Chapter 590: New Year's Plans
The layout of Konoha's Ichiraku Ramen is different from other places: there is a row of straight, ruler-like small counters facing the street...
Ahem, I grabbed the wrong manuscript.
However, the layout of Ichiraku Ramen has indeed changed recently: Uncle Teuchi bought the building next door, expanded the storefront, and completely renovated it. The entire layout is different from before.
Interestingly enough, while the entire ninja world was on tenterhooks, warily monitoring the movements of the "Akatsuki" organization—which had gathered many highly skilled S-rank criminals and Tailed Beasts—and constantly preparing for war, the world of ordinary people felt no pressure of impending war at all. Instead of an economic depression, it became increasingly prosperous.
In reality, because all the villages tacitly blockaded news of "Akatsuki" and adopted a defense strategy of being relaxed externally but tight internally, ordinary people did not know that such a sinister and powerful evil organization existed in the ninja world.
The world they could see was a peaceful ninja world that had not had a major war for over a decade, and they could faintly see the dawn of peace:
Although Konoha and the Sand Ninja had some friction two years prior, it soon subsided. Afterward, their economic and political interactions became close, their relationship as harmonious as a honeymoon. Recently, Konoha also allied with the Hidden Sand and the Hidden Mist to form an alliance. The Hidden Stone and Hidden Cloud not only didn't jump up in anger or warily regard the three countries forming a defensive and offensive alliance against them; instead, they also approached, constantly dispatching messengers to communicate, showing a strong tendency to form a five-country alliance and unify the world.
Oh my!
The world is going to be unified!
Doesn't that mean there will be no more fighting in the future?
Since the death of the First Hokage, the ninja world has been in constant turmoil. Three world wars were fought in just over fifty years. They would fight until a generation was wiped out, call a truce, and then continue fighting when the next generation grew up... The people were long sick of war!
Therefore, just seeing a glimpse of world peace caused the suppressed economy to instantly boom and develop. Even the normally conservative Uncle Teuchi happily expanded his business.
The unfamiliar decor and the crowded environment made Naruto, who had eaten at Ichiraku Ramen for ten years, almost unable to recognize it.
"Is this..." The orange-haired boy stopped outside the shop, his eyes wide open, staring blankly at this unfamiliar environment. "Ichiraku Ramen?"
"Yo! Naruto, and Sasuke!" Uncle Teuchi, sharp-eyed, spotted them in the crowd and greeted them warmly, "What are you standing there for? Come in and sit down, there are still seats here!"
Ayame (Uncle Teuchi's daughter) smiled and led the two to their seats, explaining as she wiped the table: "Dad decided on a whim to renovate and expand. There's no helping it, there have been too many people these past two years, and the old storefront was too crowded. If we didn't expand the business, it would definitely be jam-packed for the New Year's celebration this year."
Sasuke nodded reservedly in thanks, saying thoughtfully: "We went out on a mission and came back to find it completely changed. Let alone Naruto, even I almost didn't recognize it... But you guys really did need to expand the storefront."
"Yeah, speaking of which, tomorrow is the last day of this year." Naruto, however, was thinking of something else. "I want to keep eating ramen for the New Year too... but it seems I can't! I still have to—"
Sasuke kicked Naruto.
"Oh!" Naruto paused, realizing he had said something he shouldn't have, and hurriedly changed his words: "Ordering, ordering! I'll have the usual! Large pork cutlet ramen with an egg!"
"What about Sasuke?" Ayame acted as if she hadn't heard what Naruto just said at all, keeping her smiling face unchanged.
"The same."
The ramen was served quickly. The familiar taste hadn't changed. Drinking the warm, delicious broth, Sasuke finally felt the reality of coming home.
Naruto ate this meal of ramen rather silently, unlike his usual boisterous personality.
After finishing dinner and paying the bill, the two walked out of the noisy ramen shop and into the quiet night.
The air on the street was very chilly.
"Unknowingly, another year has passed."
Naruto suddenly stopped, exhaled a puff of white breath, and watched the white mist disappear into the air.
"Mhm..." Sasuke followed behind him, his hands in his pockets, quietly looking at Naruto, who was rarely this sentimental. "Are you not spending the New Year in Konoha?"
"As for celebrating the New Year, there will be plenty of opportunities in the future." Naruto smiled slightly. "Compared to the New Year's celebration, I have more important things to do."
He was going to train.
"Uncle Jiraiya said it's time for me to train in Sage Mode. At Mount Myoboku."
Sasuke pursed his lips.
He actually wanted to invite Naruto to attend tomorrow's celebration together. Just two days ago, Sasuke specifically asked Sakura Uchiha to contact her main body to invite Haruno Sakura to come back together, and the latter readily agreed.
It was rare for Team 7 to be complete.
Naruto probably found it hard to understand the significance of holidays like the New Year to Sasuke.
After all, to Naruto, the New Year was just an ordinary day.
In fact, conversely, when everyone else was reuniting, he would be the only one walking alone on the empty streets. That pain of loneliness would be revealed even more uncontrollably than usual.
But Sasuke was different.
In the past, during the New Year, his father and brother would try their best to postpone unimportant missions and arrange time to come back, so the whole family could eat, stroll the streets, and stay up late together nicely and neatly.
The New Year meant family reunion; it meant the smiles of his parents and brother.
It was like this every year.
Until Itachi destroyed everything with his own hands.
Until Sasuke started treating Team 7 as his new home, and the word "reunion" was endowed with new meaning again.
Sasuke had been looking forward to this for a long time.
But he opened his mouth, and the words to persuade Naruto ultimately were not spoken.
"It's fine to delay going to train by a day," such a reason sounded very concise and convincing, but looking at Naruto's resolute eyes, Sasuke couldn't bring himself to say it, and finally just nodded calmly.
He didn't say anything.
Sasuke knew that the reason Naruto was so eager to go train was that he deeply hated his own weakness and powerlessness during the battle in the Land of Water.
Although Sasuke understood that Naruto attacked his comrade because the Nine-Tails had occupied his body and mind, and he wouldn't hate Naruto because of it, the problem was... Naruto himself couldn't forgive himself.
He risked his life to train, wanting to gain the power to protect his comrades, but ended up almost personally killing the close friend he viewed as his own flesh and blood...
Naruto couldn't accept such a version of himself!
So as soon as he returned to Konoha, he couldn't wait to find his master Jiraiya and ask him to arrange the next step of his training. He wanted to undergo even more arduous training, become a stronger version of himself, and not let the Nine-Tails dictate the fate of his comrades again!
For this, he didn't mind sacrificing his rest time during the New Year.
"Ah, Sasuke," Naruto noticed his hesitation to speak. "What did you want to say?"
"Nothing." The black-haired boy chuckled lightly, shook his head, and said, "Wishing you a smooth training!"
He also let out a long breath toward the sky, and the white mist instantly rose curled up like a pillar, not dissipating for a long time.
They walked further along the road.
After saying these words, silence suddenly fell between the two again. The boys walked quietly, not knowing what they were pondering.
The journey together finally reached its end.
On the left side of the three-way intersection stood a burly man with white hair in the distance; on the right was the road to Sasuke's home.
"Then—" The moment he spoke, Naruto looked over with tacit understanding, and Sasuke smiled faintly. "Have a safe trip, complete your training and come back soon!"
Naruto nodded forcefully. Until the very end, he still didn't tell Sasuke that Sage training at Mount Myoboku carried considerable risks.
"Do your best with training, see you next year!"
Sasuke gave him a thumbs up.
He watched Naruto walk towards the white-haired man. The two spoke of something unknown before turning and leaving.
He saw Naruto wave to him from afar as he turned around, then his figure drifted away and disappeared into the night.
"Then, I should also..."
He muttered to himself, turned, and turned into the street on the right, his figure gradually blending into the night.