"Hahahahaha…"
"Haha-"
A large and a small figure walked down the street, occasionally stopping to buy some dumplings, then a few steps later purchasing a mask.
Their laughter mingled together, sounding perfectly harmonious.
The group following them, however, felt completely and utterly superfluous.
"Look, can't we just go do our own thing?"
B was the first to voice his opinion, but his words were shot down by a glare from Karin.
"Fine, fine…"
He was a little intimidated by this fiery girl.
Nearby, Haku and Zabuza, who already knew the truth, exchanged a glance. Neither understood what Kousei was thinking.
That night in Takigakure, the two of them had privately approached Kousei to confirm the situation.
Faced with her caretakers' questions, Kousei freely admitted that Naruto was the 'Dad' she had been looking for.
At the same time, she also told them about her identity as a 'visitor from the future'.
Although it was unbelievable, combined with the circumstances of their first meeting, Kousei falling from the sky, they found themselves somewhat convinced.
This led to a new question.
Why didn't Kousei just tell Naruto the truth directly?
When they asked this, the little girl put on a shy, embarrassed expression.
'Kousei… Kousei isn't ready yet…'
'Now she decides to act like a girl her age?!'
The two were too drained to comment.
But watching the little girl sitting on Naruto's shoulders, chatting and laughing, the caretaker duo decided to respect her wishes and not do anything unnecessary.
Behind them, Gaara stared at Naruto with a resentful look, then glanced subtly at Kousei.
Sand began to gather silently.
As they turned a corner, Gaara made his move.
The sand rapidly formed a wall, blocking everyone's line of sight.
Immediately after, he prepared to leave a sand clone behind to draw attention while he quietly slipped away.
Swoosh-
A sturdy, dark-furred arm pierced straight through the sand wall, penetrating even the Sand Shield created by his gourd.
The hand clamped accurately around Gaara's throat. The sensation of suffocation began to cloud Gaara's consciousness.
The sand also slowly lost control under this choking feeling.
As the sand scattered to the ground, Sasuke, whose entire body remained human except for his arm, which had alone transformed into the Huodou Form, let out a disdainful snort before casually tossing Gaara back onto the ground.
"Second time."
His voice held a hint of mockery.
'Trying to use misdirection in front of my Observation Haki?'
Perhaps because of his Sharingan, after successfully awakening Observation Haki, Sasuke's mastery of it had improved by leaps and bounds.
Those sand walls were utterly incapable of blocking his 'sight'.
And 'partial transformation' was a technique Sasuke had learned during this time.
He could expend less stamina, or for more flexible combat, transform only parts of his body into a Mythical Beast to gain corresponding enhancements.
For example, allowing him to maneuver even in confined spaces.
Incidentally, Karin was the first to master this technique.
She could now alone 'grow' a pair of wings to fly.
By comparison, she might be more suited for the title [Angel] than Konan.
After all, her wings were golden and shiny, looking quite magnificent.
"Cough… cough…"
Gaara landed on the ground, clutching his throat and coughing for a long time.
The rest of the group seemed to take it all in stride.
In fact, Gaara had been trying to escape for the past few days.
Naruto couldn't be bothered to handle it personally, and he currently preferred spending time playing with this newly met little girl.
Thus, the task of watching Gaara fell to Sasuke.
At first, Sasuke was unwilling, but after seeing Gaara's attitude, which was even more arrogant than his own, he gradually changed his mind.
The two had actually crossed paths once during the Chunin Exams.
Back then, Sasuke, who didn't have much power, had thought it impossible to defeat Gaara after seeing him transform into a giant monster.
But times had changed. The past was the past, the present was the present.
Now, not only did he possess the Mangekyo Sharingan, but even in pure close-quarters combat, his opponent was no match for him.
It was just as Naruto had said at the very beginning.
The current Gaara could not defeat Sasuke.
Not even if he used Tailed Beast Transformation.
Moreover, ever since being freed from control, the One-Tail, Shukaku, seemed to have fallen into hibernation.
No matter how much Gaara called, it wouldn't wake up.
Even if he actively entered a 'sleeping' state, the One-Tail just kept snoring peacefully.
Thanks to this, Gaara's recent sleep had improved considerably, and even the dark circles under his eyes had lightened significantly.
"Heh… Second failure today, didn't even last five seconds."
B chuckled gleefully on the sidelines, while Karin, Roshi, and Jiraiya each took a hundred ryo from their wallets and handed it to him.
The amount wasn't large, but the insult was profound.
That's right, they had even started a betting pool.
Kousei curiously glanced back, but Naruto used a tri-colored dango to draw her attention back.
"Little ones shouldn't look at things like that."
Kousei listened to her father's advice, nodding seriously, while taking the dango from Naruto's hand and taking a bite.
'Sweet.'
'Sweeter than the honey on Amazon Lily.'
The poor boy with dark circles was promptly forgotten by Kousei.
And Naruto, watching the adorable little girl, gently wiped the food crumbs from the corner of her mouth.
"Kousei-chan is so well-behaved. After you find your dad, Uncle will definitely help you teach him a proper lesson."
"To leave such a lovely daughter alone and uncared for…"
Four years old, and having run wild on Amazon Lily for a full two and a half years since learning to walk, this wasn't the first time the little Princess Kousei had received the evaluation of 'well-behaved' from Naruto.
Hearing Naruto's teasing words, Kousei just kept eating the dango in her hand, smiling with her head lowered.
"No, Dad loves Kousei."
Hearing this, Naruto affectionately rubbed the little girl's head.
'What an obedient little girl.'
'Thinking from another perspective, that guy who abandoned his wife and child is truly scum.'
'After I finish handling this business, I must help this little girl teach that guy a proper lesson.'
They wandered until late at night before returning to the inn and entering the men's and women's baths separately.
They were already within the Land of Fire's borders. Their next destination was the Land of Water.
Because there were so many people, it wasn't convenient for Karin to transform into a mount anymore.
But that was fine… right now, they needed to be conspicuous to lure out that masked man.
So, they simply traveled while sightseeing, treating it as a vacation.
In the women's bath, Kousei was squinting her eyes to keep the soap suds out.
Behind her, Yugito was gently washing her body. Fu had already gotten into the water first, and Karin was blowing bubbles in the water.
Her gaze towards Kousei was full of envy.
'It's so nice. This little girl won Naruto-san's affection as soon as she arrived.'
She certainly wasn't jealous of a child… although in Naruto's eyes, she was also a child.
In the men's bath on the other side, several grown men were uniformly staring at the caretaker duo with the same expression.
-More precisely, at Haku, who was prettier than most girls.
How to put it…
"Really… you can't judge a book by its cover."
That was Naruto.
"Incredible, you fool!"
That was B.
Jiraiya and Zabuza turned around directly, not wanting to participate in this topic.
One had psychological shadows, the other had already seen it before.
Sasuke also frowned, subtly making a comparison.
'Damn it, I lost!'
Gaara always found Haku's face far too striking.
It gave him the distinct feeling of being naked in front of a woman, making him extremely uncomfortable.
At the center of everyone's attention, Haku sighed helplessly and rinsed off the suds with water.
The gaze went to his chest.
Completely flat!
But while the top half was basic, the bottom half was not so basic.
Let's just say that in a certain aspect, Naruto had also met his match.