Disclaimer – I do not own Naruto or the characters. This is strictly for entertainment purposes.
"One more bowl Oji-san!" cried out a red-haired customer.
"Kushina-sama, are you sure you should be eating this much ramen? This cannot be healthy for your pregnancy; you are about five months into your pregnancy, you know." The ramen chef asks.
"It's fine Teuchi, at most, two bowls once a week should satisfy Kushina's cravings, at least until after the baby is born." The blond-haired man answered with a chuckle.
"Whatever you say, Yondaime-Sama, it's your wife, your child." Teuchi retorts back with a small smile.
"Speaking of child, how is Ayame-chan? Where is she, I haven't seen her today." Kushina asks as she waits for her next bowl.
"Ayame should be getting here soon once she gets out from the academy." Teuchi replies as he places a bowl of salted ramen in front of Kushina.
"Is someone talking about me? I heard my name." a small childish voice calls out as she turns the corner into the bar.
"Ayame-chan!" Kushina screams out as she spun on her stool to greet the little child.
"Kushina-sama, Yondaime-Sama!" Ayame screams back as she runs up to give Kushina a hug.
"Ayame-chan is just so adorable! I love this little girl, so much!" Kushina says as she rubs her cheek on Ayame's cheek, while Ayame just giggles. "Can I keep you!" Kushina asks Ayame. "Minato, Can I keep her?" Kushina asks her husband with a begging puppy-eyed look.
"Can Kushina-sama keep me otousan?" Ayame asks Teuchi as she also gives him the puppy-eyed look.
Minato gives out a small laugh. "You ask me every single time you see Ayame-chan, but I still don't believe that Teuchi would approve."
*Haha* "Not today Ayame, now go get changed, eat and started on your homework Ayame." Teuchi calls out from behind the counter.
"Alright, otousan." Ayame says as she leaves Kushina's side.
"You two really adore one another." Minato says out loud as he sips his sake while Teuchi crosses his arms, closes his eyes and nods with a smile.
"Of course, Ayame is so adorable! She's sweet, kind, she passionate about food, Neh Minato, let's engage Ayame to our baby!" Kushina says with a dreamy-eyed face.
"As much as I would like to even approve of that Kushina-chan, let's allow the children to fall in love with whoever they would like to fall in love with. Besides, what makes you so sure that our child is even a boy?" Minato replies with a thinking look on his face.
"Speaking of the child, have you two decided on names yet?" Teuchi asks as starts to prep his ingredients for the afternoon rush.
"Aiko if female and Naruto if male." Kushina answers before going back into her ramen.
"Naruto?" Teuchi asks as he looks at Kushina.
"Naruto." Kushina confirms with a nodded head.
"Naruto?" Teuchi asks again but this time holds up the fish cake Naruto.
"Naruto!" Kushina confirms once again with a large cheesy grin. "Naruto!" Teuchi calls out as he holds the fishcake out in front of him.
Minato looks at Kushina, then over to Teuchi, back to Kushina and busts out laughing. "Ramen addicts… I swear."
From behind the back curtains, Ayame walks out to the front of the shack. She props up on to the counter next to Kushina with one of her school books in hand, ready for her homework.
"Neh, Ayame-chan, what do you think I'm having, baby boy or baby girl?" Kushina asks as she finishes the last bit of her ramen.
Giving a serious thinking face, Ayame answers with a cheesy smile. "I hope it's a boy." While Teuchi face faults at her answer.
"Oh no young lady, you are only four years old, forty years too young to be thinking about boys." Teuchi says with a protective tone and crossed arms.
"But otousan, if Kushina-sama has a boy, I can marry him, then I will be Kushina-sama's daughter, and I will have two okaa-san and two otousan." Ayame declares as she shyly answers as she plays with the hem of her shirt.
Kushina looked at Ayame, completely shocked, before pulling her into a hug and squealing. "So freaking adorable!" Minato gave them a sincere smile while Teuchi could only look at them while biting his apron and giving a very teary-eyed cry.
It's been six long depressing years after the night, the strongest of the tailed beast, Kyuubi attacked; claiming many families away from Konohagakure. The Yondaime, Lord Fourth, sacrificed his life to seal the Kyuubi into a small child, Naruto Uzumaki, while Kushina had died giving birth due to stress and implications. At least, that's what was stated by the Third Hokage as he retook his reign as the Sandaime that very same night.
Immediately right after the Sandaime came back into power, Hiruzen Sarutobi, told the village about Naruto and how the Kyuubi was sealed into the orphan by the Yondaime. While people believed in their Yondaime, the fear of the Kyuubi also made people believe that the orphan was also Kyuubi's reincarnate and immediately calling for his death. Forcing Hiruzen to create a law about telling anyone telling the younger generation, about the sealing.
The history in textbooks suggests that the Yondaime died destroying the Kyuubi. To adults, who believe that they knew the truth, made young Naruto's life very difficult; telling their own to keep away from the child or even acknowledging the young child's presence.
Ichiraku Ramen
It has been six years since the family relocated their bar to a new location since the first one was destroyed during the Kyuubi attack. Everything had to be bought and rebuilt from scratch, but the father-daughter duo is happy they survived with their lives.
Ayame turned eleven this year, she grew up quite a lot for a young child, four-foot-two, sixty pounds, and she always wrapped her hair up within her white bandana to keep it from falling into people's food. A trait she learned from her thirty-seven-year-old widower father.
"Neh, otousan, what do you think Kushina-sama and Minato-sama are doing in heaven?" Ayame asks while she wipes the countertop of the family's small bar.
Teuchi looks up from his vegetable prepping and gives her a soft fatherly look. "Kushina-sama is most likely planning your marriage while Minato-sama is getting bossed around by her."
"I miss them otousan." Ayame answers with a small smile as she shed a single tear for her most favorite couple.
Teuchi takes his sleeve and wipes his eyes. "Stupid tears, some ninja is secretly cutting onions around me again."
"Ayame, can you go set up run to the market and pick up some pork belly, beef, some potatoes and carrots? Do you need me to write you a list?" Teuchi tells her to change the mood.
"I made a mental note, otousan, I'll be back soon."
Leaving the little bar, and walking along the ten-minute route to the local food markets, Ayame greets some of the villagers along the way either with a smile or a small wave of her hand. Coming up to the market and walking through the door, she sees Naruto up close for the first time.
Ayame jumps back outside the door, and she grabs her chest where her heart is. Slowing her breathing, she slowly peeks the corner, making sure she could see him. There he is, six-year-old, sun-kissed blonde hair, three whiskers on each cheek, 116 centimeters, three-foot eight, forty-five pounds, white shirt with a spiral on the back, black shorts, and loose sandals.
"Naruto is Minato-sama miniature replica." She whispers to herself.
While Ayame has seen Naruto around the village, she nor otousan has yet made any form of contact. No opportunities have ever risen. The father-daughter duo is just constantly so busy with running the Ichiraku and Ayame's morning at the academy. "Kushina-sama would be so proud of me!" Ayame mentally cheers to herself as she tried to figure out how to approach Naruto.
"Can I get some help here, obaasan? I need potatoes, carrots and a pound of beef!" Naruto calls out to the front lady. Ayame sees that the lady running the store doesn't even peek from behind her newspaper. She could tell that the older lady wasn't even going to acknowledge Naruto, much less help him.
"Excuse me, could I get ten pound of pork belly, two pounds of beef, five potatoes, and five carrots?" Ayame asks very politely, grabbing the lady's attention as she walks up to the front counter.
The lady closes her newspaper, sees that it's Ayame and gives a warming smile. "Of course Ayame, should I charge it to the bar as usual?"
"Yes, please, and thank you very much." Ayame answers with a small bow as the lady heads to the back to ready her order.
"Man that's so unfair, I been asking for help for five minutes, and she doesn't even raise an eyebrow. Neh, can you help me?" Naruto asks her.
"I don't know, what is it that you need, um…"
"Uzumaki, Naruto Uzumaki." He tells her with a large grin and shut eyes.
"Ayame, Just Ayame." Ayame introduced with a slight bow.
"I just needed some carrots, potatoes and maybe a little bit of beef. Jiji taught me how to make beef stew, but the lady only seems to answer me when Jiji is around. Neh, I know, can you order it for me?" Naruto asks with a hopeful glance.
"Well, I could Naruto, but wouldn't it be obvious of who it's for if you're standing right here?" Ayame asks in a thinking pose. "How about this, you come with me and I'll split you off some of my ingredients?"
"Really! You'd do that for me!?" Naruto asks, completely flabbergasted.
"Sure, you seem like a nice person, maybe one day, you could be a great friend too."
"And you as well, Ayame, I think we're going to get along quite well." Naruto says with one of the largest grins she's ever seen.
"Here you go Ayame, say hello to your father for me." The lady says as she walks out from the back and hands Ayame the ten pound of pork belly while giving the beef, potatoes, and carrots to Naruto.
"A man always helps a lady! Now get!" the lady says as she sits down, opens up her newspaper and ignores the child once again.
"Thank you very much." Ayame thanks with a small bow before turning and leaving the market.
"Huh!?" Naruto wonders as he leaves the market behind Ayame, confused about what the oba-san meant but also realized that she acknowledges his presence by handing him Ayame's supplies, this made him smile a little inside.
While the market isn't far from the little ramen bar, Ayame decides to make some small talk. "Hey Naruto, have you ever tasted ramen?"
Naruto gives her a confused yet adorable look while holding two separate bags full of ingredients.
"What's ramen?"
Ayame stops for a second to think of the best possible way to describe ramen to the six-year-old. "Ramen is wheat noodle, served in either a meat or fish based broth. Ramen has many toppings, such as sliced pork, seaweed, beef, and even Naruto."
"I'm in ramen? I bet I make ramen delicious!" Naruto exclaims.
Giving a small giggle Ayame looks at Naruto and smiles warmly. "Would you like to try some? I'll personally make you some myself."
"Really! Then it's probably gonna tastes the very best! Dattebayo!" Naruto exclaimed.
'Looks like Minato-sama, and acts like Kushina-sama.' Ayame thought as she slowly shakes her head with a small smile. She looks up into the sky and sees an image like Kushina-sama holding up her fingers for victory, before continuing on her way.
"I'm back otousan, and I brought a guest." Ayame tells her father upon reaching the bar.
Teuchi looks over the counter and sees that it is Naruto. "And who might you be little one?"
"I'm Naruto Uzumaki. Very nice to meet you!" Naruto says with a small bow.
"Very polite, Naruto. I'm Teuchi, Ayame's father. Welcome to our ramen bar." Teuchi finishes up with a large grin.
"Otousan, Naruto never had ramen before, and I offered to make him his first bowl." Ayame says as she heads behind the bar to drop off the meat to her father so he could prep, before heading back to the front to grab the bags out of Naruto's small hands.
"Oh you did, did you?" Teuchi says as he eyed his daughter. "Well, have a seat Naruto." Teuchi offers as he begins his second half of the food prepping.
The father-daughter duo amusedly watches Naruto struggles to climb one of the bar stools for his seat, and after a minute of struggling, Ayame comes around the bar and helps him up into the stool and pushes him in. "Just patiently wait here."
"Thanks, Ayame!
"Neh, otousan, Naruto tried to get some beef, potatoes, and carrots to make stew, is it ok if we split him off some of our supplies?" Ayame quietly asks her dad, just to make sure Naruto doesn't hear her.
"What happened in the market?" Teuchi questions.
"She refused to acknowledge Naruto." Ayame whispers as she pours the broth into the noodle-based bowl.
"Ok, I'll package him some to go, we'll help him where we can." Teuchi whispers back.
After five minutes if cooking, Ayame brings Naruto his very first bowl of ramen. "Here you go Naruto, one tonkotsu ramen, as promised." Ayame tells him as she turns the corner of the bar with a steaming hot bowl of ramen in her hands before placing it directly in front of him.
"It looks delicious!" Naruto exclaims with a slight drool mark from the left side of his mouth.
It took a second before Naruto felt very embarrassed. He instantly looked straight down and gripped his shorts.
Ayame immediately notices this. "What's wrong?"
"I… I don't know…" Naruto started loud, but whispers. "How to use chopsticks."
Instead of laughing at Naruto, Ayame walks up behind him, steps up onto one of the leg stands of the stool, grabs a pair of chopsticks and correctly places them between his little fingers, properly showing him how to use it. She places her hand directly over Naruto matching hand and places the chopsticks between his fingers.
Naruto immediately blushes at the closeness of Ayame, never receiving interaction from anyone other than the Sandaime. This is a whole new experience for him.
Naruto practices a few times, properly gripping, bringing them together and taking them apart. He stares at the ramen before him and gulps. Slowly moving his hand forward and places the chopsticks in the bowl, pulling a little bit of ramen and places it into his mouth, he slowly slurps a large strand of the noodle. Slowly at first but quickly after every bite until he ate everything in the bowl, even drank the soup.
"Well, how was it?" Ayame asks from behind him.
*Sniffles* "It's the most amazing thing I have ever tasted." Naruto exclaimed as tears rolled down the side of his face.
"Wait, why are you crying? What's wrong!?" Ayame asks all nervously while Teuchi looks over the counter very confused as well.
"It's just wonderful to finally be noticed." Naruto quietly answers with tears coming out his eyes.
Slightly shaking her head, she jumps up on to the leg stand of the stool and puts her arms around Naruto and pulls him into a hug. "We may not be family, but we can always be friends if you like." Ayame tells him while Teuchi just warmly smiles at the kids.
Nodding his head as he quietly cries and enjoys the comfort of Ayame. 'I finally have my very first friend.'
AN
I think this is a good place for a stopping point. Things are slow just for a little development and character introduction, but I'll be moving things along soon enough. I don't plan on making this an epic story, just enough to get a story out there. The pairing for this is strictly Ayame/Naruto. She will not be fighting, she's strictly his backbone and his motivation, or so to speak.
While I feel like I could improve some parts of the story if you have any suggestions how leave a review and maybe I can work with it. I do plan to revise this chapter a few times before the release of the second chapter.
I specifically tried to keep everyone's name, and other specifics the same as the series. I don't plan on using those much honorifics in this story, minus the basics. If they are called a certain way in the series, that's what I'll go by here, i.e. Sakura-chan by Naruto, Sasuke-kun by Sakura and so forth.
Also, I would like to thank nanashiX for suggesting the grocery market idea. I had a difficult time thinking how Ayame and Naruto could meet for the first time without him just randomly going to eat ramen. Notice I did not use the cliché themes of "beatings, death chasing, dying introductions", and I wanted to try something different. Maybe being 'ignored' is a good change of pace.
Have a good one!