Interlude Chapter #8: Ramen with the Gang

Mizuki and the fourteen other finalists all dragged themselves to Orochimaru, all of them incredibly lathargic from the previous three exams which they had undertaken.

Hardly anybody has had a good night of sleep in the past week, as the times that they had the opportunity to rest all happened to either be in the wild, or on the floor.

Needless to say, neither of these options could hardly be described as "comfortable."

However, the group's desire for good food severily outweighed even their fatigue.

Sure, they may have not have a good nights sleep for a week now, but as far as food goes..well, needless to say they wanted to eat. Bad.

For the first exam, there was absolutely no chance for meals, forcing teams to bring their own, most of which did in the form of food pills.

And whilst the Forest of Death was somewhat better, in the end they were Shinobi, not Chefs.

They could hardly grill basic fish on a skewer without burning them, let alone make actually good tasting food.

And the food provided for them at the tower was not better by much, as they were simply provided with food pills twice a day as meal suppliments.

Needless to say, the group all collectively wanted something to eat. No matter the cost.

And so,the group of fifteen all exhibited their extraordinary willpower, as they dragged their bodies towards Ichiraku.

The group turned quite a few heads as they completed this trek.

After all, the group of 15 practically looked like zombies, as none of them could be described as looking healthy or active.

All of them had large dark baggs under their eyes, with their gate being more of a dragging than an actual walk.

However, this too ended in time, as after aproximaitly fifteen minutes passed, the group arrived at the place of which they had been dreaming.

The place which held their salvation.

The place that held what they regarded as the Food of the Gods.

Ichiraku Ramen.

As the group entered, they all realized that they had arrived at nearly the perfect time.

The stand was only just opening up for the dinner rush, after being closed for prep work after late lunch.

However, as soon as they did so, they were ambushed by a wild pack of 15 genin.

A pack of genin that as incredibly hungry.

And they were willing to pay to satisfy that hunger.

Anko: "OLD MAN! I WANT HALF A DOZEN OF YOUR LARGEST RAMENS"

As the kunoichi said that, she slammed down her wallet, a purple snake which almost mirrored Naruto's "Gama Chan."

The other members of the group also placed similarly large orders, much to Teuchi's joy, as he realized that the night would be one where he would make big money.

At last, after the group finally all placed their orders, it was Mizuki's turn at last.

Teuchi: "And you Mizuki? What about you?"

A mischevious smirk appeared on Mizuki's face.

The kindly middle aged man began to sweat slightly seeing that, and also just thinking of all the food he would have to make.

Mizuki: {Time to meme!}

The boy then took out his wallet and slammed it down on the desk, creating an audible slap.

Mizuki: "I'll take your entire stock!"

Teuchi: "Eh?"

Anko: "God Damnit Mizuki"

The others faintly chuckled as Teuchi's sweat started to pour down his face.

The chef quickly got to work, delivering the first of the ramen in minutes, much to the joy of the genin.

Obito: "IKATAKIMASU"

As he said that, he began to dig into the ramen.

However, he immediatly stopped after the first bite, paralyzed.

Suddenly, in a manner only beffiting of Shokugeki no Soma, his clothes burst and randomly flew everywhere as he exclaimed at the sheer deliciousness of the food, and proceded to rant about it, all the whilst having a "foodgasm" as the fandom put it.

None of the other genin even bothered to wait for the other, or cheers, or use basic manners in any way, as they start to slurp down their ramen immediatly got it.

With their eating being done in such a manner that it would make even Naruto cry tears of joy in pride.

Over the course of the meal, Mizuki only really talked to a few people, namely Obito, Guy, and Anko.

He also had exchanged a couple words with Rin, and even less with Kakashi, but beyond that did fairly little to interact with his fellow genin.

However, like all good things, the dinner eventually came to an end.

Time dragged on, Teuchi ran out of ingredients, Their stomachs became bloated, Their wallets ran dry.

And so, having fulfilled their desire for food, the group disspersed as they all marched home.

Anko: "MIZUKIIIIIII"

Anko groaned as she let out her teammate's name.

Mizuki: "What's up?"

Anko: "MY APPARTMENT IS TOO FAR AWAY! LET ME CRASH AT YOUR PLACE!"

Mizuki: "What?"

Anko: "IM TO LAZY TO GO BACK TO MY APPARTMENT, LET ME CRASH AT YOURS. C'MON, I'VE ALREADY DONE IT BEFORE."

Mizuki sighed in defeat and accepted, much to his companion's delight.

Fifteen minutes and some hijinks later, Mizuki finally arrived at his appartment, a certain purple haired kunoichi in tow.

Mizuki unlocked the door, walking into his appartment slowly, taking time to just soak it all in and enjoy the fact that he was now at home.

However, that feeling quickly got replaced, as he was hit with waves of fatigue.

The silver haired boy yawned deeply and turned to face Anko.

Mizuki: "Alright, you can take the couch, there are extra blankets in the closet and I will grab you some pillows from the bedroom."

Surely enough, five minutes passed and Mizuki set his teammate up with all of her necessities.

Mizuki: "Good Night Anko"

Anko: "Night' Mizuki"

Hearing those words, Mizuki turned off the lights in the living room and was about to make his way to the bedroom, but his thoughts were quickly interupped by somebody brushing up against him.

Anko: "Thanks a bunch for this Mizuki, I really appreciate, As for yoru reward..."

She leaned in and kissed his cheek before turning and walking away, even if the room was dark Mizuki could tell that she had a wide grin on her face.

Anko: "Sleep Tight Mizuki..."

As she said that, he simply said the same and walked away back towards his room in order to try to get back to sleep, all the whilst his thoughts were moving a mile a minute.

What he didn't realize however, was that his thoughts about her were starting to shift, as the fact that he was becoming a reincarnator was becoming less and less relevant towards him in this situation.