"Is it… someone from the Hyuga Clan in the Village?"
Uzumaki Naruto asked as if to confirm, though he already knew the answer.
Those distinctive white eyes—and the insults those kids had been hurling just now—said everything.
Besides, he had known her identity for a long time.
Hyuga Hinata nodded gently, her hands still nervously twisting the corner of her clothes.
"Y-Yes," she replied softly.
Seeing how timid she looked, something in Naruto's chest softened.
He planted his hands on his hips, puffed out his chest, and struck what he clearly thought was a dependable pose.
"Listen up! If anyone dares to bully you again, just come find me!"
He jabbed his thumb at his own chest, a confident grin spreading across his face.
"I'll help you get payback. I never break my word—that's my ninja way!"
That blunt, passionate promise was like a warm current cutting through the anxiety in Hinata's heart.
She had originally planned to politely refuse—don't trouble yourself was already on the tip of her tongue.
But looking at the blond boy in front of her, who had charged in like a hero and now stood firmly on her side, and feeling the unquestionable sincerity in his words, she swallowed the refusal.
A faint blush crept onto her cheeks. She lowered her head again, her voice still soft, but warmer than before.
"Th… thank you."
"You're welcome!"
Naruto waved his hand, his tone firm and unwavering.
"I'm the guy who's going to become Hokage!"
He paused, as if stating something self-evident, then continued with his straightforward logic.
"I absolutely won't let anyone bully people in the Village! Protecting everyone here—that's the Hokage's job, right?"
A glimmer of idealism shone in his blue eyes, yet his words carried a clarity and sense of boundaries far beyond his age.
"If someone bullies people in the Village for no reason, even if they're from the Village themselves, that's still not okay! In my book, anyone who hurts their own people isn't really part of the Village until they truly change.
"So if anyone bullies you, you have to tell me. I'll help you—and I'll drag those guys back onto the right path too!"
The words were simple and direct, spoken with conviction, yet they carried a unique sense of justice that struck deeply into Hinata's heart.
She looked up at the boy who seemed to glow against the falling snow, feeling for the first time that the distant idea of "Hokage" had become something warm and real.
Over the years, Naruto had grown used to playing the role of a sunny, optimistic Uzumaki Naruto—someone desperate for acknowledgment—under the watchful eyes of the Anbu dispatched by the Sandaime to monitor him.
Those declarations full of the Will of Fire had originally been carefully honed performances, meant for the unseen eyes and ears lurking in the shadows.
But as time went on, those words came more and more naturally.
Naruto didn't truly believe in the version of the Will of Fire reshaped after the Second Hokage's death—under the Sandaime's rule, even children were sent to the battlefield, which completely contradicted the First Hokage's original intent for founding the Village.
Still, at this moment, standing before a girl who thanked him so sincerely, he was willing to believe every word he had just said.
"O… okay."
Hinata replied softly.
Naruto's talk of becoming Hokage and protecting the Village was like a warm seed quietly taking root in her heart. As she looked at the blond boy standing in the snow, she felt as though he really was shining.
"Hehe!"
Naruto put his hands on his hips, clearly pleased with her response, and broke into a wide grin, revealing two neat rows of teeth.
Against the snowy backdrop, his smile looked dazzling.
But before it could last more than a few seconds—
Gurgle—
A very untimely sound rang out clearly from his stomach, unusually loud in the snow-muted silence.
Naruto froze mid-laugh, then scratched his bright blond hair in embarrassment.
He really was hungry. He'd just finished training, and it was already late.
Whatever little food he'd eaten earlier had long since been burned away.
Still, he clapped his hands together, eyes lighting up as he looked at Hinata and made a warm invitation.
"Ahaha… well, it's almost dinner time, and it's freezing out here!"
He pointed up at the still-falling snow, trying to make his suggestion sound casual.
"How about we go get a hot bowl of ramen together? I know a place—Ichiraku Ramen is amazing!"
Before Hinata could even think about refusing, Naruto grabbed her hand and started pulling her toward Ichiraku Ramen.
---
Almost at the same time Naruto happily dragged Hinata down the street, several figures hidden beneath eaves and within snow-covered thickets exchanged silent glances.
Without a word, one of the masked shinobi from Anbu vanished in a flicker, gliding across the rooftops like drifting smoke as he rushed toward the Hokage Office Building.
Inside the office, the Third Hokage—Hiruzen Sarutobi—sat with a pipe between his lips, thin curls of smoke rising into the air.
Within the crystal ball before him, the Telescope Technique clearly replayed everything that had just happened.
From Naruto's snowball strike, to his forceful declaration, to the pure smile he wore as he invited the Hyuga Clan's daughter out for ramen.
When the Anbu knelt and gave a brief report, the Sandaime merely nodded, his gaze never leaving the crystal ball. A trace of relief flickered in his eyes.
"Mm. I understand. You may go."
The Anbu withdrew, and the office fell silent once more.
The Sandaime slowly exhaled, white smoke drifting lazily through the room.
Naruto's performance today had fully met his expectations—perhaps even exceeded them.
Sunny, cheerful… and more importantly, that instinctive sense of protecting his companions and treating "defending the Village" as his own responsibility was exactly what he had been trying to cultivate.
Yet amid that relief, another detail caught his eye.
Naruto's winter clothes were clearly too small—his cuffs and pant legs left gaps where the cold could seep in.
Combined with long-term Anbu reports stating that "villagers generally avoid contact with the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki," a harsher reality replaced his initial assumption of simple childish carelessness.
These clothes are too small… and he doesn't even change them.
The thought came automatically—then he realized the truth.
No… it's not that he doesn't know to change them. It's that the shopkeepers probably won't sell to him.
A dull headache formed, mixed with helplessness—and a faint, hard-to-name guilt.
He tapped his pipe against the edge of his desk, knocking loose the ash, as though also tapping through his tangled thoughts.
At last, he made a decision.
Perhaps it was time to increase Naruto's living allowance.
At the very least, the child should be warm and well-fed. He was already at the age where he could make friends—he should have a bit more spending money.
Tonight, the Sandaime decided, I'll personally deliver him a properly fitting winter coat.
Under the pretense of bringing clothes, he could not only improve Naruto's living conditions, but also personally acknowledge his actions today—strengthening their bond and further reinforcing Naruto's sense of belonging to the Village.