The sound of chirping birds alerted Ryoko to the fact that it was morning. However, she felt so cozy that she didn't want to open her eyes, but the light shining through the window and onto her face was slowly rousing her. When she finally did manage to peel up her eyelids, it took her brain a second to process what she was seeing.
It was Naruto's face, and he was on top of her, smiling with his nose only inches from hers! Ryoko let out a yelp of surprise and reflexively pushed him off. She slapped a hand over her now thundering heart.
"Jeeze, Naruto! Don't do that! You almost gave me a heart attack!" she lectured at him.
"Oh, sorry. I was just so excited, I couldn't wait for you to get up," he told her sheepishly.
She sighed and decided that she couldn't blame him for being a little excited. This was a new experience for them both, after all.
"It's okay," she assured him with a small sigh, before they both began staring at each other for a long minute, neither one really sure what exactly they were supposed to do now.
"How about some breakfast?" Naruto eventually suggested.
Ryoko gave him a skeptical look before responding.
"More ramen?" she guessed, a slight bit of skepticism coloring her tone.
"Well, I think I might have some bread too," he mentioned placatingly.
Ryoko pushed herself out of the bed before moseying into the kitchen to do a thorough search of his cupboards. He was right that he had some bread, and apparently a toaster. She'd found it on one of the bottom shelves. So, she contented herself to having toast and tea that she made with some packets she found, since Naruto was boiling water anyway.
After breakfast and changing into day clothes, Ryoko being sure to do so out of Naruto's eyesight, they still seemed to be faced with the problem of what to do now. There they sat, staring at each other on Naruto's bedroom floor, trying to come up with any ideas.
"Um, don't friends normally play together, or something?" Ryoko suggested, albeit not sounding particularly sure.
"Yeah, I guess. I've never really had a friend before," Naruto admitted. "You didn't have any friends at the orphanage?" he asked.
Ryoko shook her head.
"The kids there were mean to me, remember?" she reminded him.
"Oh, right. . ." he trailed, followed by more awkward silence.
"Ya know, I like the idea of having a friend, but–" he paused for a minute, looking sad.
Ryoko simply stared back, cocking her head at him curiously.
"I almost wish that – you were my brother. Cuz, cuz then it'd be like I – have a family," he suddenly confessed to her.
Ryoko flashed him a sympathetic frown. Having that longing for a family, she'd been there many, many times! It made her wonder what she could do to help him feel better. If only there was a way they could just become siblings. Even if it was just symbolic, if it would make her new friend happy. . .
Ryoko was suddenly struck with an idea! "Wait here for just a second. I'll be right back," she told him.
Ryoko returned with a bowl from the kitchen and her stolen kunai knife. Naruto eyed the knife, looking slightly nervous at not knowing for sure what she was planning. She plopped down in front of him, placing the bowl in between them.
"Okay, so, how does this sound? If you want, we could become 'blood brothers'," she explained to him.
"Blood brothers? What's that?" he asked.
"It's how we can symbolically become brothers by literally mingling our blood." Ryoko pointed the knife at her palm. "See, we both make a wound in our hands and then press the wounds together. My blood will flow into you, and your blood will flow into me. That way we can become 'blood related'," she explained.
"Oh, and we can do that?" he wondered with awe at the concept.
"I don't see why not. You want family, right? Well, me too, and if this is the closest we can get, then I'm fine with that." And to prove it, Ryoko took the knife in her left hand and made a shallow cut in the palm of her right hand, enough so that it began to bleed.
She held her wounded palm over the bowl before handing the knife to Naruto. "Now you make a cut in your right hand," she urged, motioning towards it.
He stared at the knife, still seeming a bit unsure. He glanced up at Ryoko to see her smiling at him expectantly. Then his expression changed to a look of determination, and he nodded, doing the same thing that she had. He winced as the knife dug into his flesh, and then held it over the bowl as well. Ryoko took his hand in hers and squeezed so that their wounds pressed together, blood running down their wrists and dripping into the bowl below.
"Upon these wounds, I make this vow. From this moment on, and forever more, I hereby declare that Naruto and Rei are now – brothers by blood. Naruto, do you promise to treat me as a brother from now on?" Ryoko asked, attempting to be as serious and ritualistic as possible.
He appeared rather startled by her sudden speech for a moment, but then eventually nodded in a sincere manner.
"Good, and I, Rei, hereby solemnly swear to treat you just like a brother, and to look out for you and protect you as any good brother should," she finished, giving him a big, cheesy smile.
"So, now what?" Naruto asked, still keeping a firm grip on her hand.
"So, now we're brothers, and I'm gonna do my best to try and be the greatest brother I can be to you!" she assured him as convincingly as she could.
He smiled back at her warmly with shining eyes. Ryoko could tell that this whole thing really meant a lot to him. She just hoped she could really be as good as she promised. She supposed that only time would tell.
. . .
As the days began to pass by in her new life and identity, Ryoko slowly grew more accustomed to living with Naruto. But of course, as with any new situation and relationship, there were always bound to be some hiccups. Namely, she found that she had a harder time than she thought keeping away from him whenever she was trying to change or bathe. Apparently, it would seem that boys were very comfortable with 'community nudeness'. However, it was kind of important that he not find out that she was actually a girl, not to mention the tail. . .
The other problem she would continually run into, was in getting Naruto to eat something other than ramen! He wasn't really interested in any other foods, especially healthy kinds like vegetables. Sometimes she would be successful in sneaking veggies in his ramen, but other than that, she discovered the endeavor to be a serious struggle!
Despite this, she still ended up taking over as the primary chef in their house, and was slowing learning how to properly prepare a variety of meals. Naruto might be fine eating only ramen day in and day out, but she preferred to have a more varied diet!
Therefore, this also meant that she ended up doing the majority of the grocery shopping. She would use Naruto's food stipend that he received, and began visiting the market frequently on his behalf. Thankfully, nobody really seemed to take notice of her while she was there, and that was just how she liked it! She could happily go about her business completely unharassed.
However, one day as she was headed to the market to do her shopping, some commotion across the way suddenly caught her attention. There was a shout, and Ryoko turned to see that a chubby kid had accidentally bumped into another taller, meaner looking boy, causing him to drop the things he had been carrying. The offended party whipped around furiously on the unsuspecting kid.
"Hey, why don't you watch where you're going!? You fat, little loser!" the older boy yelled at him.
The chubby kid looked completely taken aback and stymied, like he didn't know what to do about this angry person shouting in his face.
"Uh– I– I didn't mean to–" he stammered, trying to apologize, but the other kid wouldn't let him finish.
"Well, maybe this wouldn't happen if you paid more attention to where you were walking, versus constantly stuffing food into your mouth!" He then smacked the bag of chips that the chubby kid had been clutching onto the ground, spilling out it's contents at their feet. "Why do you even bother coming around here, Choji? Nobody likes to have to stare at your fat, ugly face!" he continued to rant.
After such a harsh tongue lashing, was it any wonder that the chubby kid now looked like he was about to burst into tears?
Ryoko could feel her temper inadvertently rising as she witnessed the scene. Who the hell did that ass think he was? It clearly had been an accident, so what was his justification for being so mean? Even considering the potential risk it might cause, she found that she couldn't bring herself to just stand by and do nothing! Not when she knew she was able to do something about it this time! So, despite her better judgment. . .
In a flash, she was suddenly standing next to the younger victim. She ventured forward a small step, so she was slightly in front of him, and took a defensive position.
"Hey! What is your problem, man? All he did was bump into you. That's no reason to talk to him like that!" she lectured haughtily.
The older bully appeared startled for a moment, confused as to where this random kid had suddenly come from. But after a second of reflection, he was able to regain his composure.
"I'll talk to him however I want! Who invited you to butt in anyway?" he sneered at her.
Ryoko simply crossed her arms, emitting a confident air.
"I don't need an invitation to deal with the likes of you. Now, you need to apologize to him!" she commanded, motioning in the chubby kid's direction.
"What? No way! I don't have to apologize to nobody!" he snapped at her.
"Do it, or you're going to regret it," she found herself threatening before she really had a chance to think it through.
"And who's gonna make me? You?!" he scoffed skeptically. "Yeah right! Just for that, I'm gonna give you a beating you'll never forget!"
The bully began to advance on her, but she was already prepared for it. Before he knew what had hit him, Ryoko had her elbow shoved into his gut, slamming it into his core with such a force that the shock reverberated throughout his entire body! He let out a single, pitiful wheeze before he passed out and crumpled to the ground. The disguised girl then turned and sauntered over to the discarded chip bag that still contained a majority of the chips. She picked it up and handed it back to the chubby kid.
"Are you okay?" she gently asked him. He nodded, gazing at her with a look of shock. "Sorry you had to see that," she offered, now looking a bit sheepish. "But you know how bullies are, all attitude and no brains!" she chuckled at her own description.
Suddenly, another kid around their same age surprised them by charging up to the pair, looking at bit perplexed at the current scene.
"Hey Choji, what's going on? What happened?" he wasted no time in asking.
This kid had his dark brown hair pulled up in a spiky pony tail. At his arrival, the chubby boy seemed to snap out of his stupor.
"Well, Sanjo was picking on me again, but then this guy just showed up out of nowhere and totally knocked him out! In one hit too! It was amazing!" The chubby kid was now grinning widely at Ryoko.
"Oh, it was nothin'," she brushed him off, but returning the smile. "I really don't like bullies," she admitted, in way of explanation for randomly stepping in.
The new kid took his time surveying the area, as if to corroborate the story. He glanced around Ryoko to indeed discover the bully prostrate on the ground, his eyes spinning around in a daze.
"Wow, you weren't kidding! He's totally out of it!" he agreed.
They began to notice that the small spectacle before them had started to draw some passerby's eyes in their direction.
"Let's get outta here before we attract too much attention," the new boy suggested smartly.
He pulled on his friend's arm, and they darted down the next street over and out of sight. However, Ryoko remained obtusely rooted to the spot, feeling unsure of what she was supposed to do. Should she follow them?
She didn't get the chance to ponder long before she heard: "Hey, come on, kid!"
The other two had poked back around the corner and were now motioning towards her, beckoning her to follow. She was a little taken aback that they wanted her to come along, but she quickly recovered and hurried after them, just as that jerk of a kid was slowly being surrounded by curious spectators.
After a minute of ducking and weaving through various side alleys, they eventually came to a stop, now a safe distance away from the incident. The two boys then turned to stare at her with inquisitive gazes.
"So, what's your name, kid?" the one with the spiky ponytail was the first to inquire, breaking the silent tension.
"Rei," she offered with confidence.
She had grown accustomed enough to Naruto calling her that, that she was now comfortable giving it out as if it had always been her name.
"Rei, huh? Well, I'm Shikamaru, and this is Choji," spiky-haired kid informed her, motioning first to himself and then to his chubby friend.
"So, where did you learn moves like that?" Choji asked her excitedly.
"Ah, well, you know what they say – it's never too early to start training for the Academy, right?" Ryoko offered sheepishly, attempting to casually shrug off the question.
"You're planning on joining the Academy?" Choji continued the inquiry.
"Yeah, I mean, isn't that what everyone does?" she wondered with a shrug. After all, it was the only thing Naruto talked about, besides ramen!
"Ugh, don't remind me! My parents are expecting me to join and become a good ninja. They say I have to continue to 'uphold' the Nara family name. What a drag!" Shikamaru sighed out in a lament, dropping his head in an exasperated gesture.
Ryoko just blinked at him in bewilderment at the display. Was he seriously complaining about having the opportunity to become a ninja?
"I'm gonna join too! After all, I'm an Akimichi, and my clan is counting on me to become a great ninja as well!" Choji proudly gestured towards himself.
Ryoko smiled at his enthusiasm, but it slowly faded as she started thinking about what these two were revealing. They both came from village clans – had a family that cared for them and supported them. It made her wonder, for the briefest of moments, what that would be like. She was willing to bet that it was nice.
However, she eventually blew out a small sigh of longing at the realization that she definitely didn't fit in with these two. It seemed they were already set up for success with what was probably years of history and experience backing them. She was sure there was no way they would want to waste their time hanging out with an orphan like her, not to mention the 'freak' part!
"Well, I guess that means we'll be seeing each other around again, eventually, maybe. . ." she trailed as it dawned on her that she might be getting a bit ahead of herself. "Anyway, it was nice meeting you," she quickly added before turning to go, trying to convince herself that she was leaving because she still had the shopping to do as she did so.
"Hey, wait a second!" Shikamaru protested, halting her in her tracks at the unexpected exclamation. "You didn't tell us who your family is," he pointed out expectantly.
At the mention of family, Ryoko felt her heart squeeze uncomfortably in her chest. She fixed her gaze on the ground, hesitating as she worked up the will to answer.
"Oh. Uh, actually – I don't really. . ." she wasn't sure how she was supposed to say she didn't have a family, or a clan, or even a name. . .
Shikamaru's expression shifted to one of surprise and sympathy as he managed to piece together what her stuttering most likely meant.
"Oh, so, are you a-an orphan?" he clarified hesitantly at the realization.
Ryoko flinched at the word and paused for a second, before she finally nodded in confirmation. There was really no point in lying, after all. It's not like it was something she could fake or anything.
"I'm sorry. That must be tough," he offered, his tone pitying.
"That's terrible!" Choji exclaimed with a strange kind of fervor. "And here I thought my life was hard just cuz I had trouble making friends," he added in lamentation.
Ryoko glanced up at him to find his face showing just as much condolence as Shikamaru's. She hadn't exactly expected them to offer her any kind of empathy. But now that they were, Ryoko found that she wasn't sure how she felt about the idea of them feeling sorry for her.
"Well, the reason I was out here is because I had invited Choji over to my house to eat dinner and hang out. Would you maybe, like to come too?" Shikamaru suddenly offered out of the blue, effectively changing the subject to a lighter tone.
Ryoko blinked at him in surprise. She couldn't believe he had actually just said the words she'd heard. He really wanted to invite her over to his house?
However, her pleasure at hearing such an invitation was quickly overshadowed by another more concerning notion. These kids had informed her that they came from ninja clans, which meant that either one or both of their parents were ninja. Such a realization caused the girl to begin to grow nervous at the thought of going anywhere with them, let alone into one of their homes!
"Um, not that I don't appreciate it, but are you sure your parents would be okay with you bringing home some random kid? I mean, I don't want to intrude," she reasoned, taking a hesitant step back.
Except, instead of agreeing with her like she'd been expecting, he simply smirked in reply, casually crossing his arms over his chest.
"Hey, anyone willing to stick up for Choji is a friend of mine," he told her with a shrug, before offering his hand expectantly.
Ryoko stared at the hand, weighing her options. She believed that he was sincere in his invitation to her, but she still couldn't help but feel rather uneasy about the whole, ninja, parent thing. After all, it had been a band of Anbu Black Ops that had recently made the attempt on her life, who took orders from the Hokage. But she was also very aware, that all the other ninja in the village, also took orders from the Hokage.
Not to mention, there was also Naruto to consider, she realized in an effort to push away the dark train of thought. She had her doubts that he would be alright with her just abandoning him for the evening. But at the same time, this might be her one chance to make new friends. Maybe she could tell him that she was trying to make new friends for both of them when she got home later?
Well, she would never know what would happen unless she tried, right? And it's not like this one random family was going to be able to figure out who she really was from just a single visit, right. . .?
So, throwing caution to the wind in lieu of the companionship and acceptance he was so tantalizingly dangling in front of her, she eventually opted to take his hand in hers, and shake it!
Shikamaru grinned at her as he returned the gesture. She couldn't really explain why, but she was getting a good feeling about this kid. He struck her as someone that she really could be friends with, regardless of her situation.
A few minutes later, and Ryoko found herself crossing the threshold into Shikamaru's home. The only house she'd ever been in before this had been Iruka's, and that had a different layout compared to this one. She pulled off her shoes with the other two boys before following them into the main living area.
A man was sitting in a chair in one of the corners of the room, absently scanning over the newspaper he was holding. For all intents and purposes, he presented as an older, rougher version of Shikamaru, even complete with the same hairstyle. He was also sporting a standard issue Chunin/Jounin vest, which made it obvious that he was a ninja. He glanced up from what he was reading when he heard them make their way inside.
"Well, it's about time you two showed up. I didn't think it would take you this long to go get Choji, Shikamaru," he lectured lightly at them in a rather mellow tone.
"Yeah, sorry about that. We just got a bit distracted on the way. . ." Shikamaru then motioned towards Ryoko, pointing her out to the man that she assumed must be his father.
He studied her for a moment.
"I see. And who is your new friend?" he wondered coolly, not moving his gaze from Ryoko's.
She began feeling a bit nervous under the scrutiny, but didn't dare break eye contact for fear of seeming suspicious.
"This is Rei. We met him at the market today. That bully Sanjo was picking on Choji again, and he stood up to him," Shikamaru explained.
"Really? So, of course you became friends right away," he surmised, adding a gentle smile to his look.
"Rei, this is my dad," Shikamaru continued, despite the obviousness of the relation.
"It's, very nice to meet you, sir," she told him with a small, courteous bow.
"It's nice to meet you as well," he responded, a little surprised by her politeness.
Shikamaru flashed her a skeptical look at the impromptu display.
"Sheesh, Rei! No need to be so formal," he reasoned with a head shake.
"Uh, oh. I'm, sorry?" she was quick to apologize. This was kind of a first for her, so she wasn't sure on the correct protocol. Had that been going overboard?
"Well, in any case, you may wanna run this by your mother. Better make sure she's got enough food for one more," Shikamaru's father suggested to him, thankfully changing the subject.
"Yeah, okay," Shikamaru muttered, sounding slightly irritable with the instruction.
He nevertheless headed off toward what Ryoko assumed was the dining area, motioning for her and Choji to follow. Shikamaru's mom had her back turned towards them when they entered the kitchen. She was tall and thin with long, dark hair. When she turned to peer in their direction, Ryoko found that there was a kind of hardness in her eyes, but she flashed them a wide smile all the same when she noticed the group.
"I thought I heard you introducing someone to your father. Make a new friend?" she guessed, fixing her gaze on Ryoko.
"Yeah mom, this is Rei. I was wondering if it would be okay for him to stay for dinner?" he carefully requested.
"Well, I suppose that would be alright. We should have enough for one more. But it's not quite ready yet, so why don't you boys go and play, and I'll call you when it is," she instructed, motioning towards the door.
"Alright! Thanks mom!" Shikamaru seemed to cheer with a slightly elevated level of enthusiasm before he headed out, the others following right on his heels.
He turned a corner and led them into what Ryoko assumed was his bedroom. It looked to be clean and well kept, which surprised Ryoko. Her experience with boys had always been that they were slobs!
"So, you guys wanna play Shogi?" Shikamaru suddenly suggested.
"Awww, Shikamaru! You know I don't like to play that. It's so boring!" Choji let out with a pleading whine.
"What's Shogi?" Ryoko asked. She had never heard of it before.
"It's a strategy game that you play using special shaped pieces on a checkered board. Here, I'll show you," Shikamaru chimed merrily, apparently not at all fazed with his friend's complaining.
He proceeded to pull a box down from on top of his dresser that contained a board painted with alternating black and white squares and little flat, wooden pieces with words written on them – King, Queen, Knight, Pawn, etc. He sat down on the floor with the board in front of him and began placing the pieces on certain, particular squares.
"The first thing you have to do is set up the game board," he explained, while Choji groaned out in displeasure.
"Why don't you like this game, Choji?" Ryoko wondered at his severe lack of enthusiasm.
"You'll find out in a second," he hinted ominously, motioning towards the spot on the floor opposite Shikamaru. "That's where you're supposed to sit. As for me, I'm gonna go sit over here."
He moved away and plopped down on the bed before pulling out a fresh bag of chips to snack on. Meanwhile, Ryoko took her instructed spot on the floor. After Shikamaru had finished placing all of the pieces, he peered up at Ryoko and grinned.
"Now, the whole point of the game is to take out your opponent's King–" he offered, pointing toward the piece that was labeled "King", "–using one of the other pieces on the board."
He then went on to explain the rules and the dynamics of the game, how the pieces moved, and the individual rules for each piece. Ryoko could feel her head starting to swim. This all seemed to be a majorly complex process.
"Should I be taking notes on all this?" she suddenly wondered in an incredulous tone, interrupting Shikamaru in the middle of explaining about how the different colors of bishops worked.
He blinked at her for a second and then grinned again at her subtle sarcasm.
"Here," he told her, handing her an already filled out note card from the box. "I used to use this when I would play against my dad. You know, before I memorized all the rules."
Ryoko scanned it over and nodded. It had general play instructions as well as all the details of each piece written on it.
"This will be helpful," she acknowledged sincerely.
"Great, then let's get started!"
The first game they played, Shikamaru beat her in five moves. However, she was able to see the rookie mistakes she made and accounted for them in the next game, in which he beat her in twelve moves.
Ryoko sighed as she pondered the board in front of her. It was becoming quite clear as to why Choji really disliked playing this game. It was so complicated, and had so many moving parts, making it hard to keep track of everything going on all at once.
And the more they played, the more she was starting to see just how smart Shikamaru really was! After all, it seemed you had to be in order to get good at this game. It made sense that Choji had probably just gotten tired of losing all the time. Ryoko didn't mind though. She was just happy for the opportunity to participate. Even so, before she knew it, Shikamaru's mother was calling for them, letting them know that dinner was ready.
Eating dinner at a table with Shikamaru's family was – awkward! It was pretty quiet for the most part, Ryoko continually questioning if this was normal or not. She had never before considered what was supposed to happen when kids ate dinner with their parents. As if to answer her internal quandary, Shikamaru's dad suddenly turned to her and spoke.
"So, Rei. What were you doing in the market today when you ran into Choji?" he nonchalantly asked her.
She swallowed hard before peeking up at him, wondering if it was possible that this was some kind of trick question.
"I was – shopping for food," she answered honestly, albeit a bit hesitantly.
"Oh. Were you buying food for your family?" he guessed.
"Uh, yeah. . ." You could put it that way, she silently reasoned.
"Well, your parents must be very proud to have a son as helpful as you," Shikamaru's mom chimed into the conversation.
"Mom!" Shikamaru protested at her comment.
"I'm just saying, Shikamaru. That it wouldn't kill you to help out a little more around here," she lectured him.
"That's not what I mean. . ." he attempted to correct her, but Ryoko knew what he was trying to do and opted to stop him.
"It's okay, Shikamaru," she assured him quietly.
He was still able to tell that the comment had stung her though, and glared at his mother in response.
"What is going on? Did I say something wrong?" she asked irritably, not seeming to be real fond of being reprimanded by her son.
"Rei's an orphan," he told her flatly.
"Oh, goodness. I didn't know – I am so sorry, hon," Shikamaru's mom offered her earnestly.
"That's okay," she tried to reassure her, and she smiled back.
However, she now had her fixed with that same look of pity in her eyes that Shikamaru and Choji had earlier. She ultimately decided then, that she didn't much care for it. Even so, it was still leaps and bounds better than the glares of malice that she used to get.
"So, your family. . .?" Shikamaru's dad asked leadingly after an awkward pause, immediately picking up on the supposed earlier contradiction.
He had her locked with a piercing gaze that seemed to be on the hunt for even the slightest hint of prevarication. Ryoko couldn't help the growing concern that if she wasn't careful, this guy was going to end up seeing right through her! She was now struggling to keep her mounting anxiety at bay. Maybe coming here hadn't been a good idea after all.
"Um, well – I do have a brother," she informed him timidly, hoping that would be an adequate explanation for him.
"Do you now? Well, it's good to know that you aren't completely alone," he seemed to decide, and then went back to eating his dinner.
Ryoko let out an internal sigh of relief. Hopefully everyone present would be satisfied with that answer and they'd drop this topic. Which after a moment, she was grateful that this appeared to be the case.
"So, Rei. Do you plan on joining the Academy when you get older?" Shikamaru's mom inquired after her.
"Uh, yes I do," she nodded in confirmation.
"And your brother? Him too?" she pressed further.
"Oh, most definitely. It's all he ever talks about. In fact, he's decided that he wants to become the Hokage someday," she told them.
You'd think Ryoko had suddenly sprouted demon horns or something, with the way they were all suddenly staring at her, like she'd said something that was absolutely crazy. She wasn't sure why she'd even said it, now that she thought about it. Maybe her eagerness to keep the topic off of herself was making her ramble.
"Oh, does he? That is a lofty goal, indeed," Shikamaru's dad acknowledged with a skeptical smirk.
"More like an impossible one," Choji muttered, punctuating the comment with an eye roll.
"Is it really that difficult?" Ryoko felt herself wondering.
"Many say that it takes a very special kind of ninja to be a Kage. That Kage aren't made, but born. The men that have been Hokage in our village's history have all had very special talents that were unique to them, not to mention being exceptionally skilled and powerful," Shikamaru's dad explained. "Do you think your brother is especially talented?" he then suggested to her.
Ryoko thought about it for a minute.
"I don't know," she eventually answered honestly. She didn't think she'd known Naruto for long enough to make an accurate assumption on that front.
"Well, if he is someone who is meant to be a Kage, believe me, you'll know," he emphasized to her.
The rest of dinner went along a little more comfortably after that. Once they had finished eating, they all helped Shikamaru's mother with the dishes and cleaning up, and then played a little more before his parents announced it was time for bed. Ryoko and Choji both offered their farewells, Ryoko adding how nice it was to meet everyone again, and then went their separate ways to their respective homes.