Hearing this, Naruto let out a long sigh of relief, and his entire body visibly relaxed.
“Really? Then can I go back today?”
[Great! I finally managed to fool my way through this. The Nine-Tails really is a good thing. From now on, I can blame everything on the Nine-Tails! This is absolutely wonderful!]
Even though Kakashi had already known that Naruto was lying, the corner of his mouth still couldn’t help twitching when he heard this.
However, he had long since gotten used to it and didn’t show it.
Pretending he hadn’t heard anything, he shook his head.
“That won’t do, Naruto. Have you forgotten? We’re training together. Since I’m still training, how can you leave early? Since you already have chakra, you should practice how to control it.”
“Control it? How do I learn that?”
Naruto looked up at Kakashi with an innocent expression, while inwardly cursing him furiously.
[Damn it! I knew it would be like this! Kakashi! Just you wait! I’ll definitely make you pay back all the suffering you’re making me go through!]
Hearing Naruto’s furious cursing in his heart, Kakashi was not only not angry, but actually felt quite pleased.
His smile immediately grew wider, and his eyes curved into crescent shapes.
“It’s very simple. Tree climbing. Concentrate your chakra at the soles of your feet and walk up the tree as if you were walking normally.”
“Is that so? Alright! I understand! I’ll go find the biggest, tallest tree to practice on right away! Big Brother Kakashi, I’ll definitely work hard!”
Naruto suddenly stood up, clenched his fists, and looked full of enthusiasm.
This directly left Kakashi confused.
He knew how resistant Naruto was to training, so why was he suddenly so motivated?
While he was still wondering, Naruto had already run toward a large tree.
‘Strange.
Could Naruto have suddenly changed his ways?
That shouldn’t be possible…’
Naruto quickly arrived beneath a large tree, walked around to the back of it, and sat directly against the trunk.
[Tree climbing? Climb my ass! With the Nine-Tails messing up my chakra, how am I supposed to climb? What kind of bullshit is this?!]
Kakashi was somewhat angered when he heard the first half, thinking that Naruto still refused to change his ways.
However, when he heard the latter half, he couldn’t help but frown deeply.
‘So that was the reason?
The Nine-Tails was disrupting his chakra?
If that was the case, then it really was a problem.’
Kakashi thought about it for a moment and ultimately decided to let Naruto off and allow him to slack off for a while.
First, Naruto had already exceeded the goal set for the week by successfully extracting chakra.
Second, Kakashi knew that Naruto’s chakra was being disrupted by the Nine-Tails.
Under those circumstances, it was almost impossible for him to complete this kind of training.
Naruto hadn’t slept well to begin with, and he had also been constantly exhausting his mental energy by extracting chakra earlier.
Now that he had sat down, a warm breeze blew past him, carrying the fragrance of flowers and grass.
Drowsiness immediately washed over him, and his eyelids felt as heavy as a thousand pounds.
Before he knew it, he had fallen into a deep sleep.
After an unknown amount of time, Naruto vaguely heard Kakashi calling out, “Naruto! Hey! Naruto! Wake up! Hurry up and wake up!”
“Mmm… Hmm? Is it time to eat?”
Naruto opened his sleepy eyes.
Having eaten only breakfast, his stomach was already growling, so he instinctively asked that question.
Kakashi rolled his eyes speechlessly, but he wasn’t angry.
Instead, he reached out and pulled Naruto up from the ground.
“Since you’re hungry, let’s go eat. Come on, I’m treating you to grilled meat today!”
The words “grilled meat” instantly wiped away all of Naruto’s sleepiness.
The thing Naruto had eaten the most these past few days was instant noodles, while the most luxurious meal he had eaten was the ramen Kakashi had treated him to.
As for grilled meat, not only had he never eaten it, he had never even seen it before.
“Grilled meat! Yes, yes, yes! Let’s go, let’s go!”
“Hehe~~ let’s go. After we finish eating grilled meat, I have something else to take care of, so I won’t be taking you home.”
Kakashi spoke as they walked, but Naruto had already been completely attracted by the thought of grilled meat and didn’t listen at all.
The two left the training grounds and arrived at Konoha’s food street.
The setting sun stretched their shadows long.
Kakashi didn’t say a single word along the way, thinking about something as he walked.
Naruto remained silent on the outside, but inwardly, he was extremely confused.
[Did Kakashi suddenly change his ways? I slacked off for half the day during training, yet he didn’t cause me any trouble. He’s even treating me to grilled meat. Tsk! Looks like I should treat him a little better from now on. No matter what, he’s a meal ticket. It’s fine to curse him in my heart.]
Kakashi felt very pleased when he heard the first half and was just about to praise Naruto, but the latter half immediately darkened his face.
So, in Naruto’s heart, he was nothing more than a meal ticket?
Naruto wasn’t even willing to call him ‘Teacher’?
After the two entered the grilled meat restaurant, Kakashi ordered a large amount of grilled meat.
Naruto had already been drooling outside the restaurant just from smelling the aroma.
Now that the grilled meat was served, he didn’t bother being polite and immediately began grilling it.
Afterward, he started wolfing it down, hissing from the heat.
“Naruto, there’s something I want to talk to you about.”
“Hm? What is it? Big Brother Kakashi, just say it!”
As the saying goes, one’s mouth grows soft after eating another person’s food.
Although Naruto’s words were somewhat muffled because his mouth was full of grilled meat, his attitude was very straightforward.
Kakashi nodded in satisfaction.
“Naruto, now that I’m training you, logically speaking, I’m already your teacher. From now on, you should change the way you address me and call me Teacher.”
Naruto’s movement of eating meat suddenly froze.
He immediately swallowed the meat in his mouth before he had even finished chewing it, put down his chopsticks, and rubbed the corner of his eyes with his hand.
His eyes instantly turned red and tears began to flow.
This time, he really was crying, but not because he was sad.
His hand had gotten chili on it, and the moment he rubbed his eyes, the tears immediately became uncontrollable.
“So… Big Brother Kakashi actually hates me too? I guess that makes sense. Everyone hates me. There’s nothing wrong with Big Brother Kakashi being the same as everyone else.”
To Kakashi, Naruto’s words were completely baffling.
He had merely wanted Naruto to call him Teacher, so how had that turned into hating him?
However, seeing that Naruto was genuinely crying this time, he immediately panicked.
“No, no! Naruto, how can you think that? I’ve never hated you.”
“If that’s the case, then why do you suddenly want me to change the way I address you? I clearly see you as family. Why? Why do you want to do this?”
After saying that, Naruto bit his lip tightly.
Because his eyes were burning so badly from the chili, tears kept streaming down.
They slid down his cheeks to his chin before finally dripping onto the ground.
Kakashi hurriedly waved his hands, looking completely at a loss.
“No, no, that’s not it, Naruto. I also see you as family!”
“Huh? Really? Then why do you still want this?”
“Uh… listen to me. A teacher is family too. In a sense, a teacher is like a parent. Naruto, you haven’t had parents since you were little, right? I just hope to fill a little of that emptiness in your heart.”
Kakashi immediately stopped panicking because he felt that his words were simply flawless.
An ordinary person definitely wouldn’t be able to resist them.