Chapter 30: Shikamaru is Broke
The weekend finally arrived, and the Konoha Special Tactical Squad was on break.
Even for them, the amount of training that week had been almost unbearable.
To blow off steam, the Ino-Shika-Cho trio was at Konoha's famous "Yakiniku Q."
"Boss! Another plate!"
Chouji Akimichi shouted at the counter, holding up an empty plate.
This was already his fifteenth plate of yakiniku.
"I told you we shouldn't come to Yakiniku Q, but you had to come," Shikamaru Nara complained to Ino Yamanaka, protesting Chouji's gluttony. "Now we're all going to be bankrupt."
Ever since they officially graduated from the Academy and became genin, their pockets had never been full.
They used to have allowances from home to fall back on. But a few days ago, all three of their families, as if by agreement, cut off their support. "Now that you're shinobi, you have to earn your own keep," they'd said, kicking them out of their comfort zone.
But the genin salary... it was embarrassingly low. It hadn't gone up one Ryo since Konoha was founded. 5,000 Ryo a month was the same as a single D-rank mission. The three of them together only made 15,000.
When Konoha was first founded, a bowl of ramen was only 10 Ryo. 5,000 was more than enough for a genin. But now, a bowl of ramen costs 60 Ryo. Their 15,000 total was barely enough to eat, let alone splurge at Yakiniku Q.
What was worse, being stuck in the 12-person squad, they hadn't even been assigned a single D-rank mission yet—not even finding cats or pulling weeds. They were on the verge of starvation.
Shikamaru had tried to pull his old move of getting Asuma-sensei to pay. He'd barely gotten near Asuma's favorite bar when his teacher pushed him away with a laugh. "Go ask Kakashi. That guy's wallet is loaded. I'm saving up to get married. I can't afford to feed your 'bottomless pit'."
The number on the bill kept climbing, and Shikamaru's heart sank. He wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. "Chouji... our food budget for the week is already..."
"Another plate of premium wagyu!" Chouji didn't hear a word, happily waving his chopsticks. "You eat too, Ino!"
Ino crushed her teacup in her hand, gritting her teeth. "Eat my fist!"
She grabbed Chouji's ear. "Look at the bill! We already owe Yakiniku Q 20,000 Ryo!"
"20,000 Ryo?" Chouji finally looked up from the pile of meat, sauce still on his cheek. "How'd it get so high?"
"You're asking how?!" Ino stomped her foot. "If you weren't such a glutton, we wouldn't be in this much debt!"
Shikamaru slumped onto the table, lifelessly counting the last few coins in his wallet. "What a drag... I knew it. I should have gone to the casino with Asuma-sensei to try my luck..."
"The casino?" Ino's eyes lit up. She suddenly leaned in. "Wait, I have an idea." She motioned them closer. "Remember Lady Tsunade?"
Chouji shook his head blankly, but Shikamaru sat bolt upright. "You mean..."
"That's right!" Ino slammed the table. "Lady Tsunade is the Legendary Sucker! All we have to do is follow her and bet the opposite!"
Shikamaru rubbed his chin. "In theory, it works... but we can't even get into the casino. Did you forget we're only twelve?"
"So what?" Ino tossed her hair. "We can use the Transformation Jutsu! The guards there never check that hard anyway."
Shikamaru sighed. "What a drag. Even if we sneak in, if Lady Tsunade finds out we're following her, she'll probably punch us through a wall."
"So what!" Ino put her hands on her hips, full of confidence. "We're her students. She wouldn't really hit us, would she?"
Chouji finally swallowed his mouthful of yakiniku and wiped his mouth. "But... Lady Tsunade just got back. She must be busy, right? Would she even have time to go to the casino?"
"Idiot!" Ino tapped Chouji's head. "That's why she needs to relax! Besides..." she whispered, "I heard she just redecorated the whole Hokage's office yesterday. She's definitely in a good mood. She might go!"
Shikamaru rubbed his temples. "Even if she does go, we don't have any money to bet with."
Shikamaru's words were a bucket of cold water. The light in Ino's eyes died. She looked at the empty plates, then at Chouji's stomach, and slumped back down. "Right... We can't even pay back the 20,000 Ryo we owe... where are we going to get the capital?"
Chouji patted his round belly and suddenly brightened. He pulled a small packet from his pouch. "I still have my emergency food pills! They don't taste as good as yakiniku, but they'll fill us up. We could... save our food money for capital?"
"Save food money?" Ino rolled her eyes. "With your appetite, even three meals of food pills a day wouldn't last you two days. And the minimum bet is 500 Ryo. We couldn't save that much even in a month."
"But we can't just keep doing nothing!" Chouji retorted.
As Ino was poking at an empty plate, Shikamaru sat up. "Maybe... there's one person who can lend us the capital."
"A loan shark? No way!" Ino shook her head. "Asuma-sensei would kill us!"
"No. Naruto." Shikamaru pointed toward the Mission Hall. "He's the only one of us who's actually been doing missions. He definitely has money."
Ino and Chouji both froze. Naruto hadn't been training with them much this week. Lady Tsunade had said he needed special training with Jiraiya to catch up on his fundamentals.
Ino's eyes lit up, and she slammed the table. "That's right! That idiot has been training with Lord Jiraiya. He must have run a bunch of missions!"
But Chouji frowned. "But... will Naruto lend us the money? We've never really..."
"Idiot!" Ino grabbed Chouji's collar. "Have you forgotten what he's like? He's a total sucker for 'comradeship'! As long as we say it's for 'our friends,' he'll definitely help!"
"But just asking for money is too obvious. We need to get him to offer it."
Ino's eyes gleamed. "I've got it! What's the one thing Naruto can't stand?"
Chouji and Shikamaru looked at each other. "Being taunted," they said in unison.
"Exactly!" Ino snapped her fingers. "We'll just say we heard about a super-hard mission that requires a deposit to accept, and then act all depressed that we don't have the money..."
Shikamaru rubbed his chin, adding, "And then we casually mention that Sasuke already offered to lend us the money. With Naruto's personality, he'll immediately jump in to prove he's better than Sasuke."