Hero comes back... to lunch!

[noodleaddict]

Who: Naruto Uzumaki (noodleaddict) & OPEN
When: November 18th, early afternoon -- coming back took longer than he thought it would!
Where: Konohagakure, Ichiraku Ramen!
Notes: Although the journey home from Mount Myoboku was relatively short and he had (whoops) forgotten to inform people that he was coming back today, his first stop is for the classic Ramen taste that he's sorely missed and not had enough of over the past almost year!

"Nee, Old Man Teuchi! It's great to see you! You too Ayame-Chan!" His voice, loud and boisterous, drew attention from the streets as he greeted the familiar vendors of his favourite salty noodle dish. His clothes were well-tailored but worn with sweat, frog muck, and training in general -- who said Mount Myoboku had laundry facilities for humans? No, Naruto likely stunk quite a bit and looked like quite a mess, but even under all that grime he was still recognizable with his bright blue eyes and wide whiskered grin.

It didn't take long for him to get a huge bowl of the special, and without hesitation he snapped his chop sticks apart and declare loudly, "All right, time to eat!"

... Maybe he should have talked to Obito-Jichan, Sasuke or Hinata-Chan, or have seen if his mom and dad were around, but... Food came first! He couldn't be expected to do all that on an empty stomach!

Comments

[noodleaddict]

"I waffed 'em was week," Naruto spoke through a mouthful of Ramen, his lips pulling up into a grin as he looked at the two of them. He swallowed and nodded to both of them, seemingly unphased by the nasty expressions and questions he was receiving.

"It's hard to keep everythin' clean when the toads' definition of clean involves frog slime dattebayo! I'm headin' home to get clothes and a bath after this bowl! I've gotten a whole lot stronger though, and my sage training's done with the toads! I've still gotta practice on my own to fully master it but they said I've done so well that I don't need their help anymore."

Excuse him for slurping up more of his ramen, it just tasted so good~!

[not_thedragon]

It had been a while since Sasuke had actively wished for Kushina's presence -- not since the whole Adela incident, really -- but watching Naruto blather about frog slime through full mouthfuls of noodles left him with the childish desire to watch his teammate's mother punt him across the village and into a bath. In her absence, however, it fell to others to keep Naruto in a presentable state.

A monumental task sometimes. "You're sure they weren't just sick of smelling you?"

He shot a look at Hinata at the same moment, a wordless question: the onsen was only a few blocks away, and between the two of them they could easily incapacitate Naruto long enough to throw him into hot water.

[gentledheart]

Ironically that blathering was making Hinata a little queasy and she tended to have something of an iron stomach. She could just imagine how much residual frog slime Naruto was ingesting as he slurped up noodles. Hinata really hoped he'd at least washed his face recently, like say in the last hour.

There's only a minute tilt of her head to warn Naruto that she's actually entertaining the question. Working through how much chakra she'd need to paralyze him so Sasuke could cart him off to the onsen.

She makes the smallest of nods the chakra already at her fingertips as she moves forward. She's truly sorry Naruto but you brought this on yourself. And honestly you'll thank them later when you go see your mother and are sparred her shoving you bodily into a bath. You do not go home to your mother smelling like swamp and covered in dried frog slime. It just isn't alright.

"Sorry Naruto-kun," she murmurs as her hand reaches for his shoulder.

[noodleaddict]

"... There's nothin' to be sorry for, Hinata-chan. I finish my ramen and then go home and get a bath, ne?" He had a bad feeling... Which was exactly why he turned to the food before him again and started trying to practically inhale it. He had a feeling Sasuke and Hinata would be patient for so long (or so he thought), so the faster he got it all down the better. Even if he was probably gonna choke.

Why were they giving him those nasty looks anyway? Even if he was eating, the blond was still on guard -- trying to figure out what they were up to, and ready to react if he had to.

[not_thedragon]

There would be something to be sorry for shortly, at least on Hinata's end; Sasuke wasn't particularly in the habit of feeling sorry about forcing their least civilized teammate to present a less haphazard image to the public. It was also distantly possible that Sasuke was annoyed to have to locate said uncivilized teammate by accident, but he was clearly too old to be acting on anything like that.

So it was that he stepped to the side to allow Hinata to paralyze Naruto, wrinkling his nose as he kept an arm out to catch the limp body as it fell. He'd need to launder his own clothes after this unless he wanted to deal with Mikoto's disappointed face, which was a power he had yet to learn how to counter.

[gentledheart]

Sorry Sasuke, but it was Naruto and her interest in even a minor fight between them was slim. And to be entirely honest she fully expected a fight to break out if they tried to manhandle Naruto to the onsen. Her hand lands solidly on Naruto's shoulder and deftly paralyzed the blond. Not that she looked entirely happy about doing it.

"You go on a head I'll catch up in a minute," she explains approaching the counter. She had at least seven bowls of ramen to pay for to make it up to Naruto. And they'd just be prepaid so he wouldn't have to worry about soggy noodles once he smelt like a human being again.

[noodleaddict]

"O-IY! HINATA-CHAN! SASUKE! HEEEEEEEY! What's the big idea!?" No matter how he tried he just couldn't move, even if his mouth still seemed to function just fine. No, his muscles weren't listening to him in the slightest -- the last time he felt this was in a training session with Hinata a few years ago! What--

"What about my ramen!? Oiy! I wasn't finished with that dattebayo!!"

[not_thedragon]

Distance was supposed to make the heart grow fonder, but all Sasuke could tell was that it seemed to have made Naruto louder. That, or he'd just grown used to people who understood the concept of things like indoor voices and bathing. Once the effect of sealed tenketsu set in properly, he thoroughly ignored anything Naruto was saying in order to reach down and heft the entire idiot over his shoulder.

"Shut up, you'll get fed once you're not disgusting anymore."

[noodleaddict]

"But you're wasting perfectly good ramen! Why can't I just finish it?" He was almost whining by then, otherwise completely helpless and unable to free himself from Sasuke's grip. He'd felt the tenketsu enough to know when they'd wear off, but that they were forcing him to bathe just as he'd been about to finish... This wasn't fair!!!