Temari's legs were long and slender, and the parts not covered by her skirt exposed a significant portion of her pale, white skin.
The anime world is truly outrageous, as the girls' legs are ridiculously fair.
However, Naruto's attention wasn't on her legs. He was focused on her feet as Temari sat on the edge of the bed, bending over slowly to remove her shoes. She first took off the left shoe, revealing short white socks.
"Do I need to take off the other one too?" She asked, looking up.
"Yes." Naruto's reply was brief.
Since last year, Temari seemed to have developed a certain addiction to Naruto, finding it hard to resist his orders. However, this was actually the first official order Naruto had ever given her.
Remove her shoes.
"… Okay." Temari seemed a little hesitant, but did not show any resistance and did as she was told.
She slowly took off her shoes, now both feet were wearing white socks, resting one atop the other. She kept her eyes lowered, avoiding Naruto's gaze, and her whole body was visibly reserved.
However, this reservation was different from Hinata's pure shyness. Naruto could tell that part of Temari's reservation was due to...
'It was absurd, downright ridiculous.'
But Naruto had started to confront this relationship head-on. Regardless of its nature, he would make use of it. After all, Temari didn't have genuine feelings for him; it was just a compulsion.
Tsunade's words had changed his mindset. There was nothing to hide from. Strength could move people more than reason. So it was better to be stronger.
"And the socks?" She looked up at Naruto with an embarrassed expression.
In reality, there was no need to remove the socks. Naruto had asked Temari to take off her shoes only to deter her from going to the Hokage Tower. He wanted her to rest properly in the hospital for a few days, while also letting Konoha's higher-ups cool their heels.
In this Sunagakure's farce, Konoha's higher-ups played the role of opportunists. They leveraged the agreement signed with Temari to maintain a dominant position, ensuring a win-win outcome no matter how things unfolded.
Temari, being in a vulnerable position, could only endure in silence, even if she knew the Konoha higher-ups were deliberately making things difficult for her. She had already prepared herself to make concessions in the negotiations.
In such a situation, it was hard for her to maintain her composure.
As for Naruto, if the higher-ups did this to gain more benefits for Konoha, he would not have to care. But these guys were targeting the Jinchuriki agreement, and they were also trying to take action against him in a roundabout way.
This made him a little irritated. Even though he was just a genin, that was only because Konoha's Genin promotion system was slow. It didn't mean he couldn't interfere with the higher-ups' orders. After all, his position as Konoha's 'Prince' was well established.
As long as he doesn't want to pretend anymore, he could lay everything out in the open.
Given his body's heritage, he owed Konoha nothing.
'The socks?'
Naruto's intention was purely to prevent Temari from heading to the Hokage Tower. Looking at those short white socks, he paused for a moment before saying, "Yeah."
Temari blushed slightly and slowly took off her socks, revealing her snow-white feet, which she placed neatly together. Her feet were incredibly fair, so pale it was almost absurd, as if they could glow.
The five pink toes splayed slightly, and the edges are clean and transparent.
Temari's face gradually turned crimson because Naruto remained silent and his gaze is fixed on her feet. This made her even more nervous, not knowing what he would say next.
The anticipation and excitement mixed with nervousness slowly dyed her earlobes red.
'Hiss!'
Naruto glanced at Temari and couldn't help but take a sharp breath, 'What was this odd sense of cuteness tinged with an improper relationship?'
Naruto had never expected to see such an expression on Temari.
His order had become a shackle that Temari couldn't defy.
More importantly, she didn't hate it. Because a year had passed, and Naruto had been hiding from her for a year. That feeling and those unspoken words continued to stir her heart, independent of her own personality.
It was a secret she couldn't share with anyone, an itch deep in her heart. Everyone has their own unique quirks that cannot be exposed, but do not affect their everyday lives.
But this didn't mean Temari had lost her reason, on the contrary, she was very clear-headed. She was merely playing a different role, exploring another side of herself. However, if Naruto were to ask her to kill Gaara or betray the Sunagakure, she could immediately break free of this shackle.
Naruto had never intended to use Temari for anything significant. He merely wanted to stabilize her, nothing more.
"Is this alright?" Temari asked nervously.
This feeling was rather peculiar. The word 'order' had bound her, yet it also created a faint connection between the two of them, at least easing their relationship somewhat.
"No, it's not alright." Naruto pointed at Temari, "You're too tense. I don't want to see you act all timid in front of me. Just be how you normally are."
Naruto left Konoha Hospital.
'Temari's problem was temporarily resolved… At least on the surface, it had returned to normal.'
Naruto was already very satisfied with this, and he felt much happier the whole day.
…
Hokage Tower.
"That girl from Sunagakure cannot be discharged from the hospital for the time being, so she won't be able to come over these next few days." Naruto said indifferently to a member of the Root.
"Pass this message to Danzo-sama, so as not to waste his time."
Aburame Torune was stunned for a moment. After all, a Genin had no right to walk up to him directly, let alone cancel Danzo's plans with such a casual tone.
It all happened rather suddenly, like a poorly dressed child approaching a king and casually informing him that there would be no food today.
Though the matter was a bit absurd, Torune still asked solemnly, "Why?"
"You don't need to know why, just tell Danzo-sama directly." Naruto, dressed casually and with a relaxed demeanor, pointed at himself and said, "Tell him I said so."
Torune did not regard Naruto as an ordinary Genin. After all, he knew some information about Naruto and that there were two of the the three Legendary Sannin behind him. After a moment's hesitation, he nodded in agreement.
Naruto silently moved to the window, awaiting Danzo's anger, his gaze drifting toward the distance.
Danzo's base of operations wasn't in the Hokage Tower, but he was in the Hokage Tower because he needed to discuss something. Occasionally, a Shinobi would walk through the corridor, hurriedly carrying documents.
Torune came out, followed by another person. It was not Danzo, but Yamanaka Fu.