Yup! Naruto got expelled. Although there was no solid evidence on who exploded the furnace, Matron was just looking for an excuse to kick the poor kid out of the orphanage. And kick she did.
I had come close to being expelled too, but luckily I still had a few plus points that allowed me to escape with only a light punishment. I had always been eager to help with chores, and Matron appreciated my willingness to assist. In truth, I was just honing my skills to level up.
"Sorry, Naruto." I sighed as we sat near the riverside. "I would like to live with you too, but I don't think the amount of allowance would be enough for the two of us."
"We can always fish here," Naruto said reluctantly. "I can't even shop without you. They either overcharge or plain kick me out."
"That is why I am always here to help you with shopping, but beyond that, I am helpless too. Sorry."
"What did you say?" A voice interrupted us from behind, causing us both to jerk and turn around. There stood an old man with a goatee and plain clothes. I immediately recognized him as soon as my eyes landed on him but hid my shock.
"Who are you old man?" Naruto asked fearfully.
"I'm just an old man passing by," the man replied, looking furious. "Can you tell me why you can't shop on your own?"
"It is as I said." Naruto explained with tears in his eyes, "Shop owners either refuse to sell me anything or overcharge me. If it wasn't for Koushin, I would have starved to death long ago!"
I saw the killing intent manifest in the old man's eyes, but he hid it in a matter of seconds. "So this must be Young Koushin, right?"
"Shouldn't you introduce yourself first before asking, old man?" I asked, feigning fright.
"Hohoho, you're right. I'm Saru. I was just traveling and hungry. I smelled the delicious fish. Do you mind sharing with me?" Hokage laughed as he asked.
"If you are hungry," Naruto muttered and passed one of the fishes on the fire. "But we only have this much, so can't give more."
"You idiot. You will starve if you give away your food." I punched his head to act as a sensible brother. This was my chance to trick Hokage.
"Actually kid, I have some say in the village. How about I increase your allowance so you two can live together?" Hokage said while munching on fish.
"For real?" Asked Naruto while I secretly grinned. I was expecting this.
"How can we trust you?" I asked. "If I leave the orphanage I can never go back. I know this fool would share his food with me and we both would die."
"I promise you, young Koushin." Sarutobi smiled like an old grandpa, and I was almost influenced by his aura. Almost.
"If you say so." I reluctantly said.
"YES!" Naruto on the other hand was jumping like a monkey. "We live together!"
"Yes, yes. Calm down now." I held his shoulder and passed one of the fishes.
"So you two are friends from the orphanage?" Sarutobi asked while I felt his chakra was probing my body. He sighed in disappointment after a while.
"We have been best friends, brothers ever since!" Naruto answered excitedly. "No one beside him ever spoke to me!"
"It is good that you two have such a close friendship. I am glad you two can live together." Hokage said after we finished our fish. "I am sure you two will help each other."
"You better believe it old man!" Naruto shouted with a smirk. "Koushin is my little bro!"
"Says the one acting like a fool little brother all the time." I sighed as I patted his head.
"I am bigger than you," Naruto shouted in defiance.
"Only a week," I answered back.
"Still!"
"Hahaha!" Hokage laughed heartily. "I have to go now. But my promise still stands. Young Koushin, you move with Young Naruto, and tonight, your allowance will be delivered."
"Thank you, old man." I bowed while he vanished. Naruto never said his name but the old man knew it. Naruto was too stupid to notice, and I shouldn't be smart enough to notice it. So, I let it slide this time, old goat.
"Let's go home, Naruto." I smiled. Finally, I achieved one of my goals.
We moved my stuff from the orphanage to Naruto's house for the rest of the evening. I didn't have much to carry anyway. When I entered his apartment, I was staggered. It was no different than a dumpster.
"Naruto, you idiot!" I punched him in the head once again. This fool hasn't cleaned his house for a week now.
"What?" He asked in surprise.
"How can you live in this dumpster?" I asked in anger.
"It is not that bad." He said, while lazily sat on the couch.
"Cleaning! Now!"
"But I have nothing to clean the house. I can't buy them." He said with tears.
"Why didn't you say so earlier, idiot." I patted his head and left the house. I arrived at the store selling cleaning supplies and sneaked into the back of the shop. All of a sudden the shadows swallowed my presence and my colour faded. The store wasn't crowded and there was a customer at the cash register.
I took a look at the items. Unlike the game, I could see the details without taking them into my inventory. When I looked carefully, I could see the name and the details of the item appeared in front of me.
[Common Mop
Weight: 0.1 Value: 30 ]
Of course items with extra ability would be shown as well. But a simple mop only showed weight and the value.
I grabbed mops, washing agents, and some other stuff and threw them at my inventory. Oh yeah, I had one. Grabbing a soap bar I walked to the cashier. The owner looked at me suspiciously while I looked back with puppy eyes.
After 5 seconds of gazing, he smiled and asked for the money. I paid and left the shop with a smirk. I wasn't feeling guilty at all. This man kicked Naruto out several times while we were in charge of buying stuff for the orphanage.
[Sneak increased to 6]
[Speech increased to 25]
I haggled with a shop owner about the price of meat. I didn't have much and in the end, I convinced him. It gained me a speech point.
I arrived at the house and forced Naruto to clean the mess, while I went back to the market to steal ingredients to cook dinner. Fish were small, and could hardly fill our growing bodies. I returned with vegetables and meat and started to cook.
"Where is ramen?" Naruto asked in shock after he was done with the cleaning. He was so surprised to see there was something else on the cooker. As if, only Ramen could be cooked in his house. The sheer disbelief on his face was… inspirational.
"You can't eat ramen every day, Naruto. You should eat vegetables and meat too!" I told him.
"Man, this sucks." He threw his hand around and sat with a pout.
"What is your dream, Naruto?" I asked with a sigh.
"To become Hokage of course." He said excitedly.
"And what is Hokage?" I asked again.
"Strongest Shinobi in the village, of course."
"And do you expect to be strong by just eating Ramen?" I asked.
"Yes?" He said unsure, "No?"
"Of course not. You should eat vegetables and lots of meat. C'mon eat now, tomorrow we can prank the shop owner."
"Yes! You are the best Kou!"
"I know, I know."
"Kou, why do people hate me so much?" Naruto asked once again. Usually whenever he asked this question, I would tell him I didn't know, but this time it was different.
"Naruto, I can answer this question but not before you are certain." I answered as I pulled out a can from my backpack. It was filled with worms we used for fishing. "Hold onto this, and when you are ready to learn for certain, open it and I shall tell you."
"Why can't you tell now?" He asked.
"Because you are not ready for it." I sighed. I knew he wanted to know, I wanted him to know. But it would only cause more problems since he was still young.
"Okay, I will hold onto this."
Unbeknownst to Naruto, an ANBU was sweating profusely, for the possibility of me blurting out the truth, but he sighed in relief when I didn't. But he left to inform Hokage about it.
***
"Koushin-kun, take a seat." Old goat summoned me to his office when I was walking in the street.
"Sandaime-sama." I greeted.
"No need to be so formal. You are basically Naruto's brother. That makes you my grandson as well. You can call me Grandpa if you want."
"Thank you, Hokage-sama." I respectfully answered.
He exhaled the smoke and dropped down the pipe in his hand. "Do you know why I called you here?"
"No idea." I answered without any expression on my face.
"You told Naruto that when he is ready you will tell him why people are hating him." He looked at me with sharp eyes and continued. "Do you know why?"
"Kyuubi." I answered with one word only. His eyes opened widely as he looked at me.
"How do you know?" He asked, with anger?
"I didn't." I smirked. He looked shocked then angry again. Before he could lash out I explained. "I heard people are calling him the demon fox, demon and similar names."
"Go on." Hokage ordered.
"I was just suspecting that people hated him because of Kyuubi, but I didn't know how all of that was related to Naruto. I thought it might be because his parents were somehow related, but you and some of the Jounin are not hating Naruto, so it had to be something else. But when I saw your reaction I realized that it is related to Kyuubi and Naruto, so there are two options left. Either Naruto is an incarnation of Demon fox which is not possible.
Although extremely stupid, Naruto is incapable of evil. That only leaves one option. Naruto is carrying the Demon Fox. Don't know how yet."
[Speech increased to 30]
Hokage looked at me in disbelief. He didn't know if a child of my age could come up with this outcome or could deduce to such a conclusion, but he didn't have anything to refute my claims. Not like my words were too complicated, nor were they something confidential. Most of the village already knew it, it was just forbidden to share. Which was extremely stupid.
"Will you tell Naruto?" He asked after a while.
"When he is ready, I will." I nodded.