The Harsh Truth

Chapter 10

It was five in the morning, and Ayame was sulking. The day was probably going to be sunny, with little to no clouds and a clear blue sky. Still, the ramen stand girl was clearly not in a good mood, as anyone could see by her scowl, showing it to the world as bright as the sun that would soon rise above their heads.

"She told me he'd be sleeping it off," she muttered to herself, chopping off an onion, "he'd be asleep for hours…woke up minutes later," she added, slicing a carrot with a bit of excessive zeal, leaving marks on the wood.

"Ayame," her father called, making the brown haired girl turn around, with a perplexed look, "You cut too much vegetables," he pointed out, gesturing to the small pile of chopped and minced greens that stood right next to her wooden tablet.

"Oh," was all the girl said, "More vegetable broth for the day then," she replied with a snap.

"I suppose," Teuchi replied with a small sigh, before turning his gaze to the flap of his stand that had opened, to reveal a well-known customer.

"Ohayo! Teuchi-san, Ayame-chan, how are you doing?" Naruto Senju moved to his usual seat with a small smile, as the man behind the counter gave back his patented grin.

"Everything's fine Naruto-kun, so you made it to chuunin now, huh? Only eleven years old and already a chuunin, congratulations are in order!"

"Naruto-kun! I watched you fight in the arena, you were really, really, like really a lot strong!" Ayame pointed out, sparkle in her eyes, her sour mood forgotten, "Can you sign me an autograph?" she added, with a hopeful gaze.

"Sure," Naruto replied with a smile, "You aren't even the first to actually ask one: Neji came over with, like, more than four-hundred white papers claiming he had friends," letting the last word hint to something else, "who wanted them too…"

"Did you really sign all of them?" Ayame asked, perplexed.

"Suiton affinity saved the day: I controlled the watered down ink on the papers, so all I needed was a single stack, and then I let it seep through the pages," Naruto said, as he then turned to Teuchi, "I'll have only one Pork ramen, and also a vegetable ramen to takeaway."

"Bringing food to Mitarashi-san?" Teuchi asked, in a soft voice.

"Yes, she's cheery alright with her job, but I'm sure she likes seeing me while I go for *the walk*," Naruto replied.

Ayame giggled softly, before adding just a pinch of extra pepper into Mitarashi's vegetable ramen order.

She knew that the purple-haired kunoichi didn't like spicy things, but the ramen stall girl was too good to do anything really wicked. She was just slightly jealous that the boy, her age, clearly seemed to be fawning over the older girl.

He said he liked her sea ramen, and yet he nearly never ordered it!

"So, tell me everything about your class: the first day started well?" Teuchi asked, curiously.

At those words, Naruto couldn't help but outright laugh.

*Flashback-Two Days prior*

Naruto looked at Iruka Umino, the chuunin-sensei he had learned under for no more than a year, and twitched slightly.

The chuunin with the scar-sign on the face couldn't help but try an awry smile.

"It was just a suggestion, Naruto-kun," he pointed out, "You know, it would help easing the students," he added.

"No. I will not transform into an adult, female," stressing the last part, as Iruka turned slightly red, he had just suggested that female teachers were easier to get used to, "version of myself only because you are worried the kids will revolt upon seeing me. They're kids: they'll learn…they are here to learn."