Hello boy…hello…
Are you doing fine?
There was a flash of memories to a time when Naruto was barely tall enough to put his elbows on the counter. A long time ago, ANBU had to escort him whenever he went outside. At that time, Naruto owned a body wrecked with coughs: a body that caused him pain because of the demon inside him.
When he had first met Teuchi, he had been a frail, sick child.
But…that expression was the first sentence that Teuchi had spoken to him when he had first visited the ramen store. Naruto could still remember the day when Teuchi had given an introduction at Ichiraku's; it had been one of those days where the Hokage had been so busy with meetings and mission assignments that Naruto had been left all alone. He could still remember the articulation of acknowledgement, words that he had only ever heard from his grandfather. If there was anything Naruto could describe that greeting as, it was of warmth. The stall had been warm as well, in that cold, rainy day.
However, that greeting was a greeting reserved for normal people. Naruto did not think of himself as a normal person, so he did not think that he deserved that greeting.
Nobody wants to play with you…
Everybody hates you Naruto…
You've always been such a bad boy…
Within the first eight months of Naruto's existence, he had been constantly put down. There was always that isolation that came with being a demon host; the cold shoulders and stares, the social isolation. Naruto had always felt like he belonged nowhere, despite his best efforts. It drove him to smile and make jokes, to act like a fool despite the fact that he stared at the backs of everybody.
Hahaha…Naruto has always been such an idiot.
You're so stupid Naruto.
Hahaha…he would laugh. He'd been called all sorts of things. Idiot. Dumbass. Retard. Freak. Loner. The funny thing was that after a while he began to believe the others. He was a dumbass, freak, retard, and loner. He had no friends except for his Jiji and he began to harbor thoughts of depression.
Freak.
He smiled a toothy smile; a smile belonged to him. He smiled even when the other kids threw ink balls at him. He smiled when the teacher roughly held him aside while everyone but him was allowed to pet a goat. He smiled until his grandfather eventually decided to home school him.
He smiled because he didn't know what else to do.
On most days, he spent all his time in the library reading books, because the library was so close to the Hokage office. But grandfather was unusually busy nowadays, so he couldn't take Naruto outside. Instead, Naruto ventured outside alone with ryo notes in his hand.
The first store he went to immediately recognized him, no doubt due to the whiskers in his face. The man had immediately raised his hand as if to hit him, but ANBU had stopped him immediately. Naruto left anyway.
He visited a variety of stores. No matter what, he elicited the same reaction until the ANBU came. Haha…it wasn't enough to have just the kids hate him. The ANBU gave him no comfort.
He just went back hungry and read his books. There were books on cooking and books on stealing. Books were his only friend; they didn't judge him or shun him. And once you got to know them, they were the most logical and intelligent entity you could ever have.
He thought all that, until he met the Ichiraku family.
…..
"Hello boy? How are you? Would you like some ramen?"
Ramen?
Naruto had given a sad toothy smile.
I've never had anyone make ramen for me before…
…..
"Hello Naruto. This is my daughter Ayame. Ayame, say hi."
"Hi," Ayame had said shyly.
Naruto had waved.
"Oh, that's right. Naruto can't talk Ayame."
"He can't?"
"He can't. He's mute."
"Wow."
Ayame had looked at him with sympathy in her eyes.
"I'm sorry."
Its okay, he had scribbled. At five years old, he had a rudimentary grasp of language. He was just glad that someone had said hi to him.
The girl had tilted her head and smiled.
"Do you want to play?"
Teuchi and Ayame watched as a sunny grin lit up the young boy's face. Something stirred up within them; it was something they could feel.
Ayame could only feel an overwhelming desire to see that face again. She ran out through the back and rushed to the front.
"Come with me!" she had urged Naruto.
She had taken his hand and pulled him away from the counter.
"Let's go play hide and seek!"
She ran for a while and the boy had ran with her.
But a strange sound buffeted her ears.
She looked back and saw the young boy hiding his tears as his entire shoulder area shook.
This is also the first time anyone has ever played with me…
…..
"Is she hanging around with the whisker boy again?"
"I heard that if you stab her she'll bleed soup. Just like her stupid dad."
"Don't insult my dad's ramen!" she screamed.
She struggled against the hands that pinned her against the wall. But she couldn't get free from the three bigger boys. Something penetrated her side and hot pain shot up all the way up her back. The boys withdrew a jagged rock with blood coating the tip.
"Help!" she screamed with terror.
Eyes blurred with pain as the rock was stabbed into the other side. She coughed; she could hardly stand up now.
Cruel laughter and jeering followed. They were feeding on her pain. They couldn't bully Naruto who was Hokage sanctioned. But they certainly could bully a nobody civilian girl. Especially since they were rookie ninja sponsored by some of the more prestigious clans, so they could get away with anything.
It…it hurts…
She prepared herself for another bash, when something from the corner of her eye flitted into view.
Naruto's fist.
The boy that held her arms collapsed into unconsciousness as he was propelled backwards. If Naruto's voice had not been damaged, there would have no doubt been a roar that the whole of Konoha could hear.
Instead, it was maroon eyes and a clenched jaw that conveyed his anger, as well as his pronounced whiskers. On his face was the look of a boy who had just discovered the ability to kill.
Everything else happened in a blur. She had seen Naruto pick up one of the boys and slam him against the concrete floor despite being half his size. A lashed out fist pushed all the air out of the final boy. He could not communicate what he was feeling through his voice. So he did it with his fists.
It had been the ANBU that had stopped him. He had been close, very close to killing one of them. If the ribcage of one of the boys had been broken further, it would have pierced the lungs. The irony was that the ANBU was meant to protect Naruto from attackers, not stop him from attacking.
Frankly, the look on Naruto's face had been frightening. It was face of feral anger, augmented by the faint taint of youki. He was so angry; the ANBU literally had to drag him away from the boys.
I'll Kill Them, his eyes said. I will fucking kill them kill them
Sarutobi did not expect to be informed that his surrogate grandson was involved in the near murder of three boys and one girl.
…
Ayame was waiting for the boy to come back. The boy's eyes had been so sad and they had been friends for so long that Ayame knew all his hand signs. Teuchi had even made a blueprint of a special bowl of ramen to celebrate Ayame's full recovery and Naruto's bravery. However, it had been a month, and it had been midnight, but Naruto had never came.
"He…He's not coming is he?" Ayame had said with down-cast eyes.
She had been waiting for so long…
"Ayame…"
Teuchi bent down and hugged her. Ayame pressed her trembling face against her father.
"I've always been so useless…even when mother died…"
"Ayame, it's not your fault," Teuchi said softly.
"I know that…"
She squeezed her eyes shut.
I won't cry…I won't cry…
"But…but…"
Tears flowed out her eyes.
"I really liked his smile…"
A hooded customer entered the store at that time. Teuchi went and greeted him.
"Welcome to Ichiraku…Sandaime Hokage."
"Please, call me Sarutobi. I understand you have had a bit of trouble with my grandson Naruto, yes?"
"You must forgive him. You see, he's always been a lonely boy."
"Yes."
"So Naruto, come out."
A trembling Naruto came out from behind his grandfather's back. Wordlessly, he sat on the counter next to his Jiji.
"I would like the best ramen you could ever make for my grandson," Sarutobi said solemnly.
A gigantic grin materialized on Teuchi's face because he understood.
"Coming up!"
He rushed into the back, earning a glance from his young daughter.
"He-he's here?" Ayame whispered.
"Yes."
Frantically she wiped away her tears and joined in the work to make the biggest and greatest ramen bowl they ever made. They put chicken in it, they placed beef, they placed lots of hot steamy soup and egg tinted noodles. He had never seen the girl this motivated.
His brave little girl; he watched as pride as he held the giant bowl and placed on the counter. She was reticent, but she still greeted him.
"Hello Naruto."
Naruto stared up at her, blue eyes shining with light.
Is it too late? He signed.
"No. Does it taste good?"
Naruto looked at the ramen bowl as if he couldn't believe it. Then he sampled it and took a long giant bite. His shoulders began to tremble, but he looked at her and gave the sunniest smile she had ever seen. His blue eyes shone with glistening light and unshed water.
Yes, he signed.
And then Ayame's eyesight blurred up so badly she couldn't even see straight.
…..
Jaraiya stared at the picture of a family below him. Two young boys, a girl, a ramen chef and an old man; it was a ridiculous picture. After his meeting with the Sandaime Hokage, he had been surprised to note how his sensei spent most of his lunches in a run-down stand.
We can't dwell on the past…
He watched as the man attended to broiling broth with powerful precision and heard the playful arguments that permeated the stand. He heard the occasional snort of laughter and an expression of amusement from the Hokage. He listened to the spontaneous shouts of outrage that seemed to come up every five minutes. Most of all, he watched the blonde boy making ramen.
I wonder what Minato would say if he saw his son now…
He tilted his eyes up into the sky and listened to the tilt of birds.
He smirked. Naruto sure looked happy didn't he?
He laughed.