"Honestly, you're already an adult, yet you're still messing around with a pet."
Ino sighed, her face filled with exasperation as she casually placed the keys on top of the shoe cabinet by the entrance. Holding the shoe cabinet with her hands, she lifted her leg to take off her shoes. The black stockings completely covered her ankles, and her straight calves showed no hint of excess flesh.
The moment the girl bent down, her pleated skirt tightened around her straight legs. She was wearing a long-sleeved knitted sweater, her snow-white arms, reminiscent of peeled sleeves of garlic, hidden from view.
"What are you looking at?"
"Hmm? What?"
Naruto suddenly came back to his senses and looked up to find Ino standing at the entrance with her arms crossed and her eyes narrowed, staring at him with an indescribable expression.
He wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but he felt the temperature around him drop a few degrees.
"Ino, uh…"
"Pervert."
With a look of disdain, she stepped onto the floor, her black-stockinged feet landing gracefully as she walked past Naruto, leaving a faint, intoxicating fragrance in her wake.
"I was going to help you apply some medicine, but it seems unnecessary now. Do it yourself."
In fact, there is no need to apply medicine. Kurama is just a mass of Chakra, not a real dog. He ate and drank every day, converting the energy from food directly into Chakra, with any excess waste being evaporated.
Therefore, even if someone is scratched by Kurama, as long as the wound is not too deep, they don't have to worry about infection or worsening of the injury.
However, that was something Naruto would never tell Ino.
"What brings you here?"
"I have a mission from my mother to check on a certain foot fetishist." Ino sighed, carrying a food box into the kitchen. As she opened the fridge, she frowned.
She then walked up to Naruto and questioned him with her hands on her hips, "Why do you have so much alcohol stored?"
Naruto, who was still standing in the living room, was momentarily stunned, then kicked Kurama. Kurama wanted to pounce on him, but after looking at Ino, he walked away in shame and ran to the corner of the balcony to bask in the sun.
"This..." Naruto struggled to come up with a good excuse.
He couldn't very well say it was Kurama who drank it. After all, who would believe that he had a fox dog that loved alcohol?
Naruto stood in the living room, feeling a bit at a loss, still covered in reddish scratches that made his wounds look somewhat rough. Ino felt a slight pang of sympathy and complained, "How could you drink so much?"
"I didn't drink."
"Then who did? There's only you and that fox dog in the house. Are you saying it drank it?"
"It did." Naruto mumbled.
Ino rolled her eyes at him, deciding not to waste more time on this topic. She pointed in the direction of the sofa and motioned Naruto to go over.
"What's wrong?"
"Apply the medicine." Ino said irritably.
It seemed she had completely adjusted to Naruto's difficult personality and planned to use a firm attitude to counter him, fully prepared for any strange behavior that might follow.
"Can I touch your black stockings?"
"No, if you do that, I will kill you." Ino replied through gritted teeth.
"What if I just look?" Naruto seemed to have compromised, but in fact, his true intentions were revealed.
"Mmm." Ino secretly glanced at Naruto's face, showing a cute, struggling expression as if she was seriously considering his words, "Is that all you have in your mind?"
"Actually, I do think about other things, but I'm afraid if I say them out loud, you'll get embarrassed."
Ino mouthed something in disgust, her eyes filled with a look that could only be described as looking at a trash, "Please keep those filthy thoughts to yourself and don't expose them so easily!"
"… All right."
"And what's with that tone?"
"I just think that you dressed so cutely today, Ino, so it would be a shame if I couldn't appreciate you." Naruto said as he lay on the sofa with a lost look on his face.
"Stop saying weird things…" Ino hastily turned her head away, starting to search the small cabinet in front of the sofa for the first aid kit.
Naruto, with nothing to do, watched as Ino knelt in front of the cabinet, her back turned to him. Her black stockings stretched slightly as she leaned forward, revealing a petite yet elegant figure, a classic beauty's back.
Facing Ino who was obviously dressed up so carefully, Naruto felt it would be a waste if he didn't compliment her.
"That outfit suits you very well."
"Huh?" Ino, still kneeling by the cabinet, turned her head slightly to look at Naruto, her face tinged with a slight blush.
"Didn't I tell you to stop saying weird things?"
"I just think that since you've put so much effort into dressing up, it would be thoughtless of me not to praise you."
"It's not like I dressed up for you. I just wanted to practice my styling skills a bit." Ino said as she tucked her hair behind her ear and gave Naruto a quick glare.
"You're so cute I can't even describe it."
"Hmph…" Ino turned away and ignored Naruto.
After a while, she came over with the first aid kit, and first asked where the dog had gone to.
"Eh? You're actually more concerned about the dog than me?"
"It's clearly more popular than you!" Ino teased, looking down at Naruto, who was lying on the sofa with scratches all over his body, before laughing at her own joke.
Naruto couldn't help but be a little moved by Ino's smile, thinking how soft her lips might feel if he kissed her...
Resisting the impulse in his heart, he pointed in the direction of the balcony and said, "It's basking in the sun out there, but I think its wounds are already healed."
Ino didn't go to the balcony but instead squatted down in front of the sofa, puffing her cheeks slightly in annoyance as she looked at Naruto, then said unhappily, "Turn your face."
"Thank you for your help." Naruto said.
"Why are you being so polite all of a sudden?"
"You aren't used to it?"
"No, I wish you'd always be like this." Ino replied with a serious face as she took out the disinfectant.
"I just can't act serious around you, Ino. You're too cute, like when you see something adorable on the street…"
"Stop talking." Ino suddenly pressed Naruto's head into the sofa in shame and anger, "If you say anything weird, I will kill you."
"Okay, I won't say anything."
"But you'll still be thinking about it, right?"
"I really can't hide it from you."
"Hmph, I know exactly what kind of filthy things are going through that head of yours." Ino said smugly as she grabbed a cotton swab.
"Have you ever thought about it too, Ino?"
"I've never thought about that kind of thing!" Ino, a little angry, squatted down and poured some of the disinfectant, letting it spill directly onto the wound on Naruto's neck.
He was lying on the sofa. Thanks to the Kyubi's Chakra, his wounds were slowly healing, though it wasn't visibly obvious.
"Hiss! That's so cold." Naruto hissed through his teeth.
"Serves you right for not behaving." Ino said with a slight smirk, her long-sleeved lavender sweater brushing past his face as she began dabbing the cool cotton swab on his wounds.
The faint fragrance from Ino's body stimulated Naruto's pupils to dilate slightly.