Maruda Ramen Cart

Namikaze Minato stared blankly at Hyuga Shinichi's gentle smile, and the tears that had just stopped began to stream down his face again, which startled Hyuga Shinichi.

"Hey! Don't cry, you can refuse if you don't want to, I was just being a bit pushy."

"Wuu... no... thank you... can I call... call you... Shin... Shinichi-nii?"

Hyuga Shinichi realized what was happening, pulled Namikaze Minato into a hug, and ruffled his thick, yellow hair.

"No problem, then I'll call you Minato, is that okay?"

Hyuga Shinichi felt the yellow-haired child in his arms nod, and he let out a sigh of relief, only to suddenly feel a damp sensation on his sleeve and realize something was wrong.

"Hey, Minato, your snot is stuck to my chest."

"Hahaha, I'm sorry, Shinichi-nii."

Hyuga Shinichi watched as Namikaze Minato, comforted and now recognized as his younger brother, returned to his cheerful, sunny self, though the bridge of snot connecting his nose to Hyuga Shinichi's chest did ruin the atmosphere a bit.

"Alright, it's noon already, you haven't eaten yet, right? Let's go! As your older brother, I'll treat you to something good to celebrate us becoming family."

"Okay, thank you, Shinichi-nii."

Konoha was developing rapidly; people had already started installing utility poles, and there were many more shops selling all sorts of strange and highly profitable goods. This was exactly why Namikaze Minato's parents had considered joining a team to go outside and find items to sell.

In the last few days, a neglected ramen cart had appeared on the roadside, run by a middle-aged man named Maruda and his son. This boy was Teuchi, the future "Old Man Ichiraku" who would not shun little Naruto for being a jinchuriki and would even treat him to free ramen.

He was currently helping his father run the ramen stall, and in the future, he would inherit the craft upon his father's retirement, leading to the creation of "Ichiraku Ramen." Teuchi was only eleven years old now, born in the twenty-first year of Konoha.

(I modified Teuchi's background; in the original work, he learned cooking from someone else and had a junior apprentice, but here he is learning from his father, Maruda, whom I created. The original work also mentions he spent over thirty years researching ramen, so calculating that, he should be around this ten-year-old age.)

"This is the place, Minato. Don't look at it as just a food cart; the taste is absolutely top-tier."

Although it was Maruda doing the cooking now with Teuchi assisting, anyone capable of teaching Teuchi such culinary skills wouldn't be bad. After all, Hyuga Shinichi was the first to discover this cart and its first customer, so he had naturally tasted Maruda's craft.

"Uncle Maruda, I'm back. This time I brought my newly recognized younger brother to celebrate with me."

"Oh, oh, it's little Shinichi. Thanks again for bringing your friends to support my business last time."

"Hahahaha, that's only because your cooking is so good, Uncle Maruda."

Having tasted it once before, Hyuga Shinichi had brought Nawaki, Inuzuka Gai, and Aburame Tomohiro over to try it, and they all agreed it was delicious.

"What would you like to eat today? It's on the house."

"No, no, I can't hurt your business, Uncle. Just two bowls of Deluxe Tonkotsu Ramen will do."

The "deluxe" in Deluxe Tonkotsu Ramen meant that every available side dish was included on top of the noodles.

"Little Shinichi, you don't need to look after me like this, I..."

"Sigh, alright, alright. I'll pay the full price, but Uncle, just add an extra large portion of chashu pork for us—consider that your treat. We're starving and can eat a lot. What about you, Minato?"

"I don't need that much, I can't eat that much."

"That won't do. You're still growing; no wonder you're so thin if you eat so little."

Uncle Maruda was just as caring toward children as the future Teuchi, but his personality was more cheerful and enthusiastic.

"Minato, don't be shy. If you can't finish it, just give it to me."

"Alright then, thank you, Shinichi-nii and Uncle Maruda."

"Why are you being so polite with me, kid?"

"Hahahaha, kids need to eat more to grow tall."

After saying this, Uncle Maruda began boiling the noodles. Hyuga Shinichi looked around, didn't see a certain figure, and asked.

"Uncle Maruda, where did Teuchi-nii go?"

As soon as he asked, he saw Uncle Maruda's bitter expression. Not understanding what was wrong, he heard Uncle Maruda sigh.

"Sigh, that kid Teuchi says he doesn't want to inherit my craft; he wants to be a ninja."

Hearing Uncle Maruda's answer, Hyuga Shinichi recalled a scene from the anime where Teuchi spotted Naruto and Choji peeking from the roof and accurately hit Naruto with a rolling pin, suggesting he had some foundation in ninjutsu.

"I'm here to help. Hmm? Shinichi, you're here."

"Yeah, brought my little brother to have some ramen."

Speak of the devil, Teuchi had arrived to help at the ramen cart. Seeing that the customer was Hyuga Shinichi, he offered a greeting.

Hyuga Shinichi continued.

"Just adopted him; I feel like this yellow-haired kid and I really hit it off."

Teuchi gave a grunt, clearly not very interested, and put on his apron to help Uncle Maruda prepare the ingredients.

Before long, two bowls of ramen, rich with toppings, were served in large bowls. Hyuga Shinichi reached out to take one, placed it in front of Namikaze Minato first, and then took the other for himself.

Namikaze Minato took a pair of disposable chopsticks from the container on the side and handed them to Hyuga Shinichi. Hyuga Shinichi smiled as he took them and signaled for Namikaze Minato to start eating.

"Itadakimasu!" X2

The slurping sound of eating noodles echoed in the ramen cart. Hyuga Shinichi had loved noodles in his past life, and after being in this world for so long, he had finally found a place that served good ramen.

Hyuga Shinichi slurped a mouthful of noodles, picked up a large piece of chashu pork, and took a hearty bite. The braised chashu, seared until golden brown on the surface, instantly burst with delicious meat juices that filled his entire mouth.

Finally, he lifted the bowl to blow on it before slurping down the tonkotsu broth. This pure, handcrafted ramen without any modern technology was simply delicious.

Namikaze Minato, who had been quite shy at first, used his spoon to scoop up some broth, placed a bit of noodle on top, added a garnish, and blew on it. But the moment he took a bite, his eyes widened; he abandoned all restraint and began slurping down the noodles just as heartily as Hyuga Shinichi.

The two exchanged a glance, and seeing each other's cheeks stuffed full and mouths smeared with grease, they both burst into laughter.

Uncle Maruda watched them eat with such joy, taking it as a sign of approval for his craft. He stood with his hands on his hips, beaming at the pair as they devoured their meal, while Teuchi stood to the side, lost in thought.

Naturally, Namikaze Minato couldn't finish such a large portion; the side dishes alone had filled him up, and the massive serving of chashu had left him stuffed. In the end, he transferred the remainder into Hyuga Shinichi's bowl to be finished off, as food must never go to waste.

"Thanks for the meal, we'll be heading off now. We'll bring other friends next time."

"Thanks for the meal."

After paying, Hyuga Shinichi led Namikaze Minato away. Once the two had departed, rubbing their full bellies, silence returned to the ramen cart until Uncle Maruda finally spoke up.

"How was the exam?"

He was, of course, asking about Teuchi's Genin exam that day. Although Teuchi had looked troubled while chatting with Hyuga Shinichi earlier, it wasn't because he didn't want to inherit the family trade, but because he was anxious about his test results.

Uncle Maruda knew full well that his son's talent as a ninja was far below that of his peers. While he would always support him in silence, he still worried that Teuchi would be crushed by failure.

"I didn't pass..."

"Is that so? Keep working hard, and you'll surely make it next time."