In Konoha, Naruto lies down

There was constant laughter at the long table. At some point, Xihi Kurenai also came over, followed by Hongdou.

"It's so lively!" Hongdou stood at the edge of the long table, her eyes met Naruto's, and her brows immediately furrowed, "Uzumaki Naruto!"

Naruto's reaction was more direct, he took a bite out of the trash can.

"Damn it! You little brat!"

"You old woman," Naruto shot back.

"You deserve to die! Uzumaki Naruto!" Hongdou crossed two seats and pounced directly over, holding Naruto down. There was immediate chaos.

Ino turned her head to look over there, and Hinata uttered a soft "ah". Sakura looked back and forth between Ino and Hinata's faces, and smiled calmly the moment she lowered her head.

Hongdou simply sat in the seat next to Naruto, occupying half of Naruto and Shikamaru's seats respectively.

"Teacher Hong, please sit here." Hinata stood up and made room for her.

"Why didn't Asuma come?" Shikamaru suddenly turned around and asked.

"This..." Yuhi Kurenai was suddenly embarrassed, but fortunately Ino spoke up to help her out.

"Really, Shikamaru, Asuma-sensei must have something to take care of," she said, pausing before adding, "Otherwise, if Kurenai-sensei were here, Asuma-sensei would definitely come."

"Hey, you guys in Team 10, don't bully Teacher Kurenai." Inuzuka Kiba said, after all, Kurenai Yuhi was the class ninja of Team 8.

Xi Rihong's face flushed slightly, unable to withstand the teasing. Hong Dou even raised her head, sighed, and belatedly asked, "What happened to Asuma?"

With a rustle, the door of the box was opened and Asuma appeared with a smile.

"Something happened just now, so I'm late."

Everyone was quiet for a moment, then they collectively shouted excitedly. Shikamaru and Chouji were even more excited, clapping and shouting, as if they were watching the fun.

"It's not too late! There's a seat next to Teacher Hong!" Shikamaru was the most excited. He had been saying nonsense on the way that he had no interest in women, but he was interested in Asuma's dog food.

Asuma was not shy and took a seat beside Kurenai. Shikamaru stood up and had drinks brought in. Asuma, Kurenai, and Anko couldn't possibly drink juice like them.

"Hinata, Kurenai-sensei and the others are so beautiful," Tenten said, resting her elbows on the table and holding her face.

"Ah, I guess so. Actually, I don't understand those things either." She said in a low voice.

"Huh? Isn't that simple? Love. Who would have thought that Hong-sensei is so beautiful and likes someone like Asuma-sensei." Tenten mumbled like an old man.

"But it's really hard to understand. Love makes people blind. Anyway, I don't like Asuma-sensei's type. Although there's no saying that I have to like a certain type of man."

"Hello? Hinata, are you listening?"

"Oh, yes." She replied suddenly, "Tiantian, keep talking."

"Ah! I'm still so envious!" Tiantian holds the juice and drinks lemon while crying.

Hinata was a little distracted, glancing off to the corner where Naruto sat a little further away. Shikamaru and Anko both jumped out of their seats to join in the fun, chatting and laughing around Asuma and Kurenai.

The table was bustling with activity, and Naruto was watching with a glass of juice in hand. He had a smile on his face, but he didn't come over to play. Hinata wasn't used to the lively atmosphere, but sitting in the position of public opinion, she was inevitably affected.

"Those two are such a good match, why didn't I notice it before?"

After coaxing for a while, Hongdou shook her head and muttered to herself before sitting back in her original seat. After eating a bunch of meatballs, she turned to look at Naruto and asked.

"Why don't you go up and say a few words?"

"What?" Naruto said with his eyes narrowed, his arms and legs huddled together. He always felt extremely uncomfortable sitting cross-legged like everyone else.

"I don't like to join in the fun, unlike you, a fake Jonin."

"You're such a weird person. Everyone's bustling around, but you're just sitting here talking to me." Hongdou said, "Are you like this usually?"

"Almost, just stay home and sleep."

"Aren't you practicing?" Hongdou asked in surprise, as if she heard a grade one student say that she usually slept in class and played games when she got home.

"What is training?" Naruto smiled and returned to his annoying appearance. "No one would still train, right? Even if they train hard, they will still be a useless jonin."

"Don't laugh at my efforts! Damn it!" Hongdou pinched him, then burped and muttered, "Ordinary people like us have it so hard. Geniuses are going to explode!"

"Indeed." He nodded.

"You have no right to say such things!" Hongdou was a little drunk and gently pushed Naruto. "By the way, do you have any clues about the thing you saw in the Whirlpool Country last time?"

Hongdou was asking about the underground palace of the Whirlpool Country. The crack behind the underground palace probably hid more strange secrets. However, to be on the safe side, the two chose not to continue the adventure.

Naruto took a sip of the red juice and said, "No."

"That's a pity. It'll be hard to go back." Hongdou said, with a faint smell of alcohol lingering around her. She put one hand on Naruto's shoulder and leaned in close to whisper.

"I said, I know you will return sooner or later, and I will keep it a secret for you. But as your former class leader, I still have to remind you, don't take risks easily if you are not sure."

Naruto was stunned for a moment, he didn't expect Anko to say something like that.

"okay, I get it."

"I'm glad to know." Hongdou patted Naruto's shoulder, took a swig of wine and said, "How was it? Did I act like a jonin just now?"

Naruto's mouth twitched. This old woman...

"Sorry, not at all. I'm still a useless Jonin." He picked up a piece of barbecue and said, his eyes casually moving towards the center of the crowd.

Asuma and Kurenai Yuhi sat together, Shikamaru and the other two from Team 10 were stirring up trouble, and Kiba Inuzuka and the gang were bickering. Tenten was trying to mediate, while Neji sat calmly watching from the sidelines. Rock Lee had a look of confusion and impressive power on his face.

Another half hour passed, and Asuma and Hong were coaxed into drinking a cup of wine together. They seemed a little embarrassed. Asuma blushed, but he also enjoyed it.

After all, the disciples from both factions were gathered together, which was considered a matchmaking. It was just a pity that Kakashi was not there, and Might Guy also had a mission. These two friends always appeared in pairs.

"How is it? It's interesting, right?" Hongdou gently bumped into Naruto.

"what?"

"They're in love. I didn't realize that Asuma and Hong were so close." Hongdou said drunkenly, with seven or eight empty wine bottles on the table.

All eyes in the private room were focused on Asuma and Hong. No one looked at the former partners in the corner who had been in love and hate with each other, one an alcoholic and the other a sharp-tongued person.

"What do you know about love?" Naruto retorted mercilessly.

Hongdou was stunned, her face turning red and white, like Kong Yiji, she was speechless for a long time. She opened her mouth wide and pointed a trembling finger at Naruto.

"How could you say such vicious words?"

"Isn't that the truth?" Naruto glanced at her.

"That being said, it's really hurtful for you to say it out loud!" Hongdou complained drunkenly and childishly, "That's so rude."

Konoha does place a lot of emphasis on the relationship between seniors and juniors, but geniuses are an exception. During their rebellious period, Neji, Shikamaru, and Sasuke all addressed the leading jonin by their names.

"All you do all day is drink and eat meatballs. How could anyone like an old, second-rate woman like you?" Naruto added calmly, "And your reaction is too slow."

"Why are you so slow?" Hongdou automatically ignored Naruto's previous words.

"Asuma and Kurenai's relationship," Naruto said in a low voice, "They're probably **** now, so they might need to rest after a while."

"Huh?" The red bean man was stunned. He accepted the strange knowledge and immediately turned into a bead-eyed person.

"You just said ****? What does that mean?" Hongdou asked.

Naruto spoke cryptically, not using crude language to express the unspeakable matter. As a result, although Anko received the shocking words, her mind was still unable to process them for a while.

He glanced around the box, making sure no one was looking in his direction. Thinking he had nothing to do anyway, his old driver's mischievous spirit suddenly emerged, and he thought of playing a trick on Hongdou.

"That means..." He covered his ear and explained carefully word by word.

Hongdou's drunken eyes slowly opened, then widened, and she gasped. She sobered up instantly, her mouth opening and closing.

He looked at Naruto, then glanced at Asuma and Kurenai, who looked dazed and couldn't utter a word.

"Damn it, you guy, how do you know so much!" She asked in a low voice, her face flushed, and it was hard to tell whether it was because she was drunk or shy.

"I read it in a book." Naruto directly put the blame on Jiraiya and said with a smile, "I read the work of a certain unscrupulous writer and learned it by myself."

He glanced at Hongdou and suddenly remembered that some of her memories seemed to have been erased by Orochimaru using a forbidden technique. He didn't know if she remembered it now.

"Your teacher is Orochimaru, right?" he asked suddenly without any hesitation.

Red Bean knows his secret about the Whirlpool Country, and Sakura will keep it secret for him, but Naruto is not sure how much Red Bean can keep secret. Faced with such a situation, he is more inclined to mutually benefit with Red Bean.

Even though Red Bean lived a simple and innocent life, she also had a past unknown to the public. Although the snake-skinned monster Orochimaru had died, he left behind the seed of Red Bean.

In his early years, Orochimaru was quite gentle, except for his lack of emotion. He treated his female disciple Anko like a child, and took her with him on missions and played a supporting role.

Not only did he not blame her when she made mistakes, but he also praised her generously when she made progress. His unique personality charm was already on display from that time.

If Orochimaru's scientific research experiment had not been exposed, Hongdou would still admire the snake-skinned monster from the bottom of her heart. So much so that now, Orochimaru has become a slide that Hongdou cannot touch at all.

"What do you want to say?" Hongdou regained her composure, as if she had sobered up.

"I learned some things about you from other places, including the part of your sealed memory." Naruto said, "I can help you."

"Help me? How can I help me? Stop kidding." Hongdou said, "Even the torture squad can't help, how can you help me?"

"Of course I have a way. Don't forget that my teacher is Jiraiya, one of the Three Ninjas." Naruto said something that was quite weighty.

"This....but why are you helping me?"

"As a thank you for keeping my secret, I will help you recover that memory," he said. "I may not have time recently, but I will contact you when the time is right."

Hongdou narrowed her eyes, "I don't know why you did this, but it's okay. I'll wait for you."

The two of them whispered for a long time, unaware of the many glances two or three eyes silently sent to Naruto and Anko.

Ino withdrew her gaze and looked at Hinata again, her brows furrowed, and she muttered in a low voice with some dissatisfaction.

"That guy, why... is he so familiar with everyone?"

Chapter 233 You Don’t Even Want to Call Me

"Teacher Hong, she wasn't like that before. She didn't like crowded places and generally wouldn't eat with so many of us."

Ino explained, "After that, I became closer to Asuma-sensei, and he changed a lot."

Sakura nodded without saying anything, her eyes quickly glancing elsewhere. Her gaze passed without pausing, her movements flawlessly executed.

The party ended, Hongdou left early, and Asuma also left with Yuhi Kurenai.

"Let's go back too." Shikamaru and Choji turned around and waved to everyone, then walked in another direction.

The midsummer night breeze was chilly. Xiao Li went to practice, and Sakura and Tenten left together. Hinata and Neji happened to be returning to the Hyuga base together, so they saluted and said, "Thank you for the hospitality, and excuse me."

After watching the two leave, Naruto and Ino were the only ones left at the scene.

"Let's go, I'll take you back." he said.

"I can go back by myself." Ino said without looking at him, struggling for a while.

"Okay, you can stay at my place." Naruto said to himself as if he didn't hear it at all.

"Ah?" Ino said in protest, "No, it's too late."

As soon as she said that, she suddenly remembered what Sakura said. She seemed to have slept in the same bed with Naruto, although nothing happened, but...

As soon as this thought came to her mind, Ino was suddenly shocked. Why was she overthinking so much? She had been getting slower and slower lately. She could figure out things that were obviously very simple.

How could you really compare something like that to Hinata? That's too much. Mission! Mission! There's another mission tomorrow!

If you keep stopping because of your emotions, you will be left behind. Hinata must have thought the same thing, so she suppressed her emotions and didn't talk to that guy.

She patted her cheeks and said silently in her heart, wake up quickly.

"What's wrong with you?" he asked with some confusion.

"Ah... nothing." Ino stammered, "Huh? Let's go, it's... it's getting late."

"Come to my house?"

"No! Lue! You idiot!" Ino snorted and refused, "I'm very capable and will grow into an excellent ninja like Tsunade-sama in the future."

"Yes, it's amazing." Naruto said like coaxing a child.

Ino said it was late, but she and Naruto dawdled on the way and wasted a lot of time. She seemed to have dressed up carefully for this party.

She wore a snow-white short-sleeved top, her long blond hair pinned back. As she spoke, her hands swayed behind her back, and her eyes narrowed slightly, their narrowed gaze resembling the chirping of summer cicadas in the leaves overhead.

After every sentence, Ino would look at Naruto, and would only continue if she didn't see an expression of boredom on his face.

"An elderly customer came to the store yesterday. He said his wife asked him to buy flowers, but he forgot what flowers they were." Ino rambled on.

"And then?" he asked at the right moment as he walked forward.

What Ino talked about most was the things in the Yamanaka Flower Shop. She spent almost all of her childhood in the shop, and she would stay there every day to watch the sunset.