In Konoha, Naruto lies down

......

"What do you do when you're most lonely?"

"Of course it's the whole point of explosion art."

On the outskirts of the forest in the Land of Rivers, the trees were as green as jade. Deidara gave Scorpion a slightly arrogant smile.

Scorpion didn't say anything else and continued to control the Feiliuhu puppet to move forward.

"Don't go, am I wrong?" Deidara chased after him. "Whether it's loneliness or any other emotion, it will all be sublimated at the moment of the explosion."

He said excitedly while waving his hands as he walked sideways beside Scorpion.

"Senior, art is the eternity of a moment, and so is explosion."

Scorpion was still controlling the Feiliuhu puppet to move forward slowly. The puppet was ugly, with a hunched back, and its body was completely covered by a cloak with red clouds and a black background.

"Let's go." Scorpion's voice came from inside the puppet, "Since we've already decided to capture the tailed beast, why not take advantage of the unrest in Sand Village and start early? I wonder what you're waiting for by dragging your feet?"

Scorpion was a little irritated. He had always been a pure avenger. Konoha White Fang had killed his parents, and Chiyo had kept it a secret from him. But lies cannot stand the light of day; they will eventually melt in the scorching heat.

He seeks revenge and kills everyone responsible, but receives news that Konoha White Fang has committed suicide.

I originally joined the Akatsuki organization just to vent my hatred, but I found that the level of this organization seemed a bit... mixed, and they were slow in doing things.

Xiao is no longer the Xiao who is purely seeking revenge, which makes him feel more and more bored.

"That being said, I also feel that the people in the organization are clueless." Deidara tapped his head and said, "Although they keep talking about great goals, I always feel that they are just talking."

"Those two undead, disgusting guys have been making money here and there for the past few years, occasionally killing people, but other than that, they seem to have done nothing else. They're running around like headless chickens, and it's getting boring to stay here."

"If it weren't for the desire to surpass Uchiha Itachi, I would have left long ago. What kind of people are they recruiting? A bunch of weird guys, either they like money or they are heretics."

"A group of people who have absolutely no understanding of art and no aspirations."

Deidara complained a lot, like a junior complaining about the company in front of his elder brother, and then he glanced at Scorpion with a slight respect and made a suggestion.

"This mission is boring anyway, why not stop by the Sand Village?"

"Even after the fact, we can't act on our own. It's meaningless." Scorpion said.

"Okay." Deidara looked indifferent.

He could have played with black clay in the office, but ended up choosing exploding clay. He didn't want a good-looking junior sister with beautiful legs, but was tricked into recruiting by Uchiha Itachi.

To him, everyone in Akatsuki is a talented person and speaks harshly.

Explosions are art, but it feels so bad that they are not recognized.

Fortunately, my senior is also an artist, and although his skills are a bit abnormal, he still has some topical appeal. Although I always feel that my senior doesn't quite recognize the organization and looks like he will defect if he doesn't agree with it.

But, let's just live one day at a time, as long as we can blow people up everywhere.

Cool~!

.......

In a flower shop in the mountains.

Naruto sat at the counter, enveloped in a warm glow. The thunderstorm outside showed no sign of stopping, and Ino hadn't come down from upstairs yet, so he was the only one left in the shop on the first floor.

Looking at the foggy street outside the door, my thoughts gradually drifted away.

I don't know what Akatsuki is doing, but it's still quite difficult to deal with them. Even the Undead Duo alone is extremely difficult to deal with.

He is not the original Naruto, and he does not have the ability to talk back. His talent for words is equivalent to only silent attacks, but these can only anger and psychologically damage the opponent.

Encouraging others to be positive? That seems a bit difficult.

I don't know when the system will give out a reward for 100% verbal persuasion, but I don't think there will be such an outrageous thing, otherwise the protagonist halo reward might be given out next time.

But then again, since there is no such thing as talking nonsense and the protagonist's halo, the villain's low intelligence naturally does not exist either.

After thinking it over and over again, Naruto came to a conclusion.

Hang!

At present, the development of the plot is still normal, but I have also changed the direction of many things.

Jiraiya had already gone to investigate the Akatsuki organization in advance. Before he returned to the village, no one knew the Akatsuki's movements. Perhaps the capture plan of the tailed beasts was brought forward, or perhaps it was delayed.

Everything is unknown.

Judging from the information currently available, the four great nations have their sights set on the Sand Village. After all, the position of Kazekage is the inheritance of this position, directly affecting the future status of the Wind Country.

What everyone likes to watch is the disintegration of the Kingdom of Wind, the so-called whale falls, and all things come to life.

The Wind Country's gold, chakra mines, and purple gilt are being coveted by all nations. If the Wind Shadow inheritance truly becomes problematic, it will only be a matter of time before the Wind Country is eroded and annexed.

He didn't know how many days of vacation he could have. Looking at the heavy rain outside, he secretly thought that it would be great if he could be notified to gather on the last day of the vacation.

There was a noise upstairs. Ino stopped at the corner of the stairs, but showed no intention of coming down.

Naruto looked up at her and realized that she had changed into a green apron. With a hint of helplessness on her face, she waved at him, motioning him to come up.

"Me?" Naruto pointed at himself.

Ino nodded, but didn't say anything, just sighed. She put her hands on her hips, her golden hair hanging down by her ears, covering her fair neck.

He went up the stairs holding the wooden handrail and then heard the girl's voice.

"My mother said to keep you for dinner."

Boom!

It was raining heavily outside the store, and lightning illuminated the dark first floor of the flower shop. The dimly lit counter was empty.

The two of them stood on the stairs, one high and one low.

"Is it just because of what your aunt said?" He looked up at her, as if he would not go upstairs until he got a reply.

Ino was a little helpless, with an expression that said "I don't know where you get so much trouble from" on her face, and she let out a breath and said.

"And my point."

"That's good." He smiled and walked past Ino.

But he went up to the second floor and then walked back. Ino thought he was going to say something again, but Naruto just hurried downstairs and brought up the cup of hot sweet drink.

"Are you drinking?"

"Don't drink."

"But I don't drink it either. It's getting cold, and it would be a waste to leave it there."

"Let it be a waste." Ino frowned. She didn't know what tricks Naruto was going to play next, but she still patiently argued with the man.

"Take a sip," he said.

"I do not."

The two of them made quite a bit of noise on the stairs. Yamanaka Rino changed into home clothes and peeked down from the living room on the second floor.

"Come up and talk. It's tiring standing there."

"Okay." Ino sighed and took the cup from someone's hand. She wanted to go upstairs, but she saw Naruto looking at her indifferently.

She took a perfunctory sip from the cup and went upstairs.

"Kid, can't you just come up and drink? Why do you have to ask others to bring you hot drinks?" Yamanaka Rino said a few words and made way.

"Oh." Ino walked into the kitchen in a huff.

Naruto sat upright on the sofa in the second-floor living room, glancing towards the kitchen. Yamanaka Rino went to the balcony, apparently collecting clothes. The balcony seemed to be connected to the room, without having to go through the living room.

The heavy rain crackled against the windows, the balcony was covered in white, and the flowers on the stone platform were trembling in the cold rain and wind.

A moment later, Yamanaka Rino walked out of the room.

Even after removing her makeup and changing into casual clothes, she still couldn't conceal her elegant and graceful temperament. Like the imperial concubine in a TV drama, every move exudes elegance.

"It's raining so hard." She walked through the living room and headed towards the kitchen, seemingly talking to Naruto and Ino. "The ninja school is packed with parents."

"Parents were everywhere picking up their children. The school gate had collapsed, and the entrance was a mess. The children couldn't find their parents and were wandering around."

"In the past, our Ino didn't even need to answer in this kind of weather. She could handle it on her own. After all, she's a ninja, and even at such a young age, she should be able to handle things on her own."

"If the rain is too heavy, it's safer to take it." Naruto whispered his opinion.

Of course, this was just a casual remark, after all, it was just a casual conversation. Yamanaka Rino couldn't possibly turn around and find a time machine to go back to Ino's childhood and pick her up from school just because of a single sentence.

Perhaps Ino herself had long forgotten that wet afternoon when everyone had left and she was left alone looking at the heavy rain and wondering when to run home.

Fortunately, there is no shortage of orphans in the Ninja School, and there are many children running in the rain.

Probably...that's about it.

Ino lowered her head in the kitchen, chopping vegetables silently. Sometimes having a good memory isn't a good thing; it can be hard to forget many not-so-good memories.

So much so that she would get sick in her heart at a careless word. But she couldn't show anything on her face. She was too considerate, and when she wanted to be willful, it would be troublesome.

Even expressing grievances can be troublesome.

There was no point in discussing whether to accept the call or not, and Yamanaka Rino didn't take it to heart. She paused for a moment in the middle of the living room and gave Naruto a polite smile.

"That's right." She said lightly.

She became a ninja at the age of twelve, had someone she liked at the age of fourteen, married Yamanaka Inoichi at the age of eighteen, and didn't fall in love with the silent man until she was twenty-one.

Her youth was not bright, but she was very lucky.

She didn't say a word to the person she loved, so that there was no beginning and no need to end. She maintained her dignity, as she always did.

Yamanaka Inoichi allowed her to continue living a respectable life, granting her all the dignity of a noble lady. She had a happy family, a flower shop, and even gave birth to a daughter, which was so reliable that she didn't have to worry about it at all.

Naruto looked at that proper smile and smiled as well.

"Yes."

He answered appropriately, without saying anything extra or inappropriate. He watched Yamanaka Rino go into the kitchen, and then heard the two of them talking quietly in the kitchen.

He leaned back on the sofa, not too shy, and used a pillow to support his chest. The sofa faced the balcony, and a thin streak of lightning flashed beneath the clouds.

With a loud bang, thunder roared.

Naruto was completely in a daze, staring at the heavy rain outside the balcony, thinking about what happened some time ago. He wondered if Orochimaru would be very angry if he couldn't find the Death Mask, and would suffer from the burning sensation of his soul forever.

Not long after, Ino came out of the kitchen with warm cocoa. She was not wearing an apron, probably because she had given it to Yamanaka Rino.

She didn't say anything and just sat next to Naruto, with some distance between them.

After a long moment, Ino spoke softly.

"Thank you."

He turned and stared at Ino, but the girl flickered her gaze away, looking a little flustered in her haste.

"no need thank me?"

Hearing this, she hesitantly grasped the cup, which had long since cooled, and tightly wrapped her ten fingers around the outside of the cup. She squeezed so hard that her knuckles turned slightly white.

"What you just said," she whispered, her voice so weak that it could only be heard within the sofa. "You said I should pick you up."

"I just said it casually. It can't be realized after all," he said frankly.

"I know," she said, her fingers tightening around the cup, as if trying to draw out any remaining warmth. "I know everything."

"I got caught in the rain and returned home soaking wet. No one was home. My father was still busy at work, and I didn't know where my mother had gone."

"But at dinner, my mother praised me, and I felt a little better. It's not a big deal, they all love me very much."

Naruto handed over the pillow. Ino was stunned for a moment, then put down the cup and took the pillow.

She curled up, as if trying to squeeze the pillow into her small body. Her voice was a little erratic at this moment, and her emotions seemed a little unstable.

But soon, everything returned to normal.

"But thank you anyway."

"I don't really care about getting caught in the rain. I just want to say something in reply sometimes, but I always feel it's too much trouble. I don't want them to bring it up again."

"They think it's something to brag about, but every time they bring it up, I feel uncomfortable for some reason. I just don't have a reason to tell them not to bring it up, and I don't know how to say it."

The thunder roared, and the floor-to-ceiling windows on the balcony shook violently twice.

Taking advantage of the momentary silence, she turned her head and looked at Naruto. She pursed her lips and spoke softly, but her tone was different from her usual tone.

"I'm very happy now that someone is speaking up for me."