Steadfast Heart

"Hadn't I already given you the answer you wanted?" Naruto Uzumaki spread his hands and looked at Ino Yamanaka with an innocent expression.

"Where did you..." Ino glanced around, lowering her voice slightly. She hooked her arm around Naruto's and leaned close, saying fiercely, "Where does anyone make someone their own age their mom?"

This wasn't playing house. What she wanted was romance, not some stupid mother-son game.

"But you clearly said you wanted us to have the closest relationship possible!"

"Isn't this already the closest relationship?" Naruto asked matter-of-factly. "Is there any relationship in the world closer than that between parent and child?"

"I'm not listening to your twisted logic."

Seeing how utterly impervious Naruto was, Ino finally couldn't hold it in anymore. She stopped pretending to be a reserved, delicate girl and charged straight in.

She said, "You know what I want. I want to be your lover—your lover, you bastard!"

It was a cloudless early morning. A warm breeze swept fallen leaves through the entire village. Naruto and Ino stood at the entrance to the Ninja Academy, and amid the surging crowd, she looked at Naruto with a slightly pale face.

Naruto, I won't be your mom.

Naruto froze for a moment. Faced with the pitiful Ino Yamanaka, could he really refuse her request to go from being his mom to being his lover?

System, you're underestimating me too much!

Why wouldn't I be able to refuse?

When I was in school in my previous life, I liked reading novels, but I had no money for subscriptions.

So I read them on websites.

Even with the screen full of big butts, I could always accurately click on the next chapter.

That was how I forged my steadfast heart.

I considered it a gift poverty had given me.

Wasn't the reason you could accurately click the next chapter because you were reading erotica?

Don't worry about that!

Looking at the mist gathering in Ino Yamanaka's eyes, she really was as pitiful as the system had said, enough to make anyone's heart tremble. Naruto could also clearly sense that she was probably genuinely sad.

But Naruto's heart remained firm.

After all, calling someone "wife" was nowhere near as satisfying as calling someone "mom"...

No!

The Valorant System had invaded my brain for one second just now. I misspoke.

What I really meant was that Ino Yamanaka's current state was very dangerous. One careless move, and I might lose Mom Coins.

To maintain a stable daily supply of Mom Coins, Naruto Uzumaki had to stop these terrible thoughts of hers from continuing to grow.

Valorant System: ...

Naruto looked around, then said, "Ino, how about we skip school for a day? Today, I'll give you a definite answer."

Ino didn't say yes, but she didn't say no either. When Naruto took the first step, she naturally followed behind him.

Before long, Naruto led Ino to Konoha's old residential district, where most of the residents were middle-aged and elderly families.

"Take a look at them first. Tell me, do you think they're happy?"

Naruto casually pointed at a middle-aged couple who were arguing. Their fight was incredibly intense, and from the way they spoke, it seemed like they wished they could kill each other.

"Th-They're obviously not happy. But what does that have to do with the answer you're going to give me?"

Ino followed angrily behind Naruto. She had already made up her mind that no matter what Naruto said, she would not accept his twisted logic.

The only relationship she wanted was that of lovers!

But Naruto didn't continue speaking. Instead, he led her farther ahead, and before long, they arrived at another street. Several households there were single-parent families made up of middle-aged children and elderly parents.

This kind of family was at the peak of filial devotion and parental love.

It formed a stark contrast with the middle-aged couples they had seen earlier.

"Now look at them. How do you feel?"

"Th-This..." Ino pouted and muttered, "It's average, I guess. But I'll say it again: other people's lives have nothing to do with our relationship."

It seemed the girl had come prepared today.

Then watch closely. Naruto Uzumaki was about to unleash his ultimate move.

"Now I'll only ask you one question." Naruto did not continue along the line Ino had expected.

Instead, he stared directly into her eyes and asked the question that had tortured countless men.

"If your mom and I were both ordinary people, neither of us could swim, but you could, and we both fell into the water at the same time, yet you could only save one of us—who would you save?"

Ino Yamanaka had already decided that she would argue against whatever Naruto said, but when she heard this question, she couldn't help freezing. She blinked stupidly.

"I..."

"I..."

"I..."

She stammered for a long time without answering, and Ino's face grew redder and redder.

"Stop with the 'I.' I know you want to say you'd save your mom, right?" Naruto interrupted her.

"I'm sorry..." How had a little kid like Ino ever endured interrogation of this level? After Naruto exposed her answer, she lowered her head in shame.

"There's nothing to apologize for, because if it were me, I would choose to save my mom too."

Naruto raised his hand and patted her head comfortingly, then asked leisurely, "So do you know why I brought you out here to skip school and see all this today?"

He withdrew his hand and turned around.

He raised his head at a forty-five-degree angle toward the clear blue sky, a melancholy expression appearing on his face.

"You know, I'm an orphan. I don't have parents. But precisely because I don't have so-called parents, I instinctively pay attention to other people's families."

In reality, petty Naruto Uzumaki had merely remembered everyone who had ever bullied him, waiting to find a chance to get revenge later.

Shut up. Don't interrupt me while I'm lecturing someone. It'll mess up my train of thought.

"I've seen many kinds of feelings with my own eyes, and in the end, I came to a conclusion: the sincerest bond in this world will always be that between a mother and her child."

Naruto took a deep breath and extended his hand toward Ino once more.

"I apologize for my recklessness yesterday. Please allow me to sincerely invite you once again."

"Ino!"

"Be my mom!"

"If my mom and my girlfriend fell into the water, I would choose to save my mom."

The moment those words came out, Ino Yamanaka stood frozen on the spot.

S-So that was it?

Those few short sentences were like scorching flames, spreading from her ears into the depths of her heart.

She began to feel ashamed for thinking Naruto had been playing with her. It turned out Naruto didn't not care about her at all—rather, he cared about her too much, which was why he acted this way.

Thinking about it that way, even the question Naruto had just asked about saving her or saving his mom made Ino Yamanaka feel terribly selfish.

"I..."

"I..."

"I'm willing!"

Ding!

An unexpected situation has occurred!

The original life trajectory of A-rank mom "Ino Yamanaka" has changed. Originally, her relationship with Naruto Uzumaki was merely that of friends, but now she regards Naruto Uzumaki as an important family member.

Obtained an additional 50 Mom Coins!

Current remaining Mom Coins: 67!

Heh!

A little girl was still a little girl. So easy to fool.

Looking at the extra Mom Coins and Ino Yamanaka's outstretched hand, Naruto smiled and took it. Then he called out, "Mom, let's go to school."

Ino nodded. Her eyes were now full of guilt toward Naruto.

Those words just now had hit her little brain with an impact that could not be overstated.

Just as Naruto was feeling pleased with himself, Ino suddenly said in a low voice, "Mm, let's go, Dad!"

Huh?!

Naruto blanked out for a moment and looked at Ino Yamanaka in confusion.

Ino pressed her lips together, not daring to look directly at Naruto. She said, "You chose your mom, and so did I. But you're a boy, so calling you Mom doesn't seem appropriate. So I decided to treat you as a dad who is just as important as Mom."

Naruto was a little dumbfounded. After a long while, he finally asked, "Then why can't I be the child?"

"Is a child more important than a dad or mom?"

Ino blinked in confusion. For her right now, the concept of children being more important simply did not exist.

Because there was no such thing.

Although being called Dad seemed pretty satisfying too, wouldn't this end the mother-son relationship?

As long as the other party acknowledges that she is your mom, that is enough. The system does not interfere with any additional relationships that are developed.

Naruto Uzumaki's eyes lit up instantly. So it could be done like this.

"Children really aren't as important as dads and moms. I think Mom is right!"

"See?" Ino finally smiled after receiving the praise. "I always said I was smart, right, Dad?"

"Mm-hmm, very smart."

"Dad, we skipped school for so long. Do you think Iruka-sensei will scold us later?"

"It's fine. I'll protect Mom."

Inoichi Yamanaka, Ino Yamanaka's father and the head of the Yamanaka Clan, had felt especially heartbroken when he returned home the previous night and saw his daughter looking so wronged.

He had doted on his daughter since childhood. As a genuine daughter-obsessed father, he immediately decided to take a day off and see exactly which bastard had dared bully his precious little girl.

However...

Now, hidden in a tree, he was silent.

PS: Dear handsome, dashing, and charming readers, this little author begs for your votes~!

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