While the two continued to make out, till the sun set. Completely lost in each other, the front door of Sakura's house quietly unlocked as her parents stepped inside.
The familiar sound of the door sliding open echoed through the hallway.
"Sakura! We're back!" Kizashi Haruno announced cheerfully, his voice loud as ever. "We brought food from your favorite place!"
Beside him, Mebuki Haruno winced and jabbed him lightly in the ribs with her elbow.
"Lower your voice," she whispered. "She's probably sleeping. She said she'd be training today—she must be exhausted."
Kizashi scratched the back of his head, nodding. "Ah… you're probably right."
Then his expression brightened. "Still, I'll go check on her."
Down the hall, in Sakura's room—
The moment Naruto heard her father's voice, his body stiffened.
His lips left hers instantly.
Both of them froze for half a heartbeat—eyes wide, breath shallow—before panic kicked in.
Naruto sprang to his feet on the bed in one smooth motion, barely making a sound despite the rush of movement.
"Sakura—" he whispered.
She pointed sharply toward the open window, her voice barely more than air. "Out. Use that. Now."
Naruto didn't argue.
He gave a quick nod, flashed her a playful wink—seriously? now?—and in one fluid motion slipped through the window, vanishing into the evening air just as soft footsteps approached the door.
The handle turned.
The door slid open.
Kizashi leaned inside, smiling warmly. "Oh, you're awake." His eyes casually swept the room, missing the slightly ruffled bed and the faint chill of night air. "Come on, dinner's ready."
Sakura straightened up immediately, forcing her breathing to steady as she turned to him with a practiced smile.
"Yeah," she said calmly. "I'll be down in a minute."
He nodded. "Don't take too long."
Then the door slid shut behind him.
The moment it closed, Sakura exhaled sharply and slumped back against her bed.
"That was way too close…" she muttered under her breath.
Her heart was still pounding hard in her chest.
' What would've happened if we got caught?' Her face burned as the thought crossed her mind. 'I don't even want to think about it…'
She lifted a hand to her lips unconsciously.
Naruto's lips.
Her cheeks flushed even deeper.
' Naruto…'
The image of Naruto Uzumaki smiling at her, teasing and confident as ever, replayed in her mind. The way he'd looked at her—like she was the only thing that mattered in that moment.
Her chest tightened slightly.
' Do I…'
She shook her head, flustered.
' Do I actually have feelings for him?'
The question lingered, unanswered, as she stood up to head downstairs—her heart far more unsettled than it had been before.
.....
Naruto reappeared back home in a soft flicker of space, the familiar pressure of the Flying Raijin fading from his senses as his feet touched the floor of his apartment.
The place looked… different. Bigger. Cleaner. More alive.
Several shadow clones were scattered around the room, hard at work. One was pushing furniture aside to widen the training space, another was reinforcing the walls with seals etched neatly into the corners, while two more were scrubbing and organizing with surprising seriousness.
Naruto blinked once—then smiled.
"Nice work," he said, genuinely impressed.
A few clones gave him thumbs-ups before popping out of existence, their memories flowing back into him in a rush—measurements, seal placement, small improvements made to airflow and balance. His apartment wasn't just bigger now; it was optimized.
He rolled his shoulders, feeling the familiar weight of responsibility settle back in.
Walking over to the corner, he reached for his weights—heavy, well-worn, and sealed to increase resistance. The metal felt reassuring in his hands.
'Can't slack off now,' he thought as he strapped them on. 'If I stop pushing forward, I'll fall behind.'
His mind briefly wandered—pink hair, flushed cheeks, a close call that made his heart race for an entirely different reason.
Naruto shook his head lightly, refocusing. Training first. Everything else later.
He took a steady breath, chakra flowing smoothly through his body, sharp and controlled.
Then—without another word—
He vanished.
The apartment was left silent as Naruto Uzumaki disappeared in a clean flash of space-time, already heading toward his next training ground—determined not to let himself grow rusty for even a second.
「 The next day 」
Naruto woke up to silence.
Not the lonely kind he was used to—but a calm, spacious quiet that made him pause as he sat up in bed.
His eyes slowly swept across the room.
…Big.
No—huge.
His apartment was easily twice the size it used to be now. The walls felt farther apart, the ceiling higher, the air lighter. There was space—real space—to breathe, move, and train without holding back.
Most of his old furniture had been neatly pushed to one side, stacked and organized rather than discarded. A few shadow clones' handiwork still lingered in the layout.
Naruto smiled faintly.
'When I get back, I should donate that stuff to the orphanage,' he thought. 'They'll make better use of it than I ever did.'
His gaze hardened slightly as another thought surfaced.
'For now… I've got plans.'
He swung his legs off the bed and stretched, joints popping softly.
'I'm meeting Ino today. We trained last time… but I promised I'd actually take her out for food.'
A promise was a promise.
Naruto headed into the bathroom and let the warm water run over him, washing away the lingering stiffness from yesterday's training. Steam filled the room as he leaned back, letting his thoughts drift—before snapping himself back to focus.
After drying off, he pulled on simple, casual clothes. Nothing flashy. Just comfortable.
A few minutes later, he stepped outside, climbed onto the railing without hesitation, and dropped down to the street below. His landing was light, barely making a sound, before he started walking with his hands tucked casually into his pockets.
As he moved through the village, Naruto felt it.
Eyes.
Watching. Subtle. Trained. Hidden—but not hidden enough. He didn't react. Didn't even glance their way.
He'd been sensing them ever since he returned from helping Asuma and the others. The chakra signatures were familiar now.
Danzo's men.
'Figures,' he thought calmly.
He had no intention of confronting them—not yet.
'Sasuke gains nothing from fighting that man,' Naruto reflected. His eyes sharpened. 'I'll handle Danzo myself.'
By the time he reached the flower shop, his expression had softened again.
Naruto pushed the door open, the small bell above chiming lightly.
Inside, the shop was quiet and fragrant, filled with neatly arranged flowers in every color imaginable.
Behind the counter stood Ino Yamanaka, leaning forward with her chin resting on her palm, boredom written all over her face.
That boredom vanished instantly.
Ino's eyes lit up like she'd just been handed a gift.
"Naruto! You came!" she exclaimed, straightening up immediately.
"Yeah," Naruto said with a smirk. "How've you been since that day?"
Ino frowned dramatically. "You practically put me in a coma. I couldn't walk for days."
Naruto bit back a laugh.
'Wow… the way she worded that,' he thought, barely keeping his expression neutral.
"Well," he said calmly, "that was your first serious workout. But—you did really well."
Ino blinked… then blushed.
"T-thanks," she said, looking away briefly. "So… what do you wanna do? I'm kinda still busy right now."
Naruto glanced around the shop—empty except for the two of them.
"I can sit with you," he offered. "Doesn't look like business is booming today."
Her face brightened again. "Sure! Don't expect pay though," she joked.
Naruto chuckled softly. "Don't worry. I won't."
TO BE CONTINUED