Chapter 2

Naruto's return

The sun crept over Konoha as the villagers and Ninja alike were getting up for the day. The Hokage however was very irritable this morning because the paperwork load more than doubled this morning, a written objection from Mrs. Haruno about her daughter being accepted to the academy, today's stack of ninja missions among others. Just as he pulled the stack of papers toward him, a knock came at the door. The Hokage sighed, anything to break the hell I've entered he thought "come in." he responded

The door opened and in walked two identically dressed people the only way to tell them apart was that one was shorter and had a utility belt with seals on it and a katana strapped to his back and didn't have a headband on. "Ryu? Is that really you?"

"In the Flesh." Said the taller one

"and you must be Naruto, what a fine young man you've become!" said the Hokage. Fine was a bit of an understatement, Naruto had a well-muscled build for his age and most likely will become a chick magnet the moment he steps into his first class

"Last I checked." said the less taller one.

"Well, guess your ready to enter the academy." Said the Hokage.

"That's the plan." Replied Naruto

Ryu stepped forward. "I had a custom headband made for him," he said producing from his bag a headband that had black cloth and the metal part was similar to Ryu's headband except the dragon's mouth was open and the Leaf symbol in the center.

The third Hokage examined the headband, "fine craftsmanship." he said, admirably. "Now then, Naruto, the last month of the Ninja Academy starts tomorrow at 8:30, you will be in Iruka Umino's class, he is a good teacher and you will learn from him well, as for housing…" continued the old man, fishing in a drawer for something and pulled out some keys. You have inherited your family compound, in fact it is next door to the Hyuga compound."

"Figures, Hisashi and My dad were friends, according to a certain hairball." he said the last word with a bit more force.

Hey, take that back Kit! Snapped a voice in Naruto's head

Put a lid on it, Kyubii thought Naruto

"Well, you know about him do you?" asked Sarutobi

"Yeah, dad told me about him after an incident I'd rather NOT TALK ABOUT, since then I managed to get a mental link to him, he can be friendly… at times."

"Well, best be going." Said Ryu and he and Naruto left the Hokage building.

"All right, where is the Uzumaki compound?" Asked Naruto

"Follow me." Replied Ryu "I've been there myself many times when my dad came here on business, so I knew your dad pretty well."

Naruto followed his dad through the streets, examining shops, and the like. What really peaked his curiosity was the stares he got from women, more specifically girls roughly his own age and slightly older. The first thing they did was drop their jaw and go red and then run off. "What's with the women around here, dad?" asked Naruto, obviously clueless.

"Well, let's just say they find you attractive." Said Ryu a little nervous himself because he was becoming a chick magnet himself for the women in their early 20's. "Why me?" asked Ryu to himself

"Let's pick up the pace before we start getting stalkers on our trail." Muttered Naruto. However when they started to walk briskly, something caught his nose like a fishhook, a smell of something familiar, yet it raised the bar on it phenomenally… the smell of Ramen!

Ryu noticed the glazed look on Naruto's face and followed his gaze to where he was staring, a small noodle bar called Ichiraku Ramen. Ryu looked back at Naruto and then to the noodle bar. "Hungry, Naruto?" he asked. Naruto slowly nodded. Ryu laughed and they made their way to the noodle bar.

Upon entering, they saw a youthful girl at about 17 at the cash register and an older man at a pot. "Welcome to Ichiraku Ramen, can I take your order?" asked the girl

"Uh… do you have a menu?" asked Naruto

The girl ducked under the counter and pulled out two pamphlets and handed one each to Naruto and Ryu. The moment Naruto started reading the menu, his mouth started watering, it took him 15 minutes to choose his order "I'll have miso ramen with extra chasu!" said Naurto

"And you sir?" asked the waitress turning to Ryu.

"The tonkotsu." Ryu said simply but wary of Naruto because of how much Ramen he was able to seemingly absorb through his mouth, remembering the Ramen eating contest at the Hayabusa village festival. "Remember, Naruto, this is lunch, not an eating contest, keep the bowl count to a minimum, please?"

Naruto looked a little down trodden but he said "Okay,"

The cook seemed to have heard him. " How many bowls is he allowed at maximum?" he asked

"His record is ten." Said Ryu

"Well, if he can pack away five bowls, he can have another five free, and just so you know, sir, we run free ramen tickets in the paper every Wednesday. And oh yes, he pointed to a sign on the wall, we're holding our annual ramen eating contest next month if you're interested, prize is 450 Ryo, and free ramen for a month."

Upon hearing this, an evil grin crossed Naruto's face, "I'm going for it!" exclaimed Naruto.

"Whoa, one step at a time, Naruto, let's have lunch." Said Ryu and Naruto agreed to the max.

. . .

"Man oh man that ramen was phenomenal!" exclaimed Naruto

"Yes it was good." Replied Ryu

Against all odds, Naruto's thoughts of ramen were interrupted by a little commotion going on down the street; "pleeeaase Sauske-kun, there's this new Chinese place in town, the new star wars movie is in theaters, and I just got this new outfit, what do you say?" said a platinum blonde girl tailing after a raven-haired boy who seemed to be getting annoyed with every word she said.

"No for several reasons; one, I already went to that place and ended up in the hospital with food poisoning, two, I already saw that movie (I lost count how many times), three, I'm perfectly sure you got the outfit at some slut's boutique."

"Actually, it's tailor-made" replied the girl

"At where? Sluts R Us?" called Naruto "can't you see the poor guy is not interested?"

"And who are you to diss my all-around sexiness?!" called the girl obviously pissed.

"The name's Naruto, and I'd recommend finding another guy, because he's not interested, sorry rejection hurts, happens to the best of us, even me."

The girl seemed like she had enough and charged at Naruto ready to punch. Naruto couldn't help smiling, he stepped out of the way so she started going right past him, Naruto then lifted his right foot and gave her a small shove in the back and she went flying and ended up head first in a barrel of pickled eggs. Observing what happened, Naruto asked Ryu "Do you think I over did it?"

His dad seemed amused "I think he would be the one to answer that." He said, jerking his head at the raven-haired boy who was approaching them.

"Thanks a lot." He said to Naruto. "That's the fifth time today she tried to get at me." He continued.

"You have fangirl issues?" asked Naruto

"Since I was ten." Replied the boy "and you?"

"Just got here today, but my dad," he inclined his head toward the taller ninja "and I are starting to get a pretty big fan base."

"Well I know several routes to and from the Ninja academy that are un-detectable by fangirls." Replied the boy. "By the way what's your name?"

"Naruto Hayabusa." Said Naruto

"Pleased to meet you, Naruto, I'm Sauske Uchiha."

"Last of the Uchiha clan, huh? I am honored to make your acquaintance." Sauske then had a grim look on his face, noticing this Naruto changed tact. "Sorry, I should've known that would be a sore spot for you." He said cheerfully

Sauske smiled, "Thanks, now if you'll excuse me, I have to keep moving or else my fangirls will locate me, so see ya." And he ran off.

"We should do the same." Said Ryu and they ran off, Naruto following his dad to the Uzumaki compound.