The next morning, Sakura was still asleep. But as a ninja, staying alert even while sleeping was second nature. When she sensed something was off and opened her eyes, she saw Naruto standing on the balcony, looking very serious.
Sakura was puzzled but got up and went to the balcony, opening the window and yawning while looking at Naruto. "Did you come here early in the morning because something's wrong?"
Naruto took a deep breath, looking at her seriously. "Sakura, I like you."
"Mm, I know." Sakura rubbed her eyes. "So, you came to confess to me?"
Naruto was a bit downcast.
But he quickly regained his composure. "I'm doing a test, to figure out my true feelings."
"Really?" Sakura was used to Naruto's impulsive nature. After hearing his words, she closed the window and said, "Well, good bye."
Naruto: "…"
As he watched Sakura close the window and pull the curtains, Naruto stood on the balcony, feeling the cold wind. A sudden wave of loneliness washed over him.
Kurama sneered and said, "Alright, stop stressing. Have you decided who you're going to confess to?"
Naruto sighed. He jumped down from Sakura's balcony and stood in the empty street, feeling conflicted. Ahead was Ino's house, and behind him was the Hyuga house. At this time, they probably hadn't woken up yet.
"Emmmmm..." Naruto thought for a moment, then slapped his right hand. "I'll go look for Hinata. If Shikamaru and Chouji aren't around, I'm afraid Ino will kill me."
"Then it's up to you." Kurama chuckled twice.
Honestly, it made sense that Naruto would choose to confess to Hinata. His relationship with TenTen wasn't close enough to joke around, and with Ino... After years of being classmates, Naruto knew her temper. Even if he was joking, he'd probably end up getting beaten by Ino if he confessed to her now.
So, Hinata was the best choice.
But the real point wasn't this. What Kurama wanted to see was whether Naruto would actually confess to Hinata, even if it was just for fun.
It was still early in the morning before the sun had fully risen, but Naruto was already standing at the entrance of the Hyuga clan. Because of their special status, the gatekeeper didn't dare to be careless. He stopped Naruto and quickly sent someone to inform the clan leader.
When the gatekeeper found out that Naruto was looking for Hinata, he froze for a moment.
But he responsibly told Naruto that Hinata wasn't home: "Lady Hinata left early this morning for training. I heard she's with the Jonin in charge of the squad, but I don't know exactly where."
He was just a gatekeeper, not a guard following Hinata around, so he didn't know where she had gone.
After thanking him, Naruto left. He walked down the road, feeling a little lost. "Kurama, do you know where Hinata went?"
"How would I know?" Kurama lazily turned over in the seal space, lying like a lazy fish. "You can either give up and try with another girl, or you can go look for her at the training grounds in Konohagakure."
There were several training grounds in Konohagakure, and the closest one was naturally the one next to the school. But that training ground was usually for ninja still in training. For Chunin and Jonin, their training areas were elsewhere.
Naruto usually trained behind Hokage Rock, a place for Chunin and Jonin, where there weren't many people. If Hinata was training, she would most likely be at the training ground they often used in their eighth squad.
But the problem was, Naruto didn't know where that training ground was.
"Sigh." Naruto walked down the road, the sky still a little dim. Although the sun was rising slowly, it wasn't fully bright yet.
He rubbed his stomach and glanced down the road. "Well, since I have some free time, I might as well go have some ramen."
"Can you have a little more ambition?" Kurama rolled his eyes.
Naruto didn't care and just lifted his feet toward Ichiraku Ramen. "Ramen is my ambition."
Kurama shook his head but didn't comment.
Uncle Ichiraku's ramen shop usually opened early and closed around midnight. Naruto liked to go in the early morning or late evening when there weren't many customers. This way, no one would leave just because they saw him.
He didn't want to affect Uncle Teuchi's business.
About ten minutes later, Naruto was sitting inside Ichiraku's ramen shop, his smile even wider. "Uncle Teuchi, a large miso ramen!"
"Got it." Uncle Ichiraku smiled warmly as he cooked the ramen, chatting with Naruto. "You haven't come for ramen in a while. Have you been busy with missions?"
"No, I've been training," Naruto replied with a bit of an embarrassed grin. "I'm here today to test something out, so I came back."
Uncle Teuchi glanced at Naruto's dusty clothes and face.
"Even while training, you should still take care of yourself. Remember to go home and take a shower, change into some fresh clothes. Otherwise, you'll feel uncomfortable, and if you're uncomfortable, you won't be able to train well."
Naruto paused instinctively and looked in the direction Uncle Teuchi was pointing, noticing the torn sleeve of his shirt.
He tugged at his clothes and smiled.
"It's fine. Even if I change, the clothes will get ruined again soon. I'll just wear this, and when it gets bad, I can patch it up and wear it again."
Uncle Teuchi paused his noodle-making for a moment but said nothing. He silently added two more servings of toppings to Naruto's bowl.
By the way, Naruto never realized that his ramen was different from everyone else's. Most people get one bowl of noodles with one serving of toppings, but Naruto's ramen always comes with two or even three servings of toppings.
As Uncle Teuchi would say, Naruto either comes when the shop first opens—so he gets extra toppings as a reward for being the first customer—or near closing time, when there's not much left, and Ichiraku just gives him everything to finish off the day.
After talking for a while, the ramen was ready, and Uncle Teuchi, with a smile, placed a full bowl of ramen in front of Naruto.
"Eat up. You need to be full before you go back to training."
Naruto didn't hesitate, putting his hands together and loudly saying, "I'm going to eat!"
The aroma was inviting. For Uncle Teuchi, the best part of being a cook was seeing the happy faces of people enjoying his ramen. There was nothing that made him happier, so he didn't interrupt Naruto and went back to preparing other things.
As Naruto was happily eating, another figure pushed aside the curtain covering the ramen stand.
"Welcome," Uncle Teuchi automatically said. "Please sit. What would you like to eat?"
"Naruto... Naruto-kun?" The newcomer covered their mouth in surprise, staring at Naruto's back in disbelief.
Hearing the voice, Naruto turned his head and saw a graceful figure of a girl.
"Hinata?"
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