线上配资炒股

Chapter 396 Sneaking in Through The Window at Midnight

Support me at Pat reon

 

 

remove the *

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Bodhi Ancestor and Sun Wukong once agreed to meet at midnight, but theirs was for the purpose of passing down knowledge and teaching. Naruto and Anko, on the other hand, were just fooling around, with no regard for conventions or taboos.

Anko had no romantic notions about Naruto, her mind filled with all sorts of immature thoughts.

Naruto, in turn, couldn\'t stand Anko, often calling her the weakest Jonin, a fake Jonin, and never holding back from mocking her.

After agreeing on a time, Naruto casually pocketed Anko\'s Chuuni prop lighter into the seal space. Without staying for long, he turned around and left the Hokage Tower.

He hadn’t been this busy in a long time. His schedule was so packed that his to-do list stretched from morning until midnight. First, he had a fight with Sakura after baiting in the morning, then he went to Hinata to get some of the Hyuga Clan\'s special sake.

Kurama had a taste for this specific drink, and without the real deal, Naruto couldn\'t continue his ‘fishing’ for Kurama. The last time he had a bottle, he had given it to Tsunade as a gift, leaving him completely out of stock.

By evening, Naruto made his way to Ichiraku Ramen.

It wasn’t yet dinnertime, so the shop wasn’t too crowded. He found an empty seat, ordered a deluxe pork bone char siu ramen set that came with a free soda, and waited.

In the brightly lit ramen shop, Teuchi was busy in the kitchen. Behind the noren curtain in the kitchen, only his daughter, Ayame, was walking back and forth carrying bowls of ramen.

After filling up, Naruto returned home and slept until midnight.

It wasn’t until his alarm woke him up that Naruto hurriedly got out of bed, his body moving on autopilot to wash up. He walked to the kitchen, poured himself a glass of water, and stood by the doorway, deep in thought as he slowly drank.

Kurama lay on the couch, cracking open one eye. The living room was dimly lit, with only a single light on in the kitchen. Naruto stood by the kitchen door, holding his glass of water and drinking it slowly.

Though Kurama wasn’t afraid of Naruto, he knew better than to disturb him at times like this. The last thing it wanted was to end up in Naruto’s bad books, knowing full well that revenge could come in unexpected ways.

It has been six years since Naruto graduated from the Academy, and he is still a Chunin. Hinata’s words earlier that day had sparked something in him, and he realized he should make time to visit Tsunade soon.

Before she retired from her position as the Godaime Hokage, he needed to ask her to help him get a promotion. At the very least, he should be a Jonin by now, as Neji had been promoted two years ago.

Naruto had bled and fought for Konoha, going as far as to undertake a solo mission to the Land of Rain. He deserves the title of Jonin.

…

After nightfall, there weren’t any formal patrols in Konoha. The Uchiha Clan had been wiped out for many years, and the security forces had been disbanded by the higher-ups.

However, if someone was acting suspiciously in the middle of the night, the Anbu would certainly take notice. Naruto made no attempt to hide as he took a shortcut, running along the rooftops straight toward Anko’s house.

Soon enough, someone intercepted him. The person, dressed in Anbu uniform, removed their animal mask before speaking with a sigh, "What are you doing running across rooftops in the middle of the night?"

The one who stopped him was none other than Uzuki Yugao, a ‘widow’ whose grief over her former lover’s death had long since faded with time. She was now the second-in-command of the Hokage’s personal Anbu unit.

"Oh, I’ve got things to do." Naruto pointed toward the night sky ahead, "Busy night. Can you let me pass now?"

Yugao sighed again, putting her mask back on, then said, "Fine. If anyone stops you, just mention my name."

"Wow, your name carries that much weight these days?" Naruto was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said, "Got any sort of token I could use?"

As soon as Naruto finished speaking, an Anbu badge flew toward him and he quickly reached out to catch it. The badge had Yugao\'s code name engraved on it, with golden engravings around the edges.

It felt cool to the touch, with a texture that was somewhere between wood and jade.

"Got any hand sweat on this?" He blurted out without thinking.

"Scram!" Yugao snapped, before quickly leaving.

Anyway, the two of them often met, as whenever Tsunade needed something, she’d send Yugao to track Naruto down. In the early days, Yugao sometimes found Naruto easily, but other times, she had to search multiple locations.

After so many years, she had learned to deal with Naruto\'s quirks. Naruto was the type to respond better to softness than to force. Whenever Yugao ran into him, she chose to keep her words to a minimum and compromised as much as she could.

She knew that getting into conflicts with Naruto was more trouble than it was worth, so she preferred to avoid the hassle altogether. Besides, she also knew that in the future, they’d likely have to work together.

Making things easier for Naruto now would ultimately make things easier for herself.

With the badge Yugao had given him, Naruto made it to Anko’s house without any further interruptions. There were no clueless rookies coming out to show off and needed him to slap them in the face. After all, the Anbu was very particular about the order between the upper and lower levels.

While the Anbu’s members weren’t particularly friendly, they knew who Naruto was, and most of them understood his connections with Tsunade and Kakashi.@@novelbin@@

With no obstacles in his way, Naruto reached Anko’s place and opted not to use the door. Instead, he went straight to the window, knocking loudly in the dead of night. The sudden ‘thud, thud, thud’ was enough to scare anyone half to death.

Anko groggily opened the door, only to realize the noise had come from the window. She was immediately furious.

"Uzumaki Naruto! Are you sick?"

"What?"

"Why are you coming through the window in the middle of the night instead of using the door?" Anko went back to the room and opened the window, but didn\'t let him in immediately. "Do you have a screw loose?"

"Who would knock on the door in the middle of the night? It would definitely give better atmosphere by going through the window."

"You\'re making it look like we\'re having an affair!" Anko grumbled and went to wash her face without paying him much more attention.

Splashing water on her face, Anko shook off the last remnants of sleep. Staring at her reflection in the mirror who was becoming more and more mature, she felt a strange sense of disorientation, ‘Time had passed so quickly.’

Time was like anesthesia, slipping away year after year. But even now, she couldn\'t move on. That person, her teacher, Orochimaru, was dead.

Everyone has a part of themselves that remains a wounded child, and Anko could never truly face the shadow left behind by Orochimaru. In Orochimaru’s eyes, she had probably always been nothing but a weak, timid little girl.

She wasn’t particularly talented. Her only skill seemed to be endurance. Even painful memories and mediocrity could be tolerated.

After a good night’s sleep, she could wake up and enjoy some dango. The sweetness of the dango was almost sickening, but for someone like her, who carried a heavy heart, the sweetness was just right, perfectly balanced.