Naruto: SSS-Rank Romance System

A flute was silently placed on Naruto's neck, and a cold voice from Doyuya came from his ear. 

"If you dare go outside, I'll kill you immediately." 

"Then I won't go outside," Naruto immediately surrendered. 

"Beef rice." 

"Then I'll go out and buy it." 

"I'll kill you." 

"Then just kill me, but make sure you dig my grave nicely," Naruto said helplessly. 

... 

In the end, Doyuya compromised. 

Naruto picked up two servings of beef rice and used the Flying Thunder God kunai he left in the abandoned building to return. On the way, he bought a lot of food and other items, and when no one was around, he stuffed everything into the seal space. 

The Nine-Tails in the seal space heard the sounds from outside the bars, but did not even raise its eyelids. There were piles of DVDs next to it. 

"Where did you get all this stuff?" Doyuya was somewhat surprised. 

Looking at Naruto, who seemed to summon a bunch of things out of nowhere like Doraemon, she blinked and relaxed her vigilance a little. 

Naruto probably guessed that Doyuya was staying in Konoha to make it easier to capture Sasuke. Orochimaru would never give up on Sasuke, he was just waiting for the right opportunity. 

"Just ninjutsu," Naruto said, patting his hands. "These things should keep you busy for a while. If you run out, I'll come back again." 

Doyuya was stunned and raised her dirty face to ask, 

"Why are you helping me? Don't you... have any questions?" 

"Not interested at all," Naruto waved his hand. "You must have your own mission, right? It wouldn't be right for me to ask so abruptly." 

He certainly knew that the Sound Ninja Four were there to capture Sasuke, but he had no interest in meddling. This was the path Sasuke had chosen, and he wouldn't stop him. 

Itachi Uchiha was too terrifying. If he had a brother like that, he'd probably stab him twice for fun. If you couldn't defeat Itachi head-on, you could support his younger brother's revenge from the side. 

He didn't stay too long either. After a bit of small talk, he left. 

... 

Two days later. 

Naruto's life returned to its usual calm. He didn't want to cook, so he yawned every day and went to Ichiraku Ramen. 

At night, in the ramen shop. 

Under the bright yellow lights, Naruto slurped his ramen noisily. 

The ramen shop owner, the hand-made ramen uncle, stood at the counter, squinting with a satisfied expression, and asked with a smile, 

"Naruto, you've been coming here a lot lately?" 

"Uncle." 

"What's wrong? Naruto?" 

"Is your surname just 'Handmade,' or do you have another surname?" Naruto asked while eating the ramen. 

"You child, what nonsense are you talking about?" The ramen uncle laughed heartily, not minding Naruto's question at all. 

"Uncle, I've run into some trouble recently." 

"Is there anything I can help with?" The ramen uncle's expression grew serious. 

Naruto looked up at the ramen uncle, blinked, and hesitated before asking, 

"Maybe... Uncle, you could offer a condition they can't refuse?" 

"A bowl of ramen?" The ramen uncle asked in confusion. 

"Then never mind," Naruto sighed. "I hope the Ramen God blesses his devout believer and gives me some luck." 

The ramen uncle didn't understand, frowned, and didn't take it to heart. At this age, it was normal for boys to fantasize. 

Summer rains were frequent, and Naruto woke up again to see heavy rain pouring outside. 

He weakly looked at the ceiling, thinking about what flavor of ramen he should have today. Recently, Naruto had been eating ramen more devoutly than offering incense at the temple. It was the only thing he could do now. 

That is, wait... 

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. 

Naruto, who was lying on the bed, immediately widened his pupils, and an idea flashed in his mind as he grabbed his knife. 

*Knock knock knock!* 

The dull knocking continued, and Naruto silently got off the bed with a knife in hand. He quietly approached the door and slowly opened it. The knocking sound grew clearer. 

The sound echoed in the living room, making it feel eerie and cold. 

The rain outside howled, and Naruto wondered who would be knocking on his door at this time. The Anbu would never knock, and Kakashi always uses the window. 

Sasuke was seriously injured, and Sakura was training in the medical team. 

It seemed like there was only one possibility... 

Naruto gripped his knife tightly, planning to open the door suddenly, confirm the target, and then give that person a shock before running away. On a rainy day like this, the explosion sounds wouldn't carry far. 

Also, the explosive tags from the system had already been used up. 

He didn't usually buy ninja tools, and his laziness had now come back to bite him. You never realize how unprepared you are until the moment you need it. 

Damn it. 

The Ramen God should help, right? Liars go to hell. 

Forget it! 

Naruto suddenly threw open the door, and the gust of wind and rain rushed in immediately. Naruto gritted his teeth and was about to act, but what he saw was a head of golden hair. 

"Eh?" 

Naruto stood there dumbfounded, his eyes going blank. 

A soaked Ino, holding a food box, was trembling in the rain-soaked corridor, her golden hair sticking to her pale face. 

The purple dress clung to her body, showing faint outlines of fabric traces. 

"...Why are you here?" 

"You... are you... holding a knife?" Ino shivered from the cold. 

"This... it's a long story," Naruto said, staring at Ino to make sure her gaze was clear, then tossed the knife aside. 

"Anyway, come inside first." 

... 

Naruto leaned against the bathroom door, knocked, and asked, 

"So you came through the rain just to bring me food?" 

Ino didn't answer directly. After a moment, her frustrated voice came from the bathroom. 

"Ahhh!! How was I supposed to know it was going to rain? Idiot! Forget about what happened earlier!!" 

"Sorry, I saw everything." 

"Go to hell!" 

The bathroom door suddenly opened a crack, and a fair hand yanked Naruto's clothes. Ino's head popped out, glaring at Naruto, and threw him out. 

Naruto stood up, shrugged, and sat on the living room floor to open the food box. The food inside was soaked with rainwater. 

He hadn't eaten breakfast, so Naruto didn't mind. 

After brushing his teeth with a spare toothbrush from the cabinet, he sat on the carpet and finished the meal. The taste was average, softened and soggy from the rainwater. 

Silently giving the meal a six out of ten for friendship, the sound of the bathroom door opening came from behind. 

Just as Naruto was about to turn around, he was yelled back. 

"Don't look back! Idiot!" 

Ino, wearing a bathrobe, sat on the sofa, her slender hands, smaller than Naruto's, fiddled with the food box, and with disbelief, she asked, 

"You ate all of it?" 

"Yeah, the taste was average." Naruto lay on the carpet. 

Ino's expression turned strange, and she awkwardly said, 

"That wasn't for you, it was for Akamaru."

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