"Ahem! You two, be mindful! Everyone is here!" Tsunade reminded them.
Natsuki held Tenten, his gaze sweeping around, and found that Tsunade, Shizune, Tonton, Megumi, Sakura, and Kurama Yakumo were all there, and they were all looking over at that moment.
Sakura and Yakumo couldn't help but blush, truly feeling that Natsuki and Tenten were too bold.
Natsuki wasn't embarrassed either. After letting go of Tenten, he said, "Tsunade-sama, I've been around that country for over a month and haven't found any trace of that guy. Instead, I heard a lot of news about Deidara and Sasori of the Red Sand.
This mission wasn't completed; how should this be counted?"
"Uh, since it was a mission, there's compensation even if it fails."
Tsunade waved her hand, "Besides, yours isn't really a failure; it's normal not to find them if the target doesn't appear.
Also, it's best not to provoke the Akatsuki for now, so your investigation mission ends here."
Natsuki nodded and said nothing more.
However, he was curious about what the others were doing here.
Having a girls' gathering?
Doesn't seem like it, after all, Tsunade is an old woman; she wouldn't possibly have some kind of girlish heart, right?
Tsunade seemed to see through Natsuki's thoughts and said irritably, "What nonsense are you thinking about!
Yakumo wasn't feeling very well, and Megumi brought her over for me to take a look, that's all.
As for Sakura, she came to ask to become my disciple, and I've already agreed."
Oh?
So Sakura still became Tsunade's disciple?
Natsuki wasn't surprised at all.
It was Sasuke who looked at Sakura in surprise, making Sakura a little embarrassed.
In fact, after the last subjugation mission, Sakura felt increasingly useless and also sensed a crisis from Yakumo.
Although it wasn't certain that Yakumo would have anything with Sasuke, Sasuke clearly appreciated girls with strength more, so even when choosing a partner, it wouldn't be her turn, useless Sakura.
Therefore, in order not to be a burden anymore and to make Sasuke think highly of her, Sakura made up her mind to become Tsunade's disciple.
Fortunately, Tsunade thought highly of her talent and was waiting for her to make up her mind, so she quickly agreed.
"That's good."
Sasuke said bluntly, "You didn't have much strength before and always held us back. Now that you've become Tsunade-sama's disciple, study hard.
If you put the effort you spend on dressing up into training, you wouldn't be so weak."
Everyone immediately palmed their foreheads; Sasuke really didn't hold back at all.
Although it was all true, saying it like that in front of everyone, wouldn't Sakura be so embarrassed she'd want to dig her toes into the ground?
But surprisingly, Sakura said seriously, "Sasuke-kun is right, I should have realized this sooner.
Perhaps it's not too late now; I will learn a good set of skills and no longer hold Sasuke-kun back!"
Sasuke nodded. Perhaps it was the first time he had acknowledged Sakura.
And while Sakura was also quite embarrassed by Sasuke's blunt criticism, she was more filled with joy, because it was the first time Sasuke had spoken to her so seriously, and the first time he had acknowledged her.
She practically wished she could take off right now!
Natsuki watched the show for a bit, feeling once again that he was missing some melon seeds.
So he waved his hand and said, "Then Tenten and I will leave first, we won't disturb you."
Seeing this, Sasuke also said his goodbyes. It wasn't until they were outside the Hokage Building that he spoke again, "Natsuki, how about I treat you guys to a meal?
After all, you've helped me so much, but I haven't been able to repay you, and I don't know how to repay you.
Treating you guys to a meal can be considered a token of my appreciation."
Tenten, however, reacted, "So, Sasuke succeeded?"
Natsuki nodded, "Yes, very successful, not a single problem."
Tenten breathed a sigh of relief and said with a smile, "Since Sasuke is treating, we won't be polite.
How about this, BBQ Q? Sasuke, make sure you have enough money, because Natsuki and I can both eat quite a bit!"
Sasuke made an OK gesture, "Eat as much as you want, I can afford it."
It's just BBQ; no matter how much two people can eat, how much can it be?
He had completed three S-Rank missions and six A-Rank missions, earning quite a lot of money. Treating them to BBQ was just a drop in the bucket.
He could even afford to treat Choji and Hinata!
The three quickly arrived at BBQ Q. Natsuki and Tenten were just about to order a lot when they saw Shikamaru, Ino, and Choji, the Ino-Shika-Cho trio.
"Yo! Shino, Ino-Shika-Cho, you guys are here too." Natsuki was still the first to spot Shino.
"Natsuki and Tenten, and Sasuke too." Shino's tone carried a subtle hint of joy.
After all these years, others often overlooked him, but only Natsuki would always spot him immediately. He truly deserved to be his desk-mate and good friend for many years.
This was also the most touching thing for Shino.
Because at first, Natsuki actually couldn't always spot him smoothly.
But Natsuki would unconsciously sense and search for his presence every time, and over time, he habitually spotted him without fail.
This even influenced Tenten, who also easily noticed Shino's presence every time.
"Hey, hey, hey! Natsuki, don't use abbreviations to call us!"
Shikamaru expressed his dissatisfaction but still casually explained, "Your good desk-mate helped our Team Ten a lot before, so we're treating him to a meal to show our gratitude."
Ino immediately took over, "Yeah, yeah, Shino is really amazing. That A-Rank mission was originally quite difficult, but because we asked Shino for help, pathfinding, reconnaissance, sneak attacks, offense, defense—all of these became minor matters. The difficult mission became completely easy mode.
Besides being a bit unused to the bugs, everything else was great."
Shino, however, was a bit serious, "Bugs are good helpers!"
Ino had no choice, "Yes, yes, bugs are good helpers, I didn't say anything bad."
Only Choji was eating non-stop, seemingly uninterested in everyone's conversation. Fortunately, the guy still remembered to look up and say hello, otherwise Natsuki probably would have gone over and given him a knock.
"That's quite a coincidence."
Sasuke also rarely spoke up to chat with everyone, saying, "I also didn't know how to thank Natsuki for helping me so much, so I could only treat the two of them to a meal."
Choji also rarely lifted his head to respond, "Treating someone is the best way to thank them. Nothing is more important than eating!"
Although these words were a bit strange, they seemed to make some sense.
After all, sometimes saying too many words of thanks feels insincere, but directly giving money turns it into a transaction. Sometimes, you truly don't know how best to express gratitude.
But sometimes it's also very simple. For example, if someone helped you, you warmly invite them to eat. The gratitude is in the food, and whether the thanks are sincere can also be seen from the food.
No need to say anything else, just treat them.
Natsuki and Tenten also genuinely didn't stand on ceremony with Sasuke, directly ordering several deluxe meal sets, not at all afraid of eating up Sasuke's savings.
Yet Sasuke still felt it wasn't enough and insisted on ordering several more drinks and fruits.
He really was quite generous.