Taking him along on missions

"Hehe, did you want to treat me to something else, little Hinata?"

After ordering his ramen, Luo Mang turned to her, propped his chin on his hand, and asked with a grin.

"Ah..."

Hinata lowered her head again, so quickly that her braids swung.

"I-I thought you would choose barbecue, Mang-kun."

"A-after all, boys all like meat."

There was actually more she had left unsaid: since someone else was paying, and boys liked meat, wouldn't he want to eat more meat while it was free?

Hinata had already prepared herself to spend quite a bit. She hadn't expected him to order just a bowl of ramen.

"Hehe, do you think I'm the sort of person who would fleece a little girl?"

"Of course you're not, Mang-kun!"

Hinata quickly looked up at Luo Mang, waving her hands and shaking her head as she hurried to deny it.

"You're very kind, Mang-kun, a-and very handsome..."

Hinata lowered her head and spoke very softly. Her voice grew quieter and quieter, until she was merely moving her lips to mouth the last word.

"Heh, thank you for saying so."

Hearing that praise, Luo Mang smiled and stroked her head in thanks.

She would have been fine if he hadn't touched her. The moment he did, her pretty face, which had only been slightly flushed, turned blood-red. Her already delicate, fair skin now looked as though a single pinch would draw blood.

She was practically a living illustration of the saying: skin whiter than snow, so delicate a breath could break it.

"Ah, well..."

Luo Mang was speechless at his own actions. Why had he instinctively gone for a head pat?

He had nearly killed little Hinata!

"Sorry, sorry. You looked so cute that I..."

But as soon as the words left his mouth, Luo Mang realized something was wrong again. He stopped speaking and lowered his gaze a little.

Hinata Hyuga's pink lips had begun to tremble, and the words Luo Mang had just spoken kept replaying in her mind!

"C-c-c-c-c-cute!"

She really was a steaming princess.

Feeling that nothing he said would be right, Luo Mang could only press his lips together helplessly and keep quiet, waiting for the noodles to arrive.

With Naruto Uzumaki's boisterous personality, he would sometimes butt in even while others were talking. Now that Luo Mang wasn't talking to anyone, he naturally spoke up.

"Y-you're Luo Mang, right? Iruka-sensei mentioned you dropping out during class."

"Yeah."

Hearing that, Luo Mang nodded. He hadn't actually expected Iruka to tell everyone about him dropping out.

"Do you like ramen a lot too? I really like coming here to eat the old man's ramen."

"It's all right. I don't particularly hate it or love it."

Eating the same thing all the time would get old eventually. Luo Mang wasn't particularly devoted to any one thing-when it came to food, of course.

Besides, compared with eating out, he preferred eating at home, whether he bought food to take back or cooked it himself.

But if he took noodles home, would they still be fit to eat?

The answer was obvious.

Naruto Uzumaki moved on to other topics. Luo Mang didn't think much of it and simply replied casually.

At last, their bowls of ramen arrived.

"Looks pretty good."

The presentation was quite nice. Luo Mang gave it his approval, then began eating.

Unlike little Hinata beside him, though, he didn't put his hands together and say, "Itadakimasu."

Breakfast didn't take long, and soon it was over. It was time to part ways.

After paying, little Hinata came over to Luo Mang. The blush that had covered her face earlier had now faded.

"Mang-kun, I-I'll head back now. See you next time."

With that, Hinata turned and fled, moving so quickly that her braids flew up.

"Yeah, see you."

Watching Hinata's adorable retreat, Luo Mang murmured his reply to her departing back.

I don't want to live off a girl either, but this is just too nice!

As for the Hyuga Clan, surely they wouldn't target him over something that hadn't even begun to develop.

He still needed strength. Having to live at other people's mercy was truly painful, especially with the Ōtsutsuki still to come.

If he ended up hanging from a tree, he would be done for.

"Luo Mang, are you going home?"

Naruto had also finished paying by then and hurried outside. He had finally met someone who didn't look at him strangely.

Why did that matter? Luo Mang's replies earlier had been very perfunctory and casual.

But Naruto could clearly sense that Luo Mang didn't bear him the malice the other villagers did. That felt refreshing, and it would be nice if they could become friends, so he had taken the initiative to run over and strike up another conversation.

Now that school was on break, he had nothing to do. Otherwise, he would probably just buy some paint and cause trouble.

"I'm planning to go to the Hokage Building and pick up a few D-rank missions."

Luo Mang didn't find Naruto's attempt to talk to him annoying. It was a perfectly normal conversation, after all. If Naruto suddenly started shouting, though, that might annoy him.

"Wow, you're already taking missions?"

Naruto Uzumaki's eyes lit up at that.

"Didn't they say you had to become a ninja first? Could you take me along?"

He didn't have much money in his pockets. Usually, it was only enough for instant noodles, leaving him neither full nor starving. Occasionally, he would choose to go hungry for two days, toughing it out so he could trade his instant noodles for a bowl of ramen. Those were the moments that satisfied him most.

As for the money for paint, how much could a couple of buckets cost? Surely buying two buckets of paint wouldn't leave him having to eat expired instant noodles.

Wouldn't that just prove how little money he was given?

"Well..."

It wasn't that Luo Mang was stingy, didn't want to make friends, or didn't want to help Naruto earn a little money.

The main issue was that the Anbu were watching Naruto. If Luo Mang had any dealings with him, he might not even need to go pick up a mission himself the next second-he would simply be hauled straight to the Hokage Building.

"Please!"

Seeing hesitation rather than disdain on Luo Mang's face, Naruto Uzumaki pressed his hands together and pleaded earnestly.

"All right, just this once. My time is limited too, so consider it a lesson in how to pick up missions. When you're bored, you can find a suitable one and earn a little money."

Looking at his earnest expression, Luo Mang couldn't bring himself to refuse in the end and nodded helplessly.

"Thanks, Luo Mang-kun! If I earn some money from missions, I can treat you to ramen."

A smile immediately spread across Naruto Uzumaki's face. He was delighted. Not only had he found someone who didn't disdain him and would keep him company, but he could also get an early taste of missions. A day he hadn't known how to fill suddenly felt a little more meaningful.

Seeing that, Luo Mang didn't say anything to dampen his enthusiasm, though he added inwardly, Let's see if you can actually earn any money first.

Even D-rank missions covered all sorts of work. Some were difficult, and some were easy.

"Let's go take a look at the missions first."

Just after they left, two of the masked figures lurking in the shadows used the Body Flicker Technique and vanished, apparently heading off to report.