In Konoha, This Naruto Has Decided To Take It Easy

Chapter 179 You Should Sleep in My Room

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In the faint light, Naruto effortlessly walked over to the cabinet, picked up the candles, and lit one with a lighter. The warm yellow candlelight illuminated a corner of the room.

He carefully tilted the candle to let a bit of wax drip onto the table, then pressed the candle onto the wax to hold it in place.

Ino also came over and sat down on the sofa closest to the candlelight, her face now calm again.

Kurama hadn't moved an inch the entire time, casting the two of them a disdainful look. He grabbed the bottle of alcohol with his paw and gulped down the last few sips.

‘Stupid humans.’

After lighting the candle, Naruto got up and lit another one, carrying it into the kitchen. As he walked, he said, "Wait a moment. There should still be some hot water in the kitchen. I'll make you a cup of cocoa."

"Mmm." Ino was still riding the emotional waves from earlier, so she didn’t really catch what Naruto said and just responded automatically.

It wasn’t until Naruto brought over two steaming cups of cocoa that she instinctively said thank you.

"Aren't you not a fan of cocoa?" Ino held the cup full of hot cocoa, and her hands gradually warmed up.

"I’m not, really. It’s too sweet and heavy for me. I’d rather just drink water than this stuff." Naruto said, "Usually only girls like you like it, for a sugar boost or something like that."

"Then why are you drinking it?"

Naruto smiled and took the seat across from her, taking a sip of cocoa and said, "I just want to know what your favorite drink tastes like. If I drank from your cup directly, you'd probably beat me to death, so this is the next best thing."

"You're exaggerating! I wouldn’t..." Ino paused halfway through her sentence and then frowned.

‘This guy has a way with words. If I said I wouldn’t mind, he’d probably just go ahead and drink from my cup next time. But if I say I do mind, he’ll probably come up with something even weirder to say.’

So, Ino quietly got up and moved a little farther away from Naruto.

Naruto: “…”

With the power out, the temperature in the living room had naturally dropped. Ino, wrapped only in a bathrobe, couldn’t help but shiver. Naruto noticed the chill as well.

He stood up and said to Ino, "You should sleep in my room."

"Huh? Why?"

"The blankets in the guest room are pretty thin, and with the power out, there’s no heating. You’ll catch a cold if you sleep there." Naruto explained patiently, "The blankets in my room are thicker, so..."

He had expected Ino to flatly refuse, which wouldn't have been surprising. After all, he was well aware that in her mind, he was probably on the top three of her ‘most dangerous people’ list.

‘I have probably been labeled as someone who can never be trusted, or something like that.’

But surprisingly, Ino did not refuse. She simply remained silent for a moment before asking, "Then where will you sleep?"

"Huh?" This was a question Naruto had never thought about. Of course, what he thought in his mind was that it would be nice if they could sleep in each other's arms, but he couldn’t bring himself to say that out loud.

After hesitating for a few seconds, he frowned and said, "There is a very thick blanket in the foxhound's room, so I guess I’ll just have to make do with that."

Kurama understood the situation and angrily stood up from the sofa, looking like a standing Tom Cat.

But before Kurama could voice his anger, Naruto spoke first, "At worst, I can just buy a bunch of alcohol for the foxhound tomorrow as compensation."

Hearing that, Kurama quietly lay back down, pretending as if nothing had happened. In fact, the weather wasn't that cold, at least he didn't feel it, and as long as he wasn’t missing out on something, it was fine.

After calming Kurama down, Naruto said to Ino with a smile, "Don't worry about me. You should head to the room first."

"But…"

"No buts!" Naruto pushed Ino into the room, then returned to the living room to grab a candle and placed it by the bedside. He waved at her from the doorway and then shut the door with a bang.

The light in the living room was dim. Naruto stood at the room's entrance without leaving immediately. Instead, he silently counted down from ten in his mind, ‘Ten, nine, eight… three, two, one.’

With a soft creak, the door opened. Ino was startled when she saw Naruto standing at the doorway, but she quickly turned her head away and said in a low voice, "You don't have to take foxhound’s blanket. It's not a big deal to share a bed… We're just friends, after all."

Naruto smiled at Ino, nodded, and said, “Okay.”

In the room.

Ino's slender body was nestled on the right side of the bed, bed, motionless. She lay still until she heard the candle being blown out and the rustling sound of someone climbing onto the bed nearby.

Her stiff body couldn't help but tremble slightly, and she was beginning to regret her impulsive decision just now.

‘I just felt that it would be too pitiful for him to sleep in that room, and out of a moment of pity, I had impulsively opened the door.’

‘Now, it felt like there was no turning back, like the rice had already been cooked. Regret wouldn’t help at this point.’

"Are you nervous right now?" Naruto asked.

"Don't say weird things." Ino replied, completely turned away, her flushed face buried in the blanket.

She originally thought that Naruto's room to be somewhat messy, but upon entering, she was surprised to find it unexpectedly tidy, with even the blanket emitting a fresh scent.

The cleanliness of the room created a cozy atmosphere, easing any discomfort she might have had.

Ino was a sucker for this kind of environment. Whether it was holding hands in the dark during a power outage, the candlelight, the eye contact, the clean room, or the fluffy, fragrant blanket.

In the darkness, Naruto could feel the warmth from Ino’s side of the bed. Suddenly, he asked, "Are you in a hurry to go home tomorrow?"

"Mm." Ino's voice was so soft that it was barely audible.

"The New Year's Festival would probably be postponed. Tonight isn’t too important, but tomorrow, I’m supposed to go with the Akimichi and Nara Clans' elders to the shrine."

"So that means you won't have time tomorrow and you have to get up early in the morning?" Naruto asked.

"That's about it, what's wrong?" Ino asked in a low voice. She felt that her voice was so soft that she could hardly hear it.

"No reason, I just wanted you to stay a little longer." The voice came from the other side.