"Oh, right, Naruto Uzumaki," of course Naruto wouldn't be as rude as a person that reject a pretty girl's introduction. It was absolutely never wrong to hold that delicate hand.

"Eeeh, so which one is your given name, Naruto or Uzumaki?" Tang Tang tilted her head in confusion, she could see that Naruto not the person from this country therefore she didn't know the culture of manner of his name.

Naruto looked startled, although his hair kind of give away his ident.i.ty for being a foreigner but the making on his face appear no different than any of them. Given how smooth he spoke in Chinese, anybody would have a little bit of doubt.

But this girl directly asked him about the mannerism of his name, it mean she had known he is not from her country.

"Naruto is my given name, but you are welcome to call me which ever you like, I don't really care," Naruto lifted the corner of his lips a little bit, this girl named Tang Tang manage to rouse his curiosity.

"Alright, I keep calling you Uzumaki then, I like it better than Naruto," Tang Tang cheerfully laughed, the girl was so highlight in spirit that she resembled a free bird soaring in the sky.

Naruto shrugged, neither hate or love her preference.

"So Uzumaki... which country are you born?" Tang Tang leaned toward the seat on her front while her face smiled at him.

"I give you three option to guess: America, j.a.pan, or Italy?" Naruto curled his lips to the side while teasing her with his eyes.

Tang Tang immediately frowned, her smooth forehead had many wrinkled that proved how deep she gave it a thought.

If Naruto's prediction was correct, based on how the girl knew about his ident.i.ty as the foreigner, she would give him the answer he already expected.

"Neither..." she said after quite sometime, her eyes still declined to her lap because she not really sure about her own answer. Naruto chuckled with his eyes brightened with amus.e.m.e.nt.

"How come you answer like that, I gave you the three option not without reason..." Naruto pretended to snort as if he dissatisfied with her response.

"Well, because it's hard to approximately guess your origin..." she knitted the spot between her eyes while not budging her brown iris from his face.

"j.a.panese people mostly had known for their small eyes or slanted one, but yours is bright wide, adding the cerulean iris of your eyeball, you closely resembled American people but they had a high cheekbone that you certainly don't possess, um, Italian I am not so sure since they are very varied from many culture and region, my best bet is actually that but my guts tell me you not from it either, thus neither is my solid answer.

Of course you could possibly really from among those countries, it just impossible for me to pin point it only from your physical feature..." she said in a tone full of doubt.

Naruto stayed his eyes for quite sometimes at the girl before he redirected it to the view outside the window beside him, their vivid figure was reflected from the limpid surface of the gla.s.s.

"You seemed know quite a bit about people from other country..." he said.

"My mother... is quite a successful person, she tended to bring me to a lot of banquets, thus I met many different kind of people..." she sighed.

Naruto could hear the irritation that are coming from her tone, he wasn't sure whether it because she didn't like a banquet or she's not have a close relations.h.i.+p with her mother. But Naruto won't ask her since it's not his business in regard of her family conflict.

"What are you doing outside school? I thought senior high supposed to be in academy until night..." Naruto glanced to her and expressed the question that had been bugging him since the first meeting.

"How do you know I am a senior?" Tang Tang startled. Although she indeed had grown to have a feminine a.s.set, thanks to her mother, but her height was actually shorter than any women at her age, thus many people wrongly accuse her as a junior.

It's rare for a person like Naruto, who could see that at the first glance.

"Oh, did I get it right? I just randomly said, who knows you actually turn out a senior," Naruto scratched his nose and laughed a bit. To be honest, he wanted to say 'No one before senior high school that had a body like you' but he feared she will see him as a pervert if he said so.

"Eh, lucky guy~" Tang Tang slid her pink natural lips to the side, clearly she was having fun.

"So... back to the question, why you here?" Naruto flashed his smile.

"Hehe, I ditch~" she crawled out her tongue and rubbed the back of her head.

"Why?" the smile on his face never falter.

"Eh, mostly because the lessons are boring, and the teachers are really text book type of people, I almost slept listening to their text-voice speech..." Tang Tang stretched her body while leaning her back to the not comfortable seat, then she seemed remembered something, "oh yeah, except Ms. Lee, her lesson is the only one that I could survive..."

"I take it that you like this Ms. Lee?"

"Yeah, and it is not just me, Ms. Lee taught English and her unconventional way of teaching is fun and awesome thus she gain a lot of popularity in my school!" Tang Tang grinned her l.u.s.ter set of well arranged teeth.

"Then what would Ms. Lee say if she knew you are ditching school like this? Aren't she's going to feel sad?"

"Um..." her grin lost their light almost immediately, replaced by a confuse mask.

"I am not gonna preach you about your own matter, but sometimes we endure the pain because we hate to see the people that close to us are feeling sad," Naruto said in a slow and soft voice, the carefree expression he donned while talk to her make her thought she wasn't being berated.

"I... I know... but..." Tang Tang had a bitter decorated her pretty face.

"Anyway, what you usually do when you ditch? Going to arcade?" Naruto quickly said. The contrast from his previous question is like a storm that flip flop her mind, not that she disliked it, in fact she found it intriguing instead.

"I am going to internet cafe to play LOL!" she nodded excitedly.

"LOL? Laugh Out Loud?" Naruto wrinkled his eyebrows.

"Duh, it's League of Legend, a MOBA game, it's kinda like DOTA, you can say it's the Chinese version of it..." she said while putting one finger on her lips and she glanced upward.

"MOBA? DOTA?" Naruto's face became confused.

"Uzumaki, are you an old man?" Tang Tang had a sweat drop as she felt funny at his countenance, she could see that Naruto was still at 23 or 24 based on his complexion, although he never play the game, at least he should have ever hear about the term before.

Even Ms. Lee knew about DOTA despite she never play.

"Hey, I play video game, OK?!" Naruto twitched his lips.

"Yeah? What do you play? CS: GO? Maybe offline like The Witcher?" Tang Tang genuinely smiled, she didn't want to offend this blonde person.

"Um... does Mine Sweeper and Onet count?"

"..."

Naruto spent the rest of the times talked with Tang Tang about many things, he knew that the young lady didn't play the game alone but meeting up with her friends in the internet cafe, and Tang Tang was amused that he worked in Yu Lei, especially in Public Relation where she heard from many that it was a heaven workplace for a man since all its worker is female.

But the requirement was horrendous, one of her friend's relative tried the test few years back but he outright failed and acted like a zombie for the entire week.

She couldn't help but see Naruto with admiration eyes which made the blonde turned sweating because of the uncomfortable stare.

Soon, the bus arrived at her stop and Tang Tang had an unwilling expression on her face.

"Hey, Uzumaki, I know you are busy, but do you want to hang out sometimes?" she hesitantly asked.

"Wow, a pretty highschooler ask me on a date? I am quite flatter," Naruto smirked.

"What date? Wipe that smug on your face!" Tang Tang blushed, then she abruptly said, "I am talking about playing video game, together with my friends, let's play LOL!"

"Sorry, I got no interest..." Naruto shook his head and blatantly rejected her, he's not even consider it a bit.

"Oh, b.u.mmer... at least can we exchange email?" she huffed and took out her phone, she once again stared at him with expectant eyes.

Naruto went silent before he nodded, he fished out his own from the pants' pocket and a ding sound reverberated afterward.

"Thanks! See you again in the future, Uzumaki!" she stood up, face bright like a sun. She twisted on her feet like a dancing swan then running off to leave the bus.

Naruto just chuckled and his journey continued with the bus' gate closed its gate tight.

(***)

Sky had turned crimson by the time Naruto awoke, he laid on the bed with his stomach and head faced to the side, gazing upon the window of his room. He raised with both hands pressed on the soft mattress and he moved his neck side to side to get the comfortable feeling on the muscle.

Naruto stripped the clothes from his body and put them inside the basket beside his bathroom, he bared-nakedly strolled inside the room to take a cold shower.

He was never a spoiled kid, since the day he learned to wash his own clothes, not once Naruto had other hands touching his attire. But whenever he wanted to do laundry, Auntie w.a.n.g always strongly disagreed with him and took over the activity, she said it was her job to take care of him and Ruoxi, including laundry.

Because of her insistence, Naruto had to give up, and he received a snort from Ruoxi who peeked around the corner for being show off.

Naruto walked out with towel garb and he flipped open his wardrobe. There were many clothes that still reeked with the flavor of new item, that because aside from going to work, Naruto had always wear his old one whenever he went out.

Ruoxi never protest about it, but since they would have a dinner outside later, he thought by wearing the clothes she bought for him, Ruoxi would feel more happy.

Naruto took a set of blue marine suit and a neck bow tie, he spray a delicious smell cologne on his body before he put on the attire. He trimmed his wet hair while whistling in front of a mirror then nodding his head with a satisfied feeling at the sight of a handsome beyond words person that was being reflected.

Tonight he promised himself he will reach a 'Home Run' with Ruoxi, after all, it mean a failure if the date finished with the couple ended up in a different bed.

But of course, Naruto wouldn't make an exaggeration preparation like reserving a high cla.s.s restaurant, first, he certainly didn't have the money, second, he didn't favor the environment.

Yeah sure, they are cla.s.sy, or romantically sweet, but nah, he preferred a casual diner home type.

Or ramen, especially if they served ramen, oh, what wouldn't he give.

As he finished with his preparation, Naruto sat on the chair inside his room and checked his phone, there is several miss call and an email came from Jingjing, the Lee's family only daughter.

Lee Jingjing: Elder brother! Your ramen stall is gone!!! ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?