Seeing Rin frozen for so long, Kakashi also grew uneasy and looked away. Just as he was wondering what had gone wrong, Rin suddenly spoke up.
"Kakashi."
"Yeah?"
"Do you really mean that?"
"Mean what?"
Rin took a deep breath, smiled and didn't say anything.
"Why aren't they moving?" Naruto craned his neck from the rooftop, watching intently.
Ino: "..."
"Stop staring, let's go." She dragged Naruto away without hesitation, "With Kakashi-sensei like that, there's basically no hope."
"Hey, hey, let me watch a little longer."
In the end, Naruto didn't get to see what happened next. All he knew was that they had been busy until 11 PM, and Ino said that she was very sleepy before falling asleep.
When they woke up, it was already dawn. Ino opened her eyes and realized that something really bad had happened. They had been too exhausted last night and she had forgotten to go home. The moment the realization hit, her legs went weak.
"Stop sleeping!" Ino shoved Naruto hard.
"What's wrong? I'll take you back now." Naruto sat up abruptly, then froze. "Ino… why is the moon so bright today?"
"Idiot! That's not the moon… we overslept!" Ino was on the verge of panic, "It's over, it's over, my Dad and Mom were both home last night. I will be beaten to death since I don't go home all night!"
It's not that she will really be beaten to death, but Naruto's credibility with the Yamanaka couple is pretty much exhausted. His name is practically a forbidden word in Ino's household, never to be mentioned.
"I'll take you home first. IfUncle gets angry, I'll explain it to him." Naruto quickly regained his composure, realizing this was a test.
But frankly, Naruto's suggestion was useless. It was obviously a terrible idea. If he showed up to explain, wouldn't that just be Ino admitting guilt?
Was this situation serious? Not really. Ino could easily lie her way out of it. She might get caught, or she might smooth things over, the odds were about even.
But even if Ino could handle it that way, Naruto couldn't outright suggest it.
What Inoichi thought of him didn't matter much, as his opinion of Naruto wasn't great to begin with, so it couldn't get much worse. The most important thing was Ino's attitude… what she wanted to hear from him.
If Naruto acted indifferent now or told her to make up an excuse, that would be the end of it… she'd definitely get upset.
Right now, Ino wanted Naruto to take responsibility.
Even if that responsibility was just symbolic, it would make her happy if he stepped up.
Sure enough, Ino lightly smacked him and scolded, "Ugh! What kind of nonsense are you spouting? If you go explain, I'll be totally doomed!"
Though her tone was complaining, Ino looked happy. After saying that, she carefully picked up the communicator from the table, glanced at it, and then squeezed her eyes shut.
"Oh no, so many missed calls."
At this time, Naruto didn't say anything else. Instead, he efficiently dressed himself, then brought Ino her dried clothes. Talking too much would seem forced, and actions mattered more now.
He knew that Ino didn't need reckless ideas at this moment, and she needed him to handle things while she figured out a solution.
He quickly helped her get dressed, combed and tied up her hair, then squeezed toothpaste onto her brush. While busy with these tasks, he casually added, "Ino, don't worry. If Uncle asks, just be honest. Let's get married soon… you're not too busy with work lately anyway."
"Then we can have a kid. Once that happens, your parents won't have any more complaints about us."
Naruto hadn't actually planned to marry so early. He was still delaying and waiting for the wind to come.
But at this moment, he casually brought up marriage, subtly mentioning work as if it were an afterthought.
Aside from her family and Naruto, Ino cared most about her work… the career she'd built through her own efforts. She would never let anything disrupt it at this stage.
The first phase of the communication construction plan for the Land of Fire's capital has been completed, but there was still more work ahead, and there will be likely another year or so of busy schedules. The only reason Ino had free time now was because she was waiting for the next steps.
After a while, as the future head of the Intelligence Division, Ino would be swamped with work again.
"No!" Ino refused almost instinctively, but her tone quickly softened, "I want to get married too, but now's not the time."
"Work's about to get crazy again, and there are things I have to handle personally."
A guilty look flashed across her face. She grabbed Naruto's hand and shook it pleadingly, like she was begging.
"I know this isn't fair to you, but can you wait just a little longer? Once I'm done with this busy period, I'll take you to meet my parents and tell them everything!"
Hearing this, Naruto's face instantly showed an expression of embarrassment but forced a smile, then he gently stroked Ino's hair and sighed softly, "Alright."
Naruto was still as smooth as ever, but fortunately, he knew that things would turn around when they reached their extremes, and acting like a drama queen would easily backfire. So he just said 'alright' and left it at that.
Later, Ino called home and lied about staying at a friend's place. As for whether Inoichi believed her or not, it was his problem.
After seeing Ino off to work, Naruto leisurely returned home to catch up on sleep.
'The world can explode for all I care and I will still. Also, why the world hasn't exploded yet? Oh right, Uchiha Obito's already dead by my hand. Not sure if the remaining bastard can pull it off.'
Naruto sprawled on the couch like a deflated sack, his face twisted in the expression of a man thoroughly violated by life. Staring blankly at the ceiling, he muttered to himself.
"There are still three materials… Where the hell do I find them?"
Taskline Three requires him to gather ten Jashin's Followers. Two of them are Ajisai and Yakumo, and three of the three peaks of Kumogakure. This is already halfway done.
With Kurotsuchi plus one and Konan added to the mixed, there's already seven now.
"Is the Yondaime Raikage really that chill? Why hasn't he retired yet?" Naruto rambled, already eyeing control over Kumogakure's authority.
If Yugito become the Raikage in the future, he will let Yugito find trouble with those idiots in Konoha whenever he has nothing to do. It's better to let her join forces with Kurotsuchi to torment them to death. After all, those idiots deserved it.
Sunagakure wasn't a concern. While Gaara had his own ideas, but Naruto could always become his brother-in-law, so he has to listen to his own family, right?
Besides, the Kage of Sunagakure and Iwagakure are hereditary, and if he held the position firmly, he will definitely be the Kazekage for life.
Naruto has no way to deal with Kirigakure, but with the half of the Five Great Shinobi Villages under his thumb, he'd practically control half the Shinobi World.
'Tch. Once I pulled this off, I'll make sure those Konoha's dumbasses suffered.' Naruto mentally filed that thought away in his little black book of grudges.
Naruto really holds a grudge, and he will definitely take revenge if he says he will, and it will never fade away with time.