In Konoha, This Naruto Has Decided To Take It Easy

Chapter 399 Only from Someone You Love Can You Smell The Fragrance

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The door to the flower shop on the first floor was indeed unlocked. Naruto gently pushed it open, though it could have been pulled outward as well. When the shop wasn’t open, they would push the door in and hang the ‘Closed’ sign.

He quietly and skillfully hung up the sign and quickly made his way up the stairs. A girl in love seemed to be surrounded by a natural glow, radiating a soft light from her entire body.

Holding her was like hugging a soft, warm cloud, with a faint milky fragrance. Some said this was due to hormones, and that you could only smell it from someone you liked. Others disagreed, saying it was just the scent of her bath products seeping into her skin.

Naruto wasn’t sure whether the milky scent from Ino was hormones or bath products, but he did know that the sweet fragrance would soon be absorbed by him.

Usually, after reaching ‘third base’, the scent would mostly disappear. And when they eventually got to ‘home base’, if it happened frequently enough, a different kind of sweet smell would take over.

The younger and prettier the girl, the more intoxicating the scent.

The saying ‘a woman’s scent reveals who she is’ wasn’t wrong at all.

"Get me some water, after all, I walked all the way here."@@novelbin@@

"Who didn’t walk here? Didn’t I tell you not to bother me? I’m focusing on my research. Once I update the communication device again."

"It’s ridiculous! There are electrical appliances and everything, but not means of transportation." Naruto didn't respond and changed the subject, "Come on, give me some water."

"Go get it yourself from the living room. There are glasses outside."

"I’m not going outside."

Naruto scanned the table, spotting a large rose-pink glass filled with water, so he grabbed it and gulped it all down in one go, not leaving a single drop.

"You!! Are you a water barrel? And that was my glass."

"Don’t be so stingy. We’ve already done so much, what’s the big deal about drinking from your glass?" He muttered, "What, can me drinking from your glass get you pregnant or something?"

"Go to hell!" Ino blushed with embarrassment and anger, throwing herself at him.

"Ah!! You’re really hitting me!"

“I’ll bite you to death!”

“Stop! Stop! Ah Ah!!!”

Amid the commotion, Naruto clutched his arm in pain, sucking in air as he glared at Ino, who sat beside him with a satisfied look.

"Ino, are you part dog or something?"

"Hmph, you totally deserved it!" Ino crossed her arms and said smugly, "Serves you right for saying such weird things. We obviously haven’t done anything."

"What’s so weird about that? We’ve kissed, so what’s the big deal about drinking some water?" Naruto said as if it was a matter of course.

"You know that’s not what you meant!" Ino said fiercely, "Stop trying to twist it!"

Ino actually felt a little regretful. If she had known, she shouldn't let things progress so quickly. She had already guessed that Naruto would get bolder after their kiss, but still…
After a while, with the fan blowing, the two ended up cuddling again.

Though Ino had been reluctant at first, she eventually gave in, half-heartedly protesting but not truly resisting. She fiddled with the communicator in her hands, silently muttering to herself about the ‘pig behind her’.

Naruto, meanwhile, closed his eyes and rested, his mind drifting to various thoughts.

Ino felt that something was wrong with her body. As she leaned on his chest, which was like a small furnace, her body felt unusually warm and uncomfortable. Thankfully, the fan was on, so there was no need to turn on the air conditioner in such weather.

"Asuma-sensei is going to have a baby!" She suddenly said.

"Really?" Naruto already knew. Asuma had mentioned it to him before, probably because all soon-to-be fathers loved to brag, "What, do you want a baby too?"

"No, I don’t!" Ino’s response was surprisingly genuine.

Ino’s mother had told her more than once about the pain of childbirth, explaining how from the moment she got pregnant, peace became a distant memory. Naturally, she skipped the step of how she got pregnant in the first place, as parents tend to do.

They don’t like to talk about how their desires got the better of them and led to having children. Instead, they focus on the hardships of childbirth, portraying it as one of the cruelest tortures imaginable.

For example, Rino once told Ino how she suffered from nausea and vomiting when pregnant with her, and after six months, the baby pressed on her bladder so much that she had to get up seven or eight times a night to use the bathroom.

During that time, Inoichi was also under a lot of pressure. As a first-time father, he was busy with work and had to come home to take care of his wife, which left him with little sleep.

When Ino learned about this, her young heart was deeply impacted. She always felt that she owed her parents, and instinctively complied with their requests out of a sense of duty.

For Ino, being sensible wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it left her with a lingering fear of childbirth.

"Anyway, I don’t want to have kids!!" She declared, and then quietly added in her mind, ‘At least not for a long time.’

"Absolutely not!"

"No one’s asking you to have kids." Naruto was startled and thought he had touched a landmine, so he quickly let go of her.

"Oh." Ino shrank back and glanced at him again, "But we're together, eventually, we’ll have to have kids, right? Otherwise, we’d just be friends?"

"Huh? What kind of logic is that?" Naruto looked baffled, "Do you win a prize for having kids?"

"I don't know, that’s what my mother says." Ino shook her head, "Either way, I’m not ready for that, and I don’t even know how to handle something like that."

"We’ll worry about that later. Besides, having kids is indeed still a long way off," Naruto said, "Besides, who would love a kid more than their wife anyway?"

"For me, what’s more important is you. A child would just be an added bonus. There’s no need to dwell on it, and if you’re afraid, then don’t even think about it."

"Really?" Ino looked up at him, her eyes bright with curiosity.

"Although I don’t know why you’re so scared, but..." His eyes were full of seriousness, "just knowing that I like you is enough."

"Mm." Ino's face turned red. What had started as a casual conversation had suddenly turned serious, and his unexpectedly heartfelt words left her flustered.

"I-I’m going to the living room to get some water." She stammered, quickly grabbing her rose-pink and gold glass before rushing out of the room.

Naruto raised his eyebrows. Although he wasn’t sure why Ino reacted like that, it didn't matter. As long as he could successfully distract her, it was fine. Anyway, his goal was to delay her research progress. Something like honey trap.

Naruto stood up and checked his reflection in the mirror, then put the mirror down with a satisfied nod.

Whatever strategy he had was fine, he only wanted the best for her. He hadn’t thought much about the future, mostly because he himself wasn’t sure where he came from or where he was going.

It’s like how a savior is destined to die, or how a hero falls into the abyss. What he struggled to avoid, what he resisted, might be something others yearn for but can’t attain.

But desires often go unfulfilled, that’s just how life works. He couldn’t even define who he was, so all he could do was live passionately and honestly.

If this were a peaceful world, he would choose to grow old with Ino or Hinata, or maybe both. But in this world…

For now, he just wanted to be a passionate young man, setting a small goal for himself: to live until he was 25.

Before long, Ino returned with the water. She placed the cup on the table with a thud and, after a moment of hesitation, decided not to sit back in her chair. Instead, she sat next to Naruto on the edge of the bed.