"Really?"
Naruto was overjoyed.
"Yeah. There's a spare room at ho, so you can live there. And the Hokage will take care of this house."
"I see, I'll get ready right away, ya know~"
All Naruto had to pack were a few clothes and a little bit of money he had saved up. I carried so of it, and we returned to the smithy. I assigned Naruto a room. While Naruto was organizing his room, I went outside and bought him the necessities: clothes, underwear, and other supplies. His old clothes were so worn out they were practically falling apart, and since he was at a growing age, they didn't fit properly anymore.
After he finished organizing the room, I took Naruto to Ichiraku Ran, run by Teuchi. There were several restaurants in the village, but this was the only place that didn't discriminate against Naruto and made him delicious ran.
"Today, to celebrate the move, it's my treat. Eat as much as you want."
"Wow~ Great! Then one Ichiraku Ran and one Chashu Ran, please, Mister!"
Seeing Naruto's happy expression, Teuchi smiled and asked, "Looks like you had so good news today?"
"Yeah, starting today, I'm going to live with Brother Blacksmith, ya know~"
"Oh~ That's great news! Alright, I'll show off my skills today."
"Thank you, Mister."
Teuchi added extra chashu and toppings, taking extra care, and handed it to Naruto.
"Here you go."
"Wow~ It looks delicious."
This ran was certainly delicious. My spicy ran also arrived.
"You're as peculiar as ever, liking such spicy food."
"I was craving a spicy broth."
Maybe it was my Korean blood, but when it ca to ran, spicy was the way to go.
Slurp~!!
"Eat slowly. No one's going to take it from you."
Naruto, as expected, loved ran. He started drinking the noodles down like soup. Teuchi looked at him fondly and added more noodles.
"If it's not enough, just say so. I'll give you more."
"Oh~ Thanks, Mister."
Watching Naruto eat with such gusto made proud too. After finishing our ran, we returned ho.
"Phew~ I ate so well today, ya know."
"I'm glad."
"Bro! I'll try enrolling in the Academy. I want to get strong, protect the people I care about, and be acknowledged by the villagers."
Naruto seed to have finally made up his mind to enter the Ninja Academy. I wouldn't need to persuade him separately.
"Okay. Do your best."
"Yeah."
Several days passed, and finally the entrance ceremony began. Since Naruto didn't have parents, I went with him. During the ceremony, the parents who had co with their children saw Naruto and whispered among themselves, but I just ignored it. I didn't want to start a fight. Naruto, perhaps understanding my feelings, didn't say anything either.
At the entrance ceremony, I also saw Naruto's main cast: Sasuke was there, as well as Sakura, Shikamaru, Ino, Hinata, and many others. They were all so young and quite cute. Hinata was glancing at Naruto from the very first day.
A few days passed. Naruto seed to be attending the Academy without any major issues so far. And with Naruto at the Ninja Academy, I had more free ti, so I began to gradually write my novel.
The novels in the Naruto world were almost all either 19 or ninja spy thrillers. The writing was very stiff and hard to read, the content was extrely clichéd, and there was an overabundance of praise for one's own village. If North Korea allowed adult content, I imagined this is what their novels might look like.
'Is it the environnt?'
Since it was a place where wars were always either happening or being prepared for, this kind of novel seed to have naturally developed. Moreover, the 19 content was just descriptions of hardcore sex with no emotional buildup, so I couldn't get imrsed in it at all.
'You need to beco attached to the characters for the adult content to be erotic…'
I thought about what my first work should be. I decided to adapt Roo and Juliet to fit the Naruto world. I changed the feuding families to fictional clans, and changed the combat to ninja-style battles. I also raised the age of the protagonists and decided to include a 19 scene near the end.
But then a problem arose.
"Wow... Was writing a novel always this hard?"
Perhaps it was only natural. It was my first ti writing a novel, so even writing a single page was difficult. Even though I was just modifying an existing story. I had underestimated it. My room was already overflowing with crumpled paper.
"Bro, I'm ho!"
Just then, Naruto opened the door and ca in. I had started writing after sending him off to the Academy, and it was already evening.
"Whoa, what is this?"
Naruto was shocked at the state of my room.
"Oh, this is just pursuing my hobby."
"R-Right..."
"Are you hungry? Let's eat first."
During the al, I was so absorbed in planning the novel that I ate haphazardly, not even knowing whether food was going up my nose or into my mouth. Naruto looked worried and asked, "Bro, is sothing bothering you?"
"Huh? Oh, I'm writing a novel, but I can't organize the plot."
"You're doing that eccentric thing again? You're famous in the village for it, you know."
Naruto's remark hit a nerve—my head was already aching from the novel that wasn't progressing.
"You brat! You shouldn't ignore soone's serious challenge!"
"O-Okay..."
After the al, I sat back down in my room and began writing again. Then I suddenly acquired the [(F) Literature] ability. I thought that with the ability, I might finally write well, so I concentrated and tried again—but there wasn't much difference. It was probably because it was F-rank.
'Damn it! I'll just raise the rank.'
I spent 5,300 points to upgrade the [Literature] ability to A-rank. The points were a bit of a waste, but at this rate, I wouldn't make any progress, so I had no choice. From then on, the content I wanted to express began to flow smoothly. Of course, the nanomachines also began assisting with various expression techniques and sentence flow.
'Now I'm making progress.'
After writing for a while, it seed Naruto had already washed up and gone to bed, so I stopped for the night and went to sleep.
About a week later, my first work was complete. The title was 'Ryoma and Yurie'. The na 'Roo and Juliet' felt too Western, so I changed it. It was a total of two volus. Volu 1 had a picture of Ryoma on the cover, and Volu 2 had a picture of Yurie. When you put the two volus together, they naturally ford an image of the two holding hands.
"Nice."
I also made an all-ages version without any adult content. Naruto read it and started crying his eyes out. Even though he was at an age where love was still a difficult concept for him.
"Bro, this novel is so sad, ya know."
"Is it interesting?"
"Yeah, it's interesting. I lost track of ti. And the cover is so pretty."
That was natural. I had drawn it in the style of Alphonse Mucha's works, with the help of the nanomachines. Because of that, I also acquired the [(D) Drawing] ability.
But then another problem arose. Konohagakure did have a printing press, but its scale was very small, and they arranged characters one by one to print. As a result, printing images was difficult, let alone colors. It seed like a printing press fit only for printing official docunts.
"What exactly are you trying to print?"
When I was looking around the printing press, deep in thought, the owner asked . So I showed him the novel. He read it for a while, then suddenly grabbed my hand and said.
"I understand why you were worried. Your novel is truly interesting. If you entrust this job to us, we will do our utmost to print even the illustrations. So please, leave it to us!"
"Then, may I entrust it to you?"
"Yes, trust us!"
The owner spoke passionately, gripping my hand tightly. His attitude suggested he wouldn't let go unless I agreed, so I decided to entrust it to him. We agreed to split the sales revenue 60/40, with taking 60.
A month passed, and finally, I was told that about 100 copies of the two-volu set had been printed. A hundred copies a month was a very small number, but considering that the novel had a lot of text and illustrations, and given the scale of Konoha's printing press, it was completely understandable. The cover illustrations were a bit crude, but given their current technology, I could see they had tried hard, so I didn't say anything.
All 100 copies were put up for sale at the village bookstore. At first, people bought a copy or two because of the pretty covers, but word of mouth spread, and suddenly they started selling like wildfire. Consequently, the printing press was swamped with work, printing my novels nonstop. rchants from the Land of Fire also started purchasing large quantities, making it even worse.
The entire village was talking about 'Ryoma and Yurie'. The village won were even reciting lines from the novel.
"Ryoma, why are you Ryoma? How was that?"
"Wow~ When you say it, it really doesn't suit you."
"What did you say, you bitch!"
Squeal squeal squeal~
It wasn't just the won. Even at the training grounds, the n were talking about the novel.
"The final scene is so tragic, isn't it? I wish they could have ended up together."
"I know, right. Because of their clans' pride, they both end up dying."
"Yeah. If only they had understood each other better. Regretting it after your children are dead is…"
At ho, Naruto told excitedly that at the Academy, all anyone talked about was the novel.
"Bro, at the Academy, it's nothing but 'Ryoma and Yurie' stories. I was so proud, ya know~"
"I'm glad."
Having Naruto share my joy like this made feel like all the hard work was worth it.
Truthfully, since it was my first work, I hadn't expected such a big response. But contrary to my expectations, the entire village was in an uproar over my novel. Moreover, news arrived that the clans, which had been largely isolated from outside communication, were gradually opening their doors and beginning to interact with the rest of the village again. I wasn't sure if this was thanks to the novel, but it was good that the village was changing positively.
One day, while I was working at the smithy, the printing press owner and his employees ca to see . The owner had lost a lot of weight—he must have worked incredibly hard. But his expression looked quite good.
"Here you are. This is your share of the sales revenue."
The owner handed a large box, which was completely stuffed with paper currency.
"Wow~ It seems to have sold a lot."
"Yes. Right now, we're getting requests from all over the Land of Fire. So once things calm down a bit, I'm thinking of expanding the printing press. You're already thinking about your next work, right?"
"...That's right."
Truthfully, I hadn't thought about it at all. But judging by the atmosphere, I felt I had to say yes, so I answered that way.
"That's a relief. I'll bring the next month's revenue as well."
They were in a hurry, so they left shortly after.
"Hmm... A next work, huh…"
The reason I included 'novelist' in my character settings was simply to create a connection with Jiraiya and Kakashi, but things had blown up way beyond my expectations.
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