Naruto: SSS-Rank Romance System

"Swear in the name of the Three Ninjas, there's absolutely nothing." Naruto said seriously, without hesitation, sacrificing the reputation of the Three Ninjas to protect his apron fetish.

The fact that a cute girl is cooking for him should be something to be thankful for. However, when Ino walked around him in an apron, even though he had already tried to control his thoughts, he...

As expected, the apron is really great.

With a splash, Naruto's hands were fully immersed in the water pouring from the faucet, but his gaze seemed absent-minded.

Ino has been acting a bit strange recently, but she does look good in an apron.

If we compare a maid outfit and an apron, I'd say they each have their own charm. Ino, with her well-groomed appearance and flawless skin, is a joy to look at.

Damn it, I still have to thank her for this angel's arrival.

Ino, watching Naruto walk out of the kitchen as if nothing was wrong, furrowed her brows. She felt something was off about him. Why did his lecherous gaze suddenly become so devout, like he was looking at a shrine maiden?

At the dinner table.

"It's delicious." Naruto praised without holding back, "The fried egg tastes like honey, and the soup is really good..."

Hearing Naruto's words, Ino's eyes narrowed slightly, as if she had received great satisfaction. Then, as if remembering something, she suddenly asked.

"Where did those injuries come from?"

"Oh, that... I took them for Tsunade-sama."

Tsunade-sama? Ino immediately became tense.

She remembered seeing Princess Tsunade outside the Hokage building this morning, and she saw Naruto standing beside her, looking listless.

The Fifth Hokage's inauguration ceremony—usually, only high-level advisors and elders stand behind the Fifth Hokage.

However, when it came to Tsunade, one of the legendary Three Ninjas, Ino couldn't help but feel a little admiration.

"Tsunade-sama must be very charismatic, right?"

"No." Naruto's expression turned resentful. "That woman doesn't look like a Hokage at all. She has a bad temper, doesn't keep her word, and just relies on being a woman to shirk responsibility."

"Someone like that being Hokage, I can't imagine what it would be like."

"Huh?" Ino was a bit confused. She didn't know what had happened, but...

"Naruto, don't talk bad about Tsunade-sama. If it weren't for her, the village wouldn't have stabilized so quickly."

Seeing Ino's serious expression, Naruto shrugged and said, "I understand."

"Really, you should listen properly!"

"Okay."

...

The sun set in a yellow hue.

The two walked side by side through the streets of Konoha, blending into the crowd of people heading home after class.

"Actually, you don't have to specially walk me home." Ino glanced at Naruto cautiously out of the corner of her eye, then quickly looked away.

"No, I was just about to go out for a walk."

"I heard that from tomorrow, the village will start dispatching the tasks that have piled up, and after resting for a while, it'll get busy again." Ino sighed.

"Be careful." Naruto muttered absentmindedly, his gaze drifting through the bustling crowd.

It seemed that after Tsunade returned to the village, the tense atmosphere hanging over Konoha dissipated. The destroyed buildings had been mostly repaired, and more and more people were emerging from their sorrow.

After the Konoha collapse operation, Naruto lost his old house, but the loss wasn't significant to him.

It was the loss of the Kusunagi sword that really saddened him. However, since Orochimaru wasn't about to give it to him easily, he could live with that. He'd just have to find a chance to get it back later.

Speaking of which, Temari's three-star fan was still in the sealing space. Now that the relationship between Suna and Konoha had probably improved, should he return it?

"What are you thinking about?" Ino frowned, her face slightly puffed with displeasure as she leaned into Naruto's line of sight. "It's rude to zone out while talking to someone."

"Sorry, I was thinking about maid outfits. Could you do that again?"

"Stop thinking about that, or I'll wipe you out completely."

"Physically, you mean?"

"Mm-hmm."

"Ino."

"What?"

"We're here." Naruto pointed to the Yamanaka flower shop not far away, realizing that without realizing it, they had reached the street in front of the shop.

"Oh." Ino took a few steps forward, about to say goodbye.

But then, Naruto frowned, suddenly asking.

"Ino, what's the best way to return something you've taken from a girl who has a bad temper?"

"A girl?" Ino's face grew strange. "What did you take from Sakura?"

"It's not Sakura."

Naruto kept the fan for no particular reason. Anyway, he had to return it eventually. If it came to negotiating with the Konoha higher-ups, Tsunade might be very irritated.

It wasn't Sakura!

So there's another woman out there!

Though Ino felt a bit wronged, she still patiently tried to think of a solution.

"If the relationship is very awkward, you could find a third person and just hand it over without meeting."

A third person?

Naruto thought carefully. The Chunin Exam ended after the first match, and Temari never fought with Shikamaru, so they didn't know each other well.

As for Gaara, he had indeed beaten him up once, and it wasn't clear if the correction punch worked. Approaching him now might be too dangerous. What if he couldn't resist hitting him again?

Gaara's status was now very different. He was no longer the lowly genin from Suna.

With the Fourth Kazekage dead, and Gaara, as the jinchuriki and the prince, would naturally take his place. If he beat up the new Kazekage... it might lead to diplomatic issues.

Kankuro's character was too insidious, and Sasuke had destroyed his figurine. If he went to him now, it might lead to a fight with the little prince of Suna.

Headache. Too many grudges, and now that Konoha and Suna had established ties, things were becoming tricky.

Forget it. It's better to wait for Konoha's high-ups to come to him.

After all, those old fogies can't do anything to him now. With Jiraiya and Tsunade around, any proposal about him had to be approved by both of them before it could be effective.

Thinking this, Naruto relaxed.

Do less, take more, and drive those old guys crazy—that's the right path.

"Never mind, I'll forget about it for now." Naruto said, "You go back, and be careful with the mission."

"Okay."

Ino walked a few steps towards the Yamanaka flower shop, then, thinking about what Naruto had said about that girl, angrily turned back.

"What's wrong? Do you have something else..."

"Ah!!!"

Ino reached out and twisted his waist hard, not giving Naruto a chance to explain. Ino angrily shouted.

"Greedy pervert!!!"

"Uh, actually that wasn't..."

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