Naruto casually enters Ichiraku's restaurant where his nostrils instantly whifs the aroma of hot Ramen noodles and various Japanese dishes.
'It smells good as usual in here.' He happily thinks before his stomach eagerly agrees with him for the second time tonight.
The blonde politely greets a couple of familiar faces by their respective names since Ichiraku's was his absolute favorite place to eat.
'I still don't get how that teme could not enjoy quality home cooked meals like this.'
The young man immediately rid his thoughts of his angst friend when he unknowingly bumps in to a server.
They nimbly steadies a tray of a large jar of sake along with some cups.
'It looks like someone's trying to get wasted tonight if they're by themselves.' He mentally assumes after he inwardly judges the size of the sake jug on the tray.
Cerulean eyes eventually land on the ultimate prize that his stomach currently has a late-night craving for…Ichiraku's signature Ramen.
'No matter where I go Ramen isn't the same as it is at Ichiarku's.' He asserts as a wide smile spreads across his face from anticipation to consume such delicious cuisine.
Naruto quickly draws near the bar once he instantly locates a vacant stool at the usually busy area.
"Old man Teuchi,"
The elderly man behind the grill briefly breaks his concentration away from the food when he hears his nickname from his one if his most valued customers…Uzumaki, Naruto.
"Ah, Naruto, I just got done steaming some fresh noodles." He curtly replies as a small quaint smile materializes across the blonde's face.
"Oui…I guess my timing is starting to get perfect. I'm ready for my first bowl old man." The blonde cheerfully states as he removes the stool from underneath the wooden island and positions his bottom on the black cushion.
The old man nods his head forward at the young man's response before he concentrations on the customer in front of him.
"I'll be right back miss."
Naruto brings the palms of his hands together and rubs them out of anxiousness for a bowl of Ichiraku's ramen.
'I'm going to eat until my stomach croaks.'
"Uhm excuse me, can I ask you a question?" A gentle feminine voice catches his attention.
This causes him to turn his head in their direction.
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Suigetsu and Jῡgo tread inside of their boss, Lord Orochimaru, office without a single knock to announce their arrival.
That rash decision was one that the pair would soon come to regret.
There right in front of their very own eyes was the partially nude Doll, known as Rose, seductively straddled on top of Orochimaru's lower region. Her lower half was shielded by the wooden desk while both of her hands cradled the back of her head.
It took every fiber in Suigetsu's body not to bound over the desk and beat the living shit out of Lord Orochimaru.
He struggles to speak but manages to utter "Lord Orchimaru…"
Lord Orochimaru's golden gaze eventually lands on him after he slowly spins the chair to his right side so he could get a better look at the duo.
It was then that the two bodyguards sight were bombard with a full view of a barely clad Rose, whose only undergarments were her lacy pink thongs and a topless Orochimaru.
Suigetsu roughly biting b his tongue and tightly clenching his fists to prevent himself from voicing his opinion of the ungodly sight before him. Not only that, but he had the sudden feeling of releasing the bile that was forming in his throat.
"We're done moving the stockpile from the truck to the warehouse." The white haired male broadcasts as he attempts to prevent venom from being present in his tone.
A satisfactory grin stretches across his rather pasty pale face before he congratulates them with, "Excellent work you two! I knew you two could get the job done."
"There's nothing else that I need from you two tonight. So you're free to enjoy your night as much as I will mine." He purposely instigates before Rose childishly giggles at the statement.
"Thank you sir." Jῡgo thanks their boss for the both of them.
He was well aware that if Suigetsu remained where he was any longer, he would have murdered Lord Orochimaru right then and there.
"Come on Suigetsu," He sternly urges his companion to follow him. Luckily for him, he physically complies so it would not appear as insubordination.
The sound of Rose's joyous laughter echoes throughout his head when he unexpectedly overhears the Doll says, "See you later Jῡgo and Suigetsu."
2222
Naruto rotates his head until his eyes connect with another pair of eyes that were white pupils, a particularly odd color, that seems familiar to him.
It was not until he adjusts his sights to see a woman around five foot four with long straight indigo colored hair stands in front of him.
Her skin was a milky creme color, which compliments her unique eye color that radiates with innocence.
She wore a dress with some of her back expose, platform heels that add more to her natural height, and tasteful jewelry.
If he did not know any better he would have thought that she was some kind of angel because she resembles a cherubim.
"Uhm excuse me...do you know what the special is for tonight?" Hinata politely asks the blonde man, who temporarily appears to be in a daze.
'It's her! Why am I not saying anything to her?' He hastily contemplates to himself.
The woman that currently stands before him was none other than the woman, who constantly plagues his every thoughts ever since he personally witnesses her performance.
His mind conjures up to say something along the line of, "I'll take you as the special," but realizes that that was far too direct and weird. Yet, nevertheless he had to make conversation with her.
"Sorry, but I don't know the special for tonight." The young man replies to the woman's question, who then "Thanks" him.
'Stupid' was continuously repeated as he mentally face palmed himself in the forehead because he did not say anything cooler to the beautiful young woman.
"That's too bad. I think Tenten really wanted some Grilled Shrimp tonight." She mutters to herself as she focuses in on the metallic grill in front of her.
Blue eyes watch as she was about to make a move to leave when he stops her with, "...but you should try the house special. I guarantee you it beats anything else on the menu."
It was at that moment did she really get a good look at the man, who she asked a question from earlier.
He has bright blonde hair, which rivals that of the sun, with cerulean blue eyes that seem to reflect the deepest parts of the oceans.
'Are those whiskers on his face?' She inquisitively ponders to herself as she slightly squints her eyes and discerns three small groves on each side of his cheek.
His tanned skin appeared to have had a healthy dose of exposure to the sun rather than being sunburned.
He wears an orange and black jacket with a loose black t-shirt underneath it along with a long pair of dark orange cargo sweatpants, and a pair of black tennis shoes. Yet, what catches her eyes was the necklace that hangs from his neck.
It was a sliver of a green gem, specifically a Jade or an Emerald, with two grey circular spheres on the opposite ends of one another.
She breaks her concentration away from the young man so she would not seem as if she stares a hole straight through him, which would be awfully rude of her.
"House Special" Hinata reads the bold red print before she reads "Ramen Noodles" underneath the bold font.
"They're the best in the entire world! I order them every time I come here." He honestly confesses to the woman when another voice promptly chimes in, "More like every day that you come in here."
A now embarrassed Naruto wore a small pink tint spread across his face when he retorted with his hands all over the place, "Old man, how could you be so nosy?!"
The indigo haired woman gets a kick out of the blonde man's impish behavior and tries to stifle her laughter with one of her hands.
"At least you got her to laugh." Teuchi whispers to him when he slides a bowl of his famous Ramen in front of the embarrass blonde.
"Nobody asked for your comment, old man." He softly mutters back to the older man, who merely ignores the statement and returns to the grill.
A toothy grin appears on his face since he watches the beautiful woman in front of him laugh a very melodious laugh.
"I'm glad that you find that so funny." Naruto playful mentions in a hurt tone, which causes her to cease in her laughter and flashes him an apologetic expression.
"You're right. It wasn't that nice of me to laugh at you." The woman apologizes to the young man, who appears to be more than willing to forgive her for her transgression.
"It wouldn't be fair of me to accept such an apology…" He pauses in the middle of his sentence when he observes her face shifts from joy to one of awe, "…without knowing the name of a beautiful woman such as yourself."
Now it was Hianta's turn to blush out of embarrassment, 'How could I have forgotten to tell him my name?'
"My name is Hinata." She politely introduces herself with a smile visible on her face.
'The old man's right…at least I got her to laugh and smile at me.'
"Now it wouldn't be polite if you don't return the gesture." The indigo haired woman reminds him, which surfaces him out of his daze.
"You're absolutely right! Now where are my manners?"
""Uzumaki, Naruto, it's nice to meet you Hinata." He introduces himself to her as he extends one of his hands out to her.
At first Naruto was scared that the gesture of contact was all too sudden for the maiden but she proved him wrong when she captured his hand within hers.
"It's nice to meet you too, Uzumaki, Naruto."
Meanwhile at the table with Ino, Sakura, Tenten and Temari, Sakura...
The girls attempt to cheer Ino up when Temari points out their server with a jug of sake in tow.
"Yeah, that's ours! We're right over here!" She shouts out while she raises both of her hands to flag the server down.
The server faces their direction, strolls up to them and settles the tray on the table where Temari and Ino sit.
"Enjoy the rest of your meal here, ladies."
"Why thank you." Sakura chimes in before the server leaves them alone to their large jug of sake.
"I guess we do have a lot of celebrating to do! Temari just paid for an entire jug full of alcohol." Tenten comments after she surveys the particular size of their container.
A wide smile materializes on her face as she begins to slide the drinking cups around to the girls, except for one.
"That's because we have a lot going on in our lives that we can drink!"
"Besides, I thought a jug would be appropriate for the occasion instead of the teeny tiny bottles they normally give out." Temari explains why she chose that size for their evening out.
Ino perks up at the sight of alcohol and tries to reach out for the jug only to receive a swat of the hand by Temari.
"You didn't participate in round table chat so you miss out on the first round of Sake."
She visibly rolls her eyes at the older blonde before she voices her opinion, "That's because you didn't even bother to ask me what was going in my life."
Temari concentrates on to the platinum blonde girl in front of her, "We asked you but since you acted like such a wet blanket, you sighed, ignored us and returned your eyes on to the menu."
"Did she not?"
Ino observes as Sakura and Tenten nod their heads forward, which prompts her to divert her sights on to the dirty blonde woman in front of her. "Fine, I'll miss the first round."
Her response seems to put another smile on her face, "See now was that so hard, Ino dear?"
A "humph, whatever," emits from the platinum blonde when she overhears Temari adds, "I was going to let you in on it either way."
For the first time that night, an honest smile was apparent on Ino Yamanaka's face.
"There's the Ino, we all know and love!" Sakura joyful proclaims with happiness evident on her face.
"Thank Kami-sama because I was about to take that other Ino and drop her ass." The eldest of the bunch expressed relief that Ino was back to her normal snobby and self-centered way.
"Sorry guys if I ruined our night but now I'm ready to drink and celebrate my life to the fullest!" Ino declares as she grabs and lifts her empty cup in the air.
"Wait a minute…" Tenten suddenly speaks up as the girls turn their attention toward her.
"What's wrong Tenten?"
"We can't start the toast without our precious Hinata." She reminds the girls when Ino cuts her eyes over to the bar portion of the restaurant.
"Well it seems as if she's currently occupied at the moment." The young woman claims as she checks each of the girls' facial expressions.
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Author's Note:
7.4.16 Major cleaning edits