I Want to Live Up to His Expectations

The last time he had met this girl was nearly two years ago.

It had also been a winter day. The bitter weather of wind and snow had caused Konoha to fall quiet early.

At the time, Naruto had just finished a day of studying in the Learning Space and come out of his home for physical training.

Then, in a snow-covered corner of Konoha, he had encountered this lovely girl with pure white eyes.

At the time, she had been dressed all in black, stumbling down the road with tears in her voice. In the end, she had collapsed to the ground, her face full of confusion and tears. She seemed to have gotten lost.

Without thinking much of it, Naruto had decided to take her home.

It was then that Naruto learned that this girl was a child of the Hyuga Clan, and that her family, like her, all had a pair of pure white eyes.

More than a year later, Naruto had also learned that the day the girl had gotten lost was the day of her uncle Hizashi Hyuga's funeral. He had also learned that the girl he had sent home was actually Hinata, the eldest daughter of the Hyuga Clan's Main Branch.

What a troublesome girl. She was supposed to be the eldest daughter of a prestigious clan, yet a few ordinary kids were bullying her, Naruto muttered inwardly.

Whoosh.

The sound of something cutting through the air rang out.

Naruto leaped down from the tree and landed before the girl, separating her from the three children with malicious grins on their faces.

"Hey, you three. Is bullying people that fun?"

In the end, Naruto decided to help Hinata out.

As for why...

Of course, it was because Hinata was cuter than those three bratty kids!

The three children had been interrupted in the middle of their enjoyable daily bullying routine, and they were all rather unhappy.

After looking Naruto over, they burst into laughter.

"Isn't this the Nine-Tails monster? What a soaking-wet drowned-rat monster."

"Hahaha, did the Nine-Tails monster fall into the water? How did it not drown?"

"Well, it's a monster. It has monster powers, so it's normal that it didn't drown."

They all knew Naruto. Their parents had specifically warned them not to get near him.

But now that they saw him, he did not seem like a big deal, so they mocked him to their hearts' content.

Naruto looked himself over and found that he did look rather bedraggled.

He had just finished Water Walking training. Having fallen into the water several times during practice, he was covered in mud and water, looking filthy. No wonder these childish fools were laughing at him.

Naruto's response to their mockery was direct.

A swift, powerful punch.

After three blows, the three brats could no longer laugh.

It hurt. It hurt to the core.

Their bodies slowly crouched down as they clutched their slightly bleeding noses and wailed.

It seemed Naruto's training over the past year had been remarkably effective.

"I'm not the Nine-Tails monster. My name is Naruto Uzumaki. I'm a person just like you. Got it?" Naruto quietly watched them cry, and only spoke after they had cried enough.

The three raised their heads and looked at Naruto's calm expression.

For some reason, though he did not look fierce at all, fear began to rise in their hearts.

"Got it, waaah..."

The three children answered through tears. Only after Naruto stopped looking at them did they turn and run away, bawling loudly.

Tears still glistened at the corners of Hyuga Hinata's eyes as she looked at the boy who had appeared like a hero and saved her, just as he had on that snowy night long ago.

For no reason she could explain, looking at that not-so-tall back filled Hinata with a sense of security.

"So your name is Naruto Uzumaki. Naruto-kun... that's such a cool name." Listening to the exchange, Hinata learned the boy's name for the first time.

She silently repeated Naruto's name in her heart, staring blankly into space.

After a while, she suddenly realized that the boy had turned around and was looking at her with calm blue eyes, an amused glint in them.

Hinata immediately lowered her head in embarrassment.

Then she raised it again and introduced herself earnestly. "Hello, I'm Hyuga Hinata."

"Naruto Uzumaki," Naruto replied.

Come to think of it, this was Naruto's first experience formally exchanging names with someone. It felt very new to him.

And it was also the first time someone in the village had learned his name and identity without looking at him strangely.

A smile unconsciously appeared on Naruto's face.

Honestly, this feeling was quite nice.

After smiling, Naruto sensed someone approaching.

He looked up at the male ninja in a Green Vest racing toward them from the end of the road, his own pure white eyes visible, and said softly, "You're a child of the Hyuga Clan. You should have strength far beyond ordinary people.

Remember, if this happens again, hit them hard.

The purpose of studying is to let you calmly reason with idiots who only think with their muscles. The purpose of training hard is to make those idiots who only think with their muscles calmly listen to your reasoning.

I'm leaving. See you next time."

With that, Naruto sprang onto a nearby tree and quickly vanished from Hinata's sight.

A moment later, Hyuga Tokuma landed before Hinata and asked anxiously, "Young Lady, are you all right? Why did you sneak out again? You can't just get close to that child."

Hinata paid no attention at all to what her guard was saying. Looking in the direction Naruto had disappeared, she whispered inwardly, See you next time, Naruto-kun.

After that day, Hyuga Hiashi, who was responsible for teaching Hinata the Hyuga Clan's secret Gentle Fist, was surprised to discover that his daughter—who had always been timid and had little interest in practicing the Gentle Fist—had suddenly become diligent.

In addition to completing the assignments he gave her every day, she also trained extra in private.

And when she encountered something she did not understand, she no longer hid it in her heart as timidly as before. Instead, she took the initiative to ask.

In the end, her extra training brought gratifying results. Hinata's mastery of the Gentle Fist began advancing rapidly. She gradually caught up with Hyuga Neji, who was known as a genius, reaching a level that made others take notice.

This greatly pleased Hiashi. Although he did not know why Hinata had suddenly come to enjoy training, it was undoubtedly a very good change.

Rarely, Hyuga Hiashi, who had always presented himself as a strict father, lavishly praised Hinata, the daughter he had once found so displeasing.

And having received praise from her father, Hinata became even more motivated in her training.

Naruto-kun thinks I should possess strength far beyond ordinary people. Then I need to work hard to become that person and live up to his expectations.

This was Hyuga Hinata's truest thought deep within her heart at that moment.

And the praise from her father Hiashi was an unexpected delight for Hinata.