In Konoha, Naruto lies down

"When did you come back?" Ino looked very happy with a smile on her face.

"Yesterday." He lied without changing his expression. He glanced around and found that many people were looking at the two of them.

While secretly thinking about how popular Ino was, he openly pulled her aside. While silently thinking about how to stop those animals from thinking about it, he asked without meaning it.

"Why are you all looking this way?"

"What?" Ino was obviously used to it. She turned slightly to the side and felt the gaze behind her. After a moment of hesitation, she said, "Don't worry about that kind of thing."

"Oh~." He drawled out the tone.

Ino blushed and punched him. She turned her head and glanced behind him, hesitated for a moment, then leaned over to his ear and whispered.

"Sit there for a while until I get off work. I've encountered some difficulties with the communicator, and I'd like to discuss some details with you."

"Okay." Naruto agreed, feeling a little like laughing.

He knew nothing about technology, and he knew nothing about communicators. Ino was just making up an excuse, even though only the two of them knew about the communicator.

After saying that, Ino ran back to her post.

Naruto didn't wait here, he went out to buy a drink and came back. Outside the corridor was the golden dusk, like large patches of golden sunset falling.

A slightly cold wind blew in, and Naruto sat aside waiting silently.

About half an hour later, even though it wasn't time to get off work, Ino sneaked out alone. Seeing Naruto trying to call her from a distance, she was so scared that she quickly waved her hands to signal him to be quiet.

Oh, I ran away secretly. It’s shameful to skip work.

"Don't shout!" Ino walked up to him, reached into his warm cotton jacket and twisted it, "Do you want me to be discovered? ...What are you doing? Let's go."

Chapter 297: Secretly hiding emotions, but forgetting that eyes can speak

Someone in the Intelligence Department discovered that Ino had secretly skipped work, but they were not too surprised, after all, they did this often.

In fact, as long as you don't get caught, it's not a big deal. At most, you'll get a few words of reprimand, and even your salary won't be deducted. The main reason is that the talent in the Intelligence Department is too rare, so there are some hidden special treatments.

If anyone else did this, it wouldn't be surprising, but it was unusual for the popular and well-behaved "Flower of the Intelligence Department" to do this. Someone noticed that Ino had skipped work today and was walking off with a young man, behaving intimately.

"Who is that person?"

The Intelligence Department has a constant stream of new recruits, all of whom are not very old.

The fox demon rumor ended six years ago due to Tsunade's intervention. In the past few years, Naruto has been doing field missions, usually staying at home or going on missions for a year or two.

The village had changed a lot, with new people replacing old ones, so not everyone knew him. Some newcomers were completely unaware of the dirty work going on at the top, their information circle limited to the old veterans they had worked with.

"He's from a very important background. It's normal that you don't know him." A young man in his early twenties, holding a thermos cup in his hand, leaned against the edge of the desk and reminisced in the tone of a senior.

"Which rich family kid is this again?" the newcomer grumbled.

"If you really think so, then you are wrong..." The young man opened his mouth and wanted to brag a little, but suddenly remembered that someone had abducted the princess of the Intelligence Department, so why was he pretending to be indifferent?

Thinking of this, he suddenly seemed to have entered sage mode, waving his hand without any desire or interest.

"In short, just don't provoke them."

The twenty-year-old veteran sighed, shook his head, and walked away melancholy, holding the thermos cup. As for which Sahib really messed with Naruto, he had no control over it. It wouldn't cause any big trouble anyway.

There have been people who have pursued Ino over the years, but those second-generation people grew up together, so what can they use to pursue her?

A bunch of idiots thought that Ino was usually friendly to everyone, so they just rushed in without thinking about it. But they didn't consider that she was the beloved daughter of the Yamanaka clan's patriarch, Haiichi, and a true princess of the Yamanaka clan.

Their warm and welcoming attitude doesn't mean they have low standards. Every year at the New Year's Festival, who doesn't know that the second-generation Ino-Shika-Cho can completely carry the show on their own?

Moreover, although there are Genin graduating from the Ninja School every year, the most outstanding class in recent years is undoubtedly the second generation of ninjas, some of whom have even achieved the title of Jonin several years ago.

At this point, Naruto had no idea that he was being talked about.

He was walking with Ino, chatting idly, when they wandered onto Konoha Street. In the golden dusk, the street looked deserted.

"Do they know you're back?" Ino glanced at him.

"They?" Naruto casually looked at the shops on both sides of the street, his long legs moving rhythmically, neither fast nor slow, just enough to pull Ino forward half a step.

"Shikamaru, Chouji... and Hinata."

Hearing this, he realized something was wrong. All that casual chat he had just had turned out to be just prelude.

The early spring wind was chilly, and the entire golden dusk seemed frozen. After saying that, Ino felt a little regretful for having said it without paying attention.

At that moment, her senses became sharp, and her heart was pounding like a drum. The sounds around her were infinitely amplified, and the rustling of footsteps was heard softly.

"Shikamaru?" He said calmly, "Of course I'll look for you first when I get back. I can't contact them either, unless communicators are invented in the future."

"Besides, why would I look for them? As soon as I get back, I'll naturally look for you first."

Naruto thought to himself that Sakura didn't count, after all, she had come to him on her own, without him knowing anything about it. So to be precise, apart from reporting to Tsunade, the first person he contacted was indeed Ino.

"Really?" Ino glanced at Naruto dimly. She was not disgusted by his pretending to be confused. Instead, she looked up and smiled sweetly in the frozen golden dusk.

"Hearing you say that, even if you're lying to me, I'm still happy. Let's... go find something to eat."

How could he let Ino off so easily? She was already jealous at such a young age. He had to pay a price to prevent her from being jealous in the future.

"So you think I found Hinata first and then came to you?" he asked directly, turning to look at her, "Do you think I like Hinata more than you?"

"When did I...I didn't mean that."

"Do you really care about this?" A trace of surprise flashed across Naruto's face.

"I..." Ino's face turned slightly red.

People are like this, they hide their emotions in their hearts and want others to notice them, but when they are really noticed, as soon as they speak out, it feels like they have done something wrong.

"Is it obvious?" She asked quietly, glancing quickly at Naruto.

"Ah."

The New Year's Festival had just passed, and Naruto wasn't wearing much. He was wearing a thin, fitted black sweatshirt, his blond hair soft and casual.

Thanks to Master Cardo, he had never lacked money since he was a child, and his nutrition was adequately guaranteed.

After the age of eighteen, there was a tall, thin, blond boy, who was cold and aloof when he was silent. When the two of them walked together, their youthful aura filled the air, attracting the attention of some passersby along the way.

Ino would occasionally glance sideways at the boy she liked, whether they were talking or arguing, and she couldn't help but think that if they were together in the future, he would be the only one who would stick with her through the hardships and sweetness of her life.

Seeing Naruto walking in front with his hands in his pockets without saying a word, she couldn't help but poke his waist and asked.

"What would you do if I told you that I was really jealous of Hinata?"

He glanced at Ino with his head tilted, thinking to himself, Ino was more like a girlfriend in love. She would get jealous, act like a spoiled child, and pour out her endless love without reservation like the scorching sun.

Such a character can only be nurtured in a honey-pot family atmosphere. Everyone loves her, so she also learned how to love seriously.

"Then I'll have to go find Hinata," he said.

He soon got a response, the soft flesh around his waist was twisted hard. Ino groaned and almost fell on Naruto and said.

"Can't you just pretend?"

"You know me. I never lie." He said calmly, reaching out and pulling Ino in. "Are we lovers?"

"How...how is this possible!" Ino blushed and spoke incoherently, "I...I."

"That's it." Naruto patted her head, "We're not lovers, so why are you so controlling of me that you can't even see my friends?"

"I didn't say that!" Ino was suddenly speechless, but she felt like something was wrong, but she couldn't put it into words for a while.

Seeing Naruto had already walked forward, she could only follow him sullenly. She muttered words like "cunning and evasive" and seemed to have figured out the guy's intentions.

The two walked along the way and found a random restaurant to eat something. At the table, Ino didn't mention any jealous topics anymore, but kept talking about the chakra communicator.

She wanted to do that because of her selfish motives and her idealistic ideals. Her selfish motive was that even if they were not together, they could still keep in touch.

Her ideal was to contribute to the development of the village, to incorporate the communication system as soon as possible, and to promote the innovation of Konoha's chakra communication technology. For her, ideals and selfishness were not contradictory.

"Let me tell you..." Ino has fair skin and a smooth jawline. Being a ninja is a profession that requires a lot of physical training, so she naturally has a good figure.

Passersby outside the store, just by looking back and glancing at the face and blurry figure in the window, knew that the owner was a real beauty.

They probably didn't expect that Naruto, who was sitting opposite Ino, didn't know much about technical matters. He listened to Ino's excited talk without a trace of impatience on his face.

Even if he didn't quite understand what he was saying, it didn't stop him from looking very interested. Even if he didn't understand what he was saying, he would still pick out a few sentences and occasionally interrupt to ask a few questions in order to appear genuine.

This guy is quite a bitch when he talks. Out of the blue, he asks, "Where are you going tonight? Are you coming to my place on your day off?" One question after another, it's hard to guard against.

Ino wasn't fooled, having grown up avoiding suspicion. If she had a clear conscience, she wouldn't have to do this, but she did. She was sure that if she went to him now, she might have a child in a while.

She doesn't want to have a child so early and is not mentally prepared yet.

Two years ago, in the store, she almost couldn't help wanting to give it to him, which also became the itch that would come back from time to time in Ino's heart. When she thought of him, she would close her eyes and breathe heavily.

Even though she would not say these words out loud, and even carefully hid her emotions, she forgot that her eyes could also speak.

"By the way, I'm going to see my grandmother in a couple of days. Do you want to go?"

"What?" Naruto was startled.

Wasn't the topic changing too quickly? Meeting the parents already? Wasn't that a bit too sudden? No, it seemed like they'd already met, so there was no pressure.

"Don't you have time?" Ino asked, holding up her face.

"Not really, it's just a little strange." He touched the water glass on the table, his eyes starting to wander. "Why do you suddenly want to ask me if I'm going?"

"Your parents will be there too, right?"

"No." Ino shook her head. "I used to go alone. Every year after the New Year's Festival, I would find an excuse to secretly visit my grandmother."

Naruto noticed a word, secretly.

I thought to myself, no wonder Ino seems to have disappeared every New Year's Festival, always appearing and disappearing like a ghost, and it's impossible to catch her shadow. There is such a connection between feelings, secretly...

But isn't Ino's grandmother the mother of Lady Yamanaka?

Was there a conflict? So it was an internal conflict within the extended family, and had the relationship always been so tense? Ino was the only one who could visit secretly.

He could even imagine the dignified little old lady sitting there with a crutch, looking down on everything.

Chapter 298: Drowsy, so kissing is like this, searching for each other's breath

"Will you go with me?" Ino's words brought his thoughts back to reality, and he looked very nervous.

"Yeah." He agreed almost instinctively.

Whether it was to see the old lady or Yama, since Ino had asked, he should just accept it. Hesitation would only lead to failure. As for whether it was free or not, that was another matter.

"Really? You're so nice." Ino seemed really moved by Naruto's willingness to agree without hesitation. Her eyes were red and she almost wiped away tears.

"Why are you still cursing?"

"Ah, I don't have any."

"You said I was a good person."

Ino: "........Do you think you'll be happy only if I call you a pervert?"

"Not really." He raised his hand. Even after running around all year round, his skin was still miraculously fair.

Ino also found this a bit strange. But when she thought about how he usually liked to stay at home and lie down, she couldn't help but think that this guy would also find a place to stay when he went out on a mission.

If that was true, then he had truly committed a sin. It wasn't him who had committed the sin, it was Konoha that had committed the sin of producing such an unparalleled monster like him.

If Ino knew that he was really slow in carrying out his mission and liked to find someone to blame, she would probably be shocked again.

After dinner, the two of them found a pub and had a few drinks, though they didn't drink too much. The pub was decorated in a tavern style, and under the dim light, they huddled together and whispered a few words.

Their eyes met, and they melted together instantly, moving apart and then coming together again in a tacit understanding as if nothing had happened. It was like winter snow melting into spring water, melting into each other.

The table was filled with small dishes and a refreshing glass of wine. The two of them sat side by side, at a counter-like location with high stools placed at intervals, creating a charming atmosphere.

"You asked me last time..." Ino was already a little drunk, burying herself in the crook of his neck like a puddle of water, giggling, "Do I miss you? Do you want to know the answer?"

"Yes I do."

"Not at all." She murmured drowsily, her eyes slightly closed.

"Oh." Naruto has a tolerance for alcohol. He supported Ino and occasionally responded to her like coaxing a child, thinking in his heart when to trick Shikamaru out to eat dog food.

Forget Shikamaru's words. This guy is too smart and will see through his plan early. Either stand him up or bring Choji along to share the damage.

He drank slowly, not much, with the limp girl lying on him, his mind drifting away, thinking of Jiraiya of the Land of Rain, and then of Obito.

Ino squinted her eyes and leaned on Naruto as if hugging him, like a pendant. Her head was dull and she felt like she was dreaming.