"What? You weren't..." Naruto abruptly sat up.
"I'm sorry." Ino quickly bowed her head in apology, "It was mixed with rainwater. I thought you wouldn't open it, but it's a normal dish, only the taste is not very good."
"It just so happened that I had to go to the Inuzuka Clan today, so I prepared that food, but I didn't expect that rainwater would be spilled in it."
"Who would believe that?" Naruto looked at her with a face full of grievance, "This is too much. Just tell me what to do now?"
Ino's face flushed red, and she lowered her head as she said, "I don't know."
Looking at Ino's embarrassed look, Naruto rubbed his chin, pondering for a moment before suggesting, "How about a maid outfit?"
"You!" Ino, holding her bathrobe, angrily stood up. But when she saw Naruto pointing at the empty food box on the table, guilt quickly returned to her face.
"That won't do. Pick something else." She said in a low voice.
"I can't think of anything else." At that moment, he restrained himself and didn't say anything too outrageous.
"Okay then…"
Ino's face turned a deeper shade of red, and her tone carried a hint of unease. She crossed her arms over her chest, casting a somewhat aggrieved look at Naruto, and her eyes glistening with moisture.
'That expression—this girl was seriously good at this.'
'She had already mastered the powerful expressions that could easily sway a guy's heart… it was terrifying.'
As the clothes dryer hummed familiarly in the bathroom, Naruto didn't approach the couch, but instead walked toward the balcony.
The visibility outside was extremely low, and he could barely see the buildings just a few dozen meters away.
A white mist, stirred up by the sudden rain and dark clouds, enveloped the entire Konoha Village. Trees snapped aggressively in the howling wind. As he pushed open the balcony door, a red umbrella, caught in the wind, spun wildly in the air before being yanked away by a gust with a whoosh.
Naruto felt a creeping unease and his brow furrowed instinctively.
"Ino."
"Huh? What's wrong?"
Ino seemed a bit flustered. She was afraid that the person in front of her would suddenly pull out a maid outfit from somewhere. It wouldn't be unlike him, as Naruto was surprisingly persistent when it came to certain things.
"Was it raining when you arrived?"
"Yeah, it suddenly started pouring." Ino complained, "I heard from my dad that the village seemed to be in trouble, and the Advisors have been discussing countermeasures these days."
"Even the Daimyo is here. If there is a heavy rain, the village's surveillance facilities will have to be overhauled. My dad doesn't spend much time at home to begin with, and now he'll probably be busy for at least half a month."
The Yamanaka Clan was in charge of the village's surveillance and intelligence work, collaborating with the pervert, Ibiki's interrogation unit. To some extent, they took on the duties that had once been the responsibility of the now-disbanded Konoha Guard Platoon.
Although Sandaime died in the battle, Jiraiya is still in the village. Konoha's Anbu had suffered severe losses, so for now, Shinobi from the Root would temporarily step in to fill the gaps. A small portion of Shinobi from both organizations could be rotated as needed.
This is the reason why Naruto hadn't explained the situation with the explosion to the Anbu. With the village effectively leaderless, the issue of the Jinchuriki would become increasingly sensitive at this moment.
After Sandaime's death, Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado did not continue to hold Sunagakure accountable. Instead, they accepted Sunagakure's surrender and compensation, rectified the morale of the military, and immediately convened an election meeting for the Godaime Hokage.
This is enough to prove that the two Advisors' stance was very much in line with Sandaime's—a moderate, preservationist approach. They lacked trust in the younger generation and had little regard for Danzo, their old teammate who often handled the village's dirty work.
Simply put, Sandaime's disrupted the attitudes of Konoha's higher-ups towards the Jinchuriki. If anything were to happen to Naruto, the higher-ups would have an excuse to convene and make decisions about him.
Sandaime's stance was to simply keep the Jinchuriki as they were and halt any further development of their potential. The two senior Advisors did not trust Naruto, but they also also didn't advocate handing him over to someone as ambitious as Danzo.
"Has Inoichi-san been very busy lately?" Naruto asked.
"Yeah." Ino was relieved to see that Naruto wasn't dwelling on the maid outfit suggestion, "My dad was already very busy before, but after the village was destroyed, he's been even busier."
"Ino, you will probably take over your father's job in the future, right?" Naruto asked offhandedly, but slowly moved towards the living room's door.
Ino, wrapped in a bathrobe, did not notice anything unusual. She frowned in thought for a moment before answering, "Probably."
"Do you like this kind of work?" Naruto, barefoot, continued to engage Ino in conversation while subtly inching closer to the wall near the door.
There seems to be something outside the door.
He picked up the sword and moved toward the bathroom.
Ino was the only one left in the living room, but she seemed lost in thought. After a while, she finally mustered the courage to say, " It's not like I have to take over my dad's…"
She turned her head sharply, only to find that Naruto was no longer in the living room. She was stunned for a long while, but before she could call out for Naruto…
The bathroom door opened silently, and Naruto, dressed in a thin casual short-sleeve shirt, held a katana in one hand and all of Ino's clothes in the other.
The black lace panties and the purple slit skirt were mixed together. It was obvious that he had acted in a hurry, and had directly taken the underwear and skirt out of the dryer together.
Ino's mind went blank, like the dryer had stopped, but her brain was now spinning.
Her face first turned bright red, then quickly puffed up with anger. However, before Ino could even speak, Naruto had already predicted what she was going to say next.
'Pervert?'
'That word alone wouldn't pack enough of a punch.'
If it were any other time, Naruto would have exchanged a few banter lines with Ino, but this wasn't the right time.
Naruto made a shushing gesture with the katana in hand, silently walked up to the stunned Ino, pointed at the clothes, then at her body, and mouthed the words, "Put it on."
After that, without even looking at Ino, he silently turned around. With his back to Ino, he held the katana and pointed it at the closed front door.
Ino, realizing something was wrong, quickly started putting on her clothes in the living room.
Knock, knock, knock.
Knocking sounds rang on the door again.
This time, the knocks were slow and deliberate, and no one in the living room responded.
Naruto's apartment was old, and usually, no one came to knock on his door. Even though it was daytime, the outside light was barely brighter than it would be at night.
There was no peephole on the door, and the only way to see who was outside was to open it.
Suddenly, a hand grabbed Naruto's arm. Ino's profile entered Naruto's field of vision, her face filled with intense worry.
Naruto glanced at Ino, his face showing a serious expression that was completely different from usual. He gently squeezed Ino's hand, signaling her to stay calm
With a loud bang, the door was kicked open, causing dust to shake loose from the walls. Itachi and Kisame's figures appeared in the doorway, their shadows stretching long into the living room.
"It looks like that Kyubi brat isn't home, Itachi-san." Kisame's mocking voice echoed in the living room, and his fish face hidden under the bamboo hat was full of bloodlust.
Itachi said nothing and slowly walked towards the room.
Outside on the balcony, Naruto and Ino stood on a tiny ledge protruding from the wall, almost sticking to each other. The two were instantly soaked by the heavy rain and looked at each other nervously.