In Konoha, This Naruto Has Decided To Take It Easy

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In the cramped duty room, moths fluttered around the light cover.

Naruto’s hand shook, nearly spilling the two portions of takoyaki, but fortunately, Sakura’s quick reflexes saved them, preventing a disaster that would have left him mopping the floor.

"Thank goodness," Sakura sighed in relief, her chest heaving slightly.

"Ah, sorry about that." Naruto said, sweat forming on his back as he calmed himself.

‘Being a Shinobi is indeed a high-risk profession, it is too easy to go insane.’

He sat down in a chair, watching Sakura eat the takoyaki with a serious expression. After thinking for a moment, he pushed his portion over to her as well.

"Aren't you hungry?"

"Not really. You still have to continue your shift, right?"

"Well, yes, but you should eat something too." Sakura said a little embarrassedly, "Otherwise, if I finish it all by myself, it’ll feel a bit weird."

Naruto really wants to complain, ‘You’re already acting pretty weird now.’

But based on the limited experience he had gained from dealing with Temari's sudden change of temperament last time, he stabbed a takoyaki with a skewer and, looking at Sakura, asked tentatively, "Do you still remember Kakashi-sensei?"

"What are you talking about? How could I forget him?" Sakura grumbled, her cheeks puffing as she chewed on the takoyaki.

"Then let me ask you, how many people are in Team 7?"

"Of course, there are four…" Sakura suddenly stopped mid-sentence, then lowered her head and began to count on her fingers, "Kakashi-sensei, me, and Naruto, there are only three of us in total."

"What about the fourth person?"

Naruto didn’t say anything, deciding to ask others before drawing any conclusions. It had been ten days since he last interacted with Sakura, and he had thought she had calmed down by now, but it seemed like she was far from calm, more like her brain had short-circuited.

Following the principle of avoiding troublesome issues, Naruto changed the topic to steer away from Sasuke.

"Are you going to work tomorrow too?"

"Yeah, tomorrow is the annual fireworks festival." Sakura said, not dwelling on the Sasuke topic, then complained as she continued eating, "But, Yuu-senpai begged me on his knees to cover his shift."

"He said his happiness depends on this day, and if he can’t meet his future girlfriend, he might as well die, stuff like that."

"I couldn’t help it, he looked so pathetic that I had to agree."

"That's a shame," Naruto replied, echoing her sentiment.

"Yeah." Sakura agreed, eating while skimming through a document, "I won’t get to wear my yukata this year, but Yuu-senpai is really something, I can't refuse something when he begged on his knees like that."

After chatting for a while in the duty room and watching Sakura finish all the takoyaki, Naruto finally found an excuse to leave.

The room quickly fell silent again, with only the sound of pages turning.

Under the light, Sakura's slender fingers paused their flipping and pulled out a thin medical record from between the files, on which was clearly written the words Uchiha Sasuke.

“Ha~”

A suppressed, excited sound escaped from Sakura’s throat. She seemed like a completely different person from before, and her gaze was fixated on Sasuke’s photo.

Her delicate, pale fingers traced the face in the photo, and her breathing turned into a sick, raspy sound.

"How should I reunite with my beloved?"

"…Of course, by cutting him into pieces and reuniting with him bit by bit. Naruto would probably support me, right? He seems to care about Sasuke a lot."

"If he tries to stop me, Naruto-kun wouldn’t stop me, right? He definitely wouldn’t." Sakura's chest heaved up and down, she stroked her face with her right hand, her eyes were blurred.

"Another me, you stay hidden. I’ll find Sasuke for you, hehe." Sakura, whose attributes unknown, said this as she twirled her right pinky finger near her lips.

After leaving Konoha Hospital, Naruto bought two more portions of takoyaki and ate as he walked.

‘Sakura’s condition was really strange, so it was best to wait and see. Maybe it's the same as Temari's, Temari, it was just some kind of self-defense mechanism that her brain had activated, and she'll get better in a couple of days.’

However, Naruto felt that it wouldn’t be so bad if it always remained like this, as it would save him a lot of trouble.

After all, the purpose of Sasuke's life is revenge, and Naruto had no interest in trying to rekindle Sasuke's emotions. Whatever Sasuke wanted to do, he could go ahead, and Naruto had no intention of getting involved.

As for the future, he’d deal with it when the time came. Although they were comrades, Naruto didn’t really care that much about Sasuke.

…

The next day.

"What? You actually want to go on a mission? And with Team 8?" Tsunade frowned, looking at Naruto as if he had lost his mind. Her outfit strained at the seams as she crossed her arms.

"… Well, I just want to help out the village, you know? What’s so strange about that?" Naruto said somewhat embarrassedly.

"Help out?" Tsunade gave him a disdainful look and said bluntly, "Last time I gave you a mission, you said you had to go home to take care of a sick stray dog."

"Later, I found out you bought a random stuffed dog from a gift shop and insisted it was sick."

"I’m starting to worry about your mental state, Uzumaki Naruto."

"Uh, this time it’s real! I really want to do a mission." Naruto said earnestly, "Team 7 has been inactive for a long time. I can’t just sit around doing nothing forever."

"Really?" Tsunade’s sharp eyes narrowed as she stared at him, "Let me see your sincerity."

Thud.

Naruto placed two boxes of expensive desserts on Tsunade's desk, and the latter’s eyes widened in response.

"Alright, I approve."

After coming out of the Hokage Tower, Naruto felt a wave of disappointment, ‘Tsunade was really as shameless as I am. She agreed to be bribed with sweets. This Hokage is really despicable.’

While he was mentally criticizing her, he suddenly noticed Hinata standing nervously by the roadside. When she saw that Naruto had discovered her, her face immediately turned red.

"Hinata-chan." Naruto called, waving to her, and the latter waved back timidly.

"N-Naruto-kun."

"You don’t have to be so formal. Just call me Naruto from now on." He said confidently as he walked up to Hinata.

"Okay." Hinata seemed like she would not refuse any of his requests and agreed with a blushing face.

"N-Naruto."

"I'm going on a mission with you guys the day after tomorrow."

"With us?"

"Yes, Team 8. I’ve already convinced Tsunade-sama." He said proudly, "I guess I’m sort of an auxiliary member of Team 8 now, like a temp worker."

"Ah, the day after tomorrow?" Hinata stammered, looking even more flustered. Her shoulder-length blue hair framed her small, adorable face, resembling a creamy white pudding.

Naruto had his hands behind his back, but he couldn't help but reach out and pinched her cheek.

"Huh?"

When Hinata realized that Naruto was pinching her face with one hand, her entire face turned crimson, even down to her ears, and she was so overwhelmed that her body went limp.

Naruto realized that he had caused trouble by his careless hands, and instinctively caught Hinata. He hurriedly holding Hinata in his arms, and skillfully ran into a nearby shaded alley.