Beacon's ramen was, while not the best he had ever had, decent, but he figured that an actual ramen stand would have a far better tasting menu seeing as how they made it from scratch.
'Seventeen years together and I still don't understand how you can eat so much of that slop,' Kurama commented.
Glaring heatedly at his furry companion Naruto retorted, 'It is the food of the Kami and you will show it the respect it deserves!'
Putting paw to snout the chibi-fied Kyuubi sighed, 'Were it not for me and your Uzumaki blood you would have probably died from a blood clot with how you inhale the stuff. Even worse if not for that big chested woman you call a Godmother you would have stayed a midget for the rest of your life.'
Naruto seemingly ignored his Bijuu and instead pondered on something else, 'Hmm, death by ramen...yup, definitely how I want to go out.'
'My hatred of you and your family knows no bounds.'
'Love ya too buddy.'
'Kurama?'
'Why can't you leave me in peace?'
'When did we end up in Vale's red light district?'
'Probably around the time I was contemplating strangling you with my tails.'
'So, what, five minutes or so ago?'
'Roughly.'
Naruto stared in mild curiosity as he looked upon what had to be one of the nicest looking clubs he had seen in a red light district, and he had been in a lot of red light districts, more than any seventeen year old had any business in visiting. Albeit most of the time it was, because he had to drag Jiraiya's shit faced butt out of some brothel or strip joint.
How that pervert of a man had managed to train both Naruto and his father into respectably strong and capable shinobi was a wonder in and of of itself.
Back to the matter at hand, Naruto was wondering if Vale's police force were either that terrible or the owner had deep enough pockets to pay off some higher ups. The place almost literally screamed, "Many illegal things go on inside me!"
Shrugging Naruto decided that if he couldn't get his hands on any ramen he might as well enjoy some saki. Thanks to the gift/curse of being both a Jinchuuriki and an Uzumaki, Naruto lacked the ability to get drunk. His body naturally purged itself of anything it considered toxic or poisonous before it could take affect, so the only way to possible get him drunk was to either seal off his link to Kurama or guzzle enough hard liquor to kill several dozen fully grown men.
Waltzing into the rather large club, Naruto raised an eyebrow at the DJ who had a bear head on as he blasted some tune or another. The blond had never really invested too much interest in music and so he cared little for it and saw it as nothing but background noise.
Stepping up to the bar portion of the club, Naruto noticed the odd looks he was getting from the employees, no doubt due to his age. Of course he shrugged them off with ease. Most of the shinobi villages operated on the "Old enough to kill, old enough to drink" policy which meant as soon as you got a headband you were by all rights a legal adult in the eyes of the village.
Regardless of his age though, the bartender strode over to him and asked, "What can I get ya?"
"Chilled saki, please," Naruto replied.
Nodding the bartender wandered off to retrieve said drink and the saucers needed, leaving Naruto and who the blond assumed to be either the manager or owner of the club judging by how the various employees looked to him for orders and such.
"Aren't you a little too young to be hanging out in a place like this, kid?" The well dressed man asked.
Naruto turned his head slightly and shrugged, "I'm a paying customer, so does it really matter?"
The older male grinned, "Haha good point, kid. Just don't expect any special treatment here."
That said the man walked off to do whatever he needed to, leaving Naruto alone. Seeing as how his drink still hadn't arrived, the blond took the time to survey the crowd of people. The dance floor was surprisingly packed, a writhing mass of bodies moving in time with the pulsing beat of the music while the lights performed their own number.
Naruto was none too surprised to see some rather wealthy looking people mixed in among those who made their living through underhanded means. All too often those with too much money liked to think that said funds made them more protected and so they felt more daring, wanting to see the "fringes of society" as it were.
What did catch his eye were too outlandishly dressed twins who looked to be about his age. One of the twin girls was dressed in a mostly red lolita themed outfit with her counterpart in an all white version of the dress.
The two drew attention mostly because of how far removed they looked. They didn't look to be in the club as patrons, nor did they look to be employees as they were in their own little section of the club. If Naruto had to guess they either worked directly for the club owner, or this place catered to certain people's "needs" and the girls were the ones responsible for entertaining those guests.
Naruto was more inclined to believe the former seeing the weapons they had hidden on them and the amount of Aura he could feel from them. Hell one of them alone had more than the guy who had just talked to them. No doubt they made a deadly pair.
Seeing the bartender finally come back with a bucket and a saucer, Naruto shrugged off those thoughts and decided to indulge himself. Just because he couldn't get drunk, didn't mean he didn't enjoy the taste and feel of alcoholic drinks.
Right as the saucer hit his lips, Kurama spoke through their mental link, 'Kit, incoming. Two heavily negative presences are about to walk in and one feels eerily similar to that snake Orochimaru.'
:::
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