Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Lesson Learned

"Ramen, ramen I love ramen!" Naruto sang loudly as he made his way toward Ichiraku's. There was nothing better after a hard day of training than ramen. He quickly pulled back the curtain to the ramen shop and jumped on the stool.

"One miso ramen please!"

"I'm sorry Naruto-kun, but we're all out of ramen today."

Naruto stared at the girl, his brow scrunched in confusion. "Out of ramen?"

"There was a large lunch rush," Ayame explained apologetically. "They completely wiped us out. We have to close up early today," She gestured toward her spotless surroundings.

"…"

"Naruto-kun are you okay?" Ayame asked, peering at the boy closely. His face was very pale and he kept mumbling "out of ramen" over and over. Without acknowledging her question, she watched as he slid off the stool and staggered out of the shop.

"Was that Naruto?"

Ayame turned to her father who had just returned from taking out the trash. "Yes."

"How'd he take the news?"

"I've never seen Naruto-kun so devastated!"

"This time I'll get there even earlier so there's no way I won't get any ramen!" Naruto quickly ran toward the village, his stomach growling hungrily at the thought of being reunited with his beloved ramen. The night before he had gone to bed without eating, too emotionally distraught to even try anything. Today, he decided during his sleepless night, he would get to the shop before lunch so they couldn't possibly run out again. His stomach gave an especially loud growl as the familiar stand came into view.

"One miso ramen jii-san!"

"I'm sorry Naruto, but we're not serving any ramen today."

"WHAT?"

"When Ayame changed the menu not so long ago to healthier foods, it was such a success that we decided that once a week we would just serve those kinds of foods. Today just happens to be that day," the shop owner explained quickly, clearly distressed at the reaction of his best customer.

"So no ramen today either?" Naruto eyes scanned the back, searching for any sign of the precious noodles.

"I'm sorry Naruto, but we didn't make any today. But," the man exclaimed excitedly, pulling a colorful menu from beside him and pushing it toward the boy. "You can try anything you want on the house!. Doesn't that sound great!"

"…"

"Naruto? Naruto! Stop hitting your head off the counter! Didn't you hear me Naruto? You're going to…" He watched as with an especially loud thud the boy promptly fell off the stool, "knock yourself out."

"Today's the day!" Naruto yelled as he sprinted toward the village not even bothering to look where he was going. His mind was focused on one thing and one thing only, ramen. He raced to a stop in front of the stand, but one thing kept him from ripping open the curtain and going inside.

Shikamaru and Ino made their way toward the Hokage Tower to give report on their recently completed mission.

"What's that awful noise?" Ino asked, covering her ears to block out the sound. The villagers seemed to have the same idea, as many hurriedly ran off in the other direction.

Shikamaru motioned toward Ichiraku's, "Don't know, but it seems to be coming from over there." He walked toward the stand.

"Shikamaru wait up!" Ino jogged over to where he'd stopped a few feet in front of the ramen shop. "What is it?" She panted her eyes following to where he was staring intently. "You've got to kidding me!" There curled up in a ball, sobbing openly was Naruto. "What in world is wrong with him?"

Shikamaru gestured to a sign that had been posted in front of the shop. "I think it might have something to do with this."

"Closed for vacation. Back in a week." Ino read. "That's what all this is about! Disgusting ramen!." At the word ramen, Naruto gave an especially loud wail. Ino huffed in annoyance before turning on her heel and continuing on her way.

"How troublesome." Shikamaru shook his head at the pathetic sight in front of him before following his teammate.

Naruto chuckled manically to himself and held his ramen tighter. After three days of no ramen, he had finally gone to the market and picked up a box of instant. He raced back home, his mouth watering at the thought of the box of deliciousness he held in his hands. He pushed open the door to his apartment and hurried to the kitchen. He quickly threw everything together and couldn't keep from fidgeting anxiously as he waited for his precious food to heat up. There was never a more glorious sound then the ding of the timer telling him that his wait was finally over. He grabbed a bowl and his chopsticks and set them down at the table before returning to the kitchen to grab something to drink. He retuned moments later, water in hand, ready to enjoy his ramen, but the sight before him stopped him in his tracks.

"Sakura-chan?" He choked as he watched his girlfriend hungrily devour his bowl of ramen.

Sakura gave a loud slurp before answering. "Hi Naruto! I'm sorry for eating your ramen, but I was so hungry after working today and when I came home and saw this sitting here I just couldn't help myself." She smiled sweetly up at him, "Do you forgive me?"

"I, I, I…" Naruto mumbled incoherently.

Not waiting for him to try and finish, Sakura walked over and kissed him on the cheek. Naruto could smell the ramen on her breath as she asked, "Could you clean up for me? I'm going to Ino's for a little bit. See you later!"

Naruto started to shake when he heard the door close behind her, the long forgotten glass in his hand shattered into a million pieces.

"AHHHHHHHHHH!"

"Finally," Naruto sighed in relief and he inhaled the intoxicating aroma of his bowl of ramen. He had bought another box of instant ramen, but not willing to take a chance of it getting eaten again he'd gone to a place that he knew would be deserted; the top of the Fourth's head on Hokage Mountain. He pulled a pair of chopsticks out his pocket and quickly unwrapped them. There was nothing to stand in his way this time. He brought the steaming noodles to his mouth and opened widely. He closed his eyes in anticipation. Almost there…a whack to his back caused him to lurch forward and his eyes shot open just in time to watch the bowl of ramen fly out of his hand.

"Dickless." Naruto made no move to acknowledge Sai's presence, he just continued to stare over the side; mouth hung open in shock. Sai followed his teammate's gaze trying to figure out what was so interesting. Before he could ask Naruto what he was looking at, the blonde spun around and grabbed the artist by the collar.

"Teme," he ground out, his eyes narrowed, "Why the hell did you hit me?"

"I read that it is customary to greet a friend by patting them on the back." Sai answered while struggling to get out of Naruto's hold.

"Hitting someone so hard they drop their food is not a way to greet them!" He practically screeched before dropping Sai to the ground. He threw his hands up in the air and started pacing. "I was so close! Just another minute and it would have been mine! Oh ramen, ramen I miss you so…"

Sai watched from the ground as Naruto continued to rant. He searched his memory for anything he'd read on what to do in this type of situation. Quickly coming up with the answer, he picked himself up, walked over to the blonde, and slapped him hard in the face.

Naruto sputtered in surprise and he reached up to touch the mark quickly reddening his face, "What was that for?"

Sai gave his teammate one of his face smiles as he recited from memory, "When a person loses their mind you must slap them in the face to bring them back to reality."

Naruto started to argue, but quickly lost the energy and slumped to the ground in defeat. "Why did you come up here teme?"

"Hokage-sama has a mission for you. She wants you to be ready to depart in 20 minutes."

Twenty minutes, but that was just enough time to run back to his apartment, grab his stuff and leave. There was no way he could even stop and pick some ramen up to take with him.

"Where is she sending me?" Naruto asked as he started following Sai down mountain.

"Lightening country."

"Lightening," Naruto repeated. "But that's at least a 3 day journey!"

"Usually," Sai nodded, "But she wants you to stay a little longer to help out with a festival the village is putting on."

"…"

"Dickless why are you standing so close to the edge like that? It looks like you're getting ready to…" He watched as the blonde disappeared before his eyes. "Jump." Sai shrugged his shoulders and continued to make his way down the mountain. "Well if the fall doesn't kill him, Hokage-sama will for being late."

Sakura opened the door to a pitch black apartment. She made her way to the living room only stumbling a couple of times before turning on a light.

"Naruto?" Sakura looked down at the sad form of her boyfriend huddled on the couch. He must have just returned from his mission. "Naruto," she prodded his shoulder curiously, but the boy refused to budge. Deciding to take matters into her own hands, she lifted up his head and sat down before placing it in her lap. "It been about what?" She tapped her chin as if in deep thought, "10 days."

No answer

"Ten days is an awful long time to go without ramen."

"Huh?" Now she had his attention.

"It must have been really hard for someone like you who loves ramen so much to go without if so long."

"Sakura-chan how did you know about that?"

"Naruto how long have we lived together?"

"Six months." Naruto answered cautiously, not sure where she was going with this questioning.

"Six months." Sakura nodded, "and in that six months how many times have you taken out the garbage, or washed the dishes or helped clean up the apartment?"

"Eh Sakura-chan."

"Not once. No matter how many times I yell at you or hit you, you still don't help. So I decided to try a different approach."

Naruto sat up quickly, "What are you talking about."

"I paid Ichiraku's not to sell you any ramen. Actually when I told Ayame-chan about the situation it ended up costing a lot less than I thought it would. Then I made sure to be here when you made the ramen from the market. That thing with Sai though, that was just pure luck." She giggled at the memory.

"S-S-Sakura-chan," Naruto stammered. He looked at her as if she'd just committed the ultimate betrayal.

"Now," Sakura continued as she reached behind her to grab a bag she set on the table when she turned on the light. She held the bag in front of his face before asking, "From now on you'll help out around here right?"

His mouth started watering as the delicious scent assaulted his senses. "Sakura-chan is that…" He reached out to grab the bag, but she pulled it away from him.

"Ichiraku's? Yeah it is. Answer the question Naruto then you can have the ramen."

"Yes, yes I'll help you." He assured her quickly, then pounced on the bag when she dropped it in his lap.

She watched in amazement as he tore the bag to shreds and devoured the ramen in 10 seconds flat. He let out a sigh as he rested his head on the back of the couch, a small smile of contentment on his lips.

Sakura shook her head in amusement before getting up, ruffling his hair as she walked by. "Naruto I'm going to bed. Make sure you clean up after yourself."

Without a word of argument, Naruto began picking up the little brown pieces of paper off the ground and stuffed them in the empty ramen container before making his way toward the kitchen. Sakura could hear the sound of dishes being washed and put away. She smiled to herself as she continued toward the bedroom.

Needless to say, Naruto never made the mistake of not helping out again.

The End

I really have to stop writing these. Thanks for reading!