Time passed quietly, almost unnoticed.
The rain that had swallowed Konoha earlier faded into a soft drizzle, then nothing at all. Outside, the streets lay empty and washed clean, lantern light reflecting faintly off wet stone. Inside Naruto's apartment, however, the silence of the village never quite reached.
Laughter echoed through the small room.
They'd long since abandoned the cards. The table was cluttered with cups, discarded cards, and crumbs from snacks Naruto had dug up somewhere along the way.
Tenten sat leaning back in her chair, one knee pulled up, shoulders shaking as she tried—and failed—to stop laughing.
"I'm being serious," Naruto said, barely holding it together himself. "Don't tell him, but from what I've heard… it's the size of an acorn."
That did it.
Tenten completely lost control.
She doubled over, clutching her stomach, laughter spilling out so hard she couldn't even form words. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she gasped for air, face burning red.
Naruto laughed along with her, loud and unrestrained—but inwardly, he winced.
' I'm sorry, Guy-sensei,' he thought solemnly. ' I had to.'
In his mind, he could already see it: Guy standing proudly beneath the sun, teeth sparkling unnaturally bright, giving him a thumbs-up.
"For Youth!"
Naruto snorted.
As the laughter finally began to die down, he glanced toward the window. Raindrops still clung to the glass, but they no longer raced downward in sheets. The world outside was calm again.
'Huh… didn't even notice it stopped,' he thought.
When he turned back, Tenten was wiping at her eyes, still smiling, chest rising and falling as she caught her breath. The sight made him smile without thinking.
'What's that saying again? If you can make her laugh… Eh, doesn't matter.'
"Looks like the rain stopped," Naruto said, standing and sliding the window open. Cool, clean air drifted inside, carrying the faint scent of wet earth.
"Yeah," Tenten replied, glancing outside. "I should probably head back before my parents start searching for me high and low."
Naruto nodded, moving quickly. He grabbed her soaked clothes, now mostly dry, stuffed them into a clean bag, and handed it to her.
"We should hang out like this again," he said, scratching the back of his head.
She took the bag and bowed slightly, smiling softly. "Of course. I think I've found another good friend."
She paused, then glanced down at herself. "Oh—should I give you your clothes back?"
Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Well, if you're into walking around naked, be my guest."
She burst out laughing again. "I'll bring them back tomorrow."
She headed for the door, Naruto following a step behind. She opened it, then stopped and turned back to him, standing just outside the threshold.
"I had a great time," she said. "Bye, Naruto."
"See ya," he replied.
She nodded once, then turned and disappeared down the hallway.
Naruto stood there for a moment longer than necessary before closing the door.
'…Yeah. I think that went well.'
He flopped backward onto his bed, staring at the ceiling.
' Next arc's pretty lackluster,' he thought absently. 'Sasuke kills Orochimaru in a few days. Then it's straight into the Itachi hunt. And somehow we're involved too.'
Then his gaze shifted.
The wallet.
Naruto sat up and reached beneath the bed, pulling out Kakuzu's heavy pouch. He placed it carefully on the table and sat down across from it, elbows resting on the wood.
' Alright,' he thought, eyes narrowing. ' One chance.'
He stared at the seal etched into it, chakra stirring faintly beneath the surface.
' Mess this up, and it's either death or a serious injury.' He exhaled slowly.
' Yeah… neither of those sound great.'
Naruto rolled his shoulders once and steadied his breathing.
' Alright… slow. Just like Tenten said.'
He spread the wallet flat on the table and drew a clean sheet of paper beneath it, anchoring the edges with small weights so nothing shifted. From his pouch, he pulled out a brush and ink, hands steady despite the quiet thrum of nerves in his chest.
First step: chakra tracing.
Naruto closed his eyes and let a thin thread of chakra seep from his fingertips, brushing the outer ring of the seal without actually activating it. The markings responded instantly—symbols flickering faintly as hidden layers revealed themselves.
"…There you are," he murmured.
Three interlocking rings. A false release glyph. And—there it was—a detonation trigger, buried beneath the third layer, waiting for brute force or sloppy chakra flow.
His stomach tightened.
One wrong push and I'm repainting the walls.
Carefully, he replicated the seal's outer structure on the blank paper beside him, copying it stroke by stroke. Not to open it—just to understand it. Only when the copied diagram felt right did he move on.
Second step: key substitution.
Instead of forcing the seal open, Naruto fed chakra into the copied diagram, adjusting the polarity exactly as Tenten had shown him. The real seal reacted immediately, lines shifting, the trap glyph dimming as it lost its trigger.
A bead of sweat rolled down his temple.
"Easy… easy…"
Third step: release command.
Naruto placed two fingers against the center of the seal and whispered the release phrase—not aloud, but directly through chakra intent. The markings pulsed once.
Then—
FWOOOMPH.
The seal burst open. Not with an explosion. With a torrent. Paper flooded the room.
Stacks of cash erupted from the wallet like a broken dam, slamming into the table, spilling onto the floor, scattering across the bed and walls. Loose bills fluttered through the air, some sticking to Naruto's face, others sliding down the window or piling at his feet.
The wallet hit the table with a dull thud—empty.
Naruto froze.
Then slowly looked around.
"…No way."
He stood up, turning in place as his apartment transformed into a sea of money. Piles knee-high in some places. Stacks layered on stacks. More ryo than he'd ever seen—more than he'd ever imagined.
He picked up one bundle, flipped through it.
Real.
All of it.
"…Holy shit."
Naruto laughed, sharp and breathless, running a hand through his hair as adrenaline finally crashed out of him.
"I did it," he said aloud, almost in disbelief. "I actually did it."
He glanced down at the copied seal diagram on the paper beside him—perfectly intact.
' Thanks, Tenten, I'll make sure to buy her some ramen one day ' he thought.
Naruto sank back into his chair, surrounded by money, heart still pounding.
' Guess Kakuzu really was saving for retirement. Now let's count this cash' he thought.
TO BE CONTINUED