In Konoha, Naruto lies down

Three pairs of eyes stared at it, and the hair on Nine-Tailed Fox's back suddenly stood up.

"Ah!!!! Dog!!!" Meng Huang screamed, his piercing power reaching the sky, and little hearts suddenly appeared in his eyes.

The Nine-Tailed Fox was not so frightened when facing the first generation, Hashirama Senju. Facts have proved that human children are still the most terrifying creatures in the world.

It ran away, but unfortunately it was a step too late and was pounced on by Menghuang.

Damn you kid!

The rain stopped, and Naruto opened the door and stretched. He ignored the battered Kyuubi and told the three children to hurry home. Before closing the door, he tossed Kyuubi a bottle of fine wine and left.

Time flies and February is over in a flash.

"Why is there still no news from Sunagakure?" Naruto leaned back in his office chair, looking at Tsunade with a relaxed expression and asked.

"What news could there be from Sunagakure?" Tsunade said, "They are busy guarding against the Akatsuki organization. The Land of Fire doesn't have any tailed beasts, but we still can't let our guard down."

"After all, Akatsuki won't believe rumors. We have to free up our hands to destroy Akatsuki."

"That's true." Naruto agreed.

He had no reason to interfere in the affairs of Sand Village for the time being. It was impossible for him to have no news at all from there. He ran over and pointed at the Sand Village headquarters and said that there was a traitor here.

There was no sign of Jiraiya returning to the village. They waited for three months, and there were only four three months in a year. It was like spring arriving in winter, and with summer almost here, there was still no sign of Jiraiya.

He said he was looking for a son of prophecy, but he was more concerned about it than finding a wife.

The guys around him were all busy doing the work of plastering the construction site... Ugh, busy doing the work like slaves. Only he, relying on the green light given by Tsunade, was able to lie down for several months.

Sakura was busy learning medical ninjutsu all day and had little time to meet him. It seemed that from the beginning of the new year when she turned sixteen, the trajectory of everyone's life changed.

Shikamaru had no intention of joining the upper echelons, and even though he had already won the rank of Chunin, he was only interested in shogi. He had complained to Naruto more than once that the elders of the Nara clan seemed to be training Shikamaru to succeed Shikaku.

In addition to her missions, Ino was busy familiarizing herself with Yamanaka Inoichi's work. Choji had a little more free time, but his increased weight caused him to sleep longer every day.

Hinata's caged bird situation remained unresolved, and Neji seemed to no longer dwell on the issue. Hinata was busy training, and would occasionally bump into Naruto, who was doing nothing.

Generally speaking, everyone was busy most of the time and didn't have much time to meet each other. Only Naruto was always idle.

The next day.

After several days of rain, the weather finally cleared up and the sun shone brightly outside the window.

Naruto remembered the invitation he had made with Hinata six months ago, and today he finally made the appointment. He has always been like this, never owing anyone anything, and never forgetting a promise.

Hinata was completely busy during the New Year's Festival. Even after the New Year, when they often ran into each other on the street, Hinata was always in a hurry. Missions came one after another, and there was really no way to delay.

In the past six months, except for the stagnant Team 7, all the Genin teams have gone through this process.

Hyuga Station.

Hinata hurried out of the clan leader's house, her skirt pressed down, but she saw her stern old father in the corridor. She was startled and slowed down her pace.

Hinata Hiashi, who was standing quietly in the corridor, also noticed Hinata and frowned slightly.

Hinata lowered her head and walked quickly. When she reached her old father, she quickly knelt down and performed a greeting, then called out "Father" nervously.

"On a mission?" Hinata Hiashi glanced at his daughter's outfit and asked knowingly.

Who would wear a skirt on a mission? But at this moment Hinata's mind was almost confused. She hurriedly said "hmm" and left quickly.

Hinata Hiashi stood there, frowning. Perhaps because he was used to being so majestic, he didn't know what to say, so he could only let Hinata leave with a red face and head lowered.

He stood in front of Hyuga's gate waiting for the first time, the sunlight was dense and the shadows of the trees were swaying.

The warm sunlight shone densely on the boy, casting a faint shadow on the courtyard wall. There was a noise from the gate, and Hinata walked out nervously.

"I'm so sorry to have kept you waiting." Hinata saluted hurriedly, her long black hair flying.

"Uh...no." Naruto was stunned for a moment.

Even though he had known that Hinata was beautiful and had a good figure, she usually hid her beauty in conservative long-sleeved shirts and trousers. Even in summer, she wore the same outfit without any change.

But for some reason, today Hinata wore a white long skirt for the first time, revealing a part of her fair calves. Her skin was as white as porcelain and as smooth as jade.

Her hair looked especially well-groomed, its long black hair reaching past her shoulders. It seemed like this was her first time wearing this outfit, and she wasn't quite used to it. Her cheeks were as red as cherry blossoms, a rosy hue within a delicate white, and she looked incredibly gorgeous.

"Naruto-kun." Hinata lowered her head when she saw Naruto staring at her.

"Oh, I was distracted. Sorry." Naruto praised Hinata without any reservation. "Hinata, you look really good in this dress. It suits your figure very well."

"Thank you." Hinata smiled shyly but with satisfaction.

Although I initially wore a skirt just to make a change before I became an adult, and I didn't intend to dress up specifically for a date, I still had a glimmer of anticipation in my heart, hoping to be praised.

She is different from other girls. If other girls need a bucket of praise to be satisfied, Hinata only needs a small cup.

A little bit of praise is enough to support her to persevere and spend a period of time happily. This kind of happiness can last for a long time, even half a year.

Naruto is already used to praising Hinata whenever he sees her. It doesn't take much effort to do it. Besides, Hinata is really pretty, with smooth and tender skin.

"You didn't have this hairstyle the last time I saw you? Have you changed your hairstyle?" Naruto asked curiously.

"Well...I made some changes, not many actually." Hinata looked at the roadside with a vague look, pinching the hem of her skirt with her hands, her face flushed.

"Really? It suits you very well and looks so cute." Naruto praised casually.

".....But...cute?" Hinata felt her heartbeat speeding up to a point where she could hardly bear it. She turned her head abruptly and quietly exhaled twice.

If she only needed a small cup of praise to be happy for a long time, then Naruto was now driving a sanitation sprinkler truck and using a thick hose to fill the cup with water.

The two were completely on a different level, and Hinata's heart rate kept increasing throughout the journey.

However, Naruto was so good at flirting that he had become numb to it and it had become a passive skill. He didn't think he said anything special.

Seeing that Hinata's face was red the whole time, he even touched her forehead with his hand. Hey, isn't she sick?

Since it is certain that she is not sick, just treat her as happy.

"Hinata? What's wrong with you?" Naruto called out several times before Hinata came to her senses.

She shook her head violently, clenched her palms as if she was uncomfortable, and responded nervously.

"No...nothing."

Last year, Kyuubi had come to Hinata's place to drink, but Naruto had never been able to repay the favor. Hinata was usually busy on missions or dealing with family matters, so she had no time to accept the invitation.

A date that had been postponed from last year until now, but it was all worth the wait. It's not the thief you fear, but the thief who remembers it. Damn, this thief has a very good memory.

"Oh, then let's go pick out a gift together and see if there's anything you like." Naruto said with a smile, "We agreed that thank you for taking care of my dog."

"Ah? Don't take that kind of thing to heart." Hinata lifted the hair beside her ear feeling a little guilty. She didn't dare to say that during that time she thought of the Nine-Tails as Naruto and was missing him.

Because she couldn't see Naruto at all during that time, she almost closed her heart after they parted that day, and only thought about training and completing missions to become stronger.

Until they bumped into Kyuubi by chance on the wall. Its fiery red, glossy fur was so eye-catching that Hinata instantly recognized Kyuubi. And Kyuubi also recognized Hinata, the other owner of that little brat.

Later on, things happened naturally. Kyuubi, that stupid dog, only knew how to drink. At the beginning, Hinata fed him good sashimi, but the stupid dog vomited it out.

He wrote the word "wine" on the ground with his claws, showing a dog-licking expression. Although Hinata was shocked, but considering that it was Naruto's dog, she secretly stole the high-quality wine specially provided by the Hyuga family.

The Nine-Tails enjoyed the wine for half a year, but was finally discovered by Naruto and forcibly taken back.

The matter was simple. In fact, he didn't need to bring Hinata to choose the gift in person. He had already chosen the gift during the New Year's Festival, but after thinking about it, he decided not to give it to her.

Giving a gift wasn't a big deal, but it was a shame to waste an excuse for a date. He had been too idle recently, waiting for news from Sunagakure.

Hinata didn't understand much, so she nodded and followed Naruto into the gift shop.

The gift shop in Konoha doesn't have many new ideas. Most of the items are stuffed toys and other things that little girls would like. Hinata is a little girly, but she is very sensible.

Perhaps because he didn't want to spend too much money, he hesitated between the two small stuffed bears.

"You like this?" he asked.

"Yeah." Hinata blushed for a moment, then worried that Naruto would think she was childish, so she looked up and quickly added, "Hanabi likes it too."

Hinata Hanabi was caught in the crossfire. She was currently practicing the Eight Diagrams Thirty-Two Palms on a wooden stake in the courtyard. The stake was shattered by her complex palm techniques, and her bandaged hand slammed against it again and again.

She didn't like stuffed bears and preferred uglier boy toys, like ninja tools. But at this moment, she didn't feel the backstab from her sister and continued to practice seriously.

The guilt of dragging his sister into this had not yet disappeared, and Naruto said "oh". Fortunately, he was not a scumbag enough to say something outrageous like "should I give her one?"

Although Naruto usually doesn't look very serious, he still knows what's important and what's not.

"Ah, as long as you like it." Naruto looked around and pointed at the largest stuffed bear and said, "Why don't you buy the largest one."

"No! No!" Hinata waved her hands repeatedly. She wanted to say that Naruto didn't do any missions and maybe didn't have much money.

But she didn't want to say it out loud, fearing it would hurt Naruto's pride, so she simply kept silent. In a panic, she looked at the huge size of the stuffed bear and made up an excuse.

"It's too big...too big to take back."

Naruto looked at the bear, then at Hinata, touched his chin, and gave a witty smile.

"You don't have to worry about it."

On the road.

Hinata's eyes were misty. She took a few steps and turned to look at Naruto, with a hint of pleading in her voice.

"Naruto-kun...that gift..."

"What's wrong with the gift?" He looked at Hinata seriously, "Isn't it enough? Let's go buy some more. It's totally fine with me."

"No... I bought too much." Hinata quietly rolled up one hand, looked around nervously, and made sure that no one was around before lowering her voice and speaking softly.

"Can I... not have so much?"

"No." Naruto stopped and said seriously, "This is my heart, how can I refuse it? Will Hinata be confused by this?"

He was so skilled in speaking that Hinata hesitated for a long time and couldn't say no.

So, at the entrance of the Hyuga clan, Naruto calmly took out a stuffed bear as tall as a human from the sealed space. He handed it to Hinata with a serious look on his face and said.

"I'm an outsider, so I won't help you get it in. This is a little gift from me to Hinata. There's more than just this one, there are many more, remember to come out and get them."

Hinata hugged the plush bear and hummed with a blushing face.

Hinata Hiashi looked at him in surprise as he watched his eldest daughter blushing as she went in and out of the house seven or eight times, each time holding a huge stuffed bear.

I couldn't help but think I was seeing a ghost. What was going on? But in order to maintain my father's dignity, I pretended not to see it.

Hinata's heart was about to jump out of her chest, she felt both ashamed and happy.

Chapter 265: Something happened in Sand Village, and before leaving, it was a troubled time

Hinata went in and out seven or eight times and finally took all of Naruto's gifts in.

Holding the last stuffed bear, Hinata's mouth pursed, as if she had been bullied. Naruto's mouth twitched, and he asked seriously, trying not to laugh.

"what happened to you?"

"It's too much," she stammered, looking like she was about to cry. "There's no room for it."

"It's okay, just find a place to put it." He liked to bully Hinata, looking at her aggrieved expression of wanting to cry but unable to, and having to hide her tears.

I wondered if Hinata would also be the introverted type who would cover her mouth and try hard not to shout in that aspect in the future.

In mid-March, something happened in Sunagakure.

When Naruto heard the news, he jumped up from the bed with a start and looked at the secretary Uzuki Yugao who was standing outside the window to deliver the message.

"Really?"

"How could Lady Tsunade's news be false?" Uzuki Yugao said helplessly, secretly cursing him as an idiot, "Hokage Building, you know."

After saying this, the person disappeared in an instant.

Light and shadow danced as Naruto stood on the bed and thought for a while. If Akatsuki was already working on extracting the tailed beasts, then he probably wouldn't be able to deal with Akatsuki alone.

The best helpers are Jiraiya, Kakashi, or Might Guy, but these people are already the backbone of the Konoha ninja lineage.

Having them all participate in the operation would be equivalent to directly hollowing out the Konoha Hokage faction. Such a large-scale operation requires sufficient intelligence support and a decision from the top.

Danzo's Root had talent, but he was the kind of scoundrel who would rather watch Konoha's destruction than preserve its strength. His heart was already twisted, and the Root was a ticking time bomb.

Besides, the two old advisors of Konoha would normally not intervene. For those old guys, it was a shame for a village to fall to the point where the advisors had to intervene.

Shaking his head, Naruto came back to his senses, frowning slightly. The biggest problem now was that no one knew what was going on with Jiraiya, and it was dragging on without a clear understanding.

It's said that this is the son of prophecy. Has Ashura's chakra found the reincarnation of his great enemy again?

After a quick wash, he dragged himself to the entrance to change his shoes. Kyuubi was still lying there resting, looking quite drunk.

Before leaving, he turned his head to look at Kyuubi with a thoughtful expression.