Iruka-sensei, Thank You

The door to the Hokage's Office closed behind him, cutting off the suffocating smell of tobacco.

Naruto did not pause for even a moment.

Avoiding the scattered pedestrians on the early morning streets, he headed straight for Training Ground Seven.

The faint morning light filtered through the leaves, casting mottled shadows across him.

He stopped before the wooden post he had destroyed with his own hands.

Splintered wood curled outward, while deep fist marks covered the post like ugly scars.

[Assessment initiated.]

[Last night's power output exceeded the standard threshold by 37%.]

[Cause: emotional energy injection resulted in an uncontrolled chakra outburst.]

[Conclusion: emotions are a weakness and must be subjected to stricter control training.]

He extended a hand, probing his fingertips into the deepest indentation and feeling the texture of the wood fibers that had been violently torn apart.

Heavy, hurried footsteps approached from behind.

They were accompanied by the strained rustling of an overloaded plastic bag.

Naruto did not turn around.

He had already identified the visitor from the familiar weight of the footsteps.

Iruka.

"Naruto!"

Iruka panted heavily, fine beads of sweat forming on his forehead as he forced out what he believed was a relaxed smile.

He raised the two large bags in his hands, the cup noodles and potato chips inside clattering crisply against one another.

"I... I passed by the store and thought you might be hungry."

Even Iruka himself thought that excuse sounded stiff and clumsy.

Naruto's mind automatically analyzed the other man's physiological data.

Iruka.

[Heart rate slightly elevated. Microvascular ruptures in the eyes indicate sleep deprivation exceeding 18 hours... Overall assessment: in a state of severe anxiety and mental exhaustion.]

"To celebrate you passing the test and officially becoming a ninja."

Iruka added another sentence.

"Let's go eat at Ichiraku Ramen. My treat."

Naruto slowly turned around.

[Objective: provide emotional comfort and attempt to return my behavioral patterns to a "normal" range he can understand.]

[Potential risk: exposing more "abnormal" traits and worsening his anxiety.]

[Potential benefit: assess Iruka-sensei's psychological resilience and conduct necessary stabilization of his mental state.]

"Okay."

The single word left his mouth.

There was no extra emotion in it, yet Iruka visibly relaxed.

The two walked one after the other through streets that were gradually coming awake.

Iruka kept trying to find topics to discuss, moving from the weather to ninja tool maintenance, every subject dry enough to crumble into dust.

Naruto responded only with "Mm," "Yes," and "Understood."

His senses had already spread out like an invisible spiderweb, covering an area three hundred meters around them.

The conversations of pedestrians carried on the wind.

Sparrows chirped atop the roof tiles.

One hundred and twenty meters away, the owner of a tofu shop muttered a low complaint.

All the data gathered in his mind, forming a constantly updating three-dimensional map.

In that other world, his chakra had been regarded as a manifestation of psychic power, and he had received systematic training at the Star Whisper Court.

The curtain of Ichiraku Ramen was lifted, and the rich aroma of pork bone broth rushed toward them.

"Welcome! Oh, Iruka-sensei and Naruto!"

Teuchi greeted them warmly. His daughter Ayame poked her head out as well, smiling and waving.

"Old man, one extra-large char siu miso ramen. Double meat, triple noodles."

Naruto ordered with practiced ease.

That appetite left both Teuchi and Ayame stunned, but the tension in Iruka's nerves inexplicably eased a little.

He got hungry. He craved food. This was still the Naruto he knew.

The steaming ramen was served quickly, and the mountain-like pile of char siu made Iruka's eye twitch.

Naruto picked up his chopsticks and began eating with almost mechanical precision.

There was no expression of enjoyment, no sigh of satisfaction.

Only efficient, steady chewing and swallowing.

"Naruto, what... are you planning to do next?"

Iruka asked carefully, trying to steer the conversation back on track.

"The village will soon assign you a Jonin instructor and teammates."

"I will follow the arrangements."

Naruto replied without taking his attention from the bowl before him.

"Teammates are important. They're companions you can entrust your back to, bonds..."

Iruka went on and on about the Will of Fire as he understood it.

But Naruto's world held an entirely different scene.

He appeared to be eating with his head lowered, but his ice-blue pupils were using the smooth inner wall of the ramen bowl to catch an insignificant reflection.

Across the street, on the roof of a teahouse.

The light there was distorted in an extremely subtle way.

[Three targets locked.]

[Position: southeast, elevation angle thirty degrees, distance forty-two meters.]

[Formation: standard triangular surveillance formation.]

[Physiological characteristics: breathing frequency extremely suppressed. Heartbeats forcibly slowed by chakra. Abnormal human state.]

Naruto picked up a slice of bamboo shoot. Broth dripped from it, sending ripples spreading through the bowl.

The mask patterns were more vicious. They might be ANBU, but the likelihood of Root was slightly greater.

Was Danzo monitoring me, or making preliminary preparations to reclaim the Jinchūriki?

"...So no matter what happens, never give up on your companions, Naruto. That is Konoha's most precious thing."

There was a trace of pleading in Iruka's voice.

Naruto suddenly stopped moving.

"Iruka-sensei."

He spoke, interrupting him.

"You're holding your chopsticks backward."

"Huh?"

Iruka froze, then lowered his head to look at his hands.

Sure enough, he had completely reversed the thick and thin ends of the chopsticks without even realizing it.

Embarrassed heat crept up his cheeks.

He hurriedly tried to adjust them.

The instant he lowered his head, his attention completely captured by the wooden chopsticks in his hands.

Naruto moved.

His right wrist gave the slightest tremor at an almost imperceptible angle.

His chopsticks picked up a slice of char siu drenched in broth.

There was no sound of wind.

No whistle through the air.

That thick slice of char siu seemed to take on a life of its own, tracing an arc too swift for the naked eye to follow as it crossed the noisy street and passed over the flow of people.

"Plop."

A faint sticking sound, almost too quiet to hear.

Beneath the shadows of the teahouse roof across the street, directly below the commander's position, the glossy slice of char siu stuck precisely to the wall.

Like an abrupt mark filled with mockery.

In the rooftop shadows, a Root ninja's hand signal instantly changed from "surveillance" to "level-one alert."

Icy killing intent passed through the steam of the ramen and the boiling noise of the street, silently locking onto the blond boy eating with his head lowered.

Iruka finally adjusted his chopsticks. He raised his head awkwardly, completely unaware of what had just happened.

He only saw that Naruto had finished the last bite of noodles and set down the bowl.

Not a single drop of broth remained in it.

Naruto picked up a napkin and leisurely wiped his mouth.

Then he looked at Iruka, his expression calm and unruffled.

"I'm full."

He paused.

"Iruka-sensei, thank you for always looking after me."