[Alert!
Training Quest - Getting warmed up!
Time Limit - 12 hours
Goal
Push-Ups - [100/100]
Sit-Ups - [100/100]
Squats - [100/100]
Run - [10/10 km]
Caution - Failing to complete the Quest will incur a Penalty. ]
The last exercise was completed and Naruto collapsed on the ground, near the Ichiraku Ramen. After all those exercises, he had run for 2 hours straight, completing the 10 km run.
He was fast. A lot faster than his peers. But that was not so true in the long run. With no training, his muscles and body remained weak, only his stamina being naturally vast. And for that reason, he had to stop after every 3-4 KM.
But finally, he had done it. The entire quest was done and he felt relieved. Though he had to do this every day, with his fast recovery, he wasn't much worried about it.
Naruto got up, his body aching in pain. But there was a slight refreshment he felt, which he had never felt before. Maybe it was the System, he thought. But it was the accomplishment of something for the first time, in his life.
He entered the shop and sat at the table at the counter. Seeing their regular, lovely customer, Ayame came out of the kitchen.
"Hey Naruto-kun,…how are you doing? It's surprising you didn't visit for 2 entire days." She asked, putting on her gloves to start preparing the noodles. She knew what he would ask for, so she didn't waste time making him wait.
"Well,…I was busy." He said, as his hands tightened the headband. Ayame hadn't noticed it before, since she was questioning him about his absence for 2 days. And now that she saw it, she immediately called her father.
"Wah~, Naruto-kun,…you are a Genin now?" She asked him, ruffling his hair and pinching his cheek. Naruto just chuckled. He liked it here. It felt like home.
Tuechi smiled, brightly as usual. But today, there was even more joy on his face. The ramen shop had been one of the places where he hadn't been treated as an outcast.
Both father and daughter congratulated him on graduating. He wanted to tell them that he hadn't become a Genin yet, and that there was still a test pending, but he didn't want their smiles to fade,…or rather, he was comforting himself by not saying it out loud.
"Well, this calls for a celebration!" Ayame said as she closed the curtains of the shop and headed to the kitchen. "I will prepare your favourite ramen, with extra fried chicken." As she said so, Tuechi started to prepare the noodles.
"Ne~, Ayame-nee, give me extra vegetables, not fried chicken," Naruto said and both the adults looked at each other and him, confused.
"What? You? And more vegetables?" Ayame snickered. She thought Naruto was joking, messing with them as usual.
"Yes. I should start eating better now. I am not just a student anymore, after all." Naruto said, his expression sincere.
In all honesty, he was going to order a full plate of fried meat to eat. But before coming to the shop, the system told him, that his diet should change now,…at least until he is stronger.
His weak body would only weaken if he ate excessively fried food. So, until his body's functioning is tailored to his stamina and vigor, he would have to follow a healthy diet.
And, he wouldn't even comply, if he had not felt how weak he was while exercising.
Ayame looked at Naruto for a while and smiled. Just after graduating, Naruto already seemed different. As if,…he was growing,…as a person.
She was preparing two bowls of ramen for him. As soon as she gave him the first bowl, he dug in right away.
Until the bowl was empty, Naruto's growling stomach had calmed down. As he sat there, watching the other two prepare another bowl, his mind drifted to the incident in the park. Since he had been exercising, almost like he was dying, his mind didn't jump to that time.
But with an empty mind, a full stomach, and a saddened heart, he was back in the whirlwind of thoughts. Naruto's expressions dimmed.
Ayame, who was coming to him with the ramen bowl noticed his expression. She wouldn't be surprised or worried if it were someone else, but Naruto was an exception. Him being saddened at the ramen shop, at that when another bowl was pending was nearly impossible.
She kept the bowl in front of him, but he didn't even notice. "Naruto-kun?"
Naruto woke up from his stupor. "Huh! Yeah!?" He asked and then noticed the bowl. His face lit up again, a bit. Naruto began eating the food. But Ayame was still not done.
"Did something happen? You seemed really sad just now." Ayame asked, worry shrouding her voice.
"Wha-? No, nothing happened." Naruto replied, with his usual wide, foxy grin. But Ayame knew he was trying to lie.
"Then, what were you thinking about, with such sad look? As if, you would cry immediately?" She asked again, her voice stronger, as if demanding a truthful answer.
Naruto grunted. "Well, the thing is..." Naruto explained what happened during their lunch break in the park. Ayame listened to him carefully.
Naruto ate his ramen quietly after that. Ayame waited till he finished his food and once he did, she began speaking.
"I see. That's really sad." Ayame said as she looked at Naruto's face. It seemed, Sakura's words had hurt him quiet badly.
"Ok, Naruto-kun,...here's an idea!" Ayame said, cheerfully. She didn't like seeing Naruto sad in the shop, since he endured it enough outside. Plus, helping this troubled fox, more so, in terms of love was her dose of stress relief. So when the chance walked right into her embrace, she couldn't and wouldn't refuse.
"Wh...what?" Naruto had become accustomed to get alerted, whenever Ayame exuded this...unstable aura. As if,...she was crazy.
"I will ask you a few question and you have to answer honestly. Without any lies or filtering them. And you have to swear on our Ramen shop to not lie!" Ayame said, poking his face with the ramen bowl.
Naruto growled in submission. He exhaled,...worried but the tension was washing away now.
"Then, let's start. What do you like most in the world?" She asked. When the question was asked, Naruto thought it was as easy to answer as it sounded. But no. He was troubled. There were so many things, some people, so many places. He couldn't decide.
"Don't think too much. Just answer any 'thing', not a person." Ayame cleared his confusion, since it was so blatantly visible on his face.
"Then, Ramen!!" Naruto answered quicker than anyone else could. Despite excluding people, there were still so many things he liked, yet Ramen stood untouched in comparison.
"Great! Now, why do you like it?" Ayame asked, immediately, after his answer.
And as expected, Naruto didn't even wait a breath before answering, "Because it tastes good!"
"You are doing good!" Ayame responded. Then she looked at Naruto, who was delighted to have answered correctly.
"Now, WHO do you like?" Ayame asked, emphasizing the only word. Naruto scrunched his face, thinking hard. He had a few people in his life whom he liked very much. But it was difficult to choose, since they were equally important. But this was a game, so he decided to be bold and choose one person.
"I like the old man a lot. Since he gives me an allowance!" Naruto said, crackling a laugh after answering. However, what he couldn't say was, 'Because he was the first to consider me normal and human'
But that thought needed no words to be expressed. It wasn't a secret that the Third adored and cared for the kid.
"Alright! Now, this brings us close to the end of this game!" Ayame said, in a very energetic and cheerful tone,...maybe even overpowering Naruto.
Naruto got excited too, leaning to and fro.
"Who do you LOVE?" She asked. And even to Naruto, his only three brain cells could understand the meaning of that question. And with how Ayame emphasized the word, rather than question...it was specific enough.
Naruto's face lost its cheer and dropped. He opened his mouth twice, thrice, and kept closing it. Finally, tightening his grip on the ramen bowl, he muttered in a low whisper. "Sakura-chan..."
He hated himself for saying that. It felt like his heart, head, and ego had all been stepped on. But what he hated more was, the one stepping on them wasn't even aware. And he didn't want to retaliate about it. Nor the stepping nor the ignorance. He felt pathetic, angry, and sad.
"Right" Ayame said, calmly. Her tone shift wasn't jarring or alerting. It made Naruto feel 'understood'.
"And why do you like her so much?" She asked. Her eyes didn't have that scheming glint anymore. It had a calmness and understanding, that meant she was serious.
Naruto sat there, not moving. He couldn't really think of a reason. He always declared to the world how he loved Sakura. Even to her. Despite being neglected or straight out rejected, he never changed that statement. He was always firm about it. And even after her harsh words, he couldn't bring himself to,...hate her.
Sure he was angry and even frustrated enough to never tell her he loved her. But that didn't change the fact.
"I don't know." He reached that conclusion. "I don't why. But I know I do." He said, his eyes still as pure as before. Maybe purer.
Ayame smiled, lightly. "That's it then! You have your answer!" Ayame said, smiling ear to ear. However, a confused Naruto sat there, scratching his head and eyes juggling like balls.
"Wasn't this a game? Wouldn't I be a winner? Why am I getting an 'answer' instead of a reward?" Naruto asked, his voice drifting into the void along with his last brain cell.
"Of course it was a game. And the reward is the answer!" Ayame ruffled Naruto's hair. "Didn't you want to know WHAT to do now, since you heard Sakura's thoughts? You don't understand what to do. And you are on the same team, so avoiding each other is not permanent. And even if it was, you can't bring yourself to do so, right? But despite knowing all that, you still don't know what to do." Ayame said, quietly and slowly, letting him absorb everything she said. She knew it was true, but he needed to accept that as well. Right now, he was just delaying those feelings.
"But to know what one should do, they need to understand why one needs to do that. And in your case, you need to understand WHY you love Sakura. And trust me, once you understand that, you won't feel conflicted about matters, such as today. So, from now on, you need to understand, whether you love her. And if you do, then why?" Ayame said as she stood up and cleared the table. She walked away with the bowls, but left Naruto with a relaxed mind, but a heavy heart.
'So,... It's possible I don't like her?' The very thought scared him. If it were true, then what would he do,...after doing so many embarrassing things!?
'You even sang a song for her!!!!' the angry Naruto hit, mentally. 'In front of everyone in the academy at that!!' the idiot Naruto kicked. And the Romantic Naruto fell to the ground from these attacks, tears flowing from his eyes, as he kept muttering 'No, I love her. I do.'
Outside, Naruto had become dysfunctional. Ayame tapped his forehead with her knuckles and brought him back to the world. "Don't think too much. I am not saying you don't 'LOVE' her. It's a possibility. But if you do, then you need to find the reason for it. Else, you would never be able to confront her about today nor make her see your way."
His eyes opened wider, but this time, no miniature of himself tortured his mind. 'I still don't understand it well,...but somehow, I feel motivated.' Naruto thought.
'Fine! So, until I find the REASON, I won't bother Sakura-chan!!' Naruto thought.
[I do not appreciate you wasting time on such ridiculous tasks. This will only hinder your training and goal.]
The system notified him, but Naruto swept away the screen. 'No,...it won't.' He said, but the System didn't believe in Naruto's words. Because, for it, the task of unraveling Naruto's potential and achieving that potential was the most important one.
And so, it decided it could only hasten the process of Naruto's folly.
[Fine. So, I suggest you try to avoid this girl, Sakura, until you find your answers. That way, you will be able to focus on both your training and able to understand your feelings. Since feelings can easily dwindle if you are unable to think straight. And that girl can make your mind go haywire with just talking to you.]
Of course, the system had no proof for its suggestion, nor did it believe that it would work. That suggestion was solely focused on making Naruto avoid unnecessary engagements and only focus on getting stronger.
But with only text, Naruto wasn't able to understand that, as he nodded his head with an understanding look. As if, what the system said was the golden rule, blood-carved formula to success.
"As you say!" Happy and filled with confidence, Naruto left marching towards the library.