Genya watched him walk away, unable to keep a smile from tugging at his lips.
Ino nudged him with her elbow.
"You're teasing him again."
Genya spread his hands.
"I'm telling the truth."
Ino rolled her eyes at him, but she couldn't help laughing either.
On the training ground, Naruto stood scratching his head, turning Genya's words over in his mind several times.
Treat Kurama the same way I treat Sasuke?
He thought about how he got along with Sasuke: fighting, bickering, getting on each other's nerves, but risking their lives to protect each other when it mattered.
Naruto felt that it actually made some sense.
He grinned toward the Nine-Tails' seal.
"Kurama, I know you can hear me. It's fine if you ignore me. I'll keep coming to talk to you."
Inside the sealed space, the fox opened one eye, glanced at him, then closed it again.
Genya shook his head at Naruto's goofy expression.
This guy probably really could build the same sort of relationship with the Nine-Tails that he had with Sasuke.
He was the protagonist, after all. Nothing absurd seemed absurd when it happened to him.
In the Hokage Office some distance away, Sakura was buried in paperwork, beads of sweat forming on her forehead.
Tsunade sat behind her desk, approving documents without looking up.
"Sakura, have you read this report from the medical department?"
"I'm reading it now, Lady Tsunade."
Shizune held Little Pig as she helped sort the documents nearby, speaking softly to Sakura.
"Thanks for all your hard work."
Sakura wiped her sweat away and managed a smile.
"It's fine."
She honestly couldn't understand how she'd somehow ended up assigned as Lady Tsunade's assistant.
And then been taken on as her apprentice.
What she didn't know was that Genya had orchestrated all of