No ramen today. The stand was closed, a simple sign hanging where the usual warm lights should have been. Gone to a wedding, be back in two days, it read in Teuchi's neat handwriting. Naruto exhaled slowly. Just his luck. He'd been looking forward to a meal all day, and now he had to find something else.
As he turned away, a small voice caught his attention.
"Food, please?"
Naruto paused. Across the street, huddled against the wall of an alley, were a handful of kids. No older than four, dressed in rags, eyes hollow with hunger. Their tiny hands reached out to passing pedestrians, but everyone ignored them, too caught up in their own world to spare a glance.
Naruto knew this scene. He had lived this scene.
A memory stirred. A past life. A body covered in brown fur, nimble claws scraping at dirt in desperation. Taki, during the famine. No food, no mercy, just hunger. Until he was finally caught—killed by children even more desperate than he was. A tiny squirrel, reduced to nothing but a meal.
The kids swarmed him as soon as they noticed him watching. Small hands tugged at his sleeves, pleading, desperate.
"Please, big brother, just a little food?"
"Anything, just a little bit?"
"Even a single coin, please!"
Naruto reached into his pocket, feeling the familiar shape of a few crumpled bills. He had just enough for himself. 500 ryō. Enough to buy something small to last him until tomorrow. But if he gave it away, he'd be starving too.
His stomach twisted, but not from hunger. He met their eyes—big, round, filled with the kind of hope that had no reason to exist. And Naruto made his decision.
"Come with me," he said.
The kids blinked, startled.
"You're joking, right?" one of them whispered.
He wasn't.
He led them through the village, past the food stalls that would never serve them, past the streets where they weren't welcome, and straight into Akimichi BBQ. The rich scent of sizzling meat filled the air, making Naruto's stomach ache, but he ignored it.
The hostess looked up as he entered, eyebrows raising at the group of ragged kids behind him.
"Table for…?"
"Four," Naruto said.
She hesitated, but she knew who he was, and more importantly, she knew better than to turn down a paying customer. A few minutes later, they were seated in a booth, and Naruto ordered three plates of mutton-roti.
The kids sat stiffly, as if they expected to be thrown out any second. When the food arrived, they hesitated for only a moment before digging in, stuffing their faces with shaking hands.
Naruto watched quietly, stomach growling. He could almost taste the food just by looking at it, but he didn't reach for any of it. He had enough to feed them. Not himself.
The warmth of the restaurant contrasted sharply with the cold glares from a few of the wealthier patrons. Naruto ignored them.
Across the room, he noticed Team 10—Shikamaru, Ino, and Choji—sitting with their sensei, the big bearded man, Asuma. They were eating large dishes, chatting lazily, but every now and then, one of them would glance at Naruto and the kids.
He didn't bother looking back.
The kids finished quickly, wiping their faces with their sleeves, looking both satisfied and a little embarrassed. One of them hesitated before turning to Naruto.
"Thank you."
The others nodded eagerly, their voices overlapping. "Thank you, big brother!"
Naruto just stood up and paid the bill. "Go home."
They ran off, still giggling, voices filled with more life than they had when he found them.
The second they were gone, his stomach twisted painfully, and he winced.
Guess he was starving today.