Nindō 0078: Progress

As Naruto's clones dealt with things outside, he was spending a rare lazy day with his wife. The two were in the living room, still nude after the morning shower, as they watched one of Hinata's usual dramas on TV. They didn't need to worry about the kids, as Naruto's clones had already taken care of them before the duo even got out of bed.

Naruto wasn't particularly interested in it, and his distraction showed as his hand occasionally brushed her breasts. Looking at Hinata, who was engrossed in the cheap entertainment, he slowly got bolder, putting his other hand on her thigh and slowly stroking her skin. Hinata finally reacted when he outright cupped her breast and pinched her nipple.

"Naruto-kun … We did it the whole night. I need a break …" Her voice came out a little hoarse.

"I'm just teasing you. That way, when you are recovered, we can get straight into it without any need for foreplay."

"Naruto-kun …" She spoke pointedly.

[Master …]

As the husband and wife continued their banter, Naruto heard a familiar voice in his head.

[Master, can you hear me?]

[I can, Sarada. You don't need to ask me that every time. What's up?]

[Since I'm going to be gone until the weekend on this mission, what about my training?]

[Why are you being so diligent? Just act like a normal teenager and enjoy the holiday from your training.]

[We just started with chakra control training, Master … I'm not bored of it yet. It's fun for now.]

[Then you can continue it daily on your own.]

[Do you mind if I talk to you during my training? I believe that your guidance would make training much better.]

Naruto sighed, lamenting that it's really difficult to train a diligent disciple.

At least I can remotely examine her internal state using the mark …

[Fine. But it's possible that I may not be available every day. Unlike a clone, telepathic communication can only be done with my real body. We'll do it at the usual time.]

[Thank you, Master~ You are the best!] The girl was undoubtedly excited. [Oh, also, thank you for getting Mirai sensei to guide me on genjutsu.]

[It's no big deal. You could've asked Konohamaru to get you into contact with her as well. They're cousins, after all.]

[Okay, bye, Master. I'll keep you updated on the status of the mission.]

[No need. And don't tell anyone about your ability to talk to me telepathically. I don't want Konohamaru or Hanabi asking for the same. It's too tiresome.]

[Hehe~ Definitely, Master. It will be our secret!] Sarada seemed pleased if going by her tone. The feeling of receiving special treatment would leave any child giddy.

As Naruto's conversation concluded, Hinata was already pinned down on the couch by him as he roughly kissed her. Her feigned struggles regarding her drama had long died, and she was enthusiastically responding to his kiss while moving her leg a little. It made her thigh rub against his crotch.

Before long, the couple were engaged in debauched actions once again, doing it right in the middle of the living room of their home.

When it came time for lunch, Naruto still didn't let Hinata go, sending a clone to bring them takeout. Even as they ate food, they didn't stop; Naruto made Hinata sit on his lap and fed her just like last night. The only difference was that she was now penetrated by him instead of the vibrating Truth Seeker Orb-turned sex toy from last night.

The rest of the day passed relatively uneventfully as Naruto was forced to let go of his wife once his clone brought Himawari back home. They finished with a quickie in the shower and cleaned up before their daughter's arrival. Since Boruto was out on his mission, it was just the three of them who ate dinner tonight.

…

The uneventful days passed, and it was soon Wednesday.

"Have you found any traces of her?" Naruto asked.

"No," Shikamaru shook his head. "Her trail ended the moment she entered the Land of Fire."

"It's understandable that she has much better ways of evading people when home," Naruto said. "It's fine. Just keep me updated on the situation regarding her. What about the meeting this Sunday? Is everything prepared?"

"Pretty much. The proposal for the emergency fund is ready. Ino has been dealing with some internal friction within her clan, but she will be attending this meeting as the clan head this time. We already have support from the Akimichi Clan, Aburame Clan, Inuzuka Clan, and the Yamanaka Clan. The Nara Clan doesn't need to be mentioned. As long as you can talk to your father-in-law and get his support, we will have his in the bag even without a presiding elder — in case we can't get Tsunade-sama."

"I'll try, but I'm not completely sure. We'll take care of that when the time comes. How about the construction?"

"Using your initial funds, we have already started working on the foundation of the center. The plans have been finalized. As we discussed before, the focus is currently on the general lab area and the residential area. It should be finished within two months, at which point the center will be made operational. The researchers can finally move in while we slowly expand the other divisions. As long as we have sufficient funds and don't run into anything too extreme, the entire structure should be completed within two years."

"Two years, you say …" Naruto said thoughtfully. "I can work with that timeline. Tell me about Suna's situation. Temari and Sai should have already sent you their weekly reports yesterday."

"They did. According to Temari, things are going smoothly. At least as smooth as they can be. However, with the support of the previous rebellion leader, things are stable for now. Iwa and the Land of Earth have also pulled their troops back after seeing Konoha's stance, bringing some respite. Temari was thinking of transferring Gaara back to Suna and asked for your input regarding it."

"It's her choice. I won't force her to keep the Kazekage in Konoha," Naruto shrugged. "But I discourage it. I'm not going to send Sakura or any of our elite medics to Suna. If she transfers Gaara there, his condition is her responsibility."

"I will convey it to her. Sai's report was largely similar, save for the current mood of the civilians. With the greater presence of Konoha-nin in Suna, there are undercurrents of dissatisfaction. Someone is pushing the agenda that Konoha wants to annex Suna. It hasn't resulted in anything more than some public dissatisfaction for now, but it will blow up if left unchecked."

"Does he need more people?"

"No, he asked for some genjutsu specialists. Since the enemy is using underhanded tactics, he wants to do the same. Coming out won't do anything."

"Understandable. Get me a list of people with high proficiency with genjutsu, Anbu, or otherwise; get in contact with Yamato-sensei regarding the Anbu members," he showed a thoughtful expression. "This tells me that we need to establish a squadron of genjutsu specialists for circumstances like this. To be honest, we need specialized squadrons for all disciplines … Put it on the agenda of the research center. Bringing up the expansion of troops to the council is going to be useless."

"They will probably think that we're gearing up for war."

"We are, but they don't need to know that. Half of them are just shy of laying down arms and surrendering without a fight when some trouble comes along."

"That's the civilian half, Naruto. You can't expect them to go to war."

"Then they shouldn't have a say in the politics of a military village, should they?" He said with a hardened expression before it disappeared. "Anyway, I'm getting ahead of myself. One step at a time."

"Are you sure you want to continue calling it a Research Center?" Shikamaru deftly changed the topic. "At this point, it might as well be a secondary Anbu … or Root."

"Doing things under the guise of a Research Center is going to be better to sell to the researchers. Many of them will be reluctant to work for a special division under the Anbu. But working for a special research center focused on improving the world, they'll gobble that up."

"Agreed …" Shikamaru nodded. "I'll confer with the interim Anbu Commander and provide you with a list of genjutsu specialists by the end of the day."

"Good. Lastly, this one's a more personal thing I need to talk to you about. I'm planning to take a trip with the family to the Land of Hot Water. Can you help me find a good resort to stay in? Preferably one that's secluded but not too secluded so that the kids can enjoy themselves outside."

"You could always ask Tsunade-sama," Shikamaru said. "She was there for a while before moving away."

"That's not a bad idea," Naruto nodded.

"How long do you plan to go? Things don't exactly work around here without you. Too many people are dependent on your decisions."

"It's fine; I'll just send a clone to preside over things in my absence. I'm not going too far anyway. It will barely take my clone a few hours to reach Konoha. What I'm concerned about is Granny Tsunade's reaction when I ask her about a nice vacation spot in the Land of Hot Water."

"On second thought, you might want to reconsider the idea," he laughed.

"Uh, Hokage-sama …" Naruto was interrupted by the voice of Shizune coming out of the intercom on his desk. He furrowed his brows at the interruption.

"What's wrong, Shizune? You don't usually disturb me during meetings," he spoke to her after pressing the receiver button.

"Miss Yamanaka is here. She said that she has something important to talk to you about."

Naruto raised a brow before sharing a look with Shikamaru. "Send her in, I guess."

"I'll get going. You should talk to her alone," Shikamaru said, making Naruto frown again.

"You could …" Shikamaru was already out before Naruto's words finished.

'Peculiar…'

***

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