*Homura POV*

I saw Naruto a week later, more precisely, I saw him a week later after my dine and dash scheme.

But the weird is that he wasn't mad about that... rather he thanked me.

Thanked me?

Why would he thank me?

Couldn't help but wonder about that at the time.

... Yeah, that was so strange.

I almost had a heart attack.

I was confused about what had just transpired at that specific moment and wondered if the guy had finally lost his mind.

It is not until... I decided to have a deeper conversation with Naruto, and I learned all about the truth of the entire Naruto thanking me business was about.

Teuchi, entered my shit list immediately after that!

I, like the genius that I am, immediately understood what was going on after a while of having to listen to Naruto's incomprehensible/incoherent gibberish.

Teuchi-san...I mean Teuchi, was also definitely going to enter the list of guys I plan to murder in the future, he even dethroned the number 1 asshole (Naruto) I know sitting at the top.

However, as the days passed by and I received no news about that entire affair, I became more and more scared with each passing day.

So much so that I couldn't sleep.

What if I was charged with theft?

I am too pretty for prison. Much less ninja prison... well that's not exactly true. My thoughts were locked on finding a better alternative for cheaper places to eat at, but that turned out to be a bigger challenge than I initially thought.

Though there's a lot of street food available almost at every corner and street of Konoha, nobody, as far as I know, serves food at the prices offered by that b*stard.

For their portions at least... this entire village is messed up.

But this just raised so many questions.

Just how does he make money exactly? Is stuff in Konoha overpriced? Would it be cheaper to live somewhere else?... I just can't seem to figure out the answer to any of those questions.

My frame of reference is simply too small.

Perhaps Teuchi doesn't pay rent or something but, at that point in time, thinking about it any further didn't matter.

So I decided to bite the dust and faced my fears after 12 days of waiting, it was simply getting too ridiculous.

No man should be that evil to let a child, live in fear... but I guess I'm not entirely a child. Or at the very least a normal child.

Usually, I would just laugh it off and peg the guy as an idiot but I did the math with C; and Teuchi's prices still came out on top...not by much but I'm quite poor and need to save as much as I can. Every Ryo counts.

Plus, it is a hotspot for a lot of Konoha's top elite to gather...truthfully it is quite strange.

I never understood that.

Almost everyone from the show was there at some point in time.

Too bad the guy does a thorough job in the cleaning department, otherwise I may have been lucky and found some of Kushina's DNA lying around or that Yamato fellow, in order to get access to wood style (Mokuton)... though I am fully aware none of that stuff is really possible... but it's nice to dream once in a while.

So I bit the metaphorical bullet and went to the shop.

When I entered I just stood there for a while. 

Thinking that he would say something but he didn't.

I also said nothing and just raised my hand and looked him in the eyes, the b*stard just stared at me for a few moments as if he had no idea what was going on either... before looking around the counter and then handing me over a small receipt.

My eyes almost popped out of my eye sockets when I saw the full price, plus Naruto seem to have eaten an extra bowl after I left... just how evil is that guy?

There's a special place in hell for people like him? (Or is it limbo here? But hell seems to exist too, I think...I'm confused! I'm still confused about that...and scared have to pull an Orochimaru and live forever.)

Saying nothing I handed over a small amount of the total fee and left, left the shop without looking back.

Just kept running.

The whole thing was pretty surreal if I might add.

I thought for a moment that I was in one of those black and white mobster movies, that were so popular in my former world in the 1910s or something, or some cr*p.

The tension was killing me and there was just so much going on at the time, that I thought I was under-prepared if I had to break into a fight or escape.

Besides, Teuchi's daughter wasn't there so I didn't really care about staying.

...the things we do for potential love interests... That I don't think I have a shot due to the age gap, but this might turn out into a Terumi Mei situation (desperate)... so I have to keep an open mind.

Hm... I wonder if I should do something than just winking toward her direction every time our eyes cross paths... *sigh* I am not sure how to go about this... anymore.

I just have too much on my plate at all times; that I can hardly focus on anything.

I feel like so stretched out at all times with money-making schemes, Takao, orphanage, training, research, Naruto, Guy and so much more... I need a break, but I can't.

I am about to become an academy student.

I have to keep impressing everyone and not fall behind anyone as well as maintain an image of superiority/talent.

But I am open to l*ve (not really but I refuse to end up alone, like Kiba or Tenten. So I have to find my soulmate or create one. Ideally someone really pretty and not naggy, or violent...also she ages well... I can't handle people with no class or violent people.)

So I am sure that I will have a lot of other love stories to fill my days.

As the most handsome guy in class thanks to my Itachi-like or is it now more Sasuke-like good looks I am bound to be popular.

... I still wonder how no one sees it... Is the white hair so much of a distraction or a key factor of my entire image that people don't connect the dots...even Sasuke didn't see anything during the exams, I can't help to wonder why that is.

Well, not that none of that mattered to me at the time; or even now for that matter.

Because of Teuchi, I had to find a side hustle and fresh blood before the academy was going to start.

I had to go to work and find the next target for me to steal blood from while I still had low chances of getting tortured if something went wrong.

At the very least, the target this time was a civilian and far younger than me which gave me a lot to not work with... I didn't know if it would be easy.

Turns out finding someone that might not yet even exist, is a real challenge.

Though, I couldn't give up hope.

If I could integrate her DNA with mine and get wood-style from it I'd been possibly golden.

Sadly I am still working for that brat called Moegi.

From my memories it seems that she can use wood style or something.

Though, I have asked C...there were no memories of her ever doing so from any sort of visual memories.

Just hope the memories that I have from reading the wiki don't get me wrong...they are usually written by nerds so there's a chance that's true.

Having Mokuton in the palms of my hands so early, would change everything.

If all else failed I wanted to try to pass myself as the new Hashirama. I'd be protected by the village and beloved by the whole village.

Seen as a savior or hope for the future, which would definetly help me in my plans.

That didn't happen to Yamato because he is a Konoha dirty experimentation secret and a filthy Anbu, but little old me?

I ain't that...allegedly.

If I could use mokuton, I would try to do it in a public location like at the academy.

Bust out Mokuton and make the teacher in charge of my class sh*t his pants.

Then be called by the Hokage and get a medal or something, then live in pure comfort like Sasuke did in the original series, his room was huge!

He's definitely loaded now, but he will still be in the future if that room of his indicates.

Too bad he became a criminal in the future, and definitely lost all his real estate...sh*t!

There are still about 1 or 2 years at most... b-before that event happens... I really need to be more prepared by then, I need to try to learn as much as I can at the academy so that I can get stronger.

... Sadly, I've failed to procure myself with any edge that would be more advantageous once again... even Naruto is still off-limits to me at the moment.

It seems that I will have to go to the academy with my current build, like gamers say.

I just can't see anyone else in konoha with special abilities that I can try to steal from at the moment.

Not only that, but I've been quite busy myself to try anything more grandiose.

Things during that entire last month did not go according to plan at all... In fact, they were just random and stupid events like always.

Still, I couldn't help to wonder if by me going to the academy my life would change, it was a nostalgic part of my life.

Lately that's been happening quite a lot.

I've been thinking a lot about old times, now that I am soon going to enter the academy.

Must be a normal thing to do for people in this world.

I guess it's how Kishimoto presented all those flashbacks.

Or is it because I'm starting to get cold feet?

...My room has already been assigned to other guys.

As soon as I leave this place, it will be occupied... It's as if I could truly no longer go back to those sh*tty but peaceful days...

The days ahead are going to be truly hard when I think about them...

I was never truly pressed for time or being evaluated, but that's going to soon change.

So I guess knowing that I can't change or have any control of what's going to happen for the next, almost an entire decade of my life, is messing with my head. 

Can't help myself but reminisce a bit more about the past.

Or simply start to become nostalgic about everything.

... at least, just a little bit more.

A while longer.

Chapter end

*Hey sorry for the messy chapter but since, I got make another chapter didn't get much time. Thx for another favourable rating...so I gotta publish another chapter back to back. T.T*