In Konoha, Naruto lies down

Chapter 273: Seems to have noticed some strange properties

"Are you really not afraid of being seen?" Naruto stared at her speechlessly, wondering why she was so brave?

"What do you think? Couples would do something as bold as this, right?" Sakura didn't hold back at all.

Naruto: “….”

What kind of excitement is that? Who would be excited by something like this? Naruto grabbed her foot mercilessly, drank tea with one hand and played with it with the other hand for a while before sending it back.

"Why did you think of me?" He returned his attention to the table and concentrated on picking up the food. "Aren't you usually busy with cultivation and work at this time?"

"I'm here to have a free meal with you. Lady Shizune is in the medical department, and Ino is in the Hokage's office, so I don't have to run back and forth." Sakura said after taking a bite of the food.

"Why was Ino transferred to another office?" Naruto was stunned for a moment, put down his chopsticks and looked up and asked.

"She'll be seconded temporarily. Who knows what's going on in the Hokage Building?" Sakura said without even looking up. "Now that you know where she is, why don't you go and coax her?"

"We have to eat first. We can't go there on an empty stomach," said Naruto.

"How are you going to thank me for telling you this news?" she asked.

"Free meal?"

"Deal." Sakura ate each bite carefully. "I'm counting on you for the next half month. I can barely afford to eat."

Seconded for half a month? That's a long time. Naruto had an idea in his mind, but he didn't pay too much attention to it. It was just a secondment, not something too unusual.

"Are you short of money?"

"We're short of food! The salary I get from working at Konoha Hospital is barely enough to support my life." Sakura put down her chopsticks after she had almost finished eating and complained.

"I'm lucky enough to be Tsunade-sama's disciple. Asking for special treatment is too much. Besides, I've recently found a house I've set my eyes on."

"Hmm???" Naruto asked directly. It was interesting that Konoha was buying a house.

"Aren't you the only daughter in your family?"

"Yeah." Sakura said, clenching her fists and said, "I don't plan to tell my parents. I'll buy it secretly."

"Let me guess, you're not planning to buy the one next to mine, are you?" He asked Sakura, staring at her with a frown.

"no.

"That's good."

"I'll buy yours and become your landlord," she said.

"What?" Naruto almost stood up. "Are you okay? What's wrong with you? It's a waste of money!"

"I've inquired, and you're renting this place. I want to buy it outright." Sakura said, counting on her fingers, "I'm still a little short of money."

"Wait, do you have a grudge against me, Haruno Sakura?"

"Um...no." Sakura turned sideways, looking shy.

Seeing this, Naruto's eyelids twitched and he stared at her and said.

"You still want to make me homeless even though we have no grudges?"

"Hehe, I just want to try out what it feels like to be your landlord." Sakura said half-seriously, making Naruto a little confused about what she was thinking.

"Whatever you want," Naruto said, "How much is the difference?"

"You want to lend it to me?" Sakura seemed a little excited.

"You can consider it. It's not auspicious to borrow money from friends, so I'll just give it to you directly." He said after thinking for a while.

"Really?"

"It's fake." Naruto rolled his eyes at her and ruffled her hair again. "What the hell are you thinking? I must be sick to lend it to you."

"What do you have to exchange?" He leaned back in his chair and asked casually.

"All of it," she said, half jokingly.

Naruto turned his head away from her, thinking for a moment before saying anything. Seeing that he was silent, Sakura also fell silent, and the two of them stared at each other across the table.

"Are you serious?" he asked.

"Yeah, seriously!" Sakura nodded.

"Let's talk about it later. Come over on time tomorrow for dinner. That's all." He stood up and said.

"You make it yourself?" Sakura was a little surprised. She thought to herself, you can't really save money just because I eat for free, right? That would be too much of a disregard for me.

"no."

"Oh, so where are we going to eat tomorrow?"

"What goes where?"

"Ok?"

"Of course I don't do it, you do it."

"????" Sakura was stunned and looked at Naruto with a puzzled expression, "Are you serious?"

"Of course." Naruto was already preparing to go out. "Money doesn't come easily, so save as much as you can. As for the ingredients, I'll prepare them for you."

"It's going to be cold tomorrow, so remember to wear black stockings with your jeans."

Sakura was stunned as she watched Naruto pay and walk away. She lowered her head and thought, isn't this like selling herself out? A free cook?

It seems like I didn’t lose money, but it also doesn’t seem like I made any profit. I’m really disappointed.

afternoon.

Naruto found Hinata, who had just taken her vacation, and immediately took her hand and led her to a secluded area in the bamboo forest, where the shade was cool and the spring breeze was blowing.

Hinata's face flushed crimson, and she didn't dare look up the entire time, fearing she might run into her tribesmen. She carefully controlled her breathing throughout the journey, and finally arrived at the bamboo forest without incident.

"Um...Hinata, do you still have the wine from last time?"

"Huh?" Hinata was stunned for a moment, then looked up and asked, "What kind of wine?"

"It's the same wine you feed the fox hound. Give me some more, please!" Naruto said, holding Hinata's hand.

"Um... that's no problem." Hinata's voice gradually lowered, "Um... Naruto-kun, let me go first, I will get it for you."

"I want a bottle." He didn't let go immediately, but instead squeezed her soft, boneless little hand. "Do you have a bottle?"

"...Yes." Hinata's voice was almost trembling. Seeing a tribe member walking towards them not far away, her body almost collapsed.

"Huh?" Naruto turned his head and obviously noticed the passerby. Without thinking too much, he pulled Hinata over and held her in front of him and hid behind the tree together.

He wanted to ask the Nine-Tailed Fox to do something, but he couldn't let go of his pride and didn't want to lower his attitude. In order to catch the Nine-Tailed Fox, he went to Hinata to ask for the secret wine of the Hyuga family.

While holding Hinata, he was still thinking about how to make the Nine-Tails take the initiative to take the bait. Suddenly, he felt the girl in his arms move unusually, so he lowered his head to check.

Hinata's face turned red all the way to her ears, and her body seemed to be turning into water, which almost made him a little dazed.

"Hinata, are you okay?" He supported Hinata.

"I'm fine." Hinata quickly escaped from Naruto's arms, took a few steps back and almost fell, stammering, "I...I'll go back first, wait for me a moment."

Looking at Hinata's hurriedly departing back, Naruto looked at the passers-by who had already left, and a thoughtful expression appeared on his face.

He knew that Sakura was just talking nonsense, and she'd run away if he took it seriously, like a coward. But Hinata wouldn't be... the type to enjoy excitement, right?

It seems like he noticed some strange attributes of Hinata.

Chapter 274: The Whirlpool Fisherman is Busy, Disturbing the Nine-Tailed Fox

The bamboo forest is quiet and the spring is fading.

Hinata had gone back to get some wine, and Naruto leaned against a green bamboo, took out his intimate paradise, and waited patiently while watching.

I thought that time flies by and early summer is about to come.

Akatsuki's plan to capture the One-Tail has failed, Jiraiya hasn't returned from searching for the Child of Prophecy, and Kakashi is busy. With the Rain Country investigation mission still far away, he can only make some preparations on his own.

Putting everything else aside, the fact that Akatsuki didn't exist in this world was important to him. This was a fateful battle of life and death. Either all Akatsuki members would die, or he would die.

As for the hidden treasures beneath the Whirlpool Kingdom, he didn't have time to bother with them for now. Talk of making the Whirlpool Kingdom great again was ultimately just a lie to our ancestors.

Who with a missing brain stem would start a harem on an isolated island?

Just as I was lost in thought, a figure appeared from the Hyuga gate. Even though it was broad daylight, he was looking around cautiously, as if he was spying on someone.

Okay, now he was basically confirmed that Hinata was just simply timid.

"Here, Naruto-kun, is this enough?" She handed over a jade bottle of wine. The bottle was obviously more expensive than the wine. "If it's not enough, I will..."

"Enough, enough." Naruto took it and thought to himself that with this bait, he didn't have to worry about the Nine-Tailed Fox not taking the bait.

"Thank you, Hinata. I'll treat you to dinner next time." He said with a smile. Seeing Hinata blushing, he couldn't help but reach out and gently pinch her face.

It touches and leaves immediately, without any unnecessary movements.

"I'm...I'm also very happy to be able to help Naruto-kun." Hinata said hesitantly, "I'm fine."

"Thanks for your help." Naruto put the jade bottle into the sealed space, and suddenly remembered Sakura's words. He couldn't help but feel curious, "Hinata, have you been busy recently?"

"Huh?" Hinata was obviously surprised, "I...I'm not busy."

"Are there no missions recently?" he asked with some confusion. It was not Naruto's fault. He really had not participated in many missions recently and was almost isolated by Tsunade.

Kakashi is studying, Sakura is also studying, Sasuke has transferred to Orochimaru's school and is likely to have betrayed his teacher. Team 7 is in name only, and the so-called reorganization has been suppressed.

The village had already begun training ninjas of Konohamaru's generation and had invested more teachers in the ninja school. He knew this, which was why he taught Konohamaru and his trio the Rasengan that day.

"There have been fewer missions lately, after all, I'm almost a jonin." Hinata whispered, "People like Shino who are strong actually have more missions."

"As for me...if Team 8 doesn't have any special missions, I'll probably come back and participate in the family's daily affairs."

"Diverted?" Naruto muttered.

"what?"

"Nothing." He changed the subject and said, "Did your last training go smoothly?"

The bamboo leaves rustle and the sound of wind is pleasing to the ears.

The moist air was refreshing, and Hinata subconsciously tucked her hair behind her ears, her inner tension easing considerably. Upon hearing this, her expression visibly darkened.

"Failed."

"Oh, it's okay, don't be discouraged." Naruto comforted, glancing at Hinata's white eyes for a moment, thinking that Hinata must have the bloodline of Otsutsuki Hamura in her body.

"There will be opportunities in the future. Besides, being powerful also brings a lot of trouble. Look at Lady Tsunade, she's like a nagging woman all day long. Every time she gets drunk, she shouts about retiring."

"Anyway, that kind of thing can't be rushed."

This was what he really thought. If he had no choice, he wouldn't want to deal with Akatsuki all the time. He wanted to be like Kakashi, powerful but not ignored.

If you want to be at ease, then be at ease for a while. If you don't want to do something, just say no. Freedom, I guess, is simply not doing what you don't want to do.

But it's useless to think too much now, let's just take it one step at a time. I just hope Jiraiya can be more capable and bring back some fresh information.

His thoughts drifted away before Hinata's voice brought him back to reality.

"Okay, I see." Hinata glanced at him stealthily again, "Naruto-kun, are you free tomorrow? You've always taken good care of me, I...I want to treat you to...a meal."

"tomorrow?"

"Ah! If... I don't have time, then forget it. I just..." Hinata seemed very flustered. She didn't dare to look up at all. Her hands were tightly grasping the corner of her clothes. This was the first time she took the initiative to ask Naruto out.

She had never had the courage to do so before, and just speaking normally took all her energy. But Naruto had always been very kind to her, and she had grown up to be a very good girl.

But when I think about how Ino and Naruto's relationship is much better than hers, and how the three of them were originally very close. If I wait any longer, maybe...

"Tomorrow night?" he asked.

Thinking about the lunch that Sakura had agreed to as a price for exchanging information, it would be a bit awkward to break the promise on the first day. If the appointment was in the evening, then it would be fine.

"......Okay." Hinata nodded like a chick pecking at rice, and ran away after saying that. "Then...see you at the wall tomorrow night!"

"Wall?" He turned and looked into the distance. Beyond the wall was an old, blocked alley. It wasn't far from the Hyuga base, but on the back of Konoha Street.

After crossing the alley and passing the rooftops of several buildings, we arrived at 404 Konoha Street. It wasn't a very remote location, but it wasn't in the center of the village either.

Hinata had long since disappeared. He thought it was just a meal and didn't take it too seriously. While thinking about how to fish for the Nine-Tailed Fox, he slowly turned and left.

At the gate of the Hyuga base, Hinata secretly leaned half of her body out, took a look with a blushing face, and watched him leave.

The next second, a familiar voice sounded.