Back Then, You Kept Track of the Dates. What About Today?

Boom! The chill of early winter was not yet apparent; it was no different from late autumn.

But in the afternoon, the sky suddenly darkened, and large, ink-black clouds rolled in. In an instant, it seemed as if the ink could no longer be contained.

Thousands upon thousands of raindrops fell like knives, slicing straight through the sky.

Choji has always been a bit simple-minded, but he's not stupid or dull; in fact, he's quite quick-witted. Even though he often says that Shikamaru is too smart, so he doesn't need to use his brain.

He sensed something was amiss as he passed the Yamanaka Flower Shop, even before entering, and also gathered some subtle information. He pondered it over and over, but didn't tell anyone until he met Naruto, at which point he voiced his suspicions.

"I think Ino might..." Choji frowned, his expression indescribable, a mixture of confusion and certainty, as if he had known all along.

"Understood." Naruto left those words and turned to walk into the rain, no longer caring about Kakashi's mission. Choji watched his retreating figure and scratched his head.

I don't know how Naruto will handle this, and I don't know if telling him the news now is a good thing or a bad thing. But I have to let Naruto know about this, so that he won't be caught off guard later.

After shaking his Choji, Choji muttered something and went straight upstairs.

The rain intensified.

Naruto went home first, changed his clothes, and took a shower. He didn't rush out, but instead sat cross-legged on the sofa, thinking.

Ino got pregnant. He was mentally prepared, but he didn't expect it to happen so quickly.

Since the end of last year, the two have continued to see each other less and less for the past six months, but the more they meet, the more passionate their interactions become. Once something is set in stone, it's hard to stop.

Sometimes we'd meet in the afternoon, chatting on the sofa until we started whispering sweet nothings. Sometimes it was in an empty office, but after that one close call, it became rare.

All things considered, it wasn't actually that frequent. Perhaps it was because they both had more free time recently, and their private meetings became more frequent and varied.

Being pregnant isn't a bad thing, but the difficulty lies in being unmarried. Ino hasn't even White Kimono yet, Inoichi Yamanaka hasn't given any indication of it, yet things have inexplicably been kept secret for a while.

If he had found out immediately, he wouldn't be in such a passive position. But Choji was able to find out, even though he had the chance to, he didn't go.

This is his habit: when he encounters something he can't figure out, he goes home, takes a shower, and then sits quietly to sort things out little by little.

In the end, it was still my own negligence. All the busy work and running around might have had various purposes, but they were ultimately just excuses. Ino is pregnant, and the way to get Inoichi Yamanaka agree is actually quite simple: marriage.

The two of them were already adults; there were far too many people who married at a younger age. Getting married sooner would be good for Ino, and also provide an explanation to the Yamanaka Clan.

With a thud, he collapsed onto the sofa, staring at the ceiling and muttering to himself.

"He's not senior enough. What's the point of him running around like this?"

He had stopped thinking about the pros and cons of marriage. It would definitely be a blow to Hinata, but he could always find a way to comfort her. The problem was, it seemed, that the wedding would be missing an elder.

Kakashi? He does have a high status, and he's also my teacher. However, Kakashi and Inoichi Yamanaka aren't of the same generation; Kakashi is one generation lower than Inoichi Yamanaka.

If it doesn't involve marriage or funerals, seniority is a very distant concept for the young people of the Land of Fire, but once it is involved, it becomes a solemn matter.

"Who should I look for? The Pervy Sage is unreliable, Tsunade has disappeared. Should I look for Orochimaru?" Naruto muttered to himself, feeling troubled.

Iruka Naruto born too early and didn't develop a deep relationship with Iruka afterwards. Thinking about this, it seemed that Kakashi was the only option left.

He scratched his head, wondering how things were progressing with Kakashi. Would it be... no, I mean, would it be a mistake for him to get married before Kakashi?

After thinking it over, the rain gradually stopped.

His mind was still a complete mess, and he finally sighed and gave up on thinking about it. If only he had known this would happen, why hadn't he paid attention when family planning leaflets were plastered everywhere on the streets before he time-traveled?

In the current situation, one wrong step can lead to a series of mistakes, and there is absolutely no room for carelessness.

There was a series of knocks on the door.

"What?" Naruto woke up with a start, scrambling up from the sofa, his heart pounding.

He stumbled to the door, still hearing the knocking. He didn't know what he was panicking about. Though his mind was a bit foggy, he still reached out and opened the door.

The rain was still falling outside the window, and the rumbling rain poured in.

"Why are you here?" Naruto was stunned, his gaze involuntarily turning to the person behind her, but no one was with her.

"Choji told me. He said you're back." Hinata's voice was a little low, but not hesitant. "I have something to tell you."

"Come on in, it's raining outside."

He glanced at Hinata, whose clothes were damp from the rain, and a thought flashed through his mind, which he quickly dismissed. He thought to himself, "It can't be that coincidental; it shouldn't be that bad."

"Hmm." Hinata seemed very obedient, but it wasn't her first time here either, and she was quite adept at changing her shoes in the entryway.

Naruto stared blankly at her fair feet, mentally calculating the date of his last intimate encounter with Hinata. It wasn't hard to remember; it was roughly two or three days different from Ino's.

Hinata bent down to change her shoes, water droplets dripping from her hair. When she looked up, she suddenly noticed Naruto staring at her feet, and her face flushed.

"Oh, you're wet?" He snapped out of his daze, and without even going to the bathroom to get a towel, he took off his shirt and wrapped it around Hinata's head, rubbing it a few times.

Naruto was tall and had a good physique; even in winter, he only wore two thin shirts. A fire burned within the young man, like a roaring, surging steam engine.

Wearing two layers doesn't mean you won't be cold; it just means that wearing short sleeves in the dead of winter makes you look like a madman.

When he got home, he was naturally wearing a long-sleeved thin shirt. He took it off and used it to wipe Hinata's hair, which made Hinata blush.

Naruto didn't notice because his head was covered by his clothes.

Even if she discovered it, she wouldn't take it to heart; it's hard for others to understand a young girl's thoughts. Hinata wasn't naive; she was simply affected by the atmosphere and felt a tremor in her heart.

She had originally come to see Naruto, but after Naruto dried her hair and removed her clothes, he saw a pair of dreamy eyes. Before she could speak, Hinata tiptoed and sealed his lips with hers.

Naruto was somewhat taken aback. Hinata rarely took the initiative; she was always gentle and always silently endured things, rarely uttering a sound.

Although he had doubts, he didn't want to offend Hinata. Harmony often means mutual accommodation; even if you don't really want to, you won't refuse if the other person is willing.

Tick-tock

Tick-tock

Sweat dripped onto Hinata's body, but he remained focused, briefly casting aside his earlier worries. The rain continued to fall, and the accumulated water submerged a corner of the flowerbed at the bottom of the building.

"It's raining so hard." Choji was standing next to Kiba Inuzuka. He turned to look at Kiba and said, "A wedding in winter? Aren't you going to wait until after the New Year Festival?"

"How can I wait?" Kiba Inuzuka, no longer the sharp-tongued boy he once was, stood in the corridor of the Hokage Building, propping his head up on the railing, watching the rain with utter boredom.

A deafening roar, accompanied by lightning and thunder, and a raging storm.

Cool raindrops drifted in repeatedly, obscuring the road ahead. It was only after this winter rain that Konohagakure would truly enter winter.

The chill mingled with the raindrops, exploding on the railing and splashing all over Kiba Inuzuka's face. He instinctively flinched away, but then realized it was just a cold breeze and chill, and laughed self-deprecatingly.

"Why are you in such a hurry? You're only eighteen, right?" Choji said. "Although Shikamaru and I are married, it's not up to us, and it's only been half a year."

"It's not easy to hold a wedding before the New Year Festival. The winter snow and cold weather make it unbearable for people to be outside. There aren't many places to hold it indoors, and it's difficult to entertain guests when they come."

He was still trying to persuade them, but he was truly sincere towards his friends.

"In winter, there's a shortage of ingredients, mostly meat, so it's hard to put together a decent wedding banquet. I just don't understand, why are you in such a hurry?"

"She's pregnant," Kiba Inuzuka said calmly, gazing into the distance.

"What!" Choji's pupils dilated, and he took a few steps back, only to slip and fall.

"Why are you getting so worked up? It has nothing to do with you." Kiba Inuzuka rolled his eyes. He knew that Choji was loyal, at least better than that freeloader blond guy.

"What a coincidence," he muttered as he got up.

"What a coincidence? You're pregnant too?" Kiba Inuzuka glanced back at Choji, looking him up and down.

"You just got pregnant? How could something like that happen so quickly?" Choji, then suddenly realized that he should probably step up his efforts recently.

Now that Ino has a child, Kiba Inuzuka is also struggling with the issue of being pregnant out of wedlock, just like Naruto. If everyone's children are born in a bunch, it would be nice to have some company.

Just like them, we became good friends more than a decade later.

"What are you thinking about?" Kiba Inuzuka gently nudged him.

"Nothing, so what are you planning to do?" Choji shook his head, temporarily putting aside the thoughts in his mind. He decided to think about having a child later.

He's been a bit afraid to get close to his wife lately. Before marriage, he was like a ferocious tiger, but now he's almost like a kitten. He spends all his time wandering outside and hiding at home.

Ultimately, she's just too idle; we need to find her something to do.

"What else can we do but get married?" Kiba Inuzuka sighed, then paused, seemingly realizing his tone was off.

"I was actually more anxious than her, but she was much calmer than me."

"Why?"

"I don't know." Kiba Inuzuka slowly shook his head, his gaze slightly narrowed, and after a moment of silence, he suddenly spoke again, "Maybe I'm just one person, but she has two."

"She has a very bad temper, but that time when I came back from buying food, I found her standing quietly at the other end of the street, looking at a baby toy and laughing. That was a side of her I had never seen before, and at that moment I only had one thought in my mind."

Kiba Inuzuka paused, his tone becoming firm, and said, word by word.

"I want to marry her."

"No one's stopping you from marrying her. Have you thought about how to hold the wedding banquet?" Choji asked.

Upon hearing this, Kiba Inuzuka's previously accumulated momentum instantly collapsed, and he muttered a few words in frustration, like a defeated old dog.

"I haven't even told you yet. You know my family situation. My parents are doing alright. But if my older sister finds out about this, she'll probably beat me to death."

"Didn't your older sister get married? Why is she still the same?" Choji felt a little guilty for no reason when he heard Hana Inuzuka's name.

The image of a tough older sister who trains fierce dogs immediately popped into my mind. She was calm and composed, but the angrier she got, the more terrifying she became. She was dozens of times more frightening than Kiba Inuzuka's carefree mother.

"Marriage?" Kiba Inuzuka blinked. "It seems like there is such a thing, but I can't worry about that now. This time, no one can stop me."

Boom! The rain suddenly intensified, and lightning flashed across the sky.

No. 1, Konohagakure Street.

Hinata straightened her instep, let out a muffled groan, and finally let her legs dangle on the sofa.

The only sounds in the living room were their breathing and the ticking of the clock, until Naruto finally broke the silence ten minutes later.

"You just said you needed to talk to me about something?"

"Hmm." Hinata's voice was a little soft. "Actually, it's not a big deal, but Ino seems to be feeling unwell. I passed by a flower shop a couple of days ago."

Upon hearing this, Naruto glanced at Hinata. He knew that the girl wouldn't just happen to pass by the Yamanaka Flower Shop. Even though her relationship with Ino had improved considerably, she still avoided Ino's parents.

Although it was ultimately all her fault, Hinata never blamed herself. Occasionally she would sulk, but a little coaxing would make her fine. She was soft-hearted, and she probably saw something that worried her, which is why she walked past the Yamanaka Flower Shop.

"Are you feeling unwell?" he asked.

"I saw her secretly wiping away tears, and I was worried, so I walked along the path leading to the flower shop," Hinata said hesitantly. "Actually, I hesitated for a long time too. Ino's crying must be related to you. I thought something might have happened, and I knew that whether I asked or not, I would feel bad."

Cry? Naruto fell silent, feeling Hinata's warmth in his arms, his thoughts filled with complex emotions.

Things seem to be getting more and more complicated. If it were someone else, all they would have to do is get married, but he's involved in so many things. In the end, he doesn't even have any elders to help him, and he can't even fulfill all the proper etiquette.

Kakashi couldn't control the situation, and the final outcome was uncertain. If it weren't for the fact that Naruto really didn't want to rely on Kakashi's connections, things would likely have become increasingly complicated.

If the Fourth Hokage couple were still alive, even if he caused a ruckus, things would be brought under control.

Hinata.

"Um?"

"You're not pregnant, are you?"

"Huh?" Hinata looked confused, blinked at Naruto, then blushed and whispered, "I... I had planned the date before."

"That's good, don't worry, everything's fine." He gave Hinata a reassuring look, then asked, "You said you had calculated the date before, what about today?"

Hinata blushed and didn't answer. Her blush and silence spoke volumes. Naruto was taken aback, but quickly realized what to say.

"We really should have a child. Actually, today is pretty good."

"When it Hinata somewhat embarrassedly, "I probably won't be that lucky. It was just one exception."