ADVENTURE 21: Foundations of Konoha.
A/N: This chappy is so cute. Originally these were 1 chapter but it was 12 pages 0-0 so yeah. Two chappies! YAY. MITOSIS.
"Ok let's see, we have the Beef for Naruto, the Miso for the Legendary Sannin, and…pork for the Hokage…and last but not least, your order…." And the ramens were dished out. Everyone said their thanks and Naruto instantly said the formal "Itadakimasu," before digging into his meal with fervor. Minato though, poked at his with his chopsticks. The bowls were steaming and the ramen smelled delicious but Minato's stomach was flip-flopping a little.
He felt a pat on his shoulder. He didn't make eye-contact with any one of them. Ichiraku sensed the sudden mood swing in Minato as well. "Hey, don't feel down," he said gently, "the ramens are all on me, so don't fret!"
"Really? Thanks, Old man Ichiraku!" Naruto exclaimed gleefully. He glanced over too over to Minato, his happy expression shifting one of concern. "Hey- Mister…what's wrong?"
"I was told…I look similar to the Fourth not only by my own companion Miku…but…but also from a young kid…Konohamaru…" Minato continued to fiddle with his noodles. He stared at the ramen, not making eye-contact with anyone." Looking at the stone faces too…I can see why…why I'd remind you all of him….but I'm not…" Minato bit his lower lip, feeling the small guilt of feeling like was hurting people with his presence.
"Oh yeah, you do look like him," Naruto nodded his head, and Minato felt more guilty at Naruto validating his theory. "But you know something, you're not him," and Naruto began to slurp his noodles. He put the bowl down after a few seconds, and chewed before continuing, "…ya see, the Fourth is like the strongest ninja ever…and I can tell you're way out of his league. You're definently strong though! You helped me out back on that mission, if anything, you're fast! But you aren't the Fourth. Besides, the Fourth is dead so even though you look like him, you can't be him. It's impossible, right? Besides…Bushy brows and Caterpillar brow may as well be twins the way they look so similar," Naruto finished, resuming his slurping of noodles. Minato glanced over to Jiraiya and the old man.
"…What Naruto said actually has merit," Sandaime agreed. "Don't feel guilty, Minato. It's true that your names are similar…and that you do resemble him in voice and appearance, but only you know who you truly are. You say you aren't the Fourth and it is as Naruto said, sometimes you come across some one who looks similar but doesn't mean you're the same person…enjoy your ramen and don't feel down…we hold nothing against you," and he casually began to eat his own noodles. Jiraiya furrowed his brow, looking at Minato who was staring at the little green book once more. Minato opened the book up to the first page.
"Tale of a Gutsy Ninja…" Minato read, "In a small village, nestled amongst the trees, there was a village. Within the village lived a particular young ninja named Naruto-" Minato blinked. "Hey, look Naruto, your name is in here," he said, in surprise.
He didn't catch the glance that Sandaime exchanged with Jiraiya. Naruto looked at the book suspiciously. "Pervy Sage better not have put my name in there to be perverted or nothin'…" Jiraiya glared.
"For your information, this is strictly an adventure coming-of-age novel!" he said defensively.
Minato closed up the book. "Hmm…I suppose I will read this in a little while," and he pocketed the book in his ninja pouch. "Is that where you got your name, Naruto?" he asked Naruto.
Naruto blinked. "Wha-…no, not that I know of," he replied, suddenly glaring at his noodles. "As far as I know…the Third only said my… my parents named me…that's all…"
"Maybe one of them knew this guy," Minato pointed at Jiraiya. Jiraiya shot a look to Sandaime who seemed to send him a quiet message that niether Minato or Naruto caught.
"Yeah right! My pa wouldn't hang around this guy! The only reason I'm hanging with him is because he's the only one who can train me in time for the final! If I had my choice, I would've gone with Kakashi-Sensei!" Naruto waved a hand dismissively. "Anyway, you goin' to eat or can I have your ramen?" he jabbed his chopsticks in the direction of Minato's food.
"If I recall..Miku told me the Fourth could summon giant Toads…" Minato said with raised eyebrows. "She said her father knew the fourth studied under this guy," and he pointed his thumb at Jiraiya.
Naruto's jaw dropped. "Are you serious!? Why didn't you tell me you taught the Fourth! Man!" Naruto looked both awed and peeved at Jiraiya. Jiraiya's vein twitched.
"You never asked," he grumbled.
"Miku's father…you say she says he was a ninja of this village?" Sandaime itnerjected curiously. Minato nodded.
"She has pictures…" he explained. "She er…she loves talking about this place…to be honest I feel like I know more about it than I care to…" Minato let out a meek chuckle.
"Pervy Sage! You gotta teach me everything you taught the Fourth!" Naruto said eagerly, his eyes gleaming like two diamonds.
"Hmmph. I don't feel like it since apparently you said your pops obviously didn't want to hang out with me," Jiraiya growled, a vein still popping. Sandaime stabbed him with a chopstick hard under the table. Naruto blinked in confusion.
"Eh?" Naruto replied.
"His pops?" Minato inquired. "Why did you make the Fourth and his pops seem like the same person…?"
"Ah, that was just because it sounded like it!" Jiraiya quickly back-tracked. Minato wondered what if Jiraiya really knew more about the boy than he was letting on. "I meant, since Naruto says his own father doesn't look like he's the sort to hang out with me, then why would Naruto want to? That's all… the Fourth has nothing to do with this," he added quickly. Minato tilted his head to the side.
"My mistake then," he said humorously. Besides, if the Fourth had been Naruto's dad then that would've meant Minato would've been the kid's pops. Minato knew for a fact that he was confident he had no children. He didn't even have a love interest. Then again…he did have amnesia. Minato secretly hoped he didn't have like five girlfriends or something….
Naruto crossed his arms. "Well, I didn't know you taught the Fourth! That's like…a big deal…maybe my pa would hang with you….a little…" he tried being nice. Minato snorted. Everyone looked at him.
"Ah…ramen…" Minato quickly went to dig into his food.
"Minato," Sandaime said, finishing his noodles, " I hope to wish your teammates luck in the finals… I believe Alu is taking her written right about now?"
Minato blinked. That was right. He wondered how she was doing.
*transition with Naruto "believe it's" to Alu sitting in a classroom alone, Azuma watching her take her exam. A split second later she turns it into a paper airplane and pretends ot crash land it. Azuma worries that she's even more lazy than Shikamaru. At least he's smart.
"You should really focus," Azuma said with a sigh.
"These questions make no sense! How the heck do I plan a three man cell without at least knowing my fellow's abilities? Chakra channels in the East are different from the West? Since when? And I don't know anything about infiltrating an enemy lair and the five top most effective ways to block chakra flow! And what the heck is with the last question?" Alu growled.
"What about it?" Azuma asked perplexed.
"Single or otherwise engaged," Alu growled.
*end transition [threw that in there for the hell of it ~]*
Minato shrugs. "I'm sure…she's…doing fine."
Naruto rubbed his hands together suddenly. "Hey, Mister! Konohamaru and his friends want to meet you!" he said good naturedly. Minato smiled meekly.
"Maybe another time…" Minato held up his hands.
"Aww, come on!" Naruto pouted.
"Naruto, if he says he doesn't want to, then he doesn't want to," Jiraiya chided the whisker-faced blonde.
The Third merely sighed "Minato, Jiraiya, and Naruto…I brought you all here to teach you something-"
"Not another lecture old man!" Naruto complained. The Third's vein throbbed a little. Minato held up his hands to Naruto.
"Let's be polite and hear him out," he said meekly to the annoyed Naruto. Naruto shot him a pouty frown but sighed, sitting back and crossing his arms.
"Fine, but it better not be lame," he grumped.
Minato chuckled a little awkwardly. This kid sure was a handful.
"Thank you, Minato," the Third nodded, "I was going to discuss the importance of foundation today…I figured it would interest you Naruto-"
"Why the hell would that interest me?" Naruto looked grumpily at the counter.
"-Well…I suppose it wouldn't," The Third agreed, "…after all, this is merely a…Hokage level lecture that only someone with Hokage-like capabilities could ever hope to comprehend if that one believes in being Hokage…"
Minato could practically see Naruto's ear grow and his chest puff out as though all self-important. Man, this kid was easily fooled. Minato was pretty sure Sandaime pulled that out of his ass too but whatever he'd done, Naruto swirled in his seat to face the old man past Minato. "You betcha! Hurry up and tell me this Hokage lecture!" His eyes twinkled eagerly.
Minato raised his eyebrows at Jiraiya for a moment who had a grimace on his face that matched Minato's thought process of Naruto's predictability. "Settle down," Sandaime said calmly, and he continued. "You like ramen, yes?" he glanced to Naruto. Naruto nodded eagerly. "Well…I'm explaining this in terms that even…you can understand, Naruto," and Minato knew that the old man hid the insult that Naruto obviously didn't catch. "…The bowl…out of Konoha…what does the bowl represent to you, Naruto?"
Naruto crossed his arms and looked like he was thinking hard –equivalent of a tough bowel movement returning. "Well….obviously the bowl is….uh…" he stalled.
"What about you….Minato?" The Third asked.
"What? Huh? Me…?" Minato blinked. "I…I don't know….um…does it perhaps represent the walls that surround the village?"
The Sandaime broke into a grin. "Yes, that is exactly what it means," he agreed.
"I was totally about to say that! Drat!" Naruto exclaimed. Jiraiya rolled his eyes.
"You were not!"
"Was too!"
"Enough you two! On with my lecture," The Sandaime somehow managed to grip both of them by their ears, although this required him to have to stand up. "Naruto, second chance for redemption…what does the soup represent?"
He let go of their ears and both Jiraiya and Naruto rubbed their ears broodingly. "Well…if the bowl is the walls…then the soup must be people! 'cuz after that comes the noodles which are probably ninjas!" Naruto beamed.
The Third nodded, pleasantly surprised at the quick pace Naruto picked up upon. "Correct…how did you know the noodles were the ninjas?" he inquired. Jiriaya looked surprised too. Minato just sat quietly because that was the smart thing to do.
"Because the noodles are the best part!" Naruto beamed.
"…Right…." The Third's face fell a little. "They also represent the strings that run the village…the soup represents the tranquility of the people thanks to our ninjas…"
"Hey, Old man, what do these represent?" Naruto piped up, waving over Ichiraku. "Can I have one of those?" he pointed to a spiky vegatable. Ichiraku handed a washed piece to him before heading back into the kitchen.
"Those?" The Third tilted his head. He held out his hand. "Allow me to show you," and Naruto handed it to him. The Third promptly proceeded to eat it. Naruto's eyes bugged out.
"Hey! What about what they meant!" he spluttered. Minato withheld a laugh. Jiraiya was also evidently amused.
"Mmm…they're not actually symbolic, but they do taste good," The Third beamed, "Especially with pork ramen. It's my favorite you know…". Naruto looked pouty. Minato kept onto the lecture though.
Minato smiled a little, his eyes still a little wet. It felt unreal, knowing that had only happened a few days ago. Now…Minato looked up, pulled from his thoughts as he saw Ichiraku open up the shop.
"Ah…young man, it's wet, come under here," Ichiraku said kindly and invitingly. Minato stepped out of the rain and into the little shop.
"I-I'm sorry…I just…a memory…" Minato smiled sadly. Ichiraku nodded.
"I understand…the loss of …it's been hard on us all…" the old ramen maker agreed. "Would you perhaps like some ramen to warm you up?"
Minato was mid-shaking his head no when he got an idea. "Actually…" he pondered. "I'd like a pork Ramen please," he asked politely.
"Alright if you'll take a seat, it'll be ready in a few minutes!" and Ichiraku went into the kitchen. Minato patiently waited, but he remained standing by the small counter…at the spot the Third had sat so recently. Ichiraku came back a few minutes later with a steaming bowl of fresh ramen.
"Take a seat," Ichiraku waved his hand.
"Ah, no thank you," Minato smiled, picking up the warm bowl. "I have to go…"
"What? With the ramen? If you wanted To-Go…ah too late now. Here, I'll get you some ceram-wrap…" The kind ramen maker had his daughter wrap up Minato's ramen quickly so the rain wouldn't get it. Minato smiled gratefully to them.
"Thank you…so much…" he said, with a bow.
"No, thank you, young man," Ichiraku said with a sad smile. "You're a kind person…"
"Your words are kinder than I am," Minato smiled smally. "Thanks for the ramen, I hope he likes this!" and Minato took off dashing, to make it to the funeral. Ichiraku waved after him. His daughter too. As they headed back in, Ichiraku suddenly furrowed his brow.
"Wait- who's "he" ?"