"Really?"
Naruto was absolutely thrilled.
"Yeah. I have an extra room at my place, so you can live there. And the Hokage will take care of managing this apartment for you."
"I see! I'll get ready right away, ya know!"
Preparation for Naruto didn't amount to much—just a bit of saved-up money and some clothes. I helped him carry his things and returned to the smithy, where I showed him to his new room. While Naruto was organizing his belongings, I went out to buy him necessary supplies, new clothes, and underwear. His old clothes were so worn they were on the verge of having holes, and since he was at an age where he was growing fast, they didn't fit him properly anymore.
Once the room was settled, I took Naruto to Ichiraku Ramen, operated by Teuchi. There were several restaurants in the village, but this was the only place that didn't discriminate against Naruto and served him delicious ramen.
"Since we're celebrating your move today, I'm paying. Eat as much as you want."
"Whoa! Awesome! Then I'll have one Ichiraku Ramen and one Chashu Ramen! Old man!"
Teuchi, seeing Naruto's happy expression, smiled and asked him,
"Did something good happen today?"
"Yeah! Starting today, I'm living with the blacksmith big brother, ya know!"
"Oh! That is good news! Alright, I'll show you what I can really do today."
"Thanks, old man."
Teuchi put extra effort into the meal, adding more chashu and toppings before handing it to Naruto.
"Here you go."
"Wow! Looks delicious!"
The ramen here was certainly tasty. The spicy ramen I ordered also arrived.
"You're as peculiar as ever, liking such spicy food," Teuchi remarked.
"I was just craving a spicy broth."
Perhaps because I had the soul of someone from my original world, spicy ramen felt like the only correct choice.
Slurp!!
"Eat slowly. No one's going to steal it from you."
As expected, Naruto loved ramen. He started devouring the noodles as if he were drinking them. Teuchi watched with a pleased expression and added some extra noodles for him.
"Tell me if you need more. I'll give you plenty."
"Oh! Thank you, old man!"
Seeing Naruto eat so well made me feel satisfied too. After finishing our ramen, we headed back home.
"Phew! I'm so stuffed, ya know."
"I'm glad."
"Brother! I've decided to enter the Academy. I want to get strong too, protect the people precious to me, and be recognized by the villagers!"
It seemed Naruto had finally made up his mind to enter the Ninja Academy. I didn't even need to persuade him.
"Alright, do your best."
"Yeah!"
A few days passed, and the entrance ceremony finally began. Since Naruto had no parents, I went with him. During the ceremony, the other parents whispered things when they saw Naruto, but I just ignored them. I didn't feel the need to start a fight. Naruto seemed to understand my feelings and didn't say much either.
During the entrance ceremony, I spotted several key characters. Sasuke was there, along with Sakura, Shikamaru, Ino, Hinata, and many others. Since they were all young, they looked quite adorable. From the moment of admission, Hinata kept stealing glances at Naruto.
Several more days passed, and Naruto seemed to be attending the Academy without any issues. With Naruto busy at the Ninja Academy, I finally had some free time and started writing a novel.
Most novels in this world were either 18+ adult content or ninja espionage thrillers. The writing was often stiff and hard to read, the plots were incredibly cliché, and they were overflowing with excessive praise for their own villages. I felt that if adult content were free in a restricted place like certain closed countries in my old world, this is exactly the kind of literature they would produce.
'Is it because of the environment?'
Since this was a place that was always preparing for or engaging in war, these types of novels seemed to have developed naturally. Moreover, the adult content was just a sequence of graphic descriptions without any build-up, making it impossible to get immersed.
'You have to feel affection for the characters for the adult parts to feel erotic...'
I contemplated what my first work should be. I decided to adapt Romeo and Juliet to fit the setting of this world. I changed the feuding families into fictional rival clans and transformed the combat into a ninja style. I also raised the age of the protagonists slightly and planned to include some adult content toward the end.
But a problem arose.
"Wow... was writing a novel always this hard?"
Perhaps it was only natural. Since it was my first time writing a novel, I struggled to complete even a single page. Even though I was just modifying an existing story, I had underestimated the task. My room was soon overflowing with discarded drafts.
"Brother, I'm home!"
Just then, Naruto opened the door and walked in. I had started writing after sending him to the Academy, but it was already evening.
"Aagh, what is all this?"
Naruto was horrified by the state of my room.
"Ah, I was just working on a hobby."
"I... I see."
"You're hungry, right? Let's eat first."
Even while eating, I was so preoccupied with planning the novel that I barely noticed what I was tasting. Noticing my distraction, Naruto asked out of concern,
"Brother, is something bothering you?"
"Hm? Oh, I'm writing a novel, but I can't seem to organize the content."
"Are you doing that weird stuff again? You're already getting famous in the village for it."
This kid was rubbing salt in the wound when I already had a headache from writer's block.
"You brat! You shouldn't disrespect someone's serious challenge!"
"O-okay..."
After dinner, I sat down and started writing again. Suddenly, I gained the [(F) Literature] ability. I hoped that having the skill would help me write better, so I focused and tried again, but there wasn't much difference. It was probably because it was only F-grade.
'Forget it! I'll just raise the grade.'
I spent 5,300 points to upgrade [Literature] to Grade A. It felt like a waste of points, but I had no choice if I wanted to make any progress. From then on, the content I wanted to express began to flow effortlessly onto the page. Of course, Nano also started helping with various expressions and sentence flow.
'Now I'm actually making progress.'
After writing for a long while, I noticed Naruto had already washed up and gone to bed, so I called it a night as well.
After about a week, my first work was complete. It was titled 'Ryoma and Yurie'. I changed the names from Romeo and Juliet because they sounded too Western. It was a two-volume set. Volume 1 featured a drawing of Ryoma, and Volume 2 featured Yurie on the cover. When you put the two books together, it formed a complete picture of the two naturally holding hands.
"Nice."
I also made a general version without the adult content, and after reading it, Naruto began to cry uncontrollably. Even though he was at an age where the emotion of love was still hard to grasp.
"Brother, this novel is too sad, ya know!"
"Was it interesting?"
"Yeah, it was really fun. I lost track of time reading it. And the cover is so pretty."
Of course it was. I had drawn it with Nano's help, inspired by the works of Alphonse Mucha. Because of that, I also managed to acquire the [(D) Painting] ability.
However, another problem arose. There was a print shop in the Hidden Leaf Village, but it was very small and used a method where workers manually arranged characters one by one. Consequently, it was difficult to print images, let alone in color. It seemed more like a shop for printing official documents.
"What exactly are you trying to print?"
As I was looking around the print shop, the owner asked me. So, I showed him the novel. After reading it for a long time, the owner suddenly grabbed my hands and spoke.
"I see why you were worried. Your novel is truly excellent. Please leave this to us. We will do our absolute best to even print the illustrations. You must let us handle this!"
"In that case, can I count on you?"
"Yes, trust me!"
The owner spoke with passion, holding my hands so tightly it seemed he wouldn't let go until I agreed, so I decided to leave it to them. We agreed to a 6-to-4 profit split, with 6 going to me.
A month later, they informed me that about 100 sets of Volumes 1 and 2 had been printed. One hundred sets in a month was a very small number, but considering it was a novel with many words and illustrations, and knowing the scale of the village's print shop, it was understandable. The cover art was a bit crude, but I could see they had put in a lot of effort with their current technology, so I didn't say anything.
Initially, all 100 sets were sold at the village bookstore. At first, people bought them because the covers were pretty, but as word of mouth spread, they began to sell like wildfire. As a result, the print shop became frantically busy trying to keep up with the demand for my novel. This was especially true because merchants from the Land of Fire were buying large quantities.
In the village, 'Ryoma and Yurie' was the only topic of conversation. The village women were even imitating lines from the novel.
"'Ryoma, wherefore art thou Ryoma?' How's that?"
"Whoa... it really doesn't suit you when you say it."
"What did you say, you brat!"
Giggle, giggle, giggle!
It wasn't just the women. Men at the training grounds were also talking about the novel.
"Isn't the final scene too heartbreaking? I really wished they could have ended up together."
"I know, right? They both end up dying because of the clans' pride."
"Yeah, if only they had understood each other better. What's the point of regretting it after your children are dead..."
At home, Naruto was ecstatic, saying that even at the Academy, everyone was talking about the novel.
"Brother, everyone at the Academy is talking about 'Ryoma and Yurie'. I felt so proud, ya know!"
"That's good to hear."
Seeing Naruto so happy made me feel that the hard work of writing it was worth it.
In fact, since it was my first work, I hadn't expected such a huge reaction. However, contrary to my expectations, the entire village was in an uproar over my novel. Furthermore, news reached me that clans that previously had little communication with the outside were gradually opening their doors and starting to interact with the villagers again. It wasn't certain if this was thanks to the novel, but it was certainly a good thing that the village was changing positively.
One day, while I was working in the smithy at home, the print shop owner and an employee visited me. The owner had lost a lot of weight, perhaps from working so hard. However, his expression looked very bright.
"Here it is. This is your share of the sales profits."
The owner handed me a large box, and inside it was packed full of paper money.
"Wow... it must have sold quite a lot."
"Indeed. Now the entire Land of Fire is clamoring to buy it. So, once things settle down a bit, I plan to expand the print shop. I assume you're already planning your next work?"
"...I suppose."
Actually, I hadn't thought about it at all. But looking at the atmosphere, I felt I had to say yes, so I gave that answer.
"That's a relief. I'll bring more profits next month."
They left immediately, appearing to be very busy.
"Hmm... a sequel..."
I had only chosen the novelist setting to create a point of contact with Jiraiya and Kakashi, but things had grown far larger than intended.