"Cough, cough, first of all, I'm definitely not a pervert." Naruto complained under his breath, "And she's not some naive girl either, damn it!"
Ding-ling!
The old man with poor hearing at the stall rang the bell, then looked up and said, "Customer, your takoyaki."
"Mmmph!" Sakura struggled to take the takoyaki in the paper bag. She didn't care that Naruto was covering her mouth and just stretched out her hand to grab it, creating a rather indecent scene.
Naruto couldn't stand it anymore. He grabbed the food and dragged Sakura away. After walking some distance, away from the crowd, he handed the food to Sakura with a bit of irritation.
"Here, is this stuff really that good?"
"It's delicious." Sakura carefully took the paper bag, switching it from hand to hand as the heat made her fingertips tingle. Her cheeks flushed as she blew on the hot takoyaki.
After a moment, she seemed to think of something and asked, "Do you want some?"
Naruto looked at her hesitantly and opened his mouth, but still no sound came out.
"It's not poisoned," Sakura blinked. "Tsunade-sama didn't teach me much about poisons. I couldn't possibly learn it bit by bit from books, right?"
Hearing this, Naruto completely abandoned the idea of trying a bite. After all, he had read too many stories and knew how scary a Yandere can be.
"I'm not hungry." Naruto coughed and said.
"Oh." Sakura turned her head and continued eating the takoyaki, slowly walking towards the lit area.
Naruto followed behind her, always maintaining a certain distance. Dark Sakura had a restrained desire that contrasted sharply, like a pure girl wearing old-fashioned black-rimmed glasses but with a hidden edge.
Though sharing the same face and body as Sakura, Dark Sakura always gave Naruto the impression of being a different person in front of him, perhaps in the way she ate, or the changes in her gaze when she spoke.
Naruto had seen how Sakura behaved in front of others. She speaks at a normal speed, and her expression is straightforward and natural. Most of the time, she wore a gentle smile, making her seem like a kind girl.
It was said that she was very popular at Konoha Hospital, especially in the medical department full of men. Even the most meticulous and gentle wound care couldn't compare to a girl telling you to 'bear with it, this might hurt'. And with Sakura's serious and careful attitude, she quickly earned the nickname 'Angel'.
Sakura stopped as if she had something to say. When Naruto caught up and stood beside her, she finally spoke, "Actually, I wanted to try seeing today as a date."
Hearing this, Naruto glanced at her, "Forget it, sounds like a hassle."
Night had fallen, and Konoha Street was sparsely lit. The summer breeze hadn't diminished the lingering heat. Sakura, in her sleeveless top, turned her head to look at him.
"Well, fine. Whether you pretend, lie, tell the truth, or just brush me off, I don't dislike it."
…
The next day, Naruto woke up.
He looked at the empty room and sighed. They had stayed out quite late last night. It wasn't anything particularly special… just wandering around aimlessly.
Sakura seemed very happy, and he didn't mind the feeling either. It was comfortable, as they had a date while maintaining some distance between them, so it feels safe.
However, Naruto sensed that something had changed. Not with him, but with Dark Sakura. It felt like she had been overly happy, as if she was having way too much fun.
Naruto even felt like he was just an accessory, just there as a presence.
'Oh well, maybe I'd find some time to ask her today.'
Naruto rolled out of bed and made his way to the Hokage Tower. Tsunade was still absent, and Naruto didn't know what she was busy with. After looking around, he found Shizune.
"You're here?" Shizue also raised her head, and her hands, which were processing documents, were so slow that they left afterimages, just like a four-clawed fish that often processes documents so slowly.
"Well, someone from the Anbu told me that Tsunade-sama was looking for me." Whenever Naruto had some free time, every few days, he'd run into Yugao.
With her purple hair and Anbu animal mask, Yugao was quite eye-catching. After Tsunade took control of the Anbu, Yugao seemed to have gained more responsibility.
'I wonder if it's related to Gekko Hayate? After all, her fiancé died in the line of duty, leaving her a widow.'
"Actually, I was the one looking for you. I asked the Anbu to send someone to call you over." Shizune stopped what she was doing and looked up at him. "Tsunade-sama has been quite busy lately, mostly with matters regarding Sunagakure."
"Sunagakure?" Naruto's eyelids twitched slightly, and he had a bad feeling.
"Yes, Gaara from Sunagakure is likely to become the Fifth Kazekage. Some of the higher-ups in Sunagakure can no longer stop him, so they resorted to despicable means to force him out of Sunagakure."
Shizune explained calmly, as if laying the groundwork for a bigger conversation.
"The village will provide Gaara with reasonable support as an ally, and the majority of Sunagakure's higher-ups also support him, so…"
"So?" Naruto asked.
"Gaara's succession as the Godaime Kazekage would be a good outcome for the village and even the Land of Fire," Shizune said while nodding.
"I don't care if the world is at peace or not. It doesn't matter even if there's a war." Naruto said, interrupting Shizune's words, "Anyway, I'm not doing any strange tasks, and I'm not doing troublesome missions either."
"Your character is really..." Shizune's expression became hard to maintain.
"Huh? There's nothing I can do about it. This village isn't that great either." Naruto turned around and said bluntly, not hiding his dislike for the village.
"People are shaped by the environment they live in. My personality was slowly developed here in Konoha. No matter how you look at it, Konoha should be the one to take responsibility. After all…"
Shizune was reaching her limit, and she gradually understood why Tsunade always got so angry whenever she saw Naruto. With such an infuriating personality, even she wanted to slam Naruto into the wall at this moment.
But she was not Tsunade after all. Facing this troublesome prince of Konoha, Shizune took a deep breath and suppressed her anger, then gently persuaded him.
"Well, it's not a strange mission. It's just to get you to interact more with the Sunagakure's Princess. Naruto, you know about the relationship between Konoha and Sunagakure. Although we are allies, our relationship has always been tense."
"A relationship based on shared interests will never be as strong as more intimate relationships, even friendships."
"What does that have to do with me?" Naruto asked with his hands in his pockets.
"It's definitely related. Tsunade-sama is particularly concerned about this matter. Don't you want to ease her worries?" Shizune stood up directly from the chair.
She would never bother with grand statements like doing it for the village or world peace. She knew Naruto too well and knew he was not interested in those ideals.
"I don't want to." Naruto shook his head like a rattle.
"Tsunade-sama, she..." Just as he was speaking, the crisp sound of footsteps echoed from the hallway outside. Those footsteps were all too familiar to him.
The rhythmic tapping felt like it was beating against his heart, amplifying the pressure to the extreme.
"Tsunade-sama has been overworked lately. If there's anything I can do to help, it would be my honor." Naruto quickly switched his tone after sensing the imminent danger.