Naruto Wants Ramen, No, Exchange It For a Wife

"If you dare to bully others or give people mean nicknames again, I'll beat you up. Do you hear me?" Chiya hadn't used excessive force, just enough to give them nosebleeds. After a long while, once they had cried their fill, he spoke with a wicked grin.

As the saying goes, it takes a brat to deal with a brat.

If an adult had intervened, they would only have been afraid for a moment before scoffing at it a few days later.

Only by being dealt with by someone even more of a "brat" would they actually learn their lesson.

"We heard you, waaaah!"

Hearing Chiya's words, the three boys looked up and saw that playful, even more mischievous smile on his fair face. They shivered instinctively and answered in unison through their tears.

It wasn't until Chiya stopped looking at them that they scrambled away in a panic, crying at the top of their lungs as if they wished their parents had given them an extra pair of legs to run faster.

At this moment, Hyuga Hinata still had tears in the corners of her eyes, looking at the boy who had suddenly appeared like a hero to save her.

For some reason, a sense of familiarity welled up in her heart.

It felt as if she had met him somewhere before.

Summoning her courage, she walked up to Chiya, her face flushed red, and gave a graceful bow. "Um... thank you."

"No need to thank me." Chiya formed a hand seal with his right hand, and with a poof, the smoke cleared, and he returned to his original form.

Watching Chiya suddenly grow larger, that inexplicable sense of familiarity surged in Hinata's heart again, and she couldn't help but ask, "Um, have we met somewhere before?"

"It seems you do remember. Two years ago, that winter day, you were lost in the snow. How about it? Do you remember?" Chiya crouched down halfway and asked with a light smile.

"You're the big brother who walked me home." Hearing this, familiar images instantly flooded into Hinata's mind, and she exclaimed in excitement.

Chiya nodded and gently patted the little girl's head.

Hinata immediately lowered her head in shyness.

Chiya turned his head to glance at the male ninja with the same pure white eyes standing at the end of the road.

He then looked at the little yellow-haired boy hiding behind a tree not far away.

He said softly to Hinata, "Little girl, you are a child of the Hyuga clan and possess the Byakugan; you should have been receiving formal ninja training since you were young."

"Why couldn't you handle those few brats?"

"Remember, the next time you encounter a situation like this, don't shrink back and don't cry. You must learn to fight back."

"The help of others is only temporary; no one can protect you for your entire life."

"Blindly yielding and showing weakness will not solve any problems."

"If you want to protect what you cherish, you must learn to take the initiative."

"Alright, I have things to do. See you next time."

After saying this, Chiya turned around and slowly disappeared from Hinata's sight without looking back.

A while later, the Hyuga clan chunin ran over and said nervously, "Young Miss, why did you sneak out again? What if you had run into bad people? It's a good thing that person didn't do anything. Also, you didn't get close to that yellow-haired brat, did you? The Clan Head has ordered that we must not..."

Facing the guard's nagging, Hinata didn't pay the slightest attention. She only kept her gaze on the spot where Chiya had disappeared, behind whom a yellow-haired boy was still sneakily following. She whispered in her heart, "See you next time, big brother."

After this day, Hinata changed her timid and shy personality.

Her interest in practicing the Gentle Fist suddenly soared. In addition to completing the training tasks assigned by her father every day, she would practice extra in private.

Whenever she encountered something she didn't understand, she would ask her father immediately.

This left Hyuga Hiashi, who was responsible for teaching Hinata the Gentle Fist, both surprised and gratified.

During an assessment, after discovering that Hinata had made significant progress, he—usually a stern man—actually gave a rare compliment to this daughter he had previously looked down upon.

Having received her father's praise, Hinata was overjoyed and trained even harder.

Eventually, she gradually caught up to Hyuga Neji, who was hailed as a genius.

Of course, that is a story for another time.

On the other side, Chiya had returned the way he came and arrived at Ichiraku Ramen.

Ding, congratulations to the host for completing the mission. Reward: Earth Style chakra nature transformation.

"At least my breath wasn't wasted." Hearing the system prompt in his ears, the corners of Chiya's mouth curled up slightly.

He then glanced behind him.

There, a yellow-haired brat was using the clumsiest hiding technique imaginable, ducking behind a utility pole and poking his head out to watch from time to time.

Seeing Chiya turn around, the yellow-haired boy immediately shrank back, feeling guilty.

"Come out. You've been following me the whole way; aren't you tired?" Chiya sighed with utter helplessness.

"Nii-san, do you remember me? I'm Naruto. Uzumaki Naruto." Hearing this, Naruto walked out from behind the utility pole with a sheepish grin.

"Of course I remember," Chiya said.

Come to think of it, the two of them had met two years ago when he walked Hinata home.

Originally, the person who should have walked Hinata home was Naruto, who was wandering the streets because he had no family.

But because of Chiya's intrusion, the two of them never met.

This time was no exception.

If Chiya had not intervened, Naruto would have stepped forward just as he did in the original story to save Hinata, only to be beaten to a pulp.

On his way back, Chiya had run into Naruto and, seeing how pitiful he looked, treated him to a bowl of ramen.

He had not expected the boy to remember it even now.

Hearing this, Naruto's pale blue eyes immediately brimmed with excitement and thrill, the joy on his face impossible to conceal.

Because Chiya was the first person in his life, aside from the Third Hokage, who had not looked at him with strange, judgmental eyes.

The owner of Ichiraku Ramen was the second.

Just then, Naruto's stomach let out a loud growl.

"You haven't been eating properly again, have you?" Chiya looked at Naruto.

Naruto's small face flushed red. He rubbed his stomach in embarrassment and turned his head toward the brightly lit Ichiraku Ramen shop beside Chiya, his throat bobbing as he swallowed hard.

"I knew it. Let's go in; I'll treat you to some ramen." Chiya cast an imperceptible glance at the Anbu ninja hidden in the shadows monitoring Naruto, then led the way into Ichiraku Ramen.

Naruto froze for a moment, his face instantly lighting up with excitement and gratitude, and he hurried to follow him inside.

In the shadows, one of the Anbu ninjas responsible for monitoring Naruto said, "Someone is making contact with the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki. Should we report this to the Hokage?"

The other Anbu replied, "No need. The kid probably just feels sorry for the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki and is treating him to a meal. Let's wait and see for now."

"Yo, it's young master Chiya! How come you didn't come with your little girlfriend today? What would you like to eat?" Ichiraku greeted them with a smile.

"Give him a bowl of tonkotsu ramen." Chiya pointed at Naruto, who had followed him in, and took out the few coins he had left, placing them on the table. "Uncle Ichiraku, please give him a bowl every day from now on. This money should be enough to last him until after the New Year."

"Naruto, is it?" Ichiraku's usually squinted eyes opened wide for a rare moment. He looked at Naruto with a complex expression, recalling the scene from two years ago when Chiya had brought Naruto here for ramen. Thinking of Chiya's own background, he couldn't help but sigh, "Young master Chiya, you really are a good person."

Chiya smiled faintly and was about to leave when Naruto's young, expectant voice rang in his ears, "Big Brother Chiya, aren't you going to eat?"

"No, I have an appointment." Chiya shook his head; Izumi was waiting for him to have New Year's Eve dinner. He turned and left without looking back.

Naruto was left standing there in a daze, but soon, his thoughts were completely captured by the fragrant aroma of the Ichiraku Ramen.

Today was destined to be a wonderful day for Naruto.

Although he had lost the chance to encounter his future wife, he had gained a New Year's worth of ramen.