you two having dinner or going on a picnic?"

"You're quite nosy, what about Choji and the others?" Naruto ignored him. Ino subconsciously tried to break free, but after struggling for a while, she found that she couldn't.

"Inside." Shikamaru turned and led the way.

She looked up at Naruto, only to see him with an indifferent expression, pulling her away from the crowd and leading her inside.

"Let go!" she said in a low voice.

"No, there are too many people here," Naruto said. "Let's go inside and talk."

Ino: "."

She was a little uncomfortable being so close to Naruto in front of Shikamaru and Choji, but she couldn't resist and had to go along with it.

That side story... um, I honestly didn't know it was inserted directly into the chapter; I thought it was part of an event. It was a side story I wrote before, which I kept because I wasn't satisfied with it at the time. Seeing that there was an event, I deleted some of the royal color and just casually put it in.

It was also posted in the group.

Just a little everyday thing, don't take it too seriously, it's unrelated to the main text.