Alan Folker left the hospital but didn't go straight home, because he now had a mission to accompany Ino on a shopping trip to clear her mind.
"Ding! Icha Icha Paradise Mission: Rescue Hinata. Remaining time: seventy-two hours. Reward upon completion: 2000 Passion Points. Mission failure: Hinata will be taken by Toneri Otsutsuki."
The system's notification sound rang out once again, causing Alan Folker to freeze.
This was the first time the system had warned him about the penalty for mission failure.
"Ding! Friendly reminder: Toneri taking Hinata is not a system mission penalty!"
The system's notification made Alan Folker frown in thought. Losing Hinata wasn't a mission penalty?
After receiving this mission, Alan Folker had an urge to abandon Ino's mission and immediately go find Naruto, requesting to rescue Hinata.
Although Ino's mission only had a one-hour time limit, her mission wasn't a momentary kiss or touch.
Accompanying her on a shopping trip to clear her mind could take a considerable amount of time.
"Folker, you're discharged!" Just as Alan Folker was about to give up the mission, a sweet and pleasant voice came from behind him.
Alan Folker turned around and saw Ino standing behind him, wearing a purple crop top and a purple mini skirt, looking at him with a smile.
Ino was dressed as usual, perfectly showcasing her mature and sexy aura.
"Sister Ino, why are you here?" Alan Folker was surprised, then asked.
Ino, hearing this, gave him a charming glare and said, "I work at this hospital too!"
"Uh, right, I forgot about that." Alan Folker patted his head and chuckled awkwardly.
"Hehe!" Ino chuckled softly, then said, "How are you now? Have you recovered?"
"Mmm, I'm fine now." Alan Folker nodded gently.
"That's good. So, you…"
"Ding-a-ling-ling…"
Ino was about to say something else when a phone suddenly rang.
"Excuse me, I need to take this call." Ino smiled apologetically at Alan Folker, took out her phone, and pressed the answer button: "Hello, this is Ino."
Listening to the voice on the other end of the phone, Ino's expression grew increasingly grim. Finally, she said faintly, "Okay, I understand. I'm hanging up."
"Sorry, I took a call." Ino hung up the phone, smiled apologetically at Alan Folker, and then said, "You're probably going back now, right? Then I won't bother you."
"Um, Sister Ino, did something happen?" Alan Folker had naturally seen the grim look on Ino's face just now, and after a moment of hesitation, he asked.
"Nothing, just some trivial matters." Ino smiled faintly, not showing too much emotion.
"Oh." Alan Folker responded softly. Since Ino didn't want to tell him the reason, he didn't press further. "Sister Ino, I'll be leaving now."
"Wait!" Just as Alan Folker was about to turn and leave for the Hokage's office, Ino suddenly called out to him.
"What is it?" Alan Folker turned around and asked, a little puzzled.
"Accompany me for a walk." Ino said with a faint smile.
"A walk? Shopping?" Alan Folker hesitated.
"Yes." Ino nodded.
"Alright then, I don't have anything to do today anyway." Alan Folker nodded in agreement.
Originally, he had planned to go to the Hokage's office to find Naruto, but now that Ino had proactively suggested he accompany her shopping, he naturally wouldn't refuse.
After all, he already had a mission to accompany Ino on a shopping trip to clear her mind.
If Ino hadn't brought it up, he naturally wouldn't have either, prioritizing Hinata's mission. But now that Ino had brought it up, he couldn't refuse.
After all, hurting a beautiful woman's feelings wasn't something he could do.
"Alright then, let's go for a walk over there." Ino smiled, then naturally linked her arm through Alan Folker's, pulling him towards the other side.
Ino proactively linking her arm through his made Alan Folker freeze for a moment. The soft touch made him feel a tingling sensation all over, and the scent emanating from Ino also made Alan Folker Can't help it swallow.
"Sister Ino, where are we going for a walk?" Alan Folker swallowed, trying hard to control his inner feelings, and asked as casually as possible.
"Let's just walk around casually." Ino replied with a smile.
The two aimlessly wandered around Konoha Village. During this time, they didn't say much, and Alan Folker didn't know what to say.
"Um, Sister Ino, is something bothering you?" Alan Folker finally couldn't stand the awkward atmosphere and couldn't help but ask tentatively.
"No, I just feel a bit bored, so I wanted to come out for a walk." Ino shook her head and said with a smile.
"Is it because of Sai-bro?" Alan Folker paused, then asked cautiously.
Ino paused, then fell silent.
After a long while, Ino finally sighed and said, "If only he could be as understanding and caring towards women as you are… Sigh."
Sai grew up in the Root ANBU and had little experience with emotions and social etiquette.
Although he had changed a lot over the past few years, when it came to relationships, he was still like a naive youth, not knowing how to handle them.
Ino used to like Sasuke, but after she realized that Sasuke and she were impossible, her feelings for Sasuke gradually faded.
Finally, she chose Sai, who was as aloof as Sasuke, hoping to gain the feeling of being in love with Sasuke through him.
She succeeded.
She knew that Sakura's married life was like not being married at all, after all, Sasuke wasn't by her side.
Sakura sometimes subtly hinted that she envied Ino and Sai's married life.
But Sakura had no idea that her married life was actually not much different from Sakura's.
At most, Sai was by her side.
But what was the use of that?
Sai being by her side was like him not being by her side at all; there was no fun, and besides some daily communication, there was basically no emotion.
"Today is the anniversary of when he and I made our relationship official. I adjusted my schedule early to have the day off, but he just called me and said he was busy today and couldn't accompany me…" Ino took a deep breath and slowly explained the reason.
"Um, I'm afraid it's because of what happened with my sister-in-law. He probably really can't get away." Alan Folker scratched his head and said, as if to comfort her.
"Is that so… Hehe." Hearing Alan Folker's words, Ino forced a smile, her eyes filled with bitterness and loneliness, and continued, "If it were just this year, that would be one thing, but he's like this every year. He never remembers this."
"Besides, it's just a few hours to have dinner and go shopping. Does he really not even have that much time?" Ino said self-deprecatingly.