"What's going on?" Naruto asked Ino.
"I don't know. I'll go up and take a look."
Ino got up and walked away from the counter. As she hurried halfway up the stairs, she turned her head to glance at Naruto, pointing at the cocoa on the table with an annoyed look.
"Drink it all."
Naruto couldn't figure out what he had done to offend her. He glanced at the steaming cup of sweet drink on the table, showing no intention of touching it.
"When you're at your loneliest, what do you do?"
"Obviously, I create some explosive art."
At the outskirts of the Land of River's forest, where the jade-like green trees stood tall, Deidara flashed a slightly crazed smile at Sasori.
Sasori didn't respond, continuing to control his Hiruko puppet as it moved forward.
"Hey, don't leave! Did I say something wrong?" Deidara chased after him, "Whether it's loneliness or any other emotion, it will all be sublimated at the moment of the explosion."
Walking beside Sasori, Deidara waved his hand excitedly.
"Senpai, art is what lasts within a moment, and so is explosion."
Sasori was still controlling the Hiruko puppet to move forward slowly. The puppet was ugly, hunched over, and its body was completely covered by a black cloak with red clouds pattern.
"Let's go." Sasori's changed voice came from inside the puppet, "Since we have decided to capture the Biju, why not take advantage of the turmoil in Sunagakure to start early? What are we waiting for, dragging things out like this?"
Sasori was a bit irritated. He had originally been a pure avenger. Konoha's White Fang had killed his parents, and Chiyo had kept it from him. But lies can't stand the test of time, and they eventually unravel under the harsh sunlight.
He sought revenge and killed everyone responsible, but then received news that Konoha's White Fang had committed suicide.
He originally joined the Akatsuki with the sole intent of venting his hatred, but he found the organization's quality seemed to be a bit mixed, and they were slow in doing things.
The Akatsuki was no longer the Akatsuki of pure vengeance, and that made him feel increasingly bored.
"Yeah, I feel the same way. The people in the organization don't seem too smart." Deidara tapped his head and said, "Although they keep talking about great goals, I always feel that they are just talking empty words."
"Those two disgusting immortals have been out there making money and occasionally killing people for years now, but beyond that, they don't seem to be doing much. They just wander around like headless flies, and it is getting more and more boring to stay here."
"If it weren't for my desire to surpass Uchiha Itachi, I would've left a long time ago. What kind of people are they recruiting? A bunch of weirdos, some obsessed with money, others with their religions."
"A bunch of people who don't understand art, with no aspirations at all."
Deidara ranted on like a junior employee complaining to his superior, then gave Sasori a respectful glance before making a suggestion, "Anyway, this mission is boring. How about we swing by Sunagakure?"
"Even if we go, we can't act on our own. There's no point." Sasori replied.
"Alright." Deidara said nonchalantly.
He could have spent his time playing with Kurotsuchi in the office, but instead, he chose explosive clay. He didn't want a good junior sister with beautiful legs, but was recruited by Uchiha Itachi after being tricked.
To him, everyone in Akatsuki is a talented person, but their conversations were hard to bear.
Explosions were art, but it was tough when no one acknowledged it.
Fortunately, his senior is also into art. Although his methods were a bit extreme, it gave them some common ground. Although Deidara always feel that his senior does not recognize the organization and looks like he might defect at any moment.
But for now, he would take things one day at a time. As long as he could keep blowing things up, it was all good.
…
Back at the Yamanaka Flower Shop.
Naruto sat at the counter, bathed in warm light. The thunderstorm outside showed no signs of letting up. Ino was still upstairs, leaving Naruto as the only one on the ground floor of the shop.
Naruto stared at the street outside the shop, where a misty fog had begun to form, and his thoughts gradually drifted away.
He had no idea what the Akatsuki was planning, but he knew that if it came down to a confrontation, it would be tough. Just dealing with the immortal duo would be a particularly thorny challenge.
He is not the original Naruto, and he does not have the ultimate Talk-no-Jutsu. His talent in speech was limited to delivering silent but deadly blows, capable of angering and psychologically wounding his opponents.
Convincing someone to change for the better? That seemed a bit beyond his capabilities.
'I wonder when the system will give out a reward for Talk-no-Jutsu with a 100% success rate, though realistically, I don't think such an outrageous thing would be available. Otherwise, the next reward could very well be the protagonist's plot armor.'
'But then again, since there is no such thing as Talk-no-Jutsu and the protagonist's plot armor, the villain's demoted intelligence naturally does not exist either.'
After turning these thoughts over in his mind, Naruto came to a conclusion.
It's precarious!
For now, the storyline was progressing normally, but he had already altered the course of many events.
Jiraiya had already gone off early to investigate the Akatsuki, and until he returned to the village, no one would know what Akatsuki was doing. Perhaps the Biju Capture Plan had been accelerated, or perhaps it was delayed.
Everything is unknown.
From the information currently available, Naruto knew that the Four Great Shinobi Countries were all focused on Sunagakure. After all, the succession of the Kazekage directly impacted the future standing of the Land of Wind.
Everyone seemed eager to see the Land of Wind collapse, akin to the concept of 'when a whale falls, all life is nourished'.
The treasures of the Land of Wind, like gold dust, chakra minerals, and purple gleaming ore, were under the watchful eyes of all nations. If the Kazekage's succession truly faced issues, the Land of Wind's downfall and annexation would just be a matter of time.
As for the vacation, it was unclear how many days he had left. Watching the heavy rain outside, Naruto secretly wished that the summons for duty would arrive only on the last day of his day-off.
There was a noise coming from upstairs. Ino stopped at the corner of the stairs, but showed no intention of coming down.
Naruto looked up at her, noticing that she had already changed into a green apron. With a hint of helplessness on her face, she waved at him, motioning him to come up.
"Me?" Naruto pointed at himself.
Ino nodded, but didn't say anything, just letting out a sigh. She stood with her hands on her hips, her golden hair draping over her ears, hiding her pale neck.
Naruto gripped the wooden staircase railing and went upstairs, only to hear the girl's voice.
"My mother wants you to stay for dinner."
Boom!
Outside, the rain poured down in torrents, and lightning briefly lit up the dim flower shop's ground floor, revealing the empty, softly-lit counter.
The two stood on the stairs, one slightly higher than the other.
"Is it just because of Auntie's wishes?" Naruto looked up at her, not budging from his spot until he got an answer.
Ino sighed, her face showing a 'where do you get all these questions' kind of expression. She exhaled deeply and said, "It's also my idea."
"That's good." He smiled and walked past Ino.