' Do you think Hinata will be here again? ' Naruto asked with his hand on the handrails, as he steadily went up the stairs leading up to his apartment due to the weighted bands.
" I don't think so " Kurama said simply. ' I deserve that '.
Naruto made it up, found that the door to his apartment was still locked, the same as when he had left this morning. It became clear that Hinata had not been around, Naruto with a sigh of mild regret opened his door, and went in.
The blond Uzumaki locks the door behind him, once he was within his home. His piercing blue eyes went towards the scrolls, which remained on his couch from last night.
" I should pick those up, once am done taking that bath " Naruto said to himself, walking towards his bedroom to finally relieve himself from the stress and muscle strain the weights had caused him.
With every step he took, Naruto felt every tendon in his body pulsate. Naruto pulls his wardrobe open, with a groan then takes off his wrist bands, the removal of those brought about so much relief that he followed quickly by bending down and removing his ankle bands.
Naruto raised them and put them back inside the wardrobe floor, Naruto smiles, happy to not have to deal with those weights for the day.
" So how do you feel? ", ' I feel pretty good, incredibly light and firm. Though the throbbing sensation all over my body, hardly brings comfort ' Naruto replied.
" It will subside, just like all the rest have, " said Kurama proudly.
Naruto strips naked, then he looks at his own chiseled body, he touches his sharp big chiseled six pack abs with his bandaged right arm, then frowns when he noticed his eight pack was still in the budding stage.
' Soon ' He thought.
Naruto left his bedroom to take a bath with a tight black boxer shorts in hand. Whilst the water was raining down upon him, he decided to address what has happened earlier today while he was cultivating.
' I just want to say I'm sorry for not listening sooner, ' He started " you placed yourself in a predicament, and you know this is your fifth time ".
' Don't worry, I won't let it happen again. I'll try to deal with any emotional imbalance before cultivating next time ' Naruto assured.
" I really mean to ask you this, tell me in the honesty you are known for. Why are you always feeling guilty towards Hinata? ", Kurama's words came unto Naruto like the impact of a chidori.
Naruto wasn't expecting such a question, and became too stunned to formulate a proper thought in his mind. All that came to him in that moment, as if instinct, ' I don't know '.
" And you still don't want me to search your emotional sanctum? ", ' for now leave me as I am. Like I said I will make effort to not let guilt get in the way of my cultivation. Cause I truly don't want to know what is wrong with me yet, every fiber of my being is telling me not to find out ' Naruto replied.
" You've never been one to give up on anything... You have changed " Kurama said dejectedly. ' I'm sorry, I wish things could be different. But my world has started to spin recently, and I find myself too dazed to know where to stand, just bare with me. Okay? I promise that we will get through this, and I never go back on my words. Believe it. ' concluded Naruto humorously.
Kurama decided to believe Naruto, like he did when they became friends, and called one another by name.
" I believe in you, crazy brat ".
Naruto chuckles out loud... Later after he was done bathing, Naruto dries his lower body off, with a towel, before putting on his underwear. Then he covered his hair with a smaller towel, before exiting the bathroom.
Naruto arrived back in the living room, when his eyes darted back to the couch, the scrolls drew him towards the couch. He bends and packs them up, he turned and went in the direction of his study, which was beyond a short and narrow yellow painted hall.
Hidden leaf number one hero, approaches his study door, with his hands occupied, Naruto decided to make use of Kurama's chakra. Naruto's back glows the vibrant golden orange, and from it a small chakra arm extends out, came forward and turned the knob, opening the door.
The chakra hand pushes the door inwards for Naruto to be able to walk freely, Naruto went in and once he was an inch into the room. He withdrew Kurama's chakra, which didn't affect the appearance of his irises or any other bodily feature.
Naruto left the door open as he walked over to his study desk, which had scrolls and books properly arranged, (courtesy of Hinata). There was also a shelf on the left side of his study, which was the size as his kitchen, making it pretty big, at the very least big enough to surpass anything he had previously ever inhabited.
There was also a plugged in, closed silver laptop on his desk. Naruto laid the scrolls down, and separated them appropriately. Naruto walked around the desk, and sat down on a yellow fabric covered chair. Once seated, he drew the wheeled chair back slightly with his butt, whilst placing his hand on the table, for a comfortable distance between him and his desk.
Naruto place his hand on the laptop before opening it up, he pushed down the power button. Naruto withdrew himself, and waited for the laptop to be ready for use. When it was ready, Naruto operated on it till he found a file, a book file that he had recently acquired two weeks ago.
His first digital book titled, Benefits of hearing. Initially Naruto had found the book to be dull, and uninteresting, but his opinion of the book changed when he reached chapter 4. Now he is at the eighteenth chapter.
" Five more chapters, and I'll learn the key points " He said with a small smile, he had no idea was on his face.
Naruto clicked continuously till he arrived at the eighteenth chapter, then he began to read the words written in Kanji. Five minutes into the eighteenth chapter, a notification popped up on the screen.
Naruto glanced at the notification, and returned his eyes to the page, without taking proper look at the notification, but as the seconds passed, what he had seen which he thought he hadn't seen began to register in his mind.
And when Naruto finally realized what he indeed had seen, his eyes immediately went back to the notification, which had not yet left, it wasn't something unimportant, but in fact the first digital message he'd ever received from, Uchiha Sasuke.
" You're kidding, this is unbelievable " said Naruto perplexed by the message.
Naruto accessed the full message, confirmed it was indeed from Sasuke, and it read.
[ " I'll start this off with a warning, if you try to tease me. I will blast your apartment open with chidori. ". ]
Naruto chuckles. Then with a smirk he began to type back, once he was done he sends the message, saying,
[ " I haven't even started anything yet and you're already with warnings, fine I won't tease you. But don't tell me you went through all the trouble, of actually using a machine you refused to never use to tell me not to tease you. Cause then, Chidori or not I will tease you. " ]
Naruto leans back, awaiting a response, he expected it might take a while or not even get any. He doubted the Rinne-Sharingan user would last long. But to his surprise, a second message dropped, and Naruto drew in close to read,
[ " You flatter yourself too much, nevertheless I have something to tell you. It has something to do with a surprise, and I'm only telling you because you are a sucker for this sort of thing. " ]
Naruto became excitedly interested, in what Sasuke had to share with him, since the guy doesn't usually share much. Naruto types away, then sends, saying
[ " Tell me what's the surprise, and after that I want to know how and why you changed your mind about technology. That I am sure will be a juicy piece of news. ]
After a little while, about five minutes Sasuke's reply dropped, it was a long message that took Naruto concentrating to read through. And when he was done, he found himself somewhat speechless, that he immediately began typing what came to his mind after, then sends with a full stop, saying
[ " I want to reprimand you for doing that, but I don't think I have it in me. And I just want to say, I'm very happy that you would tell me something like this, it really makes me feel like we are real brothers. Either way let me know whatever you need, I'll get it... By the way, I've you gotten it yet? " ]
Naruto chatted with Sasuke for an hour, before they came to an agreement. After that, Naruto changed into a blue puffy pants, with red flames which comes up from the hem to the knee area, a pair of dark-blue shinobi sandals and large blue hoodie. Which he finds appropriate for the day, and with that made his way to the Hokage tower.
Naruto walked all through, to think about everything he'd discussed with the Uchiha. It was his first time knowing Sasuke in that way, as he strolled the feeling of kinship grew stronger within him.
" That Uchiha brat truly is something else, I would never have thought he was capable of such " said Kurama.
' This just means I was right to have stepped aside, but... ", " what is it? ".
" I'm truly happy for Sasuke, but I also feel sad, " Naruto said with a somber expression.
" You want to feel that way too, don't you? " asked Kurama, ' I should feel that way too, shouldn't I? Or am I just defective '.
" Naruto... " Kurama trailed off, not certain as to how he could comfort him.
' It's fine, even if I'm defective. I'm sure together we can fix me ', said Naruto with a half-hearted smile.
Walking from his new apartment to the Hokage tower, took Naruto half an hour. Naruto arrived at the tower, then made his way towards the Hokage office which was located at the hokage mansion. Before the door, Naruto took his time before knocking.
" Don't take forever out there, come in ", Naruto heard.
Naruto scoffs, opens the door and walks in.
" The security team sure are doing their job, " Naruto said, " well they would have too, when you stand outside the door for ten minutes " replied a seated Kakashi.
" Hey Shikamaru, it never gets old seeing you here " said Naruto with his usual Naruto vigor.
" Same here, seeing you without an headband, " said Shikamaru whom stood three feet at the right of Kakashi.
Naruto looked around and saw two kirigakure shinobis, he immediately wondered what they were doing there, something both Kakashi and Shikamaru noticed.
" Zumo and Kinsheko are here for you " Kakashi announced, Naruto turned a puzzled gaze to Kakashi.
" Me? What for, " He asked, Kakashi gestured to one of the mist nin to speak.
Kinsheko a blue haired 180cm tall young man in his mid twenties, whom was initially facing the Hokage turned to Naruto and bowed his head before raising himself to speak.
" Greetings Naruto sama, the hidden mist village requests your assistance to deliver justice to some rogue mist ninjas whom have been disrupting peace in Kirigakure, we got Intel that they plan to come to this village, and we were tasked to come here ahead of them to ask for aid from the hero, before they can take such a step " informed Kinsheko.
Naruto observed all the faces (including the masked ones) in the room, before deciding to speak.
" What am I needed for, when mist has their own ninjas. Are they perhaps too strong to handle? " Naruto asked, " yes! They are too strong for any of us in the mist to handle, and though Lady Mizukage wants to take care of this threat herself, she is the Mizukage, so everyone is deeply against her taking care of the situation herself " Zumo a dark haired nin, with a nose mask similar to Kakashi's cut in.
" Really?... ", the mist ninjas nodded.
Naruto gave them a small smile, " then tell me the time of departure, am ready to help Hidden mist anyway I can " Naruto said before palming his fist.
Everyone in the room smiled.
" Thank you Naruto sama, Hidden mist will be honored to have you around " said Kinsheko.
" Well since you've accepted, you should meet up with Sai and Kiba outside the village in three hours, " " Sai and Kiba? Alright, I will head back now to get my things ready " Naruto replied.
" See you around Naruto " Shikamaru said, when Naruto turned to leave.
Naruto waved his hand and left the office. Three minutes after Naruto had left the office, Kakashi turned towards Shikamaru.
" Do you think he bought it? " Kakashi asked, " Naruto may have grown up, but he's still the same Naruto. He won't think too much of it " Shikamaru replies.
Kakashi nodded, " you're right " He affirmed to himself...
Naruto whom was strolling out of the premises of the Hokage tower, engaged himself in a colloquial with Kurama.
" I'm sure they believed they've fooled you with their ridiculous act ", ' they made it too obvious. Nevertheless I have to go to the hidden mist to know what they are trying to hide. Until then, I'm going to go get me some meat, I'm starved '. . .
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