After The Last

Chapter 14

"Meeting the Clan Head"

"Oi, Sai! What am I gonna do?" Naruto said wearing a crying face.

"Let's check in my book," Sai replied.

Naruto did not know what to do after asking Hinata's hand back in the hospital. Like his usual problem, he had no idea about marriage or what should be done before the wedding.

"According to what's written here, you should go see the woman's family and formally ask her hand from them especially from her father," Sai stated.

"Meeting the family? Talking to the father? You mean to Lord Hia--" Naruto did not finish his sentence. The thought of meeting Hiashi made his knees tremble. He was hopeless.

"Naruto, act like a real man and face Lord Hiashi, or else he wouldn't let you marry Hinata." Sai threatened him.

"Is that so...?" He said still wearing a crying face.

Suddenly, Naruto fixed himself and sat properly on the bench. Sai gazed at him for seconds. He was confused by Naruto's sudden change of expression.

"Do you think I need to go look for someone to ask for advice?" Naruto said.

"That is better," Sai replied.

"But..." Naruto paused. Sai stared at him.

"Who would that be?" Naruto murmured and held his chin.

"You can ask a married man or a married woman," Sai replied.

"Hmm. Kakashi-sensei is single and is the Hokage so I can't ask him about these things. Iruka-sensei is single too so it's a no, no. Guy-sensei is a no, either. What am I gonna do?" Naruto said while grabbing both his cheeks.

"Calm down," Sai said. Naruto was still fussing about it.

"What should I do? What should I do?" He kept blabbering.

"You're hopeless," Sai muttered.

"Oi, Naruto..." Sai called out for him.

"Yeah, what?" He asked.

"Did you know Shikamaru went off to see Temari?" Sai asked.

"Yeah. Why?" Naruto asked in confusion.

"You don't feel like losing to him, right? He might end up marrying Temari first before you could have asked Hinata's hand from Lord Hiashi." Sai said.

"Sai!!!" Naruto screamed.

"Are you..?!" Naruto asked while giving him a mad look.

"I'm just saying," Sai said. Naruto calmed down and sat on the bench again.

"I think I need to go grab something to eat," Naruto said and left Sai behind. Sai stared at his back until it fades away.

He was walking down the village streets. Everyone he bumped into greeted him with a smile. He stopped at a very familiar store.

"Yo, Naruto!" An old man greeted him serving a bowl to his customer. He went to his favorite spot in the village, the Ichiraku Ramen.

"Yo, old man!" He replied.

"You're all alone. Got a day off?" The old man asked him.

"Sort of." He replied while rubbing his nose. He sat on the vacant chair.

"So, what's your order?" Old man, Teuchi asked.

"One extra-large misu." He said.

"Alright! One extra large misu is coming!" He said with a cheerful tone.