"NANIIIII?! What the hell is that thing? It's disgusting!"
Ino regretted everything.
She wished she could poke her own eyes out right now just to unsee it!
Just a minute ago, she had been thinking that she hoped Sakura wouldn't show up, or else the "Forehead Girl" would steal her medical training materials.
But now? Ino desperately wished Sakura would appear immediately to deal with this monstrosity of a teammate!
"Rin, don't stop me."
On the roof, Kushina rolled up her sleeves, looking ready to jump down and murder her child.
"Kushina-nee, I'm not stopping you..... Go for it." Rin innocently raised both hands to show she wasn't interfering.
"..."
"BAKA NARUTO!!!"
Fortunately, someone else stepped in to do Kushina's dirty work.
Sakura had come to find Ino, planning to tell her that she had just seen Lady Tsunade on the street.
Tsunade was no longer drunk and depressed—she seemed recovered.
Sakura wanted to grab Ino so they could visit Tsunade together and clarify some doubts about their recent medical training.
But when she arrived, she saw Naruto using that perverted Ninja technique again.
If it were just turning into a naked woman or a naked man, that would be one thing.
But why was it men wearing women's lingerie?!
While the Reverse Harem Technique could actually be effective against unsuspecting women, this special "Cursed Version" Naruto created specifically for Kakashi was truly cursed.
Unless someone had very... specific preferences, it just felt like a crime against fashion.
Bam! Bam!
Sakura punched and destroyed two of Naruto's clones instantly, then glared like an angry T-Rex at Naruto's real body, which was still clutching Kakashi's tool pouch.
She stepped closer, menacingly.
"Sakura-chan, ya... yametekudastop! It's all Kakashi-sensei's fault! He stole my lottery tickets first!"
Naruto hugged the tool pouch while curling up on the ground, trembling in fear.
"Naruto, why would a teacher steal from a student? I was just keeping them safe for you."
After regaining his composure, Kakashi adopted a self-righteous, educational tone.
"Besides, even if I did take your tickets, you shouldn't use your transformation technique to disrespect the deceased! That man in the lingere is a hero who sacrificed himself for the village—the Fourth Hokage..."
"What? The Fourth Hokage?"
Sakura, who was stalking toward Naruto, paused in surprise upon hearing Kakashi's words.
"No wonder he looked familiar! It's the Fourth Hokage we see every day on the rock face! Naruto, you've gone too far! I really need to beat some sense into you!"
Sakura rolled up her sleeves aggressively.
Initially, she had hit Naruto out of her own annoyance, but now Sakura inexplicably felt a sense of mission and righteousness.
She was defending the village's honor!
"It's not my fault! Kakashi-sensei forced me into this! I even warned him I'd stop at nothing—OW!"
Naruto was thoroughly beaten.
Surprisingly, even while being pummeled into the pavement, Naruto stubbornly clung to the ninja tool pouch in his arms, vigilantly guarding against Kakashi's approach.
Just kidding!
If he got beaten up and lost the lottery tickets, wouldn't the beating be for nothing? He had to protect the loot!
While Naruto was taking his beating, Kakashi casually brought his own lottery tickets to Ino and began drawing.
Unfortunately, he only got a consolation prize—a few trendy trinkets.
'Trash.'
This made Kakashi even more determined to get his hands on that thick stack of tickets Naruto was clutching!
"Stopping at nothing is one thing, but you can't do that to your comrades! Got it?!"
Sakura was actually getting tired from hitting him.
After shouting her warning, she finally stopped.
As soon as she stopped, Ino immediately rushed over, glowing green hands ready, and began healing Naruto with the Mystical Palm Technique.
"Huh? Ino-pig, since when do you care so much about Naruto?" Sakura looked at her rival in surprise.
"I finally have a live guinea pig to test how far I've progressed in my Medical Ninjutsu training. I can't let you take that chance away." Ino explained while treating the bruises.
"Oh, right."
Sakura froze for a moment, then quickly realized Ino was right.
She hurriedly began healing Naruto too. "Move aside! Since I'm the one who beat him up, I should be the one to fix him!"
"Okay."
To Sakura's surprise, Ino actually obediently stopped and handed the injured Naruto over to her without a fight.
"Why did you really give up?" Sakura couldn't help but ask suspiciously.
"Because I suddenly remembered that Naruto recovers really quick on his own. If his injuries heal later, I wouldn't know if it was because of my treatment or just his freakish natural recovery, so I figured it's a waste of chakra."
Ino shrugged slightly. "By the way, Sakura, did you come here to find me? Is something up?"
"Uh, right."
Reminded by Ino, Sakura suddenly realized she had forgotten the whole point of coming here.
She simply stopped healing Naruto, too.
"Well, I just saw Lady Tsunade. Should we go find her?"
"Huh? Has Lady Tsunade recovered? Let's go quickly—Oh, wait a moment."
Ino turned back, dragged the lottery machine inside the flower shop, and pulled down the rolling shutter door with a loud clang.
After finishing all that, she and Sakura eagerly ran off to find Tsunade.
Naruto, only half-healed and confused, climbed up from the ground with a bruised and swollen face.
Looking at the lottery tickets still safely in his arms, he chuckled foolishly.
"Hehe... Great! My limited-edition ramen, here I come!"
Whoosh.
A cool breeze blew by.
The surroundings were empty instantly.
Seeing that Ino, the person handling the prize redemption, had locked up and left, Kakashi decided to just take his consolation prizes and go home first.
In front of the closed flower shop, only Naruto remained.
Disheveled in the wind.
"Hey! At least let me finish drawing the lottery! How can you be so unprofessional?!"
Naruto grabbed his messy hair, screaming at the closed shutters.
As for Kakashi, after returning home and putting away his things, he noticed that the two bouquets he had bought earlier had fallen to the ground and gotten dirty because he was so shocked by Naruto's "Cursed Jutsu."
Not wanting to tarnish the friendship of the past with dirty flowers, Kakashi decided he needed new ones.
However, he knew that Ino's family flower shop was already closed since the girl went to find Tsunade and wouldn't be back for a while.
Kakashi looked around his apartment.
He walked out to his balcony garden and picked two bouquets of heather—flowers he had originally grown and prepared for Sasuke.
"Sorry, Sasuke, Its an emergency."
He brought the regifted flowers to the Memorial Stone, placing them respectfully before Obito and Rin's names.
...
The Hot Spring Inn.
Konoha's only high-end hot spring inn had been fully booked by the Hokage today to entertain distinguished guests.
After Sakura and Ino found Tsunade, they were immediately recruited by her to use their Medical Ninjutsu skills to give Makoto a massage.
Of course, it was a proper relaxation massage.
Nothing weird.
Tsunade herself had been delaying direct contact with Makoto.
She was worried that in his eyes—where she currently had negative favorability—he might start the conversation with an insult like "old hag," which would make the atmosphere incredibly awkward.
So, she decided to send in the interns (Sakura and Ino) to help improve his mood first.
The massage was indeed proper, though both Sakura and Ino had changed into white bathrobes.
They were quite nervous when they entered, but upon noticing the others besides Makoto inside the private room, they immediately relaxed.
"Sigh... I really want to soak in the hot spring too, Kushina-nee."
"You think I don't?"
Rin and Kushina, sat on chairs beside the steaming hot spring pool, looking envious.
Their Impure World Reincarnation bodies had no sensation, so even if they entered the water, it would be meaningless.
They couldn't feel the heat.
As for why they were here?
Kushina and Rin each had matters they wanted to discuss with Makoto, the "Super Strategist" recognized by all three Hokages.
They were hoping he could help clarify their doubts about the past... and the confusing present.