In Konoha, Naruto lies down

"Isn't it because... because I don't have a summoning beast?" Naruto felt a little guilty and stopped what he was doing, but Tsunade turned around and glared at him.

"What did you stop for? Keep pinching."

"Okay," Naruto said obediently, "Lady Tsunade's slug was very nice the last time I saw it. It had a gentle personality. I like those summoning beasts that are polite and always available when I call them."

"Heh." Tsunade glanced at him with her narrow, beautiful eyes and ruthlessly exposed him, "Jiraiya asked you to go with him to train, but you refused to go."

"I don't know why you insist on staying in this village. Once you get there, you can summon any toad in Myoboku Mountain and call any one you want."

"Tsunade-sama, although I am still young, you can't try to deceive me." Naruto retorted without losing the strength in his hands, "I have seen that toad before, and he has such a bad temper."

"If I could really channel that thing, who knows how long I could keep fighting. I won't give up until I defeat them."

"You." Tsunade was speechless, but when she thought that Naruto could even control the Nine-Tails, she suddenly felt that what this man said might be true.

People with a strong desire for control simply cannot stand those who are actually strong. What's more, this kid is also an old scoundrel, the kind of person who will never be too late to take revenge even after ten years.

"So you want a psychic slug?" Tsunade asked.

"Yes," he said honestly.

"That's not impossible, but there's one thing I want you to understand." Tsunade kindly reminded, "Even if a slug is docile, it will be treated differently by different people. It also has a temper."

"Just like it calls me Tsunade-sama, but now that you have summoned it, it must call you Slug-sama. Only when it recognizes you will it call you Naruto-sama."

"Is that so?" Naruto thought for a while and then asked, "If I call it Slug-sama at first, and then it calls me Naruto-sama in return, will it feel weird?"

"Slugs have a long lifespan, so you don't have to worry about that at all," Tsunade attacked venomously. "Even if you turn to ash in the future, the slug will still be alive."

"I'll turn to ashes... okay." Naruto said as if resigned to his fate.

"Since you want to learn so much, I'll teach you." Tsunade looked up, and the scene suddenly became 404. "You don't need to become my disciple anymore. I can't afford to accept a traitor like you."

Hearing this, Naruto complained silently. He didn't want to become a disciple yet. It was too much of a loss to exchange a summoning technique for the word "master".

"But I have a request," Tsunade spoke again, swaying the ball left and right so that Naruto could only look up at the ceiling while pressing his shoulders.

"any request?"

"Next time Jiraiya wants to teach you senjutsu, you must learn it honestly." Tsunade said seriously, "You can do whatever you want with other matters, but you must agree to this one thing."

"Senjutsu? What is that?" Naruto asked pretending to be stupid.

"Don't worry about this. You will know it when the time comes." Tsunade exhaled, and her slender jade fingers pointed to a corner of the shoulder, indicating that he should press there.

"Okay, but if the lecherous sage knows senjutsu, why can't Tsunade-sama?" he asked.

"You kid, do you think that senjutsu is so easy to learn? Damn it!" Tsunade complained, "Don't think that ninjutsu is that simple!"

"Yes." Naruto nodded in agreement.

After a while, Tsunade, with her shoulders completely relaxed, leaned back in the Hokage chair with a satisfied look on her face. She raised one hand and waved towards Naruto, speaking lazily.

"Okay, that's all for today. I need to catch up on some sleep."

"We'll talk about the psychic scroll later. You still have a long vacation anyway. Ask Jingyin to find time to come see me in a few days. I'll teach you psychic skills and contract the slug then."

Naruto agreed and slowly backed away.

Walk out of the Hokage building.

Aside from a slightly sore hand, Naruto had gained a lot. He had secured the slug's contractual rights, meaning he would have a mobile nurse. The Nine-Tails had already left his body, so its ability to recover from injuries was much worse than before.

To be on the safe side, get yourself a wet nurse to take care of you, and your chances of survival will be higher.

Naruto, looking refreshed, walked slowly along the streets of Konoha. Suddenly, he remembered what Tsunade said about Team 7, and his brows furrowed.

I had to tell Sakura, but now I had no idea what Sakura was doing. Last time, I had dodged her, but now, as fate would have it, I had come closer.

After wandering outside the Konoha Hospital for a long time, Naruto still didn't have the courage to go in.

But Team 7 would have to be reorganized sooner or later; it was a fate that could not be avoided. Thinking of this, Naruto gritted his teeth, thinking that the worst that could happen was that he would just be more careful, and walked into the Konoha Hospital.

In the duty room, among the mountains of information.

Pink-haired Sakura raised her head with a faint smile on her face.

"You came to see me?"

After hearing the strange first sentence, half of his body suddenly went numb.

Chapter 165 Life and death

Naruto swallowed and sat down next to the chair.

Kurosakura looks very normal on weekdays. The scary thing about that woman is that she is not crazy at all. She is even very restrained and only shows her special side to Naruto.

Even if Naruto told this to others, no one would believe him.

It can only be said that this thing is really a one-size-fits-all. Even though he is an outlaw and has no moral principles, he would still be a little scared when he meets Black Sakura.

"Would you like some water?" Sakura handed over a glass of water, which seemed to be cold.

"cough."

In the small duty room, the curtains were drawn, but the sunlight was blocked by the mountains of files. Strands of sunlight squeezed in from the corners, reflecting a messy halo on the white walls.

A dot of light hit the table and landed on the edge of the disposable water cup. Naruto frowned, suddenly having a slightly bad association.

My love is on the mountainside, but the mountain is too high for me to find her. My love gave me sweet-scented osmanthus cake, what should I give her in return?

Sleeping drug.

"You don't need to be so wary of me. There's no poison in the water, and there's nothing else in it." Sakura looked up and smiled, "It's completely pure."

"I really don't believe you said these two words." Naruto paused and said, "I have something important to talk to you about today. Let's talk about drinking water next time."

"What's the matter?" Sakura stopped turning the pages. "Are you going to accept my last proposal?"

"I totally don't accept that." Naruto shook his head. "Tsunade-sama said that Team 7 will be reorganized soon. Kakashi-sensei won't have time to continue to serve as our guiding jonin."

"After a while, a guiding jonin and new teammates should be dispatched from above. By then, Team 7 will probably start taking on missions as well."

"I see." Sakura said, her eyes fixed on Naruto's face, "If Team 7 is reorganized, you won't be able to hide from me anymore."

"I'm not hiding, I'm just a little busy." Naruto said calmly, "Sakura, you're also busy with training. Isn't it normal for you to not have much contact?"

Hearing him say this, Sakura nodded slightly.

"What you said makes sense, but I don't like this reason. It makes me feel like you're seriously trying to fool me, which is even more uncomfortable, isn't it?"

"I'd rather you say you're afraid I might do something out of line, and honestly warn me not to do anything strange, or you'll find a way to erase my existence."

"Uh, why do you think so?" Naruto moved back and leaned on the cold chair, looking at Sakura with a complicated look.

He didn't know how to deal with Hei Ying. So far, she hadn't shown any aggressive tendencies. He had been hiding for a while, but now there was no way to hide anymore. He could only face it head-on.

"That's the truth. You don't need to be so nervous." Sakura narrowed her eyes slightly. "I said it from the beginning. I didn't intend to do anything."

"I'm very satisfied with my current life, and I don't want to do anything to you. Besides, I cherish Naruto-kun very much."

"Stop it, don't say such creepy things." Naruto took a breath, "Now that things have come to this, I have nothing more to say. No matter what, I still treat you as Sakura."

“Physically,” she added.

"No need to stress about this kind of thing." Naruto held the glass of water, ripples gently shaking, "Those things can be forgotten as soon as possible, there is no point."

"You said you wanted me to remember you, but ultimately, you're worried that Sakura will suddenly wake up one day, and you'll fall back into a deep sleep. You'll have to give up your current life and become a bystander. No, you might even disappear."

The smile on Sakura's face disappeared, she turned her head, and said with Naruto's face reflected in her calm black eyes.

"That's the only thing I don't like about you."

When Naruto saw that Sakura was getting nervous, he immediately realized that he had hit her weak spot. So he relaxed and asked with a smile.

"Because I see it so clearly?"

"No," Sakura denied. "I just don't like your condescending attitude. You say you're worried it will disappear one day. You haven't experienced it, so how do you know what I'm thinking?"

"Are you afraid of death?" she asked.

Naruto was slightly stunned. He found that Sakura's expression at the moment was a little strange, weird in an indescribable way.

After coming to his senses, he replied.

"I'm not that scared, but there are still many things I haven't enjoyed, so I want to live a good life."

"That's quite your style," Sakura said. "I'm not afraid of death either. To be exact, I don't have that concept. I'm quite satisfied with my daily life now."

"But one day more or one day less like this doesn't really matter, do you understand?"

"Because you can't feel the meaning of life?" Naruto asked.

"Almost." Sakura pursed her lips. "I was quite happy when I gained control of my body, but as time went on, I wasn't that happy anymore."

"So I want to find some meaning in life. For example, if she likes Sasuke-kun, then I will make Naruto-kun like me."

"Wait." Naruto interrupted Sakura, frowning as if something was crooked. "Sakura likes Sasuke, so you want me to like you?"

"What kind of counterintuitive logic is this? There's no connection between the two, right?"

"Do you like her?" asked Xiaoying, probably referring to Pink Sakura.

"I don't like it." Naruto shook his head without hesitation, "Companions are companions, and even if I want to like someone else, I have other people to like. There's no need to hang myself on a tree."

Hearing this, Xiaoying was stunned for a moment, and then burst into laughter. Her laughter echoed in the small duty room, and she laughed until tears came out.

"You really live a clear life."

Naruto also laughed: "It's just that I didn't have that idea from the beginning. Besides, a forced melon is not sweet."

"It's great to have so many choices," Sakura murmured.

"That kind of thing isn't important, let's not talk about it." Naruto subconsciously changed the subject, "What you really want is the joy of living, right?"

"Hmm." Sakura thought for a moment and said, "I'm pretty happy right now, so I don't plan to try anything new. You're the only person I'm familiar with, so..."

So you're using yourself as an experiment? What kind of human observation experiment is this?! Naruto ranted in his mind, a dark line appearing on his forehead. He took a few deep breaths before calming down.

"Have you heard the story of the mayfly?"

"No." Sakura shook her head and pointed to her head. "She may have heard of it, but I can't share too many of her memories. Most of them are about Sasuke, which I don't like to read."

"I'm free anyway, so I'll tell you." Naruto relaxed immediately after discovering that Sakura was not that dark.

"Okay." Sakura stopped what she was doing and sat up straight.

Naruto simply told the story of the Mayfly Demon in the Book of Hundred Demons, without adding any extraneous details or personal details. He simply told the story because he was in a good mood.

"Mayflies only live for one day?"

"...Yes, please don't interrupt me and let me finish."

"I used to know where the sun would rise, but I had never seen it. Now I see it."

"It's not sunny every day," Naruto said after a pause, not caring where the story was going, "it rains sometimes too."

"I've seen it. It's pretty nice, completely different from what she remembers," said Sakura.

"Have you seen it, Richu? Standing on the Hokage Rock and looking into the distance, you can see the end of the Konoha Forest. It's hazy, like hoarfrost." Naruto asked with a boastful smile.

"No."

"Where's the waterfall?"

"No, the hospital is very busy these days, and I also need to practice. If I leave, I still have to be on duty at night, but I can't say I'm tired. It feels quite novel."

The two were chatting very calmly, and stopped talking halfway through the story.

Naruto talked about the fireworks display, and Sakura told him that she saw the fireworks from the window, and it was quite beautiful. She didn't have much feeling in her heart, but just thought it looked beautiful.

"It's okay, you'll see it when you do the mission next time." Naruto comforted him.

"I understand." Sakura suddenly stood up, startling him, "I know what to do."

"What?" Naruto subconsciously felt that the development of things seemed... a little wrong.

"I still want you to like me." Sakura picked up the pen and pointed the sharp tip at him from a distance. "That way, things will become more interesting."

"Interesting? Did you misunderstand something?" Naruto also stood up and took two steps back.

He just wanted a normal teammate. Things were clearly proceeding slowly according to the companion bond script. He tried to activate her yearning for companionship, but now it seemed...

"It's okay if you like someone else, I'll just be your backup girlfriend."

"Cough cough!!!" Naruto couldn't hold it in and started coughing violently, "You... cough cough cough!!! What did you say!?"