Troublesome Women

After breaking out in a cold sweat, Uzumaki Hayashi actually began to calm down, little by little.

Why panic?

Even if the sky fell, I'd have to finish this mouthful of noodles first.

Unhurriedly, he chewed the noodles he had just put in his mouth, swallowed, and only then turned to look at Shikamaru Nara.

Beside him, Naruto Uzumaki was still hunched over his bowl, slurping away without even lifting his head. Umino Iruka had turned sideways and was saying something to Teuchi behind the stove. No one noticed what was happening on this side.

"Of course I don't know you."

Shikamaru Nara raised an eyebrow.

"Then why do you act like you know all of us so well?"

"Oh, that."

Uzumaki Hayashi stuffed another large mouthful of noodles into his mouth and answered indistinctly:

"I just recognize your surnames."

"Our old village had records about your clans. At the very least, I know a ninja named Nara once helped our village. I imagine he was one of your predecessors."

"Our village had dealings with Konoha for generations. Which clan carried out missions for us, which clan escorted people to our village-we kept every single record, right up until our clan was wiped out."

That was half true and half false.

The Uzumaki Clan had been on friendly terms with Konoha for generations, and the village really had kept records of its various clans. He hadn't made that part up. As for that "Nara predecessor"-

Sorry, Shikamaru. I'm using your ancestors to take the hit.

The village is gone anyway. There's no one left to contradict me, so it's whoever I say it is.

Shikamaru Nara froze.

It wasn't as though he knew nothing about the destruction of the Uzumaki Clan's village. He had leafed through some of the files in his father's study.

He just hadn't expected-

That village had kept recording every single Konoha ninja who helped them, entry by entry, right up until its destruction.

Even in such dire straits, they had still remembered those things.

What good did keeping those records do?

Shikamaru Nara remained silent for a long while before asking quietly:

"Those records... what else did they say about my family?"

"I don't know." Uzumaki Hayashi shook his head, answering without a trace of hesitation. "The village is gone, and so are the records. Those few surnames are all I can remember."

"And I only remember those because the adults in my family counted them off on their fingers and taught them to me one by one."

"They said the people with those surnames had all helped us. We must never forget the kindness others show us."

Shikamaru Nara opened his mouth, but in the end, he asked nothing more. For some reason, his chest felt tight.

It worked.

Catching sight of Shikamaru's expression, Uzumaki Hayashi let out a long sigh of relief inside.

I bluffed my way through.

Before he had even finished relaxing, a mischievous thought quietly crept up on him.

No, if I leave it at that, won't I have broken out in a cold sweat for nothing?

Rather than let this smart guy keep watching me and leave me on edge all the time, why not take this chance to throw him completely off balance?

That's what you get for watching me, for analyzing me! For being so smart!

You can have a taste of what it's like to be watched until your skin crawls, too.

Besides, I might as well make use of this "girl" identity I have right now.

Uzumaki Hayashi set down his chopsticks and slowly leaned closer to the boy beside him.

Shikamaru Nara had been lost in thought when he suddenly noticed someone leaning toward him.

Normally, if someone got this close, he would already have frowned and pulled away-women were nothing but trouble.

But this time, he sat there and, unusually, didn't move away.

Uzumaki Hayashi pulled out a napkin, reached over, and gently wiped the corner of Shikamaru's mouth.

He wiped away a crumb Shikamaru himself hadn't even noticed.

Shikamaru Nara went completely stiff.

His chopsticks hung in midair, and he could neither draw them back nor put them down.

"You look pretty smart."

The Redhead child leaned close to his ear, speaking softly and unhurriedly.

"But I'm actually pretty stupid. I don't understand all those twists and turns."

With that, he drew back, his eyes curving into a smile.

"All I know is that when someone is kind to me, I should remember it."

On the other side of the counter, Ino Yamanaka's chopsticks fell against the rim of her bowl with a clatter.

She looked at Shikamaru, then at Uzumaki Hayashi, her eyes wide as saucers. Her mouth opened, but not a single word came out.

As for Shikamaru Nara, he had stopped moving altogether.

This wasn't the sort of lesson he had grown up hearing.

When his father taught him to read, taught him to study files, and took him to watch the three Ino-Shika-Cho clans train together, he had repeated a very different set of lessons-

What politics in the shinobi world were like, and just how dark this world truly was.

How a truly smart person should protect himself in this world, stay far away from trouble, then farther still, and what positioning was optimal for a three-person team.

Those lessons were all right.

He had always remembered them and acted accordingly.

But what this transfer student, who had only arrived a few days ago, said and did seemed completely different from all of that.

He said he remembered anyone who was kind to him.

His village had remembered every person who helped them, right up until its death.

And then there was what happened earlier that day.

The whole school was talking about it-when Naruto had been cornered at the training ground, he had stepped forward. When Sikong had swung his fist at him, he hadn't struck back hard even once.

So it had all been true.

He had done exactly what he said he would.

It was as though all the purity in the world had gathered in this one person.

Troublesome.

This kind of woman was clearly the most troublesome kind of all-

"Shikamaru! Shikamaru!"

Choji Akimichi tugged at his sleeve several times before Shikamaru Nara finally snapped out of it.

"Huh?"

"They've already left." Choji gestured toward the door with his chin. "Ino was calling you just now, but you ignored her, too."

Shikamaru Nara turned to look.

At the counter, Uzumaki Hayashi's bowl had long since been emptied. Iruka-sensei's and Naruto's seats were empty as well. The cloth curtain hung there quietly, and he had no idea when the three of them had left.

From outside, Naruto's loud voice still drifted faintly in:

"Iruka-sensei! When are you treating us again?!"

Ino Yamanaka sat in her seat, looking at the doorway, then at Shikamaru. She opened her mouth, but in the end said nothing. Holding her bowl, she quietly turned back around.

Choji Akimichi was still beside him, noisily slurping his noodles.

Shikamaru Nara's gaze passed through the cloth curtain and settled on the three figures receding outside.

The red-haired one walked in the middle, with the blond child skipping along beside him.

Shikamaru Nara watched for a long time. Only after the Redhead rounded the street corner and disappeared behind the eaves did he look away.

Then, unable to help himself, he let out a soft sigh.