Forced to sell misery

The wind blew and the swing under the tree began to sway.

Already left...

Sorry, it's really late.

……

It got dark quickly, but the streets were still busy.

Listening to the noise coming from various shops, Naruto saw the Ichiraku Ramen sign in the distance.

"Well, after all, this is my first day at the ninja school, so I might as well treat myself to some ramen!" Naruto searched his body for a long time, took out a deflated wallet, and then stood on the street counting the few coins and bills.

"Hey, long time no see." A voice sounded.

"Huh?" Naruto was startled and looked up, only to see a man wearing a strange animal mask standing in front of him.

That mask... he had seen Brother Jingye wearing it before!

"You..." The light of surprise in his eyes dimmed, and Naruto's eyes fell on the silver hair of the person in front of him, "So it's not him..."

"Well, it's late. Let me treat you to ramen." said the strange silver-haired man wearing a mask.

"Why?" Naruto felt very strange. In short, the person in front of him gave him a strange feeling, as if he had seen him somewhere before...

"By the way, who are you?"

"My name is... Hatake Kakashi." The weirdo paused and continued, "It doesn't matter who I am. Anyway, I was asked to come to see you... But I was late by accident. In order to make up for the regret of not sending you to the ninja school... As an apology, I will treat you to ramen. How about it?"

"Do you... know Brother Jingye?" Naruto widened his eyes in surprise.

"Well... you could say that. Anyway, let me take you to eat ramen first. Besides, you're hungry, right?"

"Gurgle~" Just at the right time, Naruto's stomach rumbled.

"Let's go." Kakashi naturally took Naruto's hand.

“Two big bowls of miso chashu noodles!”

"Oh!" The hand-beating uncle responded enthusiastically, and soon, the steaming and delicious ramen was served.

Naruto swallowed his saliva but did not start eating immediately, "That..."

Naruto looked at the strange man in front of him who called himself Hatake Kakashi, "Did you say that Brother Kagamiya asked you to come here?"

"Yes, but I accidentally lost myself on the road of life...so it took a long time, I'm sorry."

"It's okay... Then, then Brother Jingye," Naruto seemed to have made a great decision, with a serious expression on his face, "did something happen to him?"

"nor."

"Don't lie to me..." Naruto looked at Kakashi, looking like he was about to cry, "A person who looks very much like Brother Jingye said that Brother Jingye can't fulfill his promise to me..."

"You also said that as a ninja, you have to have such awareness..." Naruto's tears suddenly fell, "Don't lie to me... Brother Jingye, did he... did something unexpected happen during the mission, so, that's why..."

At this point, Naruto was choking up and couldn't continue.

"No, but there was an accident."

Kakashi placed his hand on Naruto's head.

"I'm sorry for not being able to fulfill my promise to Naruto, but don't think too much. Jing Ye is fine. It's just... I encountered some troubles and couldn't appear in front of Naruto in person to apologize to you."

"Then...then..." Naruto wiped the tears from his face frantically.

"I... Jing Ye also really wants to arrive in time so that he can accompany you, Naruto, to report to the Ninja School on the first day and celebrate properly... and fulfill the promise made to Naruto..."

"No, even if I can't fulfill that promise, but, I hope that Brother Jingye is fine and nothing happens to him..."

"Ah, I see. Let me tell you in secret. I... Jing Ye is not in a good situation, but he is still okay...

Don't worry, your brother Jing Ye is alive and well, he won't die so easily."

"Okay, okay, stop crying. The noodles are all clumping together. Eat them quickly."

"Didn't you lie to me?" Naruto still had tears in his eyes as he looked at Kakashi pitifully.

"Do not lie to you."

Kakashi said softly, "After all, I was asked by Jingye himself to come and compensate you. Even if you don't forgive that guy, you don't have to be sad anymore."

"Well, I'll start eating!" Naruto felt relieved after hearing what Kakashi said. Finally, he couldn't resist the temptation of ramen when he was hungry, so he picked up the bowl and started eating slowly.

"There's no such thing as forgiveness or unforgiveness... I'll ask that guy in person next time we meet..." Naruto said vaguely while slurping ramen.

"Sure, we'll meet again... I'll definitely apologize to Naruto next time we meet."

Soon, the bowl of ramen was finished. Naruto drank all the soup contentedly, but saw the ramen in front of Kakashi, which was intact and had not even been touched by the chopsticks.

"Um...Brother Kakashi, why don't you eat?"

"I'm not... hungry yet," Kakashi said with some difficulty.

"Gurgle~" However, there was an embarrassing sound of stomach growling.

The atmosphere fell silent for a moment.

"What? You're obviously hungry, right?" Naruto looked at Kakashi in confusion, "Why don't you take off your mask? The miso ramen made by the hand-beating uncle is super delicious!"

"Of course I know--" Kakashi said helplessly.

“Then?” The uncle with the hand-beating gesture also cast a puzzled look over here, with a serious expression on his face, as if to say, if you don’t start eating yet, is the customer dissatisfied with the ramen I made... something like that.

So scary... As expected, he is the man called Otsutsuki Ichiraku!

Facing the extremely oppressive gazes of the two, Kakashi silently took off the mask on his face, and in Naruto's expectant gaze, he revealed the black mask on his face...

His expression immediately changed to “-_-||”, Naruto snorted in disappointment and looked away.

"Anyway... it's not very convenient, since Naruto likes ramen so much. Then, I'll leave my portion to you as well." Kakashi pushed the bowl in front of Naruto, then... secretly swallowed his saliva.

So...how to eat with a mask on...is still a mystery.

Finally, after two bowls of ramen, Naruto let out a contented sigh.

"Hiccup~ I'm full!"

"Then let's go." Kakashi couldn't wait any longer, so he quickly paid the bill and stood up.

"Wait for me, um...Brother Kakashi?" Naruto looked at Kakashi in confusion as he walked away at a running speed.

"Here is the change. Goodbye, customer. Welcome next time..." Pu Chang, the daughter of the hand-typing uncle, handed over the change, but found that there was no one in front of her? !

“…Please come!”

"Eh?!" Pu Chang suddenly touched his face and said in horror, "Did I get fat again and scare away all the customers?"

Then, a shout of “No~” echoed throughout the street.