I think it was nearly three weeks into life as a genin. Twenty or so days of duty and fifty odd D-Rank missions completed along with Kosuke, who had been doing all sorts of things to make even the most simple of tasks more challenging.

I had settled into my new routine over the past few weeks, even if I was most certainly beginning to feel to fatigue. Steady and set, my routine had settled itself.

Wake up at four and begin training. Check in at the missions office at eight and perform missions until two. Train at the clan compound until twelve. Cram meals and whatnot in between all of that and then do it all again the next day.

A little deviation from this set routine, most definitely not approved by the clan, was what happened in the afternoon after I had a D-Rank mission or two completed.

Kosuke insisted on not taking the rest of the time to perform another mission, but rather go into Konoha's market districts for meals, adventures, and really whatever else seemed fun.

At first, I had been apprehensive. My routine was set strictly by the Hyuuga clan and it was made clear that I was to graze and eat meals as quickly as possible on the go and that the time was to be strictly spent on missions. I was comfortable in the routine.

And then I thought back to the boy who had cut his hair in a garish, spiky style for no other reason than to stick it to the other clan members.

I supposed that a bit of time to become human once more wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. It wouldn't do to be a mindless drone of a ninja anyway. A mental health break, I called it.

It was on one of those breaks that I saw something that made my feet stop and my breath catch.

Ramen Ichiraku

"See somewhere you want to eat at?" Kosuke guessed.

"You could say that," I said, beginning to walk towards to ramen shop, "I'm feeling in the mood for ramen today."

"Oh?" Kosuke quirked his lips and followed me towards the shop.

As I drew closer to the ramen shop, the savoury aroma of the food assaulted and tickled my nose in all of the right ways. I ducked under the white banner, bold red text printed on them and sat down on one of the stools, Kosuke ducking in behind me.

"Can I get you anything?"

I looked up at the man who had spoken, the one carrying the big pot of broth. His name was Teuchi, if I'm remembering things right. Ramen guy. If he was surprised that someone from a high-profile clan like the Hyuuga (my eyes gave it away) was showing up to his tiny shop, he didn't show it.

"I'll take the miso ramen."

I tapped my chin and considered my options again.

"And the narutomaki for a topping, please."

"Of course." He nodded to me, turning to Kosuke, "And for you sir?"

"I'll have the miso ramen as well. Just with the seaweed instead of narutomaki, please."

Teuchi once again nodded, fixed his hat, and then disappeared into the back of the shop to prepare our food. I leaned forward onto the counter and laid my chin on my arms. I closed my eyes, feeling a bit drowsy.

"Hey! Hey, Uncle Teuchi! Hey!" The sound of a somewhat obnoxiously loud voice and stomping feet snapped me out of my sleepy spell and jolted me upright in my stool.

"Hold on just a minute, Naruto!"

Ah.

I was wondering when I would see the titular character himself.

I turned around to get a better look at the boy himself, spinning around in my stool. Grinning, blonde, goggle-wearing, and orange-loving in all his glory, Naruto was here.

And my goodness, he was tiny.

I had expected it. He couldn't be older than three or four years old right now, around Hinata's age. But he was a bit smaller than I had envisioned him being. I tried not to stare too much at him.

A smile couldn't help but creep onto my face, however. Some part of me was amused by him. Not even four years old and already a regular at Ichiraku Ramen, huh? It seemed a bit absurd. I suppose this was normal around here, at least more normal than it would be back home.

Teuchi came back out from the back, holding two steaming bowls of ramen, putting them in front of us.

"Enjoy!"

"Thank you," both Kosuke and I said.

Teuchi then turned and to Naruto and chatted with him for a bit. Naruto's prattling and shouted conversation cut heavily into the atmosphere of the shop. Gave it the noise of life, I suppose.

I began to eat my ramen, first picking off one of the spiralling fishcake toppings and popping it in my mouth, then moving on to the noodles themselves. They were surprisingly, or perhaps not so surprisingly, delicious.

While I ate, Kosuke spoke, leaning in for me to hear him over the loud background babble.

"What do you think of taking on a C-Rank?"

I paused in the consumption of my meal. I... hadn't been expecting that.

"It'll just be a courier mission," Kosuke explained, "To the Land of Grass. That one caught my eye in the missions office the other day. I thought it'd be a good fit for us."

"Maruboshi-san, is this the best place to discuss this?"

"It's fine," Kosuke said, smiling, "It's only B-Rank and above where things start to get nasty and classified. C-Ranks are just courier and escort missions and whatnot."

I nodded hesitantly at his reasoning.

"But are you certain we should take it?" I asked, "I'm rather green and there are only two of us in this squad."

"Bah, of course!" Kosuke waved off my concerns, "We're overprepared for this mission if you ask me."

Right. Eternal Genin.

I hummed, considering it, "You said the mission was for the Land of Grass? How long is the mission expected to take?"

"No longer than a week. Shinobi tend to travel far quicker than carriages."

I hummed again, slurping on my ramen and thinking about it. A mission would make for good experience working, and it wasn't as though I would be pulled off of my training regime for any longer than a week. And I had no doubts that Kosuke would be training me along the way as well.

"I think it would be a good idea, then."

"Wonderful! I'll have the paperwork done and we'll leave in..." Kosuke scratched his head, "I believe two days' time."

I nodded, then brought my bowl to my lips and drained the rest of my ramen broth. Kosuke had already finished off his ramen, so we both stood up, putting money on the counter to pay for the meals.

Teuchi collected the money, counted it, and then nodded, thanked, and smiled at us.

Before we left to stand, however, I hesitated. I looked over at Naruto, who was happily slurping away at his noodles at an ungodly pace. He was on his second bowl already.

I threw a wad of ryo onto the counter, the pay from one of the two D-Ranks that I had completed that morning.

"I'll cover the kid's cost," I said, "Add the change to his tab."

Kosuke smiled at me and we left a bewildered Naruto and Teuchi behind at the ramen stand. As we walked, I considered what I would need for the mission. Some rations and a restock of weapons and whatnot. Wouldn't hurt to brush up on my geography of the region, either.