Chapter 9: Image Stabilization

Hinata, meanwhile, thought nothing of what she'd done to him and was instead working steadily as the hours ticked by. She was proud she'd been able to get her petty revenge. And the fact that she could shift so fast to concentrate again at work, snapping more photos of the people around her, made her enjoy herself immensely.

But when she felt like she needed a break, she stopped and let her camera fall gently from her hand, let it hang securely from its strap and gently land against her tummy. She saw Naruto standing over by the workers, who were busily brushing and polishing the wooden beams of the mikoshi floats. He was nodding his head to what the men were saying and he even smiled when one of the girls said something funny. Occasionally, he brought his camera to his eye and snapped a couple of photos.

She had to admit that contrary to her earlier opinion, he didn't look uncomfortable talking to regular people. Maybe he wasn't as standoffish as she'd first thought. Maybe he was just one of those quiet guys?

She guessed that a man like him, who obviously grew up in a house of privilege would have some skill in talking to others. She imagined that since his mom was a politician, surrounded by so many kinds of people, he must be used to it. She recalled what Hanabi had said about him and his family. His mother came from a political dynasty, Kushina Uzumaki's father had been involved in international affairs, some type of diplomat who spent most of his time in the Middle East. Naruto's mother was fluent in Arabic, and Hanabi mused that they had some connection to the oil barons in Qatar and the UAE.

Hinata glanced at the mikoshi workers. None of them seemed intimidated by his tall figure and calm presence. But maybe he hadn't mentioned anything about his background to them. Hmm.

The growl of her stomach reminded her that it was time for lunch. She was hungry. And she was in Kyoto. She knew a little place, one of those run-down-looking restaurants tucked away in alleyways people never ventured in, those joints that only the locals knew about and weren't written about in the travel magazines and catalogs.

She looked at Naruto again and finally felt a spurt of guilt for the way she'd treated him this morning. That hadn't been her intention, but when he'd been harping so much about the young couple kissing, she hadn't been able to resist teasing him about it.

Of course she knew about the privacy laws. She'd been planning to hunt the students down eventually and get their permission if she decided to use the photos she'd taken. Half of her had been horrified to realize what she'd been doing, touching him so freely. He hadn't said anything to resist and to stop her so she thought it was okay. And she'd been fascinated to see him looking so intensely at her while she'd indulged in a little sexual play to get him to respond, that she hadn't been able to stop herself from running her fingers over his body, his lips, his face.

But she had to remember to keep her hands to herself in the future. He was a man already involved with someone else. What was her name again? Ah, yes. Hanabi had told her, Ino Yamanaka, the model.

Hinata told herself to behave because she didn't want to be the kind of woman who hit on already-taken men.

She continued staring at him and he must have felt her gaze on him because he abruptly stopped talking to the men around him and met her gaze. One of the men saw who he was looking at and smiled then nodded at Naruto. He blushed and shook his head but it looked like he murmured his goodbye and started walking in her direction.

She waited for him to approach her and she offered him a tentative smile.

"Sorry for this morning."

His face froze for a second and then his eyes crinkled, the furrow of his eyebrows indicated he was angry. "What exactly are you sorry for?"

"You're going to make me say it?" She smiled at him, the innocent one, trying to disarm him with her charm. "Fine, you win. I sincerely apologize for manhandling you without your permission."

The expression around his mouth was still pinched. "Manhandling? Interesting choice of words."

She lost the battle to repress her grin and laughed. "A form of it."

"Please don't do it again."

He was serious. She glanced at his clenched jaw, the furious beat of his pulse at his neck. She became properly contrite and injected enough sincerity in her voice to make sure he understood that she really was sorry for her behavior this morning. "I really am sorry. I didn't mean anything bad about it, I promise you."

He stared at her, a brow raised in disbelief. Eventually, the tension eased out of his body and he was forced to say, "Apology accepted."

She smiled ruefully. "I was being an ass, so please don't read anything into it, Naruto. I was just trying to annoy you, to get back at you for reprimanding me about those kids."

He frowned. "I was just concerned for the kids, Hinata. I wasn't really reprimanding you."

Inwardly, her grin widened. Man, he was so serious!

She attempted to match his tone and demeanor. "You're right, Naruto. There'll be no more talk of kissing between us adults."

There was another twitch on his face. She couldn't decide whether it was embarrassment or anger. He remained quiet, and she got the feeling he didn't know how to respond, which was perfectly fine with her because that's exactly how she liked it.

Taking pity on him, she abruptly changed the subject. "Anyway, it's time for lunch. Did you have any plans?"

Naruto looked at his watch and was surprised to see how late it was in the day. He hadn't been paying attention, he'd been so busy with his photos.

"No. I was just going to grab something from the convenience store."

"Tell you what, I know this great ramen place that's got some awesome miso chashuu."

His brows rose up in surprise. "You like ramen?"

"Who doesn't?!"

"I just didn't figure you'd be the type."

She made a face. "Sorry to break it to you, but I'm not really a type. In any case, I love ramen and I'm heading there now. You wanna join me?"

"You're inviting me?"

"Yes, already! Stop being so dense. Do you want to join me or not?"

"Sure."

"Cool. It's about a fifteen minute walk from here."

He nodded. "What's the place called?"

"Ichiraku."

"Not Ichiran, the tonkotsu place?"

She shook her head. "Nah, not the chain. This is one-of-a-kind. I'm not sure if you've ever heard of it? It's kind of infamous here in Kyoto. The chef only serves ramen, none of the extra stuff like gyoza or fried rice. Just your regular soy sauce, salt, or miso ramen. And the best part is that he doesn't say anything at all. You just walk in, shout your order at him and then wait. It's quite an experience."

"Sounds scary."

"It was nerve-wracking at first, but the ramen is worth it."

They walked into the shop, and even before they entered, Naruto found the silence jarring. Usually, ramen restaurants were loud, boisterous places, but he didn't hear the usual banging of iron pots against the steel grates of the stove. He didn't hear the clang of the aluminum ladle hitting the surface of the sizzling pan followed by the smell of sauteing garlic.

There was only one other customer inside, and he was quietly slumped at the counter slurping his noodles.

"Teuchi-san! Long time no see!"

Hinata's cheerful greeting was met with silence.

The taciturn chef stood behind the counter, his arms folded and glanced impassively at Hinata. He seemed displeased to be getting more customers into his shop.

Not bothered by the silence, Hinata slid into the seat at the counter and motioned for Naruto to do the same.

They looked up at the bare walls. Normally, most ramen restaurants had a dizzying array of food menus to choose from, but they were met by only a few sheets of old paper taped to the yellowing wall. Despite the bareness of it all, the simple style was refreshing.

The chef looked at Naruto, who bowed and then nervously said, "Hello."

He was met with stony silence and a heavy stare filled with expectation.

"Two miso chashuu ramen," Hinata suddenly called out.

The chef finally grunted and turned around to prepare their order.

In a whisper that didn't fool anyone, she said, "He's cranky when you give him complicated orders. It's better if you just order what he likes to make, so I highly recommend the miso ramen."

Completely intimidated by this whole situation, he just went with the flow and trusted her advice. "Oh, okay. That sounds good."

Teuchi pointedly ignored them, facing away to make their ramen.

Naruto glanced at the cook and then brought his gaze back to her. "You seem to know the chef? You even know his name."

Hinata's smile was devilish. "I pried it out of him. I caught him once, about to take a break. There were no other customers in the store so I blocked his only way out. I wouldn't let him leave until he told me his name."

She only laughed unrepentantly, ignoring the horror on his face. "Oh, don't worry! It's totally fine. He's crusty, I'm crazy. We make it work."

"Right." And then he lapsed into silence because he felt it was the right thing to do in the restaurant that felt like a tomb.

Hinata, however, didn't seem to think anything of the noiselessness.

"Man, it's hot!" she complained loudly. "So glad there's air conditioning here. I hate being so drenched with sweat working outdoors."

He was surprised. "But you're a wildlife photographer? You must be used to it?"

"You would think, right? But I just hate being so sweaty."

"Oh." He looked down. "I work mostly inside with sets and proper lighting."

She smirked. "I know. You're the indoors-y type, with models and fancy equipment."

"You say that like it's a bad thing." His tone was disappointed, not liking the way she seemed to look down on his chosen specialty. He tried not to get defensive about his decision to work in fashion. "Models are people, too, you know."

Hinata must have heard the hurt in his voice because her gaze was sharp on his face. When she spoke, she sounded less disdainful than before. "Yeah. I guess I keep forgetting that."

She drummed a couple fingers on the counter top before she looked back at him and suddenly blurted out, "Sorry, I didn't mean to make fun of you—again."

She seemed sincere in her apology, so he said, "It's fine. Don't worry about it."

Hinata sighed. "I'm just going to be upfront: I'm a total mess. People say I don't have a filter. I just can't be bothered to play nice, you know." Her face was scrunched up into a pout. "You're going to find out soon enough, if we keep running into each other at these festivals."

He smiled, liking her honesty. "Yes. I have a feeling we're going to make it to the final stages."

"You bet!"

Her smile brightened the oppressive atmosphere in the restaurant, making him blink. But then he cleared his throat and surprised even himself when he opened his mouth to speak more. He was never this chatty. Because he was genuinely curious, though, he asked, "What was it like for you? I imagine it was very exciting to be photographing those animals. I saw your pictures. They're amazing."

"Of course they are!" she agreed with enthusiasm, making him laugh ruefully. She wasn't the type to display false modesty; she owned her awesomeness.

"Thank you for the compliment, though," she said with genuine pleasure as she grinned at him. "But don't be fooled. You have the wrong impression of what I did out in the wild."

"Really?"

"You know what I did while I was out in nature?"

He shook his head.

"This," she said, and proceeded to slap her thigh, her arms, her neck as if she was slapping mosquitos.

"I spent most of my time fighting bugs and scratching at anything that itched." She shuddered. "Fucking mosquitos! You know what the worst part was? No amount of bug spray could prevent them from eating you alive."

He inwardly shuddered, too, thinking about it.

"And if that wasn't bad, I was sleep-deprived from the waiting, for those damned animals to finally show themselves and do something. Sometimes, I'd be shivering in the cold, or dehydrating under the desert sun, or sweating buckets in the humid jungle—just to get that perfect shot."

He didn't say anything, just looked at her face. Even though she was complaining about her experience, there was joy there behind that facade. She enjoyed that time, reveled in being able to work with animals in their natural environment.

"And that's just the prep for the shots!" She paused when Teuchi brought them their ramen.

"Thanks, Old Man!" she yelled and pried apart her chopsticks.

"Thank you," Naruto murmured as well.

She took a couple sips from her miso broth and slurped her noodles. "Yum!"

"It's good," he said in agreement, pleasantly surprised that despite the shabby appearance of the store, the food was excellent.

"Where was I?" she asked before she noisily took another sip. "Oh, yeah, the non-glamorous work of being a wildlife photographer. Did I mention the mosquitos?"

He had to smile in response. "Many times."

"Yup!" she laughed. "There was also lots of running away from filthy critters, watching where I stepped to avoid suspicious-looking crap on the ground, suffering diarrhea from eating weird food, dodging the shit that chimpanzees fling at you—Oh!"

She looked at him when she realized the topic of her conversation. "I guess I should stop talking about this stuff when we're eating, right?"

"Yeah," he agreed, hoping his appetite would come back. He forced himself to take another bite then turned the conversation into something more palatable. "Even with all that, though, you still did it?"

She smiled, her eyes wistful. "I do it because somebody has to tell the story that these animals have. They can't speak so I just feel it's my job to let my camera do the talking for them."

He looked at her, finally understanding the passion she had for her job.

"Makes sense though, because it all started when I was young. I was the kind of child who loved animals and loved being outdoors. I'd be out in the park digging for worms and searching for insects."

More slurping and noisy eating came from her, which made Naruto smile as he listened and ate his food quietly.

But she was still talking, seemingly unaware of how much she was babbling. "My baby sister's the opposite. She's one of those girls who screams whenever she sees a bug. And I couldn't help it because it was usually my fault. I always had something in my pockets to show my family at the dinner table. But that's only because our apartment didn't allow pets."

She chewed on her noodles some more. "Plus, my sister and my brother are both allergic to cats and dogs so we never had pets when we were younger. They don't like animals as much as I do. They're kind of indoors-y, too, like you. My older brother's really…prissy? Yeah, that's the word. You should see how particular he gets with his stuff. Oh, and his nightly skin care regimen is a process."

She's such a rambler, Naruto thought with an inward smile. But he let her continue, loving the way she spoke about her childhood. In a way, he felt like he was living vicariously through her experience. Unlike Hinata, he'd never had the experience of digging for worms in the park. He'd spent most of his childhood in classrooms, learning some kind of skill that his family thought would help him in the future. And as an only child, he didn't know what it was like to have siblings who didn't like bugs and animals.

He quietly worked on his noodles while he listened to her talk, surprised and even gratified that she was sharing so much about herself.

She was nodding and chewing. "I like animals. You know what it is, right? I'm like them. They're kindred spirits, so wild and so free."

Her eating pace slowed down. She fiddled with her chopsticks before she threw him a quick, hesitant sideways glance and she looked up into the distance. He almost missed hearing her say, "I think I like being a wildlife photographer because I want to be just like those animals. They just do their thing without caring about what others say, but it's hard when you're Japanese and living in a society that emphasizes conformity." She paused and then looked at him meaningfully. "I think maybe you know what I'm talking about."

Startled, he met her gaze and observed her more sharply. Something about that statement resonated with him, and the fact that she seemed to have noticed that about him was a revelation in itself. She actually had something more than that bravado to her character.

"I do, actually," Naruto finally admitted, to which she nodded.

His whole life. His mom being who she was. Him being her son.

And not having the complete freedom to live how he'd always wanted to, like the animals she loved so much.

It was a lifetime of watching himself, of being careful when he was around other people, always making sure that he was doing the proper thing because he didn't want his mistakes to affect his mother's career.

And even though Mom had never expressly said it aloud or placed that pressure on him, Naruto had decided on his own that it was something he would do for her.

The perfect son for his perfect parents.

They were kind, loving, and always patient with him. They knew about and accepted his penchant for silence, for just taking in things as they were. They'd indulged his interests in art, his need to not be so social all the time—especially since it was something required for an ambitious politician who was constantly in the public eye.

Even their flaws made them interesting. Despite Mom being sharp and temperamental, she never got too mean to the point of destroying a person's psyche. She was too earnest, but that's what made her popular among her voters. She got too excited and passionate about the things that fired her interest. Yes, she was a driven career woman, but she knew where to draw the line: she always placed the family first.

And his father. Dad was too kind, too sweet, and too indulgent that he let his wife run roughshod over her husband and her son. Whatever Kushina said was the iron rule in the house.

For all that, Naruto didn't have a bad childhood. In fact, he thought it was too perfect, which always made him worried that something might happen to shake away the foundations of his faith.

Naruto had just naturally wanted to become like the people his parents were and had put the pressure on himself, even at such a young age.

In hindsight, this was probably the cause of his shyness. It only made sense. If he was quiet, he wouldn't have to talk to people and could avoid confrontations. It kept him away from trouble, preventing him from making mistakes or causing scandals that could potentially embarrass his parents.

A hand was suddenly waved in front of his face. "Earth to Naruto!"

He flushed with embarrassment to be caught woolgathering. She was staring at him, a frown on her face. "Did I do it again? Man, I really hope I didn't cause that melancholy look on your face. I didn't mean to make you sad, sorry!"

"Oh, no! It wasn't you, at all." He cleared his throat. "I was just thinking about something."

She was still doubtful. "You sure?"

He nodded, "Yes." Then he picked up his spoon and made sure to take a big bite of his noodles so that he could finish his ramen quicker.

She shrugged but then Hinata left him alone after that and they were able to finish their meal in silence.

When she took the last bite, she rubbed her tummy and looked at the chef. "That was good, thank you!"

Naruto quickly stood up. "I'll get lunch."

She stood up, too. "No! I was the one who invited you so I've got it."

He was not going to fight her for the bill because he intended to take care of everything.

"It's fine." He ignored her and went to the cash register. He was already taking his phone out of his back pocket.

Teuchi was tallying up their order and Naruto could hear Hinata coming up behind him.

"You take e-money, right?" he asked the chef.

Teuchi looked at him impassively.

His heart sank even before he heard the chef say, "Cash only."

Naruto blinked. And then he blushed. He didn't carry cash at all. He paid for everything with his phone through e-money or if not that, his credit card.

He heard Hinata snort behind him. He turned to look at her, embarrassed and wanting so much to apologize, but her head was down, attention focused on whatever it was in her bag. She was digging into it, searching for something. She seemed to be talking to her bag when she mumbled, "I told you I got this. This stubborn old man refuses to keep up with the times. That's why he doesn't get as many customers in his store. I've been telling him to get those card readers but he doesn't want to do it."

Then she finally looked up.

"Found it!" She waved her treasure excitedly in the air. In her hand, Naruto saw a bright green frog purse, but it looked like it had seen better days.

She opened it, took out the cash, and handed it to Teuchi.

Naruto eyed the purse in her hand and smiled.

She saw the smile on his face and looked down at her purse. "I know. I'm a grown-ass woman carrying a childish purse. It's embarrassing for everyone whenever I whip it out. But my sister made this for me when we were younger and I just don't have the heart to throw it away."

He waved his hand in the air in denial. "I didn't say anything."

She made a face. "You didn't have to. I could clearly see the censure in your eyes."

"No," he said firmly. "It's not censure. I'm not one to judge. I just thought it's sweet that you carry around something your sister made."

She made another face but then she looked down fondly at her frog purse. "I'm lucky to have her. She's the best person I know."

Hinata turned back to the chef. "Thanks for the food! Next time I'm in Kyoto, I'm coming back."

She was only met with terse silence. She laughed and walked out of the restaurant.

When they were outside, Naruto tried one more time to pay her back. "Thanks again, for lunch."

She shrugged. "Yeah. Don't worry about it."

"I just feel bad you had to pay because I really wanted to do it."

"Stop already." She folded her arms. "You're being old fashioned and annoying. I said I got it, alright? Don't tell me your girl doesn't pay for some of your dates?"

Startled, he frowned at her. "My girl?"

"Oh, sorry. You don't like the term? Your woman, girlfriend, partner. Whatever. The person you were with when you walked in that day at the info session?"

His embarrassment doubled. He was still befuddled from her paying for his lunch and was now struggling to make sure that she understood his very single state so that maybe she would give him a chance. "Oh, Ino! She's—"

Hinata suddenly raised her arm and he stopped speaking enough to reflexively take a step back. For his own self preservation, he needed her to stop touching him.

She only laughed, completely uninsulted. "You're learning!"

He stared at her mutely when her raised arm went to scratch at the top of her head. "I was just going to do this." But at least she was smiling at him.

Meanwhile, he was blushing—again. "Sorry, I didn't mean—"

She continued beaming at him even as her eyes flicked to his lips. That brief glance made him even more heated. "Look, you have no need to apologize! It was my own fault for what I did to you. So just let me pay for this and we'll call it even?"

Naruto suddenly saw an opportunity and took it. "Hinata, if you get lunch, at least let me get your number so I can send you the money electronically."

But she only shook her head stubbornly. "I said don't worry about it, Naruto. Again, I'm really sorry for this morning. I didn't mean to tease you. Something about what you said, about adults being boring and unfun, kind of just set me off. I admit that it wasn't my best moment, but I hope I made up for it by buying you lunch."

"Oh." That was very nice of her. She seemed willing to let go of her resentment of him. He wasn't going to throw that away. Still, he needed to try one last time. "You sure you're good? How about tonight? Can I get you dinner?"

"No worries. I'm actually heading home after I'm done here."

He was disappointed by that news, but he brightened when she said, "You can always get the next one."

He finally smiled, hope blooming inside him at the meaning of her words. "Will there be a next one?"

She grinned back at him. "Maybe, I guess. That is, if you make it to the next round."

He laughed. "Thank you for lunch, Hinata."

She waved and then walked away. "Yup!"

Naruto watched her go. Even though she'd shot down his invitation to dinner, he would make sure that there would be a next chance to pay her back.