After dinner.
"Hurry up!" Ino urged as she stood at the door, holding a food container, her ears slightly red. "We need to get going, or the snow will get heavier if we're too slow."
"It's fine. He's not going anywhere. At this time, Pervy Sage is just holed up in that izakaya drinking." Naruto replied lazily as he came out of the kitchen after washing the dishes and drying his hands.
"The brothel isn't very busy right now, so he won't leave the izakaya so early."
Ino: "… There's no need to explain things like that in such detail. And how come you know so much about the brothel?"
"What are you thinking about?" Naruto asked, putting on a thick coat and picking up a scarf from the sofa. He glanced at Ino and said, "I just know about it. It's not like I can go to those places."
"Who knows!" Ino turned her head away.
Naruto didn't say anything, and just handed the scarf to Ino. Then, they slowly made their way out the door.
Ino was still dressed the same way, and under Naruto's strong persuasion, she did not waste time going home to change her clothes. She was wrapped in a light-colored coat on the outside and a pink sweater on the inside.
Her usual lively demeanor was now replaced by a somewhat aloof and elegant vibe.
As they walked down the snow-covered streets, Naruto suddenly opened a large black umbrella with a poof. It was like a black lotus blooming in the snow, standing out vividly.
At that moment, Ino's body was trembling slightly, but it wasn't just because of the cold. The words Naruto had said at the kitchen door earlier replayed in her mind, making her face feel warm again.
'This feels almost like meeting the parents…'
Shaking her head, Ino tried her best to dispel the thought, 'This was just a chance to meet one of the legendary Sannin. Jiraiya-sama had always been mysterious, so this was just an opportunity to broaden my horizons.'
'There aren't many opportunities like this, so stop overthinking.'
"It's so cold." Ino exhaled a breath of white air.
The light snow fell silently on the black umbrella. Naruto turned to look at Ino, tilting the umbrella towards her before naturally taking the food container from her hands.
"The walk is a bit long, let me carry it."
"Oh."
Outside the izakaya, Ino paused outside the curtain. Naruto was about to go in when he noticed Ino's movements and immediately turned back to look at her and asked in confusion, "Why did you stop?"
"I…" Ino lowered her gaze, her fingers twisting together as she spoke nervously, "I'm a little nervous."
"What's there to be nervous about? He's just a Pervy Sage." Naruto glanced Ino up and down, reached out and grabbed her hand, and directly led her inside.
"Eh?" Ino was caught off guard and her body was pulled into the izakaya. At the next moment, her surroundings suddenly became much brighter.
"Pervy Sage, how many dishes did you drink with?" Naruto put the food container on the table.
"Why are you here?" Jiraiya raised his head from the table, with a white sake cup placed beside him, reeking of alcohol.
"I got the date wrong. It's New Year's Eve today, so I brought you some food." Naruto replied calmly as he opened the food container, "Are you planning to drink here all night?"
"How is that possible? Later on, I'm going to the..." A lewd smile appeared on Jiraiya's drunken face.
Just as he was about to say something, he noticed a pretty girl standing behind Naruto. He was slightly stunned and immediately swallowed the word 'brothel' that were about to come out of his throat.
"Who is she?" Jiraiya pointed at Ino and asked.
"My friend, you should have an impression of the daughter of the Yamanaka Clan's Clan Head."
Ino's face was red and her whole body was trembling. She didn't hear what Naruto and Jiraiya were saying. It wasn't until Naruto gave her a slight tug that she snapped out of it and quickly raised her head.
"This is Pervy Sage." Naruto introduced him to Ino, "Say…"
"Hello, Jiraiya-sama!" Ino quickly bowed, looking adorably flustered. "My name is Yamanaka Ino, I'm..."
"Hahaha!" Jiraiya chuckled, clapping his hands as he lightly held the sake bottle, "You are the daughter of that brat from the Yamanaka Clan, right? How's your father doing?"
"He's doing well, Jiraiya-sama." Ino replied with a smile.
She immediately felt more at ease. She had never expected that Jiraiya, one of the three legendary Sannin, was so easygoing and would be so easy to talk to. She had been so nervous before coming in, almost feeling like her heart was about to jump out of her chest.
Naruto couldn't help but roll his eyes as he watched the two people's boring greetings, 'Just now, Pervy Sage was definitely about to mention the brothel, right?'
'Good guy, he actually swallowed that word just to maintain his image.'
"I'll go get some juice so we can have a drink with you." Naruto chimed in at the right moment, "While these dishes are still warm, you should try some."
"Sure." Jiraiya said enthusiastically, putting down the sake bottle. He looked at Ino and added, "No need to be so formal, have a seat."
Naruto went to get the juice, and Ino smiled, nervously sitting down at the edge of a chair.
"Are you two living together now?" Jiraiya suddenly asked as he picked up some food with his chopsticks.
"Ah!" Ino waved her hands quickly, "No! No! It's just that today is New Year's Eve, and my parents are busy visiting people. I didn't really want to go…"
"And I didn't want to be stuck in the shop either, so I ended up going to his place by chance!"
"Oh, by chance, huh?" Jiraiya nodded, "You two have such a good relationship, it's really enviable."
"That's not really…" Ino's face flushed, and the tips of her ears turned red. She stammered, "Actually… Our relationship is not that good. We just run into each other sometimes."
"What relationship?" Naruto asked, returning with a bottle of juice, casually tossing out the question.
"N-Nothing!" Ino denied with a red face.
"What did you ask, Pervy Sage?" Naruto glanced at Jiraiya, who was calmly drinking, and asked.