Temari froze for a moment, her eyes starting to well up with tears again.
Naruto felt it was necessary to guide her appropriately, if only to secure a quiet night for himself. He looked at Temari, pondered for a moment, and then spoke, "Temari, if you want me to help you, you have to show the appropriate sincerity."
"I'm very busy. Every day, I have to do many meaningless things. But these meaningless things are more important than you. Do you understand?"
His original intention was to make Temari behave and warn her to keep her distance from him, but as soon as the words left his mouth, Naruto felt something was off.
"I-I understand. What do you want?" Temari straightened her posture, sitting almost on the edge of the sofa, clearly too nervous.
"I don't want anything." Naruto replied coldly, leaning back into the sofa, "The point isn't what I want, it's about what you have."
"I can give everything I have." Temari said, a bit too eagerly.
"But I don't need it," Naruto said flatly.
Naruto's calm demeanor remained unchanged as he watched Temari through his deep blue eyes, with no ripples in his heart.
"What you're going through is only temporary. Once you leave Konoha tomorrow and return to Sunagakure, you'll start to feel better."
"It's not like that!" Temari suddenly stood up, her hands folded in front of her chest in distress.
"Sit down."
"…. Okay." Temari awkwardly sat back down, her hands brushing the edge of the sofa.
Naruto reached for the teacup on the table and studied Temari through the rising steam, 'My judgment was correct, her condition was only temporary.'
'While her behavior was strange, it was starting to normalize, as evidenced by her attempt to argue back.'
In short, there was no need to pay too much attention to Temari. She was just going through a rough patch, and it would pass in a few days.
Having made up his mind, Naruto fell silent, continuing to sit on the sofa to pass the time.
"Please wait a moment." Temari suddenly said, standing up again. But she froze when she met Naruto's gaze.
This time, however, Naruto didn't tell her to sit down. He just stared at her for a few seconds before saying, "Don't leave this room until dawn."
"Okay."
Temari nodded, and then began to rummage through her belongings, pieces of underwear were turned out and scattered on the ground. Naruto, adhering to a 'no harm in watching' mentality, kept his eyes on Temari as she knelt by the wardrobe.
'Lustrous blonde hair, skin as white as fresh snow, isn't wasn't the Land of Wind supposed to be a desert country?'
'It seemed that, despite the harsh sunlight and terrain, the girls from Sunagakure turned out quite beautiful. Chiyo? Okay, maybe not Chiyo. But the younger ones were all quite attractive.'
Temari's limbs were slender, and her figure was perfectly proportioned, as if blessed by the heavens. Watching her like this was certainly pleasing to the eye.
But the moment Temari pulled out a pair of fishnet stockings, Naruto instantly lost his composure.
"What are you going to do?"
Temari let out a soft yelp and quickly turned around, hiding the fishnet stockings behind her back embarrassedly. Her face suddenly turned red, and she spoke hesitantly, "This is my sincerity."
"I don't…" Naruto initially intended to say he didn't need it, but then he reconsidered and swallowed his words silently, "Okay."
Temari's condition was likely to last only a few days, and she would probably return to normal after a good night's sleep. Naruto had no intention of taking advantage of her, he just wanted to complete the task at hand.
'But, as the long night stretched ahead, admiring the fishnet stockings wasn't a bad way to pass the time. Well, it was certainly better than sitting idly.'
With that thought, Temari happily took her 'sincerity' into the bathroom.
This time, it was Naruto's turn to be restless. To be honest, the visual impact of fishnet stockings was a bit overwhelming to him.
In order to avoid losing his composure, he clutched his water cup, ready to take a tactical sip if necessary.
"Um…"
The bathroom door opened, but Temari didn't come out right away. Naruto was sitting on the sofa at the side of the room, so he naturally couldn't see what was going on in the bathroom next to the door.
"Could you turn off the lights?"
Temari's voice carried a strange, forbidden undertone, as if she had discovered a new world on the Internet for the first time. Even Naruto, who is usually as steady as an old dog, felt his heart begin to race.
"Why turn off the lights?" Naruto asked and thought to himself, 'If the lights were off, how could I see the fishnets? Are you trying to show me a glowing watch?'
"I'm... a little embarrassed." Temari admitted, "I only brought one pair of stocking with me. But... if you really want to see…"
"No need, your sincerity doesn't have to go that far!" Naruto quickly took a tactical sip of water, "Put on your clothes before you come out, damn it!"
"Okay…" The voice coming from the bathroom sounded a little disappointed.
Naruto coughed awkwardly and shook his head, trying to dispel the images that had formed in his mind. Temari's 'test' had clearly gone beyond what he was prepared to handle, and he'd almost answered wrongly.
'Only one pair of stocking, and she wanted the lights off, huh?'
When she finally emerged, the lights were still on, and Temari, thankfully, was fully dressed, and everything was harmonious except that she was not wearing shoes. The only difference was that she was now wearing the fishnet stockings on her legs.
Naruto chalked it up to Temari's current 'illness'. He wasn't interested in taking advantage of her, but he figured there was no harm in legally admiring the fishnets.
'Even if she returned to normal in a few days, the worst she could do was scold me a bit, and that was that.'
Still, he couldn't help but be struck by the powerful visual impact of those fishnet stockings. Temari's legs weren't just slender, they were smooth and perfectly rounded.
They were like freshly cleaned turnip… white, smooth, and with a hint of the toned muscles that came from years of Shinobi training.
Most people's legs don't stand perfectly straight, even if they try, there's always a slight curve. Even if the calves are slender, it's hard to show that kind of temperament, as they always feel covered with dust and lack of taste.
But Temari's legs, encased in the fishnet stockings, were perfectly straight, her skirt accentuating the curves, and her eyes carried an enigmatic, dangerous allure.
"This is my sincerity." Temari said quietly as she sat down on the sofa, her gaze lowered.
"I can already feel your sincerity." Naruto replied, glancing at her fishnet-covered legs, "If that's the case, I might consider helping you."
Temari blushed and suddenly fell silent.
Naruto wasn't in a hurry. He continued to observe Temari quietly, waiting patiently.
To him, Temari was a patient, and if he hadn't met her tonight, it would have been none of his business. But now that he had accepted the mission and put forward conditions, he naturally had to be patient.
Naruto may not be a good person in the true sense, but he is definitely a person with principles and ethics.