Living Alone

Naruto stared into his frog wallet and sighed. Two days, that's how much longer his money would feed him – and that was being as cheap as possible. The cheapest cup ramen in the stores, the smallest loaf of bread available (on the day it was due to expire, so it would be on sale), and condiments would be sachets nicked from restaurants when the owners weren't looking.

Ever since he graduated to being a full-time Shinobi, and started earning a steady income with his missions, he was no longer entitled to money from the council. That had been all well and good when he was being given tough B and A rank missions, but lately, his missions had been lacking. There weren't any good missions for him at the moment, because the few high class missions went to the Jounins and Chunins. Even then, there weren't that many missions for anyone currently, and it was bad news for Naruto.

He stared at his practically bare cupboards, wishing that he'd stocked up cup ramen, rather than spoiling himself with really expensive Ichiraku ramen after that well-paying mission he'd been on. Oh, the joys of hindsight.

The next two days followed, and he ate two meals for each of them; one cup ramen and one piece of toast, dry. That was it, he had some stale bread left, and no money. After asking Tsunade about a mission, she apologised and told him to wait a little while for them to start rolling in. It looked like Naruto would have to start subtly getting his friends to buy him food.

First stop: Iruka-Sensei. He was always treating Naruto to Ichiraku ramen! Maybe he would this time! So the next morning, Naruto ran off to find Iruka's house, and knocked on the door.

"Iruka-Senseeeiii!" He called out. The door opened and Iruka looked down at Naruto, surprised.

"Hello, Naruto. What brings you to my doorstep?" He smiled and stepped aside to allow Naruto in. Naruto took the invitation and stood inside the doorway instead of outside.

"Well, I was wondering if we could go to Ichiraku, your treat?" He said it quickly, with a bright smile. Iruka blinked and laughed, ruffling Naruto's hair.

"You seem to be in a good mood today. Alright, let me get my shoes…" He turned his back on Naruto to wiggle his feet into his sandals, muttering to himself, "That smile gets me every time. I swear he knows it, too."

And that was how Naruto earned his first meal of the day, and everything was okay. He thanked Iruka with a big hug, and ran off to bother Sakura. As time went by, however, his stomach groaned and complained at him that he needed his second meal or else he'd regret it. Naruto couldn't trouble Iruka again, so he wondered around, thinking about what to do.

That was when he spotted Chouji, Shikamaru, and Ino at the local Barbeque place, so he wondered up to them and slipped into the spare seat. "Yo, Chouji!" He beamed. "I'm glad I found you, I was just thinking about Ramen, and I thought 'I wonder what Chouji's favourite Ramen is', so I thought I'd come ask!" Smooth insertion into the group now complete, Naruto chatted casually with Chouji, and occasionally snuck some beef into his mouth when he was sure no one was paying attention. Then again, he was probably noticed because Shikamaru always noticed everything ever (but he stayed quiet).

Once Naruto finished taking all the meat he would allow himself to without feeling like he was stealing from them, he wrapped up his conversation to leave them to eat in peace.

"….Well, while I'd disagree with you there, I also think that every Ramen ever invented is delicious, and you are entitled to your opinion too (even if it's wrong). So I'm glad we had this conversation, but I better be off. See ya!" And with that, he vanished, trying to ignore his guilt. Still, that was one day down. He hoped that a mission would come through for him tomorrow. In fact, he wanted to be assigned whatever mission came through, regardless of rank or suitability to his skills.

But when the morning came around, there was nothing for him, so he went home and ate a slice couple of slices of bread. They kept him going for a short amount of time, but he endured until it was dinner time. Who could he go to this time? Kakashi-Sensei might let him have some food! Decided, Naruto headed over to Kakashi's house and peered through the window. Kakashi was in there, casually flicking through a book, ignoring a pile of paperwork on the table in front of him.

Naruto went back around to the door and knocked loudly, gaining his teacher's attention. The door swung open. "Ah, Naruto! What brings you here?"

"I, ah, wanted to ask you to show me some food I should eat instead of just Ramen. You know, like you did before…" He trailed off. Kakashi stared at him for a moment, his one uncovered eye slightly wider than usual in surprise. Naruto shrugged.

"I'm glad you're taking your health more seriously," Kakashi finally decided to say and turned towards the kitchen. "Anything to stop you from eating ramen for the rest of your life – It'd be a very short one if you did that." Naruto nodded and followed him through. He didn't really care what he ate at the moment; as long as it was edible, he would be happy.

"So?"

"So… Carrots." Kakashi put a carrot on the table. Naruto nodded, recognising it as something which rarely occurred in ramen, but did show up on occasion. "Tomatoes." Ah, the not-fruit. Naruto wasn't sure what you were meant to do with tomatoes. "Apples." The assortment of fruit and vegetables continued, making a small pile on the table. "…And there you have it!" Kakashi finished. Naruto nodded, admiring the (Still rather small) pile of food as though it was a work of art.

"That's cool, Kakashi-Sensei!" He grinned. Kakashi gave him one of his smiles and excused himself.

"I'm glad you think so. Now I have some paperwork I need to get to. I've been neglecting it…" And he breezed out of the room, perverted book already open in his hand. Naruto took a moment to snort at his behaviour before turning back to the fruit and vegetables.

"Don't mind if I do…" He muttered to himself, then collected them in his arms and ran off with them. They would keep him going for a while! He inwardly thanked Kakashi again and again. Later, he discovered that the vegetables he tried tasted like crap, and even though he tried to force them down, he realised that throwing up because they tasted bad would be counter-productive.

That left him with three fruits… Which ended up lasting him one day. Back to square one? Naruto sighed and laid on his bed, deep in thought. He felt bad for each of the methods of obtaining food he'd tried, he wasn't sure if he could do that again. But… He couldn't tell his friends what problems he was having, he didn't want to trouble them, but he also didn't want them to look at him with that horrible piteous look that he had sometimes been on the receiving end of, and hated each time. He didn't want to depend on his friends for something as stupid as money…

Not to mention, they wouldn't understand. They were either adults who were financially stable, or teenagers who still lived with and relied on their parents. How could they understand the problems Naruto was having? He shook his head vigorously and got up to pick mould off the remaining loaf. That didn't last long before he gave up and ditched the whole thing. It would be worse if he got sick from eating bad food.

"I suppose I'll have to just wait it out," He muttered to his microwave, the only appliance which would give him the time of day (sometimes it beeped its sympathy to him if he pressed its buttons… Naruto wondered if he was going mad). "Maybe the council will… No! They've recognised me as a graduated Shinobi, and therefore an adult! I don't want something like this to spoil that!" Naruto sighed and glanced around his little apartment. He was glad, not for the first time, that his rent only came around once every six months because the place was so cheap. It was nowhere near its due-date.

The next couple of days were torture. His stomach whined pathetically at him, and he nodded solemnly, patting it. "I know, but it won't be much longer now…" And sure enough, the next day, Sakura came knocking at his door.

"Naruto? Are you in there? We have a mission!"

"Yes!" Naruto threw the door open with vigour. It was about time! "What rank?!"

"B rank…" Alright! A well-paying mission, then! He was ready to go before Sakura knew it.

"Is Sai coming along? What about Kakashi-Sensei? Or are we with Yamato-Taicho this time 'round?" He asked eagerly, speed-walking to Tsunade's office, with Sakura jogging to keep up. His hunger pains had faded for the time being, and the news had pumped Naruto full of energy, so he was raring to go.

"I don't know? We'll find out when we get there!" Which they did. Tsunade was waiting in her office for them, along with Sai and Kakashi-Sensei, who were looking expectant.

"Excellent, everyone is here. We've had reports from Tanzaku Town on a number of robberies. The reports claim that the attacks are by Ninjas who perform violent jutsus to get break in and steal anything they like."

"And alert everyone to their presence?" Kakashi asked with a raised eyebrow (not that anyone could see if he was raising the other one or not).

"Yes, that struck me as strange as well. It's like they want everyone to know of about them. They sound like low level Ninjas when you put it like that, but… The techniques they have been using are at least Chunin level, if not Jounin. You will be investigating these claims and taking down the Ninjas behind it. That is your mission. You will be leaving immediately."

"Yes, sir!" They responded with varying levels of enthusiasm, and were on their way in no time. Naruto thought about the place Tsunade had sent them to. Tanzaku Town… That was where he'd first met Tsunade, he realised. The place with the bars and countless places to go gamble and blow all your money. The thought made him wince.

There was another thing he remembered about that place. It took him and the pervert-sage far too long to get there. True, a lot of those days were spent going back and forth because they didn't know exactly where Tsunade was, and another bunch of those were spent training. But afterwards, they took the most direct route back… And it would take at least two days to get to their destination. He wondered if he'd be able to find some fruit along the way (it turns out, apples were damn delicious).

As they walked, and sometimes ran, Naruto's mood dropped substantially. He wasn't sure if he was seriously hungry, or not hungry at all anymore, because his stomach was sending mixed signals to his brain. What he was sure of, though, was that he was damned thirsty. It only took a minute for Naruto drain his entire first bottle of water. He only had one left, now. This mission was taking too long… Why couldn't it be over? They could be returning already, and he could be paid… And his first stop would be to get the largest bowl of Ichiraku ramen in existence.

Thinking about food make his stomach hurt. Yes, he was definitely still hungry… He and his frog wallet really needed filling up. That was why they needed to hurry it up! Why was everyone else taking so long? If they ran, they'd get there faster, and they could complete their mission sooner!

He picked up his pace again, and the rest were forced to follow his lead.

"Naruto? What's gotten into you!" Sakura demanded. Naruto didn't respond. He couldn't respond. They couldn't know about his trouble, he couldn't be pitied. He'd always lived alone, he'd faced this problem before. He could make it through this time too, it was no big deal. A small voice at the back of his head floated up, If it's no big deal… Why don't you tell them? Secrecy makes it a big deal, you know…

Either he was going insane, or the Nine Tails was screwing with him. Whichever it was, the voice did have a point though. It was just, he couldn't bring himself to tell anyone, because of a matter of pride, and because he didn't want to concern his friends.

Was there any fresh water around here? He could really use being doused by cold water to freshen himself up. Sai kept shooting glances at him for some reason, as well, so it would provide a distraction. In fact, Sai had been keeping it up for a while now, glancing back periodically to get a look at him. It irritated Naruto.

"What?" He snapped.

"You never answered Sakura's question. You seem a little off."

"I'm fine," Naruto replied huffily. The rest of the team looked doubtful. Naruto picked up his pace and they followed with protests. Were those mushrooms at the base of the trees edible? He was willing to test them out and see.

As they carried on, the trees and other plants became more spaced out – less forest-like and more meadow-y. It was kind of nice, but Naruto was having a hard time appreciating it. His pace slowed as night approached, unable to go any faster. They camped out at the base of a large tree, and Naruto lay on a thick patch of grass, thinking about how much closer they'd be to their destination if they hadn't needed to stop. His body thought otherwise, making him feel drowsy, so he gave into it and went to sleep before any of his team members finished eating their provisions.

In retrospect, falling asleep sooner than everyone else meant that no one could question him on his lack of food. However, when the morning rose and they were all enjoying a small breakfast snack, Naruto's lack of food became a lot more apparent. He escaped that one by making a crude comment about needing a piss in front of Sakura. After all this time, she was still easily flustered by toilet humour.

The pace set this day was by Kakashi, who easily shot to the head of the group. Naruto found that keeping the pace from yesterday was near impossible. In fact, he was finding it hard to keep up with everyone else. His feet felt heavy and refused to lift off the ground properly. The sun was high in the sky, and facing the direction it was in made Naruto's head swim. His head, actually, was doing more than that, now that he came to think of it. It pounded terribly, like a terrible hangover without the fun of drinking the night before.

For a second while he was engrossed in his thoughts, and everyone was running, he lost track of the group. His running and hopping from tree-to-tree (as that was how Kakashi decided was the easiest way to approach the town) slowed to the point of stopping at that point as he tried to re-orient himself. Sakura's call to him helped with that.

"Naruto? Stop lagging behind, or we'll leave you!"

"Ah? C-Coming!" He darted in the direction of the voice and the group came back into view. Only, they were rather out of focus. In fact it wasn't just his group, it was everything. He couldn't focus on the path he was following, nor the branches he was meant to be landing on. Everything was working on instinct by now.

The ground was out of focus when his head drooped and he looked down at it. It was far away because they were quite high up. There were tall trees around here. Then the ground got closer, as grounds do when you approach them from a height… Then there was a thud, and Naruto knew nothing but blackness. Painful, swirling blackness which took over his brain and squeezed it, as though trying to squeeze out every thought Naruto was having, and leaving his mind blank.

While that happened, Naruto was lying on the ground, unconscious. The noise of his fall attracted the attention of his teammates who stopped to investigate.

"Naruto?" Sakura called out and jumped down. "Oh no!" Lying sprawled there, Naruto looked terrible. When they ran up to him, she was checking his vitals with her medical ninjutsu immediately. "Hmm… He doesn't seem to have any injuries… But…" She groaned in realisation and shut her eyes. "Jeez, he's starving!"

"Starving?" Sai asked, eyeing Naruto. "Like, starving himself because he isn't happy with his body?"

"Frankly, I can't see Naruto ever doing that," Sakura said, shaking her head. She looked over at Kakashi to ask what to do. He hadn't said a word yet, and looked deep in thought. "Kakashi-Sen…sei?" She asked tentatively. He sighed and ran his fingers through his thick hair.

"I'm quite surprised I didn't actually see the signs. No, he isn't starving himself on purpose. In fact, he's been trying to scrape up food wherever possible. The idiot just couldn't afford to eat…" The words held no venom though, and he stood and stretched. "There is no way he will be able to continue this mission in his condition. Sakura, can you handle taking him back to Konoha as fast as possible?"

"Yes," She nodded.

"Good. Sai and I will be fine handling this mission by ourselves. Look after Naruto."

With that, they took off in their separate directions. Sakura carried Naruto's uncionscious body on her back, muttering about how hopeless he was, and how she hoped he realised that what happened changed her opinion of his IQ. It was probably lower than they'd originally thought.

Naruto, of course, heard nothing of this, being unconscious that he was. He also had no sense of time, and what might have been days in the waking world, could have been minutes in his head. But he wasn't sure. Nothing had absolute surety at the moment. What was going on? And where was he?

"Food…" He managed to tell the darkness. Whether it actually left his lips or not, he wasn't sure. The darkness seemed to press down on his forehead, as though making fun of his situation.

"I've got your food right here, you idiot." Darkness usually didn't speak back to you, Naruto realised. Either he was dreaming, or there was some sort of man (The voice was a man's, he was pretty sure) with him. His eyelids decided to answer all of his questions at once by allowing him to open them.

"Mmnn…?" What started off as a groan of drowsiness turned into a noise of curiosity. There were many pairs of eyes on him, some further away and some quite close. The main thing he should note, was that he was horizontal, on his back, staring at the ceiling.

"Food right here. That is, when your body can handle proper food like this again." Shikamaru was the one who had spoken to him, and currently held a basket sent by the gods, and filled to the brim with delicious fruits, and lined decoratively with Ichiraku Ramen coupons.

"Wha?" He blinked and stared at the basket. "But… I can eat…" He reached up an arm which was slapped back down by an aggressive Sakura.

"You idiot!" She raised her voice at him, and he winced. Shikamaru had a very unsympathetic look on his face for once, as he set the basket just out of Naruto's reach on the side table. "Do you know how much damage to your body starvation can have? You're lucky this hasn't been going on for too long!" She looked ready to punch him, but seemed to remember that it wasn't exactly protocol for a nurse to hit her patient. Her knuckles were trembling with the effort of staying still, though.

"But I don't get it, Naruto…" Came a voice which hadn't spoken up yet. Naruto turned his head to look at Lee, one of the pairs of eyes which had come quite close to him. Naruto sunk back into his pillow slightly. "Why didn't you tell anybody? Surely someone would have been able to help you! We're all your friends here, after all."

"Correct," A further back set of eyes confirmed. These ones were pale white and attached to Neji Hyuuga. "I have the money to be able to afford at least one extra set of meals, if you had just explained."

"Don't need your charity," Naruto mumbled into his pillow. This appeared to be the final straw for Sakura, who punched Naruto hard, but managed to avoid anything important, and just hit his shoulder. Naruto winced and rubbed it resentfully.

"Idiot! Like it's better to throw yourself in hospital than to get help from the start. Now you're being a pain, taking up another hospital bed, unable to go on missions…" That was a line that made Naruto twitch.

"Mission…!" He said, eyes wide. "What happened to the mission?!"

"Kakashi and Sai went on to do it themselves," Sakura explained. "It hasn't been that long so they're not back yet, but when they do, I'm sure they'll give you just as much of a talking to as we are!" She nodded decisively. Naruto groaned and shut his eyes.

"You should have come to me!" Kiba grinned, "I always have a steak or two to spare for Akamaru, I bet I could spare some more for a friend. So come rely on us a bit more, yeah?"

"You should always ask your friends when you need help," Shino spoke up from his little gloomy corner. "Why? Because if you do not, and as a result wind up in hospital, your friends not only feel bad that they could not help you, but hurt that you did not need or trust them enough to share your problems with them."

"Er…" Then Shino leaned forward and placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder. Naruto stared at him, glanced down at the hand, then back up.

"We must spend more time together," Shino said, then withdrew his hand. Naruto scratched his head and nodded.

"…Hm."

"Get the message now, idiot?" Sakura asked. "You could have avoided all this if you just asked for a little help from your friends. God, one day I swear I will wear down that thick skull of yours."

"Heh… Heheheh… Sorry everyone," Naruto apologised awkwardly. The smiles he received in return made him feel guiltier about what he'd done than the berating Sakura had just given him. "So, what will I do about money if I can't go on missions until I'm better?"

"You are allowed to ask for help from the community, you know. We don't abandon people in this village, and nobody goes homeless or hungry. It's practically a policy, one you seemed pretty eager to break."

"I thought I would be able to last long enough to get money," Naruto complained quietly to himself, but smiled anyway. Louder, he said, "I guess you're right. I'll do that next time, I promise. Until then… I guess I can't let these coupons go to waste!" He made to stand up, but was forced back down.

"No way, you are in no state for that yet. Rest, eat things which are easy to handle, and do overdo it. Honestly, nothing good ever seems to come from the number 1 Ninja of surprises," She huffed and stomped out of the room.

Naruto supposed, as he gazed at his delicious looking basket of food and promise of ramen, that this would be considered a lesson on morals. He hadn't even realised that things like that happened in real life, but apparently, they came by every once in a while. He should be thankful that he'd somehow made such good friends.

A/N Is it just me, or did that plot kind of pater off a bit near the end, making it less interesting? I'm not used to writing something other than humour, you would notice if you glanced at my profile. Pretty much everything is humour. But you know, I bet that's because I don't have anyone to bounce my ideas off. Yeah. You know?

Like in a good RP? With Naruto and another good looking male? Yes? But I don't have an RP partners. Sighs dramatically and drapes self over a chaise longue, giving you, the reader, a meaningful look. I mean, if you glance at my profile I'm sure you'll see the long list of Naruto pairings I enjoy. But what do you care. Go ahead, review. Or close the tab. Your call.

…

Love you.