Naruto was tormented by Temari so much that he almost didn't sleep all night, and he returned home with dark circles under his eyes.
Click!
He opened the door.
He first headed to the bathroom to freshen up. After drying his hair, he skillfully collapsed onto the bed. Although the night wasn't without its gains, as he at least had obtained the container for sealing Kyubi.
Staring at the ceiling, he closed his eyes. When he woke up again, it was already evening, and his head felt heavy.
Naruto groggily sat up, dazed for a moment. After washing up, he left home with his hands in his pockets, heading towards Ichiraku Ramen. The streetlights cast their glow, and the night was bright.
As the evening breeze blew, he clenched his fist.
'Now, I have both the Tail Releasing Method and the Biju's container, which means I can get rid of my Jinchuriki identity at any time.'
At Ichiraku Ramen.
"Shikamaru, Choji?" Naruto paused at the entrance of the ramen shop, the lights shining on the faces of the three people, "Why are you here?"
Choji raised his bandaged hand, "Just got out of the hospital."
Shikamaru had his usual dead-fish eyes, "Picking him up from the hospital."
"Then let's have some barbecue. My treat," Naruto suggested.
"Yay!" Choji raised his hand in full agreement. As for Shikamaru, he shrugged, looking completely indifferent.
The three of them headed to a barbecue restaurant, choosing a seat by the window. After ordering a dozen plates of meat and some juice, the three began eating and chatting.
"It's really a headache. Sasuke ran off, and the mission failed." Shikamaru said with some frustration, swallowing a piece of meat. He sighed and turned to Naruto, "I have to ask, how come you don't seem to care that Sasuke ran away?"
"What should I feel?" Naruto took a sip of juice and leaned back in his chair comfortably, "You don't understand. Sasuke will seek revenge sooner or later."
"You..." Shikamaru frowned, "I'm beginning to suspect you let Sasuke go on purpose, but... I still have to thank you."
"Why are you thanking me for? What if I did let Sasuke go on purpose?"
"That's not important." Shikamaru leaned back in his chair, looking extremely lazy, "My plan almost got everyone killed. The gap in power between the two sides was too great. Leaving someone to face the enemy one-on-one was the worst strategy."
"Everyone is fine in the end, right? You don't have to dwell so much on it." Naruto said, sipping his juice and glancing at Shikamaru out of the corner of his eye, "There's no point in worrying about things that didn't happen."
"Yeah, Shikamaru, you've done a great job." Choji said between bites, managing to offer reassurance.
Hearing this, Shikamaru stopped overthinking and joined Naruto in serving Choji the grilled meat. The table fell into a comfortable silence, free of any awkwardness.
The meat sizzled on the grill as Choji ate heartily.
Moths fluttered around the lampshade above them, while the clinking of glasses from nearby tables filled the air. The fan turned lazily, and the rising steam highlighted the peaceful expressions of the trio.
A couple walked past the window, and the girl's floral skirt was blown up by the night wind. The three people inside the restaurant squinted their eyes tactically as she passed.
"By the way, Naruto," Shikamaru suddenly spoke up, "You've been getting pretty close to Ino recently. Ino has been mentioning you from time to time."
"Though not always in a good way." Choji added, swallowing another piece of meat, his eyes squinting, "Like, saying you're too intense or something."
"Really?" Naruto didn't react much, continuing to place meat on the grill for Choji. He actually couldn't be used to eating too greasy grilled meat, and just a little bit was enough to make him lose his appetite for it.
Choji, on the other hand, needed a lot of fat for his training, so he could quickly burn it off during combat to replenish Chakra and energy.
"Our relationship is indeed pretty good." Naruto said, his eyes flickering slightly, "As for being too intense, don't tell me you guys didn't catch the color of the panties that just walked by."
Shikamaru: "Drink more water."
Choji: "This barbecue is great. Naruto, you should have a few more pieces."
Naruto didn't eat, instead raising his hand and calling out, "Could we have ten more plates of barbecue, please?"
Sizzle!
The last few pieces of meat were placed on the grill by Choji. Naruto instinctively raised his hand to order more, but Choji quickly grabbed his hand and said, "That's enough. If I eat more, there won't be any room left for a midnight snack."
Choji was the type who would never skip a midnight snack, so making room in his stomach was standard practice. Hearing this, Naruto sat back down.
As they took a break to digest the food, Shikamaru suddenly brought up Sakura.
Naruto was stunned for a moment, then quickly remembered that he had seemingly forgotten about Sakura. There were too many things going on recently, and he had been constantly on the move. If Shikamaru hadn't mentioned her, he wouldn't have remembered at all.
"I'm not really sure how to face her, especially since I didn't bring Sasuke back."
"This is not your responsibility alone." Shikamaru said, almost slouched in his chair, his head tilted back as he stared at the ceiling, "He himself wanted to leave. No one could have brought him back."
"He didn't give anyone a heads-up before he left. It's not like we could know what he was thinking."
"I haven't thought much about it. For now, I don't know what to say to her, so maybe it's better not to meet at all." Naruto said, his hand resting on a glass, the red watermelon juice reflected in his eyes.
"Take care, customers."
The server said as the three of them left the barbecue restaurant and prepared to go their separate ways on the streets of Konoha.
With a sudden thud, the two gatekeepers jumped down from the rooftop and landed in front of the trio. Before Shikamaru could ask, Kotetsu turned to Naruto and said, "Naruto, come with us to the Hokage Tower. Tsunade-sama wants to see you."
"Now? What's it about?" Naruto looked confused.
"Yes, it seems that someone from Sunagakure specifically requested to see you." Izumo added.
The Hokage Tower was brightly lit.
By the time Naruto arrived, Tsunade had already left, leaving her secretary, Shizune, to take Naruto to meet the last group of Sunagakure's Shinobi who were about to leave.
When Shizune led Naruto to the reception room and he saw that the only person from Sunagakure was Temari, he immediately understood.
Shizune was present, and she skillfully exchanged greetings and polite pleasantries with Temari.
"The Land of Fire and the Land of Wind are allies…"
Listening to Temari and Shizune's conversation, Naruto quickly grew bored. His gaze drifted towards Temari, and as he glanced her over, he noticed she was occasionally looking at him out of the corner of her eye.
The corners of Naruto's mouth twitched slightly. He wasn't sure if she had fully recovered, but her confident demeanor while talking to Shizune suggested that she had moved past her previous mood.
Under the lights, Temari's smile was as radiant as a blooming flower.
Naruto didn't dwell on it, zoning out as he stared at a corner of the room. It wasn't until Temari mentioned his name and began thanking Konoha for their understanding and assistance to Sunagakure that he tuned back in.