Auspicious New Year Snow, the Year Ahead

"Go back now, I'll find you later." Naruto stopped and turned to say to Kazahana Koyuki.

"Hmph." Kazahana Koyuki looked resentful, but finally left.

"Only ten minutes left, the coordinates can't be any more precise." He muttered to himself, a hint of regret in his voice. "Time is too tight, far too tight."

Naruto has absolute authority in the Land of Snow, even though most people don't know him, haven't even heard of his name, and don't know what he's done.

However, the high-ranking officials of the Land of Snow knew that there was a man standing behind their Queen, and it was because of this man that the Land of Snow was able to restore its eternal spring.

Moreover, the initial investment in economic development also belonged to that person. In other words, the Land of Snow has been privatized to some extent.

Naruto arrived too quickly today, and the higher-ups didn't have time to flatter him, otherwise someone would have already opened the door for him.

Before entering, he seemed to remember something and deliberately tousled his hair. He took some cosmetics from his Sealing Space that he originally intended to give away and lightly applied a touch of blue pigment to the area under his eyes.

He looked extremely haggard, with a layer of bluish-gray eyeshadow under his eyes. Naruto seemed unsatisfied, and took off his clothes, threw them on the ground, and stomped on them twice.

After doing all this, he finally felt relieved and reached out his hand.

He gently pushed open the door and saw Hinata sitting on the sofa near the French windows, reading a book. The fireplace in the room was burning brightly. Actually, it didn't need to be burning so brightly; it wasn't that cold outside.

The maids in the room had already left beforehand, and Hinata knew Naruto had arrived. Hearing the noise, she turned around. Seeing Naruto's haggard appearance, she was startled.

"Naruto! What's wrong with you?"

"I'm fine." He waved his hand, pretending to be tired. Knowing Hinata would worry, he deliberately said, "It's nothing, don't worry."

"Are you bored here?" Naruto stepped forward, took Hinata's book, bent down and hugged her. "Are you not used to living here?"

When you haven't seen each other for a short time, physical contact is the fastest way to close the distance.

"No," Hinata shook her head, her expression still gentle. "I'm doing fine here, just a little worried about the village. I wonder what about Father and the others."

"They're alright." Naruto knew for sure. "Neji and Rock Lee were slightly injured, but thankfully nothing serious. The village is pretty much safe now."

"That's good." Hinata looked up, as if she wanted to say something but hesitated. "I think..."

"If you're bored, how about I bring Hanabi over to keep you company?" Naruto interrupted her. He knew what Hinata wanted to say—it was nothing more than going back to the village.

Returning to the village is impossible, at least not now. It won't be long before he finds that cunning Kabuto, and Konohagakure will be safe.

After the incident with Obito Uchiha, Naruto understood that when facing a powerful enemy, especially a shameless one, he absolutely could not put his weaknesses together; he had to separate them.

Kabuto didn't have a mother, he naturally didn't know the meaning of "misfortune should not extend to one's wife and children."

Faced with such an unethical person, Naruto had to be cautious on one hand, and even more extreme than Kabuto on the other. He wanted to instill fear in Kabuto would never dare to attack Naruto again.

"No need, it's too much trouble." Hinata shook her head and didn't insist anymore.

Seeing how exhausted Naruto was from the battle, she didn't want to add to his Naruto. Besides, Hanabi might not like this place, and bringing her along would only alarm her father.

"How could it be troublesome?" He pinched Hinata's cheek and said with a smile, "Anyway, Hanabi is probably just sitting around in the village doing nothing, Lord Hiashi can handle the clan affairs."

"Wouldn't that make Father very tired?" Hinata asked worriedly.

Tired? That's good, it saves Hyuga Hiashi Tenten. In times of war, wouldn't it be better to have more trust between people? Naruto couldn't be happier if Hiashi Hyuga Hiashi were busy, preferably constantly on the go.

"Probably not. Lord Hiashi is very capable, so you don't need to worry so much." He patted Hinata's head and said with a smile.

"It's good that the Hanabi are here, at least there's someone to talk to."

"Um."

Ten minutes passed quickly, Naruto naturally shifted the conversation to Hinata's daily supplements, speaking without leaving a trace.

"Oh, by the way, I know there's a place in the Land of Snow that sells health supplements that will be very good for you. Wait here, I'll bring them back and then we'll have dinner together."

"I'll go with you, it'll be good to go for a walk." Hinata made a move to get up, but Naruto stopped her.

"No rush, let's go for a walk after we finish eating. That place is too far," he said. "You wait here for me, I'll be right back, okay?"

"Alright, alright," Hinata agreed.

As Hinata watched Naruto's figure disappear behind the door, Hinata brows furrowed slightly, and she couldn't help but wonder if Naruto was planning to use this opportunity to go somewhere else.

Judging from his expression, he didn't seem to be going to buy supplements; I guess I was just overthinking it.

After leaving the palace, Naruto flipped over and jumped off the outer wall, found a servant that Kazahana Koyuki had arranged there, and casually gave some instructions.

Half a minute later, his figure reappeared in the clan's territory in the Konohagakure Yamanaka Clan.

Seeing that it wasn't too late, Naruto changed his dirty clothes and made sure to wash the dark circles under his eyes before casually walking into the yard.

Ino was eating snacks on the second floor when she turned around and saw him walk in. She immediately waved to him.

"Where did you go?"

"Just wandering around the neighborhood, almost tripped and fell." Naruto said casually, and before Ino could ask anything else, he sat down next to her and took the snacks from her hand.

Where is your father?

"What?" Ino's attention was indeed diverted, and she said with dissatisfaction, "You ask me where my father is Tenten, but I don't see you caring about him like this usually?"

"I'm just afraid of getting scolded. Knowing where your father is will at least give me some preparation, and it will also make it easier to find my way if I run away."

"Fine! You want to run away and abandon us, mother and child, right? Waaaaah!"

"How did you know it was mother and child? Did the baby tell you beforehand?"

"Intuition, my intuition." Ino raised her head and snorted. "And you? Would you rather have a son or a daughter?"

"My daughter, I suppose."

"Why?"

"I can't really explain it, it's just a gut feeling."

The two chatted quietly for a while, while lunch had already started ahead of schedule. The elder of the Yamanaka Clan didn't have a good impression of Naruto; he simply greeted him and then didn't look at Naruto again.

The banquet was rather boring, and he wasn't in high spirits, so he just kept Ino company. Fortunately, no one criticized Naruto until the end of the meal, so it went smoothly.

While Ino was resting, Naruto returned to the Land of Snow.

He changed back into his dirty clothes, wiped himself against the wall, and was finally satisfied. He looked around, then beckoned to the servant he had arranged earlier and asked...

"Is everything ready?"

"Everything is ready, Naruto."

"Alright, we can begin once I'm inside." He glanced at the servant, then added, still somewhat uneasy, "What time is it? Is lunchtime yet?"

The Land of Snow is thousands of miles away from Konohagakure, with a two-hour time difference. Although he was a bit full, he was still worried about missing mealtime, after all, he had promised Hinata.

"Not yet, there's still some time before lunch," the servant replied.

"Um."

Reaching the door, Naruto applied a touch of bluish-gray to the area under his eyes, composed himself, and took out some supplements from his Sealing Space.

Similar tonics were piled up like small mountains in his Sealing Space, so he didn't need to buy them at all. The reason why the tonics from the Land of Snow were so precious was largely because he had taken most of them, artificially hoarding them and creating scarcity that made them valuable.

"I'm back." Naruto pushed open the door, carrying the supplements and looking like he had rushed back. "Are you hungry? Let's go have lunch together?"

"Okay." Hinata stood up, took the tonic, and felt a little guilty looking at Naruto's tired appearance. "Actually, I don't need those things. It's too much trouble to run around like that."

"It's okay, I don't feel tired, let's go."

As the two went outside, Hinata suddenly saw roses scattered all over the corridor, and the last trace of doubt in her heart vanished.

~~

"Shikamaru, save some for me!" Choji picked up a piece of grilled meat and gulped it down. "Where Neji and the others? Why are there only the two of us?"

"They went back to the village," Shikamaru said irritably. "It's the New Year Festival this year, and only we're left to stay in this godforsaken place to continue our duty."

"You said it yourself, this is a horrible place, I told you so." Choji ate a big mouthful of grilled meat, his mouth full of slurred words. "Being watched by Father and the others is really restrictive."

"You're not short of reasons, why don't you just go back to the village?" Shikamaru glanced at him sideways, as if asking, "Why aren't you leaving during the New Year?"

"I was just worried about you. If I go back, Shikamaru will be all alone here." Choji chuckled.

Shikamaru sighed, turned around, and spread out a map on the table, deliberately keeping it a distance from the grilled meat. He pointed to the marked locations on several maps and said with certainty.

"Those White Zetsu are controlled by someone. They appear in different places and at different times each time. When there is unrest in Konohagakure, the other Four Great Nations stop. Perhaps the person behind them cannot completely control the White Zetsu."

"And then?" Choji was still eating his grilled meat and didn't care much about the White Zetsu.

After fighting for so long, he was already a bit tired. White Zetsu, Black Zetsu, Blue Zetsu... Whatever, with someone as clever as Shikamaru to think things through, he only needed to fight.

"The person behind it all seems to be constantly moving. If we mark the times and locations where White Zetsu were active and connect them with the maps of the Five Great Nations..."

Shikamaru seemed to have thought of something, and he became slightly excited.

Choji, unfazed, ate another piece of grilled meat.

"If that's the case," Shikamaru muttered to himself, burying his head back in the map, "I knew it! I knew it."

"If you connect all the dots, it becomes clear: the place where that person last disappeared."

"The Land of Water!"

Upon hearing this, Choji looked up and secretly breathed a sigh of relief when he learned it was the Land of Water. It was safe as long as they weren't in the Land of Fire; it was still winter, and it was also the New Year Festival.

If you were to get involved in a battle at this time, that would be truly unbearable.

"Well, there's nothing we can do about it. The Land of Water is so far away from us, and the roads are frozen over," Choji said lazily. "Why don't we tell your father about this first and let him decide?"

"Well, that's all we can do for now," Shikamaru said. "This is just speculation for now, and without concrete evidence, Father probably won't believe it completely."

Looking at Shikamaru's serious expression, Choji suddenly recalled what Naruto had said: that Shikamaru wanted to become Hokage, a goal different from theirs.

"Shikamaru."

"Um."

"Do you want to become Hokage in the future?" Choji asked.

"What?" Shikamaru was somewhat surprised and instinctively wanted to deny it, but then he remembered what the clan elders had said and couldn't say anything. "Why would you ask this?"

"It's nothing, I just suddenly thought of it. I feel like if you wanted to become Hokage, Shikamaru, it would be easy for you to do so."

"I don't know." Shikamaru didn't deny wanting to become Hokage. Perhaps he had never thought about it; he was just used to doing things rather than setting a goal.

"The Hokage... it's really great," Choji remarked. "Naruto used to really want to become Hokage, and he'd tell everyone he met about it."

"I asked him if he wanted to go get some popsicles, and he asked me how I knew he wanted to be Hokage. That guy was such an idiot back then. Thinking about it now, he was pretty annoying."

"Yeah." Shikamaru didn't want to talk about Hokage anymore; he felt a little awkward.

"What do you think Naruto is doing right now?" Choji asked.

Shikamaru thought for a moment, then said, "Let's eat."

~~

"I can't eat anymore, I can't eat another bite." Naruto leaned against the wall as he walked down the Konohagakure Street. It was already dark, and he had eaten five meals that day.

But he couldn't refuse to eat in front of the Yamanaka couple; he had to eat something. By the end of the day, Naruto was almost exhausted. Fortunately, the first day of the New Year Festival ended successfully, and he managed to make the most of the day, using up twice the amount of time.

Amegakure.

"What kind of posture is that?" Sakura looked at him with some surprise, leaning against the door and teasing him, "Why are you holding onto the wall when you walk?"

"Don't ask, it's the New Year Festival today." Naruto took a few steps without looking at her. "I feel like I should die, having to keep it a secret from both Ino and Hinata."

"What if they figure it out?" Sakura said.

"No, I put a little thought into it. Anyway, I'm not going to talk about it anymore." Naruto waved his hand, his expression neither tired nor defeated.

She saw Naruto straighten up, seemingly muttering to himself, but she couldn't make out what he said.

"What did you say?"

"It's nothing, it's just the New Year Festival." He sighed and turned to look at Sakura.

"So?"

"What else could I do but bring you home?" Naruto said. "There will be even more things to do next year, and things won't be this peaceful anymore."

"Okay, I'll go get something." Sakura lowered her head and pursed her lips.

The corridor was dimly lit, and outside the building stood silent steel High Tower. Fine snow fell from the dark sky. Footsteps were hard and deliberate, like crushing a crisp biscuit.

"I said." Sakura took a few steps into the house, then quickly walked back, her footsteps sounding crisp, like a wooden stick striking a stone.

"What?" He looked over at the sound.

"Did you come back especially to pick me up?" Sakura asked with a smile as she stood by the door.