Slurp… Slurp…
Izuna, Sasuke, and Naruto are slurping their ramen.
"So, good! Ichiraku Ramen is the best out there. Dattebyo!" Naruto praises the ramen.
"Not bad. I like this ramen." Sasuke compliments the ramen.
"Yes, it is very good, and Teuchi-san takes care of every fine detail when preparing the ramen. The correct amount of broth, the flavor, the nutrition. He has got you covered in all aspects." Izuna remarks while slurping his ramen.
Hun… hun…
Teuchi nods in satisfaction. His nine-year-old daughter walks out of the house.
"Oh! Ayame my daughter. Sit near the counter. I will teach you how to make ramen later."
Ayame sits near the counter and watches us.
"Teuchi-san! She is your daughter!" I question Teuchi despite knowing the fact.
"Yes, she is my little daughter. Her mother passed away shortly after her birth." Teuchi reminisces his past and sighs in grief.
"Teuchi-san! Why don't you enroll Ayame in Ninja academy?" I question him.
I am curious to know the reason why Ayame never entered the academy.
Sigh...
"She is not cut to be a ninja. My wife's last wish was to ensure a secure future for our daughter. Ayame is just like her mother. She is kind-hearted, quiet, and cheerful. I want her to stay that way and besides, after my retirement, she will take care of my Ramen shop." Teuchi replies.
"So, that's how it is." I nod to him and continue eating my ramen.
'Guess everyone wants to live a peaceful life.'
"Seconds… give me a second bowl. Dattebyo!" Naruto raises the empty bowl.
"Eat slowly Naruto, you can eat all you want. But eat slowly." Izuna reprimands Naruto.
"But it is so delicious. I can't stop eating, Dattebyo!" Naruto continues to inhale his ramen.
"This boy!" Izuna shakes his head.
"Do you know your big brother Izuna is the first person to eat this heavenly Ramen?" Izuna points out to Naruto.
"Wow! Really. That's so cool, Izuna nii-san. Tell me more about it." Naruto's interest piques.
He slows down his eating and curiously looks at Izuna to listen to his story.
"It was around six years ago when Ichiraku Ramen celebrated its Grand Opening Ceremony. I was the first customer in the shop. I lined up early in the morning to eat the ramen before anyone else. It was also during this moment that Minato-san, your fath…" Izuna pauses for a while before he continues.
"The Fourth Hokage invited me on a mission."
"Wow! Big brother, you went on a mission with Fourth Hokage. But what is a Hokage? It sounds so cool. Dattebyo!" Naruto looks at Izuna with sparkling eyes.
"The Hokage is the strongest and the most respected Ninja of the village. All loves him and everyone respects him and follows his orders." Izuna explains to Naruto.
"Wow! That sounds so cool. I will also become a hot shit!... Whatever it is. Then everyone in the village will respect me and won't shun me away." Naruto raises his fist in the air.
"Ok! Ok! Hokage-sama. Now eat your ramen before it gets cold. If you want to become a Hokage, then you will have to train hard to get stronger than everyone else. I will train you in the future. For now, eat your Ramen."
"Yay! Izuna nii-san will teach me jutsu. Dattebyo!" Naruto eats his ramen.
I feel a sharp stare at my back. I turn around and notice Sasuke staring at me. He pouts and questions,
"Izuna nii-san, you will teach jutsu to this dumb Naruto, but you won't teach me anything. I also want to learn jutsu." Sasuke complains.
"Sasuke! I already taught you Fireball Jutsu. Have you mastered it yet? I will teach you your next jutsu only after you have mastered the previous one."
"I have already mastered Fireball Jutsu. I impressed father by my jutsu. Now teach me more jutsu." Sasuke demands.
"Ok! Ok! I will teach you later. You can ask Shisui to teach you more jutsu. He will teach you more. Once you have mastered all of his jutsus, I will train you further."
"Yay! You are the best Izuna Nii-san." Sasuke cheers up.
Achoo…
Itachi sneezes while returning home.
'Why I have a feeling that my cute little brother is getting away from me? I must buy a gift for him. The other day Sasuke asked me to buy him a tanto. I will buy a small blade for him as a gift.'
Itachi flickers towards the weapon shop.
---------------
Later in the evening,
Izuna drops Sasuke at his house and visits Senju compounds with Naruto. Tsunade greets him at doorsteps.
"It has been a while kid, you finally got some time to visit me."
"I am home, Granny Tsunade," Naruto shouts to Tsunade.
Tsunade flicks Naruto's forehead in response.
"Who are you calling granny, you brat? I am still too young to be a granny."
Naruto rubs his forehead and runs inside the house.
"Kid, we need to talk. Let's visit the newly opened Yakiniku Q Restaurant. I heard that their salted beef tongue with welsh onion is quite popular among the villagers. I wanted to try some with Sake." Tsunade drags Izuna without asking for his consent.
Izuna could only helplessly get dragged by Tsunade. They enter Yakiniku Q and grab a table. Yakiniku Q is a Korean, Gyū-Kaku style Yakiniku restaurant.
Soon, we placed our order, and they brought the meat to us. I cook the meat on the charcoal brazier placed at the center of the table.
The aromatic smell of cooked meat caused me to drool. I applied some sauce on the meat and grilled it for a while. I cook the meat to perfection. I picked up my chopsticks to grab the meat.
Swish…
Tsunade grabbed the meat before me and put it in her mouth.
Munch… munch…
"Delicious. This is too delicious. Your cooking skills are quite good, kid." Tsunade continued to eat.
Humph…
I angrily harrumphed at her.
"If you like meat this much, then cook your own." Izuna place another piece of meat on the grill.
Tsunade chugs down one cup of sake after another.
Haa…
She gulped down another cup of sake and looked at Izuna, who is silently munching on a piece of meat.
"Say it, kid. Earlier you were searching for me. Shizune told me about it. What do you want to say to me?"
Izuna place down his chopstick and thought of pranking Tsunade. He wants payback for the earlier piece of meat.
Izuna grabs Tsunade's hand and looks in her eyes with a serious expression.
Tsunade is startled by this sudden move and turns red from embarrassment.
"What… what are you doing?" She stutters.
"Tsunade-san! It has been a while since we have known each other. The time we spent together has made me think differently about you. I have called you today to express my feelings for you…."
Tsunade gulps down her saliva and embarrassedly looks at Izuna while fidgeting,
"No… this is not possible. Our… relationship can't exist, you… you are a lot younger than me and I...I had already given my heart to someone else. But… but…"
"Thank you, Tsunade-san, for taking care of Naruto. He is like a younger brother to me and I am grateful to you for looking after him. Huh! Tsunade-san, what were you saying again…"
Izuna smirks at Tsunade.
"I heard something about love. Tsunade-san, do you love me? But aren't you too old for me?"
Tsunade's expression turns ugly.
'I have been played by this kid.'
A tick mark appears on her forehead and she punches Izuna. Izuna takes the punch like a man and gets blasted out from Restaurant much further than Team Rocket.
"Damn! This kid. He played me again. Now, I have to pay the bill for the window, roof and there is also the bill."
Tsunade pulls out her purse and opens it.
Buzzz…
A fly buzzes out from the purse. Tsunade takes out a note from the purse and places it on the table.
'Damn! I don't have money anymore. I have spent all of it on booze and gambling. Why there is so much less money for me? I have to borrow some from Sensei. He is Hokage and would have plenty of money to spare.'
"Here! Keep this money as the expense for the roof, window, and the bill. Keep the change."
The waiter picks up the old tattered note and looks at Tsunade.
"I hate to break it you, but you need to pay more. This amount won't cut it out. Your dinner was way more expensive. The meat was of premium quality and we used various expensive ingredients to prepare the sauce."
"Damn! You Izuna." Tsunade curse again.
"Here! Send this bill to Konoha's leaf Hospital. They will take care of it." Tsunade hurriedly runs out of the restaurant.
"Huh! Can't afford the expensive food and boast around like they freaking own everything." The server angrily curses at Tsunade.
Achoo…
Izuna sneezes and looks towards Yakiniku Q. He spots an angry Tsunade stomping out of the restaurant.
"Hello! Tsunade-san. How was the food? Did you enjoy it?"
He smirks at Tsunade.
"You kid." Tsunade tries to punch him again, but this time he dodges her attacks.
"Fine! I give up. You are so mean, Izuna-kun. You won't get a girlfriend like this." Tsunade complains and puffs her cheeks.
Izuna pokes her cheeks and apologizes.
"I am sorry! Tsunade-san. As an apology, here take these million Ryo. That's all that I have at the moment…."
Swish…
Before Izuna could finish his statement, Tsunade grabs the bundle of money and starts to count it.
"-....-"
Izuna speechlessly looks at Tsunade. Tsunade stows the money in her purse and stares back at Izuna.
"Apology accepted. Now tell me the real reason, why you were looking for me?"
Izuna stares at her for a while before he continues.
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A/N:- As you can see, I tried to write something different. Tell me your thoughts about this chapter in comments. Did you like it and want more of such chapters in the future or you want to continue with the plot?