Luckily, Iruka was a good teacher and saw that Natsuki wasn't lying.
So he warned, "You're still young, so training should be moderate. Don't stay up all night training anymore. Now, listen carefully in class and don't sleep again."
"Okay, sensei, thank you, sensei."
Natsuki quickly thanked him, then rubbed his face, finally feeling much more awake.
After that, he naturally listened intently to the class and even took notes seriously. Iruka saw this and was relieved, letting him off the hook.
After class, Natsuki yawned again.
Shino asked curiously, "Did you really train until very late last night?"
Natsuki nodded, yawning, "Yeah, I got excited and didn't stop. By the time I stopped, it was almost dawn."
Shino became even more curious upon hearing this, but out of politeness, he didn't ask. Although he wasn't sure of Natsuki's background, for Natsuki to train all night without sleep, it must have been some kind of family secret technique. Asking more would be against the rules.
Natsuki, however, suddenly paused, looking at Shino, as if he had thought of something.
He smiled and said, "Shino, do you have a lot of pocket money?"
Shino was confused, but he replied, "Not a lot. If you're short on money, I can lend you some."
Natsuki shook his head, "I won't borrow, because I don't have money to pay back. But, come to my place after school this afternoon. I'll show you something, and you'll definitely be willing to spend money to buy it. Of course, it's okay if you don't buy it. I mainly want to treat you to a meal. You're my first friend."
"Okay."
Shino agreed readily.
Although he was curious about what Natsuki was talking about, since Natsuki didn't want to discuss it here, he didn't ask.
Moreover, Natsuki said he was his first friend and invited him over for a meal, which made him very happy. The other things weren't worth caring about.
Soon, the morning classes ended.
Natsuki first went to the Hokage Building window to collect this month's orphan allowance. He happened to see Naruto also collecting money, so he nodded at the little blond, considering it a friendly gesture between classmates.
Unexpectedly, upon seeing this, Naruto showed a big smile and nodded his head like a pecking chick.
Having been disliked so much, it was rare for someone to show him kindness. To him, it was like a gift from heaven, so he was naturally overjoyed.
However, for Natsuki, although Naruto was stupid, impulsive, loved to brag, and was noisy and disruptive, he was also a little pitiful. While it wasn't suitable to be friends with Naruto right now, being friendly was certainly acceptable.
The allowance was 1800 Ryo, just enough for a bowl of Ichiraku Ramen every day.
It really was just enough to keep an orphan from starving.
Natsuki took the money and went straight to Ichiraku Ramen. He wanted to taste how delicious Ichiraku Ramen was.
After Naruto got his money, he found that Natsuki was gone. However, he was in a good mood, so he decided to treat himself to a bowl of Ichiraku Ramen for lunch.
Unexpectedly, he saw Natsuki again at Ichiraku Ramen.
"Ichiraku, a bowl of ramen!"
Naruto sat down next to Natsuki in a big way and asked cautiously, "Hey, hey, what's your name again? You nodded at me at the Hokage Building just now, right?"
Natsuki had just taken a bite of the 60 Ryo ramen and felt the taste wasn't bad. Even though it wasn't as exaggerated as Naruto claimed, and it wasn't quite to the taste of a Chinese person, it should be the best tasting in Konoha. Otherwise, why would so many Ninja come here to eat? Surely they weren't all interested in Ayame?
Oh, Ayame, the daughter of Otsutsuki Ichiraku, was indeed quite pretty.
Hearing Naruto's question, Natsuki nodded, "My name is Natsuki. That was a friendly nod between classmates just now."
Naruto, however, grinned, "I'm Naruto Uzumaki, the man who will become Hokage! Do you like Ichiraku Ramen too, Natsuki? Ichiraku Ramen is definitely the most delicious food!"
That's because you're inexperienced and broke. BBQ Q's grilled meat is much tastier than ramen!
But Natsuki didn't dare to say that. Ichiraku was right there. If he dared to say Ichiraku Ramen wasn't delicious, he would definitely be kicked out.
And Natsuki actually regretted nodding and greeting Naruto a little. He didn't expect that with just a small gesture, Naruto would immediately latch on. As expected, he was just as noisy as anticipated.
Naruto, Naruto, you're so annoying!
He couldn't even eat his noodles properly!
"Yes, yes, Ichiraku Ramen is the most delicious," Natsuki said perfunctorily.
Ichiraku happened to serve Naruto his noodles and showed a smiling face with narrowed eyes. He didn't know if there was a Rinnegan under those narrowed eyes.
Naruto finally stopped being noisy and focused on eating his noodles, slurping as if he hadn't eaten for three days and nights. As expected, Naruto was indeed hungry and one bowl was definitely not enough.
Natsuki didn't feel charitable enough to treat him or anything. His relationship with Naruto wasn't that good yet.
He himself was still a poor orphan.
"I'm leaving after I finish eating."
Natsuki finished his noodles cleanly and turned to leave Ichiraku Ramen.
Naruto looked back at Natsuki's retreating figure and suddenly felt the noodles weren't as appealing. He asked glumly, "Ichiraku, Ayame, does Natsuki dislike me too?"
The little blond was actually very sensitive. After all, Natsuki had taken the initiative to greet him just now, and he thought they could become friends. But now, Natsuki left in a hurry after finishing his noodles without waiting for him. Was he also bothered by his identity as the Nine-Tails' jinchuriki?
Ayame said gently, "How could that be? If he really disliked you, why would he talk to you patiently? He looked tired, so he was probably in a hurry to go back and catch up on sleep."
"Oh right, I remember Natsuki was sleeping in class this morning. He said he trained until very late last night. He must have gone to catch up on sleep. He doesn't dislike me."
Naruto comforted himself, his appetite returned, and he continued to slurp his noodles.
Natsuki didn't know what Naruto was thinking. He walked back to school, stopping by the Mandoten Ninja Tool Shop on the way to buy a Chakra paper.
He had mastered the Rasengan yesterday and would need to integrate his Chakra nature into it later, so he had to find out what his Chakra nature was first.
Holding the newly bought Chakra paper, he channeled his Chakra into it.
The next second, part of the Chakra paper became wet, part of it crumbled, and part of it wrinkled.
"Water, Earth, Lightning? What would happen if I integrated Water nature into the Rasengan? Can Earth and Lightning nature be integrated into the Rasengan?"
Natsuki was a little troubled, but it was clear that he wouldn't get the answer just by thinking. He had to experiment. And this experiment was quite dangerous, so he had to wait until the first of next month to do it.
In the original story, Naruto's Rasenshuriken was very dangerous, even hurting himself in the early stages of using it.
Natsuki didn't want to take risks. Even though he had senzu beans, he couldn't waste them for this. A hundred senzu beans might sound like a lot, but they had to be used at critical moments.
"Right, I also need to prepare a few more research projects, otherwise it might be like last night again."
Natsuki returned to class while thinking, then immediately fell asleep.