Ayame heard Naruto's shout and said, "Wait for a few minutes, Naruto. I'll prepare it right away."
She and Teuchi got to work while Fujin enjoyed his meal and Naruto impatiently waited for his. A few minutes later, Ayame brought out two bowls and placed them in front of Naruto and Fujin.
Naruto immediately said loudly, "Thank you!" and dived into his bowl.
Despite sounding happy, Ayame could clearly make out the annoyance in Naruto's voice. She asked, "Did something happen in the academy, Naruto?"
Naruto replied, "Hmph, Iruka sensei failed me once again. I have to keep studying until next year."
Ayame consoled him and said, "Oh, don't worry Naruto. I am sure you will pass with flying colors next year."
Naruto replied enthusiastically, "Of course I will! I will become the Hokage. Believe it!"
Ayame smiled noticing that Naruto wasn't depressed. Suddenly, she remembered that Fujin was sitting next to Naruto and realized, 'Now that I think about it, I don't think Fujin and Naruto have ever met. That's weird. Both of them come here so frequently. It is strange that they never showed up at the same time.'
Despite finding it odd, Ayame didn't dwell on it for long. After all, her mind couldn't comprehend the fact that Fujin purposefully avoided Naruto until that day. She cheerfully said, "Fujin, you haven't met with Naruto yet, right?"
Fujin looked up at her and asked in a questioning tone, "Naruto?"
He looked at Naruto sitting beside him and asked, "Him?"
Naruto, who was busy eating, immediately looked up as he realized that Ayame was talking about him. He looked back at Fujin who was looking at him.
Ayame introduced Fujin by saying, "Naruto, he is Fujin. He is a very strong ninja."
Though Ayame didn't know much about Fujin, she knew that he graduated at 10 and became a Chunin at 11. Though there were a few other ninjas who became chunin at that age, their number was very low. So despite not knowing Fujin's real strength, her words were spot on.
Hearing that Fujin was very strong from Ayame's mouth, Naruto was surprised. He looked back at Fujin to see that he was still staring at him without saying anything. He introduced himself, "I am Uzumaki Naruto. I will become the Hokage. Believe it!"
Fujin replied, "The Hokage, huh?"
Naruto looked into Fujin's eyes. Ayame noticed it and suddenly became nervous. She thought, 'Ugh! I forgot that most villagers avoid Naruto for some reason. I hope Fujin isn't one of them.'
Teuchi also looked at Fujin. Though he liked Fujin, he didn't want anyone to mistreat Naruto.
Fujin stared at Naruto just like the rest of the villagers. However, Naruto noticed some differences. The most important difference was that Fujin's gaze wasn't cold. Naruto was surprised and wondered, 'Though he is staring at me, it doesn't feel like he hates me or wants me to disappear. But what is this look?'
Naruto had never seen someone looking at him in this manner. So he didn't understand that Fujin's gaze was full of curiosity and amusement. As someone who had seen Naruto several times, it was natural for Fujin to be curious towards him. Though he has observed Naruto several times, this was the first time he was interacting with him. This curiosity was something that no other person in Konoha had.
As for the amusement part, Fujin couldn't help but think, 'In my previous world, we debated several times about who was the best manipulator in Naruto. The normal choices for the same would be Danzo, Orochimaru or even Black Zetsu at times. But, they don't come anywhere close to Hiruzen!
How the hell does someone, whose existence is not acknowledged, who has to hear things terrible enough to leave mental trauma on a daily basis for years, and who is pretty much hated by everyone, want to do nothing but look after and care for the very people who put him through such torture and be willing to give up his life for them?'
Fujin couldn't make any sense of it. He could only marvel at how capable Hiruzen was. He even wondered whether the reason Hiruzen kept Naruto in such circumstances was to fuel his dream of becoming the Hokage even further. However, even if that was the case, Fujin didn't agree with the method.
He chuckled and said, "Sure. And I will become the God of this world. Believe it!"
Fujin's reply left Ayame, Teuchi and Naruto speechless. None of them had expected such a reply. Soon, a smile appeared on Teuchi's face and Ayame began giggling.
Naruto's face immediately became red in embarrassment. He immediately jumped from his stool and shouted, "Don't mock me! I will become the Hokage, believe it!"
Fujin chuckled and asked, "Do you know of a Hokage that failed the graduation exam?"
Naruto immediately became a bit nervous and argued back, "No. But I only failed in the Clone jutsu. I can perform the Substitution and the Transformation jutsu perfectly."
Fujin still maintained a sly smile and asked, "Do you know of any Hokage that know only two jutsus? Lord Third is said to know every single jutsu in Konoha."
Getting constantly berated by Fujin annoyed Naruto. He slammed his hand on the table while claiming, "I will learn even more jutsus tha…"
Suddenly, his eyes moved towards the table. His hand hit his ramen bowl causing it to move and fall. His eyes widened in horror as he saw the ramen bowl turnover and his precious ramen falling towards the ground.
However, suddenly, it felt like a miracle took place. The ramen, which was falling towards the ground, suddenly stopped. Winds flowed around the falling ramen and the bowl. Naruto, Ayame and Teuchi saw in astonishment as all the falling ramen went back into the bowl and the bowl moved back to the table and floated around an inch above the table.
Slowly, the bowl landed on the table and the winds moving around it dispersed. The entire room was quiet due to the sudden display. None of them had ever seen something like that.
Naruto turned his attention towards Fujin and thought, 'How did he do that? I haven't even seen Iruka sensei do something like this!'
To see someone, who just said his dream was impossible, do something so crazy shocked him. However, his shock soon turned into excitement. His eyes almost sparkled as he said in excitement, "That was so cool! How did you do that?"
Fujin replied, "It's a basic application of Wind nature manipulation."
Naruto exclaimed, "Wind nature manipulation? That sounds cool! Can you teach it to me?"
Fujin raised an eyebrow and asked, "Teach you?"
He continued eating noodles as he said, "It might be basic, but it is still very complicated. To learn, you will have to train for hours daily for months. Do you think you can focus on training that long?"
Naruto was surprised. This wasn't the first time he had asked anyone to teach him jutsus. He had asked nearly all teachers in the academy and had also bugged Hiruzen when he met him. But this was the first time his request wasn't denied right away.
Naruto said, "Of course I can. I will train non-stop until I learn it. Believe it!"
Fujin asked, "Do you know where Training Ground 23 is?"
Naruto replied, "No, but I can find it in no time, believe it!"
Fujin said, "Alright. Show up there at 5 in the morning tomorrow. If you can learn how to control the wind as I can, then I'll believe that you can become the Hokage."
Naruto was immediately elated. It was the first time anyone had agreed to teach him. He immediately shouted in excitement, "I will be there and learn it in no time. Believe it!"
Naruto's reactions were completely like Fujin aspected. All his words to Naruto were well-measured. He first made Naruto agitated by saying that his dream was impossible, then blew his mind with the sudden display and finally agreed to Naruto's request of teaching him and gave him a way of making him 'convince' Fujin that he could become the Hokage. As a result, Fujin's impression in Naruto's eyes skyrocketed.
Considering how few people treated Naruto well, Fujin's favorability immediately rose near the top in Naruto's eyes. Fujin sighed internally and thought, 'This is too easy. After engaging in mind games with Hiruzen, trying to manipulate Naruto is like going from Insane difficulty mode to Baby mode. He is lucky that I have no ill intentions.'
Fujin couldn't help but wonder, 'Now that I think about it, doesn't Hiruzen always target little kids? Most of his Will of Fire speeches are given in the academy. He has influenced Naruto since he was young. The same could be said about Itachi. If Naruto and Itachi were older like me, would they have fallen for his manipulations?'
Teuchi and Ayame weren't aware of what was going through Fujin's mind. They just smiled. Though neither were ninjas, both were happy to see Naruto being treated well. Having interacted with Fujin for so long, they knew that he wouldn't harm Naruto or leave him hanging.
Teuchi said, "Your ramen is getting cold, Naruto. Eat it quickly."
Naruto immediately began eating while Teuchi brought out the last two bowls of ramen.
