The Ramen Thief

Chapter 1

It's was a beautiful sight. Ramen, an entire wall of it just sitting there, and sitting right in front of said wall was a little blond boy eyeing it hungrily. He had been sitting here for ten minutes already, torturing himself with the sight of his favorite food. Unfortunately for him he didn't have any money. Well not anymore.

Silently he cursed himself for having spent all his money at Ichiraku last night. But it had been so good and he had been hungrier than normal and he wanted to keep talking with Ayame and her old man. So he had stayed and had some extra bowls of their ramen, the best ramen ever. But regardless now he didn't have any money for food and he didn't get his allowance until tomorrow afternoon.

Sighing to himself he just watched the unmoving ramen. It was getting close to dinner time and he could feel his hunger growing, gnawing at his stomach. He hadn't eaten all day and it was starting to catch up with him. He was downcast, understanding that there was nothing at home that could fill the void in his belly.

Reaching out he snagged one of the cup from the shelf and softly rolled it between his hands. Looking down at the little cup of heaven he mused that maybe he did have some money and had just missed it. Standing up he searched each of his pockets, one by one, but still came up empty. He double, then triple checked but his situation did not change.

Picking the ramen cup back up he closed his eyes and imagined eating it. He could taste it on his lips. But the phantom taste only lasted until he opened his eyes back up... as did his hunger. Then and there a part of him decided that he wanted the ramen, it didn't care that he had no money he wanted... no needed it. 'It isn't healthy not to eat right?' He reasoned with himself. Silently he contemplating putting it in his pocket.

But another part of him remembered the old man Hokage telling him that stealing was wrong. That people got in a lot of trouble for taking what wasn't theirs.

But that was rather hard for him to think about when his stomach was making such a fuss. Looking back at the cup in his hand, he compared it to the wall that was completely covered in ramen. There must be hundreds there, he couldn't help feeling no one would notice if one went missing.

Tentatively looking around, he found himself alone, with only the angel in his head and the devil in his stomach. But the more he thought about it the harder it was getting to fight against the devil. Taking another look up and down the aisle, he found himself still alone. Quickly tucking the cup in his largest pocket he turned and began making his way out of the store as casually as possible.

Everyone he passed hardly looked at him, he was just another person here for the food, but that's not how he felt. Though his stomach had won out he was still incredibly nervous. He flinch at every glance, his heart was beating so hard he thought others could hear it. At one point he almost tripped over his own feet when someone accidentally bumped into him.

As he approached the counter he couldn't help feel it was actually a guard station. The people working there analyzing his every move and just waiting for the right moment to catch him. One woman smiled at him and wished him a good day. He tried to smile back but it just didn't feel right. As he walked by he realized the pocket that he had placed the ramen in was facing the counter and was making an obvious bulge.

Not seeing any other option he continued on towards the door, just waiting to be called out and apprehended. For a moment, as he imagined himself being caught he saw a image in him mind. The old man Hokage looked down upon him, disappointment evident on his face. He could almost hear the man talk, telling him he would never be Hokage, he would be going to prison for the rest of his life, and right there his resolve almost broke, but when he became self aware again...

He already was outside. The dead done. The door rung shut behind him leaving him standing in the street as people walked by, not giving him a second thought. The sun was starting to set beyond the horizon and the air was beginning to cool.

And it hit him. He was out. Free. Or was he. Stealing a quick glance at the shop behind him he wasted no time and took off down the street as fast as his little feet could carry him. And while in his mind he was in the midst of a high speed chase, in reality, to everyone who saw him, he was just another kid running down the street. But for the moment, reality was distorted for him as paranoia took over.

Reaching his home he slammed the door behind him. He hid in the bathroom and waited.

And waited.

And continued waiting.

Even as the sun finished setting, leaving the little appartement dark, he continued waiting.

But no one came. There was no door being broken down, windows being kicked in, or shouts of the building being surrounded. And most importantly, to him anyways, there was no Hokage being disappointed in him. There was only the ramen. That was it. Pulling it out of his pocket he looked at the cup that had been causing his heart to race. Yet, that was all that was left. Just the ramen and his stomach.

Cautiously approaching the kitchen, he place the cup down and began preparing the water. Five minutes later he was sitting at his table slurping from the cup of noodles.

He wasn't going to be hungry tonight. He smiled. Uzumaki Naruto wasn't going to be hungry any nights.

XXX

So this kinda popped into my head the other night and I couldn't get it out. It was just a little scene that I ended up liking. I have put some thought into it since and begun to formulate a story to go around it, but was hoping for some feed back. Like anything? Don't like anything? Please let me know, and if you have any ideas where I could go with it please let me know. I do plan on continuing this, so if you are interested in seeing future chapter then let me know, you have no idea how good it feels to have people take the time to comment on what you are doing(even if they say you are doing it wrong). I know this was pretty short, but I imaged this as a prologue of sorts. Just laying down the ground works.

If you made it this far, thanks for coming and have an awesome day!