I don't own Naruto
Chapter - 4 New Food New Life
Hiruzen used the tiger hand sign to release the sound suppression seal and exited the room. After a few seconds of walking both, Kosuke and Hiruzen walked for a few seconds before they saw Naruto. Naruto was in a standing position and suddenly came forward when he saw both of them coming towards him
"Sorry for being late little Naruto. It was a long conversation" said Kosuke as he was walking towards him
"So what is the result," asked Naruto eagerly. "There are 2 important things I have to tell you before we go okay? The first is….the hokage gave us permission for you to live with me" answered Kosuke before being hugged by Naruto. After hugging him Naruto was jumping up and down. "Now now I haven't finished yet. The second important thing is" Kosuke bent down and touched Naruto's head with his right hand "Happy birthday little Naruto." Naruto looked at him for a few seconds and asked him "what is a birthday Kosuke san?"
Both Hiruzen and Kosuke looked at him with an incredulous expression. "This is the day you were born Naruto and whenever a birthday comes we celebrate with all our loved ones," said Kosuke. "So today is my birthday and we are celebrating?... Yatta" Naruto said with a fist bump in the air.
"So Naruto can I also join your celebration," asked the hokage while bending down to Naruto's eye level. Naruto looked hard at him for a few seconds "of course the more people its fun isn't?" asked the smiling Naruto. Hiruzen hugged him tightly "after all he's been through he still likes having people around him," thought the hokage
"So where do we go to eat" asked Hiruzen to both Kosuke and Naruto. "Well….Naruto do you have any place you want to go and eat?" asked Kosuke. Naruto thought for a few seconds "While running I saw a shop….ichi….ra….ichimen" shouted Naruto. Both of them had a deadpanned expression on their faces. "Ichimen… there is no such place as…wait you mean Ichiraku ramen. No problem lets go to Ichiraku ramen." nodded their heads while the hokage was talking. They went downstairs and went outside the hokage tower and started walking.
As they continued walking towards the shop Kosuke said "little Naruto after eating do you want to go the orphanage to get some of your things?" Naruto without looking said "no" and Kosuke asked, "why not?" "I don't have any stuff other than what I am wearing" replied Naruto to which both Kosuke and Hiruzen just looked at him sadly. Hiruzen then with a determined face, immediately created a shadow clone and send him away
Kosuke noticed this, "Why did you create a shadow clone". For this Hiruzen replied "I am getting him presents" with a wide smile on his face. Kosuke also smiled simultaneously to that. After a few minutes of walking, they came to the shop. Naruto initially gaped at the shop and then smiling remembering that this is the exact shop he had seen.
"Dad….. we have got two old men and one little boy as customers" shouted a young girl, standing 4 feet 5 inches tall, wearing a white a uniform and a white bandana. "Ayame how many times have I told you not to shout out the customer's age while they are coming in" shouted the large man with light brown coloured skin, standing 5 feet 10 inches and wearing the same uniform and bandana as the girl as he came outside to greet the customers.
"It has been a long time since I came to eat here ….isn't it Teuchi" spoke Hiruzen after entering the shop. "Hokage-sama…..it's a pleasure having you eat at our shop," said Teuchi bowing down his head.
Ayame is looking at her dad with a puzzled expression as this is the first time he dad has bowed down to anyone as long as she has known. "This is my daughter Ayame. She is now nine years old" said Teuchi as he pulled Ayame towards him. "Hey, this is the hokage, the leader of the village. Give him the proper respect" scolded Teuchi. Ayame immediately bowed her head "My name is Ayame hokage-sama. Please to meet you" told Ayame.
"Yes pleased to meet you as well. You have really grown Ayame. I have seen you when you were just a baby" said the smiling hokage. For this Ayame just blushed. "Ah, I forgot. This is my friend Kosuke Maruboshi" showing his hand towards him as both Kosuke and Teuchi greeted each other. "I believe this is the first time he is eating here…..Kosuke?" asked hokage. " Yes hokage-sama, I always cook my own food and there was never a need for me to eat outside until now," said Kosuke while placing his hand on Naruto's head.
"This here is my grandson Naruto Uzumaki. Hey come on" said Kosuke as he slowly pulled Naruto away from his leg. All this time when the conversation was happening Naruto was hiding behind Kosuke's leg. "Hello, my name is Uzumaki Naruto" and bowed down to both Ayame and Teuchi.
Teuchi went towards him slowly. Naruto closed his eyes in fear for the pain to come. But when he opened his eyes, he saw that his left cheek was being pulled and a smiling Teuchi "This is the first time eating in our shop, isn't it? Hope you like our food Naruto" and Naruto started smiling immediately. Ayame immediately went towards him "you are a cute little one. Aren't you Naruto?" said Ayame at the same time started pulling his cheeks. Naruto was initially startled by this but then with a smiling face, he also started pulling Ayame's cheeks. Seeing this scene Hiruzen, Kosuke and Teuchi started laughing.
"Teuchi we will have 3 bowls of miso ramen," asked the hokage, after all of them sat on the table. After a few minutes, three bowls of miso ramen arrived. "Little Naruto, before you start eating you must always say ittadakimasu okay?" said Kosuke to which Naruto just nodded his head. "ittadakimasu," all three of them said at the same time and started eating.
Both Kosuke and Hiruzen liked it very much. Naruto initially surprised, but then started grinning and smiling at the same (like someone high on drugs) and started eating faster and faster. The other just looked at him with mouth wide open.
"I am glad that Naruto is enjoying himself," said Teuchi. "I am also glad you are not looking at him like the others, for that, I thank you Teuchi." Said the hokage while smiling at Naruto's antics. "Hokage-sama I am not a ninja and I don't know about others…..but I know the difference between a bowl and the food which is being placed on it. Just look at him hokage sama" said Teuchi while all of them started looking at Naruto. "Tell me why anyone would think of that innocent child as a demon I don't know." Then immediately Naruto shouted seconds. "I will get it," said Ayame moving towards the kitchen and bringing another bowl of ramen.
" I also lost my wife in the Kyuubi attack hokage-sama just like many of them lost their loved ones, but that doesn't give anyone the right to treat Naruto that way. Even thinking about it makes my blood boil." Continued the angry Teuchi. Hiruzen and Kosuke looked at him with a surprised expression and then started smiling. "Teuchi, you are really amazing if there were only more people like you in our village and shinobi ranks…" trailed the hokage with a sad expression. "In fact today is Naruto's birthday do you know that Teuchi," said Kosuke to change the mood. "Is that so?" said Teuchi with a smile on his face
"That was amazing Teuchi-san" as Naruto finished his second bowl completely with a satisfied look on his face and his hands on his stomach. "Wow never seen a 5-year-old kid finish two bowls of miso ramen," thought Teuchi as he looked at Naruto "I heard today is your birthday Naruto. So happy birthday Naruto" as he started pinching Naruto's cheeks with smiling happily. "As for my gift, today's two bowls of ramen are free for you," said Teuchi as Naruto gave a wide smile. Ayame also wished Naruto.
"As for the both of you" immediately turning around and looking at both Hiruzen and Kosuke with a murderous glare "start paying," said Teuchi with a serious demeanour. Both of them gulped at the same time and the hokage immediately paid. "Wow, I never knew he could be this scary" though the both of them.
"Ah yes before I forget….. this is my gift to you Naruto" smiled Hiruzen as he gave a large gift-wrapped box to Naruto. "woooooooooooow it is a big box," thought Naruto with his mouth wide open. "Thank you hokage-sama," said Naruto after regaining his thoughts. "Why don't we open it after we go home Naruto?" advised Kosuke and to this Naruto gave a huge nod. "Hokage-sama thank you for all you have done for us," Kosuke said while getting up from his chair. "It is I who should thank you for giving me the chance to mend things," said Hiruzen with a smile.
"Teuchi thank you for having us and it was such a great meal. Naruto very much enjoyed it and we will start coming here more often." Smiled Kosuke. "No problem. Thank you for bringing Naruto here. He is a nice kid and deserves much more and….please come here more often" replied Teuchi. "Please bring Naruto more often Kosuke-san" shouted Ayame from the kitchen to which Kosuke just nodded his head.
"Hey, Naruto it's time to go…." As he turned his head he saw that Naruto was sleeping on two seats. He was sleeping peacefully with a smile on his face. "Wow. This little guy has lots of energy. I didn't think he would last this long" thought Kosuke as he went and picked Naruto up and carried him on his shoulders. He bowed down to the two of them, picked up the stuff and started walking towards the house.
"Naruto is going to be a great man someday. I am sure of it" beamed Teuchi. "yes he will Teuchi….yes he will" said the smiling hokage as he started walking towards the hokage tower.
After a few minutes of walking, Kosuke entered his house which was just a small room with a single bathroom, placed Naruto on the only bed which was there. After rearranging the room he also slept beside Naruto, thinking about all the events which happened today and finally with a satisfied sigh he slept.
[At the Hokage Tower]
Meanwhile, Hiruzen was sitting in his chair at his office after his outing with Naruto and Kosuke. He clapped his hand and immediately four anbu appeared before him. "I have decided that only two anbu shall remain in my protection as such only Zo and sora shall remain and the rest will resume their anbu duties immediately" ordered Hiruzen. "But hokage-sama….." resisted the anbu members.
"After the Kyuubi attack, the village was in chaos. So two more anbu were added for my protection in case any enemies will use the opportunity to attack me. But now the village and there is no need for more protection, so it's alright" replied Hiruzen in a stoic tone. The other two anbu replied "hai hokage sama" in unison and they were about to leave when Hiruzen called them "Before you go can you call Komachi here. I want to speak to her immediately" ordered Hiruzen and they left immediately after the order was given.
"The two of you can back to your original positions" ordered the hokage and they also left immediately. Then Hiruzen took out a scroll and started writing on it. After a few minutes, a knock can be heard on the door. "Sir its Komachi here, can I come in?" asked a voice. Hiruzen ordered him to come in
"Towa, your duty was to protect Uzumaki Naruto today. But later I heard that you were not present when he was attacked. So why did you abandon your post?" asked Hiruzen with a serious expression on his face.
"Sir I am really sorry for my failure. I was protecting him for some time when I heard that there was a drunken brawl nearby and I noticed that it was a pretty serious affair as they were both going for each other lives. I had to intervene to stop them. After resolving the issue when I came back to watch Naruto, he was not present. So I searched for him everywhere but couldn't find him. Then I noticed that Kosuke san along with had come to meet you so stepped back. I am very sorry for my failure hokage-sama.
"Hmmm….I will leave you this time, but let this be the last time. Before moving away from your mission always have a backup plan you got that?" asked hokage sternly. "Hai," said Komachi loudly. "You can leave now and you are reinstated back to anbu main force immediately" ordered the hokage.
"Sir, you said that he was attacked. Is Uzumaki Naruto okay?" asked Komachi. Hiruzen looked at her with a stoic expression "yes he is perfectly fine and you don't need to worry." Komachi replied "hai" and immediately left the place. Hiruzen waited for some time.
He took out another scroll and used his chakra on the sealing array present on the scroll. Out of the smoke and small toad came from the scroll. He placed the scroll (which he was writing before) on the toad's mouth and it immediately vanished. Hiruzen looked at the window and sighed.
[Kosuke's House]
The next morning at 8am Naruto woke up and was surprised to see that he slept on a bed. Last he remembered was eating ramen and lying down with his head on the adjacent seat. Next, he scanned the room. It was a small room where a lot of boxes were packed and kept in a place in an orderly manner. Naruto started smiling when he saw Kosuke enter the house. He immediately went towards him and started hugging. "Good morning Naruto, did you sleep well?" asked Kosuke as he started hugging back to which Naruto just nodded his head.
"Kosuke-san why are all the boxes lined up like this" asked the confused Naruto. "Ah yes….we are not staying here so I have arranged them like this," said Kosuke pointing to the boxes. Naruto looked at him with a curious expression. "You see, this is a small house you know and cannot fit the both of us, so we are moving to a much larger house" smiling Kosuke as Naruto was jumping with joy. "By the way don't you want to open the gift that the hokage has bought for you?" asked Kosuke while pointing at the box.
Naruto immediately rushed to open to the box. "I thought he would have nightmares, but thankfully that wasn't the case," thought Kosuke as Naruto opened the box. Naruto jumped with joy as he took out the clothes that the hokage had got him. Kosuke looked inside the box and saw that there were around twenty sets of shirts and pants in various colors. "Now that's a nice gift," thought Kosuke.
"Kosuke can I wear it now," asked Naruto eagerly. "Wait Naruto, after we go to our new home, you can take a bath there and then wear these clothes okay?" smiled Kosuke, to which Naruto nodded obediently. Kosuke used the tiger seal to create two clones. The clones picked up all the stuff and left the house. Kosuke carried Naruto on his shoulders and started running on top of buildings. He initially wanted to walk with Naruto on the streets but decided against it as there would be a lot of hate stares and it would have ruined his mood completely.
After twenty minutes of running and jumping, they went into a forest. They ran into the forest and came out of the other side quickly. A single house (like the typical older style Japanese house) is seen and in front of that was a huge ground (similar to training ground 3 except no poles in the middle and same size also). A short barbed wire fence can be seen surrounding the house. Naruto looked at the whole place in utter astonishment. After a few seconds of admiring, he went in front of the house and started scanning the whole area.
"Kosuke san is the whole place ours?" asked Naruto incredulously. To which Kosuke just smiled and nodded his head. Then Naruto had a confused expression on his face as he saw the house. Kosuke noticed this "What's the matter little Naruto" asked Kosuke. "This house looks different compared to all the other houses I have seen till now" to which Kosuke replied " you see this house was built 40 years ago and the guy who designed this building wanted to create something old school. So….. do you like it" asked Kosuke with an eye smile. "It's really amazing," said Naruto and went inside to look around the house. "Good, as the house also gives a bit of isolation we can even train peacefully," thought Kosuke.
After some time he came back down. "Kosuke-san the house is really big and there are lots of rooms," said Naruto excitedly. Kosuke smiled and said, "First you will brush our teeth and take a bath before having breakfast okay?" Naruto nodded his head enthusiastically and both of them went to the bathroom. Kosuke helped Naruto brush his teeth, take a bath. Naruto wore the new clothes that the hokage bought for him. "It looks good on you little Naruto. Come let's eat" said Kosuke and they sat by the table which was present in the middle of the hall.
They started eating a healthy breakfast made by Kosuke. After eating Kosuke and Naruto walked on the empty ground in front of them. Naruto started walking in front of Kosuke. "Naruto did you like the house," asked Kosuke while walking and Naruto shouted 'yes". "Naruto come here for a minute" called Kosuke and Naruto came back.
"Do you remember what you asked me yesterday?" asked Kosuke. Naruto responded with a puzzled expression on his face, "about why the people in the village hate you and call you a demon". "Ah…yes," said Naruto with a sad expression on his face. "Why don't we make a deal…..? I will tell you the reason why they call you a demon before you enter the academy next year but in the meantime, you shouldn't ask anyone else this question okay?" Naruto initially had a surprise expression on his face but smiled slightly afterwards. "What is an academy Kosuke-san," asked Naruto eagerly. "It is a place where you learn how to be a ninja and meet lots of people the same age as you" answered Kosuke smilingly
"Then…are you saying next year I can become a ninja and have even more friends…..Yatta" shouted Naruto at the top of his voice with a fist in the air "Then that means I could do the kage bunshin no Jutsu," said Naruto while Naruto was using the tiger seal to try and create a kage bunshin. "It's not as easy as you think little Naruto but I am sure that you can do it." thought Kosuke as he started smiling at Naruto failed attempts to create a kage bunshin. "Come with me for a minute little Naruto" requested Kosuke and Naruto obediently followed him. Kosuke went inside and bought a few books while Naruto waited outside
"You don't know how to read and write don't you Little Naruto," asked Kosuke to which Naruto nodded his head sideways. "Sit down and let me teach you the basics". Kosuke and Naruto sat down on the outside part of the house overlooking the ground and Kosuke started teaching.
[Hokage Tower]
"Finally the village is at peace," thought Hiruzen as he looked at the reports given to him with regards to the village overall reconstruction and development after the nine tails attack. Then he started sighing, for all the paperwork he had to take care of.
"What got you so down old man" came a voice from the window nearby. A tall, well built, fair-skinned man having long spikey white hair tied back in a ponytail, wearing a green short kimono and matching pants with a mesh shirt underneath. He wore a red haori over that with hand guards, wooden sandals and a black belt underneath accompanying it. He is also carrying a large scroll on his back and wears a horned forehead protecting with kanji for oil written on it. "Jiraiya," said Hiruzen as he put his scroll down and stood up and turned to face him.
"So what's the problem? The message was cryptic and you told me to come back immediately. Is it Orochimaru" asked Jiraiya with a grave expression on his face. "No, it's not about Orochimaru. It's about one Uzumaki Naruto" replied Hiruzen when Jiraiya became dead serious "what happened to him". "Why don't we talk about this somewhere else," asked Hiruzen while Jiraiya nodded his head and both of them used shunshin no jutsu (body flicker technique) and disappeared.
Both of them appeared at the roof at the same time and Hiruzen explained the whole event. After hearing this Jiraiya with a surprised expression "Who would have thought that the eternal genin would do something like this….all's well that ends well. Thank god Naruto's safe. So why did you call me here so urgently? Hiruzen replied, "It's because Kosuke wanted to talk to you regarding Naruto". "Okay…. let's go now" replied Jiraiya. "Follow me," said Hiruzen as both of them started running.
"By the way, how did you get here so fast? I only sent the messenger yesterday night?" enquired Hiruzen. "Oh that. " I was already in Hi no Kuni (land of fire) when you called me" replied Jiraiya in a relaxed manner. Hiruzen just smiled "It's good to see you Jiraiya," said the hokage smilingly and Jiraiya also started smiling.
[Kosuke's House]
"Good you are getting the hang of it. Now keep on trying" said Kosuke while teaching Naruto how to write. "Hai" shouted Naruto. "It's been 4 hours since he started learning. It was tough to make him concentrate because he wanted to learn some cool jutsu. But since as he started to grasp the concept his concentration never wavered" smiled Kosuke proudly. "I think it's time we break for lunch," thought Kosuke
He was about to call him when suddenly two figures landed in the centre of the field. Kosuke noticed that it was the hokage and Jiraiya behind him. Naruto turned around and noticed the two people standing in the middle of the ground. "Kosuke-san who is the person standing next to hokage-sama," asked Naruto wide-eyed. "Don't worry I will introduce you to him later on. Just focus on writing okay?" said Kosuke as he created a shadow clone to look after him while he went to greet them.
"Thank you for coming hokage-sama," said Kosuke while walking towards them. "No problem Kosuke and nice place you got here. Perfect place for anyone to train. On one side is the Nara clan's ground and the other side is the forest of death. Nice choice." Kosuke bowed his head lightly in acceptance and turned to Jiraiya. "I heard everything from Sarutobi Sensei. Thank you for saving Naruto Kosuke-san"
"No problem Jiraiya….by the way can I ask you a question," asked Kosuke smilingly to which Jiraiya just nodded. "When were you planning on meeting Naruto? Before or after he died." Sarutobi was surprised by the intensity of the question and Jiraiya bends down his head. "Tell me Jiraiya. You are his godfather, aren't you? Is it not your duty to protect Naruto when his parents are not there to take care of him?" asked Kosuke angrily.
"What am I supposed to do? I have my spy network to take care of and I can't always be there for him and I am not parent material either" cried Jiraiya. "Wow….. I never thought you would be this dumb" said the angry Kosuke and turned to Hiruzen "You must be proud to have such wonderful students hokage sama. One is a traitor and the other two are irresponsible idiots. Quite the team I should say"
Hiruzen and Jiraiya looked down in shame. "Tell me Jiraiya…. How long are you going to be goofing around like this? Even you have to grow up. Is the spy network important or a child who is in need? Tell me" to which Jiraiya didn't raise his head. "Jiraiya…everyone has certain responsibilities in life. When Hokage sama gave his title to you didn't take it. That I will accept, as you know your capabilities and you have no interest being a hokage. But you accepted the position of being Naruto's godfather. So you have to follow through on that promise and take care of Naruto when his parents aren't around. Okay? " said Kosuke calmly. Jiraiya didn't say anything for a few seconds.
"You are right Kosuke-san….I behaved like an idiot and forgot my responsibilities. I am truly sorry Kosuke-san" and Jiraiya as he raised up his head and looked at Naruto. "Whatever I can do to make it up I will do it." Said Jiraiya with a determined expression. Kosuke started smiling and Hiruzen gave a small smile as he was proud of his student.
"Good. As that is the reason I called you here Jiraiya" looking at Jiraiya first and then slightly turning around to look at Hiruzen "and there also a few things I would like you to clarify Hokage sama" finished Kosuke as he had a wide smile to his face.
