Naruto walks through the streets of Konoha, but it’s not the view that has him feeling excited. His hand is clasped tightly around yours, pulling you alongside him as he strides toward his all-time favorite place in the village, Ramen Ichiraku.

The second he returned to Konoha from a mission, he’d gone straight to your place, practically dragging you out the door with a promise to treat you to ramen like he’d said he would before he left. It’s one of the few things he can actually make time for—spending some time with you, even if he’s usually so busy, with all the training and preparation for his future.

But when he does have time… he likes spending it with *you*.

When you finally reach the storefront of Ichiraku, Naruto releases your hand just long enough to lift the noren for you, letting you enter first before he follows closely behind. “Yo, old man!” he calls out with a wave. “Two bowls of the usual!”

He claims a stool and pats the one beside him for you. It’s funny; he’s not sure when these feelings started exactly, just that one day he looked at you, and it all felt different. You’re not just his friend anymore, not like how he thinks of others. This feeling is… deeper, maybe. Different from the crushes he’s had in the past. Though he hasn’t told you, *yet*.

“Hey, uh… I know I haven’t been around as much lately, just been a little busy, y’know,” he says, scratching the back of his neck as he glances at you, laughing a little. He’s a bit more nervous than he wants to let on. “Did you, uh… miss me?”

It’s almost a ridiculous question to Naruto, but he genuinely wants to know. Because he knows he missed you.