In Konoha, Naruto lies down

The evil god's lackey locked the Nine-Tails, and also restricted the Akatsuki organization's external force extraction, which was equivalent to putting a layer of armor on the dead dog. If Pain suddenly attacked Konoha, he could just throw the Nine-Tails out and take the beating.

The door slammed shut. Kyuubi had no idea that he had been tricked. He turned over comfortably and continued to sleep.

Hokage Building.

In the corridor, dense sunlight shone onto the walls. Naruto pushed open the door. Inside, a dense crowd of people stood. The Ino-Shika-Cho trio stood at the innermost edge, followed by Team Three, where Neji was.

Xiaoying stood alone, her pale arms hanging down.

He was stunned for a moment, thinking that this mission required so many people? He could understand dispatching Team 3, where Neji was, but what about Team 10, where Shikamaru was?

Ino glanced at Naruto and her mouth pursed slightly.

He saw it, but didn't know how he had offended her, so he pretended to be blind. He coughed and knocked on the door in a pretentious manner.

"Uzumaki Naruto, I'm glad you knocked on the door." Tsunade looked at him speechlessly, "But I don't like you knocking from inside the door."

Whether you like it or not doesn’t stop me from knocking on the door, he silently retorted in his heart.

After a while of noise, Tsunade got to the point.

"The Sunagakure has sent a message for help. The Akatsuki organization injured and captured the Kazekage Gaara. This time, the opponent we are facing is the Akatsuki organization. We must not take it lightly."

"Where is Teacher Kakashi?" Naruto couldn't help but interrupt Tsunade and asked.

Where's Kazi-san? Where's Kazi-san, that big? The two people in the Akatsuki organization responsible for capturing Gaara are most likely Sasori and Deidara, so without Kazi-san, it would be inconvenient.

But in front of all his friends, he couldn't just say, "The enemy is too strong, I'm afraid you can't do it." Words are like spilled water, and there's no way to take them back.

If they are younger, it doesn’t matter, as children speak without restraint.

But now the friends around me are all sixteen or seventeen years old, half a foot into the 18+...bah, eighteen years old.

You should have some self-esteem. The closer your friendship is, the more carefully you should protect it. Otherwise, it will really be true that the older you get, the lonelier you become.

"Kakashi is on a mission and won't be back soon. A message has been sent to him and he will head straight to the Sand Village to provide support," Tsunade said with her arms crossed.

"Oh, there's no need for Teacher Kakashi at all. There are so many of us," said Naruto.

"Konoha doesn't know much about the members of the Akatsuki organization, but according to the information sent by Sunagakure, their strength far exceeds that of ordinary Jonin."

Tsunade frowned and looked at everyone and said.

"This mission will be completed by the eight of you. Shikamaru will be the captain, and Uzumaki Naruto will be honest. The mission is to support the Sand Village. The mission is tentatively designated as A."

"Yes." Shikamaru cheered up and took on the task.

"What do you mean I should be more honest?" Naruto was a little speechless. Wasn't he honest enough? He had been in the village for so long and hadn't even bullied a dog.

Tsunade ignored him and looked directly at Ino.

"Ino, keep an eye on him. Don't let that kid ruin the relationship with the allies."

"Hmm!" The sudden call caught Ino off guard. She straightened up subconsciously and her face turned red after hearing the content.

Sakura stood aside, her expression unchanged. She had long known about Naruto and Ino's relationship and had never given much thought to the future, simply wasting her time living day by day.

For her, traditional moral sense is already difficult to excite her, let alone fall in love.

Shikamaru didn't look at Ino, but glanced at Naruto with his dead eyes, thinking that this guy was really boring. The fact that he could get along so well with several girls proved that Naruto had some brains, even smart.

But every time I asked him to play shogi, he'd come up with all sorts of excuses to decline. What's so fun about women? They'd only slow down his thinking while playing shogi.

A smile appeared on Choji's face. The last time he had a barbecue, he wanted to kill Naruto, but in the end it was Ino who paid for it.

He didn't know if the barbecue was full, but the dog food was full.

He had even specifically asked Shikamaru how he felt about the close relationship between his best friend and him. Choji remembered clearly that Shikamaru looked up at the sky and, after a long pause, uttered the word "idiot."

Tiantian's eyes were fixed on his idol, Tsunade-hime, and he didn't notice anything wrong with that statement. Xiao Li had no eyes for women, so naturally he didn't react.

Neji understood, but the aloof man didn't care.

Naruto looked nonchalant, showing a strong psychological quality. Tsunade's words did not stir up any waves in his heart, and he even thought the words were too childish.

"I...I...Lady Tsunade, I can't do that kind of thing." Ino showed a shy expression on her face and subconsciously waved her hands to deny it.

But inside, she felt a vague sense of happiness, her face flushing bright red. Perhaps feeling the attention from all around, Ino could barely lift her head.

Before Tsunade could reply, Naruto spoke first.

"Okay, okay, I'll be honest now."

Hearing this, Tsunade's lips curled slightly, and she looked at Naruto's frustration, as if she had discovered his little secret, and immediately revealed a triumphant smile. But she quickly realized that this was a formal occasion, and instantly put it away.

Naruto also saw Tsunade's expression, and his eyelids twitched, thinking something was wrong. Knowing Tsunade, that unscrupulous woman, he knew she was probably going to rely on Ino to take advantage of him.

But he didn't care.

"Okay, old rules, everyone get ready, we'll set off in two hours." Shikamaru turned and said to everyone.

The dog-headed military advisor was still very reliable. He gave a few instructions and left immediately. Everyone dispersed. Ino was about to leave when she was stopped by Naruto.

"What...what happened?" Ino turned around and saw Tsunade still sitting there.

Naruto looked at Ino's blushing cheeks with some confusion, wondering what was wrong with this cute expression on her face. No, Tsunade was a woman.

Humph, Tsunade stared at the boy and girl holding hands in front of her with interest. At least that's what she thought. Leaning lazily in the chair, she subconsciously touched the wine jug but found it empty. She was stunned for a moment.

She remembered that there was clearly half a pot of wine just now, how come it was gone again?

"What are you so nervous about?" Naruto said, pinching Ino's hand without changing his expression. "Wait for me downstairs. I have something to tell you."

Ino didn't answer immediately. She glanced cautiously at Tsunade, who was lost in thought as she searched for wine, then hummed softly. She gently broke free from his hand and quickly turned and left.

Tsunade was still frowning as she recalled how much she had drunk in the morning, when Naruto coughed and spoke.

"Don't look for it, I confiscated the wine."

"You!" Tsunade was immediately furious, she wanted to flip over the table and punch him into the wall so hard that she couldn't get him out.

"Don't drink and slack off during working hours. A good Hokage should work hard." Naruto said with a righteous look on his face and an air of superiority.

"What's wrong with you brain? Let me check you out." Tsunade looked around and saw that there was no one around, so she simply put her calves on the edge of the table and rested her head on the soft chair.

"If it needs to be removed, it should be removed. The sooner it is treated, the sooner it will heal."

Hearing the word "cut" come out of Tsunade's mouth, Naruto felt a chill. Frowning, he spoke straight to the point.

"Can Kakashi-sensei provide timely support?"

Hearing this, Tsunade's expression turned serious and she retracted her legs. She pondered for a moment, knocked on the table again, and then spoke.

"It should work."

"Don't worry, I was just about to say that the more people there are, the more likely it is to cause trouble." He said, "Seven or eight Chunin, if they run into the Akatsuki organization, it will all be over."

"I know." Tsunade pinched her brows and sighed, "The incident happened suddenly. There is no news from Jiraiya yet, so the Akatsuki organization's intelligence cannot be fed back in time."

"Even if we wanted to dispatch elite jonin, it would be very troublesome. After all, we don't have accurate intelligence to round up the Akatsuki members. If we fail, it will only leave people with the impression that we are wasting village resources."

"And this time the mission is only to support Sunagakure. Some of the elders in Sunagakure are still stubborn and have deep prejudices against Konoha."

Having said that, Tsunade subconsciously reached for the wine glass, but found nothing and gave up, then continued.

"Including that old, immortal advisor from Sunagakure. They don't believe Konoha can easily reach a reconciliation with Sunagakure. Their thinking is still stuck in the era of the Third Shinobi World War."

Hearing this, Naruto was stunned for a moment. He didn't think that deeply.

"Shouldn't we send a jonin to lead the team? If we just send a few chuunin bastards, won't that give the Sand Village people something to talk about?"

"I'm busy with missions lately, so let it go. Those people think every dog ​​in Konoha is black, so it doesn't matter." Tsunade waved her hand and said nonchalantly.

Looking at Tsunade's rogue behavior, Naruto didn't know what to say for a moment.

"Anyway, I'm not asking you to follow up to get you into trouble." Tsunade continued, "Don't cause too much conflict with the Sunagakure side. After all, they are allies."

"Also, don't let those kids suffer too much. If anything goes wrong, I'll cover for you."

Tsunade had subconsciously ignored Naruto's age and excluded him from the group of children. Naruto didn't think anything was wrong when he heard it, and nodded.

"As long as we don't run into the Akatsuki organization on the way, just in case a fight breaks out..." He said with some concern, "Is there still no news from the Lecherous Immortal?"

"No." Tsunade shook her head. "He has always been used to freedom. He will not pass on any information without getting accurate information."

The conversation ends here.

Naruto walked downstairs slowly with something on his mind, and saw Ino pacing downstairs.

Her eyes were not directly on Naruto, but looked behind him, and she only breathed a sigh of relief when she was sure that Tsunade did not go downstairs.

The mental pressure of facing the Hokage was still too great. Just because Naruto could chat with Tsunade casually didn't mean the others could. Although Tsunade had always been very friendly and had no airs.

But after all, she is the idol of all Konoha female ninjas and one of the three ninjas. No matter what, she still can't be as casual as Naruto.

"What are you looking at?" He stretched out his hand and waved it casually in front of Ino.

"I was so scared by what Lady Tsunade just said." Ino patted her chest in fear, with a guilty look on her face, "Are you scared?"

"Oh, I'm scared," he said.

Ino couldn't help but hit him, and then she realized that this was a disguised admission of guilt. She was suddenly flustered and a little tangled, as if this was also a good thing.

But she was a little unsure about Naruto's thoughts. Thinking of Hinata, her brows suddenly furrowed and her tone became dissatisfied.

"What do you want to say to me?"

"Hmm?" Naruto was somewhat amazed at Ino's changing expression every few seconds, wondering if this woman's expression changed faster than the weather. She was so cheerful just now, and then she changed in the blink of an eye.

Chapter 266 Let him go

"Where is the bracelet I gave you?" He glanced at Ino's white wrist and asked with some dissatisfaction.

"It's gone." Ino hid her hands behind her back, looking reluctant, but she didn't dare to meet his gaze, so she could only look at the ground on the other side.

"Find it back. I'll go with you."

Naruto seemed to have nothing to do and turned a deaf ear to the promise to gather in two hours.

In reality, he had nothing to clean up, and he was also certain that Ino hadn't lost the bracelet. He was just looking for an excuse to disrupt Ino's mood and switch from a passive position to an active one.

Ino's breathing really became rapid. She had kept the bracelet well, and what she just said was just an angry remark.

The two hadn't actually seen each other much during this period, mainly because Ino was too busy. She wanted to meet Naruto, but she didn't want to be too obvious about it.

"The mission is about to begin, it's too late to look for him now." Ino made up an excuse, but was a little worried that he would really just say "oh" and turn around and leave.

"I don't need to prepare. Let's go to your house. You just need to prepare it and I will help you find it." Naruto looked at the sunlight in the distance and squinted his eyes.

There was nothing special about him looking for Ino, he just noticed that she was a little upset.

But he could see that, so he wouldn't be so foolish as to keep asking. Their relationship was still ambiguous, and digging deep into it would be a miracle if he could find out anything.

He was walking around, and looking for the bracelet was just an excuse. The point was to go to her house.

After thinking about it, Ino didn't refuse. She said "oh" and started walking towards the outside of the Hokage Building. Naruto followed slowly, not in a hurry at all.

Ino's long legs swayed in front of her, and her slender figure was very pleasing to the eye. Two red hairpins were pinned on both sides of her head, and her thick golden bangs drooped.

In fact, Ino would look better with her bangs clipped up.

He had wanted to appease Ino, but then he realized that he was the one questioning her and couldn't lower his stance. After all, there was still no definite news about the "lost" bracelet.

You don't have to pretend to be angry, but you should still be sulking. No matter how childish the thing is, if you do it with someone you like, even sulking can be fun.

Speechless all the way.

As she neared the Yamanaka Flower Shop, Ino estimated she had already spent nearly twenty minutes on the road. Adding the time she'd spent waiting downstairs, she only had about an hour and a half left.

"Okay, I didn't lose the bracelet. I kept it well." Ino still couldn't keep her composure, turned to look at Naruto and confessed.

At this moment, they were not far from the big green tree across the street from the Yamanaka Flower Shop. Hearing this, Naruto first glanced at her and pretended to be unbelieving.

"You're kidding me, aren't you? I worked so hard to save up money to buy you a bracelet, and you just threw it away."

"I didn't throw it away!" Ino emphasized again, raising her voice. "I told you I put it away. You'll see when I show it to you later. I didn't lie to you."

The two walked forward slowly.

"So what did you just say..." he asked hesitantly, turning his head to look at Ino.

Ino couldn't stand that look and said in surrender, "I just said it casually to piss you off. Who knows how many girls you've given bracelets like this to."

"Just you," he said.

The bracelet was indeed only given to Ino, the bracelet given to Sakura, and the ones given to Hinata were a few stuffed bear toys. So, in fact, what he said was the truth.