HEY!!! Ok guys! I think this may be a brand spanking new chapter! That means that all the chapters written after this are 100% new and never seen before by anyone ^-^ Hope you like them! But that also means that it will take longer for me to update, because I will have to write new chapters as I go, instead of posting already written ones. Sorry! Well thanks for reading! And double thanks to everyone who comments!
Brittney
It had all come down to this. Naruto and Ramen Boy were nearing the end of their oversized bowls of ramen after only four minutes of nonstop eating. The crowd was becoming restless and the chefs were getting ready to name a winner. It was inevitable that one of these two boys would indeed finish their King Colossals and take home the glory.
Everyone was shocked. Considering that no one before had even come close to finishing a King Colossal, the speed in which Naruto and Ramen Boy had downed them was amazing. Not only would they finish the King Colossals, but they would finish them in an incredible trailblazing speed.
Naruto's stomach was screaming that it was full and couldn't hold any more ramen, but Naruto blocked it out and just continued to slurp. He was so close. Two more big slurps and he would be done. Naruto filled his mouth with more ramen and forced himself to swallow. As he did he could just picture himself accepting the awards for finishing a King Colossal and all the fans running towards him.
Out of the corner of his eye he had spotted a group of fangirls that were screaming his name and cheering him on. For once he would be the one trying to avoid desperate girls trying to go out with him instead of Sasuke. Of course Naruto had Hinata back home and he would never trade her for any other girl, but that would make it even more satisfying when he had to turn the fangirls down. Sorry ladies, he's taken.
Naruto swallowed the mouthful of ramen and stared at the bottom of his bowl. There was just one more swallow and he would be done. For a second Naruto thought back to the large amount of ramen that had once filled the bowl and how much he had eaten. This was a mistake causing him to nearly lose it. Luckily Naruto had been through much worse and just focused on what was at stake; his reputation. Closing his eyes Naruto slurped in his last bite of ramen. Now all he had to do was force himself to swallow.
ooo
Ramen Boy was near his breaking point. He was fuller than he had ever been before in his life and he still had more ramen to eat. With every swallow he took, ramen threatened to come back up and Ramen Boy would gag. This was crazy! For the first time ever, Ramen Boy questioned his motive and need to finish a King Colossal. Was this really worth it? Ramen Boy's thoughts then flashed to the smug smile on Naruto's face when he accepted the challenge and vowed that he would beat Ramen Boy. Ramen Boy grimaced at the thought of losing to that nobody. He had to keep going!
Ramen Boy had less than a bite to go before he would be done. Just one more bite was the only thing that separated him from the glory and prizes of winning. Ramen Boy glanced at Naruto who was still busy slurping his ramen. Ramen Boy shakily spooned the last of the ramen onto his spoon and brought it to his mouth. Pushing all thoughts aside and ignoring his gag reflexes, Ramen Boy shoved the last spoonful into his mouth. All he had to do now was chew and swallow and he would win.
The audience suddenly grew silent as they watched Naruto and Ramen Boy take in their last bites. Now it was a race to see who swallowed first. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion and no one seemed to even breathe. Suddenly the silence was shattered by the sound of bowl hitting table.
"Clank!" Ramen Boy and Naruto both slammed their bowls on the table to signal their completion of the King Colossal at the exact same time. The crowd just stared. There was no way that they finished at the exact same time. One of them had to have been a split second quicker.
ooo
Naruto swallowed his final mouthful and quickly slammed his bowl on the table without wasting a second. He had done it! He had beaten Ramen Boy. For a split second Naruto was able to bask in his glory before he looked over at Ramen Boy and realized that he too had finished and was smiling happily. This couldn't be. Had Ramen Boy won? No way! He hadn't been done before Naruto finished. Naruto had checked. Ramen Boy also noticed that he wasn't the only one done and his triumph was cut short as well.
Naruto and Ramen Boy glared at each other. Both thought that they had finished first and were not willing to give in. When no one was able to announce a sure winner Naruto and Ramen Boy's glares just increased. There had to be a way to decide a winner! There was no way either Naruto or Ramen Boy was going to settle for a tie!
Suddenly something caught their attentions. Both boys' eyes were glued to the single piece of ramen that lay in the middle of the table. There was one piece of ramen remaining that had to be eaten. Naruto and Ramen Boy's eyes met again. They were both thinking the same thing.
Naruto lunged for the piece of ramen noodle at the same time as Ramen boy. It was now a challenge to see who could eat the last noodle. Whoever did would be named the winner of the King Colossal challenge and receive the glory and prizes that went with it. Naruto and Ramen Boy got to the noodle at the same exact time and began slurping it in until…. "Smack!"
Naruto's eyes got big along with Ramen Boy's! They both stared at each other not even centimeters apart. Apparently neither boy was willing to admit defeat and had continued to eat the piece of noodle until there was no more to eat and they had met in the middle.
The entire crowd gasped in surprise as the two boys met in the middle of the noodle and kissed. Mothers covered their children's eyes and many people started to snicker. Sasuke and Sakura who had been squeezing their way through the crowed to cheer on Naruto arrived just in time to see Naruto kiss Ramen Boy.
Sakura stared in shock at the scene before her. "Argh Naruto! Why do you get yourself into these messes?" Sakura thought as she hit her forehead with her hand before shielding her eyes in embarrassment.
Sasuke just stared at Naruto and Ramen Boy for a second before letting a smirk spread across his face. "Hn. At least it's not me this time." Sasuke thought to himself. "Does Naruto actually enjoy getting himself into these kinds of situations?" Including himself, Sasuke recalled how this guy made the second guy that Naruto had kissed. Unless there were others that Sasuke didn't know about.
Sasuke looked away from the scene over at Sakura who stood next to him covering her eyes with her hand in a mixture of embarrassment and annoyance. Sasuke smirked even more. He guessed that Sakura must be used to Naruto's mishaps by now, because the old Sakura would have already gone up, yelled at Naruto for being a mindless moron, and pulled him away by either his ear or the collar of his shirt by now.
Sasuke went to cross his arms to ask Sakura if she really was just used to Naruto's idiocy, or if she was too embarrassed to associate herself with him, when he noticed that he couldn't. He and Sakura were still holding hands from when he pulled her through the crowd. Sakura had forgotten that she still held Sasuke's hand when she saw Naruto, and Sasuke didn't see the need to remind her. Even something as simple as holding Sakura's hand gave Sasuke pleasure and made him feel comfortable. He knew the minute Sakura realized that she was holding his hand that she would quickly release it, so Sasuke decided to postpone that moment as long as possible.
For a split second, that seemed like forever, Naruto and Ramen Boy were frozen in their awkward situation. Both were surprised and couldn't quite think straight enough to break apart. However, common sense finally kicked in long enough for the two to quickly break apart and back away from each other as the wiped their mouths off.
"Yuck!! You Baka! Why did you do that for?" Yelled Naruto glaring at Ramen Boy. "Argh! Now I need a toothbrush quick!"
"Ehhh! Me? I didn't do anything! You are the one that kissed me you idiot!" Retorted Ramen Boy as he took a gulp of water and gargled it in his mouth before spitting it out into his empty ramen bowl. "You just couldn't let me win easily could you?"
"You didn't win teme! I won! I ate the bigger half of the noodle before you went all psycho on me!" Naruto yelled back.
"Idiot! There is no such thing as the bigger 'half'! You just contradicted yourself!" Ramen Boy pointed out.
"Why I ought'a!" Naruto started as he grabbed Ramen Boy by his shirt. Ramen Boy also grabbed Naruto's collar and they both pulled back their arms to punch each other before they were interrupted.
"Boys! Boys! That is enough!" Exclaimed the head chef rushing forward to break the two up. "I don't want a fight in my restaurtant. And besides, you should both be happy now! You guys have tied and will both receive your names on the wall of fame and the great prizes!"
Naruto and Ramen Boy released each other and stepped back grumbling. They didn't want a tie, but there was nothing they could do about it. The head chef snapped his fingers and a few waitresses came out holding Naruto and Ramen Boy's prizes. Each received a shirt that read "I survived a King Colossal", along with matching hats and ramen bowls, and a coupon for a free King Colossal for their next visit. Both Naruto and Ramen Bowl turned green when the chef gave them the coupon and nearly had to make a run for the bathroom. After the chef handed out the prizes he congratulated the boys again and started to leave.
"Hey wait! Don't you need our pictures for the wall of fame?" Asked Ramen Boy.
The head chef turned around and smiled devilishly.
"Actually, er, we already got your picture for the wall of fame. Jin over there took it when you were going for your tie breaker. Congratulations again boys and come back soon!" Finished the chef as he hurried off towards the kitchen before Naruto and Ramen Boy realized what picture he was talking about.
"Wait, you don't think…." Started Ramen Boy.
"Nah, they wouldn't put a picture like that up on the wall. People would laugh at it." Replied Naruto.
Ramen Boy and Naruto thought about it for another second before giving each other worried looks. They knew exactly what picture the head chef was talking about. They had both notice a flash when they both, oh you know, kissed, and now they knew what is was for. The picture of the two of them kissing would hang on the wall of fame for the rest of the Ramen House's existence and thousands of people would see it. Just great!
Ramen Boy and Naruto awkwardly shook hands and congratulated each other making sure that there were no more hard feelings before quickly walking away from each other. Naruto doubted he would ever see Ramen Boy again, but he would definitely remember him after their little "parting gift". Naruto just hoped that Hinata wouldn't find out.
Really the only people who would tell her would be Sasuke, Sakura, or Sai, but Naruto hoped that they hadn't watched the eating contest. The last time he had seen them was when he left them at the table during the ordering process, and they didn't show any signs of coming to watch him make a fool of himself.
"Boy, people will sure remember the name Uzumaki now." Thought Naruto as he watched the people go back to their meals laughing and smirking. "But not the way I wanted them to. Just as long as Sasuke, Sakura and Sai didn't watch, then at least no one back home in Konoha will know."
Unfortunately, Naruto's bubble was burst by the sound of a familiar voice.
"So Naruto did it taste good?" Smirked Sasuke. Naruto hoped he was only referring to the ramen.
"So I guess you guys saw then." Grumbled Naruto. "I was hoping that you wouldn't. But I guess you let Sakura convince you to come watch Sasuke. I thought you had more say than that." Naruto added rubbing the back of his head.
"Hey, it wasn't me who convinced Sasuke to come watch. He was the one that dragged me here. Sasuke is just getting in touch with his nice side." Smirked Sakura. "He said that we should go cheer you on or at least watch since you were our friend." Sakura said as she looked up at Sasuke.
"Wow really? I didn't think you cared." Naruto said a little surprised. He expected Sasuke to be the one who would refuse to watch him eat ramen, but more so that he had actually admitted that they were friends. Not that everyone didn't assume that they were, it was just never put into terms.
"Hn. Yeah." Muttered Sasuke shoving his free hand in his pocket and looking the other way.
Naruto looked at Sasuke and Sakura and realized that they were holding hands. He immediately brightened up and got a smile on his face.
"What Naruto?" Asked Sakura noticing this change.
"Hehe. You two are together now? Boy did I miss a lot in five minutes." Naruto said trying to hold back the huge smile that wanted to break free.
Both Sasuke and Sakura looked down at what Naruto was referring to and noticed that they had still not stopped holding hands; even Sasuke had momentarily forgotten. The two quickly let go of each other and stepped slightly apart. Sasuke just put on his emotionless expression, while a slight blush came across Sakura's face.
"No we aren't together Naruto." Sakura quickly replied.
"I don't know. You two looked pretty together to me; I mean holding hands and everything." Naruto said teasingly.
"Well so did you and that guy, Dobe." Sasuke retorted.
Naruto quickly dropped it and changed the subject.
"So, where's Sai?" He asked looking around.
"Oh yeah. I don't know where he went. I haven't seen him since he disappeared before you guys started." Sakura said also looking around.
Suddenly Sai appeared right next to Sakura causing her to jump and nearly trip. Luckily, Sasuke once again came to her aid and caught her arm before she could. Sakura gave Sasuke another thankful look before casting Sai a deadly one.
"Sai don't you ever do that again! Where have you been this whole time?" Asked Sakura in a threatening tone and clenching her fists.
Sai smiled weakly before replying. "Sorry. I was taking care of some business."
Sakura was going to ask what kind of business he could possibly be taking care of in a Ramen House, when she remembered that he had headed off into the direction of the bathrooms. Sakura dropped the subject and began walking back to her seat at the table. The others followed behind her and soon they were back to where they started.
By the time the food came everyone's stomach was growling, except Naruto's who probably wouldn't be hungry for the rest of the day. Even Sasuke's stomach had growled, which Sakura found to be fairly funny. When his stomach growled Sakura couldn't help but start smiling as she held back her laughter. Sasuke just shot her an annoyed look and turned the other way crossing his arms over his stomach. This just only made things funnier to Sakura and she started laughing silently to herself. Naruto would have probably joined in on the comedic aspect of the situation, but after eating so much he fell asleep almost as soon as he got to the table, and was now drooling on his place mat.
The waitress set down the steaming bowls of ramen in front Sakura, Sasuke, and Sai before glancing at the sleeping Naruto. The girl smirked at Naruto before returning to her job. The three quickly began to eat their ramen with gusto similar to Naruto's when he attacked his King Colossal. They were all starving after the tiring morning that they had and barely spoke a word while they ate.
Sasuke glanced over at Sakura as she happily ate her ramen. He smirked to himself; she apparently liked the sweet and sour ramen that he had ordered her, and wouldn't be requiring his dumplings. Sakura felt Sasuke's gaze on her and looked over at him. Sasuke didn't turn away like Sakura thought he would, this made her a little disappointed. He obviously wasn't thinking about her in an emotional way or else he would have diverted his gaze like he had done when she caught him looking at her before. Instead Sasuke smirked at Sakura as he took a bit of dumpling.
"So does your ramen taste ok?" Sasuke asked as he gestured to the spoonful of ramen that Sakura was about to eat.
Sakura looked at Sasuke questioningly for a second not really understanding why Sasuke cared. Finally Sakura remembered that it had been Sasuke who had ordered for her. She had to admit that this was some of the best ramen that she had ever eaten, and she owed it all to Sasuke. Even if it was his fault that she couldn't order for herself in the first place. However, Sakura wasn't going to let Sasuke get all the credit that easy.
"Yeah I guess it is ok." Sakura said shrugging and smiling.
Sasuke just gave her a disbelieving look and smirked at her. Sakura could see the mischievous look in Sasuke's eyes and knew that he was going to make her admit that the ramen was really good one way or another. Just like he had when she lied about not knowing what she was going to order. Sakura sighed and decided that it would just be easier just to admit that the ramen was good.
"Ok fine. The ramen is really good. Thanks for ordering it." Sakura said sincerely, before smirking. "Even if it was your fault that you had to order for me in the first place."
"Hey, it isn't my fault that you are so stubborn and wouldn't admit that you didn't know what to get." Sasuke retorted.
"You are calling me stubborn? Me? You of all people should talk Sasuke." Sakura said as she crossed her arms.
"Hn." Sasuke said scowling.
Sakura just smirked at his scowl and returned to eating her ramen. The rest of the meal was pretty silent and soon the group was finished. Naruto woke up just in time for the bill to be placed on the table. Nobody made a move to take the bill and pay for the lunch.
Sakura was definitely not going to end up paying for their meal. Even in the short time that she had looked at the menu she remembered the ridiculous price of the King Colossal ramen bowl. She wasn't the one who ate it, so she was definitely not going to pay that much money for it.
"Okay Naruto, it's your turn to pay." Sakura said looking over at him as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.
"What?" Naruto asked drowsily.
"It is your turn to pay for the meal Naruto." Sakura said again.
"Oh ok." Naruto muffled as he sleepily reached for the bill and opened it. Suddenly Naruto no longer looked half asleep as he stared at the price of their meal.
"What the! No way that King Colossal was that much! This is ridiculous!" Naruto exclaimed as he fished for his money grumbling a few more things under his breath as he finally pulled it out.
Naruto opened his coin purse and was about to get out the money when he suddenly stopped. His faced turned a slight shade of red and he scratched his head embarrassedly as he looked over at Sakura and the rest of the group.
"Ummm, well…" Naruto started.
"What is it Naruto? Don't tell me you spent ALL of your money! That was supposed to last you the rest of the trip." Sakura said putting her face in her hands in exasperation.
"What did you do Dobe? Buy the whole village." Sasuke said sarcastically with a bit of a smirk.
"Hehe." Naruto said embarrassedly. He knew that Sasuke would really laugh at him if he knew how Naruto actually lost all of his money.
"No. Naruto's money was taken by the apple cart man for knocking over all the apples. It was either that or get his butt kicked by the man." Sai said matter-a-factly clearly not understanding the frantic signs from Naruto not to tell them what had happened.
Naruto just hit his head on the table as he saw the smirks spread across Sasuke and Sakura's faces, and gave Sai a dirty look. Sai merely shrugged oblivious to what he did wrong.
"So you got beat up by an apple cart owner then?" Sasuke said raising his eyebrow.
"Hey, that guy was like three times bigger than me! Even you, the All Powerful Sasuke, couldn't have taken him. Even his ego was bigger than yours!" Naruto said crossing his arms and looking the other way.
Sasuke scowled at Naruto's comment and opened his mouth to say something, but Sakura cut him short trying to avoid a fight.
"Well now that Naruto is broke, who is going to pay for lunch?" Sakura asked.
A little annoyed that Sakura had cut him short before he could defend his ego, Sasuke decided to mess with her.
"Well you did say that it was alright if I paid for everyone's lunch in order to repay you Sakura. So I guess I could pay for lunch instead..." Sasuke said crossing his hands behind his head and leaning back boredly.
Sakura glanced at Sasuke to see if he was joking or serious, but she couldn't tell. Maybe she shouldn't have teased him so much. Was he mad now? Oh well, he wasn't going to pay for lunch. Not if she could help it.
Sakura glared across the table at Sai telling him to pay for lunch. Sai didn't quite understand what Sakura was mad about now, and looked questioningly at her. Sakura nodded at Sasuke who was digging in his pocket for money and gave Sai and encouraging look. Sai looked back knowingly at Sakura, for once, but a little hesitant. However his hesitancy was soon diminished when Sakura kicked him under the table.
"It is ok. I will pay for this meal." Sai said with his customary smile as he placed some money on the bill.
Sakura leaned back and sighed thankful that Sai had actually come through for once. Sasuke heard Sakura's sigh and glanced over at her teasingly. Sakura noticed Sasuke's smirk and just glared back at him. This better be one heck of a date for all that Sakura was going through to make sure it happened.
The waitress came back to the table and took the money leaving the group free to go at anytime. However, they just sat there not really knowing where to go. After a few moments of silence, Naruto spoke up.
"Hey Sasuke, you said something about repaying Sakura for something. What exactly are you repaying her for?" Naruto asked curiously with a smirk playing on his face. He obviously had some ideas already in his head about what Sasuke was repaying Sakura for.
"Hn. Nothing that you need to know." Sasuke said as he glared at Naruto.
This only made Naruto's smirk increase as his ideas seemed even more probable.
"What? Are you trying to hide something Teme?"
"Hn. Mind your own business Dobe."
Naruto was having too much fun now and thought that he had finally cornered Sasuke.
"Heh, I'll mind mine as soon as you mind yours."
"What?" Sasuke had no idea what Naruto was talking about and this made him aggravated. Obviously Naruto had his mind set on something, but he couldn't figure out what and he had a feeling that he was leading himself into a trap.
"I mean you obviously have no trouble being in Sakura's business." Naruto said with a sly look on his face.
Sakura who had remained out of this little dispute after what had happened the last time she interrupted, finally realized what Naruto was talking about. Her eyes widened and a red flush quickly spread across her face. Sasuke obviously had no idea what Naruto was getting at. She could kill that Dobe, but she had a feeling that Sasuke would as soon as he figured out what Naruto was implying that he was repaying her for.
"What do you mean in Sakura's business? You are such a Dobe!" Sasuke was getting really frustrated and was close to the breaking point.
"Oh come off it Teme. We all knew you two were quite into each other's business last night. It is ok to admit it."
Suddenly it hit Sasuke what Naruto was talking about. He didn't know if he was angrier at Naruto for even thinking that and bringing it up, or at himself for letting it get this far without catching onto what Naruto was suggesting. Sasuke glanced over at Sakura who was beet red and was in the process of tearing her napkin into shreds. She had no doubtingly figured out what Naruto was inferring some time ago. Was he the last to catch on? Sasuke looked at Sai who had busied himself with looking at the picture of Naruto and Ramen Boy that was hanging on the wall and avoiding eye contact with Sasuke.
Naruto took Sasuke's momentarily silence as a sign that he had guessed right and decided to continue.
"Hehe, so I was right! I just never thought that Sakura would make you repay her for it. I mean I thought that she would want it just as much as you did and that you two would be even. I guess not." Naruto said smirking.
Sakura couldn't believe that Naruto had just said that. She could have died at that moment if she didn't want to kill Naruto as much as she did.
"Naruto!" Sakura growled through clenched teeth. "If you want to live long enough to get dessert I suggest you shut up now!"
"Hey! I was just saying that…" Naruto started.
"You Dobe! I am not repaying Sakura for that. For the last time nothing happened last night. And I suggest you drop it now!" Sasuke warned Naruto in a deadly tone that even Naruto wouldn't dare defy.
With that Sasuke stood up roughly and began walking out of the restaurant. The rest of the group quickly followed suit. However, the group didn't make it out before they were abruptly stopped by an excessively large man. They were just about to exit when some man suddenly grabbed Sai by the shoulder stopping him from leaving. Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto stopped as well wondering what Sai had done now.
"Where do you think you are going?" The man growled at Sai.
"Outside." Sai replied without an ounce of concern.
"Aren't you forgetting something? What about our bet?"
"Oh yes. I almost forgot." Sai replied.
The rest of the group just stared on curiously. Did Sai owe this guy money? If so why was Sai so calm when he just got caught trying to escape without paying the man his money.
"Here." The big man grunted holding out a large bag of money to Sai. "I never go back on my word; it looks bad for my reputation."
"Thanks." Said Sai as he took the bag of money and began walking out of the restaurant again leaving Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto to follow behind in shock.
After they were quite a ways down the street Naruto finally spoke up.
"Dude, how did you get all that money?" Naruto asked.
"Oh, when I left Sasuke and Sakura at the table I went to watch you eat your King Colossal. Everyone else was making bets so I figured I might as well make one too. So I bet with that man." Sai said casually.
"But Sai, you don't even have that much money. What do you think would have happened if you lost? You can't go around betting money you don't have! It is dangerous." Sakura warned with concern. "Besides, everyone that bet didn't gain or lose any money because both of them won. If you bet that Naruto would win and the other guy bet that Ramen Boy would win, then how did you get all that money?"
"I didn't bet that Naruto would win. I bet that Naruto wouldn't lose, and the other guy bet that Naruto would lose. I knew that there was no way that Naruto would let that guy beat him, but then I figured that by some twist of fate that the two tied I would still win. Either way Naruto didn't lose so I won."
The three just looked at Sai with confusion written all over their faces. Although his figuring seemed to work out, it was still way out there. None of them even tried to ask Sai how he thought of that, and they just continued walking down the street.