At the Hokage's Office
"Hokage-sama," one of the Anbu greeted respectfully.
"Yes? Is there something important?" Hiruzen asked briefly.
"Yes. Naruto has been training lately. He's been doing basic physical exercises," the Anbu reported.
Hiruzen fell silent. Just as I thought, Naruto really has been training hard. It seems there's nothing suspicious going on. Hiruzen nodded slightly.
"Is there anything else?"
Despite his busy schedule, Hiruzen sometimes watched over Naruto using his telescope jutsu, Tomogane no Jutsu. He had to make sure nothing went wrong.
"Yes, Hokage-sama. Today I also saw him heading to the Western Forest. He was training there with Jonin Guy," the Anbu replied flatly.
Hiruzen narrowed his eyes. "Are you sure?"
He knew Guy very well—his attitude, his strength, and how he gained it. That made him a little worried.
"Yes, I'm sure. I saw it myself, sir."
"What are you up to, Naruto? It's not like you to train this hard. Has Danzo made a move? No… that can't be. Danzo wouldn't dare take reckless action on something so important…"
Hiruzen sighed deeply and took a puff of his cigarette. "I guess I'm just overthinking this…"
"Alright, you're dismissed."
"Understood, sir."
The Anbu left quickly.
"…Naruto, just be a good boy."
At the Yamanaka Family's House
"Ino, I heard you're dating…"
"Huh?" Ino, who was practicing the basics of Shintenshin no Jutsu, was startled by her father, Inoichi's words.
"What do you mean, Dad?" she asked, confused.
Inoichi walked closer. "I heard from your uncle Choza that you're dating a boy named Naruto…"
Ino furrowed her brows. "No, Dad. I'm not dating him," she denied.
Inoichi squatted down and gently stroked Ino's blonde hair. Then, he kissed her forehead.
"D-Dad?"
"Ino, you can be in a relationship with whoever you like, as long as you truly love each other. But it's different with Naruto…"
Naruto? What's different about him? Is it because he's stupid? No, he's not that stupid. So what is it?
Ino thought through all the possibilities but couldn't find an answer.
Seeing Ino's silence, that was enough of an answer for Inoichi.
"Ino, my dear, my daughter… Naruto's life is different from ours. It's full of hardships, and many difficult things are yet to come for him. If you really want to be with him, you might have to sacrifice everything…"
"But, of course, it's all up to you. If you truly want to be by his side, you can. If not, then leave. The choice is yours…"
After that, Inoichi slowly walked away, leaving Ino alone to think. No matter what choice Ino made, even if she chose Naruto, he would always be by her side.
Because all parents always try to do what's best for their children.
"I'm sorry, Minato…"
Naruto… who are you really? Ino thought as she gazed at the blue sky.
Back at the Western Forest
Naruto was doing squats. His eyes were red, and sweat was pouring down his face.
"234… 240… 241… 248… 249… and… 250…"
He finally collapsed hard onto the ground. Guy looked at him and gave him a thumbs-up.
"Good job, kid. You can rest now."
Naruto was thankful that he only had to do as much as he could.
Guy wasn't that harsh, even with Lee, who usually only did about 500 reps.
Naruto was also a little surprised because it seemed their physical distance wasn't that far apart, at least not by much.
After that, he decided to look for Tenten, but he couldn't find her.
"Where is she? Has she gone home?"
Since he couldn't find her, Naruto decided to take a short nap.
"Hey, Naruto aaa~"
Naruto opened his mouth, accepting the food.
"Is it good?" Tenten asked playfully.
"Of course, it's good, especially since you're feeding me," Naruto replied sincerely with a smile.
"Ah, you're too kind. Alright, eat up," Tenten kept feeding him, and Naruto happily accepted each bite.
Bite after bite, the food was gone.
"Hmmm… So, are you full, my dear~?" Tenten whispered in his ear.
"Of course, hmm… my dear Tenten," Naruto replied.
But Tenten's smiling face suddenly turned angry.
"Tenten? Who's Tenten? Are you cheating on me, Naruto-kun?" she asked angrily.
"What are you talking about? Of course, that's—"
Naruto couldn't finish his sentence.
For some reason, Tenten's face started to fade away.
"Who's Tenten? I… I'm… Rock Lee."
"ROCK LEE!?"
Naruto woke up. He screamed, panicked.
Tenten, who had been trying to wake him, was also startled.
"Hey, what's wrong with you?" she snapped.
But when she saw the sweat pouring from Naruto's forehead and the fear in his eyes, she immediately hugged him.
"Calm down… don't be scared, I'm here…" Tenten softly stroked Naruto's back.
Naruto relaxed a little, but then he was startled again. He jumped back away from her.
He stared at Tenten's face, making sure there was nothing strange.
But all he saw was her innocent face and confusion.
"Hufft… damn nightmare…" Naruto muttered.
Tenten moved closer. "Hey, Naruto! What's going on with you? You screamed and scared me. After that, you looked so scared, so I hugged you. But then you jumped back as if my face was scary…"
"If you don't like being hugged, that's fine. But earlier, you seemed disgusted!"
"No, I wasn't disgusted or anything… on the contrary, it felt comforting."
Tenten narrowed her eyes.
Naruto cleared his throat. "I mean, your hug made me feel a bit calmer. But your face…"
With a pout, Tenten asked, "What's wrong with my face?"
"Your face looked scary to me," Naruto said.
Tenten immediately became gloomy. She looked down and softly said, "Yeah, I know I'm not that pretty… but isn't calling me 'scary' a bit too harsh…"
She turned away.
Naruto quickly grabbed her arm.
"Tenten, don't misunderstand. I didn't mean it that way. You know—"
Naruto explained that it was just a misunderstanding, but Tenten remained silent.
"Tenten…" he called.
"Pffft… Ahahahaha!" Tenten laughed loudly. She was so satisfied to have tricked Naruto.
"Hahaha! Naruto… I didn't expect you to be this gullible…"
Now it was Naruto's turn to be gloomy. He had been fooled again…
"Naruto… Hey, Naruto…" Tenten called.
But Naruto remained silent. He then started holding both of Tenten's shoulders, making her startled.
"Nee, are you okay?"
But instead of answering, Naruto stared at her deeply.
"A-what's going on? Naruto?" Tenten began to feel nervous.
Naruto kept getting closer, the distance between them shrinking.
"…Naruto, you're joking, right? We just met yesterday… this is too fast…"
Naruto didn't respond. Their noses were almost touching.
"Then… go ahead and do it…" Tenten closed her eyes and slightly parted her lips, which were a soft pink.
"Ouch!"
Tenten felt a sharp pain on her forehead. She opened her eyes and saw Naruto smiling mischievously.
"You!!"
Naruto pinched Tenten's nose.
"What were you thinking, Tenten?" he asked.
Tenten blushed, embarrassed by her words and expression earlier.
But she tried to hide her feelings.
"Hey, Naruto! What if my nose becomes flat!?" she protested.
Naruto glanced at her, then ignored her and took the bento.
"You've had a flat nose from the start, so don't worry."
"Hey, that's my bento!"
∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆
I cut it in half because it was too long, well it was the equivalent of 1.8k words.
∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆