Hiruko sat on his bed exauhsted he had been arguing with Duy and Sakumo about what he should wear for hours.
"Master, you should definitely wear this." Sakumo said, holding up a whitish-grey kimono that matched Hiruko's hair.
"No, Hiruko, sir, this is a better option, as it accentuates your youth!" Duy said enthusiastically, holding up a smaller version of his green jumpsuit.
Hiruko, seeing both these options, began to get noticeably irritated.
"I can't wear my normal coat, why?" Hiruko posed that he planned to just wear his normal oversized coat with black pants, but Sakumo and Duy, hearing this, vehemently opposed.
"Master, this is a dinner with a child of the Uchiha, and you who will be representing the Senju and Uzumaki need to look the part," Sakumo said seriously.
"We're going to Ichiraku Ramen. That isn't the type of place that requires something like that," Hiruko said with a hand across his face in annoyance.
All he planned on doing was eating and getting this annoying interaction over with.
"Whatever, I'm just going in what I'm wearing right now." Hiruko said, giving up, he might as well just wear the black training outfit he had on now.
But just as Hiruko opened the door to leave, he was met with a red-haired woman with two buns in her hair.
'Mom?' Hiruko thought internally.
"No son of mine will leave out of the house to eat with some girl and dress like they just rolled out of bed," Mito said, pushing Hiruko into the bathroom with the white kimono Sakumo picked out.
Sakumo seeing this couldn't help but feel slightly prideful that his outfit was chosen.
Duy on the other hand became solemn 'why don't they like my youth' he couldn't help but think.
Mito on the other hand was dealing with Hiruko
"And tie up your hair," Mito said with a sigh. She forgot just how hard it was raising boys; they had no sense of decorum sometimes.
'Now let's see who wins our little bet of ours, Yuri.' Mito thought internally with a smirk playing on her face, Yuri and she made a bet on her future in-law, and the stakes are well…a few Konoha districts.
Yuri says it'll be Naori, but Mito knows who the real one will be to win her son's heart because mother knows best.
—
Hiruko arriving at Ichiraku looked like the epitome of beauty; his hair was tied back into a ponytail, his piercing red eyes drew in anyone who peered into them, and his kimono held a design of greyish sakura flowers. His face, a porcelain white, made him look like a doll.
As Hiruko walked down the streets of Konoha, gazes followed him; both females and males blushed at the sight of him.
Approaching Ichiraku Ramen, Hiruko analyzed the future building in all its glory, though it was a far cry from its future self, just a simple stall with a bar-style serving area. Hiruko could still tell it would be the home to thousands of memories from several generations.
After a few moments of enjoying the scenery, Hiruko parted the flap to the stall; his eyes were met with an emptiness except for a lone girl that sat to the left of the seats.
As if sensing his presence, the girl turned, her purple hair swaying slightly, as she smiled lightly at Hiruko, beckoning him over.
She wore a simple purple dress that had long sleeves.
"Hey Hiruko," Naori said as Hiruko walked over, taking the seat next to her. The introvert in him wanted to choose a seat that wasn't directly next to her, maybe having a seat in between to separate them, but he knew it would be rude.
"Hello, Ms. Naori," Hiruko said politely.
Naori, seeing this, jabbed him lightly in the arm, still smiling. "Come on, don't call me Ms.; it's too formal. Just Naori is fine." She said,
Hiruko not one to complain. simply nodded, "Yes, Naori." Hiruko said simply.
After he finished talking, silence descended upon them, but luckily they were interrupted by a young man in his 20s.
He was tall; his light brown hair was obscured by his cooking cap, and he also wore a white cooking robe. Weirdly, his eyes were almost nonexistent; it looked as if he was constantly squinting to the point that even Hiruko couldn't tell if they were open or not.
Coming out of the back, the man smiled as he came over to Hiruko and Naori.
"Hey Naori, I assume you'd like your regular, and who is this kid?" The man said,
"Hey Teuchi, the regulars perfect, and this is Hiruko, my friend. He'll take—?" Naori said, turning to Hiruko and passing the question on to him.
"I'll take some Banshu Ramen, please." Hiruko said, simply glancing at the menu quickly.
Teuchi, still smiling, simply said, "Okay, that'll be like 5 minutes," as he disappeared into the back.
The pair, now alone, descended in silence once again.
Naori, breaking the silence, posed a question.
"Hiruko, what's your opinion on the Uchiha?" Naori asked with a smile on her face, though Hiruko could tell this was only a front.
He could sense her fear, hope, and worry; it radiated off of her in his eyes.
"I have no opinion, to be honest; the Uchiha are a clan of this village. It's as simple as that," Hiruko said honestly.
He's interacted with three Uchiha: the twins who spilled his precious Dakfu and Naori, who is treating him to a meal.
I guess you could count his anime knowledge, but using that and three interactions as a basis for a whole clan decades before they get to the point shown in the anime is hardly fair.
The only thing he could confidently say about them is they are lovers to the point it's obsessive and crazy.
But who isn't? He, for one… Well, he didn't want to imagine what measures he would take for those he cared for.
Naori, seeing Hiruko, meant what he said couldn't help but dig deeper.
To her, Hiruko was a blank slate; he had no malice nor goodwill toward the Uchiha. He simply didn't care what happened to them. But she could work with this if she could slowly shape his mind, just maybe….
"Do you trust the Uchiha?" She posed almost excitedly.
"No," Hiruko said almost immediately.
Naori hearing this became slightly solemn; she thought she was getting somewhere with Hiruko so that maybe she could find a way to change the village's slowly worsening treatment of the Uchiha with the help of a vital piece in the political pool before his thinking was 'corrupted.'
Hiruko, seeing this, sighed slightly. "It's not that I don't trust the Uchiha necessarily; it's that aside from myself and those I deem a part of my circle, I don't trust anyone, not even the village." Hiruko said honestly.
Naori, hearing this, smiled slightly. "Is that why you brought guards to a hangout between friends?" Naori said.
She expected Hiruko to get flustered, but surprisingly he smiled right back, matching her intensity.
"What can I say? They worry, but can the same thing be said about you?" Hiruko said, glancing outside the ramen shop to an inconspicuous bush.
But Hiruko knew better; he knew that was a ninja, about Chunin level at that, and there were two more in different hiding places.
Naori, caught slightly by surprise by Hiruko's observation, could only look at him, her face somewhat solemn; she had realized she had underestimated Hiruko—he wasn't just a simple piece she could use…
"Ramen's ready!"