The smells told him he was near; even if he were blind his feet could always find their way. To Naruto's relief, there was no one else at the counter when he walked in and helped himself to one of the stools at Ichiraku Ramen.
But that didn't mean he was going to be eating in peace.
"Ah, there you are! I haven't seen you in awhile; have you been away on a mission?"
The question visibly surprised him, but he quickly recovered by saying "no, not lately."
Just then, Ayame appeared behind her father, and leaned over to give him a kiss on his cheek. The old man smiled, and then turned to his daughter, saying, "The orders are ready. Be careful, and I will see you soon."
Giving Naruto a smile and wave, she took the orders of ramen and left to deliver them.
Turning his attention back to his customer, Teuchi smiled and said, "The usual, then?"
"Nah, just a regular order today," Naruto said, before quickly adding, "I just need something to tide me over for a few hours."
"Ah, study snack or training break?"
Another pause.
"Training break." Technically a six month training break...
"Well then, work hard," he said as he set the bowl of steamy goodness in front of Naruto. "I'm glad to see that only having one arm hasn't affected your training. After everything you went through growing up, we were worried that this would be the thing to make you give it up."
Naruto's eyes shot up to the ramen cook in speechless shock. If the old man knew anything to the contrary, his features didn't betray him. He simply offered Naruto a friendly smile and turned away to take the large wok in the back to be cleaned. "Well, my daughter was worried...I knew that you're far too creative to not find a way to do your...whatever it is that you shinobi do. If my daughter comes back before I come back out tell her I'm in the back."
"Yes sir," Naruto said softly as he looked away from the old man to reach for a set of chopsticks and be alone with his thoughts and his ramen.
*
Lost in thought, Hinata found her feet had once again taken her toward the clearing that was referred to as Training Area 3, the same place she found herself so many times before: to watch the person she so admired struggle and eventually triumph over whatever obstacle he was faced with, to siphon inspiration and courage to not give up in her own difficult situation, and recently, to reminisce and silently mourn the innocence that was stolen from her and her classmates all too soon. The past six months Hinata found the clearing to be deserted, the three wooden posts standing ever vigilant in the moonlight.
But tonight, she was startled to discover that someone else was there that she didn't immediately recognize.
Too embarrassed by the thought of being caught spying, Hinata turned on her heels and quickly headed back the way she came.
*
Turning around to briefly scan the wood line and no longer sensing any presence there, he turned back to his training. Raising his hand up once more, he refocused his chakra and began again..."Kage Bushin No Jutsu..."