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Shikamaru and the group had chosen a popular restaurant, but when they saw the massive crowd swarming like dumplings being dropped into water, they realized it might be a hassle.
After inquiring, they found out the wait ti was about two hours, and they also couldn’t just leave. If their number was called and they weren’t there, they’d lose their spot. Shikamaru, upon hearing this, imdiately lost his enthusiasm for eating.
However, he couldn't refuse the two girls who were with them, so scratching his head in frustration, he resigned to stand in line.
"Where's Choji?" Shikamaru turned around and asked.
Choji had already gone to see if paying extra would allow them to jump the line, well not really skipping ahead, but reserving one of the most expensive tables. Soon after, he returned with so news.
"You have to queue over there too, but it's shorter." Choji waved the small ticket in his hand with a silly grin, "Let's go inside and wait instead of staying in this crowd."
"Those two haven't arrived yet, they won't be lost, will they?" Shikamaru asked with a frown, scanning the bustling crowd, "Just head in first. I’ll co out to fetch them later."
The evening sky was bright, and the streets of Konoha were lit up as far as the eye could see, with lights radiating from the center of the village in all directions like a vast, glowing disk.
Two golden-haired figures walked slowly, close together, through the crowded night market. The lively noise of passersby surrounded them, creating a lively and bustling atmosphere.
The slim, curvy blonde girl with her long hair tied in a ponytail had a face filled with natural youth and beauty, her skin fair and smooth like ice cream. Her youthful energy radiated from every inch of her being. Though she tried to maintain an air of restraint, her eyes would often glance at the young man beside her.
The young was casually dressed in a loose white T-shirt and black shorts, his spiky blonde hair as ssy as ever. He seed to be saying sothing, and his eyes wandered over the nearby market stalls.
"People from the Land of Hot Water seem to have a lot of free ti. There are hot springs everywhere. By the way, would you like to eat this?" Naruto paused mid-sentence, casually picking up a small box of sweets from a street vendor.
Before Ino could answer, Naruto had already paid for it. Whether or not Ino actually wanted it didn’t matter, he figured it wouldn’t hurt to carry it with them.
"I don’t want it." Ino complained.
"Then give it back to , I'll give it to Choji." Naruto said, reaching for the sweet.
"No way! I’m keeping it!" Ino quickly guarded the small cake and looked at Naruto dissatisfiedly, "You can buy another one for yourself, but don’t buy the sa one as mine."
"They only sell this kind of cake, though."
"I don't care!" Ino huffed, and pinched Naruto’s hand.
Naruto was a little speechless, though he never intended to actually give the cake to Choji. Choji preferred at and snacks like chips, and in his own words, fancy little cakes weren’t exactly a man’s choice.
"Getting possessive over a cake… unbelievable." Naruto muttered under his breath.
"Cough!" Ino felt a little guilty that he had seen through her, but she would never admit it even if she died.
"Where was I? Oh, right, the Land of Hot Water." Naruto rubbed his hands and continued to talk to Ino as he walked, "The girls in the Land of Hot Springs are all nice, all of them..."
"Ah!!! Ino, why did you step on ?" Naruto yelped suddenly.
"It was an accident!"
"Yeah, right! You totally did it on purpose!"
"So what if I did? It’s your fault for being so pervy!" Ino glared at him, "You were not doing your job properly during the mission. You learned bad things from following Jiraiya-sama."
anwhile, in a small town of a certain country…
Jiraiya, who was enjoying himself at a brothel, suddenly shivered and snapped out of his drunken haze. Glancing around suspiciously, he muttered to himself, ‘Why do I suddenly feel a chill down my spine?’
"It was all part of gathering intel, you can’t bla for that." Naruto shalessly retorted, passing the bla onto Jiraiya without hesitation. It's better for the master to die than for the disciple.
"Besides, I wasn’t even eighteen at the ti. I was just watching from the side. The real hands-on intel gathering was done by the Pervy Sage. I didn’t do anything."
"You're not allowed to look either!"
"I didn’t want to look in the first place!" Naruto defended himself, "Pervy Sage got drunk (and the girls' legs were too fair), If I didn’t keep an eye on him, who knows what could happen? (Besides, I paid to see, there’s nothing illegal about that)"
"Hmph!" Ino marched forward, ignoring him.
Naruto, who was following behind her, rubbed his nose and was worried for himself. Ino's possessiveness had only grown more obvious with ti, becoming bold and unashad.
Now, he doesn't dare to bring up Hinata in front of Ino anymore, nor does he dare to ntion Ino in front of Hinata. He doesn't know how long he could keep walking this fine line.
"When did those two start dating?" He suddenly asked Ino while walking.
"Huh?" Ino was stunned for a mont.
"The girlfriends."
"Oh! You an Keiko and Tamako? We’ve known them for quite so ti." Ino said, "During the New Year Festival, the families t up pretty often."
Hearing this, Naruto raised an eyebrow. He didn’t recognize those nas, but it made sense. There are quite a lot of small clans in Konoha, many of which had close ties with the Ino-Shika-Cho Clans. Clan alliances through marriage weren’t uncommon.
"An arranged marriage?" Naruto asked bluntly.
"Not exactly." Ino turned and smiled at him, "There’s so emotional connection involved. It’s not like there were better options."
"What about you?" He asked suddenly.
"Huh?" Ino was stunned for a mont, then suddenly realized what he was asking. Her face suddenly turned bright red, "? I... don’t have anything like that! Why are you even asking?"
"Just curious."
"Oh." Ino answered, but then quickly realized what he was implying. A smug smile spread across her face, "Are you jealous?"
"Nope." Naruto denied it, but he held her hand tightly as they walked.
"Liar!" Ino bead, clearly pleased with Naruto’s reaction.
Ahead of them, a flower vendor had set up a stall, the display illuminated by warm lights. Without thinking, Naruto took out so money with his other hand and bought a bouquet, handing it to Ino.
In this way, Ino could only hold the flowers in one hand while the other is still in Naruto's grip.
He glanced back with a slight smile, and thought to himself, ‘I can completely occupy your hands today, and I can completely occupy your life tomorrow.’
‘Jealous? No, not really. Well, maybe just a little.’
But, ask anyone on the streets of Konoha… who’s the top dog here? If anyone dared to interfere, he’d have their heads spinning.
"Fine, I like you." Naruto said without looking back, pulling Ino through the crowded crowd.
No matter how noisy the surroundings were, the voice of soone you liked always stood out. Ino’s heart fluttered for a mont, and a soft smile spread across her face, her eyes curving like crescent moons.
There are many beautiful things in the world, reuniting after a long ti apart, watching snow in winter, or listening to the rain in sumr. Even if they didn’t spend every mont together, hearing him say ‘I like you’ so openly made Ino happy.
‘It's also nice to just hold hands and walk down the street like this, as long as it's with him.’
When Shikamaru spotted the two of them in the crowd, his gaze lingered on their interlocked hands for a few seconds. His eyes traveled to the flowers and cake Ino was holding, and he shrugged.
"Are you two going for dinner or on a picnic?"
"You sure care so much about other people's business. Where’s Choji and the others?" Naruto shot back. Ino instinctively tried to pull her hand away, but after struggling for a bit, she realized she couldn’t.
"Inside." Shikamaru turned and led the way.
Ino glanced up at Naruto, only to see him acting as if nothing had happened, pulling her through the crowd.
"Let go!" She whispered urgently.
"No, it’s crowded here." Naruto said, "Let's go in first."
Ino: “…”
Ino wasn’t used to being so close to Naruto in front of Shikamaru and Choji, but since she couldn’t free her hand, she had no choice but to go along with it.
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