Corruption

"Hey, Naruto!"

Just as Naruto was about to enter the Hokage building, he heard someone call him. Turning around, he saw the new generation of the Ino-Shika-Cho trio.

The three of them were standing outside the Hokage building, seemingly waiting for someone. Shikamaru, leaning against the wall in his usual lazy way, waved at him with his classic dead-fish-eyed expression. Ino looked a bit uneasy and absent-minded, while Choji, as usual, was holding a bag of chips and munching away.

"What are you guys doing here?" Naruto, familiar with the three, skipped the formalities and immediately reached for Choji's bag of chips.

Crunch. Naruto took a bite, and Shikamaru sighed without even looking at him. "Asuma got held up with something, so we're waiting here for him."

Then Shikamaru asked Naruto, "About that thing... Naruto, you know what I'm talking about, right?"

"Which thing?"

"The guy calling himself the 'God of Shinobi' – he's only spoken twice, and it's already thrown the village into chaos."

"Oh, that." Naruto scratched his head with a big smile, "I thought it was someone playing a prank!"

"A prank that sends messages to the whole village? Come on, it's not that simple." Shikamaru grumbled, holding his head.

"You're just too slow, Naruto."

"But that so-called 'God of Shinobi' sounds like a super weirdo, saying weird stuff about long legs and his friend's sister or something." Naruto waved his hand dismissively, then looked over at Choji.

Choji raised his eyebrows and crunched his last chip with a determined expression. "The way of the last chip."

"Only someone as clueless as you wouldn't believe it, Naruto." Shikamaru replied, "The stuff about the Hyuga clan is real, though."

"What stuff?" Naruto pretended to be unaware.

"It's..."

"Shikamaru, Asuma-sensei's coming!" Choji suddenly shouted.

"Guess I'll tell you next time, Naruto. We've gotta go!" Shikamaru glanced at the Hokage building, where Asuma was indeed coming out. He waved to Naruto, then caught up with the others as they walked away.

Ino didn't speak to Naruto at all and didn't even look at him, but Naruto didn't mind. After they left, he turned and entered the Hokage building.

Inside, it was chaotic, with Anbu and regular chunin hurrying around with various documents. He could hear them nervously discussing this "God of Shinobi" or mentioning the Hyuga clan occasionally.

Naruto shrugged and started up the stairs to grab a D-rank mission from the mission hall. Kakashi had assigned him twenty D-rank missions as punishment, and he couldn't return to Team 7 until they were completed.

While heading up the stairs and wondering what kind of D-rank mission he'd get today, he heard someone angrily shouting from downstairs.

"The higher-ups want me to figure this out in one day—where am I supposed to start? Damn that 'God of Shinobi'! If I ever catch him, I'll make him suffer!"

Ibiki Morino, scarred and formidable, was coming down the stairs with his interrogation team, passing right by Naruto.

"Scary," Naruto shivered, growing even more determined to lay low and avoid leaving any evidence that he was the 'God of Shinobi.'

The truth was, Naruto was deeply wary of Ibiki Morino, not because of his strength, but because the man was a true sadist.

A towering man over six feet, with the vibe of a scary next-door neighbor, and yet he was a masochist in private.

Naruto cringed at the thought. Just imagining Ibiki's face in a mix of pleasure and pain was disturbing enough to make him want to flee.

At the mission hall, the staff handed Naruto a mission scroll politely.

"Thanks."

Naruto stepped out of the Hokage building and opened the scroll. His mission? Picking up trash.

"Where does Konoha get so much trash?!" he muttered, reluctantly heading out on his trash-picking mission. It was hot in August, and after a short while, he was already exhausted.

Taking shelter under a tree, he looked up at the sky, threw down his garbage bag, and walked off alone.

"Ah, that's better!" Naruto came out of a convenience store with two popsicles and left under the curious gaze of the store owner.

Outside, the heat hit him like a wave, and with nothing better to do, Naruto squatted in front of the store, eating both popsicles in full view of a group of kids, making one of them cry.

Turning, Naruto saw four dark-skinned kids standing in the sun, looking dusty in their worn-out clothes. His eyes gleamed.

"Come here."

The kids looked at each other, hesitating. But Naruto's carefree look while eating two popsicles was irresistible.

"Do you want some?" Naruto asked, shaking his popsicle.

The four kids, who looked about eight or nine, hesitantly nodded.

"I'll buy each of you a popsicle, but you have to answer a question first."

After a brief pause, the kids agreed.

"What's the next line after 'odd changes, even doesn't'?"

The kids looked at each other, clueless.

Seeing no one could answer, Naruto sighed with disappointment, but he still went back into the store and bought five popsicles, giving one to each kid.

Squatting in front of the store, they all ate together.

"Do you want to eat ice cream like this every day?"

"Yes!" they chorused.

Naruto smiled at them. "Then you'll have to do me a favor."

As the orange sun set, Naruto lay on a hammock, while an eight-year-old girl stood beside him, fanning him occasionally.

Three boys were running over with trash bags, sweat covering their faces as they called out cheerfully.

"Boss, we finished!"

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