Angel of The Hidden Leaf

By the time I get to the Academy, school is already over. Tenzou only give me an address of my new home before leaving me to my own devices. He didn't even give me a map! He just left me in the middle of nowhere and...

"Hey! You!" A voice interrupted me from my musings. I looked behind and saw Iruka and Naruto walking towards me. The latter is waving his hands around excitedly. "You're the girl who fell from the sky right? That was awesome, believe it!"

Does he always end his sentence with believe it? "Yeah, I suppose I am, you're Naruto right? The boy who got yelled at?" I asked back.

Iruka chuckled while Naruto just rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "So, Haios chan." Iruka said suddenly. "How was your visit with Hokage sama?"

I smiled after hearing that. "He enrolled me to the academy and gave me a place to live!" Then I showed him the address. "But he forgot to give me a map! Can you tell me where this is?"

Iruka walked closer towards me and took the paper from my hand. "Oh! Naruto, she's your neighbor!" He exclaimed in surprise. "She's going to live in the room next to yours in the apartment."

"Really!?" Both Naruto and I exclaimed at the same time.

"Yeah, why don't you come with us? I'm just taking Naruto out for a lunch. Then Naruto can show you where you live." Iruka explained. "Don't worry, my treat."

Free food on my first day here? Heck yeah! "Thank you very much Iruka Sensei! I haven't eat anything all day!" I exclaimed with a super cheerful smile on my face.

With that, the three of us walked through the village. I spent the whole time sightseeing the village of Konoha. It seems that this world is a primitive one or in a development stage. There are no vehicles, giant buildings, or factories as far as eyes can see. Only the good old villagers walking around and the traditional stalls and markets here and there.

It was then that I realized something terribly wrong.

For one, almost every single villager I met averted their gaze away from us. They whisper and talk behind our backs. Some glanced at us with dirty looks while some just keep their distance. Both Iruka and Naruto doesn't seem to be bothered by any of this, they walk away like this is their everyday life.

"Most people here doesn't take foreigner that nicely huh?" I commented after seeing some parents taking their child far away from us. "Is my appearance offensive or anything?" I added as an afterthought.

Iruka sighed for a moment and shook his head. "It's complicated Haios, but it's not you, it's... Naruto." He said. "He's a... Prankster, of some sort. He loves to play practical jokes to the whole village and some people don't appreciate it and..."

That was a whole lot of BS. "Look, I'm going to live next to him. Better tell me now than when it's too late, right?" I asked him again.

Gasps and mutterings suddenly appeared from the villagers who overheard our conversation. Now I'm super curious about Naruto. "Look Haios..." Iruka whispered. "I can't tell you... If you wanted to know, you have to ask the Hokage..."

"WE'RE HERE!!!" Naruto yelled suddenly. He quickly ran towards a restaurant nearby with the words Ichikaru Ramen Shop on top of it. He sat on the long chair and start making his orders.

Iruka chuckled and ran after Naruto. I followed closely from behind while also thinking why Iruka, the Hokage, and the ramen owner isn't giving Naruto the silent treatment.

Soon, we finally made it to the restaurant and... I stood there wide eyed with gaping mouth when realized that Naruto just finished his third bowl. "Dear lord... that is definitely not a human appetite..." I muttered in a mixture of shock and awe. "And you have to pay for..."

I looked at my left and saw Iruka holding his wallet with tears streaming down his face. I blinked owlishly for a moment before looking at my rumbling stomach. "But I'm also hungry..." I muttered to myself. Then I looked at the shop owner.

The first one is a man wearing a white chef uniform watching Naruto with slight amusement. The second one is a young woman wearing the waitress uniform frantically serving Naruto with bowls after bowls of Ramen.

"Haios chan, what would you like to eat?" Iruka said suddenly with a kind smile on his face.

"You sure? Cuz I don't think your wallet can afford his food alone." I commented while pointing at Naruto who's at his tenth bowl. "Seriously though, that is not an appetite of a normal human being." I added.

'Thump' I looked down and saw a supersized bowl of ramen sitting in front me. I looked up and saw Teuchi smiling at me. "Don't worry, Haios san, it's on the house. Just think of it as your welcome to Konoha gift from Ichikaru Ramen Shop."

Now I know why Iruka, Hokage, and Teuchi are super nice to Naruto. Because they are freaking angels compared to everyone else! I mean, I never thought nice people like them exist outside of that world! "Thank you so much!!! Teuchi San!" I exclaimed before grabbing my chopsticks and start eating away.

After almost half an hour, I finished my food. To be honest, I kinda want second because that was amazing. I looked to my right and saw Naruto finished eating his twentieth bowl of ramen. "Some appetite you got there Naruto..." I muttered. "Do you eat everything like this or is it because it's Ichikaru Ramen?"

Naruto grinned at me and nodded. "Yeah, but it's also because Iruka's paying." He replied simply while Iruka Sensei is slowly clawing out every last coin from his wallet. I seriously hoped that teachers wage here is much bigger than normal.

"So, Haios chan, you're my new neighbor right?" Naruto asked.

"Uhuh." I replied simply while sipping on some tea.

"Are you fine with it? Old man didn't force you or anything right?" He asked again, this time with a solemn look on his face.

"Of course I'm okay with it! What makes you think he forces me to... Oh..." Then I thought about how the villagers treated him. "No, don't worry, I'm not like them. I've met some super annoying peeps in the past and I doubt you can be that annoying." By super annoying peeps, I mean the creator.

Naruto smiled at me and gave me a thumb up. "I promise you will feel safe with me around Haios chan and I will never go back from my word. Believe it!" He exclaimed with that huge grin on his face.

I can't help but smiling after seeing him smile either. I really don't have any doubts that he will make me feel safe no matter what. "Thanks Naruto, just try not to risk your neck too much alright?" I replied.

Soon, we all went to the apartment which is not that far from the ramen shop. On the first glance, I thought the apartment was abandoned. Don't get me wrong, the apartment is nice and well kept. It's just that it felt so lifeless, like nobody actually lives there.

"We're here! Come on Haios chan! I'll take you around!" Naruto grabbed my hand and starts dragging me towards the apartment. "You live right next to me aren't you?" He asked me again.

I just nodded mutely as the excited ball of mischief dragged me up the stairs of the apartment. It's not that far off and Naruto soon let go of my hand after he made it in front of a door. "This is my apartment, you can visit anytime you want, believe it!"

It's not hard for me to pick up the hidden message beneath those words. 'This is my apartment; please visit me if you have time.' I can't imagine how lonely he must've felt. Living alone and shunned by the villagers. Has he been through this his entire life? I can't imagine what kind of pain he's feeling inside his heart.

"Umm... Haios chan?" I shook my head and found myself standing inside a small room. The room itself is small with only a cupboard and a fridge in the corner and a small sleeping bag in the other. There's also a door nearby that leads to the bathroom and a small stove near the cupboard.

"Sorry, I was zoning out. What was it again Naruto?" I asked him again.

"I said, what do you think of my apartment?" Naruto repeated his question.

I took a double take of the whole place. It's not hard for me to find the hidden instant ramen packages hiding everywhere. But other than that, nothing, I mean, the bin on the kitchen is just filled only with instant ramen packages.

The reality of the situation struck me like lightning bolt. I looked at Naruto in a mixture of fear and confusion. "Naruto..." I took a deep breath. "What have you been eating these past years?" I asked him.

"Umm, Miso Ramen, Chicken Ramen, Beef Ramen, Instant Ramen..." He listed off every single ramen flavor known to mankind. "Why?"

"Is there anything you've ever eaten that is NOT ramen?" I asked him again, hoping that the answer is yes.

"Sometimes milk, bread, but I don't really like them. So I usually stick with Ramen." He replied easily.

How in the name of existence and reality, is he still alive!? That amount of Salt and MSG should be enough to give him a bloody cancer! If this doesn't convince me that he is NOT a human, I don't know what will.

"Do you know how to cook?" I asked him. He was about to say something but I beat him to it. "Aside from ramen and water, is there anything you can cook?"

Of course he just shrugged in response. "Why would I need to eat anything other than a ramen? I'm feeling full and energized after eating only ramen so why bother?" He whined.

"Because Naruto..." I paused for a second. Explaining to him about human bodily needs will only lead to more confusion. "Maybe you should try, making your own Ramen!" I exclaimed.

Of course, this catches his attention. "Make my own Ramen?" He asked.

"Oh yeah! Just like Teuchi and Ayame, you too, can make a ramen! You can experiment on them, combine different kinds of food and see if they taste good when you turn them into ramen!" I explained to him while silently congratulating myself for being a smart cookie. "Not only that, but you can also make certain dish taste like ramen. What do you say?"

Naruto just blinked owlishly in response. "You're going to teach me how to cook?" He asked, as if I'm not being obvious.

"Well duh! I don't want my friend to live of Unhealthy Ramen his entire life! You deserved better than this! I don't want you to get sick or malnourished for eating Instant Ramen your whole life!" I replied. "Besides, don't you feel bad for spending all of Iruka Sensei's money?"

The boy said nothing; he just stood there mutely with an unreadable look on his face. "Umm, did I something wrong? I mean, I'm not judging you or anything I'm just..." My words were cut short when the boy suddenly embraced me into a hug.

"Thank you..." He whispered. "Thanks for worrying about me..."

It was such a sweet and sad words coming from him. I mean, it almost sounds like he doesn't get that many people worrying about him. "Don't worry Naruto, you promised to keep me safe and I promise to take care of you." I let go of his hug and smiled at him. "Believe it!"

[LINE BREAK]

Later, in some random training ground.

Iruka sat on a training log while looking at the sunset in the distance. He sighed a little in relief after he felt a burst of chakra somewhere behind him. "Kakashi Senpai." He looked behind him and saw the jounin walking towards him with Jiraiya's latest masterpiece in his hand.

"Oi, Iruka, something you want to talk about?" Kakashi asked.

Iruka gave Kakashi a very flat look. "You're the one who told me to meet you here... Three hours ago..." He deadpanned.

Kakashi just gave him an eye-smile and waved his question away. "I can't remember, but now that we're here. Why don't we talk about the Immortal New Comer?" He asked without taking his eyes away from his book.

"I haven't talked much with her, but Haios chan is very observant." Iruka explained.

Kakashi raised an eyebrow in interest. "Oh, how come?" He asked.

"Well, ten minutes in and she's already demanding answers about Naruto's... condition." He shook his head. "I told her that only the Hokage has the answer. No doubt that she's gonna ask him first thing in the morning."

Kakashi nodded in response. "Have you asked any Hyuga to use the byakugan on her?" He asked.

Iruka nodded. "This is where it's getting weird. Neji couldn't see her chakra pathways. It almost feels like she doesn't really exist." He explained. "Not only that, but I cannot detect her presence at all aside from the usual emotion."

"How is she like with Naruto?" Kakashi asked.

This time, a small smile appeared on Iruka's face. "Well... Haios certainly cares about him. That much I can tell." Then he looked away guiltily. "And I also followed them home and found out that Haios is going to teach Naruto how to cook ramen. I have to thank her for saving my retirement funds."

Kakashi chuckled a little before closing the book in his hand. "Well, I'm glad to hear that. Now that the fan girl is away I can focus more on the Uchiha for their overall teamwork." He said to himself.

"You're saying that like you're sure they're going to be in one team." Iruka commented. Then he looked at the calm and confident look at Kakashi's face. "Goodness Kakashi... Another Team Seven?" The jounin nodded. "What are you thinking Sandaime..." Iruka muttered while rubbing his forehead.

"Don't worry Iruka san, I'll make sure they're ready for this year's Chunin Exam." Kakashi replied.

Iruka just rolled his eyes after hearing him said that. "Haha, very funny Kakashi..." The look on Kakashi's face told him that he is not joking. "No, no, no, that's too early for Chunin Exam!" He exclaimed.

"Well I have to go now, see ya!" Kakashi disappeared in a flicker of light, leaving behind a very worried teacher.