Fortunately, Iruka was a good teacher. He could tell that Natsuki wasn't lying.
So he simply warned, "You're still young. Don't overdo your training—especially not at night. For now, stay focused in class and don't fall asleep again."
"Yes, sensei. Thank you, sensei."
Natsuki thanked him sincerely, rubbing his face to wake himself up a bit more.
After that, he listened carefully and even took detailed notes. Iruka noticed this and, reassured, let it go.
Once class ended, Natsuki let out a long yawn.
Shino glanced over curiously. "Did you really train that late into the night?"
Natsuki nodded mid-yawn. "Yup. I got a little too excited and didn't stop. Before I knew it, the sun was almost up."
Shino's curiosity only grew, but out of politeness, he didn't pry further. He didn't know what clan Natsuki ca from, but if he was training all night without sleep, it had to be so kind of clan secret or special technique—not sothing polite to ask about.
Natsuki, however, suddenly seed to think of sothing. He turned to Shino and smiled. "Hey, Shino... do you get a decent allowance?"
Shino was a bit puzzled but replied honestly, "Not a lot. Why? If you're short on money, I can lend you so."
Natsuki shook his head. "I'm not borrowing. I wouldn't be able to pay you back anyway. But how about this—after school today, co by my place. I've got sothing I want to show you. You might even be willing to spend money on it. If not, that's fine too. I mainly want to treat you to dinner—you are my first friend, after all."
"...Alright."
Shino agreed without hesitation.
He was curious, of course, but since Natsuki didn't want to say anything yet, he respected that. More importantly, being invited to a friend's ho and offered a al—especially by soone who considered him a first friend—made him genuinely happy. That was more than enough.
Before long, morning classes ended.
Natsuki headed to the Hokage Tower to collect his monthly orphan stipend—and ran into Naruto there, also picking up his money. As a gesture of goodwill, Natsuki gave him a small nod, a polite acknowledgnt as classmates.
Naruto's reaction was... explosive.
He bead brightly and nodded back so enthusiastically he looked like a pecking chick.
After being shunned for so long, a tiny gesture of kindness was like a miracle to Naruto—it made his whole day.
As for Natsuki, even though Naruto was loud, impulsive, always shouting, and generally annoying, he was still just a pitiful kid. Right now wasn't the best ti to befriend him, but there was no harm in being polite.
The stipend was 1,800 ryō—just enough to afford a single bowl of Ichiraku ran per day.
Perfectly calibrated to make sure an orphan won't die of hunger. Hah.
Natsuki pocketed the money and headed straight to Ichiraku. He'd heard about it so much—ti to see what the fuss was about.
Naruto, who had finished picking up his stipend and was in a great mood, decided to treat himself to Ichiraku ran for lunch. He entered the shop only to see Natsuki already seated there.
"Hey, old man Teuchi! One bowl of ran please!"
Naruto plopped down right beside Natsuki and glanced over. "Hey, what's your na again? Back at the Hokage building, you nodded at , right, dattebayo?"
Natsuki had just taken his first bite of ran—60 ryō a bowl. It tasted pretty decent. Not quite as amazing as Naruto always bragged, and it didn't exactly suit a Chinese palette, but for Konoha, this was probably the best you could get. After all, plenty of jōnin ate here... unless they were just coming to see Aya.
Yeah... Teuchi's daughter Aya really was quite the beauty.
Hearing Naruto's question, Natsuki gave a polite nod. "I'm Natsuki. That was just a friendly greeting between classmates."
Naruto imdiately grinned from ear to ear. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto! I'm gonna be the future Hokage, dattebayo! You like Ichiraku ran too? It's the best food ever, believe it!"
That's only because you've never had anything else. Grilled at from BBQ Q is way better!
But Natsuki wouldn't dare say that out loud. Teuchi was right there behind the counter—say sothing bad about his ran and you might get kicked out on the spot.
Natsuki was already regretting giving Naruto a friendly nod. Just one little gesture, and the hyper kid latched on like glue. As expected, he was loud, nosy, and impossible to eat next to.
Dattebayo dattebayo—can you not for one second?
"Yeah, yeah, Ichiraku is the best," Natsuki replied half-heartedly.
Right then, Teuchi brought out Naruto's ran, and his eyes crinkled into a smile—who knows if those smiling eyes were hiding the Rinnegan underneath.
Thankfully, Naruto finally shut up and started eating. He slurped down noodles like he hadn't eaten in days—and honestly, he probably hadn't. One bowl wasn't going to fill him up.
Still, Natsuki wasn't about to play the good guy and offer to pay for more. They weren't that close. He was a broke orphan too.
"I'm heading out."
Natsuki finished his al, cleaned his bowl, and left the ran shop without a backward glance.
Naruto looked up at his retreating back, his appetite suddenly fading. "Old man Teuchi... Aya-nee-chan... does Natsuki hate too?"
Despite his usual cheer, Naruto was incredibly sensitive. He'd thought that nod earlier ant he'd made a friend. But Natsuki hadn't waited for him, hadn't said goodbye... maybe he was just another person who saw him as the demon fox?
Aya smiled gently. "Of course not. If he hated you, he wouldn't have bothered to talk to you. He looked super tired—I think he just went ho to catch up on sleep."
"Oh yeah! He was napping in class this morning. Said he stayed up all night training... so that's it! He's not mad at , dattebayo!"
With that comforting thought, Naruto's appetite returned full-force, and he resud devouring his ran.
Natsuki, anwhile, had no idea what was going on in Naruto's head. He strolled back toward the Academy, stopping by the ninja tools store Mantendo to pick up a sheet of chakra paper.
After successfully forming the Rasengan last night, the next step was figuring out how to integrate his elental chakra. First, he had to know what his chakra nature was.
Back at the classroom, he infused chakra into the paper.
In the next second, one part of the paper beca damp, one part crumbled into dust, and another section crinkled up.
"Water, Earth, and Lightning, huh? Wonder what a water-based Rasengan would look like? Can I even rge Earth or Lightning into it?"
It was a frustrating puzzle. He knew there was no use guessing—he'd have to test it himself. But such experints were dangerous, and he'd have to wait until the next Special Lab Mode on the first of next month.
In the original story, Naruto's Rasenshuriken was incredibly risky—even hard him when he first used it.
Natsuki wasn't about to take that kind of gamble. Even with his stash of Senzu Beans, they weren't infinite. There were only 100—and every single one had to be saved for life-or-death monts.
Note to self: prep more research projects next ti. No more last-minute scrambling like last night.
Still deep in thought, Natsuki returned to class and promptly flopped down on his desk for a nap.
(End of Chapter)
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