“Whew~ I’m completely full~ Uncle’s ramen really is the best food in the entire world.”
The corner of Iruka’s eye twitched as he looked at the half-bowl of ramen still sitting in front of him, then at Naruto’s empty bowl, which had been cleaned so thoroughly that not even a drop of broth remained.
Was this guy really a kid?
Or had some starving ghost taken human form?
Iruka also thought the ramen at this shop was delicious, but no matter how good it was, finishing an extra-large bowl in two minutes was a little ridiculous, wasn’t it?
He honestly wanted to examine Naruto’s stomach and find out how it could possibly hold that much ramen.
The ramen shop owner chuckled as he cleaned up.
“Haha, of course it is.
But Naruto, no matter how much you praise me, you still have to pay for your ramen.”
“Tch~ You’re so stingy, Uncle.”
Naruto complained out of habit before turning around.
Seeing that Iruka still had half his ramen left, he immediately pointed at him and burst out laughing.
“Iruka-sensei is a grown-up, but he eats so slowly!
You’re seriously pathetic!”
Snap!
A strange sound seemed to echo from Iruka’s forehead.
He slowly put down his chopsticks, raised his head, and looked down at Naruto with a cold smile.
“Go on, then.
How do you want to die this time?”
“Ehhhh?!”
Naruto was so startled that he lost his balance and fell straight off his stool, landing face-first on the floor.
His backside was sticking high in the air, and Iruka didn’t hesitate to give it a swift kick.
“Waaah!
Ouch, ouch, ouch!
You damn violent teacher!”
“Hmm?”
Iruka glared at Naruto with a dark expression.
This time, Naruto finally had the sense to shut his mouth and obediently moved to another chair.
“You can’t even sit properly without falling over.
You’re seriously pathetic, you little brat.”
Naruto pouted in annoyance and muttered under his breath.
“Picking a fight with a kid…
Sakura-chan was right.
This guy isn’t just a violent teacher—he’s a sadistic teacher too.”
Iruka raised an eyebrow and was just about to teach Naruto another lesson when the ramen shop owner suddenly spoke up.
“Iruka-sensei really is a good teacher.”
Since the owner had intervened, Iruka couldn’t very well continue beating up Naruto.
He could only shoot him a fierce glare before politely replying to the ramen shop owner.
“You flatter me, Uncle.
I’m only a new teacher, and I still lack experience.
I’m not even sure how to properly handle my students.
Sorry you’ve had to see such an embarrassing display.”
Iruka instinctively spoke respectfully to his elders.
Seeing how polite he was, the ramen shop owner’s smile widened.
“Haha, Naruto’s always been like this for various reasons.
He’s always getting into trouble, but he’s a good kid at heart.
I’ll have to ask you to look after him from now on, Iruka-sensei.”
Both Iruka and Naruto froze.
Iruka hadn’t expected Naruto to have such a close relationship with the ramen shop owner.
If Naruto hadn’t just told him that he didn’t know who his parents were, Iruka might have suspected that the man was Naruto’s long-lost father.
After a moment, Iruka shrugged and answered casually.
“Of course.
Don’t let appearances fool you—I’m still a Ninja Academy teacher.
It’s my responsibility to look after my students’ futures.
Besides…”
Iruka suddenly hooked an arm around Naruto’s neck and vigorously rubbed his head with his other hand.
“This brat is one of the students I’ve got my eye on.
Sure, he’s a troublemaker, but the more mischievous a child is, the more I like them.
I’ll make sure to train him really, really well into an outstanding shinobi.”
“Ow!
That hurts!
Let me go, you sadistic teacher!”
Naruto finally managed to break free and rubbed the spot on his head that Iruka had mercilessly roughed up.
He glared angrily at Iruka, who acted as though nothing had happened.
Watching their interaction, which already felt like a familiar routine, the ramen shop owner smiled with quiet satisfaction as he continued cleaning the dishes.
“It’s wonderful that Naruto met a good teacher like you, Iruka-sensei.”
Iruka smiled faintly and glanced at Naruto, who was standing some distance away.
“And Naruto is lucky to have someone like you in his life as well, isn’t he?”
The ramen shop owner was briefly taken aback.
When he understood what Iruka meant, the two men exchanged a knowing smile.
Men didn’t always need words to understand one another.
Only Naruto stood beside them, completely baffled.
Just then, the curtain behind the ramen shop owner was pulled aside.
A black-haired girl wearing pajamas emerged, rubbing her sleepy eyes as she yawned.
“Dad, aren’t you done cleaning up yet?
Do you want me to help?”
“Ah!
It’s Ayame!”
Hearing Naruto’s voice, Ayame let out another long, adorable yawn before greeting him.
“Oh, it’s you, Naruto.
That’s strange.
Why aren’t you home yet?
It’s so late.”
“Hehe~ I got so carried away with training that I forgot about dinner.
Sorry, Ayame.
Did we wake you up by talking too loudly?”
Then Naruto suddenly turned toward Iruka and, apparently determined to court death, complained:
“Honestly, it’s all Iruka-sensei’s fault.
He’s the one talking so loudly.”
The saying learn from your mistakes apparently meant nothing to Naruto.
No matter how many times Iruka disciplined him, he showed absolutely no intention of changing his behavior.
Whether Naruto was simply thick-skinned or there was some other reason, the mysterious and unfathomably powerful Iruka whom the other students feared was, in Naruto’s eyes, nothing more than a violent teacher.
Naruto showed none of the fear the other students felt when facing him.
Strangely, however, Iruka—who could normally discipline children without changing expression and had a tendency to take even the smallest things seriously—didn’t react to Naruto’s provocation this time.
Instead, he was staring directly at Ayame with an unsettlingly impolite gaze.
There was no question that Ayame was a beautiful young woman.
Her long black hair, large expressive eyes, fair skin, and nearly flawless oval face combined to form a delicate beauty that seemed capable of calming anyone who looked at her.
In his previous world, she would undoubtedly have been the kind of campus beauty who had to worry every day about how to turn down the confessions of bold young men.
But Iruka’s unusual behavior wasn’t because he had fallen in love with Ayame at first sight.
It was because, in her, he saw an incomparably familiar figure.
A person whose actions had brought him unexpectedly into this shinobi world—and personally brought his previous life to an end.
Iruka softly uttered a name that did not belong to this world.
A familiar face surfaced in his mind once more.
Just as he was about to reach out and relive that overwhelmingly familiar sensation, someone gently tapped him on the shoulder.
“Iruka-sensei?
Are you alright?”
Iruka immediately came back to his senses.
A round face was staring at him anxiously, while Ayame, standing some distance away, had gone bright red.
Apparently, his intense staring had frightened her.
Realizing what had happened, Iruka awkwardly scratched his head.
“Uh…
I got a little lost in thought.”
Then he turned toward Ayame and apologized.
“Sorry.
I was thinking about something just now.
I must have scared you.
I really didn’t mean to.”
“That didn’t look like you were simply lost in thought, Iruka-sensei.”
A glint flashed through the ramen shop owner’s narrowed eyes.
He looked at Ayame, who had retreated behind him, before speaking to Iruka in a meaningful tone.
“A man should take responsibility for his feelings.
Sneaking around isn’t the way to go, don’t you think, Iruka-sensei?”
Before Iruka could respond, Naruto immediately chimed in with a laugh.
“Exactly!
Uncle’s right!
Iruka-sensei obviously fell in love with Ayame at first sight, and now he’s making excuses about being distracted!
Who stares at someone the entire time when they’re lost in thought?
“Besides, I never knew Iruka-sensei could be such a coward when he’s around someone he likes!
Hehe, I finally found your weakness—”
Before Naruto could finish the word weakness, Iruka moved like lightning.
His ability activated instantly.
Without warning, Naruto collapsed onto the floor and found himself completely unable to get back up—or even speak.
“Weakness, my ass!
You little brat, I told you I was just lost in thought!
Do you even know what that means?!”
Iruka angrily scolded Naruto, who lay helplessly on the floor without being able to utter a word.
In truth, he really had been distracted.
Ayame simply bore too many similarities to the person who had left an indelible mark on his previous life, and for a moment, he had been unable to distinguish memory from reality.
It wasn’t that he disliked beautiful women.
But as a normal man, no matter what, he wouldn’t stare unblinkingly at a woman he had just met for the first time.
He wasn’t some shameless pervert, after all.
Unfortunately, the more he protested, the more he looked like someone who had been exposed and was lashing out in embarrassment—a textbook case of protesting too much.
“I…
I’m going back to sleep…”
After saying that, Ayame quickly glanced at Iruka before turning around and fleeing as though she were running for her life.
The ramen shop owner now looked at Iruka with an indescribably strange expression.
Only then did Iruka realize that no matter how much he tried to explain himself, he would only make himself look more guilty.
In the end, he could only let out a helpless sigh, drag Naruto—who was lying there like a dead dog—along with him, and leave the ramen stand looking utterly defeated.