Naruto and Hiashi sat facing each other at the small dining table, the atmosphere tense.
Hiashi had shut Hanabi and Hinata in Naruto's room on the pretext of wanting to "speak with Naruto alone," and they nervously eavesdropped on the conversation outside.
"Is that so? You treated Hinata and Hanabi to a meal because sparring was hard work?"
Hiashi kept his face stern, his activated Byakugan fixed unblinkingly on Naruto, as though he meant to see right through him.
"Naruto, you really are a... kind child."
His scrutinizing gaze was so oppressive that even the Nine-Tails in Naruto's sealed space felt uneasy. He swished his tails irritably inside his cage. "This old man's Byakugan keeps staring at us. It's creepy.
"Naruto, hurry up and find some way to fool him into leaving!"
But Naruto looked unusually composed. Ignoring the Nine-Tails' complaints, he merely nodded slightly and said calmly, "You're too kind."
Hiashi abruptly changed the subject, his tone probing. "I heard that not long ago, Naruto, you defeated the Uchiha in your class who had awakened his Sharingan during a practical combat lesson?"
He paused briefly, then pressed on without giving Naruto time to think.
"With your ability, Naruto, I imagine sparring with my daughters must be quite easy for you.
"So, in your opinion... which of them has more talent as a ninja, Hinata or Hanabi?"
It was an extremely pointed question.
Inside Naruto's room, Hanabi and Hinata unconsciously held their breath and pricked up their ears, both nervous and faintly hopeful as they waited for Naruto's answer.
"I think Hinata is very talented."
Naruto began with that affirmation, then shifted gears. "But she doesn't seem to... get enough to eat at home. Without enough food, she doesn't have the physical strength she needs, so naturally, much of that talent can't show itself."
The implication could not have been clearer: forget vague things like talent for now. The Hyuga Clan was so large, yet its children weren't even getting enough to eat. He needed to deal with that first.
That really did leave Hiashi stunned.
For the first time, astonishment appeared on his face.
Hinata wasn't getting enough to eat? How was that possible?
A little girl her age already ate almost as much as he did. How could she not be getting enough at home?
Seeing that Hiashi clearly did not believe him, Naruto did not bother arguing. He simply stood, walked into the kitchen, and then... under Hiashi's somewhat dazed gaze, brought out the two enormous bowls that had held the dishes and braised noodles, along with the plates used earlier, setting them on the table before Hiashi one by one.
"The three of us just ate this much."
Naruto pointed at the empty containers. "Plus eight steamed buns."
Looking at this pile of "evidence," Hiashi fell completely silent.
His gaze swept back and forth between the two enormous bowls and the plates as an absurd thought rose unbidden:
Naruto Uzumaki actually kept... bowls this big at home?
Was he sure he hadn't walked into the Akimichi Clan's compound?
Staring at the empty, "gigantic" containers on the table, Hiashi lapsed into a brief silence.
This undeniable fact struck him harder than any stern lecture ever could.
He had never truly paid attention to his daughters' appetites, merely clinging to rigid table manners.
He slowly stood, straightened his robes, and then bowed deeply and solemnly to Naruto, a child he had previously thought little of.
"...I'm truly sorry. I was negligent. I'm ashamed you had to see this."
His voice was low, carrying a barely perceptible trace of regret and the embarrassment of having failed as a father.
"It's really nothing. You don't need to do that."
Naruto immediately stood to steady Hiashi.
"Hinata, Hanabi, and I are friends. It's only natural for friends to look after each other."
But he did not leave it there. Looking at Hiashi, he continued, his tone growing serious. "Still, I think Hinata's emotional difficulties seem more serious than not getting enough to eat."
He spoke frankly. "As her father, you need to give her more encouragement and affirmation too, Uncle."
Looking into Hiashi's Byakugan, which had lost some of their sharpness, he offered his own view. "If a ninja lacks even the most basic self-confidence, then no matter how talented she is, even with a full stomach, she definitely won't be able to bring out her full strength."
"Naruto-kun... could you explain your thoughts in more detail?"
Hiashi's attitude had softened considerably. He slowly sat back down, his tone no longer stern but carrying a hint of a request for guidance.
Naruto withdrew the hand he had been pointing at the dishes and sat down opposite him. Gathering his thoughts, he said, "I feel that Hinata's basic training is very solid. She has an excellent foundation. But..."
He considered his choice of words.
"She seems to be under far too much pressure, and she's naturally rather reserved, so she isn't good at expressing her feelings or finding ways to relieve them. I imagine you and the Hyuga Clan must have very high expectations of her, Uncle Hiashi?"
Hiashi fell silent for a moment, then slowly nodded. "Yes. Hinata is the eldest daughter of the Hyuga Main Family. This is a responsibility she was born with.
"In the future, she must shoulder the burden of leading the entire Hyuga Clan. Naturally, everyone in the clan demands a great deal of her and has very high expectations."
Inside Naruto's room, as Hanabi overheard her father's words, she distinctly felt her sister's breathing grow heavier and quicker. The hand holding hers tightened unconsciously, trembling slightly.
Instinctively, Hanabi squeezed her sister's cold hand back and looked up at her profile as she bit her lower lip, struggling to hold her emotions in.
Only at that moment did she truly feel how heavy the burden called "the clan's expectations" was.
She had been young, and as the second daughter, most of the clan's attention and pressure had fallen on its heir, the eldest daughter, her sister Hinata.
Though she knew her sister trained hard, never before had she understood so clearly that Hinata had been silently bearing this immense, suffocating pressure from the entire clan all alone.
"Sometimes, people are like bows."
Naruto used a simple analogy.
"If you draw the string too tight, too far, it can easily snap, destroying the bow and injuring the person holding it.
"Even many adult ninja know they need to relax a little and recover after returning to the village from long missions away.
"Hinata is still so young. Why... aren't you willing to give her a little room to relax, Uncle?"
Hiashi listened to Naruto and fell silent for a moment.
Of course he understood this simple principle, even more deeply than Naruto did.
But the fundamental reason he was so harsh with Hinata, even consciously or unconsciously undermining her confidence and making her seem "not good enough," was-the Caged Bird Seal!