The grilled fish tasted unexpectedly good.
Its skin was crisp and charred, while the flesh inside was tender and juicy. Salt was the only seasoning, yet it brought out the ingredients' natural flavor to the fullest.
For Uchiha Hikari, who had spent so long in an abnormal state, this simple, warm food offered more than replenishment. It felt like a long-lost, tangible sense of being alive.
She did not wonder whether anything else had been mixed into it. In her current condition, she could not resist anyway.
The warmth and satisfaction spreading from her stomach were like a faint but steady flame, slowly thawing limbs stiffened by prolonged tension and weakness.
Naruto fed her with steady, patient movements.
After each bite, he paused briefly, waiting for her to catch her breath and spit out the fish bones before offering the next.
There were no unnecessary words, nor any attempt to get closer to her. He simply repeated the basic, necessary act of feeding her.
She finished one fish, then a second.
When the third grilled fish had been reduced to a bare wooden skewer, Uchiha Hikari finally turned her head slightly, avoiding the food offered to her lips again.
"That's enough."
Her voice was still somewhat low and hoarse, but it had a little more life in it than before.
"No more."
Naruto asked, "Are you full?"
"I'm full."
Once he confirmed that Uchiha Hikari had eaten her fill, Naruto took a pot, bowls, ingredients, and seasonings out of his Ninja Tool Pouch and began cooking.
He brought the water to a boil, then added the noodles.
By the time he had prepared the garlic, shrimp, scallions, ginger, crushed peanuts, chili bean paste, chilies, and sesame seeds (note: both the sliced and minced garlic needed to be rinsed after cutting),