Yugao, as the Anbu Commander, was practically a department head… A sexy department head knocking on his window early in the morning.
For a second, Naruto thought he was dreaming, 'At this hour, it wouldn't be strange to do something dumb, but why was Yugao the protagonist of this dream?'
'What the hell?'
He rubbed his eyes and pinched himself, only then did he make sure that he was not dreaming. The past few days had drained him too much, leaving him in a little dazed.
Even after returning to Konoha, he was still in a state of heat. But he was used to lazing around, so after returning, he had hesitated between sleeping and 'unloading'.
In the end, he chose the former, as sleep solves all problems.
And so, he slept for a full day and night, mostly to recover from the aftereffects of that strange liquor. He had no idea what had possessed Koyuki to brew something like that.
He was so sleepy that his biological clock had won over his hormones. If he hadn't been trying to relieve the aftereffects of the supplement and was just trying to sober up, he would've been back to full energy a day ago.
He felt a strange restlessness but was too tired to care, so he just continued to lie down.
"Why are you here?" Naruto shuffled over groggily, opened his eyes with difficulty, and opened the balcony window.
"It's urgent, about you." Yugao is still the same, and said concisely, "Someone from Amegakure is here, and specifically asked for you."
"Amegakure? Who?" Naruto sobered up a little.
"I don't know. It's a woman." She answered, "She refuses to say anything unless she sees you. It seems that she also has some relationship with Jiraiya-sama."
"Kakashi couldn't make a decision, so he sent me to fetch you."
"I guess it's one of Pervy Sage's disciples." Naruto muttered, and at the same time, he already knew who the person was, "Give me ten minutes to wash up."
"Mm. Go ahead." Yugao walked into the living room without any hesitation and plopped down on the couch.
Naruto went straight into the bathroom, turned on the shower, and let the water soak his hair. As he washed up, he silently thought about the possible reasons for Konan's visit.
'Is Nagato dead? Or is he on the verge of death?'
'If it's the latter, what excuse should I make to not save him? Something that didn't make it too obvious. Though, honestly, Nagato wasn't worth saving anymore. His lifespan was already at its limit.'
'His body had been pushed too far, teetering on the edge of collapse. Even if Naruto forcibly extended his life, it would only hasten the inevitable.'
…
After freshening up, Naruto followed Yugao out the door. The two of them were familiar enough with each other, both professionally and personally, and they walked in silence until they reached the Hokage Tower.
Yugao suddenly stopped, glanced at Naruto meaningfully, and reminded him, "Be careful. That woman is injured."
"Got it."
Naruto walked into the Hokage Tower, went straight to the top floor, and knocked on the door of the Hokage's Office. If Tsunade was still the Hokage, he wouldn't have knocked at all.
"Come in!" Kakashi's lazy voice called out.
With a click, Naruto pushed the door open and saw Kakashi sitting at his desk, looking at him with his hands crossed. There was another person in the office… Konan.
"Why are you here?"
It was a pointless question. There are only two possibilities for Konan to leave Amegakure. Either Nagato was about to die, or he was already dead.
"Nagato is dead." Konan said calmly.
Naruto heard the answer he expected but didn't react. Back then, he hadn't killed Nagato for two reasons: out of respect for Jiraiya, and because he knew Nagato's death was imminent anyway.
Otherwise, given Nagato's actions, he should have died long ago.
"Does Pervy Sage know?" He asked.
"I hadn't found the chance to tell Jiraiya-sensei, since Nagato wanted to entrust his eyes to you." Konan paused, looked into Naruto's eyes and said.
"Gulp!" He swallowed and looked at Konan in shock, "Why?"
'I'm such a good person, I helped you despite everything, and this is how you repay me? By trying to kill me?! Eye transplants? Hell no! My eyes are original from the factory, and there's no way I'll change them!'
"It was Nagato's wish. The power of the Rinnegan is too great. He didn't want it falling into the wrong hands. He wanted to entrust it to someone worthy."
"I'm not worthy! And eye transplants painful! I'm not doing it." Naruto shook his head and refused without hesitation, which made Kakashi, who was considering it at the side, dumbfounded.
When Konan first arrived in Konoha and explained her purpose, Kakashi was still weighing the pros and cons in his mind. He was hesitant about how to persuade Naruto to be cautious, but unexpectedly, Naruto refused faster than he thought.
'Those weren't just any eyes, it's the legendary Rinnegan. In terms of rarity, they surpassed even the Byakugan and the Uchiha's Sharingan.'
'Even if you refuse, shouldn't you at least pretend to think about it? Just to show some respect for the Rinnegan?'
'The eye replacement painful?'
Kakashi: "Uh…"
He actually wanted to say that eye transplants can be done with anesthesia, and the pain won't last too long. For a Shinobi, this kind of pain was bearable.
"Painful?" Konan couldn't comprehend his reasoning, 'How could a Shinobi be afraid of pain?'
"What? What's with that look?" Naruto was stunned for a moment, then said directly, "Anyway, I don't want to change my eyes, whoever wants to can go ahead."
"Why?" This time, it was Konan's turn to ask.
"No matter how you think about it, swapping eyes just isn't possible, right? I'm not really interested in the power of the Rinnegan anyway. If it comes down to it, just destroy them." Naruto said.
Kakashi: "..."
Konan: "..."
The conversation ended right there. Naruto outright refused to accept it, and Konan couldn't force him to change his eyes. The matter was temporarily shelved, though Konan didn't leave.
She still held onto a sliver of hope and decided to stay in Konoha.
Naruto had initially thought Konan was there to deliver bad news, but he discovered that she was carrying Nagato's remains, which is the pair of Rinnegan. Strictly speaking, these eyes belonged to Madara.
But no matter whose they were, he just wanted the news, not a replacement part.