Naruto: Passerby and Returnee

Chapter 383 7rd

During the seven-day holiday, Naruto, as the team captain, miraculously had three days of free time, and during the four days he worked, he was practically slacking off openly. However, the Land of Waves is only so big; at a ninja's speed, one can travel all over the island in a day. If he leisurely explored for seven days, he could surely see every corner of it.

On the first day, there was definitely no free time. The opening day crowds were enormous, and the ninjas could only stand on high ground and enjoy the new scenery of the park when they had a little free time. That day was the only time Naruto was on duty until five o'clock. As soon as the clock struck five, Naruto, who had been standing for most of the day, disappeared instantly. When Sasuke finally found his way back to his room, he saw someone peacefully nestled in a beanbag chair by the window, sleeping soundly.

With the team unable to find their captain, Sasuke managed to pinpoint the missing person. Fortunately, nothing serious happened that night; at most, it was just some minor conflict that needed mediation.

The next day was also peak time. However, in order to ensure that the team members had enough energy, the five of them arranged a rest shift that was not taken. Xiaoying was the first to enjoy it, because before the mission started, her work at the hospital was the most tiring.

That day, Naruto was on the busiest afternoon shift, from 2 PM to 8 PM when the park closed. During that time, he was busy with trivial matters such as finding people and things, and also had to mediate the occasional arguments. Naruto was quite energetic when he first started his shift, but by dinnertime he was completely listless, and even when trying to mediate a fight, he was yawning non-stop.

On the third day, it was Konohamaru's turn to rest. But the kid cleverly took Naruto's place, squeezing the person who should have been on duty into the tourist list.

Naruto seemed to be trying his best to accompany Sasuke on his walk, but as they strolled along, his vision began to blur, and he almost got bumped into. Sasuke found it a bit puzzling. With Naruto's reflexes, it was impossible for anyone to accidentally bump into him, but the place was unusually crowded, so it was understandable that he couldn't move around freely due to the congestion.

The fourth day was another day of guard duty. But today, it wasn't the real Naruto standing guard, but Sasuke using the Transformation Jutsu.

It was agreed that non-staff members wouldn't participate in the shift schedule, but that guy seemed to be sleeping soundly; Sasuke called him twice but couldn't wake him. He thought about the work issues repeatedly mentioned in the letters the other party had sent. The Fifth Hokage trusted Naruto a lot, practically treating him as a potential Hokage candidate, so official documents were never lacking.

I guess I was just too tired during the week, so when I finally had time to relax, I just fell asleep and never woke up.

On the fifth day, the three children were given a day off. The adults and the grown-up children took over their jobs, and Sasuke even took over their posts.

That very day, the oblivious Ebisu finally noticed there was an extra person in the group. Just a few minutes earlier, he had seen the three little ones skipping and hopping past, and was about to scold someone for not taking the mission seriously, running off before the appointed time. But when he turned around, he saw the expressionless Konohamaru at the sentry post, and was so frightened he almost flew away. However, that "Konohamaru" only gave him a cold glance, didn't even call him "teacher," and then disappeared into the crowd.

On the sixth day, Naruto finally got up on time and dragged him to the other side of the island that was not open to the public. Unexpectedly, there were quite a few people gathered there, and it looked quite busy.

Sasuke had participated in that special sea mission and immediately spotted the various filming equipment. He was wondering what kind of film crew would be shooting in a field when he looked down and came across a face painted with a grimy, dusty mess. It looked... kind of familiar?

During a break, many people from the crew greeted them, and the old director even kindly pulled them aside to ask if they wanted to play a cameo role or two, but Naruto ultimately declined, citing his mission. Yukie, who really looked like a fisherman, crawled out of the field and reached out her wicked hand to smear Naruto's face, but Sasuke grabbed her by the collar and pulled her out of range, so she had to give up in frustration.

The seventh day was a perfect closing day. All the ninjas went to work, but as usual, they got to relax during the last two hours before the park closed.

The two classes boarded the rather unexciting rotating waterwheels. The children, united in their vengeance, splashed flowers onto Ebisu's sunglasses, while the boys exchanged bewildered glances, quietly enjoying the March sea breeze. Sakura clung to the backrest, her upper body almost leaning out, trying to see the battle dance below. Sasuke sat upright, his honed nerves resisting the waterwheel's ripples, his upper body seemingly unmoved. Naruto, on the other hand, was the drifter, sprawled out in his seat without any proper posture. When he got off, he seemed to have slept through a round of sleep, groggily opening his eyes and catching up with the group.

Until the moment of parting, Ebisu, who hadn't said many nice words, didn't offer any opinion on Team 7. He simply met Naruto's open and honest gaze meaningfully. Naruto even deliberately made a shushing gesture when only Ebisu was paying attention, and even his smile seemed somewhat amused.

As for Konohamaru, Moegi, and Udon? These three kids already call Naruto "big brother," do they really need any special reminders?

"Have you been very tired lately?" After observing for several days, Sasuke finally asked the question as he closed the door.

He noticed that Naruto always managed to close his eyes and rest whenever he had a spare moment; it seemed to have become a habit. But two years ago today, this guy clearly didn't want to take a single day off; he was a complete workaholic.

"Oh, I was caught grading papers a while ago. Not the papers with fixed answers, but the students' exam records." Naruto was good at making excuses, and he did indeed do the job, but a few papers were cleverly distributed.

Sasuke frowned again and said unhappily, "Are you an elite Jonin or just a janitor? Why are you doing all this work?"

“That’s not right. Looking at the exam records is the most convenient way to understand the new generation of ninjas.” Naruto was clearly a seasoned leader and could fully understand why Granny Tsunade always gave him these records. “For a village, the past, present, and future are all equally important. You can’t ignore any of them.”

...So you ended up looking like this, half-dead? You haven't even become Hokage yet, and you're already worrying about being Hokage.

Sasuke didn't say it directly, but awkwardly replied, "And you still have the nerve to urge me to rest?"

"I'm just expending a little mental energy, not ruining my health. Don't think I don't know how many hours you burn through your chakra every day," Naruto said with a straight face.

His physical condition wasn't entirely due to his own actions; there were also many uncontrollable coincidences. It could be said that this day was destined from the moment he awoke; it was just a matter of time. But Sasuke isn't like that. He doesn't have the problem of excessive chakra. If his body really has problems, then it's his own doing.

Sasuke didn't reply. He always did this when faced with questions he couldn't answer, preferring to keep quiet rather than speak.

This is really a bad habit, it's unacceptable!