Chapter 25 Bamboo Grove

"Little piggy, be good, open the door, if you don't, I won't."

Naruto strolled leisurely through the forest with his hands behind his back, humming a nursery rhyme, his eyes scanning everywhere for the missing cat.

A cat had run away from Mrs. Yamanaka's flower shop, so she registered the mission at Hokage Tower and paid five thousand ryo for a D-Rank mission.

Since all the other teams were out on missions with their Jonin Instructors during this period and only Team 7 was idle, so this mission naturally fell on the head of the unlucky Naruto.

Who made him act on his own and risk his life with Team 7 to hunt down Zabuza and Haku? Although they succeeded, it also made Kakashi furious.

As punishment, Naruto had to complete twenty D-Rank missions alone.

"Little cat, come out and go home with uncle."

"Ino? Mrs. Yamanaka?"

After shouting a series of things that might catch the cat's attention, Naruto still didn't hear any movement. In the end, he could only lie down on a bench by the road in frustration.

"Naruto? What are you doing sleeping here?"

Hearing a familiar voice, Naruto raised his head, and what came into view was a head of golden hair. Ino stood with her hands on her hips, leaning forward slightly to look at Naruto.

"Ino?" Naruto didn't bother to get up, "When did you return to the village?"

"This afternoon. After the mission is over, Asuma-sensei gave us two days off." Ino sat next to Naruto.

"My mother's cat is missing."

"Oh, I know that. I'm the Genin who accepted that mission." Naruto said, leaning back on the bench and pointing at himself.

Under the street light, the two people were not far away from each other and looked at each other casually.

Naruto was wearing a black T-shirt and loose brown shorts, with a completely nonchalant look on his face.

"Hey, you!" Ino grabbed Naruto's clothes and said angrily, "Since you accepted a mission from someone, you need to show some effort!"

After that, Ino forcefully pushed Naruto to the other side of the bench. But Naruto, still lying down, didn't care and said nonchalantly, "Yes, yes, Ino-sama, you're the best. So find the cat, and I'll treat you to barbecue."

"That's your mission! Why are you just lying here?" Ino was getting exasperated.

"It's my mission, but I can also hire you." Naruto said nonchalantly, "The village never said a Shinobi can't hire another Shinobi to complete a mission, right?"

"That's true, but I have no obligation to help you find the cat!" Ino glared at Naruto.

"Ino, you don't want Mrs. Yamanaka to be sad, do you?"

"You!"

"Stop saying useless stuff, Ino. If we find the cat, I'll treat you to barbecue. Besides, for you to be out this late, you must be looking for the cat, right?"

After hearing this, even though she was still unhappy, Ino had to compromise.

Holding back her anger, she stood up and walked to Naruto, leaning down to look at Naruto's face with a displeased look and said, "Get up and look for it with me! Hurry!"

"Yes, yes." Naruto yawned as Ino forcefully dragged him up, pulling him along by the hand.

"Honestly! How can you be like this?" Ino grumbled as she tugged Naruto forward, continuously complaining.

"Bastard! If you take on a mission, do it properly! Who are you showing this lazy attitude to? Don't you want to get home early…"

"It doesn't matter whether I go home or not." Naruto suddenly said, "I was planning to sleep on the bench all night."

"Stop saying things like that and start looking properly!" Ino paused for a moment, but continued dragging Naruto forward.

"Ino, I think I heard something over there." After listening carefully in the forest for a while, Naruto pointed in a direction and said.

"Got it, got it!" Ino said impatiently.

In the moonlight, Ino pushed Naruto aside and walked forward, but she tripped and was about to fall forward.

Just as she was about to regain her balance, Naruto grabbed her.

"What are you doing?" Naruto asked, tilting his head in confusion.

"Me? Can't you see that I tripped?" Ino replied irritably.

"Oh, then I'll let go." Naruto pretended to release her hand, causing Ino's pupils to shrink in panic.

"Naruto!!"

Ino screamed as she desperately grabbed onto whatever she could. Naruto wanted to grab her again, but Ino grabbed at his clothes at this moment.

"Shit." Naruto was caught off guard and cursed in surprise.

However, it was too late. Naruto fell in the direction where Ino fell, and with a ripping sound, his clothes were torn.

"Ouch!" Ino opened her eyes to find Naruto on top of her.

Their lips weren't so precisely aligned, but Naruto's clothes had been torn by her and his head was resting near her neck.

'That spot! This is bad!' Ino felt the warmth coming from her neck and her face flushed instantly.

"Naruto! Get off me!" Ino shouted with a red face.

"Stop pulling my clothes!" Naruto yelled, then screamed again, "Stop pulling! Your hands!"

After a chaotic struggle, Ino got up from the ground, wiping the moisture from her lips, and said, "What did you do!"

"I didn't do anything, don't talk nonsense Ino!" Naruto jumped up, covering his tattered clothes.

"How am I supposed to go home like this?"

Ino's anger was almost visible to the naked eye, and she clenched her fists tightly. Just as she was about to teach Naruto a lesson, a meowing sound was heard.

A pure white cat walked gracefully out of the bamboo grove, passing by the quarreling pair, giving them a glance.

Under a large green tree outside the Yamanaka flower shop, Ino pulled out a white shirt from behind her and handed it to Naruto, saying reluctantly, "Here, you are not allowed to do weird things with my clothes!"

"Huh?" Naruto pouted and said, "Why would I do that? Besides, you were the one who tore my clothes first. Apologize sincerely, damn it!"

"How would I know if you would!" Ino argued. As it was already late at night, her voice softened, "Anyway, I'm sorry."

Hearing the usually strong-willed Ino apologize, Naruto was taken aback and didn't know how to react.

"Well, since you've apologized, I'll forgive you." Naruto scratched his head and said, "It was partly my fault too. How about I treat you to barbecue?"

Ino looked up and stared at Naruto for a long time with complicated eyes, then asked, "You really want to treat me to a barbecue?"

"Yeah." Naruto nodded.

"Barbecue is expensive."

"I've saved up some money from the missions I've done recently. Anyway," Naruto said, "you don't have to worry about this."

"Alright then." Ino nodded and said, "Since you sincerely invite me, I will mercifully agree to your invitation."

"But I'm also rich, so I'll be the one treating you, idiot."