In Konoha, This Naruto Has Decided To Take It Easy
Chapter 509 The Foolish Anko Remains Unchanged

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When Naruto woke up, the first thing he saw is Yugao sitting across from him on the couch.

She still wore her cold expression, and there was a bag of money by her feet… likely the ten million ryo she had promised. She had said she'd deliver it as soon as possible that morning, and now it was the evening.

"When did you arrive? Why didn’t you turn on the light?"

Naruto sat up on the couch, feeling the familiar discomfort. He never quite got used to sleeping on it, as it was too soft and always gave him a sore back. He stared at Yugao for a moment before he slowly came to his senses.

"I've been here for quite a while, maybe half an hour." Yugao casually rested her feet and replied, "Here’s the ten million ryo you asked for. It’s all here."

"Hmm." Naruto nodded, " It won’t be long before you get promoted to Anbu Commander, right? You have enough experience and everything, and Kakashi also needs someone he can trust."

"Maybe." For the first time in a while, Yugao’s eternally cold expression softened slightly, "It’s all over now. Everything is over."

"Yeah, it really is.” Naruto sighed.

Yugao stayed for a while and then left. Naruto casually stuffed the ten million into the cabinet, pondering how to handle the rapidly changing situation.

For now, Tsunade’s situation could wait. After all, Naruto had participated in the operation, and his name had already been noted by the Advisors. With Tsunade stepping down, Naruto had to be prepared to leave as well.

It wasn’t that the village couldn’t tolerate him anymore, but rather that, for him, traveling like Jiraiya or Tsunade had always been the most comfortable way of life. Staying in the village would only make him either someone’s tool or a subject of their suspicion.

As Tsunade's sword, it didn’t make sense to let him sit idly by. Kakashi, however, definitely wouldn’t send him on any dangerous missions, and it is actually quite boring for Naruto to stay in the village.

Yugao, on the other hand, was perfect to stay in the village. Her abilities and experience made her the ideal candidate to become Anbu Commander of the Rokudaime Hokage's ANBU after Tsunade resigned.

Kakashi had been an Anbu Commander as well, and was in the same generation as Yugao. To some extent, both Yugao and Kakashi were brought up by Tsunade.

But Naruto is different. His status was far too unique. Rather than being a direct subordinate of Tsunade, he was more like someone with a closer, more personal relationship.

From stripping the Biju to Tsunade's blatant favoritism towards Naruto, it was destined that as long as Naruto stayed in Konoha, the heat of this matter would never fade away.

With two out of the village’s four top leaders stepping down, it wasn’t necessarily a good thing for Konoha. The various clans weren’t pushovers either, and many lacked trust in Kakashi.

However, as long as the two Advisors supported him, along with Kakashi’s unquestionable lineage as the successor of the Sandaime, Yondaime, and Godaime Hokage, any doubts and noise would eventually die down, leaving only background chatter.

"So, when are you leaving?" Anko casually rested her feet on the sofa, holding a fruit platter in her hands as she ate, "Oh, by the way, I’ve already been reassigned to a new job."

"Teaching at the Academy? How was your first day?" Naruto asked, toying with her foot absentmindedly without even looking up.

"Not bad, it’s not as boring as I thought." Anko said nonchalantly, "The Academy back then didn't have as many activities as now. The subjects were all geared towards preparing us for the battlefield."

"You make it sound like you've been on the battlefield many times, but really, you haven't been on that many, right?" Naruto teased.

"I was just a Genin back then. What could I do by rushing to the front lines? Get myself killed?" Anko retorted indignantly, "Besides, there's nothing fun about being on the battlefield."

"For someone as mediocre as me, it's pure hell."

"So you're finally admitting you're just a slacker?" Naruto laughed. His hand moved up along the curve of the leg and then stopped at a certain point.

Anko sensed something off and tightened her grip on the fruit platter in her arms.

"If you want to eat, go cut it yourself."

"That's not what I meant." Naruto said. "You didn’t just come over to chat, did you?"

"You said the same thing last time, and then you ate all my dango and left." Anko gnashed with hatred, "You tease and then run off. You're such a jerk!"

"Well, you got caught eating sweets. Didn’t you say you were only eating fruit? Do you want to turn into a barrel?" Naruto said smugly.

"You’re the barrel! I’ve been controlling my diet, haven’t I?" Anko grumbled dissatisfiedly, though she was indeed watching what she ate more carefully now.

In the past, she wouldn’t have cared. She had always thought of herself as a lost cause, so she lived freely, eating whatever she wanted. Letting herself go? No problem at all.

But once she tasted the forbidden fruit, she realized a free spirit would always lose to someone with technique. She didn’t want to lose her edge, and even though she kept claiming she wouldn’t gain weight, she had already started secretly learning makeup tips from Kurenai.

It wasn’t something she overthought, as it just felt good. Keeping herself in good shape made her feel better during certain moments, increasing her sense of immersion.

As for her relationship with Naruto, Anko didn't stress about it.

To her, thinking about relationships was just a burden. Work was tiring enough every day, and adding emotional complexity would only make life harder. Keeping things as they were, simple and carefree, was much better.

Then what about when she gets old? Anko just shrugged at this. She already felt she was living a defeated life. When she gets older, what more could happen? She'd just be even more defeated. She just shrugged it off.

She only cared about the now! A fleeting moment of joy in youth was far better than seeking stability when age caught up.

Shinobi is like this, a profession without a future or past. The talented rise to the top, while the ordinary fade into obscurity.

A long time passed, but the warmth lingered.

Anko, leaning against the wall, stepped out of the room, her mind foggy as she headed to the kitchen for some water. She rinsed her mouth, and as she closed the door, she unexpectedly found herself smiling.

She never would've imagined that six years ago, she used to argue with that blond brat during the exams, and now he had become one of her closest companions… someone she was perfectly in sync with.

They often chatted about trivial things, complaining about random topics. Their relationship was based on needs, without any emotional entanglements. To bring feelings into it would just complicate things, and Anko knew she'd never be able to compete in that realm.

She’d been unlucky her whole life and didn’t think she could ever win a man’s heart.

"When are you leaving? I’m not really sure about that either." Naruto said, standing at the door, about to leave Anko's house. Just then, he remembered her earlier question.

Anko stood barefoot at the entryway, her pale, delicate feet adorned with bright, crimson nail polish.

"You told me you wouldn't be staying in the village for long, so I went there a few more times. But now you’re saying you’ll leave later? You tricked me! How annoying!"

"Not really.” Naruto scratched his head, "It depends on Tsunade-sama. Once she leaves, I’ll probably stick around for a while before leaving too.”

"After that, I’ll just wander around, returning to the village every now and then." He added with a smile.

"So there isn’t much time left, is there?" Anko bit her nails, trying to figure out how to squeeze out more time from the already limited schedule.

"Hey, that's not right." She suddenly realized, "You’re planning to leave, but what about Ino and Hinata? You can’t just take off without settling things with them first, can you?"