In Konoha, This Naruto Has Decided To Take It Easy

Chapter 307 Becoming Chunin

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Naruto pulled Temari to the back of the staircase corner, where it was dark and secluded, and the whole space was pitch black. No light and no wind or snow was able to reach them.

"It's so dark here, let’s go outside." She said.

She didn’t like being controlled by others, but if it was Naruto, she didn’t mind. However, Temari had always been a little afraid of the dark. It was fine for a short while, but after some time, she would start to feel dizzy.

"Wait a little longer." He leaned in, his voice carrying a hint of teasing, tinged with a sense of forbidden desire, "You are afraid of the dark? How did you become a Shinobi?"

"I'm not afraid, I just get dizzy if I stay in the dark too long." Temari murmuredsoftly, her face turning even redder.

She had never imagined a moment like this. Despite her usual strength, she wasn’t really frightened now. In the corner of this dark space, her heart was surging with a heat that was impossible to ignore.

She could feel Naruto’s broad chest and the overwhelming scent of masculinity. Her neck itched slightly, and just as she began to feel flustered, Naruto let her go.

"Let's go. We’ll meet again next time."

Temari closed her eyes and opened them again in a trance, and felt her body being pulled outside, back under the eaves. Naruto leaned against the wooden pillar and smiled, his eyes fixed on her once again.

Temari knew at that moment that she was finished and would never be able to escape from this man's clutches for the rest of her life.

At night.

There was a knock on Tsunade's door.

"Come in." She said in a low, tired voice without raising her head.

The door opened, and Naruto came in carrying a late-night snack, quietly setting it down away from the documents on her desk.

"Take a short break."

Hearing this, Tsunade took a deep breath and leaned back in her chair. She squinted her eyes at the light above her head, and exhaustion was prominent on her face.

"Rest? How can I rest? Tomorrow is the last chance for negotiations. Kumogakure is still as unreasonable as ever, using these scheming tricks."

She massaged her temples and said, "First, they keep finding faults to wear us down, and then when the talks start breaking down, they suddenly back off, sending over piles of documents like snowflakes."

"We only have one day left, and we can’t even complain. After all, they’re the ones backing down. But if I don’t finish reading all of this, there’s no way the talks can continue tomorrow."

"That's pretty low." Naruto commented, then sprawled on the sofa across from her, "Tsunade-sama, you should’ve brought Shizune-san along. You’re overworking yourself."

"Shizune has to stay in Konoha. On one hand, the medical department is really too busy and Sakura can’t handle it all on her own." Tsunade reached out and fumbled on the table for a while, grabbed the sake cup and took a sip, only to realize it was empty.

"In any case, Konoha has been declining these past few years, and that’s a fact. We can’t say it’s a complete generational gap, but compared to Iwagakure, Sunagakure, and the other Great Shinobi Villages, we’re not in much better shape."

She tried to stand up but was gently pushed back down by Naruto, who calmly poured her a drink.

"When a Shinobi Village becomes powerful, doesn't it always end in war?"

"That may be true, but we can't let Kumogakure grow too powerful." Tsunade said, "If Kumogakure hadn’t already shown signs of surpassing Konoha, it wouldn’t have been so easy to convene this Five Kage Summit."

"There’s nothing we can do for now. Peace in the Shinobi World is the current trend. We cannot let Kumogakure seize upon this and have an excuse to start a war."

"Kumogakure has already lost Nibi, so there’s no need to worry too much." Naruto reassured her, "Who knows what the future holds? Peace is definitely the best option."

"Mm." Tsunade took a sip of sake, then looked at Naruto and said, "Since you're not sleeping, help me organize this stack of documents."

"Oh, okay."

…

The next day.

The summit concluded smoothly, though the four Kage besides Raikage all looked exhausted and unhappy. They had likely stayed up all night reading through documents, and Onoki in particular seemed like he could keel over at any moment.

A month had passed since Naruto and Tsunade’s return to Konoha.

After escaping the winter of the Land of Iron, they barely had time to enjoy Konoha’s autumn before winter arrived.

Naruto was feeling completely drained. He had promised to wait for Jiraiya’s return, but after waiting all winter, the old man still hadn’t come back.

Naruto wondered if Jiraiya had gone off to the Land of Fields to mess around with some snake creature, completely forgetting about his student in the process.

"Achoo!" Naruto sneezed as he looked out at the heavy snow, shivering under his blanket.

Fortunately, Hinata and Ino would come to see him occasionally, mainly because he was too much of a shut-in and would never go out unless absolutely necessary. Especially in winter, he practically hibernated.

It is worth mentioning that Kurama seemed to dislike the cold too. He no longer lounged around on the sofa, and instead curled up in the blankets with Naruto. It was not until Naruto had someone install a new heating system did Kurama finally saunter out of the room.

"Not staying bundled up anymore?" Naruto sneered.

"I couldn't sleep, so I just wanted to stretch my legs." Kurama said as he effortlessly leaped over the couch, moving so gracefully that Naruto thought he should be sent to compete in the Olympics.

After a while, Kurama flipped over and saw Naruto still tinkering with the new heating system.

"Are you going out to eat today?"

"Eat, eat, eat every day. What else do you know besides eating?" Naruto shot Kurama a glance, "You're as fat as a pig. Do you even remember what kind of creature you are?"

Kurama turned a deaf ear to Naruto’s remark. He could slim down anytime he wanted, after all, he was just a mass of Chakra. But in this cold winter, keeping the fat would keep him warm.

As the year-end approached, Naruto, who had nothing better to do, participated in Konoha’s winter Chunin Exams. Unlike the joint Chunin Exams held between two villages, the Chunin Exams held by Konoha was much simpler.

It took him half a month to finally get the Chunin title. He wasn’t alone in the exams, as Choji, who had missed the previous Chunin Exams, also had to retake them.

The two, one plump and one slim, made a striking pair as they stood out in the snow.

A week before the New Year’s Festival, their Chunin uniforms arrived.

Naruto and Choji made an appointment to go to the Hokage Tower together, but to their surprise, Ino tagged along. She smiled cheerfully at the two and said with a hint of schadenfreude, "To celebrate the two of you finally escaping from your status as Genin, I'll treat you to some barbecue."

"The two of us?" Naruto was stunned.

Choji pointed at Naruto with a serious face, tightened his cotton coat, and then pointed at himself, "Shikamaru, Ino, Neji, Lee… Even Kiba is already a Chunin. Only the two of us were still Genin."

After receiving their Chunin uniform, they spent the next several hours handling paperwork. Having done it before, Ino led them through the process quickly, taking them up and down the building. By the time they were seated at the barbecue restaurant, browsing the menu, it was already noon.

The alley outside was covered in winter snow, and the warm atmosphere inside the restaurant was a stark contrast.

At this moment, Choji couldn’t shake a strange feeling. He raised his head to look at the misty glass, then turned his head to look at Naruto and Ino sitting together, and mumbled to himself, "Should I go home now?"