Chapter 271: Team 7's Long-Lost Daily Life
"These clothes... they feel so weird to wear," Naruto said, tugging at the fancy clothes he was wearing.
This kind of clothing, suitable for festivals, was a hassle to put on. This was the first time in Naruto's life that he had worn them, and he just felt extremely awkward and uncomfortable all over.
"Do you still want to wear kids' clothes?" Sakura pulled his fidgeting hand down and rolled her eyes at him. "You have to dress more formally when you grow up! And doesn't it look great? Isn't it handsome?"
Alright, at least Sakura felt that she looked pretty handsome in this outfit. As for Naruto?
"Just stop frowning," Sasuke said, walking in front. He looked back at Naruto and said faintly, "Stand up straight, pull in your stomach. The clothes Sakura chose suit you very well."
As he spoke, he helped Naruto straighten his clothes, smoothing out the wrinkles, and tidied him up with practiced ease. Sakura came over to take a look, and Naruto indeed looked much more mature and handsome.
"Don't move. This is fine." Sasuke, after all, had been the young master of the Uchiha in his childhood. Through observation, he knew a thing or two about these complicated clothes—at least, he knew more than Haruno Sakura.
"I never knew I was this handsome," Naruto said, looking at himself in Haruno Sakura's ice mirror, thoughtfully. "It's just a little inconvenient to move around in."
"Of course," Sakura explained. "That's why they're formal wear for festivals."
"Actually, someone in our clan once wore this set of clothes onto the battlefield..." "No way?" "Then how did he fight?" "The clothes won't hinder your movements if they're modified."... The three of them chatted idly, walking down the street.
This was just the outskirts, but it was already extremely lively, a sea of people.
"Look, goldfish scooping!" Naruto suddenly said excitedly, pulling the two of them through the crowd. "Sasuke, do you remember we played this during the Land of Waves mission?"
The Land of Waves mission?
Haruno Sakura blinked. She searched her mind and did remember that they had stayed in a small town called Zaku or something for a day. That night had happened to be some kind of festival, and she had gone out alone.
Seeing Sakura's confused gaze, Sasuke said, "It was that day you went out to walk around alone. Kakashi was worried about you, so he told the two of us to follow you."
The three of them had already reached the front of the stall.
Naruto bought the paper nets, distributed them to the two of them, and continued, "Later, we saw you playing this. After you left, we also played for a while."
"It wasn't just 'a while'! We played for a long time. It was precisely because you kept insisting on catching one more before you would leave that we went back too late and got scolded by Kakashi," Sasuke said to Naruto irritably.
Sakura immediately laughed.
She had never expected that the two of them would have such a fun memory!
Speaking of which, the Land of Waves mission... seems like such a long time ago.
Although, in reality, it had only been a little over a year.
Naruto giggled, clearly having forgotten the feeling of being scolded by Kakashi. He said to Sasuke, "Our taijutsu level was too low back then. We couldn't control our strength well, which was why we couldn't scoop up a single one even after trying for so long! But now, hehe, watch me!"
He rolled up his sleeves, held the small paper net, and was just about to show off his skills.
But the owner of the stall, an aunty of about fifty, suddenly asked, "Hey, kid, don't scoop yet, wait a minute! Are you a ninja?"
Her tone was very stiff.
Naruto was slightly taken aback.
"All three of us are," Sakura said, crossing her arms and answering him coldly.
"Sorry," the aunty said, patting a large sign next to the stall and pulling a long face. "This shop does not serve ninja."
On the sign she was pointing to, there was a line of small words written: This shop operates on a small margin. We do not serve ninja. Thank you for your cooperation!
Naruto, holding the paper net, was suddenly at a loss.
"Give me back the paper net," the stall owner said, holding out her hand.
Haruno Sakura took a step forward and directly grabbed her hand, her delicate brows raised high. "I remember, Konoha has a rule that no one is allowed to refuse to serve a ninja for any reason."
"We don't serve you here. If you have a problem, you can go and report me! Go on!" the aunty said with a pout, completely unconcerned.
"My master is the Fifth Hokage, Tsunade. Are you sure you want me to report you?"
The woman just sneered. "Report me, go ahead and report me! I'm Tsunade herself! 'Fifth Hokage,' she's just an old hag!"
These disrespectful words made the three members of Team 7 shake their heads.
"You should be more respectful to Grandma Tsunade," Naruto said with a frown.
The aunty completely ignored Naruto and tried to pull her hand back, but it didn't budge. She frowned and shouted, "Let go, you damn girl!"
"Can you watch your mouth?" Sakura was a little angry, and a trace of the killing intent she had accumulated from her long battles was slightly leaked.
That was a presence accumulated from fighting with people at the top of this world. The few Kage-level ninja she had fought were all high-level rogue-nin who had killed countless people. How could an ordinary person possibly withstand such a presence, even if it was just a little?
If she hadn't held back, Haruno Sakura could have scared the aunty into peeing her pants.
If she had been serious and had treated the stall owner as an enemy, Sakura could have probably scared her to death on the spot.
Sasuke, with his sharp eyes, spotted the security patrol team walking over. "Forget it, let's go," he said, patting the girl's shoulder.
There was no point in blowing this matter up. Sasuke didn't want to waste his time on such a despicable person.
The girl's delicate brows furrowed slightly, and she let go as he had said. With this fuss, Naruto had completely lost his mood for fun. The three of them casually tossed the paper nets in their hands onto the stall owner's "Ninja Not Served" sign, leaving behind the aunty who was so scared she had slumped onto her chair.
"Let's go get something to eat," Sasuke said, raising his voice. They left the goldfish scooping stall, and everyone was in low spirits. He suggested, "There's a lot of good food over there. My treat!"
"Alright. Naruto, did I tell you about that beef ball shop that Sasuke and I ate at last time?" Sakura said with a smile. "Let's go try that!"
She tugged at Naruto's clothes.
But the latter didn't hear what she was saying at all. He was just staring blankly at a sign next to them, his listless expression instantly becoming excited—
"Ichiraku Ramen Eating Contest!"
Below it was a picture of a newly launched special ramen.
The corner of Sakura's mouth twitched. She and Sasuke exchanged a look.
Sure enough, Naruto, having come back to his senses, immediately shouted, "Let's go eat that!"
"Alright..." Sakura said, somewhat helplessly.
Ramen was good, but you can't eat it every day! The problem was, Naruto was the kind of person who could eat the same dish for a year...
However, at the Ichiraku Ramen shop, the three of them happened to run into an acquaintance.
"Little Hanabi-chan, are you here to eat ramen by yourself?" Sakura asked, surprised to see Hinata's younger sister, Hanabi, an adorable little loli. She patted her on the head.
"I came with my sister, Sakura-neechan!" the little loli said, smiling happily when she saw Sakura. She then waved at the two boys and shouted, "Naruto-niichan, Sasuke-niichan!"
The people participating in the eating contest were sitting at another row of tables, waiting for the competition to start. Naruto walked over.
Hinata was sitting over there. She greeted them and pulled Naruto to sit down beside her. The latter heroically declared that he had been eating ramen for ten years and that he wanted to compete with Hinata!
Sakura was snickering on the side as she listened.
This was the first time Sasuke had seen Hinata in this kind of competition, and he was a little surprised. "Hinata-chan is also participating?"
Sakura smiled but said nothing. On the contrary, Hanabi, who was sitting with them, spilled the beans. "My sister can eat twenty-five bowls of ramen!"
She proudly gestured at the height of twenty-five empty bowls stacked up.
It was almost as tall as she was.
Sakura just smiled faintly. "Hehe..."
"Twenty-five bowls?" She patted the young and ignorant Hanabi on the head. "Little girl, you're still too naive. That was her record from last year..."
She often ate with Hinata and knew that she had a hidden attribute: a big stomach...
Hinata had set a new record today: thirty-two bowls.
Naruto, who was sitting next to her, couldn't eat anymore after the sixth bowl. He was lying on the table like a defeated dog, watching as the empty bowls in front of Hinata piled higher and higher.
After the competition, Hinata walked over with a blissful look on her face, rubbing her stomach, followed by Naruto, who was starting to roll his eyes. After Sasuke had paid the bill, he felt a little pained for his wallet—with Naruto looking like this, he was afraid that he would puke up most of what he had eaten today when he got back.
"My sister is so amazing!" Hanabi said, waving her chopsticks. She had just finished a child's portion of ramen, and her stomach was already round.
Hanabi and Hinata's relationship was very good. This little loli adored her sister—especially since Hinata had dared to defy Hiashi's wishes and develop her own taijutsu system. Although Hinata had been given up on by Hiashi as the heir to the main family, Hiashi now had to admit that Hinata, who had gone down a "crooked path," was surprisingly strong.
He was especially envious of that Fist of the North Star. If the Hyuga clan could promote this move, it would definitely be like adding wings to a tiger. It was just that he was too embarrassed to ask his eldest daughter for it.
The women of these two generations of the Hyuga clan seemed tobe very outstanding. There was Hyuga Hotaru above, and the sisters Hinata and Hanabi below. Hinata's initial goal was to be like her aunt, Hyuga Hotaru, to enter the Anbu and become a high-ranking official, a direct line of the Hokage. With her status and strength, she would be one of the few special exceptions who, as a member of the branch family, would not have the Caged Bird seal cast on her.
Of course, the easiest way to become a direct line of the Hokage was to marry the Hokage and become his woman...
The festival's activities, because Naruto had forced himself to eat too much, had no choice but to stop at the Ichiraku Ramen shop. The five of them, who had rarely gathered, chatted in the ramen shop for a long time.
From recent missions to their respective training, they talked about everything under the sun.
"I mastered that Wind Style: Rasenshuriken half a year ago, but Jiraiya-sensei won't let me practice it much. He said it's very harmful to the body. I came back this time to get treatment from Grandma Tsunade," Naruto said, shaking the bandages wrapped around his hands, a little troubled. "Now I'm forbidden from using that move again. That's my new ultimate technique. It took me so much effort to learn it!"
"Don't worry, there will be a way. Didn't you also learn to use the Nine-Tails' chakra's Jinchuriki cloak form? That move should be even stronger, right?" Sasuke asked, drinking his tea.
"Yeah, but it's very unstable after three tails. Jiraiya-sensei said I'll lose consciousness," Naruto pouted. "I'll show you next time I'm back! I can't use my chakra randomly while I'm recovering..."
"Me too," Haruno Sakura, who was in the same boat, said with a shrug, helplessly. Tsunade had ordered her to rest for at least a week and not to use any force. It was almost over. "Hn, oh right! Naruto, you've traveled to so many regions. Have you ever heard of a strange kind of stone?"
She described the characteristics of uranium ore to Naruto.
"Never heard of it..." Naruto said, scratching his head and thinking for a while. "I'll keep an eye out for you in the future!"
"Wasn't that stone recorded in the materials I lent you before?" Sasuke asked.
Sakura shook her head. "No... I've flipped through all those 'Records of Strange Objects'."
Sasuke pondered for a moment. "I remember our clan has a data-bank or something at the Neko-nin's place... maybe we can find a time to go and take a look."
He could also take the opportunity to see if they could solve his summoning beast problem over there.
"Alright. Let's find a time. The Chunin Exams are about to start, and we all have Anbu missions... how about we arrange it for after the exams are over?"
"Okay."
"Anbu missions? You guys joined the Anbu?"
"Hmph, Naruto, not only did we join the Anbu, but we've also been promoted to Chunin."
"Sorry, I'm a Tokubetsu Jonin."
"I've also been promoted to Chunin, Naruto-kun."
"What, am I the only one who's still a Genin?"
"Naruto-niichan, don't be sad. I'm a an academy student. I'm one rank lower than you!"
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