Holding hands all the way, Ino tried to break free several times, but couldn't. With no other choice, she could only let Naruto lead her back home.
After they got home, Naruto didn't mention anything about maid outfits or make any suggestive comments.
He understood the principle of 'too much is as bad as too little'. He'd already teased her once that night, so now, he decided to behave, not wanting to make Ino panic again.
As usual, they took turns showering, with Ino choosing to go last this time.
"I'm really not that kind of person. What happened last time was just a joke." Naruto tried to explain.
"You don't need to explain." Ino took several steps back and looked at him with disdain, "Seriously, you know what you've done."
"Are you serious about backing away like that?" Naruto sighed, 'If I had known, I wouldn't have tried to be clever, why did I act so impulsively back then?'
"Hmph! Anyway, don't think you can take advantage of me." Ino said with a grin, lying down happily on the sofa. She then pulled Kurama, who was lounging on a small sofa, into her arms.
Naruto, feeling helpless, slowly went back to his room to get some clothes for his shower. Kurama, now in Ino's arms, looked confused but became obedient again when he realized it was Ino.
"Does your foxhound really drink? I smell alcohol."
"Yeah, he drinks. What, are you planning to buy him some?" Naruto responded as he grabbed his clothes and glanced at Ino.
Kurama's eyes brightened as he looked up at Ino. His expression made her laugh, and without knowing any better, she said, "Sure, I'll buy as much as he wants."
Kurama's ears perked up with excitement as he looked at Ino. He thought to himself, 'The owner of this little piece of trash was indeed this woman in front of me… what a spineless human being.'
Though Kurama thought this way, he hypocritically forgave himself, accepting the fact that he was a Biju, not a human. So, the concept of spinelessness didn't apply to him, and he was merely making use of them.
Half an hour later, while Ino was showering, Naruto was in the living room blow-drying his hair. He glanced at Kurama again and said, "You really have no shame, Kurama."
Kurama glanced towards the bathroom and spoke in a hushed voice, "Mind your own business."
Naruto looked at him with a complex expression, "If you start doing backflips later, I'll really lose all respect for you."
"Get lost, you useless piece of shit! I need to warm up!" Kurama said disdainfully.
Naruto: "…"
He no longer cared about the completely free-spirited Kurama, and after drying his hair, he went to his room, changed into fresh clothes, and turned on the air conditioner, making the room warmer.
When Ino came out of the bathroom, she was amazed to see Kurama doing backflips. She excitedly rushed over while holding her bathrobe.
After Kurama did a few backflips, he felt embarrassed and stopped.
Seeing Kurama suddenly come to his senses, Naruto was somewhat surprised. He shifted his position on the sofa and continued lying down.
Ino walked over, carefully adjusting the edges of her bathrobe to ensure it wouldn't reveal anything before slowly sitting down. To be honest, Naruto was a bit disappointed.
He felt that being that cautious was really unnecessary.
He lay on the sofa and closed his eyes, gradually sorting out the recent events in his mind, 'Over in the Land of Wind, Gaara seemed to be facing some trouble in his attempt to rise to power.'
'Jiraiya continued to gather intelligence, possibly investigating Akatsuki. The situation in the Land of Wind was highly sensitive, and it was unclear whether Jiraiya would intervene.'
'That crazy brother-con Itachi probably wouldn't return for a while. For the next two or three years, Akatsuki likely wouldn't come knocking. There was still plenty of time, but I couldn't afford to sit idly by.'
After thinking it over, Naruto decided to leave it for later.
Battles are all about intelligence, as they say, 'Know yourself and your enemy, and you will be undefeated'.
Putting everything else aside, Jiraiya was undeniably powerful. If he had fully understood Nagato's abilities, he wouldn't have been killed by just a few of Pain.
With someone like him, who knows all the intel, if Nagato sent Pain, there's no way they'd leave Konoha alive.
If Tsunade and Jiraiya teamed up, and with himself and Kurama… Plus, if they called in Guy and Kakashi, even Madara would have to take a few hits.
He also knows the Impure World Reincarnation, had mastered the complete version of the Rasengan, and even had the Flying Thunder God in his arsenal. After counting carefully, the only thing left to learn was Senjutsu and some Fuinjutsu.
Right now, what he lacked wasn't more Ninjutsu but Taijutsu.
The reflexes and muscle memory required for combat, as well as the instincts and experience needed in life-and-death battles, were all things he lacked. But these couldn't be rushed and had to be developed slowly.
Overall, Shadow Clone Technique could solve that problem. He could just ask Tsunade for help. If she refused, he could just keep pestering her… The Scroll of Seals would be his eventually.
He'd already learned the most dangerous Impure World Reincarnation, so there was nothing else to worry about.
One day, he would be able to stand before Uchiha Madara, shout for him to wake up, and watch as all the deceased opened their eyes. Crawling out from the endless darkness underground, they would slowly dance with him.
With such thoughts in mind, Naruto felt the pressure seemed to lift, and the future looked promising. Standing in this God's-eye view felt great, like playing a hacked game.
"Fell asleep?" Ino's voice suddenly sounded in his ear.
Naruto felt a finger poke his cheek. Startled, he opened his eyes and instinctively reached out. Ino, surprised by his sudden reaction, was caught off guard and pulled onto the sofa.
With a thud, Ino was pinned down by Naruto on the sofa.
"Ah!"
"Sorry." After he saw that it was Ino, he quickly stood up and let go of Ino, "Don't scare me like that. I'm still traumatized from that time Uchiha Itachi spooked me."
Ino, knowing she was at fault, lowered her head and responded with a quiet 'mm'.
It was already 11 p.m. Outside, everything was silent, and the balcony was covered in snow. Kurama stood on his hind legs, peering out the window.
The two of them sat on the sofa, and the atmosphere grew a little subtle. Naruto couldn't quite explain why, but whenever things quieted down, this subtle tension would emerge.
Perhaps it was a common symptom of being in the ambiguous stage of their relationship, not yet open and not entirely straightforward.
"I heard it's going to snow heavily for the next few days. Do you think Konoha will have a power outage?" Naruto asked, casually bringing up a topic, "Konoha's power grid has always been unreliable."
"It shouldn't, right? Last time there was a downpour, the power didn't go out." Ino thought for a moment and said. The last heavy rain she was referring to was the time when Itachi came to capture Naruto.
"That's because the old apartment was right in the very center of Konoha. How could it be the same here, which is places on the outskirts?" Naruto said with a smile.
"Although, ever since I moved here, the power hasn't gone out. It's unlikely to suddenly..."
Click!
The living room was instantly plunged into darkness. Then, from the direction of the door, there was a long beeping sound…
The power had really gone out!