Disclaimer: I don't even own ramen of my own.
A/N: This turned out nothing like I intended when I started typing. Set substantially before to the beginning of canon. I always wondered what it was like to grow up totally alone like Naruto. It'd certainly provoke a degree of self-sufficiency from an early age.
First Time
© Scribbler, July 2007.
Naruto told himself he didn't care that he was the only kid in class who had to feed himself.
He didn't care that there was nobody to bring him lunch when he forgot. He didn't care that on days when he had no money for food both Sakura and Ino brought extra for Sasuke, or that Kiba's sister marched through the Academy gate, forgotten bento in hand, and shoved it roughly into her little brother's hands.
Naruto certainly didn't care when his electricity was cut off and meat in his fridge spoiled but he had to eat it anyway. He just resolved to buy more dried foods; stuff that only needed hot water and could be stored easily, or jammed in a bag as he barrelled out the door in the morning because he always slept late.
The first time he tasted ramen he told himself he didn't care that he was the only kid in class who had to feed himself. By the end of the pot he believed it.
Fin.
