It was clearly a movie with three people, yet Uchiha Obito wasn't worthy of having his name mentioned.
Naruto looked at Anko's silly expression and felt the urge to pinch her again.
But when he spotted Kakashi and Rin approaching from afar, he held back and whispered to Anko instead.
"Tea tonight."
This was their secret code, and drinking tea meant going all out.
Anko was more than happy to oblige, her eyes narrowing into crescents as she grinned.
"Got it."
"What were you two talking about?" Kakashi scratched his head, then subconsciously glanced at Rin beside him, "Naruto, you're pretty late, huh?"
"I was just talking to her about losing weight, but she never remembers." Naruto said with a smirk, his eyes flickering between the two of them, making Kakashi slightly embarassed.
Rin, on the other hand, smiled openly. "Anko is already quite thin, there's not an ounce of fat on her waist."
"Maybe she's just inhaling and holding her stomach in." Naruto added playfully.
"Shut up!" Anko rolled her eyes at him. Knowing that saying too much might give things away, she quickly made an excuse and left.
Even though Naruto always called her dumb, if she were truly stupid, she wouldn't have made it to the rank of Tokubetsu Jonin. Her master had defected, yet she'd stubbornly survived the battlefield and even climbed her way up to Jonin status.
If anything, she was just unlucky.
Her so-called stupidity was limited to everyday life, and when it came down to it, anyone who survived the battlefield had to have a sharp mind.
She just didn't want to drag Naruto into her mess. Even though it was her first time, no relationships, no romance, she'd been fooled into it by that bastard.
But it had been consensual, something she'd wanted.
As for settling down, she had no interest in that. After enduring so much hardship, the kind of happiness ordinary people dreamed of held no appeal for her.
For now, her relationship with Naruto was the easiest and most enjoyable kind. There were no talks of love, no declarations of affection.
It was just pure closeness, unburdened by expectations. She wouldn't cause trouble for Naruto, and Naruto wouldn't nitpick or boss her around.
When they were together, it was relaxed. Either of them could refuse without hard feelings. Anko might turn Naruto away because she wanted to drink alone, and Naruto might go months without seeing her because he was too busy.
No one thought anything of it. This was just how things were… perfect as they were, neither more nor less.
Seeing Anko leave, Kakashi turned his attention to Naruto. After hesitating for a moment, he decided to share the news he'd heard yesterday about the Land of Fire's capital.
"Huh?"
"What? There's something like that?"
The first was Rin's shocked exclamation, the second was Naruto's exaggerated performance. But Naruto didn't feel the slightest bit embarrassed and continued with his dramatic flair.
"Sasuke's gone too far! How could he let the Daimyo live?"
Hearing the first part, Kakashi was a little confused, wondering if Naruto was actually involved in this. But the second part made his eye turn dead-fish.
'Yep, still the same old Naruto… always a troublemaker.' But Naruto was fearless, and Kakashi was genuinely worried he might go after the Daimyo himself.
Not that he was concerned for the Daimyo's safety or anything, but he'd prefer it if Naruto didn't stir up trouble during his term as Hokage.
Once he'd passed on the hot potato of the title, Naruto could do whatever he wanted.
Dealing with nobles was even more annoying than handling the village's higher-ups… endless headaches that were impossible to explain.
Now that things were going well with Rin, Kakashi found himself growing increasingly fed up with village affairs
Kakashi had never been one for tedious administrative work to begin with, which was why he'd spent so many years on the front lines taking missions.
Now, his thoughts mirrored Tsunade's exactly: "Damn it, I don't want to do this anymore."
Having a student like Naruto only made him feel more resigned. Thankfully, Rin was always by his side, which made him feel…
'Wait, what was I just thinking about?'
Naruto was in a great mood. Inside the sealing space, he had piles of gold and treasures stashed away. Half of it had been handed over to Konan to liquidate, with the funds going toward the laboratory and Amegakure's reconstruction.
He couldn't just rely on the Land of Snow as his only fallback, after all, that place was way too remote. Amegakure, on the other hand, had geographical advantages, bordering three Great Shinobi Nations.
Under Hanzo, this had been a disadvantage. But in Naruto's hands, it became a strength. Hanzo couldn't control the three Great Shinobi Nations, but Naruto could.
Thus, not only were Amegakure's disadvantages all eliminated, it actually gained numerous advantages.
Now that the funding for the laboratory and Amegakure's reconstruction was in place, he didn't have to worry about anything else.
He still had plenty of money left in his pocket for emergencies.
Life was good.
Asuma found a free moment and walked over to the three of them, casually mentioning the news he'd just heard about the Daimyo being taken hostage.
"There's something like that?" Naruto put on his shocked act again.
Kakashi: "..."
Rin: "..."
Even Rin could tell… every single strand of this blond guy's hair was dripping with mischief. She never thought someone could pull off the same shocked expression twice, but there was nothing she could do about it.
She didn't really care about the Daimyo one way or another. Those nobles had been rotten for ages, so this wasn't anything new.
"Come on, the feast is about to start." Asuma said with a chuckle, though he had his own suspicions about Naruto's antics, 'Was it really this kid who did?'
The Sarutobi Clan had their own territory within the Land of Fire's capital, but it had nothing to do with the daimyo. Their relationship with the Daimyo was merely superficial, with no real friendship to speak of.
Even if they heard about this incident, they would only find it utterly baffling. However, recalling the questions Naruto had asked him a couple of days ago, Asuma couldn't help but feel a little uneasy.
Seizing a quiet moment, Asuma pulled Naruto aside and asked with a frown, "The incident in the capital of the Land of Fire... Was it you?"
"Hey, don't go throwing accusations around. It was clearly Uchiha Sasuke who did it." Naruto quickly waved his hands dismissively, "Asuma-sensei, isn't this just slander?"
"So many people saw it… that was the real Sasuke, complete with that purple Chakra Armor. That couldn't have been faked. It was definitely Sasuke."
The logic seemed sound, but Asuma couldn't shake the feeling that Naruto was somehow involved.