A/N
Heya, everyone. It's been a while since I posted anything on the site. In all these years I've been working on multiple stories, one of which is this crossover between Uma Musume and Naruto that I decided to upload after months of having some chapters ready. I got the idea for this story from playing the game and finishing Rice Shower's story, which I particularly liked. Now, I'm by no means an expert on the universe of Uma Musume, but I'll certainly do my best to not divert too much from each character's personalities, backgrounds, and whatnot.
As regards the pairings, this will be a harem story, though one that will focus on developing Naruto's relationship with the other characters in the Uma Musume universe. I'm still unsure of which girls will be included in the harem other than Rice Shower and Daiwa Scarlet, but I'll decide as the story progresses further.
That being said, enjoy!
Disclaimer: As always, I don't own neither Naruto nor Uma Musume. I'm just borrowing some elements to create a story from which I stand to gain nothing other than creating something for others to read.
CHAPTER ONE : FIRST ENCOUNTER
A pair of identical, bright blue eyes snapped open, soon finding themselves staring at the many logs and branches that constituted the wooden shelter around them. The young man whom those orbs belonged to kept still for a few moments, his breathing slow and deep as he waited for the haziness clouding his mind to disipate so that he could collect his thoughts.
'What time is it?', he inwardly wondered, sitting up on the cold ground beneath him. He glanced past the opening in his makeshift home, dutifully ignored the remnants of the fire that had once burned brightly, and focused on the plain surrounding him. As he did so, his azure globes caught sight of the Sun itself slowly but surely rising amidst the tall trees in the forest ahead. 'Huh, I actually woke up early this time. Yosh.'
As the young man proceeded to rub the sleep out of his eyes, he found himself quickly regaining his senses. Now being fully awake, he got out of his small, wooden home and stretched his numb limbs, intending to begin his morning ritual as soon as possible.
"Morning, kit."
A low, grumbling voice echoed in his head all of a sudden, yet the young man didn't even seem phased by it. After all, he knew that voice all too well, as it belonged to a immensely powerful being that had been with him his whole life. A giant fox with nine tails, called the Kyuubi by everyone who lived in the Elemental Nations and knew about its legend.
"Ohayo, Kurama", the young man calmly replied, as if that was the most natural thing to do. "Any news?"
Silence ensued his question, though it was only after a few moments that 'Kurama' spoke again, his tone cautious. 'No. Everything's been quiet ever since you fell asleep.'
There was a flash of slight disappointment on the young man's juvenile face, followed by a low 'kuso!' muttered under his breath that his tenant barely managed to catch. As quickly as that feeling came, it was gone, replaced now by serenity and determination. "Right. Well, I better get ready for training", the young man said, taking his first steps of the day towards the forest ahead. "There are a few techniques I want to master today, if possible."
Kurama hummed thoughtfully at that, opting to remain silent for the time being. From his place within the body of said young man, Kurama watched in contemplative silence as his host walked up to the only river running across the forest nearby and splashed his face with cold water, before drinking some of it with gusto.
As the young man then went to answer Nature's call, the Kyuubi meditated on something he had been thinking about for days now. Something he knew his stubborn host wouldn't like to hear, yet as his companion and friend, Kurama felt he should at least bring it up for the teen to think about.
Otherwise, this predicament they found themselves in at the moment would only get worse with time if what he suspected was true.
"Oi, kit. Can I talk to you?"
The aforementioned was currently on the way back towards camp to begin his early morning training when Kurama decided to speak up, to which his host said, "shoot."
"It's almost been a month."
Believing bluntness to be the best approach to the matter at hand, Kurama had decided not to beat around the bush and get his friend's attention, which he did, though the young man didn't look particularly pleased with his choice of topic. "Yeah, so?", he rolled his shoulders dismissively.
"I don't think anyone's going to find us any time soon."
Immediately, the young man came to an abrupt stop and his features turned into a light frown. "You don't know that", he couldn't help but mumble, his tone cold and dangerous.
But Kurama pressed on, ignoring the edge to his host's voice. "Don't I? You ignorant mortal. After witnessing first hand what Kaguya Otsutsuki is capable of doing with that terrifying chakra of hers, I'd be a fool to pretend we'll be able to go back if we just wait for your friends to come and get us."
"Then what the hell do you think I've been doing!?", the blue-eyed teen snapped, his frown deepening. "Everything I've been focusing on this past month is try to find a way back, and I don't plan on stopping until I do, even if it takes me my whole life!"
At such outburst, Kurama let out a long, tired sigh. "You're not listening to me, Naruto", the fox clicked his tongue in disappointment. "You know your attempts are futile without the infamous Sharingan or Rinnegan", the young man opened his mouth to retort, but the Kyuubi beat him to it. "Only the highest level of Dojutsu can do such a thing as opening a path to another world. Kakashi Hatake had the Kamui at his disposal, but even with it he could only access a pocket dimension. Accessing other dimensions... that's a complete different matter."
Naruto who had been listening in silence until then, merely shrugged his shoulders. "I don't care what you say, I'll find a way."
"Throwing chakra into the air will not-"
"Save it", the young man shook his head, having had enough. "I'm doing this with or without your help."
Kurama first reaction was to snarl at Naruto's foolishness, unable to comprehend how could his host be so stupid even when he was aware of the facts. All of this was useless, he believed, a waste of chakra and time that would lead to nothing in the end.
"Very well. Have it your way, then", Kurama ignored the way his friend nodded in slight satisfaction at having the fox finally letting him do what he thought was right, and added, "yet if you aren't as stupid as sometimes I think you are, you should head out and explore your surroundings. Interact with others, gather information, anything that may help us get an insight of where we find ourselves in."
Naruto listened to the Kyuubi's advice, but kept quiet as he began with his warm-up routine before training.
"Besides, I'm getting awfully bored of your company", the fox then said, closing his slitted eyes with the intention of going back to sleep. "So... hurry up and find some willing vixens already. Your hormones are acting up again."
The young teen was in the middle of summoning a clone jutsu to begin some taijutsu practice when he inadvertedly felt his cheeks heating up due to Kurama's comment, followed by a rather annoying and mocking laughter that no doubt was at seeing Naruto become flustered.
Worse, he'd given him no chance to reply as the link between them had been cut in an instant.
"T-That damned fox!"
The poor clone that then spawned in front of Naruto could do nothing but blink before the original jumped at him, using full force from the very beginning.
'Why am I doing this again?', Naruto quietly wondered to himself as he made his way through a rather large crowd in what he assumed to be the city center. He was okay with crowds back at Konoha, then again he'd never seen so many people together in one place.
It was a bit unsettling to him, especially since everything around him was unlike anything he'd ever seen.
Now this wasn't his first time around the city, mind you. He'd come twice before at the beginning to take a look around, but no matter how much he stared at the immense buildings, the flashy signs or the gigantic screens with odd pictures or videos shown, Naruto could not get used to it all. It was like he'd been sent to the future by Kaguya.
He silently gasped as he walked, maybe that place used to be Konoha in the past!?
As he was thinking that, a sharp, sudden pain erupted from his right foot, and the young teen was unable to hold himself from yelping in reaction.
"Ow! Hey, who did that!?"
"Ahh, sorry about that mister!", the voice of a girl shouted back from somewhere not far away from his position, and Naruto tried turning to its direction, though that soon proved to be a hard task with all the people walking by him. "I'm in a hurry, our friend's missing!"
"Over here, let's go Spe-chan!"
"Ah, hai!"
Moving his eyes around once more, Naruto finally spotted a pair of girls running in the opposite way, making their way through the crowd. But as they did so, the young man suddenly noticed something odd, something he had to double check to make sure it hadn't been his imagination.
'Are those... animal ears?'
That thought was silly and he knew it. There was no way he'd seen that, and even if he had, it must have been an accessory, like the ones you could buy in certain stores.
Then again... why were they moving?
Naruto shook his head. 'I must be seeing things', he concluded, deciding not to dwell on that train of thought any longer. That place was weird and complicated enough as it was, thus he'd do better to focus on finding out as much as he could of the city before heading back.
Focusing again on his original goal, Naruto hastily walked out of the crowd and headed towards the opposite street, where he noticed multiple stores. The young teen knew that to collect valuable information he'd first have to do some reading at a library or similar, much to his chagrin. So it was against his will that he decided to find one, hoping they would have what he needed.
'...Today marks the beginning of what could be a very important day in the lives of these girls. Who will take the glory and rise above the others on their path to become a great idol? Stay tunned for..."
Naruto curiously looked the way of a rather significant group of people who were staring at a massive screen against a wall. The screen showed a bunch of girls round his age, some stretching and some waving their hands with big smiles at the camera as they got ready for whatever was it they were about to do. Everyone staring at the TV was excited for some reason, and Naruto was silently wondering what could that event be when suddenly he heard the unmistakable sound of someone sighing just ahead.
"Hah... That wasn't really cool of me, was it?"
Identifying the subtle dejection on the voice, Naruto couldn't prevent himself from tearing his eyes away from the screen and towards the source of the sound, only to quickly gasp at what he then saw.
Daiwa Scarlet sulked on the bench by the clothes shop behind her, dropping her head on the palm of her hands. She knew she had gone a bit too far this time by confronting Vodka the way she had. Scarlet knew her friend was not to blame; Vodka was only trying to help her get over her last failure, even if she wasn't doing an awfully good job at that.
Then again, there was probably nothing she or any of the other girls could say that would make Scarlet feel better. They didn't understand how she felt anyway, how shameful it was for her to even reminisce about that particular incident.
It was hard for her to think back to the accident she'd suffered during her qualifying race, as it reminded her of the embarrassment she'd experienced then. Knowing she had wasted such a crucial opportunity by making a fool of herself in front of everybody else made Scarlet clench her fists in frustration. That was her chance of proving everyone else she was a force to be reckon with, the next big thing at Tracen Academy.
Yet now it was likely they all thought she was pathetic and lame. Especially Vodka and the others.
Scarlet let out a loud sigh, fully aware of how much she'd blown things up by running away from said people like that.
"Hah... that wasn't really cool of me, was it?"
She'd understand if her friends didn't want to talk to her again, especially Vodka, whom she'd been most rude to. And that all had led them to f-
"Whoa...!"
"Huh?"
Scarlet almost failed to distinguish the sound of footsteps inching closer to her position, and she soon found herself raising her big, merlot eyes until she met a pair of sapphire orbs, staring back at her with barely concealed curiosity.
"Eh?"
"I knew it! Those are real!"
Dawai Scarlet blinked her globes, her mind trying to come up with a proper explanation as to why there was a blue-eyed blond guy standing right before her and looking like a goofus with that enormous grin plastered on his whiskered face.
'Wait, whiskers?', she took a moment to scan the six marks on the young man's face, idly wondering whether they were scars or similar, before focusing back on the boy before her. It was then that she realized the way in which he was staring at her, and it made her shift uncomfortably in her seat.
"I'm... sorry?"
"Your ears", the boy then said, pointing a finger at the twitching pair of ears that sat atop her head. "I saw them moving! How's that possible?", at a sudden thought that crossed his mind, his face lit up in what looked like hope. "Is it... chakra?"
Scarlet proceeded to gaze at the odd teen before her as if he'd grown a second head or something. Then, she frowned. "I have no idea what you're...", whatever was it she wanted to say next never found its way past her lips as the blue-eyed teen gasped.
"No way! Is that a tail!?"
Before she could even realize what was going on, Scarlet felt a rather pleasant sensation trailing all the way down to her tail, which she quickly realized was in the hands of the same strange boy from before.
"Whoa... It twitches when I touch it. And it's so fluffy and soft!"
It only took a few seconds before her mind finished processing the events that were unfolding right before her, and the moment she did so, her face flushed and she yanked the boy's hands away from her tail, pushing him back. "W-W-What do you think you're doing!?", she exclaimed, attracting a few looks their way. She took a step back, feeling a shiver down her spine. "Y-You ecchi! H-Hentai! I'm going to call the police this instant and have you arrested for molesting innocent girls in public!"
Her screams were now making everyone around turn towards them, their confused stares now fixed on the pair. Whispers began to be exchanged amongst the people that spectated the scene, and though Naruto managed to ignore them, having spent a lot of his life disregarding people that looked at him like he was some kind of monster, he couldn't help but pale at the predicament he was now in. "G-Gomen!", he raised his hands in a calming manner, yet it did nothing to appease the scowling beauty before him. He took one step back, watching as she clutched her tail in a protective manner. "I... I really didn't mean to upset you! I was just surprised at seeing... those?", his face became even paler as her face now twisted into a look filled with disgust. "Ah, what I mean is I guess I just got a little carried away. It's the first time I see a girl with animal ears and a tail. And real ones at that!"
Scarlet scoffed at that. "That's the most idiotic thing I've ever heard in my life", her previous disgust now turned into disdain as she rolled her eyes. "Do you really expect me to believe you've never seen an uma musume before?"
"Uma... musume?", Naruto cautiously repeated, pondering over the words as he placed a hand under his chin. "As in, horse girl?"
"Hmph! Stop feigning ignorance you filthy delinquent, you know very well what it means!"
The young teen could do nothing but shrug his shoulders, and offer an apologetic smile. "Gomen, I truly don't know what that's all about", he said sincerely, boring his azure eyes into hers in hopes of delivering the truth behind his words.
Such act seemed to slightly appease Scarlet, who continued to stare at him for a few moments before snorting in disbelief. "Hah, there's no way you wouldn't know about our existence. We are everywhere around the world!", the young man's excuse sounded as pathetic as his attempt at convincing her, yet his expression looked honest enough, and he didn't seem to be lying. "To be really clueless about us you'd have to be living under a rock, or away from civilization."
"Ah, well, actually..."
"What?", Scarlet raised an eyebrow, watching as the boy proceeded to rub the back of his head awkwardly. She finally glanced at his outfit and was surprised at seeing both the black-orange jacket and the dark pants he wore all covered in cuts and looking worse for wear. "Why do your clothes look old and tattered?", she questioned before a gasp escaped her lips. "No way! Are you a bump? A lowly criminal living in the streets who takes advantage of beautiful, innocent girls to have his way with them!?"
Despite being the focus of unwanted attention, Naruto couldn't help but sweatdrop at her reaction. "N-No, nothing like that", the blond frantically shook his head no, before saying, "I'm from a village."
"A... village?"
"Yeah."
"What village?"
"Konohagakure no Sato", the blond calmly replied.
"The village hidden in the leaves?", she repeated aloud, tilting her head to a side in genuine confusion. "What kind of name is that?"
"My home's name, of course!"
His response had come acompanied by a toothy grin, one that was as bright as the Sun itself. Scarlet found herself becoming silent for a moment, gazing at Naruto in contemplation. No matter how much she wanted to distrust him or call the police, deep down she knew there was no way someone with such a radiant smile and expression could be lying.
"Hmm", Scarlet hummed thoughtfully. "I've never heard of a place like that", she stared at Naruto for a moment longer, inwardly trying to analyse him by looking into his azure eyes. "Is it by the countryside?"
Naruto flashed another smile her way. "Nope. It's in a forest. Hence the name."
"I see."
A calm silence then settled over them, with the crowd around the pair dispersing a few moments later, having lost interest. Not far from there, other people who still stared at the giant TV screen from before started cheering loudly as the announcers began mentioning the main competitors for that day's race.
Scarlet was brought back to her senses when she heard the young man clearing his throat.
"Ne, why don't we start over?", he grinned broadly. "The name's Naruto Uzumaki. Nice to meet you..."
He trailed off at the end as he awaited for the beautiful girl before him to finally introduce herself, which she did, albeit not without letting out a sigh. "Daiwa Scarlet. Uma musume as you can see", as if for further emphasis, her ears twitched and her fluffy tail behind swayed attentively, something that had Naruto's grin widening.
"Scarlet, huh? That's a cool name."
His random comment had the aforementioned girl blushing slightly and turning her head away from the blond in mock annoyance. "H-Hmph! Flattery will not change my mind about you, ruffian", she flicked one of her long twintails back with the back of her hand, before crossing her arms over her chest.
"I'm Naruto, you know", the blond casually commented with a short chuckle, seeing her shrug her shoulders as if to show indifference. His grin faltered a bit, but he still smiled at the girl before him. She was beautiful, he noted, and her strong character only added to said beauty in his opinion. Her auburn hair was quite long, and each twintail had a blue hairband to hold them in place. He absently noticed the tiara she wore in her head, an accessory Naruto found cute and appropriate for her.
"W-What are you looking at, you pervert?"
"Nothing", Naruto quickly retorted, feeling a bit embarrassed at having been caught staring at her. "I was just thinking there's so much I don't know about Uma Musume... And it looks like you are all very important around here, aren't you?"
Pride filled Scarlet as she smirked at his logic, closing her eyes. "Why, of course we are! Uma Musume mean a lot to everyone, even non-horse people", as she proceeded to boast about her people's status in current society, she failed to realize Naruto walking in the direction of the giant TV screen. "We are not only the best runners in the world, but also incredibly talented idols that people of all ages adore and..."
As the girl finally reopened her eyes, her next words never made their way past her lips as she quickly noticed the odd-looking boy was nowhere to be seen. 'Huh? Where did that pervert go?', she didn't need to look around for too long before her eyes caught sight of said young man standing at the back of the crowd, his eyes wide in what she guessed was surprise.
Frowning, she hastily made her way to the blond, catching up with him in the blink of an eye. "Hey! You can't just walk away when a lady is talking to you!", she folded her arms over her chest and frowned at him, in hopes of Naruto apologizing to her for being rude. Yet Scarlet was rapidly flustered as the boy paid her no mind and continued to stare at the screen with rapt attention - the people before him now beginning to cheer for their favorite horse-girls. "Are you even listening to any word I'm saying? Stop ignoring me, you delinquent!"
Scarlet proceed to tug on his arm over and over again to catch his attention, but the blond didn't even seem to have noticed she was talking to him, or had chosen not to. Focused as he was on the event unfolding before him, he merely blinked. "Whoa... There are so many of them there. And they run so fast too!", Naruto whistled in appreciation, knowing very well that those were trained runners. No mere human could outrun them, based on what he was witnessing at the moment.
Hearing the honesty in his tone had the auburn-haired beauty before him release her hold on his arm and sigh, turning her own orbs to the screen with a soft smile. "I take it this is the first time you see a race?"
"Yeah", Naruto nodded earnestly. He was going to say something else when there was an explosion in the crowd before him, which started cheering even louder as the horse-girls quickly approached the end line.
'...They are coming up to the straight-away! Currently at the front is Symboli Rudolf!'
Once again, Naruto couldn't not help but watch in awe as the camera focused on a particular Uma Musume and the way in which she was slowly but surely increasing her advantage over her opponents. There was a look of utter determination on her face that the blond found particularly impressive, as it indicated how badly she wanted that victory.
"Is there a prize for winning?"
Scarlet nodded, finding herself a bit more convinced that her new acquantaince really knew next to nothing about Uma Musume and their world. "Absolutely. Prizes vary depending on the type and importance of the racing event", as she proceeded with her explanation, she was secretly pleased at seeing Naruto turning her way. "In this case, and considering this is a qualifying race for these girls, they'll have the chance to start their idol career provided they end up in a good spot when the race is over. There are many other benefits to doing a good run, but that's the best in my opinion."
"Ohhh, that sounds cool", Naruto interjected, eyeing the screen once more. The race had just ended and the TV feed was now showing the face of the winner, who was smiling from ear to ear as she waved her hand at the audience in the stadium. "What's an idol, anyway?"
Unable to hold back her disbelief at the blond's question, the beautiful horse-girl shook her head. "You really do come from a village, don't you?", she sighed, but decided to humor him all the same. "An idol is like... a singer and a dancer. They are very popular around the world, but especially here, in our country."
Naruto was intrigued by the concept of Uma Musume being both runners and idols. Back in the Elemental Nations, such an idea would have been unthinkable for his people, which made the blond even wonder if this could possibly be a different world altogether.
Shaking his head out of those thoughts, the Uzumaki placed both hands behind his head. "Man, I wish I could ask you more about Uma Musume... Ah! I know!", as an idea crossed his mind, he turned to a curious looking Scarlet by his side. "Do you like ramen?"
"Ramen?", Scarlet blinked and saw how eagerly Naruto was awaiting her reply. "Well, I guess I don't particularly dislike it..."
Naruto then gave her a foxy grin. "Great! Wanna go eat some right now? My treat!"
The girl's initial reaction was to stare silently at the young man for a few moments, her brain processing what he'd just said to her. But as soon as it caught up with the implication behind his words, an incredulous smile crossed her lips. "What? Are you really asking me out on a date?", she said in disbelief, to which Naruto did nothing but keep grinning. "Seriously? Even after invading my personal space and acting all lecherously around me?"
"H-Hah...", the blond's grin faltered a bit, and he scratched his neck embarrassedly. "I told you, that wasn't my intention..."
"Don't think I will forgive you that easily, Naruto", she wiggled her index finger in the aforementioned's face, making him blink. "Besides", Scarlet turned around, looking at the Uzumaki from over her shoulder with a smirk. "There's no way a fine girl such as me would go out with you looking like that. You should at least wear proper clothes before planning to take me out for dinner!"
As she nodded to herself, thoroughly pleased with her response, Naruto looked down at himself. "But... This is all I have from back home...", he mumbled, not really seeing what the problem was with his choice of clothes. Sure, they seemed to attract some attention as many people would turn his way and stare at his clothes but it wasn't his fault they'd been damaged during his fight with Kaguya!
It couldn't be helped, then.
"Ah, well, I guess I'll have to find myself some new clothes before that", even with her back facing him, Naruto was still able to see her nodding profusely at his response, a clear 'that's right!' escaping her lips a moment later. "Then, I'll see you around Scarlet! Ja ne!"
"Yes, my tho... Eh? Wait!"
By the time said girl had turned around, Naruto Uzumaki was nowhere to be seen. Her merlot eyes blinked in silent disbelief and she looked left and right for any sight of the blond delinquent, but to no avail.
'He's gone', Scarlet rubbed her elbow with a weird look on her face, her twintails swaying lightly with a sudden breeze that came from behind her. 'He didn't even ask for my email adress. What a weird guy.'
She shook her head, still refusing to tear her eyes away from the last place she'd seen him.
'Still, he was kinda cute. I'd like to see him again.'
A sincere smile made her way to her lips at the thought of seeing that whiskered face again. Whoever Naruto Uzumaki really was, she would definitely remember him.
It was late at night when Naruto walked back into camp, and his eyes were then greeted to the sight of a lone clone, sitting by the fire and using a branch to move some logs around. He seemed to notice the original returning, as he quickly turned the Uzumaki's way. "Hey boss!"
"Hey", Naruto acknowledged the clone, nodding at him. "Anything to report?"
Despite noticing the clone's expression slightly faltering at the question, the original didn't let it affect his current mood, already expecting a negative answer. "No, boss. Everything's been quiet ever since you left", he saw his boss nodding absently at that, and offered an energetic grin to cheer him up. "Ah, but me and the others kept on practicing that jutsu you wanted us to refine. We think we've made some progress."
For the first time in a while, a smile found its way to Naruto's lips. "That's good, thank you. I assume the others were dispelled because of chakra exhaustion?"
The clone nodded fervently.
"Alright. Good work today."
"Anytime, boss!"
It was then that the energetic clone disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving nothing but the soft crittering of the fire and the sound of nocturnal animals and insects behind. Naruto appreciated the peace that now welcomed him and went to sit by the fire, only then noticing the pot filled with water that had recently been put to boil.
"Only a clone of yours would have anticipated you'd bring some instant ramen to eat."
Naruto had the decency of looking sheepish as he reached into his old jacket and pulled a cup of pork ramen from within. His stomach rumbled at the sight of such delicious food, and he felt his mouth watering at the prospect of finally eating ramen back after the last time he'd headed into the city.
Which had been a week before.
The cup in his hands briefly reminded the blond of his new friend, Daiwa Scarlet, and the unique way in which she was different from other girls he'd seen. Not only was she quite beautiful but also a horse-girl, as incredible as that may sound to anyone in their sane minds. Then again, she was truly one of those special runners, and Naruto felt happy he'd got to meet one.
"I see someone has decided to finally heed my words..."
Naruto rolled his eyes at the Kyuubi's arrogant tone, slightly annoyed at having his train of thought interrupted by his tenant. "Hah, don't get too cocky furball, I'm still not planning to give up on creating the jutsu that will get us out of here."
"Yeah yeah", Kurama snorted disdaintfully, rolling his slitted eyes. "I don't care what you do, as long as you get that vixen for yourself."
Immediately, his words had Naruto blushing, a reaction that made the Kyuubi grin in satisfaction. "S-Shut up you pervy fox!", the blond shook his head embarrassedly, frowning. "Scarlet is just someone I met today. I doubt I'd ever get to see her again, anyway. So don't get any horny ideas!"
"You say that, but you and I know you'd love to meet her again", at a visible flinch from Naruto, Kurama pressed on. "And I'm fairly certain she feels the same way, if her smell was anything to go by."
All embarrassment Naruto felt increased tenfold at hearing the Kyuubi, his face growing impossibly hot. "J-Just shut up already. I'm too hungry for this", the Uzumaki's tone was definite and left no room for argument. Kurama saw that as a signal to stop teasing his host and grew silent, smirking slyly to himself. He watched as the blond hurriedly used the sleeve of his jacket to pick the teapot from the fire and poured it into the cup, using his chopsticks to mix it all together.
Naruto grumbled in annoyance, his previous embarrassment now forgotten. He hated waiting three minutes for the ramen to be cooked, but considering how low on money he was at the moment, he was still grateful for being able to eat his favorite food in the whole world.
"You didn't find out much today, did you?"
The blond was instantly taken back to all the reading and researching he'd carried out at one of the massive libraries in the city. It was a place he dreared, hence why every moment spent there was almost like torture to him. To make things worse, there was so much information about the world and the way things worked that there was no way he could finish learning all of it in just a day. Or two. Or three.
No, that'd take months. Years even. It was time he wasn't willing to spend in something he felt was unnecessary in the long run. He didn't need to know everything about this world, as he still planned to go back home as soon as possible.
How soon would that be remained a mistery, but Naruto wasn't about to quit any time soon. If anything, he planned to spend every day working on a way back from then on, like he'd been doing ever since he arrived at the forest a month ago.
"No", the Uzumaki finally breathed out, dropping his head slightly as he stared at the steaming cup in his hands. "One thing is clear to me though; nobody seems to have chakra around. I haven't been able to feel it anywhere."
Within his confinement, the Kyuubi gravely nodded his head. "Indeed. There seems to be a different, yet slightly similar energy to what we know as chakra. And it is present in every human, animal and living being around", Kurama took a moment to collect his thoughts, trying to find the best way to say what was on his mind without coming across as indifferent. The lack of chakra greatly upset him, and for more reasons than one. "If our suspicions are true, we better thread carefully. We can't show our power to the people of this world. Kami only knows what could happen if they became aware of our secret."
Naruto agreed completely with his tenant. They didn't belong to that place, and as such, they had to be cautious of not showing their... abilities to others.
"That being said, those... Uma Musume, was it?, sure seem interesting", he casually commented, noticing how Naruto was barely paying attention anymore, as his dinner was ready. "I suggest you find out more about them, if you can. It definitely sounds like something we should know all about."
"Wait a minute", Naruto gulped sonorously, swallowing a mouthful of ramen soup before addressing the fox again. "You just want to see more girls, is that it you pervy fox?"
Kurama smiled sheepishly, if that was possible for someone as ancient and malevolent as the Fox of Nine Tails. "...It would do you good, my boy."
"Go to sleep. Now."
He didn't even let the fox reply and cut the link between them, finally regaining the peace and quiet he'd grown to enjoy so much in his outdoor life. Freeing his mind of all thoughts regarding chakra and Uma Musume, Naruto proceeded to devour the contents of the ramen cup. He savoured every bite, every taste his tongue got from each mouthful, not knowing when would be the next time he'd be able to enjoy the godly food that was ramen.
Finally, Naruto exhaled a long and audible breath, signalling that he'd finished his dinner. He placed the disposable chopsticks he'd got that day in the store on top of the empty cup and smiled.
"Ahh that hit the spot."
He wasn't satisfied. Far from it. But there was no more ramen, so he'd have to settle with that for now.
The boy allowed a sigh to escape his mouth. It'd been a long day. Going to the city was always tiring for him, especially with all the people there. Even worse than that was heading to the library and sit down while holding a genjutsu to make it look like he wasn't there, reading books that he wouldn't have been given access to due to not having the proper membership.
But he guessed not all of that had been boring. Meeting Scarlet and getting to learn about the existence of Uma Musume had definitely been worth it. He was slightly surprised at not having discovered this before, in his previous trips to Tokyo. Then again, it was to be expected as he had kept his interactions with other people to the minimum and had stuck to the thousands of rooftops that were scattered all over the place.
Mah, better late than never.
"Huh, speaking about Uma Musume... That jiji at the convenience store gave me something when I asked him if he knew anything about them", Naruto mumbled to himself, only then realizing that whatever was it he'd been gifted, it still remained inside one of his jacket's inner pockets. "Let's see."
The blond used his left hand to rummage through the two pockets inside, unsure of which one held the object he was looking for. Sooner than he expected, his fingers came across something that felt like paper, and he pulled it out, careful not to break it in the process.
With keen eyes, Naruto proceeded to look at the pamphlet before him, a small piece of paper that had the drawing of what appeared to be horse-girls silhouettes below 'SELECTION RACE' written in big, golden letters at the top.
"Selection race... What's this?"
MONTHLY TOKYO SELECTION RACE
4 groups
20 girls
One goal:
Be chosen by a trainer who can guide them straight to the top
Will anyone be left behind?
Come and find out!
21ST OF APRIL - 8 AM
Held and sponsored by TRACEN ACADEMY
If before Naruto felt curious, now he was geniunely interested. This was a great chance to see Uma Musume race from up close, and see what the fuzz was all about with those events. This one in particular sounded quite important to Naruto, even more so at reading these horse-girls could have a trainer to help them become better and stronger.
...
"There's no way I'll miss that", Naruto pumped his fists together and grinned excitedly, having already made his mind. "Yosh! I guess I'll have to wake up extra early tomorrow!
A/N
At the moment, I have a couple more chapters written which I plan to post in the upcoming days after thoroughly revising them. I always write and check for grammar, spelling and other types of mistakes by myself, so it can take a while.
See ya'll!