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A Taste of Ramen
By Wolfe
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He came, every day, for five years. Ayame knew, she'd seen him. But the first time was really the most special.
Her grandfather had owned the ramen bar then. She'd been twelve, and she'd been making ramen for years even then. She loved ramen, like most of her family. When she went to school, she was really the only one who brought ramen every day.
Not that there were many kids in her little school. All the kids were in the Academy, becoming ninja.Ayame had, once, wanted to become a ninja.
"Ayame-chan, you can't become a ninja. Your duty is to grow up, inherit the Ichiraku ramen bar, find a good man, and settle down," Her mother had said to little Ayame. Ayame, even as a little girl, understood.
At twelve, she met him. The little boy whose eyes lit up when he ordered ramen. She'd never seen someone who could eat so much ramen at once. The little boy had come alone, had left alone.
"I'm Naruto. Can I have some ramen?" The boy asked her grandfather. Her grandfather grunted assent, then held out his hand. Grandfather was never a sociable person, not with the customers. "Pork, please!"
Ayame poked her head over the bar, and the boy smiled. He was really cute, with hisa little whisker-marks and his big blue eyes. And his hair was like spun gold. She smiled, and reached over to touch it. He seemed to glow from the attention.
"I'm Ichiraku Ayame," she's stated simply, running her fingers through the kids hair. It was so soft, too! She slipped around the bar and sat next to him.
"Granda', pass me over a Miso Vegetable ramen!" She yelled as he entered the kitchen behind the bar. Then she turned to Naruto, grinning. "You're really cute, you know that?"
"Really? I thought maybe I was ugly 'cause nobody likes me..." Naruto said frowning, looking at the counter. Ayame was taken aback. What the hell did he mean? How could a cute kid like him be disliked?
"What about your Mum and Dad? Or... do you not have any?" Ayame asked, curious a little. Naruto just nodded. "Well, I like you, so I guess that's one less person who doesn't, right?"
Naruto's face glowed when he smiled. He really was a lot cuter than the little brats that came by sometimes, hitting, screaming or just sulking. He grinned like she'd given him candy.
"Ramen!" Her grandfather said, putting two bowls down. Both of the two grinned.
FLASH!
"Shizu, not during business!" Her grandfather yelled, and Ayame looked up to see her mother looking at her through a camera.
"Mom! I thought you were busy in some village somewhere..." she said, smiling. "Naruto, meet... my mum..." Naruto's face dropped for a second before grinning again.
"Hi!" he said to her, waving across the bar, then he said, "Can I have another ramen? I can pay..."
"Naruto, this one's on me," Ayame said, grinning, then reaching out to grab her mother's camera.
"Grin, Naruto-kun!"
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Ayame sat on her bed, exhausted from standing on her feet all day. Now seventeen, she'd finally got to work, and her father had taken over most of the jobs. Soon, she might leave Konoha for a college, learn to do something other than take care of a ramen bar. She'd saved up for years, and her younger brother wanted to take care of the bar.
It seemed so odd, how much she'd wanted to do this when she'd been younger. It was the only future she'd ever wanted, ever considered. And now, she didn't want to stay here. Stay for another two years, her family had said.
Soon, she'd said. Soon.
But she knew that she couldn't leave her home so quickly. She couldn't stand to leave her family, friends (the ones still alive after the village was attacked). Thevillage was dangerous nowadays, but she wanted to stay just a bit longer. She sighed, playing with something from her dresser. A picture.
Naruto had come today, as usual. He'd told her he'd be leaving for three years, tomorrow. He was like another little brother to her now, even though both had barely spoken in a few years. The bar had come between them, literally. She was either too exhausted, or too busy, to talk much. She understood her grandfather's hurried silences now.
One more tradition gone. Naruto would be sixteen when he came back. She would be twenty. That was so old... She couldn't believe life had flown by so fast...
Naruto was gone, her life was slowly falling into monotony. If she stayed here, all she'd become was Ichiraku-san, owner of an obscure ramen bar. She'd take a page out of Naruto's book.
She wouldn't wait. She'd go, leave Konohagakure, tomorrow night. She could write out an application on the way, send it ahead of her. The colleges were desperate for students, they would take almost anyone. She could pay the tuition, her family wasn't poor. She'd leave for three years, four, whatever.
Maybe she could unfreeze her face from the 'How may I serve you?' customer smile in the process.
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...Leaving, on a jet plane...