In Konoha, This Naruto Has Decided To Take It Easy

"Naruto and Ino are both adults now, but things have been dragging on like this. Why do I feel like that guy wants both of them?" Kurenai asked.

"That's… not very likely, is it?" Asuma said, feeling a headache coming on.

"With that guy's personality, is there anything he wouldn't do?" Kurenai hugged a plush toy on the couch and sighed.

"You seem to prefer Ino, right?" Kurenai asked.

"Not necessarily." Asuma dodged the question, offering a different angle instead, "Hinata is not bad either. Even though she's a bit shy, she complements Naruto well."

"If the two of them ended up together, there could be some interesting dynamics."

"Complement each other?" Kurenai rolled her eyes at him, with a hint of exasperation in her tone, "You're only saying that because Hinata is my student, aren't you?"

"No, not at all." Asuma chuckled awkwardly.

"I know what you're thinking. Even though you say otherwise, deep down, you're more inclined toward Ino." Kurenai said, "And there's nothing wrong with that. After all, Ino is your student."

"And what about you? Do you prefer Hinata?" Asuma asked.

"Hinata does have a gentle temperament. She doesn't fight for anything and usually goes with the flow. There's nothing wrong with this kind of personality, but it's inevitable that she'll have a harder time in the future."

Kurenai said, looking worried as she sat on the couch.

"But Ino has a good personality, she is sunny and kind-hearted. Just the other day, she even sent us some flowers and carefully memorized the exact types we liked."

"Yeah, that's true." Asuma also fell into deep thought.

But soon, he came to his senses and looked at Kurenai with a trace of surprise.

"You're not going to be like Naruto and want both, are you?"

"Cough, cough… What does this have to do with me!" Kurenai stood up and walked quickly to the kitchen, "Hinata is enough for me. I'm not feeling well tonight, so you'll be sleeping on the couch."

Asuma: "????"

At this moment, Asuma really wanted to slap himself, 'Why had I said something so blunt?' But at the same time, he found it odd, 'Why were we worrying about things that had nothing to do with us?'

…

The next day.

Asuma woke up on the couch, and on the other side of town, Naruto was woken up by Sakura knocking on his door. He stumbled to the door in his bear pajamas, rubbing his eyes as he leaned against the doorframe and groggily opened it.

"Why are you here again?"

"It's my day off." Sakura tilted her head and walked right in, placing a bag of groceries on the table, "I came here specially to cook for you. Isn't that good, master?"

Naruto took a few seconds to think. Yesterday, he accompanied Hinata on a walk and had eaten everything they wanted to eat. If he ate more street food today, he'd probably get sick.

He has made an appointment with Ino to visit her grandmother tomorrow, so today, his plan was to sleep in, then go find Yakumo.

Just because Kurenai couldn't find Ido, that didn't mean Naruto couldn't. After all, he was the one who stuffed it in there himself, so with some effort, he could probably drag it out again.

"That's fine." Naruto yawned and headed back to his room, "Make yourself comfortable. I'll go back and catch up on some sleep."

Sakura had already started changing into a maid outfit, and she wasn't angry when she heard what he said. She glanced over and looked at Naruto with a sweet smile, then said 'OK', deliberately tugging her neckline lower.

Unfortunately, the maid outfit had a high collar, and despite Sakura being slim and moderately built, her attempt to lower the neckline only resulted in a comical effect.

By the time Naruto woke up, it's already at noon. After finished washing up, he grabbed a glass of water from the kitchen. Before he could even swallow, Sakura suddenly walked up to him and stood right in front of him.

As Naruto gave her a confused look, Sakura abruptly lifted her skirt and asked, "Can you help me check if this pair of stockings is of good quality?"

"Cough cough!" Naruto spit water all over the white stockings, and he almost couldn't catch his breath, "What!!!"

"Naruto, you're such a pervert." Sakura touched the stockings and said, "Even if you're in a hurry, you don't have to be like that! If you had told me, I could have..."

"Heh." Naruto was shocked but not entirely surprised. He calmly tore the stockings and tossed them aside, then said, "The quality's just average."

After that, he calmly returned to the dining table to eat.

"Why did you only react like that?" Sakura sat across from him, lifting her chopsticks and then setting them down. "You don't like white? Then I'll wear black next time."

"Sure."

Naruto had long since grown immune to Sakura's tricks. It was classic baiting. The more he cared, the more he'd lose. If Sakura was serious, she wouldn't have bothered with groceries.

Naruto felt like he was looking down on Sakura from a higher level, and the more Sakura acted like that, the less likely he was to fall for it.

In fact, he could already imagine that if he showed the slightest interest, Sakura would immediately drop the act, switch to her high-and-mighty mode, and stomp all over him with her black stockings.

"Turns out you're just like this, Naruto-kun. I wonder what Ino and Hinata would think if they knew Naruto-kun..." and so on.

"Alright." Sakura sighed as she changed out of the torn stockings.

Not long after lunch, Sakura had to leave for something else.

Naruto slept until four o'clock, and after getting up leisurely, he went downstairs to look for something to eat. After eating and drinking, he went to Satomi Hill's manor to meet Yakumo.

After the misunderstanding was cleared up, she had been released late last night.

The Kurama Clan's members suggested that Yakumo move out of Satomi Hill's manor, after all, it used to be the place where she was confined. But Yakumo stubbornly refused, saying that she wanted to stay there.

She felt that some pain and memories were unavoidable. So instead of deceiving herself, it was better to face them. The pain would slowly fade away with time.

Naruto admired Yakumo's perspective on life, then grabbed her and shook her vigorously. Without hesitation, he said aloud, "Ido, I'm here to find you, come out now."

At this moment, Yakumo's face was instantly filled with fear. The terror of being beaten up returned, and she covered her face, too scared to move.

Inside her mind…

Ido: "????"

It had hidden itself very well, even evading the detection of Kurenai, who was good at Genjutsu. It was well hidden, so naturally, it didn't believe that it could be caught.

It figured that if it just stayed quiet, nothing would happen.

It was with this mentality that even though Ido sensed danger, it still chose to remain silent.

But then, snap, Ido suddenly found itself pulled out from its Genjutsu hiding spot. By the time it realized what was happening, Naruto was already standing in front of it, flashing a grin.

"Long time no see, Ido." Naruto said with a smile, put Yakumo down, and comforted her, "You did well. I won't hit you anymore."

"You!!!" Ido was furious. It didn't expect that it was actually betrayed by its.

"It was only yesterday..."

"Is that so? I don't quite remember." Naruto said coldly, then rolled up his sleeves.

Another round of brutal punishment ensued. This time, Naruto used more strength, aiming to fully tame it. He practically tore Ido apart, only to reassemble it afterward.

When it was all over, Ido was in a completely terrible state. Its fangs were shattered, and its body covered in bruises, completely unrecognizable.

"What do you want to do?" Ido said tremblingly.

It didn't understand what was happening or how Naruto was even able to interact with it. After being beaten twice in a row, it was on the verge of breaking down.

"Nothing for now. We'll stop here today." Naruto replied casually, leaving without acknowledging it further.