After their routine afternoon training to maintain their form ended, the sunset bathed the area around Tazuna's cottage in warm gold.
Naruto wiped the sweat from his forehead, casually looking over his returning teammates.
His gaze stopped on Kiba Inuzuka.
Behind Kiba followed a "woman" with a graceful, delicate figure, dressed in a pink kimono.
The "woman" kept his eyes modestly lowered, his bearing as elegant as a carefully pruned weeping willow.
Long black hair fell smoothly over his shoulders, making his exposed neck look even fairer and finer.
This clearly wasn't the appearance of an ordinary villager in the Land of Waves as it was now.
It was Haku!
The young ninja at Zabuza's side who possessed the Ice Release kekkei genkai!
Naruto suddenly recognized Haku, but kept his expression unchanged.
He walked up to Kiba, feigning curiosity as he spoke in a clear, youthful voice. "Hey, Kiba, where did you pick this person up?"
Kiba had been grinning and playing with Akamaru. At the question, he proudly thumped his chest, and Akamaru obligingly gave a bark.
"Hey! Akamaru and I ran into her in the woods while practicing Fang Over Fang!"
He casually pointed behind him.
"This young lady said she got lost in the forest. She looked pretty helpless, so I brought her back on the way to ask Kakashi-sensei what to do."
His expression practically said, "I did a good deed, praise me!" Clearly, he hadn't noticed this "beauty's" true identity or the potential danger at his side at all.
Seeing Kiba's innocent, completely unguarded expression, Naruto hurriedly pressed his lips together, afraid he might burst out laughing right then.
No, I absolutely couldn't crack now!
I had to wait until Kiba discovered the truth himself. His expression would definitely be worth seeing!
He fought to