"Oi, Ayame-chan!"
The waitress spun around at the sound of the cheerful voice. Her eyes widened in recognition and a radiant smile spread across her face, transforming her otherwise plain and homely self into that of a dazzling, young, perky female.
"Haruto?"
"Looking good." The blond smiled cheekily.
The flustered girl half sniffed and half snorted in disbelief. The once simple ramen restaurant was currently swarmed with so many customers that Ayame had a pretty good idea of what she must have looked like.
"I meant the restaurant." Haruto pointed to the added room and tables. "But if you aren't too busy, can I get my normal Friday Special? Please?"
"Sure thing. Anything for our number one customer, though you have a lot of makeup dining to do." A wide grin spread across the girl's face. "You know, I should be angry at you. Ever since you suggested those additions to our menu, I've been working like a dog just to keep up with everything. Father, of course, couldn't be happier and has even talked about expanding the franchise."
"That's awesome, Ayame-chan." Haruto was happy for the family. The hardworking father-daughter duo deserved more rewards for all their hard work, which was why the blond had made his suggestions awhile back. The least he could do for his favorite restaurateurs was to help make the business more successful.
"Please take a seat. One Haruto Special on the house coming right up!" The ramen girl gave a toothy grin at the surprised boy. "To welcome you back after your long hiatus."
Haruto accepted the free meal for what it was, a sincere thank you gift from a grateful friend. As Ayame rushed to inform her father, Haruto searched out a spot for himself.
"Ohayo, Shikamaru! How have you been? I didn't know you eat here," Haruto greeted enthusiastically as he slid into the seat next to his friend. The person in question spun around and glared at the blond.
"Where have you been for the last two weeks?" the irate lazy genius asked with uncharacteristic energy, though uncharacteristic energy in Shikamaru's case pretty much meant a raised eye brow as opposed to his normal half asleep expression.
"Ahm, I've been sort of busy."
For a moment, Haruto thought Shikamaru was going to throttle him. Then the moment passed and true to his lazy nature, the Nara boy merely shrugged and settled for eating his meal. For once, the blond was thankful for his friend's lax personality.
"What have you been doing?"
Crap, how am I supposed to get out of this one? Haruto cursed. He had been so busy thinking about the disastrous mission to Rain that he had not even thought of a cover story. Luckily for him, the two loudest kunoichi in Konoha chose to stomp into the restaurant at that moment.
"Guess what, Shika?! Sasuke-kun and I are going on a C-rank mission tomorrow."
"You mean Sasuke-kun and I, Ino-pig!"
Both boys groaned as the two kunoichi launched into another semi-friendly, semi-contentious verbal exchange over the Uchiha genius. Haruto, in particular, was perturbed. To think how attentive those two had been just hours earlier… Oh well, what can you do? Fortunately, the food arrived not long after. Haruto's mind was subsequently carried off by the rich aroma of his favorite ramen.
"Haruto?" Unfortunately, the two kunoichi chose to notice the blond boy sitting next to the lazy genius. They eyed the blond warily as he devoured his oily, greasy, fattening meal with single minded enthusiasm.
"Hey, I'm talking to you. Answer me, you ramen eating freak!" Sakura demanded.
Not one to disobey a member of the fairer sex, Haruto complied. In retrospect, Sakura and Ino probably would have preferred continued silence from the boy.
"Waachawnt?" the blond mumbled with a mouthful of dangling, dripping noodles.
The girls leaned back, their faces twisting in horror and disgust as pieces of food hit them.
"That is disgusting! You animal!"
"Completely gross!" There was a flurry of pink and blonde as the two girls desperately fought for possession of the tissue papers.
Shikamaru knew he should not; he knew he did so at the risk of suffering great bodily harm, but it was just too funny. The lazy genius cracked one chuckle and then another, and soon the young Nara was belly laughing in his seat. The two girls, who had made themselves more or less presentable once again, looked on in astonishment.
"Shikamaru!"
The enraged shriek from his childhood friend quickly reminded the pineapple-headed boy that he was in dangerous territory.
"Eh, I'm done with my meal. I got to meet up with Chouji. Talk to you later, Ino, Haruto!" With speed rarely seen in anyone, much less someone as lazy as the Nara boy, Shikamaru dropped some change and tore out of the restaurant like a bat out of hell.
You bastard! Some friend you are! Haruto silently cursed his traitorous but most intelligent friend. Too bad his rapid exit left the blond as the one suitable target for the insulted females' ire.
The sweating blond probably would have traded an arm and a leg for the ability to call upon the forceful presence of his ANBU persona to calm the angry kunoichi. Luckily for him, he didn't have to.
"Hello, ladies, what can I get you?" The smiling face of Teuchi abruptly cut off the vengeful duo's plan for immediate retribution.
"Eh, what are you getting, Ino-pig?"
"I'm thinking, forehead girl. Oh, they have the Nagasaki champon!"
Haruto swore that the prime and prissy Yamanaka's mouth began watering just then. Hmm, maybe he could find a way to get out of this with his limbs intact.
"Golden noodles added to soup featuring Grade A pork, flavored chicken bones, jumbo shrimps, diced seaweed, green veggies, and seasoning, all cooked to perfection. It's one of our very best dishes," Teuchi stated grandly.
Ino was definitely drooling now and Sakura looked equally interested. Even so, both girls hesitated and muttered something about calories and fat. Haruto rolled his eyes. Clearly they wanted to try the dish, but were looking for ways to do so without feeling bad about it.
"Just try it. Most of the fatty lard is siphoned out before the noodles are added. You can always work away all those extra calories and fat. And to make up for what happened earlier, I'll cover the costs for you." Haruto's reasoning was more than enough to convince the girls. His generous offer to pick up the tab simply sealed the deal.
Teuchi happily took down the girls' order with one stipulation. "Since you're Haruto's friends, your orders will be on the house this time."
"Thanks, old man!" Haruto grinned.
"No problem, Haruto."
The restaurateur returned in record time and set the meals down before the girls. Teuchi first looked at Haruto, then at the girls and finally back at Haruto again. "It could be because I'm old fashioned, but back in my day, dates involved one boy and one girl, not one boy and two girls. How the times have changed." Teuchi's toothy smile widened when all three youths choked in response to his remark. Score! The man thought as he turned away.
"Haha, that's funny." The first to recover, Haruto tried, most unsuccessfully, to laugh it off. The blond's happy smile faltered somewhat when he met the girls' stony gazes. Great, the girls must think that he set them up.
"Oh, come on, don't be mad. The old man was joking."
Neither girl believed him.
"If this incident hurts my chances with Sasuke-kun—"
"No, if it hurts my chances with Sasuke-kun—"
The child prodigy fought the urge to groan. This was getting tiring.
"Ok, listen! I offered to pay so I can apologize. I swear I didn't have any ulterior motives. I just wanted to help, alright?" The blond's unusually stern words took the wind out of the girls' sails.
An uncomfortable silence descended as everyone consumed their meal. The Nagasaki champon was as tasty as advertised, but for some reason, it was not particularly fulfilling. Finally, Ino took a chance and offered the olive branch.
"I understand, Haruto. Just try not to speak with your mouth full next time. You got that?"
"Yes, Ino-sama!" Haruto answered enthusiastically with both humor and nigh genuine reverence.
The girl glared and tried to smack the boy, but he managed to deftly dodge the blow. Unable to contain herself, Sakura giggled at her friends' attics. Ino looked at her friend and then at Haruto's decidedly fake expression of innocence and giggled as well. Soon enough, the restaurant was filled with all three youths' laughter.
It was a good ten minutes before the trio calmed down. It was only then that Sakura realized how much she needed that. "Haruto, thanks for being a nice guy."
The words clearly were not easy for the girl, so the blond's comforting smile went a long way in reassuring her.
"Sure thing, Sakura-chan."
"You were right, Haruto, this food is good. When we get back from our mission, I think I'll come back for another bowl," Ino admitted. Of course, it did mean she'd need to work off the extra calories, but that was not so bad. She could probably use the motivation.
"Mission?" Haruto asked, feigning curiosity.
"Kakashi-sensei said he'll try to get us a C-rank mission tomorrow. If we get it, we will probably be out of town for a while."
"Do you think you're ready?" the secret ANBU asked. Even though he disguised his voice to sound nonchalant, the girls were immediately suspicious.
"What do you mean by that?" Sakura asked. The words and tone oddly reminded her of the ANBU they had seen earlier.
"Hey, I didn't mean to offend. I was just wondering. I mean, you must be doing really well if your sensei is allowing you to take on a C-rank mission already."
Obviously, the young ANBU had been aware of the eavesdroppers' presence while he was talking to Kakashi. How could he not, when Tenzou was one of his teachers? Haruto wanted to see how the girls would react before passing final judgment on them.
"I think that Kakashi-sensei thinks that we're ready," Sakura stated, but not very confidently.
That was not quite true, but the blond boy was not going to call her out for her misinterpretation.
"Maybe, but that other guy definitely didn't think so," Ino noted glumly.
"Who?" Haruto asked, continuing his role as the clueless spectator.
"A ninja from ANBU named Genji."
"ANBU? I heard of the name before, but forgot what it was," Haruto interrupted. The girls groaned, quietly muttering about what an idiot he was.
"It stands for Ansatsu Senjutsu Tokushu Butai. They carry out special and secret missions that no one knows about. Kakashi-sensei said he was once an ANBU captain. I know my father worked closely with people in it, but he never tells me anything," Ino lectured.
None of this was new to Haruto, not even the bit about Ino's father. The blond did not have the necessary security clearance for Inoichi Yamanaka's personal profile, but he had his suspicions. And if any of them proved even remotely factual, then the older man had very good reasons for not telling his daughter anything. Ino was not ready, not now, and maybe not ever.
"I suppose, what about him?"
"Didn't you hear me, Haruto? He wasn't impressed with us," Ino stated depressingly. "I'm positive that he didn't like the idea of us getting a C-rank mission."
The disguised ANBU was concerned. If Sakura and Ino's self confidence was so easily undermined, they really should reconsider taking the C-rank mission tomorrow. Their self-doubt alone was liable to get them and their teammates killed. By his expert judgment, the two kunoichi were not ready. In that sense, Haruto felt an obligation to persuade the girls to not take the mission, which would not be difficult given their present uncertainty. But on the other hand…
Was it wise to write them off in such a blasé manner? If he had them pegged correctly, then both kunoichi have either consciously or subconsciously perceived their own deficiencies vis-à-vis their classmates, particularly the boy genius that was their teammate. To compensate for such weaknesses, they extravagantly sought the approval of those around them. Overall, theirs was an understandable human behavior, but one that must be corrected. Haruto was sure that the potential was there, even if their capabilities were still unrefined. Sakura and Ino simply needed to learn to stand on their own two feet.
Why not? Their sensei is Sharingan Kakashi, after all, Haruto thought as he reached his decision.
"So what? What's the big deal about this Genji?" the blond boy asked. The girls looked at him like he was crazy.
"What's the big deal?! The big deal is the fact that he is in ANBU and a member of the elite." Sakura smacked her head in frustration.
"He's most likely very experienced and has probably done a ton of high rank missions!" Haruto would not exactly call it a ton, but he had been pretty active.
"Haruto, you didn't see what he did! He surfed on water and managed to break a tree using just hair filled with chakra." Haruto's lips twitched, threatening to break into a smile. Hearing his fellow genin gush about his exploits was almost more than he could bear.
"Wow, ok, so he knows some cool tricks," Haruto admitted. "But seriously, why do you care what he thinks? You just met him today, right? I mean, people tell me not to do certain things all the time. I just don't listen to them." The blond laughed loudly as the two kunoichi eyed him strangely.
"Eh, that's not exactly a great reason."
"Still, Haruto makes a good point about this Genji person. The guy doesn't even know us."
Oh, really? Haruto thought.
"That's right. We can do the mission and prove him wrong. We can do this, right, Ino-pig?"
"Of course," the Yamanaka girl replied confidently.
"Just be careful. You never know what's out there," Haruto offered with sincere honesty.
"Don't worry, we've got Sasuke-kun on our team!" With that declaration from Ino, all was right once again in the minds of the two kunoichi.
Haruto nearly snorted in disgust.
Luckily, neither girl noticed the momentary change in the boy's demeanor. The blond realized how much of a pain the bastard was, even when he was not around. At some point, the two girls' infatuation problem would need to be fixed—but not today.
"Oh, look at the time. We better go home and start getting ready for tomorrow. Haruto, thanks for the meal, bye!"
"Yeah, thanks. But remember, this wasn't a date!" Both girls fled without waiting for a response, leaving behind a contemplative Haruto.
"Maybe you should settle for just taking one girl out next time? And maybe one of the quieter ones?" Haruto glowered at a smiling Teuchi.
"Thanks a lot, old man, I'll be sure to remember that," the blond grumbled. The ramen chef looked like he wanted to prod his customer further, but a third person burst onto the scene. It was a panting Chouji.
"Haruto! Found you at last! Special emergency mission! We're supposed to pack and meet sensei at the north gate as soon as possible. Also, where have you been all week? It's like you disappeared."
"Tell you later. I'll meet you in twenty minutes."
"Make it fifteen. Apparently, the mission is very important," Chouji replied before disappearing.
A mission already? Granted, it was only a genin level mission, but Haruto had just recovered. On the other hand, having him assigned an "easy" mission was probably the old man's way of forcing him to clear his mind of recent events. At least he meant well. Waving goodbye to the ramen restaurateur, Haruto rushed off towards his apartment to prepare.