Here you go, a new chapter. I hope you all enjoy it.
(A\N; Uploading schedule is now changed to Saturday or Sunday rather than Thursday)
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In Kumo's market;
Naruto walked through the crowds filling the market, and Kakashi silently followed him. He kept walking until the target of his interest came into view, making him stop and look closer.
A young girl caught his eye; she seemed to be older than him, in the range of 12 and 14 years of age. She has fair skin, long blond hair going past her shoulders, and a pair of dark eyes with a Kumo headband on her forehead. All in all, it seems she will become quite the beautiful lady in the future.
But that wasn't what caught Naruto's attention; what caught his attention was the amount and the feeling of her chakra. While she was no way near his own Chakra capacity, she had a lot compared to Jonin. Her chakra contained something slightly similar and familiar to him.
'What you are feeling is the Nibi's chakra. Matatabi is sealed inside her. I haven't seen that mischievous cat in a long time.' Kurumi's voice came from within his seal.
'So, she is a Jinchuuriki like me, huh.' Naruto thought with wonder. How can he not when it is his first time seeing another person like him?
Naruto could feel that she is quite nervous as he watched her trying not to draw attention to herself while moving through the crowd and toward a restaurant nearby.
Naruto turned to leave as she entered the restaurant, but a commotion erupted, making him turn back.
"Out, out, out. We don't serve the likes of you here. Leave, you aren't welcome here." Naruto heard who seemed to be the owner as he pushed the girl out of his restaurant onto the market's street.
Naruto watched as the girl lowered her head with a sad and defeated look on her face. She practically ran out of view as Naruto heard the mutters from the crowd that had stopped to look.
'Monster' and 'Demon cat' were what stood out to Naruto.
'Seem like no matter which Village, the treatment is the same to us, Jinchuuriki.' Naruto though with a sad and frustrated feeling in his heart. He couldn't help but put himself in the girl's shoes as he remembered being pushed out of a restaurant the same way in Konoha even though he was carrying his baby sister in his arms.
'Looks like it, Kit.' Kurumi replied with a sigh.
Naruto gained a determined look on his face as he started walking toward that restaurant.
'What is he up to now?' Kakashi wondered as he followed the boy into the restaurant.
Inside the restaurant;
"Welcome." Said a man behind a counter as Naruto and Kakashi entered. The same man who had pushed the girl outside earlier.
The restaurant is filled with properly made wooden tables and chairs and a wooden counter that the owner stood behind of, with two employees working behind him. Some of the tables had customers eating on them, indicating that the restaurant isn't currently busy.
All in all, the restaurant has a nice atmosphere with an ever so slight fish smell to it.
"Can you tell me what this restaurant serves? It is our first time here." Naruto asked, looking at the owner standing behind the counter.
"Certainly, dear customer. We are a Sushi and Sashimi restaurant." The owner said with a polite smile.
"Can I get more explanation, please?" Naruto asked
"Certainly, Sashimi is raw cuts of fresh fish served with different condiments. Sushi is also raw slices of fish, but it is served on a bed of cooked, seasoned rice. Here is a menu to see what we have to offer." The owner explained with a polite smile on his face as he gave a menu to Naruto and Kakashi each.
"Are you going to get something from here, Hatake-san?" Naruto asked Kakashi as he read through the menu
"I do enjoy fish, so I will get a standard portion of Sushi, please." Kakashi said, replying to Naruto and ordering at the same time
"Of course, sir. That would be 100 Ryo." The owner said with a smile as he wrote done Kakashi's order and took the money that Kakashi handed over.
"What about you, young man?" The owner asked, looking at Naruto.
"I will take four large portions of premium sushi and another four of premium sashimi." Naruto said, surprising many who heard him
"Well, of course, dear customer. That is 250 Ryo per large premium portion, so it totals to 2000 Ryo." The owner said with the same polite smile but with more audible enthusiasm in his tone.
Naruto gave the man 2 paper notes of 1000 Ryo each, which the owner was happy to take.
'If it was up to me, I wouldn't even pay you or be here at all.' Naruto told himself as he saw the owner help his employees prepare their orders.
He turned to Kakashi only to find him looking at him with a questioning look.
"What? I eat a lot. I am a growing boy, after all." Naruto said defensively
"You know you just paid about half a reward from a D-rank mission for one meal, right?" Kakashi said with a raised eyebrow. A regular D-rank mission's reward is usually around the 5000 Ryo range.
"I don't have money problems and the better the food I eat the better I grow up. I invest in my future so there is no money wasted." Naruto said with confidence, making Kakashi drop it
'Who am I lecturing about money?' Kakashi thought sarcastically to himself. The boy beside him is the Senju heir. He and his mother practically own about half of Konoha. If the boy wanted to quit being a ninja and just enjoy life, he would be able to live a couple of lifetimes in complete luxury with the money under his name right now. The scary part is that the number continues to climb every day.
"Your orders are ready, dear customers. Would you like to dine in or take away?" The owner said as he arranged nine portions of Sushi and Sashimi.
"We will take it away." Naruto said swiftly. He doesn't want to stay here.
"Certainly, just give me a minute to package it up." The owner said as he started packaging the food.
Just like that, Naruto was walking out with two large paper bags of freshly packaged food, with Kakashi following with his own smaller bag.
On a forested patch of land on the edge of the village;
Yugito sat in the shade of a tree with her back against it. She hugged her legs to her chest and laid her forehead on her knees. She wasn't crying, she is a big and strong girl for that, she just felt very sad and wanted some time to herself.
'That is it. I am not going to the Market anymore.' Yugito thought sadly to herself
'You already knew that was going to happen, Kitten.' Came a comforting voice from within her Mindscape
'I couldn't help it, and you know that, Matatabi. Ever since Bee-sensei brought me sushi for the first time, I have loved it. I just want to have it again.' Yugito replied while hugging her legs closer to her chest
'I know, kitten. I know.' Matatabi tried comforting her.
'I just don't understand. Why do they treat me and Bee-sensei so differently?' Yugito complained
'You already know the answer, kitten. They didn't always treat him like that. In the past, they treated him even worse than you. They didn't change until Bee's performance in the last war. They are just like that, wanting something huge from you two so that they can give you decent treatment.' Matatabi huffed
'I know that. It is just frustrating. I can't get any basic needs from the market even when I was younger. If not for Bee-sensei, I would have needed to hunt my food myself or starved to death by now.' Yugito thought with frustration
'I am sure it will get better eventually, kitten.' Matatabi said with a soft tone.
'I really hope so, Matatabi.' Yugito replied with slight hopefulness
'Someone is here.' Matatabi suddenly said, cutting their conversation.
Yugito's head shot up as her ears picked up the sound of footsteps approaching her. She could see a figure coming into view from the shadow cast by the trees up ahead. As the figure emerged, Yugito's eyes widened slightly.
'Well, hello there, cutie.' Matatabi purred in Yugito's mindscape, embarrassing her.
But she didn't refute the statement as the boy she saw was indeed cute. The boy seems near her age with nice facial features and striking red hair and blue eyes. The boy is the nicest looking one she has ever seen and will surely be a very handsome man in the future. While Yugito was taking in the boy's facial features, her eyes fell on the headband on his head, making her raise her guard. That is a Konoha headband.
Yugito watched as the boy approached with two large paper bags and then stood directly in front of her.
"Can I take a seat?" the boy asked her, making her blink at the question.
Even though the question is odd, she found herself nodding slightly.
She watched the boy sit in front of her and start unpacking the contents of the two bags he had. The boys placed eight packages next to each other and then proceeded to open them. Yugito had to restrain herself from salivating at the sight and smell coming from in front of her.
"Here you go." The boy told her, making her look at him only to see him holding a pair of chopsticks towards her.
"What are you doing?" Yugito asked with a tone full of confusion
"I am offering for you to eat with me." Naruto said simply
"What?" Yugito asked bewildered
"How did you know I wanted to eat and what I wanted to eat? I never met you before in my life." Yugito asked with a heated and suspicious tone
"I saw what happened in the market." Naruto replied simply, making Yugito quiet.
"Then you should know what I am." Yugito said with a low tone of voice.
"Yeah, I do. People aren't subtle about their comments." Naruto said
"Then why are you here now? You know what I am." Yugito said with a slightly raised voice.
"And?" Naruto asked with a blank tone, making Yugito quiet down.
"You are just another human with a secondary source of chakra that is Sentient. Nothing to be afraid of." Naruto said with a matter-of-fact tone.
"I know a person like you very well back home. They are treated the same way, so nothing new to me here." Naruto said with a shoulder shrug.
"But we are from different villages." Yugito said.
"We aren't at war. I am here to attend the Chunin exams through the Raikage's invitation. I am hungry, and you are hungry, so I brought food for both of us that you couldn't get. Simple, right?" Naruto said with a small smile.
Yugito sat in silence, looking at the chopsticks presented to her while trying to make sense of the situation.
'You don't need to overthink it, kitten. Take the boy's offer. I don't sense any malice or ill intent from him.' Matatabi said
With that, Yugito reached slowly for the chopsticks and took them.
"Thank you." Yugito said with a low tone.
"Don't mention it. But you will have tell me about the right way to eat this. It is my first time having these types of dishes after all." Naruto said with a smile, which he in turn received a small nod and smile from Yugito.
End the Chapter.
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I hope you all enjoyed the chapter.
I would appreciate feedback, comments, and power stones from you guys. I would like to read all of your comments, I would like to know if I am doing well and if you enjoy what I write.
Thank you all for your support.
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