"Sasuke! Why does it seem like the people from Kirigakure knew we were coming?" Karin asked as she ran, "Where’s Suigetsu?"
“I’m here!”
A white-haired figure jumped down from a great height, running for his life. It was Suigetsu, who had been covering their retreat.
"That was close! I almost got surrounded!"
"There are too many of them! Let’s get out of here!" While Sasuke was moving quickly, he was also calmly observing his surroundings, looking for the best escape route.
"Seriously? There are only four of us! We just came to take a look!" Suigetsu complained as he ran, "The moment we entered, a whole group started chasing us. It’s like they knew we were coming."
"Could it be... there’s a traitor among us?" Karin panted heavily, but still didn’t dare to stop.
Shadows seemed to emerge from all directions, closing in on them from every angle. It wasn’t that they couldn’t fight, but if they slowed down even a little, they’d be caught.
Their goal wasn’t to pick a fight with Kirigakure. They were just passing through and decided to take a look. The team’s real target was the wild Sanbi, which wasn’t in the village.
But who could have guessed that they’d walk right into a trap the moment they entered? The speed at which they were discovered was ridiculous. They wondered if they had been exposed from the start.
Hearing Karin’s words, Sasuke couldn’t help but feel suspicious.
He thought to himself, ‘No one would betray Team Taka. Jugo was loyal to me, and Karin had... complicated feelings for me, so there was no reason for her to betray him.’
‘As for Suigetsu, he was the one who usually charged headfirst into battle, so there was no reason for him to dig a hole for himself.’
After eliminating all possibilities, Sasuke was left confused.
Could the traitor be... me?
Fortunately, his confusion was short-lived. With their agility and Karin’s exceptional Sensory Ability, they managed to navigate Kirigakure’s maze-like streets and find a way out.
…
While Kirigakure was in chaos, in a luxurious suite, Naruto, with Sasuke's face, was chatting and laughing with Mei.
At least, that’s how it appeared on the surface. In reality, both were deeply suspicious of each other.
After drinking bottle after bottle of red wine, the two of them refused to show any signs of weakness.
Finally, Mei couldn’t hold it any longer and excused herself to the bathroom. The moment the door clicked shut, Naruto’s expression changed.
‘"I’m about to burst!’ He quickly ran into the room opposite Mei and relieved himself.
Before she could return, Naruto sneaked back to his room and brought out even stronger alcohol, lining up bottles on the table.
When Mei came out of the bathroom and saw the table full of liquor, she was stunned for a moment. She looked out the window and saw that it was much quieter outside.
‘Is it over? Or did they escape?’
She wasn’t sure, but the only thing she could focus on now was the man in front of her. She needed to figure out if he was really suspicious. Instinctively, Mei felt something was off about him.
Since Naruto was being watched by Mei, it was difficult for him to escape, so he decided to just stay there.
Both of them looked at the bottles on the table, their minds racing with different thoughts.
"Terumi Mei-sama, what’s going on outside?" Naruto asked, pretending to be calm.
"Nothing, just a small disturbance." Mei replied with a smile, her full red lips curving slightly.
"Looks like it’s been resolved?" He asked.
"Of course. Shall we continue drinking?" Mei, wearing a blue dress, sat gracefully on the sofa, "A little more?"
"Sure." Naruto nodded, though internally, he was grumbling, ‘Do I even have the right to refuse?’
It's not that he can't run away, but opportunities like this were rare. If he ran away now, it would mean admitting that the people outside had nothing to do with him… that they were two separate groups.
This would undoubtedly make it harder for him to get close to Chojuro. But as the saying goes, no risk, no reward. Even though Naruto wasn’t sure what Mei was thinking, he decided to take a small gamble.
If he loses, it’s no big deal. If he wins, it’s a huge payoff.
The sound of clinking glasses filled the room, and Naruto looked at Mei, feeling confused. Her expression seemed to say, ‘I know that you know that I know what you’re thinking’. The two of them were playing a game of wits, each trying to outmaneuver the other.
Before long, Naruto’s eyelids drooped, and he looked like he was about to pass out.
"Are you drunk?" Mei looked at him and asked.
"No! Just give me a moment to recover." Naruto slurred, his reactions slowing down.
Before he closed his eyes, he caught a glimpse of Mei’s subtle expression.
‘Is that... triumph? Did she achieve her goal?’
He glanced at Mei, then at the strongest bottles of liquor on the table. Without drawing attention, he opened another bottle, pretending to fumble and nearly drop it.
Mei didn't think too much about it. Seeing him drink a glass, she slowly followed suit.
Unbeknownst to her, a portion of the wine was being diverted into Naruto’s sealing space.
Naruto knew that Mei was not an easy person to deal with. If he had started faking it from the beginning, she would definitely see through him. So, he had been drinking for real from the beginning.
But from the moment he started acting drunk, things changed. He wasn’t refusing to drink, and he was just drinking half while pouring out the other half.
After staring at him for a few seconds, Mei felt that the time was right, so she picked up the pace.
…
Time passed by little by little, and it was now the middle of the night.
With a loud sound, a glass fell to the ground.
Mei looked at him, her face flushed with drunkenness. Naruto wasn’t much better, swaying unsteadily.
The living room reeked of alcohol. Both of them were drunk, their eyes bloodshot.
At this point, Naruto was starting to lose focus, as if he had returned to the days of drinking with Tsunade and waking up with a hangover.
He even started hallucinating, with Mei’s figure being replaced by Tsunade from time to time. Their figures were similar, and in his drunken state, it was easy to confuse them.
Mei wasn’t much clearer. Everything that was happening before her eyes seemed like a dream, and her steps were light and unsteady.
Both of them were slurring their words, their movements shaky. They could barely get through half a sentence without pausing.
"Drink! Keep... drinking! Wa-la-wa (unclear, meaning Tsunade)... -sama, whoever falls first is the loser." Naruto slapped a hand on Mei’s shoulder.
"Marriage? Don’t talk to me about... marriage!" Mei Mei wrapped an arm around Naruto, and the two of them sat side by side on the same sofa.
In her mind, she was talking to a friend about marriage. In reality, her friends had already been killed by Zabuza during the Chunin Exams.
This also directly led to her having only subordinates and no suitable men to marry. The options were either old men like Ao in their forties or boys like Chojuro, who hadn’t even grown all their hair yet.