Naruto

"Uncle Teuchi, I want a large bowl of pork chashu ramen!"

"Coming right up, Naruto!"

When Teuchi saw Naruto, he couldn't help but smile. His smile was warm. Then he turned around briskly and began preparing Naruto's ramen.

Naruto carefully walked to the seat at the very end, then gave a little hop and climbed onto it.

He really liked this noodle shop. Ever since the first time he had come here, he had never forgotten it.

The ramen here tasted amazing. It was absolutely unlike anything Naruto had ever had before. And the shop's owner, Uncle Teuchi, treated him differently from other people too.

He had never scolded Naruto, never looked down on him, and had never once treated him like trouble or a disaster.

Sometimes Naruto didn't know whether what he liked was the taste of this place, or Uncle Teuchi's warm attitude toward him.

Of course, he figured the taste was probably more important. Ichiraku Ramen was definitely the most delicious food he had ever eaten.

So whenever he received his monthly living expenses from the Third Hokage, he would come here right away. Or if there was something worth celebrating, he would choose to come here too.

"Here, Naruto. Your large bowl of pork chashu ramen."

Before long, Teuchi had finished the ramen. Still smiling, he served it to Naruto.

By now, the other customers in the shop had left one after another. Only a young man and woman remained seated off to the side. With seats open, quite a few passersby had originally been planning to come in.

But when they saw Naruto inside the shop, they couldn't help showing disgust, and then they all left one by one.

Clearly, Naruto's presence made them very unhappy. It also held up Teuchi's business.

But Teuchi didn't care about it at all. Instead, happy for the break, he left the stall-cleaning to Ayame, leaned against the counter, and started chatting with Naruto.

"Naruto, did something good happen? I remember you only came by at the start of the month. Why are you here again today?"

"That's because something happy happened!"

As Naruto picked up his chopsticks, he stared at the ramen in front of him with drool in his mouth. He expertly snapped the chopsticks apart, then began eating impatiently.

"Thanks for the food! Mmm, it's so good!"

"Slow down. Don't burn yourself."

Seeing Naruto like that, Teuchi couldn't help shaking his head. After thinking for a moment, he simply stood up and started cooking more noodles, asking as he worked.

"You still haven't said what's worth being so happy about."

"It's like this—I got quite a few real friends!"

Naruto spoke unclearly while wolfing down his food, but he looked especially proud.

"Today, when Shikamaru, Choji, and I were in class, we went out to play. Choji didn't dare to at first, but I still pulled him up, and Choji even shared his potato chips with me.

"Even though we got punished later, I'm still really happy. I finally have real good friends!"

"Hey, hey, come on. You guys were skipping class!"

Listening from the side, Ayame couldn't help pursing her lips. Whether it was because she had heard about what happened at the Ninja Academy, or because Naruto's arrival had affected business, she didn't look very pleased.

The young man and woman sitting off to the side looked at Naruto in astonishment. They hadn't expected to hear news like that.

"And if you keep going like this, whether you'll even graduate and become a ninja in the future is another matter."

"All right, that's all for later."

Ayame's words made Naruto a little anxious, but before Naruto could open his mouth to argue, Uncle Teuchi smiled and spoke, cutting off the bickering between Naruto and his daughter in advance.

Then he scooped up the freshly cooked ramen and some sliced meat and put them into Naruto's bowl. Under Naruto's puzzled gaze, he smiled and said, "But for now, congratulations, Naruto. You're one step closer to your dream. Keep it up!"

"Mm, thank you, Uncle Teuchi! I'll definitely have more friends, I'll definitely become Hokage, and I'll definitely get everyone to acknowledge me!"

Looking at the ramen in his bowl, Naruto became even happier. He didn't know why, but his eyes felt so sore.

"Little guy, let me ask you something." But just then, a voice suddenly came from the side.

There was no strange emotion in that voice. Although it wasn't as gentle as Teuchi's, it was still enough to surprise Naruto.

"Huh?" Naruto turned his head and saw a handsome big brother wearing a Konoha forehead protector looking at him. "What question, big brother?"

"You just said you wanted to become Hokage, right?" The handsome black-haired man smiled, looking very friendly.

That kindness made Naruto's heart speed up without him realizing it, but he still nodded with a serious face. "Mm!"

"Then, is it someone who becomes Hokage who can gain everyone's acknowledgment?" The black-haired man's smile grew even brighter. "Or is it someone who has gained everyone's acknowledgment who can become Hokage?"

"Hey, are you sick or something?" The handsome black-haired big brother had only just finished speaking when the pretty older sister sitting beside him suddenly opened her mouth. "He's so little. How could he understand that? Just eat your ramen!"

"Oh." The handsome black-haired big brother pursed his lips. In the end, he still smiled and nodded at Naruto, then lowered his head and quickly started eating.

Naruto was a little stunned. The handsome big brother's question had looked very simple, and it had looked like both sides were the same.

But Naruto kept feeling that there was a huge difference hidden inside. He just didn't seem able to understand it right now. Even so, he firmly remembered those words.

Lowering his head, Naruto quickly started eating his ramen. After he happily finished it, he realized that the big brother and older sister beside him had already left.

The entire ramen shop had only him left as well. When other people saw him, they had originally thought of coming in, but in the end, they still chose to leave.

Naruto was already used to this kind of thing, though. He stood up, then took out his money and handed it to Teuchi.

"No need, Naruto." The result Naruto hadn't expected was that Teuchi actually shook his head.

"Old man, that won't do." But Naruto had no intention of taking advantage of him in the slightest. He shook his head hard and said it.

"All right, do you think I'm the kind of person who takes a loss?" Teuchi smiled as he pushed Naruto's money back to him, then pointed at the empty seats where the young man and woman from just now had been and said, "The person who was talking to you just now already paid for you, so don't worry about it."

"That Big Brother?" Naruto looked at the empty seat and could not help murmuring to himself.

From that Big Brother, Naruto had felt an attitude toward him that was different from other people's.

He had only treated him as an ordinary person, but even that left Naruto deeply moved in his heart.

For some reason, Naruto felt the corners of his eyes sting, but he still forced down the feeling and raised his head to look at Teuchi.

"Old man, what's that Big Brother's name?"

"Him? If I remember correctly, I think his name was Uchiha Habara."