"Why did you suddenly stop talking?" Ino asked curiously, raising her hand to peek at Naruto's face through the gap between her arm and chest.
"Nothing." Naruto replied, unusually quiet, as he turned his head slightly.
Ino met his gaze for a brief moment before both quickly looked away. Suddenly, Ino seemed to understand something, and her face instantly flushed bright red.
The atmosphere suddenly became a little awkward.
"Let's stop with the medicine here. I'll handle the rest myself." Naruto said, feeling a bit guilty.
"Well, I think... that's a good idea." Ino stammered, jumping up as if she had been pricked by a thorn, her movements hurried and awkward, "I-I'll go check on it."
With stiff movements, Ino walked toward the balcony. With a sudden whoosh, she pulled the sliding door open, allowing the noon wind to rush in from the forest outside. The wind carried the earthy scent and the bitter aroma of green leaves, slowly permeating the room under the sun's warm rays.
Though the autumn sun wasn't particularly strong, it made the young girl's heart race more than the scorching summer sun ever could.
It felt as if a seed had been planted in her heart. Even though it had yet to fully sprout, the roots and shoots quietly grew beneath the surface. But once the seedling broke through, it would be impossible to ignore.
Naruto sat up from the sofa and fiddled with the bottle of disinfectant absentmindedly. He didn't really need to apply any medicine, nor did he have the heart to do so. Ino was the best medicine.
Looking at the figure on the balcony, Naruto felt a little conflicted.
'She's already so cute at this age. In another three years, Ino's charm will probably rise to a very terrifying level.'
'But at the moment, it seemed that few people noticed Ino's brilliance. Perhaps it was because she had only recently begun to pay attention to her appearance, or maybe it was simply that people are visual creatures.'
Just as he was lost in thought, a sudden gust of wind swept across the balcony, lifting the hem of Ino's pleated skirt and revealing a glimpse of the absolute territory beneath her black tights.
Naruto suddenly sat up straight on the sofa. Ino let out a sharp scream and quickly covered her skirt. She immediately turned back to glare at Naruto with a mix of shame and anger. With a loud slam, she pulled the sliding door shut.
Ino stomped over to Naruto, grabbing him by the collar and asked with gritted teeth, "Did you see everything just now?"
"No, I didn't see anything."
"Impossible!"
"Uh…" Naruto was a little embarrassed, and denied it to the end, "I didn't see anything."
"You!" Ino wanted to say more, but then she noticed Naruto's gaze was fixed on her moist lips. Suddenly, her hands and feet went weak, and she barely managed to let go of his collar and said, "You'd better hope I don't find out you're lying."
Trying to maintain her composure, Ino walked away, stopping in the middle of the living room to turn and say, "I'm going home."
"Let me walk you back."
"No, I don't want my mom to misunderstand that I have anything to do with a pervert like you!!" Ino shouted as she stomped off. Half a minute later, the sound of the door slamming echoed through the apartment.
The room fell silent once more, and Naruto felt a bit helpless. He could chase after her, but he didn't want to.
After all, Ino wasn't angry, she was just embarrassed.
At this moment, Naruto decided it was best to stay here for now and go to the Yamanaka Flower Shop in the evening. If he approached Ino now, it would likely result in either an argument or a confession. However, neither of them was what he wanted.
Lying back on the sofa, Naruto's ocean-blue eyes gradually calmed down.
'Tomorrow is the last day of vacation, and these three uneventful days felt dull. I basically spent the first two days sleeping, and if Ino hadn't come, I'm afraid I would have wasted today as well.'
As for the situation with Ino, he felt that it couldn't be rushed, and patience was necessary.
The villagers of Konoha still harbored some fear of him, a sentiment that wouldn't completely disappear just because of Tsunade. Although Naruto didn't care about this for himself, he didn't want Ino to have to bear it alongside him.
Prejudices against a person are not easily dispelled, and the blind hatred of the masses can be even more terrifying. If a wall in the village were to develop a crack, people would eagerly anticipate the day it completely collapses.
These people weren't necessarily bad, they were just annoying. However, for now, Naruto didn't plan to pay them any mind. When the Uzumaki Clan grows stronger in the Konoha Village, these same people who once feared the "fox demon" would be the ones revering the Uzumaki clan, discussing them with pride, as if they had always been on their side. One day, they would bow their heads in genuine reverence.
With this in mind, Naruto slowly closed his eyes.
The autumn wind was heavy, and on the balcony, Kurama curled up, peeking towards the living room. Then, he thought to himself, 'That girl seemed to have had a quarrel with that brat.'
'Should I go out now? Will the alcohol in the fridge be thrown away?'
'What kind of temper do young girls have these days? There's no way I'd have to do a backflip, right? No way! Absolutely impossible! But that woman seemed quite wealthy.'
'If there's plenty of alcohol to drink…'
While Kurama was still tangled in his thoughts, the embarrassed and angry Ino was already near her home, walking along the streets of Konoha, her irritation still not subsided.
Her team, Team 10, led by Asuma, had only returned to the village close to midnight yesterday, but Ino still got up early to get dressed after only a few hours of sleep.
In the end, she had been infuriated by that person, grinding her teeth in frustration.
"He's so annoying, I'm never going back there again."
Ino muttered to herself as she held her key tightly in her hand, the metal warming up from her grip. She bit her lip and whispered to herself, "Forget it, I'll just throw it back to that guy next time I see him!"
Just as Ino was about to open the door to the Yamanaka Flower Shop and get some sleep, she overheard a conversation from some passing villagers, and her body froze.
"You know, ever since that demon became a Shinobi, nothing's gone right for me. I think my bad luck is all because of that fox demon."
"Yeah, I just can't understand why Hokage-sama would let someone so dangerous become a Shinobi. What if he decides to harm us? We can't beat a Shinobi."
"Who knows? Maybe they want to use that demon to protect the village. After all, it's a demon, so I guess its brain isn't very good. Just fool it a bit, and it'll believe anything."
"Hey, you can't just say things like that casually…"
Their voices gradually faded, and soon after, the two burst into laughter. However, Ino couldn't hear what they said next.
Ino's hand froze on the door handle outside the store, and her face suddenly became very ugly. She knew Naruto had been ostracized by the villagers since he was a child, but she had thought it was just a matter of them disliking him.
Moreover, after Tsunade had pulled Naruto close during her inauguration as the Godaime Hokage, it was clear to everyone how much she valued him.
Later, the higher-ups and the big and small clans of Konoha had indeed stopped making critical remarks, and most of the villagers' attitudes towards Naruto had also changed.
Ino had thought things were getting better, but...
But she never imagined it was this bad, it was simply insane!
'Why should they blame Naruto for their bad luck. Why don't they blame their parents for not giving them a better start in life instead? How infuriating!'