When the Ichiraku Ramen coupons fell beside Naruto, he immediately noticed them.
Naruto stared at the stack.....at least ten coupons, meaning ten bowls of ramen.
His eyes gleamed with greed as he licked his lips and rubbed his small, scrawny belly.
A faint scent of ramen seemed to drift into his nose, making his stomach growl louder.
He glanced up at Uchiha Arata, whose back was slowly fading into the distance, then down at the coupons at his feet.
A fierce internal struggle played across his mind before he suddenly snatched up the coupons and dashed after the older boy.
Arata was walking toward the Uchiha clan estate at a leisurely pace.
He had eaten to his fill, treating the stroll as a digesting walk.
Tossing the coupons toward Naruto earlier had been intentional...he simply couldn't stand to see the kid starving any longer.
The Fourth Hokage had died protecting the village, leaving both parents gone, and the child was not allowed to enjoy the privileges of a hero's son.
Because he was the Nine-Tails' Jinchūriki, the Third Hokage had spread the tale of him being the fox's incarnation, causing the villagers to shun him.
Though some, like Ino-Shika-Cho and the Hyuga, understood Naruto's true identity, they didn't dare approach him for fear of angering the Third Hokage, and their own children merely played cautiously.
Arata, though not entirely virtuous, could never emulate the Third Hokage's ruthless pragmatism.
Naruto, despite being the Nine-Tails' host, was just a clueless little kid...and the Fourth Hokage's child at that.
Moreover, the Nine-Tails itself was a bundle of darkness, hatred, and malice.
Were it not for Naruto's innate kindness and the influence of Asura's chakra inside him, he would have long since become a vengeful, destructive problem child.
Arata was lost in thought when a voice called from behind:
"Big brother up ahead, wait! You dropped something!"
Arata turned to see Naruto, panting, clutching the very coupons he had dropped intentionally.
A headache struck him. I dropped these on purpose… and he's returning them?
Arata didn't know if the ANBU were watching from the shadows.
To avoid provoking the already sensitive Third Hokage, and to minimize interaction with the Nine-Tails, he had to keep his face cold.
"What do you want, brat?"
Naruto was used to this tone. He held up the coupons carefully.
"Big brother, when you came out of Ichiraku Ramen, you accidentally dropped these coupons.
I brought them back to you."
Arata's icy expression softened slightly. He pretended to check his pocket and then declined:
"No need, brat. These coupons expire in a month. I'm heading out on a mission and won't be back for two or three months.
If you want them, keep them. Otherwise… throw them away."
Without waiting for a response, Arata turned and walked away.
Naruto hesitated. Should he follow? Or let it go? His stomach rumbled loudly.....two days without a full meal had left it on the verge of rebellion.
He had intended to sniff the ramen aroma at Ichiraku and then fish by the river to fill his belly, but this unexpected gift changed everything.
Realizing these coupons were abandoned by the older boy, Naruto claimed them for himself.
He carefully opened the coupons, crumpled from his tight grip, and began counting.
One, two, three… the light in his eyes grew brighter with every coupon.
A total of twenty large-portion ramen coupons!
It was the first time Naruto had ever acquired so much wealth in one go.
Excitedly, he pocketed the remaining coupons and ran toward Ichiraku Ramen, waving one high in his hand.
"Uncle Teuchi! One large ramen, please!"
The encounter with Naruto was just a minor incident; Arata paid it no mind.
In the future, it was best to let Uchiha Sasuke interact with him.
As incarnations of Indra and Asura, they were destined to be intertwined forever.
Arata quickened his pace back to his home. It was an ordinary house with a small courtyard.
His parents, both middle-ranking shinobi, had died in a mission when he was nine, leaving little inheritance.
The house was modest, suitable for a family of three.
Entering his room, Arata rubbed his eyes.
The system's countdown of eight hours drew nearer, and his eyes burned and throbbed. Sometimes he could feel the blood vessels around his eyes pulsing.
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