Naruto: Freeloading is Great! [5]

Uchiha Sasuke—before the clan massacre—was unexpectedly a pretty spirited kid.

Somehow, even though they’d only met once before, today he came looking to play with Hoshino and Naruto.

“Big brother’s on a mission today, and no one in the clan wants to play with me. As for other people… I always feel like when they approach me, they have ulterior motives, so…”

As Sasuke explained, his eyes kept roaming over Hoshino’s shabby doghouse.

That look of ‘a rich kid curious about how poor people live’ was really unbearable!

A surge of class resentment rose in Hoshino. Plus, he only wanted to get rid of the disgusting cloth in his pocket as soon as possible. Without even thinking, he shoved Sasuke away impatiently:

“Go find someone else to play with. I’m busy. Mushroom-picking isn’t playing—it’s for preparing food. Stop bothering us. Shoo, shoo~”

“Preparing food? What kind of activity is that? It sounds impressive. Take me along, please? I won’t bother you—and I can even help!”

Stars sparkled in Sasuke’s eyes.

Ughhh… why are both of them such pests?

“To tell you straight, I don’t want anything to do with the Uchiha family’s second son. If I get framed as an assassin again out of nowhere… how the hell am I supposed to live? If you get it, then leave on your own. Don’t force me to throw you out.”

Hoshino rolled up his sleeves, ready to fight.

At that, Naruto—who deeply understood what it felt like to have no friends—got angry on behalf of his husband… cough, on behalf of Sasuke.

“Why won’t you take Sasuke mushroom-picking! It’s rare enough to have a second person willing to play with me!”

Wow. Overestimating this two-timer. He’s only mad because I wouldn’t let him gain another new friend.

Sasuke, touched by Naruto’s “loyalty,” looked like he was about to tear up.

“Uzumaki Naruto… you really are a good person.”

No, ‘Second Pillar,’ you’re wrong. He’s just a brat.

Hoshino wasn’t sure if he should expose Naruto’s true thoughts so Sasuke wouldn’t be moved by a misunderstanding.

In the end, Sasuke—for the sake of his waifu… cough, for Naruto—pulled out a small stack of money and dropped it in front of Hoshino.

“This is my sincerity. Please be my friend!”

“Where the hell did you learn to make friends with bribes…!”

Hoshino stared at the wad of cash in front of him. Judging by the thickness—one hundred bills. Denominations with 1, 2, 3, three zeros. One note… 1000 ryō!!??

The village’s monthly orphan stipend was only 3000. And Sasuke had just tossed out a pile worth nearly three years of Hoshino’s survival money.

Three thousand sounded like a lot, but here, a single bowl of ordinary ramen cost sixty.

Even with his rent reduced because of welfare, this shabby doghouse still cost nearly 2000 a month with utilities.

Which meant, after paying rent and utilities, even if he didn’t spend money anywhere else and lived purely by foraging, on average he could only afford one bowl of ramen every two days.

Yes, life was wretched. But who was Hoshino? A man of pride from Earth! Not some spineless worm who drools at money!

“Uchiha Sasuke, listen well. Don’t think you can buy friendship with dirty money. I will never—… sigh, forget it. Considering you’re still a kid, I’ll give you some hope. If you can give me this much, then I’ll consider being your friend.”

Hoshino raised five fingers.

“T-that… might be a little difficult…”

“So you do know it’s difficult? Good. Then hurry home and stop wasting my time.”

“C-could you let me have a few days? I-I can’t get five million all at once…”

“You think you can just delay? If I agreed… agreed… wait…”

Hoshino had only meant to hint at 500,000. But as Sasuke nervously stammered about five million, he suddenly felt something was off.

Looking down silently at the money on the ground, then back up at Sasuke’s tense face… The more he looked, the more handsome this brat seemed.

Hoshino snatched up the 100,000 instantly, then swept Sasuke into a warm hug.

“My dearest friend! What a pleasant surprise, you coming to play today! Hurry, hurry, come in and sit—standing around chatting is exhausting!”

Gentlemen, do you know what five million is worth? An A-rank mission tops out at only one million. Five million—that’s basically the pay for a pretty serious S-rank mission!

“D-dearest… friend?”

Sasuke’s voice was awkward. How had this silver-haired guy turned into a completely different person all of a sudden? He really couldn’t understand.

After bringing Sasuke inside, Hoshino gave Naruto—still frozen in confusion—a good kick.

“What are you dawdling for? Go brew fine tea for our dearest friend. Remember to use the best leaves we have.”

“The best… tea leaves? Don’t we only have those tree leaves we picked six months ago? What ‘best tea leaves’… Hoshino, is your head broken?”

The moment Naruto finished, Hoshino shot him a murderous glare.

Baffled, Naruto still dutifully fetched a little jar of dried leaves from Hoshino’s cabinet. When he came back to the small round table, he was stunned—Hoshino was beaming as he massaged Sasuke’s legs and shoulders.

...

The atmosphere between the three of them was bizarre.

No matter what Sasuke said, Hoshino praised him to the skies. But if Naruto made even the tiniest skeptical noise, he’d get booted aside instantly.

“Y-you kicked me again! Hoshino, you’re playing favorites! I can't take this!”

“Nonsense! Do I look like the kind of person who plays favorites? Keep mouthing off and I’ll beat you!”

While Hoshino lectured “immature” Naruto, Sasuke suddenly raised his hand.

“I feel like… I’m actually the one being treated differently. Something feels… kind of weird.”

The meaning both of them wanted to express to Hoshino was the same. Yet their treatment was utterly opposite.

“Really? Is that so? Since my dearest friend Sasuke says so… then it must be true! No doubt about it. Ahhh, as expected of our dashing, brilliant Sasuke. To perceive something so subtle—only the Uchiha with their Sharingan could! Remarkable. Here, drink more of this fine tea—no, fine Gyokuro we picked ourselves.”

“……” ×2

SasuNaru both didn’t know what kind of expression to make at Hoshino now.

After a long silence, they exchanged a glance, minds aligning.

“…D-dearest friend? I think I’ll pass on your precious leaf-water. Could you return that money? The way you’re acting is…”

“Hoshino! Hand over the filthy money that’s twisted you into this ugly shape! You’re disgusting like this!”

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T/N: hehehe can u guys give me some money i want money i mean i need money hehehe

This is a fan translation of 火影之软饭真好吃 by 肾亏能力者 All rights to the original work belong to the creator. Please support them by exploring their original work or sharing it with others if you can. Thank you for reading and supporting my efforts to bring this story to a wider audience!