It had been many days since Itachi arrived with the glowing paw prints and a strange ritual had started in the Uchiha house hold. Like that first day; Naruto had forgotten all about the glowing paw prints after his mother had distracted him with the promise of those rice balls. The following day he would see their glow from the shelf and ask his mother for it. His mother would refuse with the explanation that she wanted to show his father first and distract him with something and then they both would forget about the mold till the next day.
On one such day; Naruto was distracted by his mom taking him shopping for ramen noodles. Mikoto wondered how he had acquired such a taste for the noodle dish. Sukiyaki was the house hold favorite till Naruto convinced Itachi that it was better.
“Naruto! Come here,” she called from where he had stopped to greet a shop keeper and compliment him on his wares.
“What a nice boy you have there,” another shopkeeper said as she passed by. She stoically nodded back.
“Why can’t you be more like your brother?” she asked Naruto as he started to pull towards another shop to wave in greeting.
“But Mom,” he said as he turned back to her, “I do to act like him. We do it all the time. ‘Cause we’re bestest of friends as well as brothers too!”
Mikoto couldn’t argue with that. Itachi did act a lot friendlier and playful around Naruto. It wasn’t just him though. Just something about Naruto made people more laid back around the hyper six year old. Some of the elders had ‘gently’ recommended that she and her husband start teaching him to act like a ‘real Uchiha’. Those same elders would gleefully act like doting grandparents whenever they accounted the exuberant Naruto.
“Come on Dear. I need your help for dinner tonight.” She waited until Naruto ran up to her. “I heard that there was a strange flavored ramen. A cheese flavored ramen! I need your help to go find it. Can you do that for me?”
Naruto nodded his head so quickly that it looked like a blur and he quickly entered the store with all the intensity that a six year old could bring to bear.
“Don't worry Mommy! I'll find the super special cheese flavored ramen!” he said as he took off. He decided that the best place to start would be where all the cheeses were. That was right in the front on the store where there was a deli bar and all the cuts of meats and cheeses could be seen through a glass. He looked up and down, but he couldn't find it anywhere. He decided to ask the man behind the counter and cut off a few people.
“Neh. Neh. Mister. I'm looking for a cheese!”
“Oh helping your family out then?” The deli clerk asked while humoring the small boy, “What type?”
“It's a special cheese!”
“Sounds like a good type what is it?”
“It's a super special cheese!”
“I'm going to need more than that boya.”
“It's a super special ramen cheese!” Naruto called out while jumping up.
The man rolled his eyes a bit but replied, “Sorry boya, it’s not here. Try aisle eight by the dry foods.” Naruto thanked the man and turned away.
“Eight,” He said to himself. He held up a hand and counted while he pointed at each aisle, “One, two, three, four, five, six…uh…eight, eleven, thirteen, ten!” He then counted back till he got to eight again and took off.
To his disappointment, all there was stupid cereal boxes and not one sign of any sort of ramen packages; let alone a super special cheese package He tried to go see if the elusive ramen was at the other end of the aisle, but a bunch of girls were blocking the way.
“Just look at that smile!”
“I wish he would come and smile at me like that!”
They were talking about some movie celebrity that was on the cereal box and had a life like cut out of the actor with a few large potted plants around the display.
“Excuse me,” he said as he tried to squeeze through. He back-pedaled a bit as all the girls suddenly turned to glare at him. One of the girls spotted the clan sign on his vest and her expression softened.
“Ah, Uchiha-san,” she asked politely and all the girls’ expressions lost their scary look, “how can we help you?”
“I just wanted to get through and see if there was any...” At that moment a large black bluish beetle decided to land on the polite girl's nose. Her face turned white and she took a deep breath.
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!! Get it off!” She shook her head from side to side, but the insect held on. The poor girl froze and fell on her back in a dazed horror. Naruto moved to try and catch her, as all of her friends were hiding behind the cut out of the movie star, but all he managed was to keep her head from bouncing on the ground.
“Yaa Uchiha-san! Please help her!' said one red head
“Uchiha-san kill it! Squish it flat!” yelled a shorter dark haired girl.
“Not while it's on me!” screamed the petrified girl. Her eyes were crossed as she focused on the black blue in front of her. Thinking quickly Naruto broke a leafy branch from one of the plants and held it in front of the beetle. With a poke of his finger the beetle jumped from the girl's nose to a leaf and hung on. He pulled the branch away and the girl scrambled backwards and used one of the shelves to pull herself up.
“Thanks for saving me Uchiha-san. You're so cool.” She went as if to hug him, but then saw the beetle still on the leaf and though better of it. “Um, so thanks again,” she said as she joined her friends behind the cut out.
“No problem,” he said with a smile. “I'll take care of this little guy.”
Naruto had just turned out of the aisle (not before glancing to see if there was any ramen) when he felt someone tap him on the shoulder. He turned around and saw a boy about his age that was dressed in a dark green shirt with the collars turned up. Over that he had a long coat with the hood over his head. A dark pair of circle sun glasses adorned his face.
“I was most impressed with the way you handled that insect. Are you into entomology? I am asking because your technique in collecting specimens is excellent.”
“No I'm not into Ento...thingie. Bugs are cool and this little guy was just afraid. Wan’ ta see when I let him go outside?” Naruto held up the branch, but the beetle had moved down the branch to climb on one of his fingers. He held the finger back over to the branch and the beetle jumped back on it.
“May I have her then? She is a large specimen of her kind. Her species has a unique ability to change their sex depending on the dampness of the area during the spring.”
“Sure.” Naruto handed the branch over to the kid. The beetle jumped from the branch to land on the kid's shoulder.
“My name is Shino Aburame. Would you like join me in collecting specimens? I would think you would be most adept at it. The empty lot outside this store is an excellent location for such activities.”
“I'm Naruto Uchiha. Please to meet ya. I'll have to ask my Mom, but I'm trying to find cheese ramen for dinner tonight first.”
“We can assist you. Though, cheese flavored is a little strong for my taste.”
“Who's we?” Naurto asked looking around him. Shino held up the beetle from his shoulder and said,
“Sharron has been through this store for some time and has seen what you seek. We can make a 'beeline' this way.”
“Sharron?”
“Yes. I feel it's a perfect name. Though, I suppose Ranko would be a good name too.”
Shino turned down an aisle not far from the cereal aisle and went directly to the ramen section. Naruto quickly gathered up his prize and smelled the package. Actually he didn't smell anything but plastic. Ah well, he was sure that it would taste great. He spotted his mom coming down the aisle with a shopping cart. He waved to her and yelled,
“Ne. Ne. Mom I got the ramen,” he called out as he ran up to her with the prize package held up high.
“My goodness. You sure did,” she said with a smile.
“Yep. I found it thanks to my friend Shino here. Oh and Sharron on his shoulder there. Hey, Mom can I go with Shino and look for bugs? He said the empty lot next to the store is a good place to find them!”
Naruto's mom looked over the boy and deduced that he was of the Aburame clan. She smiled at Naruto and said, “Very well. I still have a bit of things to find here, but make sure you stay only in the lot and try and not to get too dirty. Also, please let Shino keep all the bugs you find.”
“Sure thing. Thanks Mom!” he said with a smile and dropped the packages in the cart.
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(Posted Thu, 11 Oct 2012 00:07)
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