Naruto's Poverty (Continued)

"Still glaring at me? Answer me—do you admit defeat or not?!"

Hmm... that butt's pretty springy. Little turkey, you've got a talent for being gay! Naruto thought with a wicked grin.

Whether in Chakra reserves or taijutsu, Naruto far surpassed Uchiha Sasuke, who had yet to awaken his eyes. As a result, whenever Sasuke fought Naruto, he was usually on the receiving end of a beating—especially when Naruto confused him with her bizarre Transformation Jutsu.

For some reason, Naruto had practiced the hand signs for the Transformation Jutsu until she could perform them with astonishing fluency, almost casting it instantly. In order to transform into her favorite anime characters, she had trained the Transformation Jutsu before the Nine-Tails for a long time. Combined with the monstrous Chakra reserves granted by her Uzumaki Clan bloodline, far beyond those of ordinary ninja, repeatedly using the Transformation Jutsu in battle was effortless for her.

She never had to worry about whether she had enough Chakra. Was that an experience ordinary ninja could ever have? A white-haired ninja resting in the shade beneath a tree, often short on Chakra, watched Naruto and Sasuke fight with envy.

"That kid's Chakra reserves are truly astonishing."

"Ah! Naruto! Get your foot off Sasuke!"

Seeing their boyfriend being bullied, the girls angrily hurled stones at Naruto.

"Naruto!"

Hinata Hyuga was one of the few girls who had not thrown stones at Naruto. Seeing so many rocks flying toward her, she could not help worrying.

Naruto swiftly formed hand seals and transformed into a little squirrel, nimbly dodging every stone. After landing steadily, she released the Transformation Jutsu.

"Naruto, that was amazing!"

Hinata Hyuga had kept her eyes fixed on Naruto. Seeing her evade every stone in such a funny yet cool way, a blush appeared on Hinata's fair face.

After the Ninja Academy's medical ninja treated him, Uchiha Sasuke's face, which had been beaten into a pig's head, finally recovered. Still unwilling to concede defeat, Sasuke stopped Naruto after school.

"Stop right there, Naruto Uzumaki! I challenge you!"

Had little Sasuke not been beaten enough? Was getting beaten into a pig's head by me today not enough? He actually came running over to get beaten again! Could it be... I hit him too hard and broke his brain early?

If brother-obsessed Itachi finds out, won't he skin me alive? Damn it, no, I need to get out of here!

Naruto slapped away Sasuke's finger pointing at her, stepped around him, and continued walking forward. "Sorry, I'm hungry. I need to hurry home and eat."

A few minutes later, at Ichiraku Ramen, Naruto looked at the expensive seafood ramen in front of her, and her heart collapsed.

Damn! My monthly living expenses wouldn't even cover a few bowls of seafood ramen. Little Sasuke actually treated me to ramen! He actually treated me to ramen just so I'd beat him up!

Naruto sniffed, holding back her moved tears. She took a deep breath of the ramen's fragrance. This was her first time eating Ichiraku's high-end seafood ramen!

Thinking of that, Naruto could not help shedding tears of poverty.

"Eat already! And don't forget what you promised me after you're done!" Seeing Naruto dawdling over her ramen, Sasuke thought she was going to back out and hurriedly urged her to eat.

How could Sasuke know that Konohagakure's living allowance for Naruto was not enough for her to afford seafood ramen at all?

Naruto was truly poor. She did not know whether her idiot father's inheritance had been embezzled by Konohagakure. Whenever she thought of it, she could not help complaining to the Nine-Tails, filled with grief and indignation.

Whenever the Nine-Tails heard Naruto agonizing over money, it wore an expression of stomach pain. The Nine-Tails, who had never known what money was, had no idea what to say and could only pretend to be listening.

After happily finishing the ramen, Naruto did not even spare the broth, gulping it all down clean. She burped contentedly. It would have been even better if Sasuke had not been staring at her the entire time with those resentful little eyes.

In an open area by the lake, Naruto beckoned to Sasuke, who stood across from her.

"Come on!"

"Haah!"

Sasuke shouted and charged at Naruto.

Naruto calculated the distance. The instant Sasuke stepped on the trap, she slightly lifted her foot, and a rope suddenly sprang up from the ground, tripping him.

Poor little Sasuke fell flat on his face. Naruto covered her mouth, struggling not to laugh.

"You! You cheated!"

Sasuke climbed to his feet and saw the rope that had tripped him. His little face flushed red with anger.

"A ninja must never let down their guard at any time! That's what Iruka-sensei taught us!" Naruto put her hands on her hips. Though she had done something utterly shameless, she looked at Sasuke with righteous indignation and rebuked him. "Were you not paying attention in Iruka-sensei's class? Iruka-sensei would be heartbroken if he knew!"

"..."

Sasuke's momentum was temporarily crushed by Naruto. He actually felt that what she said made sense. Pointing at her angrily, he said, "Next time, I definitely won't lose to you!"

What a troublesome little Sasuke... Still, if he keeps treating me to seafood ramen, I wouldn't mind playing with him. After all, I'm really poor. Unlike the Uchiha Clan—even after being driven out of the village's center of power, they're still filthy rich.

The Konoha Military Police Force was a great job for making money too!

Poor Sasuke still did not know that, in Naruto's mind, he was not an opponent, but a meal ticket.

That night, Itachi Uchiha watched Sasuke diligently train in taijutsu, somewhat puzzled. He had never seen Sasuke work this hard before. What could have happened to make him train taijutsu so diligently?

Thinking of Sasuke returning home dirty and disheveled, Itachi frowned deeply.

Could he have been bullied at school?

"Sasuke."

Itachi walked toward Sasuke. He wanted to ask what had happened at the Ninja Academy.

"Brother! Why are you here?" Sasuke stopped punching and looked at his approaching brother.

"Did something happen at school? If someone wronged you, you have to tell me!" Itachi gently stroked Sasuke's head with concern.

"No! How could I possibly be bullied!"

"Then why did you suddenly start training taijutsu so hard?"

"That's because..."

Sasuke puffed out his cheeks in anger. His adorable appearance brought a gentle smile to Itachi's face. After listening to Sasuke explain what had happened, he was relieved.

"Wind Style: Gale Palm!"

As Naruto worked hard to sense the wind's nature transformation, when she released Gale Palm, she tried her best to compress the wind onto her fingertips.

With a bang, the skin on Naruto's fingers split open, exposing red flesh. Drops of blood fell to the ground.

"Failed..."

Naruto sucked in a breath from the pain and frowned as she wrapped her fingers in bandages. An injury like this could heal in minutes under the Nine-Tails Chakra, but she did not want to do that.

She did not want the Anbu to discover that the Nine-Tails Chakra could rapidly heal her wounds. Even if she healed them, she had to slow the healing speed.