“Welcome…” Today, nearly every customer who came to Ichiraku Ramen felt as though they were hallucinating.
Wasn’t that shy-looking little boy standing by the entrance to the ramen shop a member of the Uchiha clan?
Since when had that proud Uchiha clan started sending their children out to work?!
Time slowly passed.
The sun sank toward the horizon, and the afterglow of sunset spread across the heavens and earth, draping everything in a layer of golden-red radiance.
Although Sasuke had spent the entire day working as the male greeter, he still felt rather embarrassed.
What he didn’t know was that his shy demeanor had attracted countless female customers to Ichiraku Ramen.
Most of them had come specifically to catch a glimpse of the adorable, bashful little Uchiha boy.
“Finally, we’re off!” The customers gradually left.
Ino and the others rubbed their shoulders before gathering around a table to enjoy some well-earned leisure after a full day’s work.
“I’m exhausted!” Sasuke also sat there listlessly.
After smiling for an entire day, he felt as though his face had nearly gone numb.
“Well, thanks to Sasuke, we had a lot more customers than usual today!” Ino covered her mouth and giggled.
“And most of them were female customers.
Looks like Sasuke is pretty popular!” “…” Sasuke’s expression stiffened.
He suddenly remembered being teased by some of the more daring female customers.
It had been nothing short of a nightmare.
“Tch, those people have terrible taste.
How can they like Sasuke that much?
Am I not handsome too?!” Kiba said, sounding slightly jealous.
Why hadn’t anyone noticed how handsome he was despite working here for so many days?
Was this simply the price of being a prodigy?
“Because you’re not cute at all compared to Sasuke!” Shikamaru immediately exposed the truth.
“From what I’ve observed, most mature women seem to prefer cute boys like Sasuke who get easily embarrassed.
As for someone as energetic as you, your popularity is nowhere near Sasuke’s when he’s going for the cute-boy look!” “I’m back…” Sakura appeared in front of everyone with Naruto in tow.
Naruto was carrying a backpack containing the fruits of their day’s work.
“What exactly did you go off to do?” Ino asked curiously.
“Well, that’s a secret for now!” Sakura said mysteriously.
She then grabbed Naruto and Sasuke and hurried toward the second floor of the shop.
“Seriously, what’s gotten into Sakura today?
She’s acting so strangely…” Ino muttered helplessly.
In the upstairs rest room, Sakura took the backpack from Naruto, opened it, and pulled out several pieces of clothing and accessories, laying them out.
“All right, this is it.
Go ahead and change into these so I can see how they look on you.
I’ll also teach you exactly what you need to do!” Sakura spoke with obvious anticipation.
She immediately pushed Sasuke toward the bed and pulled the curtain closed, leaving him to change inside.
Sasuke felt extremely awkward.
There was something about these clothes that just didn’t seem right.
But when he thought about his big brother, he steeled himself.
Come on.
No matter what happens, as long as I can make Big Brother change his mind… [Image] More than ten minutes later, Sasuke finally pushed the curtain aside and emerged, his face bright red.
Wearing these clothes made him feel incredibly embarrassed.
“Mm…” Sakura covered her nose with one hand and took several steps backward.
A young Sasuke in this bashful state, combined with this outfit, was almost unfairly cute.
“Perfect.
Wear it exactly like this.
Your expression is perfect too.
Now you just need to remember two lines…” After composing herself, Sakura stroked her chin and began instructing Sasuke on his lines and the expressions he would need to use.
A few minutes later, after Sasuke nodded to show that he understood and demonstrated everything on the spot, Sakura finally nodded in satisfaction and told him to go change back into his normal clothes.
“Sasuke…” “What is it?” Sasuke turned around in confusion.
Paired with his outfit, the expression on his face had an inexplicably adorable quality.
Click!
Sakura lowered her camera, completely satisfied with the candid shot she had just captured.
“Nothing.
Go change your clothes.” Sasuke couldn’t figure out what Sakura was up to, so he could only go change while still wearing a puzzled expression.
After putting away her camera, Sakura turned around and saw Naruto staring in Sasuke’s direction, completely dumbfounded.
“Naruto?!” “Ah—w-what is it?!” Naruto finally came back to his senses after Sakura tapped him on the forehead.
His expression was somewhat dazed.
“What were you spacing out about just now?” Sakura asked.
“Sakura… is he actually a boy or a girl?” Naruto asked with great difficulty.
The sight of Sasuke just now had left him deeply confused.
“Of course he’s a boy!” Sakura laughed.
“But the way he looked just now is the classic case of a male cross-dresser—he looks like a girl, but he’s still a boy!” “That… that’s kind of scary…” Naruto shuddered.
The thought that the person he’d just seen looking like that was actually a boy sent a chill down his spine.
By the time Sasuke finished changing and came back out, Uncle Teuchi and the others had already prepared dinner.
At this moment, nine of the future Konoha Twelve had gathered together for the first time.
After dinner, everyone headed home.
Hinata was escorted away by members of the Hyūga clan, while Sasuke nervously hugged his backpack and returned to the Uchiha clan compound.
“Honey, don’t you think Sasuke was acting a little strange today?” Mikoto Uchiha watched Sasuke run straight into his room as soon as he got home.
“He seemed a little nervous.” “He’s just a child.
Of course he’s going to have some little thoughts and secrets of his own!” Fugaku Uchiha waved his hand dismissively.
“As long as the boy doesn’t grow up as early as Itachi did, it’ll be fine!” The moment the subject came up, Fugaku and Mikoto both fell silent.
Their eldest son, Itachi Uchiha, was simply far too mature.
As parents, they had hardly ever experienced the satisfaction of watching him behave like an ordinary child.
They could only hope that Sasuke wouldn’t turn out like his big brother.
Inside his room, Sasuke clenched his fists and finally made up his mind.
He began changing his clothes.
“I’m home…” That night, Itachi Uchiha returned home beneath the moonlight.
When he saw that Sasuke was nowhere to be found, a puzzled expression appeared on his face.
“Where did Sasuke go?!” [Image] “He’s in his bedroom.
He ran in there as soon as he got home, and he hasn’t come out since!” Fugaku Uchiha sat in the main seat and looked at his eldest son, who was far too composed for his age.
He couldn’t help but sigh inwardly.
It was all because he had placed too many burdens on the boy’s shoulders.
“Itachi, go call Sasuke.
Dinner’s almost ready!” Mikoto Uchiha said as she came out of the kitchen carrying the dishes.
“Okay!” Itachi nodded and headed toward Sasuke’s bedroom.
He was also planning to apologize to Sasuke for standing him up earlier that day.