At the Ichiraku Ramen stand.
"Delicious! Uncle Teuchi's ramen really is the best!"
With a bowl of ramen bigger than his head in front of him, Naruto dug in heartily, still finding time to give Uncle Teuchi a thumbs-up.
"Haha, Naruto, knowing you love it is the best support you could give me!"
Uncle Teuchi wore his usual warm, honest smile. "Don't hold back. It's on me today, so eat all you want!"
"Thanks, Uncle!"
Beside him, little Ayame puffed out her cheeks in displeasure. "Dad, you keep treating everyone! We're going to lose money!"
"Haha... this will be the last time today!"
The atmosphere around Uncle Teuchi was so cheerful. No wonder Naruto could never forget the ramen here.
Shinichi smiled at the scene before him, but privately wondered how things were going with Kakashi. Despite all his threats and inducements, who knew whether Kakashi could actually win Kurenai over?
Still, there was only so much anyone else could do about this sort of thing. In the end, Kakashi had to make his own move.
Whatever. I'm stealing her away from the Sarutobi Clan, no matter what!
They say affection grows with time, Shinichi thought. No matter how reluctant Kakashi is, as long as I keep inviting Kurenai over every few days, it'll work out eventually!
Love had yet to triumph; his comrade still had work to do.
Even if that goal took a long time to achieve, he would not give up easily.
"Shisui, it looks like someone's already here. Should we try another place?"
As he pondered, a somewhat familiar voice reached him, making him raise an eyebrow.
Itachi?
Isn't that Itachi's voice?
Outside the Ichiraku Ramen stand stood three boys, one older and two younger: Shisui Uchiha, Uchiha Itachi, and Sasuke Uchiha.
Body Flicker Shisui!
Shinichi's eyes lit up.
He had never expected to run into this guy here. What a coincidence!
Biological information had delivered itself right to his doorstep. How could he let it slip away?
"You're right. Let's go somewhere else..."
Remembering the villagers' prejudice against the Uchiha, Shisui felt a pang of sadness.
But before he could finish, someone suddenly rose from his seat and greeted them enthusiastically. "We're all here for ramen. Why be so stiff? Come sit with us!"
Who else could it have been but Shinichi?
"Haha, young Shinichi is right. We're all from the same village. There's no need to stand on ceremony!"
Uncle Teuchi readily backed him up.
Naturally, the more customers came, the happier he was.
"It's that weirdo again, big brother!"
At the sight of Shinichi's infuriating grin, Sasuke instinctively hid behind Itachi.
He had not forgotten how this awful guy had deliberately pulled his hair last time. It had really hurt.
"Sasuke, don't be rude. This is Shinichi of the Hatake Clan, our senior."
Itachi gently stroked Sasuke's little head as he spoke softly.
"Hm... Sasuke?"
Naruto, who had been focused on his ramen, instinctively turned to look at Sasuke, as though summoned by fate.
Their eyes met, and a distinctly "suggestive" air immediately settled between them.
"What are you standing around for? Come sit down! It's my treat today!"
To keep the three from leaving, Shinichi immediately added, "Uncle Teuchi, three more deluxe bowls of ramen! Put them all on my tab!"
What could he say? The Hatake Clan had money!
"We've only just met. Wouldn't that be... a bit much?"
Shisui, the oldest of the three but still only twelve, looked a little uneasy.
Though a member of the Uchiha Clan, he had also joined the ANBU and knew a great deal about what went on in the village.
He had heard of Hatake Shinichi, too. In particular, word of Shinichi's easy victory over Hiashi and Hizashi two days earlier had spread throughout Konoha. He knew that this seemingly casual young man possessed unfathomable strength.
Of course, what intrigued him most was that Shinichi actually possessed a Sharingan!
He had heard that their clan head had approached the Third Hokage about it more than once, yet had still received no satisfactory response.
Under such sensitive circumstances, it was not really appropriate for the three of them to approach Shinichi so casually.
"What's wrong with it? Are you going to snub me?"
Shinichi pretended to be angry.
"Uh... all right, then!"
Shisui had never met anyone so unreasonable and could only give in helplessly.
And so, somehow, they all ended up eating Ichiraku Ramen together. Little Sasuke, who still seemed traumatized by Shinichi, instinctively chose the seat farthest from him, making Shinichi laugh inwardly.
Naruto, on the other hand-perhaps caught in Asura and Indra's ill-fated bond-actually took the initiative to sit beside Sasuke, eager to keep trying to befriend him, just as he had last time.
After all, Sasuke was still young and had yet to experience the night of his clan's massacre. He was only a little more prickly than an ordinary child, nowhere near as difficult as he was in the original story.
And Naruto would no longer become that "bad kid" who deliberately pulled all sorts of pranks to get people's attention. Through a fortunate turn of events, the two really had become friends ahead of time.
Shinichi was pleased. Naruto's fate was far from the only one he wanted to change. Uchiha Sasuke's tragic destiny as an avenger should not play out again, either. Letting Naruto find a place in Sasuke's heart sooner could only be a good thing for Sasuke.
For now, though, his most important task was still obtaining Shisui's biological information.
"Shisui, why are you being so formal with me?"
Shinichi spoke warmly. "You too, Itachi. Why act so grown-up at your age? Come hang out with me whenever you're free. Look how well Naruto and Sasuke get along. I'll let you try my homemade Three-Color Dango. Guaranteed delicious!"
Hey, aren't you just being way too familiar?
Shisui and Itachi were both speechless. They had never met anyone so shameless.
"Who says we get along..."
Uchiha Sasuke was as prickly as ever.
Naruto did not mind. His smile remained as bright as a little sun.
"We're practically colleagues already, and you're still being so cold. Shisui, you're breaking my heart!"
Seeing Shisui's discomfort, Shinichi put on a wounded expression.
"Colleagues?"
Shisui froze at that and asked, "Shinichi, what do you mean?"
"What else could I mean?"
An amused smile curved Shinichi's lips as he teased, "Aren't you in the Konoha Military Police Force? Didn't your clan head tell you I'll be joining the Konoha Military Police Force soon, too?"
"!!!"
His words shocked the youngsters present.
That naturally did not include the carefree Naruto, whose only concern was eating his ramen.
The Konoha Military Police Force was the Uchiha Clan's own "private domain." No outsiders were allowed in.
Uchiha Fugaku, the Uchiha Clan Head, also served as commander of the Konoha Military Police Force. Shisui knew Shinichi would not be childish enough to play such a tasteless joke on him. Did that mean it was probably true?
But how could Clan Head Fugaku possibly agree to such an unreasonable demand?
"Shinichi, are you really joining the Konoha Military Police Force?"
The still-young Itachi could not contain himself and asked.
He had never heard his father mention anything about this.
"Do I look like I'm joking?"
Shinichi smiled and revealed his Three-Tomoe Sharingan. "Actually, you don't know this, but I'm half Uchiha myself. That makes joining the Konoha Military Police Force perfectly reasonable, doesn't it?"
The Sharingan!
All three young Uchiha froze.
So the rumors were true. Hatake Shinichi really did possess a Sharingan!
"Shinichi, then why have you never returned to the clan to acknowledge your ancestry?"
Shisui's expression relaxed slightly as he asked curiously.
Clearly, those Sharingan confirmed Shinichi's identity and brought them considerably closer.
Everyone knew that, although the Uchiha were insular, relations within their clan were fairly harmonious. Now that the three knew Shinichi also carried Uchiha blood, they naturally no longer resisted his deliberate attempts to get close.
"Well! I'll go explain that to your clan head myself in a couple of days. Anyway, you three little guys just need to stop treating me like an outsider."
Shinichi bluffed.
Whether for his future plans or his own personal hopes, a chance to build a good relationship with the Uchiha Clan was certainly no bad thing.
Before you continue