Spring was serene, the breeze gently stirring.
In this March, when everything was coming back to life, Naruto could only lie at home, maintaining the tradition of sleeping at sunrise and going out at sunset. Occasionally, he'd wander around with Kurama.
He didn't have many friends, and most of the time, they were all on missions. Since the mission logs for the Land of Snow were sealed, they could only glean bits and pieces about what Naruto had gone through.
While drifting at sea for a month sounded terrifying enough, Anko and Naruto had been lively and energetic all this time, with both all the team's memebrs and the target surviving.
It gave the impression that it wasn't such a big deal after all.
In short, the fantastical sea voyage in the Land of Snow quietly became history, and under Tsunade's deliberate silence, it didn't stir any waves in Konoha.
By mid-March, with a click, Naruto changed his shoes and closed the door.
Today is the day he leaves the village again.
After receiving Tsunade's permission, he traveled for a day and arrived at the Tanzaku Town.
Using a key, he opened the door, and Tayuya, dressed lightly, happened to be in the living room reading. When she looked up, her face showed a stunned expression.
"What are you doing here?"
"What else can I do? As your creditor, naturally I came to check on how you're doing." Naruto went upstairs calmly. There was a room upstairs that belonged to him.
Tayuya ignored him and continued to bury herself in her book on the couch.
She had already figured out the purchasing power of the Land of Fire's currency. She now knew that a mere two hundred thousand ryo was not a large sum at all.
Moreover, in the past six months, she had accumulated quite a bit of money from doing small tasks at the bounty exchange. In total, she had amassed 1.5 million ryo, which is now quietly lying under her bed.
Listening to the sounds from upstairs, Tayuya's heart wasn't as calm as it seemed. In fact, she was slightly nervous and expectant.
'The opportunity had finally come! A chance for revenge!'
'I really couldn't wait to humiliate that blond-haired idiot with money, throwing his nonsensical talk of selling souls right back at him!'
'Heh, in the end, he was just a scumbag deceiving young girls! Damn it! How infuriating!'
Tayuya's book page now bore a clear fingerprint as she pressed on it in anger. She wanted to rush upstairs and tear apart that shameless jerk. But reason told her to stay calm.
If she really did that, she knew that guy would just shamelessly spread his hands and say, "Well, no choice, you found out. Alright, I'll leave."
But that wasn't the revenge she wanted. Tayuya pulled a candy from the couch and put it in her mouth. The sweetness stimulated her taste buds and slowly let her calm down.
The so-called revenge is to make the scumbag regret everything deeply.
She had it all planned out: When Naruto came downstairs, she would calmly expose his scam without any care, mocking him fiercely. She wouldn't repay the 200,000 ryo at all. After all, she borrowed it with her own ability, so how could I possibly return it to that scumbag?
She would mock him with a light-hearted attitude, whipping him with her words. She wanted to see him shocked, ashamed, regretful.
'Heh, he wouldn't see it coming.'
"What are you smirking about?" Naruto asked in doubts.
Naruto had already freshened up. He was just staying here for the day as he had a mission tomorrow. After a quick clean-up upstairs, he came down and saw Tayuya grinning like an idiot.
After not seeing her for a long time, Naruto saw that Tayuya's former edgy style was all gone. she now sported long, dark red hair, wearing a loose T-shirt and hot pants on the couch.
Her outfit was indistinguishable from any typical girl-next-door.
She changed from a bad girl to a girl-next-door, and a plump one at that, with the pure buff maxed out.
Even though Naruto wasn't particularly interested, after taking a quick glance at her, he had to admit that Tayuya was quite pleasing to the eyes.
"Nothing." Tayuya frowned, glanced at him coldly, and said, "It's got nothing to do with you anyway."
Naruto didn't know what was up with her, nor did he plan to ask. The house was a duplex, with the living room and kitchen on the first floor, and four rooms upstairs.
There were spiral staircases on both sides, which he had thought of when he bought the house.
Real estate in Konoha was a losing game, as it would get destroyed every other time. So, when living in Konoha, renting was better than buying. But buying in Tanzaku Town? He's making a profit.
Tanzaku Town, being a landmark town in the Land of Fire, was bound to develop in the future. With his keen sense and omniscient view, Naruto decisively bought this two-story house in the busiest area of Tanzaku Town.
He didn't dare buy more, fearing it might catch Konoha's attention.
Naruto wandered around the living room but couldn't find a hair towel, so he decided to let his hair dry naturally upstairs. In the large couch, Tayuya heard Naruto's footsteps going up and froze.
'Just like that? He's not talking to me? How would I lash out at him then? Huh??'
"Wait!" Tayuya jumped up from the couch and shouted.
"What?" Naruto was startled, "You're scaring me. What, are you going to cast a spell? Where's the hair towel?"
He had a habit of mixing two unrelated topics into one sentence. Tayuya was momentarily stunned and hadn't prepared the words yet, so she simply answered the latter question first.
"Go buy one yourself! That's mine."
"Oh." Naruto pretended to leave.
"Wait!"
"What now?" Naruto looked at her unhappily, "Are you offering to lend me your hair towel?"
"Absolutely not!" Tayuya rejected it outright.
Upon hearing this, Naruto pretended to leave again. Tayuya finally gave in and shouted, "Fine! I'll lend it to you! Just stand there and don't move!"
"Alright, go on." As expected, Naruto was standing at the stairs, looking at Tayuya quietly.
"You…" Tayuya kept saying 'you' for a long time, her face flushed red. She was too excited at the prospect of exacting her revenge that she couldn't form a complete sentence.
"I know you're eager, but take it easy." Naruto said.
"Don't even think about me returning the two hundred thousand to you!" Tayuya shouted with her hands on her hips.
"Suit yourself." Naruto stood on the stairs, looking down at Tayuya, who was standing barefoot on the large couch.
"I already know the purchasing power of 100,000 ryo!" Tayuya shouted angrily, "You tricked me back then, buying my soul for so little money!"
"Isn't your soul still with you?" he said.
"Oh, that's right." Tayuya calmed down for a moment but soon got angry again, "You only gave me 200,000. I make more than that on a single task at the bounty exchange."
The atmosphere in the living room suddenly became quiet. Tayuya looked up, only to find that Naruto was staring at her calmly, his expression had completely changed.
"Did you just say bounty exchange?"