Disclaimer, first chapter!

"A real princess..." Mikan muttered in awe as they all made their way back into Naruto's house. She and Naruto sat side by side while Lala stood across from them, engaged in a heated argument with Zastin, refusing his pleas to return to Deviluke. "She's a damn real princess... the entire Galaxy's princess..."

Then, slowly, the twelve-year-old turned to the blonde haired teacher. "And you saw her naked." She finished with a deadpan stare.

Naruto, though, just shrugged her off.

"Pretty sure she doesn't care if people see her body. I mean, only someone with a screw loose would greet a guest naked."

Mikan sweatdropped.

...Harsh.

But also completely true.

She highly doubted Lala cared if random men saw her naked.

Was it their culture or was it just the pink haired alien?

Still... she stole a quick glance at her neighbor.

He was so unbothered by it.

Which, honestly? Was kind of a relief for the girl.

If this were Rito instead of Naruto, her brother would've turned as red as a tomato, started stuttering, probably screamed like a girl, and then passed out cold.

Mikan giggled at the thought.

She couldn't help but think that somewhere in some other world, this exact scenario was probably happening to Rito right now and he was handling the current situation badly.

"Like I said!" Lala's voice snapped them out of their talk. "I don't want to go back!"

"You can't be so selfish, Lala-sama!" Zastin protested frantically. "Your father is extremely worried about you!"

"Hmph!" She crossed her arms, sticking her tongue out childishly. "I bet daddy only wants me to come back so he can run around flirting once I'm married!"

Both audiences sweatdropped and at the same time, they leaned toward each other.

"...Yeah, considering he's trying to force her into marriage this young, I kinda believe her," Mikan muttered.

"Same," Naruto agreed with a slow nod. "A deadbeat dad..."

Meanwhile, Lala suddenly glanced at Naruto, just for a split second, before turning back to Zastin with a suspiciously confident smile.

Both earthlings immediately got a bad feeling seeing it.

"Besides!" Lala announced dramatically. "I have a very good reason not to go back!"

Zastin frowned but decided to listen. "...And that is?"

"Are you thinking what I think she's about to do?" Mikan deadpanned. For a twelve-year-old, she was quite sharp in taking hints like this due to her brother being incompetent in some field.

"Yup. And there's no way it's gonna work." The Uzumaki sighed.

They both glanced at the bodyguard.

"...Buuut," Naruto added, "Zastin does look like a gullible idiot, so... maybe?"

"You do realize if it works, you'll be in a lot of trouble, don't you?" The girl shot back.

At that moment, Lala straightened up and took a deep breath.

"I..." she started dramatically, then pointed at the blonde haired teen.

"I fell in love with Naruto here!"

Mikan sighed.

Naruto closed his eyes.

Zastin dropped his jaw.

Then, in perfect sync, both humans muttered flatly.

"Nailed it."

The teacher stood up, walking over to Lala while she continued her flawless plan.

"So I'll marry him and live with him on Earth!" she declared proudly.

And that was when Naruto lightly smacked her on the head.

"Ow!"

"Stop lying." He said seriously, his usual carefree tone gone.

Why did girls with pink hair always claim they were in love with him? First Sakura, now Lala. Was this some kind of cosmic joke?

There was only one girl he knew who had truly meant it, who had risked her life to say it.

He hadn't realized it at the time and only found out after being confronted by his friend inside his gut when they were discussing about things to do in this world.

Yin Kurama, wanting to know more about him, decided to browse through his memories and found that specific moment, Hinata's confession. The fox brought it up and could understand why he didn't remember it since everything happened too fast back then.

But what dumbfounded the Biju was that when he asked him what he thought of it.

"Eh? She... admires me like everybody else does..."

That was when Kurama told him, point blank, that the love Hinata had spoken of was different from what he received from his friends and family.

It left him stupified, of course, but even knowing that now… he didn't feel the same way.

He liked her kindness, her support, and her hardworking nature. He respected her more than most people he knew. But even then… that wasn't the same as love, was it? Not the way she felt about him.

Maybe if things had played out differently, if they had spent more time together, maybe he could've fallen for her. But that chance was gone now.

He shook the thoughts away.

"You don't feel that way toward me," Naruto continued while pinching the bridge of his nose. "And if you use that excuse to convince your father, and let's say, he accepts it, you're just trapping yourself in another loveless marriage. Except this time, it's all on you, not him."

The girl flinched.

"Not to mention, since Naruto doesn't know or love you the way you did your fiancé, you'd just be turning him into another version of yourself, a victim of loveless marriage." Mikan added readily, her head nodding a few times.

Lala looked down, guilt creeping onto her face.

"But... you said you'd help me..." she murmured, staring at him as if he had just betrayed her.

"I did and I will." Naruto nodded before grabbing her shoulders.

"But I don't want you to lie just to run away from this problem, only to land yourself in another one. If you really want out of this marriage, go and confront your father. Show him how determined you are to break the engagement. Don't lie. Don't run away. Don't be a brat. Look him in the eyes and tell him you want to live your own life."

Lala listened, eyes locked onto him as he spoke.

His words hit her harder than she expected.

She should've been thinking about how to convince her father, but instead... her thoughts drifted elsewhere.

There was something about the way Naruto spoke, like he wasn't just saying this for her sake, but because he believed in it himself. That unwavering confidence, the fire in his eyes, before she realized it, she was staring.

"You'll get married someday, but it should be your choice. Not his."

For a long moment, the girl just stood there, lips slightly parted as she took in his words.

Then, slowly, her expression softened.

Her heartbeat skipped, warmth creeping up her face.

Naruto, of course, remained completely unaware, too focused on getting his point across.

"After all," Naruto continued, cracking a grin as his father's words echoed in his mind, "a father will always believe in his kid's choices."

Then, with a wink, he added his own two cents, "And a marriage? It doesn't mean a damn thing if it's not with someone you actually like, right?"

Lala's breath hitched.

Her heart picked up pace.

For a moment, the world blurred, just for him.

Meanwhile, Mikan facepalmed, hard.

"Great. He just made a huge impression on her..." she muttered, exasperated.

She knew that look on Lala's face.

Her neighbor had completely done her in.

Though, if she was being honest... she kind of understood why.

Even she had felt the impact of his words.

"For now," the girl heard her neighbour continued, "why don't you go with Zastin and tell your father what I just told you? I bet you've just been whining at him about not wanting to get married."

Lala hesitated for only a second before nodding slowly.

"Okay..."

Zastin stared, eyes wide.

The Princess, who had stubbornly refused to listen to anyone, had just... changed her mind because of an Earthling.

'This human...' The man thought, impressed by the whiskered blonde.

He could feel it, the sheer presence the human gave out when he spoke. It wasn't just confidence, nor was it simple charisma.

It was conviction.

The kind that turned words into action.

The kind that could make others follow.

For a brief moment, he thought of Deviluke's King when war was still raging on.

"B-but..." He heard his ward speaking again. "What if papa doesn't want to cancel the marriage?"

Naruto's response was instant.

"Then he's an idiot."

Silence.

Lala, Mikan, and Zastin all sweatdropped at the sheer bluntness of it.

Naruto folded his arms.

"If he won't listen to you, his own daughter, if he ignores what you want for your future, then he's blind." His voice softened just slightly. "Your dad is the Emperor of the Galaxy, right? The guy who unites entire alien races? He has to understand people, what they fight for, what they need."

Lala stared at him, eyes wide.

"You're fighting for your right to choose. To live how you want." the teacher continued. "If he can't see that, if he doesn't understand his own daughter's conviction, then what kind of ruler is he really?"

The words hung in the air.

Lala's fingers curled at her sides.

Zastin swallowed.

Chill. Literal chill.

The hairs on his body stood on end.

For a split second, he swore he saw something, an overlapping image of his King standing where the blond teen was.

"O-Okay," the girl muttered. "I'll do it."

Then, taking a breath, she met his gaze.

"I'll go back and talk to Papa." Her confidence wavered a little as she continued. "A-and if it doesn't work out—"

"Then you can come back here."

Lala's eyes widened slightly.

"I promised I'd help you, and I intend to keep that promise."

Her heartbeat picked up again seeing his smile.

Then, she slowly nodded, suddenly finding the floor very interesting.

Naruto grinned, reaching out to pat her head.

"Good girl." He had dealt with plenty of bratty princesses or something similar in his time as a ninja. Compared to them, someone like Lala was easy to handle.

Unfortunately for him, what he didn't realize was that every time he encouraged her, her feelings for him only grew stronger.

Even now, Lala could only stare downward, her cheeks completely red as his hand lingered atop her head.

Mikan's eye twitched.

Her neighbor had no idea what he was getting himself into.

Lala's expression said it all.

The look of someone falling hard.

And the target of that affection?

Naruto.

The blonde idiot who remained blissfully unaware that he was only making things worse.

Eventually, Lala left with Zastin and the other guards.

But before she boarded the spaceship, she kept sneaking glances back at him.

Again.

And again.

And again.

Like a girl completely smitten.

Even when the spaceship beamed them up, she was still staring at him with that look on her face.

The Earthlings stood in silence, watching the ship vanish into the night sky.

"Haaaah."

Naruto let out a long sigh and stretched his arms. "Well, what an eventful day, right, Mikan?" He turned to the girl beside him. "Glad it's over, though."

She shot him a flat stare.

"...Are you sure it's over?"

"Huh?"

"From what I've seen," she crossed her arms, "you just dug your own hole deeper... and I'm pretty sure she'll be back soon."

Silence.

Naruto stood there, processing her words.

Then, he let out a hollow chuckle.

"...When you put it like that..." He scratched the back of his head. "... did I just set up something that will bite me in the ass?"

"Because you just did, Naruto-sensei." Mikan huffed before turning on her heel and heading back to her house, leaving Naruto in his spot alone.

He watched her as she left before looking back at the night sky.

"... at least, my patented jutsu worked... the talk-no-jutsu." A technique so dangerous that worked on many of his foes in the past.

No need for fists, just speech.

Enjoy!

Speaking of, regarding Naruto becoming a teacher at 17 and a half, he's not the youngest teacher, remember Negi who's only 9? Besides, having shadow clones made him easier to cramp everything about this world's history in just a few month before the school start.