Naruto's voice was soft, yet carried an unquestionable certainty.
He wanted to pull her, at least temporarily, out of that cold "warrior" identity that was always ready to fight.
Hinata froze slightly. She looked at the candied apple before her, then at Naruto's deep blue eyes, unreadable as ever, and nodded before taking a small bite.
It was very sweet.
She noticed Naruto staring blankly at an elegantly decorated dessert shop on the street corner, crowded with customers.
"Naruto, do you want to eat that?" she asked curiously.
Naruto shook his head.
His mind was racing, instinctively conducting a tactical assessment.
Dessert shop. Dense foot traffic, complex layout, a second-floor loft and a rear alley exit. No security whatsoever. If a terrorist attack were launched here, it could instantly cause heavy civilian casualties, while the attackers used the chaos to retreat in multiple directions. Countermeasures? Snipers would need to be deployed on the rooftop of the building opposite in advance, the rear alley sealed off, and an assault team sent through the front entrance. But considering the possibility of hostages, the success rate would be below 60%...
"If enemy spies chose to launch an attack here," he blurted out, "we would have a hard time responding effectively at the first opportunity."
Only after the words left his mouth did he realize what he had said.
Hinata looked at him, blinked, then burst out laughing.
Naruto really was...
He had just told her not to talk about work, yet he had unconsciously started doing it himself.
She found this side of Naruto rather adorable.
As the saying went, one flower bloomed into two branches, each telling its own tale.
After Sasuke coldly told Sakura Haruno that he had come to find Naruto, the hope that had just risen on her