A/N: thanks for all the reviews.

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"Talk"

Think

Technique/Inner Character

Demon Talk

Demon Think

I do not own Naruto or any Naruto characters, nor do I own any one-piece references or characters that are mentioned in this story. I do own any OC's displayed unless I say otherwise.

BEGIN

The 7 yr old pouted as he walked defeated towards the ramen stand, he had just been caught in another prank. Iruka smiled next to him,

"Why do you always do pranks? I know you want attention, but that's the wrong way to go about it, get a hobby or something, impress them with that and high grades at the academy" Naruto if possible pouted even harder,

"But sensei the academy is hard, I don't get all that Taijutsu stuff, I don't understand what charka is, the only teacher that has even bothered to help me was you." Iruka stopped, a shocked expression on his face, is Naruto telling the truth? Do the other academy teachers truly ignore him? It's true that Iruka will only be teaching them for a few classes, mostly Theory, he was so deep in thought that he almost missed the last whispered bit,

"And I don't have a family to teach me what I missed." It was then that Iruka decided to be the parent Naruto never had, if Iruka can't be the parent then at least the older brother.

"It seems you two are having fun" Iruka and Naruto turned; the Sandaime Hokage was standing there smiling.

"Mind if I join you?" The Sandaime asked calmly, Iruka stuttered a reply,

"Y y y yes Hokage-sama, y y you can"

"Of cause old man" Naruto said, no yelled. Sarutobi smiled at their antics. Together they walked to Ichiraku Ramen Bar.

"What's a hobby?" Naruto asked as Iruka and Sarutobi where eating their ramen, Teuchi answered

"A hobby is something you do in your spare time, for example your pranks could be considered a hobby" The Sandaime spluttered and Iruka glared at the Ramen Bar owner, if looks could burn he would a fried human ready for eating. So he tried to save himself,

"But pranking is not a good hobby" Naruto looked at him confused,

"How is pranking bad? What would a good hobby be?" Teuchi looked around, someone help him. His daughter Ayame noticed his distress,

"Your pranking can hurt people, or disrespect the dead, some are just silly" she giggled the last bit. Naruto smile a wide and blinding grin. Iruka then made a suggestion,

"If you like eating Ramen, why don't you learn to cook it, I mean I'm sure Teuchi would love to help you, won't you (hint hint)" Teuchi smiled, truly he was afraid that if he taught him to make ramen, he would never come back to eat it, because he could just make his own. The only way he could think of saving himself was to force Naruto to use his new awesome Ramen making skills to work at the Bar… Well it's worth a shot.

"Sure, come by after the academy tomorrow, and I will teach you, but on one condition, you work here and use your ramen skills to help me make ramen."

THE NEXT DAY

Naruto ran from the academy and nearly hit Sasuke, Sasuke just muttered under his breath

"Stupid Idiot, only someone stupid rushes like that" Sasuke saw that Naruto didn't hear, or if he did he chose to ignore him, very out of character. Truthfully Naruto wanted to go back there and beat some sense into the stray Uchiha, but he was afraid of missing the 'learn to make ramen, class 1' if he turned astray from the quickest path.

Once he arrived he noted that the stand was closed, he sighed. He was late; he had just turned to leave when Teuchi's voice called from the ramen bar,

"COME BACK HERE, YOUR NOT DONE YET" Naruto turned and looked at Teuchi, Naruto smiled his blinding grin, and yelled

"YES, RAMEN MAKING TIME" Needless to say, Teuchi wasn't going to have a break tonight. He looked at the over energetic blonde,

"You do realise this isn't to be taken half heartedly, making ramen, or cooking in general is a hard job, often too demanding. But the reward is more than enough to make up for the hard work. It will take you two to three years for you to truly understand and comprehend how hard it is, two to three years to complete the course." Naruto was too energetic to even listen; he was bouncing around corners and having a good time. It was then that he turned, and yelled

"LETS GET STARTED!"

2 YEARS LATER

Naruto ran towards his workplace, he had a new respect for the old man, Ramen making was hard work, fortunately he learnt quickly. Teuchi was very surprised when he discovered Naruto had talent for Ramen making. The best thing is that the ramen stand was profiting from it. Business was bigger than ever. Apparently his cooking was at the same position as the chef himself.

Naruto was happy, Today he was going to take the 'ramen chef test', all he had to do was make a bowl of ramen in front of a crowd and then serve it to the judge, in this case his teacher. If it was good enough, he was granted his licence in front of all the people. He arrived at the stand the ramen bar was crowded. He walked up to the stand. He stood there waiting, Teuchi cleared his voice, and the crowed calmed down,

"Three. Two One BEGIN!!!" He calmed down; this was also a race against time, GO.

Shikamaru and Chouji walked down the street, going nowhere particular, Chouji was the first to see it,

"Hey Shikamaru, what's happening over there?" Shikamaru turned to where Chouji was pointing; it was a large Crowd crowding a Ramen Bar,

"Look's like a competition Chouji" Shikamaru muttered, Chouji got excited,

"Maybe it's an eating competition, lets look and watch, maybe I will be able to enter" Shikamaru just sighed,

"How troublesome" they both walked towards the Bar. What was there they were not expecting.

"Isn't that the loud mouth Naruto?" Shikamaru looked at the stand, it was. Shikamaru looked at Chouji,

"What's he doing?" Chouji looked at him, and said,

"He's making the ramen, this is the infamous Ramen Chef test. This is going to determine if he has what it takes to be a ramen chef or a chef if general" Shikamaru was instantly interested. Naruto was making ramen? Shikamaru knew Naruto loved the stuff, so that must be why the pranks suddenly died off (of course could Naruto every really stop pranking?). He had a different hobby. Shikamaru smiled, that also might explain why he didn't do so good at the academy.

Naruto's fingers where a blur, working so fast that only a trained ninja could follow what his fingers did. His skill with the knife was flawless, the noodles just right, the soup was boiling in the pot, and all in all he was working like a master and having the time of his life. Two years ago he never would have thought cooking could be so fun, once he got his license he was going to collect a lot of recipe books and work on them in his spare time, Then it hit him,

'What if I lose my hand/s in battle? I'll never be able to cook again, and neither would I be able to do hand seals, I'll never be an effective ninja or cook; I would only have my legs to use. Well I'll think about it later.' His finger neared the soup and served it, he was done, now for the hard part.

Teuchi sipped the soup containing the ramen, it was good, very good, but he had to put on the act

"Soup passes" he ate the noodles, very impressive

"Noodles pass" now, try all of it.

"Ramen as a whole passes, I now present Uzumaki Naruto his certified Ramen Chef Certificate." The crowd cheered, Naruto smiled, he had their acknowledgment, although it wasn't by being a ninja is was by being a chef, well acknowledgment is acknowledgment.

Chouji smiled with Shikamaru,

"Naruto may be a crappy ninja, but boy is he a good chef, I would want to be on his team just to be with him when he cooks during missions" Shikamaru silently agreed, but truly he didn't see the point, why cook when he could be an effective ninja, then again when he thought about it enough, it made sense, Naruto didn't have a family to supply for him, Iruka-sensei may be helping Naruto, but Naruto is still to far behind to be of any use. Maybe Naruto took to cooking because he knew that if he failed to become a ninja then at least he has another backup plan, Shikamaru's respect for Naruto went up a notch. Naruto has his bases covered.

Naruto smiled as he walked down the street although people still glared at him, now there where people who looked at him with respect or they even smiled at him. It was life in heaven. As he neared his destination, He looked at the book in his hands, 'the best of recipes by blackleg'. Teuchi's recipes book was not going to waste.

Sarutobi was usually a patient man, but even the most patient of men have a limit. The Sandaime had reached his, what on earth could he give Naruto as a present for passing the Ramen Chef Test and birthday present? He looked into the crystal ball and watched Naruto look at his recipe book, and then he saw the author's name.

"Black-leg where have I heard that name before?" He knew it was from a jutsu scroll, but which one? As always, the best way to find out is to look.

5 MONTHS LATER, 10th OCTOBER

Sarutobi smiled, he finally found it, just in time as well, it was a Taijutsu scroll, he still couldn't find a way to open it though. Well he would give it to Naruto; maybe he would have better luck. He left the office and walked towards Naruto's apartment. Naruto was going to love this year's birthday Present as well.

It was that time of the year, his birthday. He turned 9 today, truthfully he didn't like this day, the people ignored him more, and they even got a little violent. If he were lucky he would get a birthday present from the Hokage and Iruka, not that he counted on it. If only Sakura-Chan would notice him, then his life would be complete. He would use his awesome Ninja skills to wallop Sasuke and get Sakura to notice him. As he was pondering ways to Humiliate Sasuke someone knocked on his door. Instantly suspicious he walked towards the door and peered out his spy hole. He saw it was Iruka and the Sandaime; he unlocked his door and let them in.

"Hey Iruka-Sensei, Old-man" Iruka twirled around and hit Naruto on the head,

"YOU WILL NOT DISRESPECT THE HOKAGE!" Naruto grinned sheepishly. Sarutobi smiled warmly, he looked around the apartment. It was clean, especially the kitchen. He paused only to listen to Naruto when he spoke,

"Thanks for coming, do you want anything, I'm cooking something from my recipe book, want to try it? I cooked enough for three just encase." Iruka smiled,

"Just the meal thanks" The Hokage copied Iruka.

When they began to eat the meal, both Iruka and Sarutobi started crying. Naruto was instantly worried; maybe they didn't like it? Just when he was about to ask, they cried in unison,

"This is the best meal I have ever eaten, you have so much talent, the village is missing out on something great." Naruto grinned so big Iruka and the Sandaime had to close their eyes to keep the glare from causing permanent damage. It was then Naruto voiced his worse fear.

"I know my cooking is good, but I'm afraid that if I become a ninja, that in battle I'll crush my hands, if I loose my hands I can't cook, but I want to be a ninja, because in order to become Hokage and have everybody respect me, I have to be a ninja" Naruto sighed. Both Iruka and the Hokage nodded in understanding, they each had a similar worry, what if they lost the ability to do hand seals?

They both took this time to hand Naruto their birthday presents in hope of cheering him up. Iruka handed him a new suit, it was classic ninja colours with the Uzumaki swirl on both sleeves. It came with a chuunin style jacket and blue shirts and black pants, all of which came with shuriken holders. There were a total of 2; each was larger than Naruto was, leaving room for growth.

"There for when you graduate Naruto" Naruto nodded, he understood what that meant. Sarutobi Handed Naruto the scroll, Naruto looked at it, 'red-leg style, developed by black-leg' Naruto stared at it,

"Legend says that black-leg was a famous pirate once to travel the sees before the bijuu existed. He was a famous cook as well, his fighting style was suppose to be put into that scroll by the first of the Chakra users, no one has been able to open it since, I hope you have better luck then I" Naruto looked at the scroll in interest, he was going to open it and learn that style, he had no style of his own. He was exited.

After Sarutobi and Iruka had left, Naruto looked at the scroll, he saw the notice as he tried to open it,

"Place the recipe book near the scroll and use the basics", he grabbed the recipe book, as he placed it near the scroll, each hummed in a light blue. He then tried to open it again, no use. Using blood, nothing. He sat and thought for 10 minutes nothing was working. He grew impatent he kicked the scroll as hard as he could. It opened. Staring in shock, he watch as there was a large poof, and a large scroll appeared. He fainted.

END

AN: I was looking over this chapter when I saw that IT WAS TERRIBLE! I nearly couldn't read it. This really proves how much me writing skills have improved. So to make things better I am redoing all the chapters so that they are all updated.

NEXT TIME: The scroll, hidden knowledge that only a select few ever come across, what does this mean for our hero? Find out next time on red-leg Naruto.

Please Review and honesty is appreciated. Thanks, The great David