My Headband!

(this is before the Chunin Exams)

It was just your average day in the Konoha Village.

People were rushing to work, ninjas were on missions, and soon-to-be ninjas were at the Academy.

Today was Iruka's day off from teaching and missions and so forth.

Coincidentally, it was also Team 7's day off from training and missions.

So Naruto and Iruka both decided to eat at Ichiraku's together like they always do.

When they went to Ichiraku's, Iruka noticed something strange about Naruto.

Naruto seems…different today. Could it be his attitude?

"HI IRUKA SENSEEEEEIIII!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Naruto shouted even though he was right in front of Iruka.

"Hey Naruto." Iruka said with a warm smile.

No that's not it. He's still as optimistic as ever! But if that's not it then what is it? Could it be his clothes?

Iruka looked him up and down from his sandals to the top part of his jacket.

That's not it either. He's still wearing his usual outfit. Orange jacket and everything. Maybe I should just let this go and enjoy my miso pork ramen while it's ho-

Iruka couldn't finish his thoughts. He was too distracted by the fact that he could see Naruto's forehead. Yes, that's right. His headband is not where it's supposed to be. On his HEAD. He just stared wide-eyed at Naruto who looked completely clueless.

"Huh? Iruka sensei? Are you ok?" Naruto asked with a puzzled look.

His headband…

"Iruka sensei?"

…His headband…

"Iruka sensei?"

…is GONE!

"IRUKA SENSEI!!!!" Naruto yelled with impatience.

Iruka snapped out of his thoughts about his discovery.

"Gomen, Naruto. What is it?" Iruka said, a little embarrassed by his actions.

"Geez, Iruka sensei. I never thought you would be one to space out like that. Well, I asked if you were ok and why were you looking at me like that?"

"Oh. I'm ok. Don't worry about me." Iruka answered, trying to avoid the second question.

Maybe he won't notice. I mean, he-

"And why were you looking at me like that?"

-got smarter.

Iruka mentally sighed.

He shifted his eyes from one thing to another, trying to find a satisfying answer for Naruto without mentioning the headband. Then, he noticed Naruto's ramen bowl…it was full. He barely touched it and what was weirder was that it was Naruto's first bowl!

Iruka hesitantly said, "Oh…THAT. Uumm…I was looking at you like that because I noticed you are still on your first bowl of ramen and you barely ate any of it."

"Oh, is that all? Don't scare me like that, Iruka sensei. I just already ate 23 bowls of instant ramen this morning. I beat my own record by 6! So I guess I'm not that hungry."

Whew. He bought it.

Iruka mentally sighed with relief.

"Iruka sensei, if you don't mind, I'm gonna go ahead and train."

"Train? Oh. Yea. Sure! Go on and train until your little lungs give out." And with that, Naruto left.

Now to figure out why he doesn't have his headband on. But first, I should observe him from a distance and see what he does with it or what happened to it.

"Uum sir? You forgot to pay," the guy who worked there said.

"Oh Gomenasai. I forgot. How much?" Iruka asked.

"Hmmmm…how much is 12 bowls of ramen worth?" asked the person who worked there.

"What?! TWELVE BOWLS?! We only ate two-

Iruka couldn't finish his statement for there was a tall stack of bowls next to Iruka where Naruto sat. Apparently, Naruto ate while Iruka was deep in thought.

He ate ten more bowls yet he ate 23 this morning?! Five minutes ago he was still on his first bowl of ramen! If eating was required as a ninja skill then Naruto would be Hokage by now! Oh, well. I better just pay and get back to my observations. But next time Naruto's paying.