The next day.
As expected, Tsunade sent someone to find Naruto, not for anything else, but for his mission report on the exercise at the Academy.
"Sloppy! Extremely sloppy!"
"Uzumaki Naruto, do you even want to take a look at what you wrote?"
With a loud slap, Tsunade threw a hastily scribbled mission report onto her desk, glaring at Naruto, who showed innocent look.
"I didn't give you any missions, and you begged for them. Now that I've assigned you one, this is the attitude you show? Uzumaki Naruto! What do you want to do? Are you looking to get yourself killed, brat?"
"I've already done my best to complete the mission." Naruto spread his hands and began to argue, "Tsunade-sama, you should be well aware of it, The report handed over by Moegi mentioned my guidance to her."
Hearing this, Tsunade Tsunade calmed down a bit, patiently extracting a document from the towering pile of paperwork on her desk.
"Guidance?"
"You call that guidance?"
Tsunade's face looked as though she'd just bitten into a sour plum. She wanted to lash out but was helpless. However, Moegi's mission report did mention Naruto's guidance.
But it could only barely be considered guidance, as it mostly involved punishing Konohamaru and Udon to teach Moegi a lesson. The method was crude, but the effect was quite remarkable.
After grinding her teeth for a while, Tsunade pulled out Konohamaru and Udon's mission reports. After glancing at it and seeing the part about Moegi's apology, the tight furrow between her brows finally relaxed.
"What works is guidance, isn't it?" Naruto said nonchalantly.
Hearing this, Tsunade set down the files in her hand and stacked Konohamaru and his team's mission reports with Naruto's. She stared at Naruto with complicated eyes and said with her red lips slightly parted, "If you have time, you should spend more time with the younger generations."
"It's rare to hear such words from your mouth, Tsunade-sama."
"Huh?" Tsunade's face immediately darkened and she clenched her fist, "Who do you think I am doing this for? Do you think I'm doing all of this for my benefit? Say one more word, and you'll be crawling out of here today."
Hearing this, Naruto immediately fell silent, like a mouse before a cat.
Since taking up the position of the Godaime Hokage, Tsunade had become increasingly irritable. Perhaps it was due to the overwhelming tasks and mess left by Sandaime that she had to deal with right after taking office. If it were someone else, they wouldn't be able to keep their composure either.
After three minutes of silence, Tsunade finally grew impatient. Leaning on her desk with her head propped up, she looked at Naruto and said with disgust, "Since you're not willing to build a relationship with Konohamaru and the others, then just forget it. There's still a backlog of missions in the village. You, Hyuga Neji, and Tenten can go complete the mission in the Land of Birds."
"What about Lee?"
"He and Guy have another mission." Tsunade said perfunctorily.
"But I still have one day off." Naruto insisted, unwilling to give up on a day of relaxation.
At the desk, Tsunade's eyebrows twitched slightly, and a smile suddenly appeared on her face. She beckoned Naruto over with a wave of her hand.
"Hmm?" Naruto, a bit puzzled, walked over, "What is it?"
"Ah!!!"
A scream rang out as Naruto was flung out of the office with a loud crash. Along with him, a neatly written mission request form flew out as well.
"The Cursed Warrior of the Land of Birds?"
Walking down the street, Naruto squinted as he flipped the mission request form back and forth, finally sensing something unusual.
'Although the Land of Birds is just a small country, but investigating the assassination of Daimyo by the Cursed Warrior? it's clear that this is not simple. Isn't this basically meddling in another country's internal affairs?'
'If it wasn't for profit, who would have the time to assassinate a daimyo?'
The dense sunlight filtered through the tree leaves, casting shadows behind Naruto's heels. Naruto instinctively turned his head when he noticed someone was following him.
"Hmm? Why are you here?"
"Have things between us gotten so cold that you don't even call my name anymore?" Sakura asked softly, holding a lunchbox.
On the bustling street, Sakura's eyes were filled with a gentle smile. Her pink hair fluttered in the autumn breeze, and her pale arms naturally hung in front of her chest.
The passersby around them seemed to fade away, and the noisy sounds of the street gradually diminished.
If Sakura's heart was still the normal shade of pink, even if Naruto was in love, he would still find this scene extremely pleasing to the eye.
But the thought of Sakura silently appearing behind him sent a shiver down his spine, 'A yandere Sakura was far too terrifying. This couldn't go on.'
Taking a deep breath, he decided to clear things up right here and now.
"Can you act normal?"
"I'm acting normal, aren't I? Don't you like it?" Sakura leaned forward slightly and said with a smile, "Or do you think I'm not really Sakura?"
"Whether you are or not doesn't matter. I'm not some omnipotent being, I can't control that kind of thing." Naruto sighed, "Whether it's the original Sakura or you, it's not up to me to decide what happens."
"How things turn out, or how you continue to exist, is up to you. I can't intervene, nor do I have any interest in doing so."
"I still stand by what I said, I don't want to see anything, I don't want to know anything."
Hearing this, Sakura didn't get upset and there was still a smile in her eyes.
"Don't be so sure. There's always something about me that will interest you."
"Like what?" He said calmly, "Let me be clear first, I have no interest in your body, so don't try using that weak excuse to shut me up."
Sakura was slightly stunned and stood there thinking for a while.
"For example, the body standing before you is still Sakura, but inside, it's someone else. And I'm using her body to tell you, 'Naruto-kun, you can use this body however you like. I'd be very happy'. Wouldn't you find that exciting?"
Naruto: "…Damn it, have you joined some kind of cult?"
"Nope. I just want to win your favor." Sakura retracted her body from leaning forward, her eyes smiling, "I want you to remember me."
"I don't care at all. Why are you so insistent on making me remember you?" Naruto said in exasperation, "Why don't you just confess to someone else?"
"But that would be meaningless." Sakura said.
"Meaningless?" Naruto frowned, clearly confused.
"Naruto, don't you think this is more interesting?" Sakura asked, wiggling her fingers playfully, "Naruto-kun has always liked Sakura, right?"
"Not that much, we're just teammates."
"That makes it even more interesting."
"????"
"Don't you think so, Naruto-kun?" Sakura said with a chuckle, "When the day comes that I disappear, she will find that her body has become Naruto-kun's, yet you were just companions filled with bonds."
Naruto looked up at the sky and muttered to himself, "I really want to give you a smack."
"That's okay." The smile in Sakura's eyes deepened, "I'd like that too."