The day started out pretty normally in Konoha. Naruto was teaching a bunch of kids in the academy when he saw Iruka-sensei coming towards him with a worried expression. "What happened sensei?" asked Naruto. "Can we talk alone?" "Yes". Naruto then turned to the students "That'll be all for today. Shino-sensei will take over from now." Shino, who was standing in the sidelines, nodded and then stepped up shortly after Naruto left. "So, what's the matter sensei?" he asked. "Ummm... I'm sorry you have to hear this Naruto, but Teuchi died." Those words left Naruto stunned. "Ayame found him today morning while she went to wake him up to open the shop. He passed away in his sleep." Naruto didn't hear the last part; his mind stopped functioning when he heard the first. Without his knowledge, tears formed in his eyes.
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Later that day, Naruto, along with his new born child, attended his funeral. Ayame was inconsolable. The whole ordeal was only bearable to her because of Naruto's presence. Not only that, the entire rookie nine, minus Sasuke, were there. Even Kakashi, after briefly finishing up his Hokage duties, attended the funeral. The whole time, Naruto was silent except to console Ayame. He was fighting through the tears for her sake. The funeral was surprisingly crowded. But that was to be expected since after the war, pretty much the entire village was his customer. After the funeral got over, Naruto stayed behind. Looking at his grave, he began to remember their first meeting.
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*Flashback to when Naruto was five.
It was raining pretty hard for a summer. Teuchi saw the little boy peeping at his shop. He usually saw the boy peeping from a distance, but today, as it was raining, he pretty much stood close. He never understood why the boy never came in or who his parents are. Even if he tried to reach out, the boy usually flees from him before he got to talk. He was determined not let that happen. He called out to him "Hey boy, why don't you come in here and have a bowl?" The boy was stunned before responding, "But... I don't have any money for that". "Well, pay back later when you come by the next time". "But I still won't have any money". "What about your parents then? I'm sure they wouldn't mind you treating yourself to some ramen. They Can give you some money". "I DON'T HAVE PARENTS,OKAY, I HAVE NO IDEA HOW THEY EVEN LOOK LIKE". Naruto yelled, with subtle tears in his eyes. Slightly taken aback, Teuchi felt sympathy. Even if it was brief, he saw how the other villagers were around him. The next thing he did was slightly surprising even to him. "Then how about a free bowl? It'll be on the house". Naruto immediately got over his anger and sat down on the stool. He gulped down the ramen like there was no tomorrow. Little did he knew, that this was going to be start of something wonderful.
*End of flashback
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Naruto stared at the grave. He then began talking, "You know, back then, when the entire villagers turned their backs to me, you accepted me. You and Ayame were the first ones ever to show kindness to me, long before I became who I am today. I started to have some hope that the village will accept me only after you did. For that, I'm always grateful. Thank you for saving me". Every year, on the anniversary of his death, he never forgot to eat a bowl of ramen and visit his grave, no matter how busy he was.