Naruto stormed off, leaving a trailing cloud of dust in his wake. "What's his issue?" Sakura asked, to which Sasuke only shrugged silently.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------
Naruto kicked a flat rock down the dusty streets in frustration, mumbling an angry tiriade to himself, "Stupidsasukealwaysdoingwhathessupposedtogettingsofathepopsoffthosestupidsho rtsandhemakesmesomadwhatajerkihopeh-" Suddenly, the blond knuckleheaded ninja walked straight into a signpole.
Naruto moaned as he staggered to his feet, his skull rolling. As his vision gradually refocused, he saw the familiar characters of his favorite ramen joint scrawled in ink on a sign posted on the pole. Quickly scanning the lines, Naruto loudly concluded, "Awww alright, they're having a big sale! All you can eat!"
Naruto produced a small, wrinkled white slip of paper from one of hispockets, "And I've got the lucky coupon that'll let me in for ramen half off tonight!"
The eager genin pictured himself slurping up ramen by lamplight on a warm, peaceful nights. The empty dishes stacked up to the stars. As he slipped out of his daydreams, Naruto licked his lips in anticipation.
Just then, he put two and two together, "Hey now... I can eat as much as I want because of that new event in the Chunin exams. Kakashi-sensei won't care at all if I completely pig out and put on weight. In fact... that's what I'm supposed to be doing so I can show up Sasuke!"
Naruto bunched up, doing his hearty little giggle before thrusting a fist in the air, "Yeah, I'm going to totally one up Sasuke! He may act cool and play games with chakra, but now he's in my turf. I love ramen, and eating is MY mainstay... plus, nobody's gonna scold me for letting myself go all out. Hehehe... We'll see who'll come out on top."
Just then, a loud crash sounded to Naruto's side. As he spun around, he saw a crochety old man speed out of an ancient looking shop with a rickshaw full of books and scrolls. Dust burst out from out of the shop's dilapidated curtains and into the streets. The old man was cackling wildly until his own dust caught up with him, forcing him to halt his dash, instead violently coughing in a not quite stationary position.
Naruto caught up with the wirey haired fellow, helping him up, "Are you okay?"
The senior's eyes bulged wildly at the blond haired ninja before bursting into laughter, "Okay? This is the happiest day I've ever had in fifty-two years! Hahaha! Katashi's been hoarding up his books for decades, and FINALLY that old crone's gone out of business! Aha! I've made off with a killing, a killing! So far I've picked more rare books and scrolls than I can carry- with no more money than it would take to buy lunch, mind you!"
Naruto wrinkled his nose, "Meh, what's to do with some dusty old scrolls, anyhow?"
The old man forced his face just an inch from Naruto's before knocking him in the forehead hard, "Say, what kind of shinobi are you, anyhow? Don't you know that these scrolls contain the works of art in not only literature and poetry from over the course of hundreds of years, but the arts of NINJUTSU as well?" he barked.
"Oh yeeeahhh..." Naruto blurted, having forgotten, "But still, you're old and crochety, what are you going to do with ninjutsu?"
The old man scowled and spat at the boy, "Bah, respect your elders, you little brat. While I might not be as sprawling and flexible as I used to be, I can analyze these 'dusty old scrolls', as you put it, and write a book of my own to make a killing! Now, if you'll excuse me..." he said, straightening up his rickshaw, "I have to dump these off at my estate before I come back for the second load... urgh..." he moaned, pulling it up, "... I'll... go back and forth... taking as much as I can... why not take a look at what's in there, boy... urgh, you might learn a thing or two... you might run across an unheard of but useful jutsu you need in your training... because after today, mark my words, this place is going to the birds! Haha... the birds!" he crowed as he rolled off to the distance.
A jutsu that I need... Naruto blinked. Hey, if this guy's been hoarding up books for so long, then maybe I can find something even Kakashi will have never heard of to help me stack on weight. That could be my secret weapon against Sasuke...
But if I want to take advantage of the sale at the ramen store, I really should show up early... even if there's not a huge crowd, I will get to eat more that way.
Well, Naruto, he thought to himself, looks like you need to make a choice...
View Portfolio
Visit Notebook
Send Gift Points
Awards
Badges
Send Email
Community Newsfeed
General Discussion
Sponsored Items
Book of Trinkets
Static Items
Books
Groups
Interactive Stories
Audio
Campfire Creatives
Community Notes
Crossword Puzzles
Documents
Folders
Images
In & Outs
Madlibs
Photo Albums
Polls
Product Reviews
Quizzes
Survey Forms
Web Pages
Word Searches
