They began eating their ramen. Naruto ate slowly, minding his manners, and so did Hinata, although oddly, Hinata's bites were always rather long.
Naruto ignored it. He wanted to chat with Hinata, but it seemed difficult.
So, he decided to tease the person sitting across from him instead.
Naruto glanced at Ayame, and Ayame, noticing it, felt uncomfortable.
'What is he looking at?' she thought.
"What's wrong? Why are you staring at me like that? Am I really that pretty?" Ayame attacked first, trying to embarrass Naruto.
But Naruto kept staring, making Ayame even more uneasy.
He nodded. "Yeah, you're pretty enough... even though you're short," Naruto replied casually.
Ayame instantly grew annoyed. This brat, after teasing her, was now insulting her too.
"Haha, at least I'm not as short as you," Ayame shot back with a hollow smile.
"Oh, really? But for some reason, I feel like..." Naruto stood up and leaned closer to her face.
He reached out his hand to measure the height. "Hmm, well... at least you grew this much," he said gently.
Instead of getting angry at his teasing, Ayame felt embarrassed. Her face turned red and her gaze trembled. It was the first time she had been face-to-face with a guy like this. Well, considering Naruto's recent behavior, she had begun to see him as a boy rather than a kid.
Meanwhile, behind the counter, Teuchi smiled. Naruto and Ayame used to argue like this a lot. At least, he was grateful that maybe, through this, Naruto could feel a little better.
Still, Teuchi couldn't shake the feeling that something was odd. "Ah, maybe I'm just overthinking," he muttered quietly.
After that, Naruto sat back down and continued eating his ramen.
"The ramen is delicious, Ayame-chan," he praised.
Ayame snapped back to reality but couldn't say anything.
"Hmm, I think Ayame-chan is beautiful and doesn't look short at all... and so is Naruto-kun," came a soft and sweet voice from beside them.
Both of them turned to Hinata, causing her to panic.
"Ahh, sorry... I must've said something strange," Hinata immediately looked down, fiddling with her fingers on her lap.
Ayame smiled. "Haha, it's okay. Thank you for the compliment, umm... Hinata-chan," she said warmly.
Hinata looked at her and nodded. "Yes, I just said what I thought..." Their eyes met, but Hinata quickly looked away again, making Ayame chuckle softly.
'This girl is so cute,' Ayame thought.
Hanabi, sitting next to them, remained silent, already familiar with her sister's shy nature.
"Ehh, but isn't she short, Hinata-chan?" Naruto teased.
"No, I don't think so, Naruto-kun," Hinata disagreed softly.
Naruto widened his eyes. "Ohh, I can't believe my Hinata is taking Ayame-chan's side... my heart feels a little hurt..."
Hearing that, Hinata panicked. She was a little embarrassed by the way he addressed her, but more worried about what he said.
"I'm sorry, Naruto-kun..." Hinata said quietly.
Naruto stayed silent, making Hinata even more restless. Hanabi beside them shook her head.
'My sister... how can she be fooled by this scoundrel? Isn't it obvious he's just teasing?' Hanabi thought, not understanding her sister's way of thinking.
"Hey, Hinata-chan!" Ayame called out.
"Don't listen to him. This brat is just teasing you. It's better to ignore him. Besides, you didn't do anything wrong," Ayame said, trying to comfort Hinata.
Hinata felt a little relieved. She looked at Ayame, then at Naruto, who was still smiling.
"Is that true?" she asked softly.
Naruto nodded. He couldn't bear to see her so anxious.
"Haha, sorry. That's exactly what happened," Naruto said.
Hinata smiled and nodded back.
"Hey, Naruto..."
"Yeah?"
"Thank you..." she said with a sweet smile.
Naruto froze, stunned by Hinata's beauty, before shaking his head quickly.
'Get a grip, Naruto. She's only 12...'
Naruto wanted to ask, "Thank you for what?" but held back.
He wasn't foolish enough to ruin the mood.
Naruto continued eating his ramen, and so did Hinata, until—
Knock! A loud tapping sound was heard.
"Naruto, I think I like you! Be my boyfriend!" Hanabi shouted loudly.
"Huh?"
The atmosphere suddenly grew strange. Hinata panicked, Naruto was confused.
Ayame sitting across from them was also shocked, unable to comprehend what had just happened.
"Hanabi, what are you saying?" Hinata interrupted, questioning her sister's sudden confession.
Hanabi glanced at her briefly, then looked back at Naruto.
"Sorry, sister..." she whispered.
"So what do you say? Will you be my boyfriend?" Hanabi pressed again.
Naruto scratched his head.
"Ahem... before that, do you even understand what it means to date... or what it means to like someone? Do you know what liking someone is?" Naruto asked gently.
Hanabi stayed quiet, thinking, then shook her head.
"No... but I feel it. My heart races whenever I see you, ever since we first met..." Hanabi answered innocently.
She was actually just repeating words she had heard from adults while out and about.
Naruto furrowed his brow. He finally understood something.
"Hanabi, didn't you actually glare at me the first time we met? How could that be interpreted as liking someone?" he thought, confused.
Naruto got down from his seat and walked over to Hanabi.
"Naruto?" Hanabi looked at him, puzzled.
Hinata and Ayame also watched, curious.
Flick!
Naruto flicked Hanabi's forehead hard enough to leave a red mark.
Hanabi let out a small yelp, covering her forehead.
"You! What are you doing?" she cried, her eyes starting to water.
Seeing that, Naruto found it a little funny. 'This kid is so bold, but look... she's about to cry,' he thought.
Naruto approached, making Hanabi even more scared.
Hinata hesitated but decided to trust Naruto.
"No! Stay away!" Hanabi screamed, squeezing her eyes shut in fear.
And then—
Swishhh...
Naruto gently ruffled Hanabi's brown hair.
Hanabi opened her eyes and saw Naruto smiling softly in front of her.
"You're still too young. Maybe you're just drawn to my looks or something else. Because, Hanabi..." Naruto sighed.
"True feelings grow over time. By getting used to someone's kindness, their small actions, even just their smile. It makes you want to protect them."
"You know, when your feelings are real, you won't even need a reason to like someone. It'll simply be because they are who they are. And that's true affection."
Silence filled the room. Hanabi absorbed Naruto's words. Hinata also reflected on them, comparing them with her own feelings.
Ayame fell silent too, not expecting Naruto to say something so deep.
'This kid... he's impressive,' Ayame thought.
Without wasting any more time, Naruto went back to his seat and focused on his ramen.
'Ughh... this ramen is getting cold,' he complained inwardly.
"Hey, you're pretty good," Ayame suddenly said.
"Huh? What do you mean?" Naruto asked.
"Earlier, you sounded pretty cool when you talked about feelings," Ayame explained.
"Of course... when have I ever not been cool? Even Ayame-chan must have been amazed by my performance," Naruto said casually.
Ayame scowled, making a disgusted face.
"Eww, you're way too full of yourself..."
Naruto smiled. "But it's true, right?"
"No," Ayame replied.
"Yes, it is."
"No, it's not."
They kept going back and forth, making Hinata giggle softly.
"Hahaha, Naruto-kun..."
Meanwhile, Hanabi just sat there in silence. She felt even more annoyed at Naruto, yet deep down, her understanding of affection had shifted... changing the way she saw things altogether.
And so, they spent the rest of their time together at the ramen shop.
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After some setup, I'll start getting into the main storyline but take it easy.
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