Outside the Door

"What? You're not?" Naruto sat up abruptly.

"I'm sorry." Ino immediately bowed her head and apologized. "It was mixed with rainwater. I thought you wouldn't open it, but it was just a normal dish. It just doesn't taste very good."

"I happened to have to go to the Inuzuka Clan today, so I prepared that food, but I didn't expect it to get wet from the rain."

"Who would believe that?" Naruto said with a resentful look. "That's too much! Tell me what to do?"

Ino blushed and lowered her head.

"I have no idea."

Seeing Ino's awkward expression, Naruto stroked his chin, pondered for a moment, and then spoke.

How about Maid Outfit?

"You!" Ino stood up angrily, clutching her bathrobe. Then, seeing Naruto pointing at the empty food box on the table, a look of guilt immediately appeared on her face.

"This one won't do, let's get another one," she said softly.

"I can't think of anything else." At that moment, he restrained himself and didn't say anything outrageous.

"Okay then."

Ino blushed slightly, her voice tinged with unease. She crossed her arms, glancing at Naruto with a slightly aggrieved look, her eyes moist.

That expression... this guy is really good at it.

It's terrifying how quickly she mastered the powerful expressions to manipulate men.

The dryer in the bathroom hummed familiarly, and Naruto didn't go near the sofa, but walked to the balcony.

Visibility outside the window was extremely low; it was impossible to even see buildings tens of meters away.

The white mist stirred up by the sudden rainstorm enveloped the entire Konohagakure, and the trees snapped violently in the gale. As soon as I pushed open the balcony door, a red umbrella, which seemed to have flown in from nowhere, spun in the air, quickly approached, and was suddenly snatched away by the wind with a whoosh.

Naruto felt uneasy, and his brows furrowed unconsciously.

"Ino".

"Huh? What's wrong?"

Ino was a little flustered; she was afraid that the person in front of her might suddenly pull out a Maid Outfit from somewhere. It wasn't that Naruto was incapable of doing such a thing; he was just surprisingly persistent about certain things.

Was it raining when you came?

"Yes, it suddenly started pouring rain," Ino complained. "My father said the village seems to be in trouble, and the advisors have been discussing countermeasures these past few days."

"Even the Daimyo has come. If it rains heavily, the village's surveillance facilities will need to be renovated. My father is already rarely at home, and this time he will probably be busy for another half a month."

The Yamanaka Clan is responsible for the village's surveillance and intelligence work, and they work with the perverted group of torturers in Ibiki's Torture and Interrogation Department, thus taking on some of the responsibilities of the long-disbanded Konoha Guard.

Although the Third Hokage died in battle, Jiraiya is still in the village. The Konohagakure Anbu suffered heavy losses, and Root ninjas will temporarily fill the gaps, while a small number of ninjas from both headquarters will be able to move around.

The Naruto didn't create the explosion but didn't leave to explain the situation to the Anbu is because the village was leaderless, and the issue of Jinchuriki became sensitive at this moment.

After the death of the Third Hokage Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura did not continue to hold Sand accountable. Instead, they accepted Sand's surrender and compensation, rallied the army, and immediately convened a meeting to elect the Fifth Hokage.

This is enough to prove that their stance is exactly the same as the Third Hokage's: a moderate conservative. They lack trust in the younger generation and also look down on their old classmate Danzo, who did the dirty work.

In short, the death of the Third Hokage disrupted the attitude of Konoha High Command towards Jinchuriki. If something were to happen to Naruto, the higher-ups would have an excuse to hold a meeting and vote on Naruto.

The Third Hokage's opinion was that if something existed, it should be stopped from developing the Jinchuriki's potential. The two senior advisors didn't trust Naruto, but they also didn't advocate handing him over to someone as ambitious as Danzo.

"Is Lord Inoichi very busy lately?" Naruto asked casually.

"Yes." Ino breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that Naruto wasn't bothered by the Maid Outfit. "Father was always busy, and he's been even busier since the village was destroyed."

"Ino will probably take over your father's job in the future, right?" Naruto asked casually, while slowly moving towards the living room door.

Wrapped in a bathrobe, Ino didn't notice anything unusual. She frowned and thought for a while before speaking.

"It should be."

"Do you like this kind of work?" Naruto asked, barefoot, as he steadied Ino while his sharp gaze drifted toward the wall.

There seems to be something outside the door.

He picked up the knife and headed towards the bathroom.

Ino in the living room, but she seemed a little distracted. After thinking for a while, she finally mustered up the courage to speak.

"It's not that I necessarily have to take over my father's business."

She turned her head sharply, only to find no one in the living room. She stood there stunned for a moment, before she could even call out to Naruto.

The bathroom door opened silently, Naruto, wearing a thin casual short-sleeved shirt, held a knife in one hand and all of her clothes in the other.

The black lace panties and purple slit skirt were mixed together, clearly indicating that the clothes were grabbed in a hurry and pulled out of the dryer together.

Ino's mind was buzzing; the dryer hadn't stopped, but the sensation had shifted to her brain.

Her face first turned crimson, then quickly puffed up. Before Ino could even speak, Naruto had already anticipated what she was about to say.

Abnormal?

The offensive power of this statement needs to be improved.

Normally, Naruto would definitely have exchanged a few words with Ino, but now is not the right time.

Naruto, holding his sword, made a shushing gesture, silently walked up to the dazed Ino, pointed to her clothes and then to her body, and silently said something.

"Put them on."

Without looking at Ino, he silently turned around, holding the knife, with his back to Ino, and aimed it at the closed door.

Ino realized something was wrong and started getting dressed right there in the living room.

Knock knock knock.

The knocking on the door came twice.

There was no answer from inside the living room; this time, the knocking was very slow.

Naruto's apartment building was quite old, and generally no one would knock on his door. It was still daytime, but the outside light wasn't much brighter than at night.

There was no peephole on the door, so the only way to find out who was standing outside was to open the door.

Suddenly, a hand grabbed Naruto's arm. Ino's profile came into Naruto's view, and a look of extreme worry appeared on her face.

Naruto glanced at Ino, his face displaying a serious expression completely different from his usual one. He took Ino's hand in return and squeezed it to signal her to calm down.

The door was kicked open with a bang, and dust fell from the walls. Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki appeared in the doorway, their shadows stretching long across the living room.

"Looks like that brat Nine-Tails isn't home, Mr. Itachi." Kisame Hoshigaki's mocking voice rang out in the living room, his gray face, hidden under his straw hat, filled with bloodlust.

Itachi Uchiha didn't say anything and slowly walked towards the room.

Outside on the balcony, Naruto and Ino stood sideways on a tiny protruding stone on the outer side of the wall, almost pressed tightly together. They were instantly soaked to the bone by the torrential rain and exchanged a tense glance.

The update time is still noon!!! There was an unexpected situation today; due to ambiguity in the excerpt, I hope there's no misunderstanding regarding Ino. (The first female lead I ever portrayed!!!)

So I'm releasing it early today!!!