Naruto: Naruto's Uchiha girlfriend is too tsundere

Chapter 7 The Bond of Ramen

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Naruto! The Miso Tonkotsu Chashu Ramen is here."

Inside Ichiraku Ramen, steaming hot air and a rich aroma wafted through the air. The ramen vendor, a middle-aged man, cheerfully served a bowl of steaming ramen, with thick slices of golden char siu pork generously piled on top of the noodles, and a perfectly cut half-moon yolk egg, its edges glistening with an enticing sheen.

"Thanks, uncle."

Naruto took the bowl with both hands, pretending to be calm as he thanked them. He stared at the slightly swaying soup in the bowl, trying hard to control his facial muscles.

...Just as I expected! Just as I expected! Just as I expected!

No, I can't laugh yet... I have to hold out until I get home!

Just now, the instant Naruto stepped into Ichiraku Ramen, a crisp notification sound rang in his mind.

【Ding! 】

[Congratulations, host! You have established a bond (Level 5) with the original character "Teuchi (Ichiraku Brother)"!]

Points earned: 500!

really!

He suppressed the urge to punch his fist in celebration and instead shoveled down a mouthful of noodles. The scalding broth exploded on his tongue, and a familiar feeling of happiness instantly filled his chest—but what made his heart race even faster at that moment was the skyrocketing number on the system interface.

I didn't expect this bond to have reached level 5... worth 500 points!

Indeed, if we were to list Naruto's earliest bonds, Ichiraku Ramen would definitely be at the top of the list. From the time he was a child ostracized by the villagers, this little ramen shop was the only place that wouldn't show him any disgust.

It seems that the deeper your impact on the plot, the more points you get; the bond level is essentially a reflection of your affinity.

Although Uncle Ichiraku's bond level is as high as 5, five times that of Satsuki, he also gains 500 points. But thinking about it carefully, in terms of the impact on the original plot, no one can compare to his future nemesis and best friend—Uchiha Sasuke… now he should be called Uchiha Satsuki.

In this world, apart from his parents Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki who have long since passed away, Ichiraku Naruto is the first person to proactively and selflessly express kindness to Naruto.

It's important to understand that in an era where even some ninjas who didn't understand the inside story showed disgust towards Naruto, Ichiraku-san, an ordinary person, never believed the rumors about the "Demon Fox" and simply warmed the lonely Naruto with his kindness.

It can be said that Naruto's decision not to turn to the dark side was largely due to Iruka's efforts, and Ichiraku's contribution cannot be overlooked.

Despite having already eaten his bento, Naruto still stuffed mouthfuls of ramen into his mouth. The steaming noodles were coated in a rich broth, and the char siu slices were fatty but not greasy. As expected of Konoha's long-established brand, a shop even the Hokage frequented, the taste was indeed impeccable.

However, for a three-year-old who had just eaten a bento box, eating a whole bowl of ramen was quite a challenge. Halfway through, Naruto's movements noticeably slowed down, and his little belly was already round and full.

Uncle Ichiraku peeked out from the kitchen, squinting as he asked, "What's wrong, Naruto? Are you having so much trouble eating? Is today's ramen not to your liking?"

"No, no!" Naruto quickly shook his head. "Uncle's ramen is still as delicious as ever! It's just..." He scratched his head sheepishly, "I brought a bento box today, but I wasn't full after eating it, so now..."

Uncle Ichiraku smiled knowingly and said kindly, "I see. It's just that the portion size of the bento box wasn't right. But as long as the ramen tastes good, that's fine. If you really can't finish it, it's okay to leave some; it's not good to overeat."

But Naruto firmly shook his head. "No, I will finish it."

Ichiraku was visibly taken aback, though it was difficult to discern any change in his expression from his narrowed eyes. Naruto then resumed his voracious eating, pausing for a few seconds after each bite, but he persisted until every last drop of soup was consumed.

Thank you for your hospitality!

Naruto patted his bulging belly with satisfaction, skillfully counted out 75 ryo from his small purse at his waist, and neatly placed them on the table.

Then, Uncle Ichiraku cleared away the bowls and chopsticks, saying with a hint of reproach in his voice, "Naruto, children who overeat like this will really get sick. Why didn't you leave some? It's just a bowl of ramen."

Naruto lowered his head. "...Because it's so delicious, I don't want to leave any."

“That’s a good reason,” Uncle Ichiraku said, wiping his hands and a concerned look in his narrowed eyes, “but it can’t be used as an excuse to ruin your health.”

"Hmm..." Naruto looked up, his azure eyes sparkling with sincerity. "Well, can the old man's ramen be used as an excuse because it's so comforting?"

"A cure?" Uncle Ichiraku chuckled helplessly and shook his head. "That's an exaggeration. Ramen is indeed delicious, but it's not quite to that extent."

"No, I'm serious." Naruto suddenly sat up straight, his little face full of seriousness. "Because Ichiraku-san's ramen is really comforting."

His voice trailed off: "The first time I came to eat Uncle's ramen... I don't know why, but no one in the village would sell me anything. It was raining that day, and they wouldn't even let me into a place to take shelter from the rain..."

Uncle Ichiraku paused. The image from his memory surfaced clearly: a small figure, soaked to the bone by the rain, standing alone outside the shop, golden hair plastered to pale cheeks, looking utterly pitiful.

"My stomach was aching with hunger, and I was shivering with cold..." Naruto continued, "The old man invited me into his shop and even treated me to a bowl of hot ramen..."

His voice suddenly brightened, and a radiant smile spread across his face: "That's when I discovered that ramen eaten on an empty stomach is such a wonderful thing!"

"So—" Naruto placed his hands on the table, his eyes sparkling, his voice filled with undisguised excitement, "every time I eat Uncle's ramen after that, I feel especially happy and warm inside! That's why I absolutely don't want to leave a single drop of any of the ramen Uncle makes for me!"

Having finished speaking, Uncle Ichiraku turned around, his back to Naruto, his shoulders trembling slightly. He deliberately spoke in a helpless yet somewhat indulgent tone, "Alright, alright, it seems you've convinced me. Now that you mention it, there really isn't any way to leave ramen..."

Out of Naruto's sight, Uncle Ichiraku raised his rough hand and quickly wiped his slightly burning eyes. Then, he took out a small card from his apron pocket and carefully wrote a line of words with a ballpoint pen.

“Here you go, Naruto.” He turned around and handed the card to Naruto, his narrowed eyes brimming with amusement. “Take this.”

Naruto's eyes widened. "This... could it be!"

Uncle Ichiraku nodded, his voice gentle. "That's right. As a chef, there's nothing happier than someone liking my ramen so much. Consider it... a special gift for a customer who appreciates fine food."

The card was written in clear font.

Ichiraku Ramen Special Invitation Ticket

Miso Tonkotsu Chashu Ramen (for one person)

• Validity period: Permanent

It's exactly Naruto's favorite flavor.

Chapter 8 The Opportunity to Become Stronger

Naruto returned to his small apartment with satisfaction, eager to study the system thoroughly.

Pushing open the door, the room, though simple, was tidy and organized. The blankets on the single bed were neatly folded, the ninja tools and books on the desk were arranged in an orderly fashion, and even the floor was wiped clean. It didn't look like a room where a child lived alone at all.

He went straight to the kitchen and took a carton of milk from the refrigerator. Yes, the refrigerator.

Every time Naruto sees these modern home appliances, he can't help but complain about the technology tree in the Naruto world. In an era where people travel by horse-drawn carriages and communicate mainly by writing letters, there are refrigerators, induction cookers, and even movies and vending machines.

It's probably a different kind of cyberpunk...

Shaking off these irrelevant thoughts, Naruto opened the system interface. His points were displayed as 1100; the system notification had sounded again just moments before, when he left Ichiraku Ramen.

【Ding! 】

[Congratulations, host! You have established a bond (Level 6) with the original character "Teuchi (Ichiraku Brother)"!]

Points earned: 100!

It seems the most effective way to improve a chef's reputation is to praise their cooking.

Naruto casually placed the half-finished milk on the bedside table and rubbed his hands together. Now, it was time to test his luck!

As a low-level lucky player who once managed to pull a high-level A-rank ninja in a mobile game with just 100 draws plus an initial payment, he is quite confident in his luck.

"Come on! Ten consecutive pulls!"

Without hesitation, Naruto clicked the ten-pull button on the system interface, instantly reducing his points from 1100 to 100. Immediately afterward, the system notification sounded crisply in his mind.

【Ding! 】

[Congratulations, host: You have achieved your first 10-pull!]

[Reward: System Space!]

[Item Description: The System Space is a storage space independent of the world, bound to this system, and visible only to the host. It can be freely manipulated through consciousness, has unlimited capacity, but can only store items produced by this system!]

Storage space? This system is quite considerate... It can only store system data, so it seems it can't be used as a Kamui space like Obito did.

But right now, he was more interested in the items he won in the lottery. Sure enough, ten cards, shimmering faintly, were neatly arranged on the system interface. However, when he saw the design of the cards, his lips twitched involuntarily.

Wait... this design...

The card back features the familiar blue background with gold trim, and a strange stone in the center... Isn't this a legendary Hearthstone card?! This thing is even a game-like stitching thing?!

Naruto suppressed the urge to retort and reached out to open one of the cards.

Congratulations on obtaining: Chakra +5

[Item Description: Quality - Common. The source of power in the Naruto world, physiological energy extracted from 130 trillion cells in the human body. Numerical reference: Common Chunin = 10, Kakashi Hatake = 50]

I see, it directly increases the maximum chakra limit...

Naruto suddenly found it somewhat amusing. So, I've gained 0.1 chakra now?

Is it a bit inappropriate to use Kakashi as a unit of measurement?

"If Kakashi's chakra level is 50..." he muttered to himself unconsciously, "then what's my current chakra level?"

The system responded immediately after I finished speaking.

[Host's current chakra level: 205]

Oh? It's quite intelligent.

Naruto was a little surprised. Although the function was a bit rudimentary, it could still answer questions. How thoughtful!

"200 chakra points...that's 4 ka."

This number left him speechless. Keep in mind, Naruto hadn't even formally undergone chakra refinement training yet; his initial chakra reserves were already four times that of Kakashi, an elite Jonin.

Not to mention... there's a giant fox inside his body that's entirely made of chakra.

Naruto couldn't wait to open the remaining cards.

Congratulations on obtaining: 500 grams of Chakra Metal

[Item Description: Special forging material, capable of conducting chakra, commonly used in crafting high-grade ninja tools]

Congratulations on obtaining: Physical Training Weighted Gear (Rock Lee's Style)

[Item Description: Adjustable load capacity, single block can reach up to 1 ton!]

Congratulations on obtaining: 10 Soldier Rations Pills

[Item Description: Each item restores 10 chakra points; tastes bitter]

[Congratulations on obtaining: Basic Physical Skill Enhancement!]

[Item Description: Improves overall physical fitness by 5%]

Just as the fifth card was unfolded, the system suddenly emitted a familiar notification sound.

"rare!"

Immediately afterwards, a warm current surged from his body, quickly spreading throughout his entire being. Naruto moved his arms and legs in surprise, clearly feeling his muscles become firmer and his joints more flexible.

My body has been enhanced?! And it's working so fast?

It seems the system's rewards are more reliable than expected. Naruto's spirits lifted, and he immediately started clicking on the remaining cards.

Congratulations on receiving: 10,000 taels (the universal currency of the Naruto world)

Congratulations on obtaining: Chakra +5

[Congratulations on obtaining: Fire Release Chakra Adaptation and Mastery Nature Transformation!]

Another "Rare!" notification sound rang out. This time, Naruto felt a surge of heat within his body. However, compared to the previous warm enhancement, this felt more like the awakening of some kind of talent. He could clearly sense that his chakra seemed to have become more active, and his affinity for fire-attribute had significantly increased.

It seems to be a talent-based reward.

Only two cards remained. Naruto stared at the system interface, his heart pounding faster than usual. He was incredibly tempted by the system's so-called "legendary" reward; if he could directly unlock a pair of Rinnegan, wouldn't that be an instant power boost?

Taking a deep breath, I tapped the second-to-last card with slightly trembling fingers.

Congratulations on obtaining: 500 grams of Chakra Metal

It's this again...

Although he knew that chakra-conducting metal was a precious material for making high-grade ninja tools, what use did he have for it now? He neither knew how to forge nor needed high-grade blades. Was he supposed to ask the Third Hokage for help? How would he explain the origin of this rare metal then?

"Oh, I found this?" Would he believe me?

Shaking his head to shake off these sentimental worries, Naruto turned his gaze to the last card. The instant his fingertip touched it, the system suddenly erupted with an unprecedentedly dazzling purple light, and a deep, resonant notification sound exploded in his mind.

"epic!"

[Congratulations on obtaining: Naruto the Movie Selection Chest!]

[Item Description: You can choose one of the following three options]

1. One-tenth of the Zero-Tails' dark chakra.

2. Whirlpool-shaped hemp surface (template trial card three times)

3. Special Summoning Beast: Jackal