In Konoha, This Naruto Has Decided To Take It Easy

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In front of the big green tree, the light from the streetlamp is dim and weak.

An old couple who had just returned from visiting a friend stopped in front of the big green tree. Inoichi turned his head toward the direction of the tree, pointing to the area behind it, and asked curiously, "Rino, did you hear someone crying?"

Rino turned her head and looked at the green tree for a few seconds, then said with her eyes slightly shifting, "Really? Inoichi, why don't you go take a look?"

"Alright." Inoichi responded and walked over there.

Behind the big green tree, when Ino heard her father's voice, her mind went blank.

She quickly let go of Naruto, causing her sobbing to stop abruptly. However, the sudden silence made her body start trembling, and the tears continued to flow.

Listening to the increasingly clear footsteps of her father, Ino's heart was beating wildly. She was so nervous that she clung tightly to Naruto’s neck. Leaning close to his ear, she whispered urgently, "What should we do?"

Naruto didn’t respond with words. Instead, he gently pulled Ino to the side, trying to move them out of sight. He could feel Ino’s rapid heartbeat and noticed how agitated she was, breathing heavily.

Sensing her distress, he held onto her hand, and the warmth from his palm helped Ino regain a bit of composure. And at this moment, Inoichi’s footsteps were approaching. The two of them knew that if Inoichi took just two more steps, they’d be discovered with nowhere to hide.

Just then, Rino’s voice called out from a short distance away, "Inoichi, I think Ino might still be in the shop."

"Hmm?" Hearing this, Inoichi turned his head to look at his wife, "Ino was still napping this afternoon. Is she already awake?"

Behind the big green tree, Ino covered her mouth tightly. At this time, her father's voice was only two meters away from them, with the tree providing just enough cover for them to hide.

"Let’s go back and check on her. She’s been working too hard on her missions." Rino said with a light chuckle.

"Okay."

After Inoichi said that, he turned around and walked back, and the sound of his footsteps slowly faded away.

"I need to get home right now!" Ino, as if jolted by electricity, quickly pulled her hand away from Naruto's, stammering as she backed out from the shadow of the tree, "You, you, you..."

Naruto was speechless at how quickly Ino's demeanor had changed. She stammered out a few ‘you’s, but ultimately couldn't find the words to express herself, her face flushing red before she spun around and dashed off.

Half a minute later, Naruto also stepped out from behind the tree. He stood under the tree for a moment, looking at the brightly lit Yamanaka Flower Shop, then turned and left.

Taking advantage of the night, he walked along Konoha Street to buy something to eat before heading home. The street, lined with shops and bustling like a string of lights, was crowded with people. Naruto blended into the crowd, casually scanning the food stalls along the way.

The sizzle of hot oil and the bright lights of the stalls were accompanied by the noisy chatter of people.

"Yes, I’ll have some takoyaki and that one." He pointed at the golden food, but for a moment he couldn't remember the name, and he stood there without speaking.

"Tempura." Someone behind him reminded.

"Yeah, that." Naruto echoed, but when he turned around, he froze.

"What’s with that look on your face? Surprised to see me?" Sakura asked with a smile.

Her eyes curved into crescent moons, her pink short hair and dark blue eyes reflecting the bright lights of the street and Naruto’s astonished face.

Her skin was as white as snow, with bare arms that resembled lotus roots, naturally hanging at her sides.

"No, nothing, Sakura. Weren’t you training at the Konoha Hospital under Tsunade-sama?" Naruto, recalling the awkward situation in the duty room last month, felt a bit embarrassed.

Her ‘Who is Sasuke?’ remark had truly shaken him. After that, with the heavy load of missions, he had simply avoided seeing her. Without Sasuke, Team 7 existed in name only. Kakashi had been handpicked by Tsunade as her successor, so he was busy training and completing missions to build up his experience, leaving little time to manage them.

Sakura had entered Tsunade’s medical training program for further studies, while Naruto, serving as Konoha’s temp worker, flexibly joined various Genin Teams for missions.

In general, the situation of Team 7 is like this: The rebellious Sasuke dropped out to seek revenge, Sakura took the initiative to take the postgraduate entrance examination and was admitted, the former mentor Kakashi was forced to pursue a doctorate, and only Naruto, the street drifter, remained stuck in limbo, unable to graduate as a Genin.

"Today happens to be my day off, so I decided to go out for a stroll." Sakura smiled naturally, as if she didn't remember what happened some time ago at all.

"But Naruto, you seem to have been quite busy lately. I haven’t seen you or Kakashi-sensei in a while now."

"After the Chunin Exams, the village accumulated a lot of missions, so being busy was unavoidable." Naruto scratched his face and chatted calmly.

"Customer, your takoyaki and tempura are ready!"

"Oh, oh, thank you."

Naruto reached out to pay and took the food from the vendor. He turned to Sakura, intending to find an excuse to leave, but she quickly grabbed his sleeve and said, "Mine will be ready soon. Just wait for me a moment."

"Uh…"

With his attempt to escape preempted by Sakura, Naruto had no choice but to stand aside and wait. A few minutes later, Sakura emerged from the crowd, blowing on her steaming takoyaki.

"Come walk with me." She said with a smile.

"Okay." After a moment's thought, Naruto agreed.

The nighttime scenery of Konoha Street wasn’t particularly impressive, even somewhat monotonous, with uniformly dim streetlights that seemed to be on the verge of flickering out. The sky was overcast, with neither stars nor a moon visible, just a dull gray.

Naruto walked ahead with the food in his hand, and his other hand in his pocket. Sakura followed a step behind, leisurely blowing on her takoyaki before taking a bite.

"Aren’t you going to eat?" Sakura's voice came from behind.

"I’ve got a dog at home. I’ll share it with him when I get back." Naruto replied lazily.

“Is it cute?”

"Not really, more like scary." He answered after thinking for a moment.

Sakura chuckled when she heard this, "Scary? What kind of strange creature have you adopted this time?"

"I found him by the roadside. He’s a bit shy."

"Naruto." Suddenly, Sakura stopped walking, calling his name in a serious tone.

"Hmm?" Naruto, now four or five meters ahead of her, stopped as well. Then, he looked back at her, "What's up?"

"Are you avoiding me?"

"No." Naruto denied, but the extremely long distance between the two of them spoke volumes, "I just don’t want any trouble. Do you still remember Sasuke?"

"Well…" Sakura frowned, "Are you asking me, or are you asking her?"

"What do you mean?" Naruto's eyelids twitched slightly.

"The Sakura you know is hiding." Sakura's eyebrows were curved as she smiled. She pointed at her head and said, "I still remember Sasuke-kun."

"Oh, that’s too bad." Naruto said, and immediately turned to leave.

Hurried footsteps followed, and Sakura immediately ran in front of him to block his way, "Why are you reacting like that?"

"I’m not close to you, so there’s nothing to talk about." Naruto replied, his tone completely indifferent.