"Sasuke, I brought you some ramen—come eat!"
After being treated to a meal of ramen by Iruka, Naruto didn't forget to bring a portion back for Sasuke.
Sasuke hadn't waited for him at school today, but instead of being upset, Naruto was in an even better mood than usual.
Because Sasuke had told him—he believed Naruto could do it.
"You didn't let Iruka-sensei pay, did you?"
Sasuke accepted the ramen, suddenly thinking about who had paid for it.
"Nope! Iruka-sensei wanted to pay, but I told him this was for you—it's from me. It's my way of showing I care, so he couldn't pay for it."
Naruto grinned as he sat down across from Sasuke and began chatting about everything that had happened with Iruka earlier.
One spoke, the other ate. By the time Sasuke finished eating, Naruto had more or less finished telling his story.
"Iruka-sensei is a good person. Next time, don't mess with him too much. We might not have a lot of money, but we can at least afford to eat our fill of ramen. If Kakashi-senpai comes back and finds out you've been freeloading, he'll probably treat Iruka to a meal just to pay back the favor."
After eating, Sasuke started explaining to Naruto that, between adults, there's an expectation of reciprocity and social obligation.
Since Naruto didn't have a legal guardian, it was fine in the past to simply accept kindness without much thought. But now things were different.
Kakashi was both Naruto and Sasuke's guardian. With him away on a mission, Iruka treating Naruto to meals—even if it came from kindness—was something Sasuke didn't want Naruto to take for granted.
"Then… then I won't let people treat me to food so casually anymore. I really hope Kakashi-senpai comes back soon. He always bullies me when he's around, but now that he's away on a mission, I can't help but worry a little..."
Naruto hadn't expected that just mooching one meal would end up involving Kakashi-senpai too.
If that was the case, he wouldn't freeload again.
Before leaving, Kakashi had given them quite a bit of money to live on. According to Sasuke, as long as they weren't wasteful, it should be more than enough to last them until graduation.
"He'll be fine. Kakashi-senpai is strong. There aren't many elite jōnin in Konoha—you shouldn't underestimate him."
Sasuke raised his hand and gently ruffled Naruto's hair, showing a rare moment of tenderness.
But only he knew—deep down, he wasn't so kind.
Whether it was for his own desire to keep Naruto from ever leaving him, or for the sake of the mission...
He wanted Naruto to belong to him alone. Whether it was Iruka-sensei, the old man at Ichiraku Ramen, or even Hinata Hyuga...
All the people who had a deep bond with Naruto—he had quietly and subtly begun to distance them from him.
In this world, what he most wanted to hold onto wasn't his parents, not Uchiha Itachi, not Sakura Haruno or even Kakashi.
It was only Naruto—Uzumaki Naruto, the one who, back then, had willingly come to him.
"Sasuke, are we training again tonight?"
Naruto only realized it was already dark when he looked up. He was surprised they hadn't trained at all this evening.
It was all Sasuke's fault—his hand had been so warm, Naruto had just stared at him in a daze.
"No training tonight. Get a good rest. Iruka-sensei was right—our grades now will affect our future. So let's hold off on sparring for now. Once your back heals, I'll teach you some throwing techniques."
Sasuke's fingers once again gently ruffled the golden hair, this time with the firm decision that Naruto wouldn't be doing any combat training for the time being.
Not only that—he also planned to supervise him personally, and from now on, help Naruto raise the intensity of his nightly training.
Since they were being watched, he'd let them watch—
Let them see with their own eyes how he would become a proper Konoha ninja.
But only up to the point of graduation—and nothing beyond that.