Since its inception, Naruto has transcended normal anime and manga standing to become a cultural phenomenon around the globe. For better or worse, Naruto is perhaps the most famous ninja in manga or anime history. While he is one of the most well known ninjas in modern pulp, the original version of Naruto wasn’t a ninja at all.
In an interview published in a Naruto fan magazine Naruto Meigen Shu in 2013, series creator Masashi Kishimoto outlined his original ideas for Naruto. In the interview, the manga creator says that his vision for Naruto wasn’t to have him be a ninja, but the apprentice of a ramen chef. No action or demonic possession or ninjas were in the initial thought, but after a talking to by his editor, Kashimoto decided to rework the character and the entire storyline.
In the interview, Kishimoto said, “It was supposed to be about a teenager named Naruto cooking ramen. But my editor of that time told me ‘It will never gonna work.’ I had to find something else and this became a story about ninjas.” The mastermind behind one of the greatest fantasy-ninja stories in manga history didn’t even want to write that story, but instead wanted to write a version of Naruto about a boy who dreamed of cooking ramen. In fact, Kashimoto revealed in the same interview that he doesn’t even like ninjas.
When asked by the interviewer if he liked ninjas when his editor rejected his initial idea for the Naruto manga series, Kashimoto said that he doesn’t particularly like them but decided to run with ninjutsu because of his love for Japanese stories and folklore. Given the main focus of the entire series, this revelation that the creator didn’t want to originally write any of it may come as a shock though it didn’t come without its hints. The name ‘Naruto’ is derived from narutomaki which is a type of fish cake found in some ramen recipes. Plus the character Naruto shares his creator's deep love for ramen, with Kashimoto’s favorite shop adapted into his manga.
Naruto’s go-to ramen restaurant is identical to the one Kashimoto regularly visited in college named Ichiraku Ramen and served as the inspiration behind his original idea for the manga. It is clear from the interview that Kashimoto’s love of ramen runs deep, and even though he ended up creating a series he didn’t initially intend to, he still allowed his love to shine through, both in Naruto’s name and Naruto’s own love for the tasty noodles. The first version of Naruto wasn’t a ninja at all, but an aspiring ramen chef, which would have been a very interesting twist on one of the most popular manga and anime series in history.