Naruto Wanted an Eye of God

"Huh? Uncle Shopkeeper, what happened to your eyes?"

The next day, the little blond boy showed up at the bookstore and asked curiously.

Uchiha Arashi was wearing a pair of sunglasses-style goggles.

"I got hurt a little yesterday. And call me big brother!"

Uchiha Arashi replied crossly.

To be honest, it was a little embarrassing. He had changed eyes several times in a very short period, and the two Mangekyo he'd received didn't even belong to him. Between the rejection and his wounds reopening again and again, his body had gone into an intense stress response. When he woke up that morning and saw the sun, his eyes had started streaming tears nonstop, and nothing could make them stop.

With no other choice, Izumi rushed out as fast as she could—well, as fast as an ordinary person could. She violently knocked open the door of the nearest eyeglass shop, dropped a few bills in front of the bewildered shopkeeper, grabbed a pair of sunglasses-style goggles, and ran back.

At last, she'd solved Uchiha Arashi's urgent problem.

"All right, Big Brother Shopkeeper. Be careful! At school, our teacher always reminds us to protect our eyes. The eyes are the most important organs we have!"

Little Naruto said earnestly.

"I hear you. Thanks for the reminder."

Uchiha Arashi smiled and nodded.

"Hehe, actually, I should be the one thanking you..."

Naruto scratched his head and gave him a bright, cheerful smile. With one of his teeth missing—who knew when it had fallen out?—the sight was downright comical.

He felt grateful to Uchiha Arashi, because this was the first time he'd been able to talk to someone without worrying about being hit or scolded. Compared with the way the other villagers treated him, Uchiha Arashi was like an angel in the darkness. For treating him as an equal alone, Naruto felt he ought to thank him properly.

Besides, Uchiha Arashi had given him several books.

"What brings you here today? Have you finished the books I gave you?"

Uchiha Arashi pulled over a chair and sat down in front of Naruto, looking at him curiously.

"Yeah, I've finished them all. They were so good! I stayed up late reading every night."

Naruto nodded vigorously.

"You didn't need to rush through them. Besides, you said yourself that you need to protect your eyes. Don't you know that staying up late to read is bad for them?"

Uchiha Arashi asked.

"I know," Naruto said, nodding again. "But I wanted to finish them quickly so I could talk about the stories with other people. Unfortunately, they still won't talk to me..."

As he spoke, little Naruto lowered his head.

He'd thought that if he read the same books as everyone else, he could make friends with them. But reality had told him otherwise: Don't even think about it. There was no chance.

"I don't know why you're in such a hurry to make friends, but just reading books won't make you friends with someone. Reading is only a hobby. To become friends, you need to share more experiences and get along in terms of personality... Why am I telling you all this? You still haven't said what brought you here today."

Uchiha Arashi knew Naruto's situation all too well, so he stopped before he went on. Anything more would be beyond the scope of the conversation.

"Oh, right! I came to return the books!"

Naruto proudly brought out the books Uchiha Arashi had given him.

Uchiha Arashi took one look and was stunned. They still looked almost brand-new—not even the pages were creased.

"You kept them in such good condition... Wait, I gave them to you. Why are you returning them?"

Uchiha Arashi came to his senses and looked at Naruto in surprise.

"I can't just take them for free, Uncle Shopkeeper—um, I mean, Big Brother. I was already really happy that you were willing to give them to me, but I really can't take them for nothing. So I've been careful with the books these past few days because I wanted to return them after I finished reading."

Naruto said with a serious expression.

"..."

Uchiha Arashi didn't know what to say.

Naruto was usually rather carefree, but he'd taken such care of these books. That showed just how much he cared about what Uchiha Arashi thought of him.

"Kid, I don't even know your name yet."

"My name's Naruto! Uzumaki Naruto!"

"All right, Naruto. A book isn't worth much to me. I gave them to you because I wanted you to read my work. You don't have to be so careful."

To be fair, Naruto was taking this a little too far. They were just a few books; there was no need to go to such lengths.

"Hehe, I know, but... But I also want to borrow some other books, so... So..."

Naruto kept scratching his head, his face turning a little red.

He'd managed to make himself feel awkward.

"All right, take the books with you. You can read them again or keep them. I can't give away all my other books for free, but how about this? I'll give you half off. As long as you keep reading my books, you can always get that discount."

It wasn't much money, but giving everything away for free wasn't an option. So Uchiha Arashi had come up with a compromise.

"Really? I can always get half off?"

Naruto asked, his eyes shining.

"It only applies to books I've written myself. I do have that much say over them."

Uchiha Arashi said with a smile.

"Thank you, Big Brother Shopkeeper! That's more than enough! I've decided—I'll only read your books from now on. I'll be your most devoted reader!"

Naruto declared loudly.

"You don't have to go that far. When you're older and have money, you should read books by other people too. My novels are better suited for passing the time... Here, this is my new book. Take it home and read it."

Uchiha Arashi handed Naruto the first volume of Bleach.

"Huh? It's not Teyvat Travelogue? I wanted to read about the eternal nation sealed off by lightning!"

When Naruto saw that it wasn't the book he wanted, he couldn't help feeling disappointed.

"Kid, do you think writing books is easy? I need inspiration, and I need to rest too. This is the only book I have for you today."

Uchiha Arashi gave him a sideways glance. "You'll have to wait a while for the third volume of Teyvat Travelogue. I'll put up a poster outside the shop when it's ready."

"Hehe, I'll definitely come back then!"

Naruto happily accepted the book and paid for it.

Just before leaving, he noticed the Eye of God at Uchiha Arashi's waist.

"Big Brother Shopkeeper, um, that..."

"This is just a little thing I made myself. What, do you want one?"

"No, no, I just wanted to take a look..."

"Heh-heh. No."

"Aww..."

"How about this, then? Your exams are coming up, right? Bring me your report card. If you can rank in the top three in your class, I'll give you an Eye of God."

He wondered what it would look like if the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki managed to activate an Eye of God.

"Really? Then it's a deal!"

Naruto said at once.

"Yeah, it's a deal."

Uchiha Arashi nodded.

Naruto was overjoyed. He ran off, cheering all the way.