In Konoha, Naruto lies down

Just as he was about to say something, he saw a pretty girl standing behind Naruto. He was slightly startled and immediately swallowed back the words "romance shop" that were about to come out of his throat.

"Who is she?" Jiraiya pointed at Ino and asked.

"My friend, you should have an impression of the daughter of the Yamanaka family."

Ino's face was red and her whole body was shaking. She didn't hear what Naruto and Jiraiya were saying. It was not until Naruto pulled her that she suddenly raised her head.

"This is the lecherous sage." Naruto introduced him to Ino, "His name is..."

"Hello, Master Jiraiya!" Ino bowed suddenly, looking adorably flustered. "My name is Yamanaka Ino, and I am..."

"Hahaha!" Jiraiya was amused and said, clasping his hands and holding the wine bottle, "She's the daughter of that brat from the Yamanaka family, right? Is your father in good health?"

"It's fine, Jiraiya-sama," Ino said with a smile.

She felt relieved immediately. She hadn't expected Jiraiya, one of the legendary Three Ninjas, to be so easy to talk to. She had been so nervous before entering the room that her heart nearly jumped out of her chest.

Naruto rolled his eyes as he watched the two people's boring small talk. Wasn't it obvious that the lecherous sage was about to say the words "brothel" just now?

Good guy, in order to maintain his image, he swallowed it back.

"I'll go get some juice so I can drink some with you." Naruto interrupted at the right time, "You can try some of these dishes before they get cold."

"Okay." Jiraiya put down the bottle excitedly, looked at Ino, and said, "Don't be so reserved, sit down."

Naruto went to get some juice, and Ino smiled and sat down nervously next to the chair.

"Are you living together?" Jiraiya asked suddenly while picking up a piece of food with chopsticks.

"Ah!" Ino waved her hands quickly, "No! No! It's just that today is the New Year's Festival, and my parents are busy going out, so I don't really want to go..."

"And then I didn't feel like watching the shop, so I happened to go to his place!"

"Oh, what a coincidence." Jiraiya nodded, "You two have such a good relationship, it's really enviable."

"That kind of thing..." Ino's face flushed, and the tips of her ears turned red. She stammered, "Actually, our relationship isn't that good. We just run into each other occasionally."

"What's the relationship?" Naruto came back with a bottle of juice and asked casually.

"Nothing... nothing!" Ino denied with a blushing face.

"What did you ask, lecherous sage?" he asked, glancing at Jiraiya who was drinking calmly.

Chapter 169 Going Home

"I didn't ask anything, just asked if you guys were living together."

"No." Naruto was very calm and filled his and Ino's cups with juice. "Such a boring question, only a lecherous sage like you can ask."

"I'm just concerned about you." Jiraiya smiled awkwardly and took a sip of wine.

"Alright, ask whatever you want." Naruto didn't want to embarrass Jiraiya, so he pretended to be indifferent.

He walked over and sat next to Ino, then looked at Jiraiya and asked.

"You're leaving tomorrow?"

"Yes." Jiraiya yawned. Since it was a matter of village secrets, he didn't say much.

The topic naturally turned to Naruto and Ino. Jiraiya pretended to ask some simple questions, such as...

"Did you make this soup?"

"No, Ino cooked it." Naruto said casually.

"Oh, I was wondering why it felt special. Did you cook it in your kitchen? So you guys visit each other often?" Jiraiya was very experienced in making flattering comments and had his own set of rhetoric.

"Well, they keep in close contact, which is normal between good friends," Naruto said seriously.

Ino's eyes were about to ooze tears when she heard this. She fidgeted with embarrassment. She glanced at Jiraiya and then secretly glanced at the calm Naruto. Suddenly, she felt her face burning hot.

I secretly complained in my heart, "What close relationship?! Can't I just tell a lie? It's not nice to lie to your elders, but!! But... it's so shameful."

He must have done it on purpose, foot fetishist, playboy! Go to hell!

"Really? So you're good friends. No wonder you get along so well. When did you get to know each other?" Jiraiya asked nonchalantly while picking up some food.

"We've known each other for quite a while, and we became closer after graduating from the Ninja Academy." Naruto looked like he knew everything, and answered while drinking juice.

Ino, who was standing by, felt so numb from what she heard that she was afraid that Naruto would say something he shouldn't, so she quickly and quietly reached under the table into his clothes.

Through her training uniform, she pinched Naruto's soft waist. Naruto remained calm, only glancing at her with a smile, his eyelids trembling slightly.

Seeing this, Ino pursed her lips complacently and pretended to know nothing.

Under the lamp, Jiraiya held the wine glass in one hand and drank it in small sips. Looking at the two people making small movements, with a smile in his eyes, he suddenly felt like a parent.

"You guys said it's the New Year's Festival, so logically we should go to the shrine together. But it's snowing so hard outside, so there's no need," Jiraiya said.

Jiraiya had never been fond of such bustling scenes. If it hadn't snowed heavily today, he might have considered it. But with the bad weather, forcing a visit wouldn't be appropriate.

"There's no need for that." Naruto turned his head and looked out the window. The heavy snow was flying like goose feathers under the bright yellow street lights.

They stayed a while longer, chatting about some light topics. Jiraiya had traveled extensively, was knowledgeable, and had a witty manner. As the conversation progressed, the atmosphere around the table lightened, and Ino listened with rapt interest, her eyes bright.

Most of the time, Naruto and Jiraiya were talking, Ino would occasionally interject a few words, and the rest of the time she would just sit there and listen.

This was the first time that Jiraiya found Naruto so pleasing to the eye, and he couldn't help but feel that this conscienceless guy had finally shown some sense today.

I was so happy that I drank a few more glasses.

Inside the izakaya, the lights were bright and Jiraiya was drunk. Naruto raised his head, put down the glass of juice, and suddenly spoke.

"Sexy Immortal, she has encountered some difficulties in her practice. Do you have any good solutions?"

"What difficulties?" Jiraiya put down his wine glass and asked with a smile.

"Huh?" Ino was confused. She turned around and looked at Naruto in surprise. Suddenly she realized something and immediately pulled his hand to deny it.

"I don't!"

She looked at Jiraiya again, shaking her head like a rattle.

"Master Jiraiya, don't listen to him, he's talking nonsense!"

Naruto rolled his eyes and said nothing. Jiraiya lowered his eyes for a moment and smiled. He was not afraid of being troubled by Naruto at all. The biggest trouble was that Naruto did not ask him for anything.

"I may not be able to help you much, but you can ask Tsunade, she probably wouldn't mind taking in another disciple. Or ask Utane Koharu, those old guys are usually free."

"This..." Ino was speechless.

"Okay." Naruto nodded.

"What's good?" Ino pulled Naruto's hand and said in a low voice.

Naruto ignored her and said as Jiraiya stood up.

"The snow is getting heavy. We need to go back first."

"Go, go." Jiraiya smiled and waved his hand, feeling mixed emotions. He had been wandering for half his life, and this was the first time he experienced the bitter sense of responsibility.

"Be careful on the road."

"Ah."

"I'm sorry, Master Jiraiya, he always talks nonsense! Please don't take what happened just now to heart..."

Before she could finish her words, Ino was pulled away by Naruto.

Halfway through the walk, Naruto stopped again, turned his head to look at Jiraiya and gave him a warning.

"Don't die out there, lecherous immortal."

"Damn it! You little brat, I'm from Mount Myoboku..." Jiraiya didn't say anything. Naruto had already walked away with Ino, and a big black umbrella was opened at the door.

He stared at it for a while, then suddenly laughed with relief. He got up drunkenly and muttered to himself.

"Well, there's no point in drinking any more."

"Let's finish that thing first. Anyway, that stupid apprentice rarely asks me for help. There's nothing interesting about Konoha's love shop..."

........

On the way home, snowflakes were falling everywhere.

The two walked side by side in silence, with large black umbrellas on their heads.

"Why did you say that just now?" Ino broke the silence and turned her head slightly to glance at Naruto's profile.

"Just a casual question."

"I know you're doing this for my own good, but this isn't appropriate." Ino's expression was a bit complicated. "That's Master Jiraiya. If you say that, I don't want Master Jiraiya to think I'm..."

"He won't think too much about it. I've never asked him for anything." Naruto stopped, and the big black umbrella in the snow also stopped.

"He will be very happy, and he will like you too."

Ino was suddenly speechless, feeling a mixture of emotions. She felt as if she had stepped into a deep pit. If she didn't pull it out now, she might never get another chance.

"Why would you do this for me? I'm just complaining. I can live a good life even if I become an ordinary ninja in the future."

"I'm the eldest daughter of the Yamanaka clan. I might inherit my father's job and work in the Intelligence Department or the Interrogation Department. Even if I don't make any progress, it won't matter much."

The two stood in the snow, the dark night deserted and the streets utterly silent. A street lamp not far away emitted a clear, steady, bright yellow light, illuminating a small corner of the area.

Snowflakes were falling from the sky, and under the light, it looked like a large funnel raining rain. Each snowflake was flying in the yellow light, and landed lightly on the big black umbrella.

When the snow falls heavily, it makes a sound, rustling like a brush scratching across rice paper.

Listening to Ino finish her words in one breath, Naruto had no expression on his face. He did not argue with her, but just looked at her quietly.

It was not until Ino turned her head away unnaturally and stopped looking at him that Naruto asked.

"Is not it good?"

"I don't know." Ino shook her head stubbornly. "That's fine, but it would be too heavy for me. I wouldn't be able to repay you."

Naruto stared at Ino's pretty little face for a while, wondering what happened to her. It was just a small thing.

What he said to Tsunade was the same as what Jiraiya said to Tsunade, except that Naruto asked Jiraiya to be the middleman.

And based on Jiraiya's personality, he would most likely ask Tsunade first and then Utatane Koharu.

"Are you unhappy?" Naruto asked seriously.

"No!" Ino herself didn't know what was wrong with her, but she suddenly found that everything had changed. Naruto seemed to be able to live well without her.

Both Jiraiya-sama and Tsunade-sama were very kind to him. With their strength and status, the Yamanaka clan was nothing in their eyes.

She also wanted to accept his kindness frankly, but if it was an unequal relationship, then... But then she thought about it and realized that when there was not much gap between them, she seemed to be the same as him.

She knew she was being unreasonable, so she wanted to get away as quickly as possible, hiding under the covers and figuring things out bit by bit. All she had to do was wait until tomorrow, get some sleep, and everything would be fine.

"That's good." Naruto didn't think about her thoughts and said with a smile, "I thought you would be so upset that you would run home and cry in bed."

"you!!"

Having her thoughts completely guessed, Ino was so ashamed that she was about to explode, her red lips pressed into a straight line. She pointed at Naruto, shaking with anger, and said viciously.

"I won't! Why would I tell you so much? Just do whatever you want! I won't think of repaying a jerk like you!"

Hearing this, Naruto was happy.

"No, I bought you new clothes."

"Ah!!! Go put it on yourself! Damn pervert!" Ino punched him, her chest heaving with anger.

"I can wear it myself, but it would be a shame if no one appreciates it." As he said that, he took the initiative to grab Ino's hand, pretending nothing happened, and held it tightly.

Ino's eyes widened as she looked at Naruto who was so close to her. She didn't know where to put her other hand. The hand she held was so hot that her heart trembled.

She suddenly realized one thing: no matter what he became, at this age when he was capable of everything, it was not a mistake, but a blessing.

"Send you back?" Naruto asked.

"The Ino-Shika-Cho family celebrates the New Year's Festival together, so my parents are probably not at home right now." Ino said, biting her lower lip.

"Then go home," he said.

Chapter 170 New Year Power Outage

Holding hands all the way, Ino tried to break free several times but failed. Helplessly, she could only let Naruto skillfully lead her back home.

After returning home, Naruto no longer said anything naughty about maid outfits.