In Konoha, Naruto lies down

"Damn it! I won't believe you if you say you don't have any personal grudge against me!"

"I'm sorry..." Xiao Li's face was filled with guilt. "Maybe I just wanted to spar with you too much."

"Forget it, just don't disturb my sleep this time." Naruto threw a piece of barbecue into Xiao Li's plate. "I thought I wouldn't be disturbed if I slept at home."

"Next time, I'll have to change my place and just sleep everywhere!"

Neji put down his chopsticks. "The situation in the Sand Village has been bad. I can't guarantee that I can take my full vacation this time. There might be an emergency mission in the middle of the vacation."

"What a hassle." The moment Naruto raised his cup, Temari's figure appeared in his mind.

She seemed to have returned to normal in the end, perhaps she still had some memories. It would be best not to meet her, or it would be awkward. No! It would be more than awkward. Such an unbearable thing to recall... would probably affect the relationship between the two villages.

"That can't be helped. After all, the Sand Village and Konoha are allies." Tenten said, "And now it's not just Team 3. Even Shikamaru and Shino's teams have stopped their missions. They're probably on standby too."

"The Konoha and Sunagakure alliance." Naruto lowered his eyes to look at the barbecue, his eyes seemed a little dim under the overhead light, "Then we are bound to have dealings with each other."

"Yeah." Tiantian responded.

"Gaara is quite strong." Xiao Li interrupted with a frown, "If I could fight him again, maybe..."

"Xiao Li, the Sand Village is fighting to the death, he may not have time to spar with you." Neji said, his bony hands clenching the cup.

"Don't rush into a fight without a word. We are allies now, so be careful of the impact."

"I see." Xiao Li said with regret.

Hearing this, Naruto laughed out loud and patted Xiao Li's shoulder.

"It's okay. Gaara is the Jinchuriki of the Tailed Beasts. He won't die that easily. As long as you don't kill him completely, you can still survive."

Neji looked helpless, but didn't say anything.

At night, under the street lights, the shadows of trees were mottled. Naruto stood at the intersection and said goodbye to the three people. The early summer evening breeze lifted his messy golden hair.

Holding a half-drunk soda in his hand, Naruto stood at the intersection for a while, sighing that it was great to be young. Then he turned around and went back lazily in his slippers.

The lights on Konoha Street were still bright, and as far as the eye could see, they stretched crookedly to the horizon.

He walked slowly, the air lingering in his ears. He would stay home tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow as well. The day after that, he might go out for a walk. This was what a vacation was like.

"What are you thinking about?" The girl's voice sounded in my ear.

Chapter 196 Purple Rabbit on the Towel

Naruto turned around and saw Ino standing on stone steps one and a half meters higher than the road surface.

Under the dim streetlight, the soft light perfectly outlined the girl's figure. Her soft golden hair hung down in front of her forehead, and her head was casually tied into a golden ponytail.

She wore an orange slim short-sleeved shirt and grey cropped cotton pants, revealing a small section of her well-proportioned white calves. She exuded a youthful aura.

"Nothing." He looked at Ino, smiled and asked, "Why are you here?"

"Me?" Ino tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and looked down at Naruto and said, "Asuma-sensei invited us to dinner, and I was just about to go home when I saw you from a distance."

As she spoke, Ino jumped down from the stone steps and landed in front of him.

"I'm talking to you~" She dragged out her tone with a hint of coquettishness, "You've been doing missions with Tenten, Neji, and Rock Lee lately, right?"

"Ah, Lady Tsunade arranged it."

"Wasn't it your choice?" Ino said this without sounding resentful at all, but rather endearingly, "You're obviously the best friend in our class, but it seems like you've never done a mission with us."

"No." He shook his head and added, "Because the missions that the Genin team I'm partnered with carry out are usually quite dangerous. They only take on A-rank missions."

"so......"

Team 10, Team 8, and Team 7 where Naruto and Sakura are located are all ninjas who graduated last year, but Team 3 where Tenten and Lee are located graduated earlier and have more experience.

Whether it is Naruto or Tsunade, they naturally prefer to assign tasks with higher risk factors to Team 3.

"Okay." Ino pursed her lips.

"Are you going home?" Naruto changed the subject appropriately. The possibility of him partnering with Team 10 was a long way off, and it was difficult to guarantee anything for the time being.

Besides, carrying out a mission is not playing house. During a mission last month, Team 3 was in danger and he almost used the Impure World Reincarnation on an ungrateful ninja village.

If all their ancestors were awakened, the scene would probably be a river of blood.

"Well, it's a bit late. I was thinking about going home and happened to see you." Ino's voice brought him back to reality from his absent-mindedness.

"I will send you back."

"This place is far from my home. Your home is completely in another direction, right?" Ino seemed a little hesitant. "Wouldn't it be too much trouble?"

“It’s really troublesome.”

"Although it's the truth, it's a bit frustrating to hear some people hesitate because they want to go home and sleep. It turns out that going home and sleeping takes priority over me."

"Because it would be lonely to go home alone afterwards."

"Who cares about you!" Ino muttered, "Don't even think that kind of clumsy and dirty trick will work on me."

"Eh? Have you been discovered?"

"How slow do you think I am?" Ino glared at him.

"Ms. Ino is amazing."

"Hehe, that's right." Ino seemed to be very pleased with these words, her eyebrows curved, "It's rare to hear a serious word from you. It would be great if you could always be so upright."

"Sure, just take your vacation and spend time with me," Naruto suddenly said.

"Accompany!! Accompany you? Who wants to accompany you?" Ino stuttered.

"Then I will accompany you."

"No!" She refused without hesitation. "Besides, I'll probably be at home looking after the store. If you come, your parents will definitely be suspicious."

Naruto said as he touched his chin and took a deep breath.

"But... Auntie seems to like me more."

Ino: “….”

He seemed to be telling the truth. Ino felt like she had been shot in the knee by several arrows, and her whole body was not feeling well. Forget it, she should go home quickly and cry secretly for a few minutes under the covers.

"Anyway, you are not allowed to come!"

"But I'm bored at home. After all, I'm half a customer, right?" Naruto asked in a rogue manner.

"Why half?" Ino had already turned and walked towards the Yamanaka Flower Shop. The two of them walked slowly on the streets of Konoha, shoulder to shoulder.

"Because I didn't go there to buy flowers." He turned and stared at Ino.

Ino couldn't help but shrink her neck when he stared at her, but she couldn't help but glance at him quickly, her eyes sparkling. Her face flushed slightly, and she muttered softly.

"Don't say such strange things."

"Because it's summer now, it's normal to say such things." Naruto walked slowly beside Ino. The streets of Konoha were still brightly lit and stretched as if there was no end in sight.

"It has nothing to do with summer, don't make weird excuses."

"Isn't that what I'm explaining? There's only one summer in a lifetime, and the rest are just reminiscing. It's probably about the best summer or something like that."

As he spoke, he quietly grabbed Ino's hand. Ino struggled, but couldn't break free, so she simply looked away.

"you......."

"What's wrong with me?" someone asked shamelessly.

Ino said nothing more, looking away, and spoke in a muffled voice.

"Don't pinch it."

Naruto held a half-full bottle of soda in his hand and held Ino's hand with the other, not so honest. Ino's face flushed red, and she finally couldn't bear it anymore and broke free from his hand.

Perhaps feeling that the atmosphere was a bit awkward, Ino started looking for topics to talk about while walking.

"What's that in your hand?"

"Half a bottle of soda, left for you."

"........Drink it yourself." Ino was speechless. She shouldn't have had any expectations from that kind of person. The long vacation lasted seven days, so she would definitely have to deal with him.

She thought to herself that it was already tiring just to run the store.

Under the big green tree in front of the mountain flower shop.

The two of them stopped in tacit understanding. Although this place was still across the street from the Yamanaka Flower Shop, they always agreed to send her home.

"I'll come to the store to see you tomorrow," he said.

"Oh." Ino lowered her eyes to look at the tip of her shoes and said nervously, "It will rain tomorrow."

Her mind hoped Naruto would say let's change the day, or not come at all. But her heart couldn't help but beat faster, she was nervous.

She'd said something similar before, and her parents had asked her if she wanted to celebrate her birthday alone. After all, it always coincided with the fireworks display, so she'd usually have to rush through it.

She shook her head and said it was too much trouble, her heart beating fast at that time. Although she did think it was too much trouble, she still hoped that her parents would give a different answer.

Naruto glanced at her and said with a frown.

"is it?"

Ino's heart suddenly felt empty, but she still smiled.

"Yes, after all, it's summer, and the rainy season is about to arrive. Rain is troublesome, and the journey is long..."

"I'll come early."

"Hmm?" Ino looked up at him, confused for a moment.

"Can we get there before daybreak?"

"You don't have to work that hard! Just... a little earlier, it won't be that early."

"I'm treating this like a date."

"A...a date? No! It's not like that! Don't talk nonsense!" Ino seemed a little flustered. "Do you really need to be so excited?"

"of course."

"Since you're looking forward to it, I'll reluctantly agree to it, but this isn't a date!" Ino reiterated, "You're just accompanying me to look after the store."

"It's very boring. Usually there are not many customers, so I can only doze off."

"I see." Naruto nodded, "It doesn't matter. I can have my own fun."

"Hey! That's so obscene!" Ino hugged herself tightly and glanced at him with disdain. "You'd better put away your damn sexual fetish tomorrow and don't scare the guests."

.......

Boom!

The next morning, the sky was indeed gloomy.

Naruto was so sleepy that he could barely open his eyes, so he got up and washed up. The Nine-Tails was still sleeping on the sofa, but luckily it didn't sweat, so it didn't stain the sofa.

After hearing the noise, Jiuwei opened his eyes and subconsciously reached for the wine bottle beside him.

"Where are you going?"

"Yamada Flower Shop." Naruto's voice came from the bathroom.

"Boring." Kyuubi didn't find any words that interested him in his words, so he retracted his head again.

The sky was a bit gloomy, with occasional thunder rumbling through the thick black clouds. The earthy smell before the rain and the cool raindrops mixed with the wind, and the moment I opened the door, it all blew into my face.

The wind blew into his neck and out through his sleeves, and he went out holding an umbrella.

Ino sat absentmindedly at the counter of the Yamanaka Flower Shop. The overhead light shone bright yellow, while the rain outside grew heavier. A cold wind seeped in through the crack in the door, shrouding the shop entrance in a white haze.

Asuma had said at the dinner party last night that there was no guarantee they would be able to fully rest during their seven-day vacation. If there was any movement from the Sand Village, they would have to end their vacation at any time.

It was probably a collective action of the Genin. At this juncture, they were the only ones left in the village who could be mobilized at will.

Outside, heavy rain was pouring down, completely obscuring the view. Ino felt restless, so she stood up and walked to the door, carefully opening it a crack.

She wanted to see if the man was coming, but she saw a black umbrella pressing down, blocking her view.

Ino was slightly startled, seeing the pair of tactical sandals and the rain-soaked bare ankles. She looked up and saw a smug smile, the black ribs of an umbrella pressed down.

"Are you waiting for me?" he asked.

"It's hot, I just opened the door to get some fresh air." Ino rolled her eyes at him, "Don't think you're so important."