Fyras14: Hello everyone that manages to click on this sotry and read it...well, I had this idea while I was waiting for my art teacher back at school(he never came), and well, I suddenly thought on how Naruto would change much if Sakura decided not to be a ninja anymore. What if she never met Naruto, nor fell in love with Sasuke, neither did she go to the Chunnin Exams and all that stuff that comes after...I'm not so sure if I should make her a ninja in the late future, but I will put a poll on my profile right after I put this story up...it would help, believe me.

Anyway, nwo that that is out of the way, please read and review or criticize, whichever comes first. Flames are not accepted, frowned upon, and possibly deleted.

Naruto and Co. don't belong to me, and if they did, Sakura would kick ass adn Naruto would be her lover.

Please, enjoy!

Do not dwell in the past; do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.

-Unknown

-Prologue-

-The First Twelve Bowls-

Ten bowls of ramen empty, with another one coming in, and still Sakura Haruno wondered how this blonde boy could stuff all of this noodles and soup—quite cheerfully, she might add—and yet manage to still keep on wanting more.

"Another bowl, old man!" the youth cried, grinning as he slammed his fist, not too hard, on the table. His eleventh bowl gone, replaced by another; his twelfth bowl in over an hour, as the pink haired girl notice.

"Are you sure that's healthy?" she asked suddenly, watching the blonde from the corner of her eyes, as she moved to clean a nearby table with a small cloth. The blonde boy only blinked, and then, turn to watch the pink haired girl as she expertly handled four unfinished ramen bowls on her hands, and yet, still manage to finish cleaning the table without letting go of the bowls. He stood there watching her, a group of half-eaten noodles dangling from his closed mouth. He watched her every move, before finally responding with a childish glare upon his face,

"Ramen's good," he defended, slurping the noodles full, not bothering to hide the noise he was making as if challenging her.

Sakura didn't answer the blonde, as she quickly moved towards another table, cleaning it out of ramen bowls, and any other food and drink that was left behind. The blonde boy was still there, challenging her, but, realizing that the pink haired girl wasn't going to go talking again, he decided to finish his twelfth bowl, only to hear the girl respond,

"I wasn't talking about the ramen, actually," Sakura told him, taking a closer step towards the blonde boy, as she prepared to clean the table that he was using to eat.

"Oh, so…" The blonde boy placed his bowl of ramen, half-finished, on the bar counter, as Sakura passed the piece of cloth on the edge of the counter, before continuing. "what were you talking about?"

"You eat too much…"

"Huh?"

"You'll get sick…eating too much…of course, I'm not saying you shouldn't eat what you like…but…you'll just get sick." Then, the boy grinned, a genuine smile, something that Sakura had not seen for a while since she had begun to work on Ichiraku Ramen just a month ago. Since then, the pink haired only saw civilians or other ninjas, and even then, she had not gotten a sincere smile just for caring.

This blonde boy, this Uzumaki kid as he was called, he was a strange one. He would always seat in the bar counter, close to the kitchen and to Teuchi, ordering like ramen like there was no tomorrow. What Sakura would notice, too, would be the glares that many others would sent his way, for no reason at all. She would hear the regulars and some civilians muttering about that 'demon child' and all sort of talk Sakura could hardly believed described the hyperactive noodle-eating machine that grinned back to her. "What?" she asked, forgetting the cloth on the corner of the bar counter, as she moved to grab the forgotten, half-finished ramen bowls, and put them on top of said counter.

"You shouldn't worry about me!" he cried, pumping a fist playfully in the air, eyes closed with a foxy grin decorating his features. "Ramen won't kill me!!"

"But eating a lot might…and then, you wouldn't be able to eat any ramen…" Sakura couldn't help but stifle a giggle as the Uzumaki boy flashed a look of horror in his face. It wasn't long before another woman joined Sakura nearby the counter, patting the pink haired girl's shoulder.

"Now, now, Sakura-san, you don't wanna jinx good-old Naruto," the young woman, Ayame, told her, smiling brightly back at blonde boy, whose grin had returned, and apparently, so had his appetite. He wolfed the last bits of ramen down his throat.

"Ah! Another good bowl!! Can I have another o--"

"You're going to get sick, Naruto," came Sakura's response, as she shook her head at him. "What about you leave the bowl for another day?"

"But…but!"

"If you do…" Sakura went on, smiling as she removed the bowl from the counter and placed it on the top of the rack of plates she herself had made on the way as she had cleaned the tables nearby. "I'll pay your first three bowls, but only if…that," she pointed at the bowl on the top of the rack, " is your last bowl for the day." By then, old man Teuchi had taken his place on the front of the counter, and was eyeing the two youngsters with curiosity. Ayame only smiled wider as Naruto seemed to consider the pink haired girl's decision. It didn't take long for the blonde boy to process that he would be getting free food, if he stopped eating for the day. Seemed like a good deal, but oh! that hot bowl of ramen was waiting for him back there! He just couldn't abandon it! But, free ramen…free ramen…three free cups he wouldn't have to pay with what little money he received a month. On the other hand…only three?

Naruto turned back to face Sakura, grinning, with a plan on the works within his mind. "Make it six bowls and you have a deal!" The pink haired girl scowled. That she wasn't expecting.

"No. Only three."

"Five?"

"Three."

"Four, then?" She held up three fingers in front of his face, instead. "Why not four?"

"Because…"

"Why?" The boy was pouting, in a cute-sort of way, Sakura noticed, as he asked again.

"You are abusing my nice act to keep you healthy." Naruto only grinned, and patted his chest.

"You don't need to worry! I'm gonna be a ninja! Worries should be left only to me!!" At the words 'ninja', Sakura's stare soften, and then, she looked away, hiding her face from the three that were watching her, unaware of the growing turmoil within her. It took her a while to respond, and Naruto began to worry. "Hey…are you…" But she caught him up, turning back to face him with a sneaky glance.

"Have it your way, then." At that, Naruto grinned, and cried,

"Alright! Four bowls tomorrow, for fr--"

"Hey, I told you I was paying for three, not four." Sakura interrupted him, taking off her apron and setting it on a nearby table, as she winked his way. Naruto managed a blush, as she waved her hand back at Ayame and Teuchi. "See you tomorrow!"

"Good-bye!" Both the old man and his daughter cry out, as the young girl leaves the bar.

Sakura cannot hear what Naruto says to the two of them as she leaves the ramen bar, because right then she is thinking about ninjas, and how, once upon a time, she wanted to be one.