Dinner at Tazuna's house was quiet at first. The only sounds were the clinking of chopsticks against bowls and the occasional slurp of soup. The food wasn't much, but it was warm, filling, and better than anything Naruto had eaten in a long time.
Tsunami had been generous, cooking as much as she could manage for the team, and even though it was just rice, fish, and miso soup, Naruto ate without complaint. He never complained about food. He never wasted food.
Across the table, Inari sat with his arms crossed, scowling. The boy had been glaring at them ever since they arrived, and it was getting a little old.
"You guys are idiots," Inari finally muttered, breaking the silence.
Sakura blinked. "What?"
"You think you can beat Gatō?" Inari scoffed, voice thick with bitterness. "You're just a bunch of dumb ninja from some big village who don't know how things work here. Gatō will kill you. He'll kill all of you, just like he killed my dad. No one can stand up to him."
Sasuke ignored him. Sakura frowned. Kakashi, still recovering from chakra exhaustion, barely looked up from his food.
Naruto didn't listen.
Or rather, he heard, but it wasn't important.
Instead, he focused on eating, scooping another bite of rice into his mouth.
Then Inari moved.
A sharp push.
Naruto's bowl tipped over, spilling rice onto the floor.
The room went silent.
Sakura gasped. Tsunami looked horrified. Tazuna groaned, rubbing his forehead like he had a headache. Even Sasuke paused, watching with mild interest.
Inari huffed, arms crossed again. "Just go home before you die."
Naruto stared at the fallen rice.
It wasn't that there wasn't more food. Tsunami would gladly serve seconds.
But Naruto had been an orphan since birth. He had lived alone, scrounging for meals, sometimes going days without eating. And before that, in the countless lives he could remember, he had been an animal. A creature that knew hunger, that knew what it was like to starve, to fight for every scrap of food.
Food was never wasted.
So, without a word, Naruto got off his chair, sat cross-legged on the dirty wooden floor, and picked up his chopsticks.
Then, shocking everyone, he started eating the rice off the ground.
Tsunami gasped. "Naruto, you don't have to—"
"You should eat your food too," Naruto said simply, chewing. "It's getting cold."
No one knew what to say.
Sakura's mouth opened and closed, her face twisted in a mix of secondhand embarrassment and something else, something she didn't quite understand.
Sasuke stared, chopsticks frozen mid-air.
Kakashi, ever unreadable, only raised an eyebrow.
Inari gawked.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" the boy muttered.
Naruto blinked, chewing slowly. He swallowed, looking at Inari with his usual blank expression. "I'm eating."
"Off the floor."
"Yeah."
"...Why?"
Naruto glanced at the rice in his chopsticks. "Because it's food."
Silence.
Tsunami looked near tears. "You don't have to do that, dear. I can get you more—"
Naruto shook his head. "This is fine."
More silence.
Inari's scowl deepened. His jaw clenched, and for a second, it almost looked like he wanted to cry. Then, with a frustrated growl, he shoved away from the table and stormed out.
The room stayed quiet long after he was gone.
Sakura finally broke the silence. "You're so different, Naruto."
Naruto just kept eating.