"Morning!"
At Ichiraku Ramen, Hikari greeted Ayame warmly.
Ayame rolled her pretty eyes at him.
"Morning? Seriously?"
"Do you even know what time it is?"
Hikari glanced up at the blazing sun overhead, feeling as though an entire day had slipped by.
"Yeah, guess it's not morning anymore. I'll have a bowl of ramen. After I eat, I'm going to go rest for a bit."
"What's wrong? You look exhausted. Was the mission that tough?" Ayame asked curiously.
She wouldn't have bothered asking anyone else, but with Hikari, it was different.
Was it because she cared too much?
"I'm just... a little tired in my heart. Kinda thinking about retiring." Hikari said, slumping onto the counter, his eyes fixed on Ayame. "If I retire, Ayame, would you take care of me?"
"You little punk, what're you doing here?!" Hearing Hikari's teasing, Teuchi stormed out from the kitchen, brandishing a ladle aimed at Hikari's head.
No one got to mess with Ayame—not on his watch.
Did they think he, Ichiraku Teuchi, was some pushover?
"I'm here to eat ramen, of course!" Hikari didn't flinch at the threatening ladle, staying lazily sprawled on the counter. "One signature bowl, please, Uncle Teuchi!"
"Don't call me 'uncle'. I don't have a nephew like you!" Teuchi huffed before stomping back to the kitchen.
"Is that so? Want me to call you something sweeter? After all, Ayame is going to take care of me in the future." Hikari continued fanning the flames.
"Get lost!"
*WHAM!*
The ladle slammed onto the table with enough force to make the plates rattle.
"Ayame's my precious daughter! Take care of you? Why don't you drop dead!"
"If you want her to take care of you, then cut off all those messy relationships you've got with other women first. Otherwise, I'll break your legs! Don't underestimate a father's love!"
After delivering the warning, Teuchi stormed back into the kitchen to prepare the ramen.
For the usually mild-mannered Teuchi to get this angry spoke volumes about just how much he loathed Hikari.
"Um, sorry about that. Dad's just in a bad mood today..." Ayame awkwardly apologized.
"It's fine, it's fine. Who am I to complain, right?"
Hikari wasn't offended. As a man, he understood why Teuchi was pissed.
If he genuinely loved only Ayame, Teuchi might still dislike him but wouldn't make it this personal.
But the truth was Hikari was tangled up with several women. No father would approve of that kind of son-in-law.
"You're really not angry?" Ayame asked, eyeing Hikari's laid-back demeanor.
Hikari nodded slightly. "Nah, it's fine. A guy like me gets chewed out sometimes—it's normal. But Ayame, don't get mad at your dad over this, okay? That'd make me sad."
"Oh, shut it!"
Seeing that Hikari wasn't angry, Ayame secretly breathed a sigh of relief, but upon hearing his words, she still couldn't help but retort playfully.
"My dad and I have a great relationship. You don't need to worry about it."
"Ugh, girls grow up and leave the nest..." Hikari sighed, sounding like an old uncle.
Ayame decided to reward him with another eye-roll and temporarily ignore this guy who said such annoying things.
"Hmm?"
Hikari suddenly straightened, his gaze shifting toward the direction of Konoha's main gate.
"What's wrong?" Ayame asked, noticing his sudden alertness.
Just as quickly, he slumped back onto the table, his lazy demeanor returning as if nothing had happened.
"It's nothing. Just a few shinobi from Sunagakure arriving. Probably here to pick up those three kids."
"Oh, you mean Temari, Gaara, and and Kankurō?"
"Yeah, who else? Konoha doesn't exactly have other Sand shinobi hanging around." Hikari said casually.
"They're leaving already? I thought those three were pretty nice. I didn't expect them to leave so soon." Mentioning that Temari and Gaara were leaving, Ayame's mood dipped slightly.
(Kankurō: Why's my name left out? I'm leaving too! Why's no one mentioning me?!)
"As sure as rain must fall and girls must marry, they're Suna shinobi. Returning to their village is perfectly normal, right?" Hikari said offhandedly, not paying much attention to the matter.
The reason the Suna envoys came to retrieve Gaara and the others was related to Hikari's recent mission concerning the Three-Tails.
Even though Sunagakure had very low regard for the One-Tail, with many wishing it were dead, a Tailed Beast was still a Tailed Beast. In the environment of Sunagakure, the One-Tail's importance was no less than the Nine-Tails'.
From Suna's perspective, if Hikari one day had a sudden brain cramp, he might just kill Gaara.
If that really happened, Suna would be in a real bind.
They already lacked top-tier combat power. If the One-Tail were killed, Suna's decline would truly be imminent.
They didn't dare gamble anymore.
Hence, the envoys had arrived.
"Ramen is ready! Finish up and get lost immediately, you brat!" Unlike with others, Teuchi's dislike for Hikari was purely because of his daughter.
"Alright, thank you, Boss Teuchi!"
After thanking him, Hikari picked up his chopsticks and slowly began to eat.
The chewy, resilient noodles entered his mouth, springy and refreshing, combined with Teuchi's specially made bone broth, giving a very satisfying feeling.
Hikari ate the noodles quietly. After a while, he put down his chopsticks.
"Thanks for the meal!"
"You're full already?" Seeing Hikari get up to leave, Ayame was very surprised.
Based on Hikari's usual appetite, he should need at least two bowls, if not three. Now he was leaving after just one bowl. Could it be that her dad's cooking skills had declined?
"You brat, are you disrespecting me or something?!" Teuchi was also somewhat depressed. As a ramen chef, he wanted to see happy smiles after people finished his ramen, not Hikari's listless, indifferent expression.
It made him feel very unaccomplished.
"What's wrong?" Hikari looked at Teuchi in confusion. "Is the money not enough? Then I'll pay more…"
"It's not about the money! It's that you, after eating my ramen, still look so dejected! Are you even a young man? If something's wrong, just tell me. Considering we've known each other for so many years, I'll help you." In Teuchi's memory, Hikari had never been this listless before.
It was like he had become a different person.
Although he disliked Hikari for fooling around with his daughter, aside from that, he actually thought quite highly of Hikari in other aspects.
"Actually, I just realized that since I woke up today, not a single beautiful woman has given me a sweet kiss. It's making me doubt my own charm, so I'm feeling quite down. If Ayame could help me out, I'd be eternally grateful."
Ayame's face instantly turned red. She glanced at her father, a somewhat eager look on her face.
Teuchi: 'Have I gotten too old to lift my ladle, or has this brat gotten too cocky, daring to flirt with Ayame right in front of me?'
"GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE BEFORE I SMASH YOUR FAMILY JEWELS!"
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