Naruto: If I ask you to kill Sasuke, you will become a succubus?

Naruto woke up at five in the morning.

At that time, Shikamaru was the one in charge of the night watch.

Sensing the movement, Shikamaru turned around and saw Naruto push himself up and sit up.

"Awake?" Shikamaru walked towards him quietly and asked softly, "How do you feel?"

Naruto still looked dazed, his expression blank as if he hadn't reacted yet.

If he wakes up, he will definitely make a fuss without caring about the other teammates who are resting.

Shikamaru thought so and briefly explained: "Asaka is not under control. There are suspicious people around her. We have contacted Asaka and agreed to wait for her signal. They may continue to move soon. How is your physical condition? Can you hold on?"

"……Can."

Shikamaru looked at him in surprise, "You are so quiet, are you really okay? I thought you would scream and shout when you heard Chaolu's name."

"No matter how much I make a fuss, Chaolu won't appear." Naruto lowered his eyes, "Every time I rush towards her without thinking, Chaolu will only get further away from me."

"...Is that so? So you decided to try to calm down?"

Shikamaru thought, even Naruto was forced to use his brain.

"Shikamaru, even though you always acted like a fool when you were in the ninja school, Chaolu always thought you were very smart. I know everything and ask you everything..." Naruto whispered, "Do you know... what Chaolu wants?"

"You actually asked such a question... If Neji wasn't here and could distinguish your chakra, I would have suspected that you were impersonated by someone else."

"I... have seen Chaolu once before."

"When we went to bring back Lady Tsunade?" Shikamaru said, "I heard about it."

"Asaro... scolded me harshly. She said I was annoying, and then used my pupil technique to make me lose consciousness."

"This is the first time I've heard of this." Shikamaru had only heard from Tsunade that Asaka's hand was injured, but he didn't know such specific details until today. "Is that really Asaka... How could she say such harsh words... And to you...?"

"I was thinking, how could this be Chaolu? How could Chaolu do this to me? As soon as I woke up, I wanted to find her and ask her for clarification, but the lecherous immortal said that even if I found her, she would just dump me. Because men like me are the type that women hate the most."

"..."

"I only thought about my own feelings, but never thought about what Zhaolu wanted. I wanted Zhaolu to go back with me, but I refused to think about the reason why she left... If I were strong enough and she trusted me enough, she would come to me and ask for help even if I didn't go to her. So she didn't want to come to me, she must think I can't help her."

"Jiraiya-sama..." Shikamaru said, "As expected of Jiraiya-sama."

"So I practiced very hard with the Lecherous Sage, hoping to become stronger. In the past three years, I have wondered countless times what Chaolu was thinking and what she wanted, but I was too stupid to figure it out. Shikamaru, you are so smart, did you know that?"

Shikamaru raised his hand and touched the back of his neck, then turned his head to look outside the window in the direction of Chaolu, "...I don't know anything else. I only know that Chaolu herself doesn't want to leave Konoha. It's not that she doesn't want to come back, but she has no way to come back."

"Why? As long as she wants to come back, I will take care of Granny Tsunade's side. No matter how difficult the task is, even if I have to kneel down or kowtow, I will do it no matter what it is!"

"It seems that Master Jiraiya is only going to teach you ninjutsu." Shikamaru sighed and said, "Although the Kage is the nominal supreme leader of each village, the Kage cannot decide everything as he pleases."

Looking at Naruto's confused expression, Shikamaru didn't know how to explain for a moment.

He smiled bitterly and said, "You... Logically speaking, you are the one who is most exposed to the dark side of Konoha, but after growing up, you are the purest and the least aware of those dark things."

"I do not understand……"

"I think that Chaolu knew this when she reprimanded you so harshly that time, so she hoped that you would not be involved in it..." Shikamaru seldom stared at someone directly, because there was more white in his eyes. If he lowered his eyes, he would look lazy and calm, but once he looked straight ahead, it would be like he was staring at someone, appearing cold and sharp, and very aggressive.

He was looking straight at Naruto at this moment, "Sometimes I also don't understand why Chaolu has taken such good care of you since you were a child. You... you are average looking, not very smart, and your personality is not likable at all. Why?"

"..."

"Although I admit that you have outstanding advantages, it really makes me feel unwilling to think, what exactly am I inferior to you?"

"Yeah..." Naruto didn't even refute, "Asaka, why do you look at me differently? At first, you said that I looked like her family..."

"Have you ever thought about..." Shikamaru hesitated.

"Have you ever thought that Asakaru approached me because of my status as a Jinchūriki?"

"Yeah." Since Naruto said it himself, Shikamaru also admitted: "Under normal circumstances, this is the most logical and common sense speculation after all."

"I thought about it. Of course I did." Naruto actually admitted it calmly, "Asaka and Sasuke's relationship became better and better... Although I was very dissatisfied and always said that I couldn't understand why so many girls liked that kind of pretentious guy... But I knew in my heart that no matter how I compared, I could never beat him. It was the most normal thing for Asaka to like him. Does Asaka like him more than me? Asaka...did she really like me? Once you start to doubt, in the end, you can no longer tell what is true and what is false."

"At that time..." Shikamaru looked at Naruto in surprise: "I never thought you would think this way. I thought you were stupid and would never think deeply about it."

Naruto always looks full of energy and rarely shows his vulnerable look. Shikamaru suddenly discovered that Naruto's facial features are actually very regular, but he always habitually makes exaggerated expressions and speaks in an exaggerated tone, which gives people the impression that he is more silly than handsome.

...It’s better not to tell him about this.

He thought of his own ideas a little bit.

"Because I don't know what to do." Naruto looked at his hands. After years of training, his palms were covered with thick calluses.

If I become stronger, can I catch something?

But why is his palm still empty?

Is he not strong enough?

What should we do to keep the important people by our side?

"I don't know what to do," Naruto said, "Even if it's fake, Chaolu has always been gentle to me. If this gentleness can continue... why do you say it's fake? If there is an ulterior motive, she is the only one who makes me feel that I am valuable. So I think that if I continue to act stupid, at least she can continue to maintain that gentleness. If I change... but not become the person she likes more, if my change will make me lose her gentleness, then it is safer to maintain the way she remembers me to be."

"Don't be like this," Shikamaru felt bad for him, "Such a sensitive and delicate mind is not suitable for you at all!"

"But... the original me, after three years of separation from Chaolu, seems to be far behind her. Even if we are the same as before, she will no longer look at me gently... What should I do...?"

Shikamaru looked at the ceiling and thought, "If Ino was here, she would definitely say, 'Just be yourself'."

"Myself?"

"No matter what, you want to have a good relationship with Chaolu, but if Chaolu doesn't accept you as you really are, there's no point."

"What am I like...?"

Shikamaru: "...You asked me?"

"What do I look like in your eyes?"

"Hmm..." Because Naruto's image was so vivid, Shikamaru didn't even have to think carefully: "Noisy, heartless, stubborn, can't understand complicated things, does things unexpectedly, is obviously the last one but arrogantly claims to become Hokage, can't stand Uchiha Sasuke, likes Asaka... let's put it this way."

"In Chaolu's eyes, I am probably like this too."

"But... people have many sides. For example, now I know that you also have a very delicate and sensitive side."

Naruto's face was slightly bitter: "Asaka... Asaka also has many sides that I don't know? Will her new companions know those sides that I don't know? Why can they move forward side by side? Compared with them, what is there that I can't do?"

Shikamaru had just chosen not to tell Naruto that he had a handsome side. As compensation for his guilty conscience, he said, "If you mean Gaara and Neji, the biggest difference between them and you is probably that they are very sure of their direction. Their direction is the same as Asaro's."

Naruto's tone became intense: "Will the direction I'm heading in hinder Chaolu?!"

Shikamaru looked at him with eyes that seemed to see through everything, "You have no direction at all."

Naruto frowned and said, "What are you talking about? I want to be Hokage--"

"Why do you want to become Hokage? I heard you mention it before - 'to get everyone's recognition', are you kidding? Even your habit of pretending to be a fool is to attract other people's attention - if you always live to meet the expectations of others, how can you dare to say that the choices you make are your own direction?"

Naruto was stunned.

"A person's direction must start from himself. Neji wants 'freedom', Gaara... Tsk, although we don't spend much time together, from what I understand, he probably wants 'love'. Naruto, maybe it's a little difficult to understand with your long-standing fixed way of thinking, so let me tell you this - if one day, everyone in the world no longer exists, the Land of Fire, Konoha Village, the Hokage, etc.... are all gone. After getting rid of the eyes and comments of others, what do you want most?"

If everyone is gone...

What kind of world would that be?

Naruto closed his eyes, but could only imagine a vast expanse of white.

What do I want most…?

In the vast white world, a familiar figure appeared.

It was the back of a young girl, with her hands behind her back, and she seemed to be looking comfortably into the distance where there was nothing.

Don't look over there.

Naruto thought anxiously.

Look at me.

As if she heard his inner call, the girl turned her head as if she had realized something.

The wind blowing from somewhere lifted her long black hair. She looked at Naruto and smiled brightly, as if she was standing there just to wait for him, and had been waiting for a long time.

"I want……"

I want, morning dew watching me.

I want to be Hokage, I want everyone to stop ignoring me, I want everyone to smile at me.

I am not a monster, I am a person who deserves to be respected, taken seriously, and loved.

I want... that person to treat me differently, too.

However, compared to gaining everyone's approval, compared to being surrounded by people and praised, that person's affirmation and gaze are the most important.

Naruto bent his legs and buried his face between his knees, unconsciously gripping the blanket.

He suddenly understood and was so excited that he could hardly control himself.

"I want...morning dew!"

Shikamaru: "…Put it another way, or I'm going to beat you up."