Chapter 50

"Hey Ryo-kun!"

The clear call made me startle and snap out of my thoughts. Stopping, I turned around and saw amidst the crowd a little girl with long black hair and silver eyes, dressed in the everyday attire of the Hyuga clan, waving at me.

"Oh, Hitomi-chan, hello," I greeted her, approaching closer.

"Hello, Ryo-kun," she shyly smiled, "and I can tell it's you by the red streak in your hair, differentiating you from the Aburame."

"You should just look at the height," I smirked, "then you'll definitely recognize me. What brings you here? Haven't seen you in the village in six months."

"I've been mostly caught up with clan duties, rarely going on missions and mostly looking after the little ones and training. How about you?"

"Nothing new, just continuing my work at the hospital as usual," I shrugged, "though a few months ago, I started taking on higher-level missions, chasing away bandits, dealing with rogue ninjas, and even faced a couple of B-ranks."

"Ooo! We're still on C-ranks," Hyuga rounded her mouth amusingly, "sensei says it's too early for us to handle anything more serious."

"Well, if sensei says so, we should listen," I nodded wisely. "Hey, Hitomi-chan, let's sit down at a café instead of standing around here. My treat."

Ignoring her shy objections, I linked my arm with hers and led her to the nearest open table. I wasn't particularly close with most of my academy classmates, but the little shy Hyuga had firmly settled into my heart as a friend, which wasn't common among shinobi. Considering that out of five Hyuga clan members, she was the only one I could have a normal conversation with, says a lot. Besides, she's too timid and shy for anyone to try anything with her.

That made our conversations even more enjoyable. Since graduation, time had been kind to her, and the angular little girl had blossomed into a charming young lady. It's a pity that the hectic life of a shinobi doesn't allow regular meetings with all friends and acquaintances; otherwise, I would gladly meet with this classmate. By the way, she's the only classmate at the academy who has seen me without a mask and glasses.

"Order whatever you like," Hitomi suggested, seating herself at a free table and gesturing for the waitress, "and don't you dare refuse, or I'll be offended!"

"Ryoo-ku-u-un!" Hyuga made a displeased face, but her blushing cheeks betrayed her.

"Yeah, yeah, you can consider this a date," I replied, taking off my glasses and grinning widely, "after all, Ka-chan would scold me if she found out I let a girl pay for herself. Especially since for quite some time now, I've been fulfilling all of Saya's wishes without any objections."

"How are things in your team? Are your teammates treating you well?" asked the lip-pursing girl, wanting to change the subject.

"Lecherous goats!" she suddenly blurted out.

"Huh?" The change in mood caught me off guard.

"They spy and crack indecent jokes!" Hyuga complained. "And that darn dog always tries to stir up trouble."

Ah, right, in her team, there's that one guy from the Inuzuka clan and another from a smaller clan allied with Sarutobi. I haven't interacted closely with them, but they seemed to behave fine in the academy. Maybe hormones are acting up? It's that time for fourteen-year-olds, after all.

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