While pushing the money back, Liao Wu stroked Ayame's little hand.
Ayame spent all year handling ramen and tidying the shop's utensils. Her hands were slender and well-proportioned, her fingertips warm and soft, her palms bearing faint, thin calluses from years of work.
This gentle warmth, carrying the scent of everyday life, was a tender quality unique to ordinary girls of the marketplace.
Liao Wu wanted to lower his head and kiss it, or have those warm little hands give him a rub.
The thought alone made him somewhat excited.
Ayame still pushed the extra money back. "Naruto, business is business. You're still a genin, and there are plenty of places you'll need money!"
Seeing Ayame insist on her principles, Liao Wu stopped trying to give her money.
"Ayame, I'll come work for you and Uncle Ichiraku tomorrow!"
"Good good good! I'll go change first, then I'll take you to buy clothes!"
"I'll wait for you, elder sister!"
Before long, Ayame had changed into another outfit: a short, light apricot-colored kimono decorated with tiny pale-brown floral patterns, with a thin beige cloth sash tied around her waist.
The moment she came out, Liao Wu delivered his usual line. "Elder sister, you're so pretty. You look pretty no matter what you wear! You'd look even prettier wearing nothing!"
"You little brat!"
Ayame pinched Liao Wu's ear, secretly delighted. Everyone liked hearing praise from others, especially praise about a girl being pretty.
Ayame and Liao Wu messed around for a while before she finally noticed his height.
"Naruto, you've grown so fast. You're much taller than me now!"
Ayame compared her height to Liao Wu's.
Naruto had previously been around 1.6 meters tall. After Liao Wu's spores modified Naruto's body, he had grown several more centimeters, surpassing 1.7 meters.
He was already