With Tsunade's decisive words, the meeting finally drew to a close.
The two old Advisors had shifted their allegiance to Tsunade, while Danzo remained silent. The remainder of the meeting focused on the details of the handover between Anbu and Root, further solidifying Anbu's direct subordination to the Hokage.
No one brought up the issue of the Kyubi again, nor did anyone object. Besides the two Advisors and Danzo, no one else had the authority to voice their opinions on the matter of Anbu's control.
Danzo remained silent, and the two Advisors did not mention anything about the mask of Root's Shinobi.
In short, everything was left unresolved.
After the meeting was over, Naruto followed Tsunade quietly, maintaining his silence. When they reached the staircase leading to the highest floor, only Shizune, Tsunade, and Naruto were there.
Tsunade, who had secured control of Anbu, finally relaxed. She pulled Naruto into a side hug, her ample figure pressing against his face.
"Hmmph? I'm going to suffocate!"
"Why do you look so glum?" Tsunade ignored Naruto's complaints and asked while pinching his face, "Are you unhappy because you didn't get anything out of it?"
"No, I just feel that this whole Jinchuriki thing is becoming less and less interesting." Naruto replied, struggling to free himself from Tsunade's embrace, "They were planning to turn me into a living weapon from the start, and developing a perfect Jinchuriki is just an excuse."
"Whether you're perfect or not isn't the point."
In the brightly lit corridor, Tsunade paused as Shizune hurried into the Hokage's Office to begin drafting reports. The two of them stood outside, bathed in the sunlight, and Tsunade smiled at him.
"It's really not important, but it's important to me that you're not being treated as a weapon."
Naruto stopped at the door of the Hokage's Office. Looking at Tsunade in the office waving her hand impatiently to chase him away, he immediately frowned and turned away.
'This woman is truly hard to figure out.'
The trouble of the high-level meeting had finally come to an end, and the higher-ups believed that Naruto and Tsunade were the winners. Tsunade, feeling guilty, believed she was the one who benefited the most, which is why she suddenly hugged Naruto and said those words.
But in reality, only Naruto knew the truth: there were no real winners, and everyone had simply taken a step back.
After walking out of the Hokage Tower, Naruto glanced up at the sky, noting that the sun was already high. He found a random place to eat, but halfway through, he remembered that Ino was still at home.
Suddenly alarmed, he left his meal unfinished and ran out.
The blazing summer sun hung overhead, and after just a few steps, he was drenched in sweat. The girls on Konoha's streets were dressed modestly compared to Tsunade's more revealing style.
When it came to fashion, the Land of Lightning had them all beat.
Weaving through the alleys, Naruto leapt onto the rooftops, where a cool breeze greeted him. He jumped and climbed across the rooftops, which seemed to be full of haphazard constructions, and within five minutes, he was back home, panting.
"Ino!"
The door slammed open with a bang, letting in a gust of cool summer air.
Naruto stood in the doorway, dripping with sweat, but there was no response from inside. After hurriedly changing his shoes at the entrance, he searched the house from top to bottom, only to find no sign of Ino.
He opened the fridge and took a look. He couldn't help but grin when he saw that the water he had casually filled in the kitchen had been poured out.
He began to regret his half-finished meal. He had paid for it, but was still hungry. He stood in the living room, drenched in sweat, and shivered as a cool breeze hit him.
Thinking that Ino didn't go home last night and would probably wouldn't be back for a while if she went back now, he stripped down and headed to the bathroom.
After wrapping himself in a towel, he flopped onto his usual spot on the sofa and fell asleep.
When he opened his eyes again, the sky outside was already tinged with the hues of sunset.
Pouring himself a glass of water in the kitchen, Naruto began to calmly consider his future plans. After being interrupted by Ino yesterday, he barely gained a little sympathy from Kyuubi.
He decided not to keep trying to persuade the Kyubi with emotions and reasoning. After all, doing it too often would make his intentions too obvious. Instead, he would wait a few days and then find an opportunity to bring a toy as a gift, painting a picture of his own tough life.
After all, the Four Symbols Seal was completely under Naruto's control, and Kyubi had no sense of what the outside world was like. The seal space had become an independent world, cut off from any external information.
'A CPU fox?'
'It could work.'
'Next time. I'll write some heart-wrenching plots like in Korean Dramas and make myself sound even more miserable. It might make unsealing Kyubi go more smoothly.'
'But before that, I still have to find a way to meet Hinata. The task progress is still stuck at the quarter. I don't have to grind deliberately, but at least I have to meet her.'
To be honest, the Hyuga Clan rarely goes out.
Naruto wanted to meet Hinata by chance, but with Team 7 in a broken state lately and the high-level meeting hanging over his head, Naruto had been too anxious to even think about Hinata.
But now he could.
'The best way would be to go on a mission with Hinata, but the chances of that happening were slim… unless I bribe Tsunade.'
After settling on his plan, he went out again.
The flow of people in Konoha Street increased noticeably after dark. It was too hot during the day, so evenings were the best time to take a stroll.
Luckily, there weren't many people near Konoha Hospital. Naruto figured Sakura probably hadn't eaten yet, so he picked up two orders of takoyaki from a nearby food stall and headed into the hospital.
It had been almost ten days since Sasuke's defection, so he felt that it's time to put an end to it.
Team 7 still had to keep running, and maybe someone would join to replace Sasuke. But that didn't matter much to Naruto, as long as he can continue to take it easy.
"Excuse me, can I ask if Haruno Sakura is still at the hospital?"
The Medical-nin, who was stopped, looked up and gave Naruto a glance, his expression turning a bit strange before answering, "In the duty room on the third floor."
"Thanks."
Naruto didn't think much of it, and with the takoyaki in hand, he headed straight to the third floor. The smell of disinfectant in the hallway was still pungent, making him uncomfortable.
"Third floor... duty room."
Following his memory, Naruto slowly walked through the third-floor corridor and finally found the duty room, which is the third room from the end.
The whole corridor was brightly lit, and the door to the duty room was half-closed, which was basically the same as not closing the door. Usually, this meant that one could go in directly.
Without thinking twice, Naruto pushed the door open and walked in.
The duty room seemed a bit messy. Although the documents were neatly stacked together, they were piled up on the table.
The file cabinets were also stuffed with various records. Sakura was sitting properly in her chair, and when she looked up from the mountains of paperwork, a smile hadn't yet formed on her face, but her eyes were already filled with warmth.
"What brings you here?"
"I just happened to be nearby, so I thought I'd drop in and see you." Naruto subconsciously felt that something was wrong, and the moment he handed over the takoyaki, he said, "I'm really sorry about what happened with Sasuke."
Sakura took the takoyaki, smiled, and asked a question that sent a chill down Naruto's spine, "Who's Sasuke?"