Naruto, born from the world of his parents.

Chapter 18 Ramen

Whether it was psychological or not, after taking a bite of ramen covered in broth, Sasuke felt a warm current spreading through his body, and under the influence of this warm current, his chakra seemed to become more active.

This discovery instantly dispelled any doubts Sasuke had, and he began eating ramen even more enthusiastically.

Seeing Sasuke eating heartily beside him, Naruto couldn't help but smile.

He turned to look at his ramen, his eyes suddenly becoming incredibly deep.

"Has the impact not been eliminated yet?"

On the night he returned to his own world, Naruto was stimulated by his home in this world and unexpectedly accepted all the memories of this body, finally understanding the source of his impulse on the day of the bell battle.

That was the remaining will of this body, whose owner had died on the morning of the bell-fighting battle.

The dough continued to steam, blurring everything around it, and in this blur, memories would occasionally flash back.

"He's not some demon fox, he's Naruto Uzumaki from Konoha!"

Looking at the figure lying in a pool of blood in his memory, Naruto lowered his eyes slightly, his gaze falling on the golden broth of the ramen, his face flickering in and out of focus in the steam.

"Is this your bond?"

Naruto murmured, "This is the memory that this body is most attached to. It's so attached that even if it were someone else, Naruto could still smell the strong stench of blood in the rich aroma of ramen."

In the original owner's memory, ever since the night Iruka died, he has been unable to sleep. Things he had previously ignored—the villagers' isolation and the ninjas' hatred—have once again filled his heart.

On the morning of waiting for Kakashi's arrival, the original owner fell into a deep sleep, and it was Kakashi who finally opened his eyes.

Naruto originally thought that after receiving the original owner's memories and spending a few days with his parents and friends, he would no longer be affected by the original owner.

But the joy he felt when Sasuke called him "big brother," and his bravado at the ramen shop entrance, all told him that he still couldn't completely escape the influence of this body.

However, this is nothing to worry about. After all, Naruto is still Naruto. They are just two possibilities that were born at a turning point in time.

As a happy person, Naruto is better able to understand the original owner's pain.

A deep sorrow flashed in his eyes, hidden in the rising steam from the ramen.

"I'm finished! One more bowl, please!"

Sasuke's energetic voice beside him pulled Naruto back to reality. He turned his head and looked at Sasuke, who was eating with his mouth full of oil, but whose eyes had unusually lost some of their coldness. He couldn't help but laugh again.

"Really? Then I'll start eating too!"

With that, Naruto began to eat heartily, waving his chopsticks around.

Because of Naruto's presence, the civilians who came to the restaurant all retreated, and during this time there were many missions, so there weren't many ninjas left in the village.

So even though it's lunchtime, there aren't many customers at Ichiraku Noodle Shop, which gives Tsubaki a rare break.

He handed her a bowl of noodles with a smile, then sat down at the table and watched the news on TV.

"It's nice to have some free time like this once in a while."

But gradually, the joy of hand-stirring also faded away as the empty soup bowls piled up.

Naruto knew that this kid had always been a big eater, but when did this young master of the Uchiha clan become such a big eater?

He handed her another bowl of noodles, the joy of being able to steal a moment of leisure from his busy schedule now completely transformed into a restless anxiety mixed with worry.

This Uchiha brat has already eaten twenty-four bowls of ramen and is about to break the record for the biggest eater.

This means that the kid and Naruto who came with him will enjoy this trip for free.

If it were just Sasuke alone, the action wouldn't be so depressing, since breaking the record for the biggest eater is an expected loss. But with Naruto added, it's a different story.

Although Naruto had stopped for a while, the big-eater kid had still eaten around twenty bowls of ramen, plus the record Sasuke was about to break.

The losses today must be at least 30,000 taels.

Thinking of this, Shouda's eyes became even more melancholy.

Sasuke, engrossed in his battle with the ramen, paid no heed to the melancholy in Tetsuya's eyes or the worry in Naruto's.

At that moment, he felt his stomach was incredibly bloated, and waves of heat were spreading through his chest, threatening to surge upwards.

Sasuke swallowed a mouthful of ramen and pressed down on the warm sensation in his chest.

After his initial misconception, Sasuke now simply sees it as a sign of increasing chakra and continues eating on his own.

The next bowl of noodles was brought over, and looking at the delicious ramen, Sasuke felt like throwing up.

Suppressing the urge to vomit, he picked up another chopstick, and this time Naruto couldn't hold back any longer.

He snatched the ramen from Sasuke's hand, and looking at Sasuke's puzzled expression as his cheeks bulged with ramen, he said with a hint of helplessness, "Alright, that's enough."

"I'm still okay."

"That's a load of rubbish."

Naruto brought over the ramen that Sasuke had already taken a bite of, and, wanting to avoid wasting food, slowly ate it.

"You bastard, how can you eat more than me? Is the food in the Uchiha clan really that bad?"

Naruto's unintentional joke startled Sasuke for a moment, then he lowered his head: "No one cooks at home."

Hearing Sasuke's almost mumbled voice, the playfulness in Naruto's eyes vanished instantly. Looking at Sasuke's somewhat dejected expression, he said while chewing on his ramen, "Then come to my house for dinner. Eating alone always feels a bit lonely."

"Really?"

Seeing Sasuke's eyes light up instantly, Naruto's eyes, hidden behind the mist, curved into a gentle smile: "Of course, after all, I'm your older brother."

Hearing this, Sasuke felt a warmth in his heart, but his expression returned to its usual coldness. He turned his head away and looked at Tetsuya without replying: "Uncle, settle the score."

Naruto, who had just finished a bowl of ramen, immediately put down his bowl upon hearing this and pressed Sasuke's hand down: "Didn't I say I'd treat you?"

Sasuke glanced at the mountain of bowls behind the cabinet, then at the frog wallet on Naruto's waist, but didn't explain. He just stared at Tsubasa with a stubborn look.

The person who had just finished counting the bowls overheard their conversation and, though feeling sorry for them, couldn't help but laugh.

"Congratulations on breaking our restaurant's record for the biggest eater. As a reward, this meal is on the house."

"Huh?"

Sasuke and Naruto were both stunned for a moment upon hearing this, and then they both laughed happily.

Seeing their smiles, the last trace of heartache in his heart completely disappeared, and he took out his camera and took a picture of them.

In the photo, Naruto grinned, revealing a row of white teeth, like a warm sun, while Sasuke pursed his lips, the corners of his mouth curving into a slight arc.

Then, Teji took a separate photo of Sasuke. Seeing the two's puzzled looks, Teji smiled and said, "This old man was young once too. Seeing you two reminds me of those days, so I took a picture of you as a keepsake, is that alright?"

Having received a free meal, the two naturally couldn't refuse. After thanking the chef for his hospitality, they left the noodle shop together.

After walking for more than ten minutes, Sakura followed Kakashi into Ichiraku Ramen.

She slumped helplessly onto the table, muttering angrily, "Damn it, those two actually used shadow clones to do their missions!"

Kakashi, on the other hand, remained completely calm. Today's mission was only a D-rank, and its purpose was simply to cultivate the team members' cooperation skills.

This experience can also be fed back to the original body through the shadow clones, so Kakashi didn't comment on what the two did.

Based on his experience, this girl named Haruno Sakura would probably have a hard time keeping up with Sasuke and Naruto.

These two kids have clearly surpassed the level of Genin, and the Chunin Exams are just around the corner. If nothing unexpected happens, Naruto and Sasuke should be able to pass the Chunin Exams, but as for Sakura...

He glanced at Sakura, who was still complaining. Although the girl was very smart and obedient, being a ninja still required certain qualifications.

After the Chunin Exams are over, Team 7 will probably disband.

Thinking of this, Kakashi's eyes became somewhat blank.

He never expected that his first genin squad would be disbanded so soon.

"What should we do next?"

Kakashi was resting his head on his hand, thinking with complete relaxation, when suddenly he caught sight of his hands busy at work in the corner.

To be precise, it's a hand-typed photo that was just hung up.

"That's... Sasuke?"

Looking at the photos on the wall, Kakashi felt a surge of interest.

He walked up to the photo. In the photo, Sasuke was pursing his lips, with a slight curve at the corners of his mouth, revealing a gentleness that was completely different from his usual coldness.

What surprised Kakashi even more was that in this photo, Sasuke's eyes no longer held their usual gloom, but instead exuded an indescribable sense of relaxation.

Kakashi stroked his chin, turned his head, and asked, "Uncle Tetsuya, when was this photo taken?"

The hand that was kneading dough turned its head when it heard Kakashi's question. After squinting its eyes to confirm, it smiled and said, "This photo? It was just taken a moment ago."

After saying that, he looked away and continued kneading the noodles in his hands.

Kakashi and Tate's conversation caught Sakura's attention, who was lying on the table. She sat up and walked over to Kakashi, asking in confusion, "Kakashi-sensei, what are you looking at...?"

Sakura followed Kakashi's gaze and immediately covered her mouth in surprise.

"This is... Sasuke?!"

But the next moment, pink hearts instantly appeared in her eyes.

"Sasuke-kun has such a gentle side? That's so cool!"

Seeing Sakura swooning over her crush, Kakashi helplessly covered his forehead and reminded her, "Hey, don't forget something more important."

"Something more important?"

Listening to Kakashi's words, Sakura looked away from the photo in confusion, only to see the text on it the next moment.

"This year's competitive eater, Uchiha Sasuke, sets a new record: 28 bowls?! ...

Sakura's voice grew louder and louder, and she almost shouted when she read out the numbers.

Realizing what had happened, she quickly covered her mouth and looked at Kakashi in disbelief.

Seemingly sensing the shock in Sakura's eyes, Kakashi nodded: "It seems it's just as we saw. Sasuke can eat even more than I imagined."

These words made Sakura feel as if glass was shattering.

"Sasuke, is he a glutton?"

This conclusion was too disillusioning for a girl in puberty; she simply couldn't imagine that Sasuke, who looked so cool and handsome, could actually eat so much.

Thinking about what Sasuke would look like if he were Choji's size, Sakura instantly collapsed.

And it was at this moment that Kakashi's voice entered her ears again.

"However, that's not necessarily true. After all, I've never heard of Sasuke being a big eater, and this guy is very goal-oriented, single-mindedly focused on becoming stronger. Could it be that Ichiraku Ramen has some unknown secret?"

These words abruptly halted Sakura's crumbling image of Sasuke. As if grasping at a lifeline, she exclaimed, "That's right! There must be something in the ramen that helps Sasuke, that's why he ate so much!"

Sakura's voice startled the group that was entering the ramen shop. Yamanaka Ino looked over upon hearing the familiar voice and saw Sakura speaking.

She smiled and waved, calling out, "Sakura!"

Hearing her best friend's voice, Sakura turned around and saw Ino walking towards her.

She was about to say something when Ino suddenly pushed her aside.

"That's... Sasuke-kun?! Wow! I can't believe there's such a handsome photo!"

Seeing her friend swooning over her crush, a nameless anger welled up in Sakura's heart, and she turned her head away, ignoring her.

It was at this moment that the screams from not long ago rang out again.

"Twenty? Eight bowls!!!!"

Seeing Ino's quickly shattered expression, Sakura opened her mouth as if to explain, but then remembered that this seemed like an opportunity to have Sasuke all to herself, so she quickly shut her mouth and adopted a somber expression.

"I'm sorry, Ino."

Sakura placed her hand on Ino's shoulder, her voice incredibly low: "I didn't want you to see this, after all, you and I both deeply love Sasuke-kun, and this kind of news..."

Seeing Ino's petrified expression, Sakura almost hysterically laughed inside.

She forced a sad expression and squeezed out a smile: "But liking someone means liking everything about them. Even if Sasuke gets really fat, I'll still like him. I believe you feel the same way, right?"

Sakura swallowed back the Choji that almost slipped out, her expression completely calm.

Even if she swallowed it back, who among those present wouldn't have noticed?

Ino glanced instinctively at Choji beside her, then suddenly shivered. She took a deep breath but didn't reply to Sakura.

Shikamaru, standing to the side, glanced at his classmate with a hint of disgust in his eyes and showed no interest in speaking to him.

Only Choji, as if he hadn't heard anything, excitedly ran to the counter and started ordering ramen.

After a long while, and only after Sakura and Kakashi had left, Shikamaru, who had been silent, finally spoke up: "Ino, are you alright?"

Ino, who had initially looked completely devastated, suddenly became perfectly normal after Sakura left.

Hearing Shikamaru's words, she asked with some confusion, "Me? What could possibly be wrong with me?"

After saying that, she seemed to have thought of something and said, "We were just putting on an act with this guy. Didn't we hear something about how it could help Sasuke when we came in? Hmph, trying to make me back down? No way!"

"If this guy sees what I look like, he'll definitely go and badmouth me to Sasuke. And then Sasuke will find out that I'm not like what Sakura said, hmph."

Seeing Ino swinging her fist, Shikamaru broke out in a cold sweat, thinking how terrifying women could be.

Beside them, Asuma, who was already quite full after eating several bowls of ramen, hesitated for a moment after hearing their conversation, but still said, "Uncle Tetsuji, another bowl, please."

Because of his father's disapproval, his marriage with Hong is still being delayed. So, he has been trying to get Hong pregnant first, hoping to use the child to pressure his father.

Now that Asuma has heard that Teuchiya's ramen seems to have other uses, he naturally wants to try it out since he already has something on his mind.