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"Well, I mean, like…" Anko’s words suddenly got stuck and she turned to look at him, "Wait a minute, something's off!!! Aren't you exhausted of doing this? If you keep it a secret from both sides, it will be exposed eventually."
"What are you talking about? When have I ever hidden anything?" Naruto spread his hands. "When it comes to love, it's a matter of mutual consent. Besides, I haven't even reached that stage yet."
"Get out of being single."
"Oh, I see." Anko thought for a moment, feeling even more like Naruto was indeed a scumbag. "You're really the worst, Uzumaki Naruto. Being two-timing is going to get you struck by lightning."
"Oh, I don't believe in that stuff." Naruto said dismissively.
"Not even a little bit sincere. People like you…" Anko muttered as she turned over in her sleeping bag, "But to be honest, I kinda envy you. At least you don’t get tired of dealing with people."
"But honestly, you seem way too good at dealing with relationships."
"Correction: I haven't been in a relationship yet." Naruto clarified.
"What's the difference? Sooner or later, everything will eventually, right? " Anko said, "I'm a little curious to see how you’ll choose when the time comes."
"Pure love does not require a choice." Naruto responded casually as he read the scroll again.
"I'm drooling with envy." Anko mumbled, "Ugh, it’d be nice if you ended up just as lonely as me for the rest of your life… that would balance things out."
"That’s such a dark thought!" Naruto frowned, "Oh, by the way, Kakashi's also alone, so I guess that makes things more balanced for you."
"Kakashi? He’s different from us." Anko waved her hand from inside the sleeping bag, "Not many people can retire from being an Anbu Commander. He might even be the next Hokage."
"How do you know that?" Naruto asked in surprise.
"Tsunade-sama has already dropped hints about it. How could I not know?" Anko asked with a question mark on her face, "You didn't know?"
"I did, but I thought the rest of you didn’t." Naruto explained, then turned and asked, "When did she hint at that? How come I didn't know?"
"Not too long ago, maybe last month or the month before that? I can’t remember exactly." Anko thought hard but eventually gave up.
Naruto was stunned, ‘Tsunade was fishing too? She didn't have to be so obvious when targeting Danzo, did she? Was it true that high-end tactics often used the simplest methods?’
Naruto then thought of the Inuzuka Clan’s incident again. Since Tsunade said it was settled, he felt it was settled. He didn't know how Tsunade was going to do it, but it didn't seem simple.
After chatting a bit longer, Anko drifted off to sleep.
With a soft click, the lamp went out.
The next day, early in the morning.
The two of them squatted by the river, washing up, brushing their teeth in sync. Anko, seemingly unfazed by the previous night’s conversation, suddenly picked up where they had left off before falling asleep.
Surprisingly, Naruto didn’t find it awkward or out of place. He had gotten used to Anko being over the years. They had always interacted this way.
Sometimes they’d run into each other on the streets, exchange a few words, and then go their separate ways. The next time they met, they’d pick up the conversation again, as if no time had passed, without any sense of awkwardness.
"Do you have some kind of foot fetish?" Anko asked out of nowhere.
"Liar! I saw you looking at my feet the other day." Anko said, splashing water onto her face and putting her toothbrush away, "You were staring at them."
"Oh, so what? Can’t I look?" Naruto replied nonchalantly, splashing water onto his face and casually pulling two clean white towels out of his seal space.
He handed one to Anko and then wiped his own face with the other.
"Tsk, can’t even leave your friends alone. You’re truly... shameless." Anko wanted to say that he was so ‘desperate’, but she felt that it was inappropriate and made herself seem low-class.
"Who was the one last night asking if I’d kiss them?" Naruto countered without mercy, "Aren’t you the shameless one, old woman?"
"Alright, fine, maybe a little shameless, but isn’t it normal to like friend who's eighteen?" Anko argued, "What’s wrong with that?"
"Correction: We’re not even friends." Naruto said, "You just lower my IQ."
"Well, in that case, why not****?" Anko casually blurted out. But as soon as she said it, she was stunned.
Their eyes met for a brief second, before they both quickly looked away.
"Ahem, I spoke too fast." Anko said awkwardly.
"I get it, I get it." Naruto scratched his face, "It's normal to talk in your sleep in broad daylight. Let's just keep moving."
"Yeah, you're right. There’s still business to take care of." Anko stretched, shielding her eyes as she glanced at the sun, "If everything goes smoothly, we should reach the border of the Land of Fire by today."
The journey continued…
The day passed quickly, and as dusk began to settle, two figures emerged from a forest near the border of the Land of Fire, glancing at each other.
"Thank heavens, we finally made it." Anko breathed a sigh of relief.
"We got here at a decent pace. Honestly, arriving a day later wouldn't have made much difference." Naruto added, "There's no rush anyway. It's not like you'll get any time off when we return."
"Don't even mention time off! It's all your fault." Anko complained.
"There's a river over there, let's rest for a bit." He didn't respond, but pointed ahead and changed the subject smoothly, "If we keep going, we’ll get there before it's completely dark."
They continued walking, but the journey was longer than Naruto had estimated. By the time the moon was high in the sky, they were still on the move.
"Didn't you say we'd be there soon?"
"There's a slight deviation from my estimation, but it doesn't matter." Naruto insisted stubbornly, "We’ll be coming soon, it's close, just hold on and we will be there soon."
"If I trust you, I'm a fool." Anko panted, "Are you sure we're on the right path?"
"Yes, I'm sure! If I'm wrong, I'll eat…"
"I was wrong." Naruto admitted, cutting himself off just in time, "Who would've thought there'd be two paths stacked on top of each other here? It’s like... well, never mind!"
This was the border of the Land of Fire, where the dense forests of the country stretched to their end, gradually thinning out into small, scattered patches. The terrain leveled off into a narrow plain, with the Valley of the End lying to the west.
Moonlight bathed the landscape, making the plain shimmer like it was covered in a silver veil.
"Enough talk, just lead the way!" Anko's voice came from behind him.
"I can't believe you still trust me. I’m so touched." Naruto said, feigning a sob, "From now on, I won’t call you stupid anymore."
Anko gnashed her teeth with hatred, "Weren’t you the one who slipped and dragged me down with you? You idiot! Turns out 'sharing the burden' isn’t just something you say, huh?"
She clearly remembered how Naruto had slipped, and instead of stabilizing himself, he had grabbed her, causing them both to fall. Unfortunately, she ended up hurting her foot while Naruto remained unscathed. This guy was a really a scumbag!
"Alright, alright, I've admitted my mistake, haven't I?" Naruto said as he carried Anko on his back, heading in the right direction now, "Besides, carrying you now is my way of making up for it."
"If you're still not satisfied, I wouldn’t mind letting you take advantage of me, you know, since you're a hopeless perv."
"I don’t even... Wait, what did you say?" Anko frowned, then quickly decided, "Actually, that's fine with me."
“What?! I was joking! I thought we were friends?" Naruto protested.
"Is this how you treat your friends?" Anko angrily smacked his shoulder, "You sure know how to 'share the burden,' don’t you? Damn it!"
"Tomorrow, we’re going to remove the Cursed Seal. Now that I’ve hurt my foot, who knows if you’ll ditch me and run off? If I die out there without even trying it once, that’d be such a waste."