Hey there! I'm back with the mini-chapter that I promised! I wrote this chapter after I read 45510 short story. Damn it was sad. Reminds me of how badly Naruto was treated and the only place that treated him kindly was the Ramen shop as a kid.

Anyways, hope you enjoy this short chapter!

Naruto sighed as he washed the dishes as he helped his wife to get the work done faster. He enjoyed these little moments he had with her, just the two of them, doing mundane things.

"Alright, looks like we made a lot more rice." He heard Ai. Turning around he saw her packing the rice into small containers, no doubt to save them for later. He smiled slightly as he recalled a memory from years ago by the time Ai was pregnant with Sapphire.

Flashback 12 years ago:

Ai hummed happily as she bounced around the house as she rested her hands on her belly. It had been a few days since she had learned that she was pregnant and she couldn't be any happier. She giggled like a school girl, imagining what her child would look like.

"Would it look like me or Naruto? Would it be a he or a she?" She thought cheerfully. But she knew one that for sure and that was that she loved her unborn child and couldn't wait till the day the child will be born.

"Ai-chan, dinners ready!" She heard Naruto call out from the kitchen and sighed. Naruto had insisted he do the majority of the work, allowing her to rest, despite her protests, she relented. As she walked into the kitchen, she observed the plate of food Naruto had cooked for her and she smiled at him before she walked up to him and gave him a kiss.

"Thank you dear." She thanked him causing him to blush and adopted that goofy smile she had come to associate him with.

"O-Oh it's nothing! It's just some rice, soup, and some meats." Naruto listed off as Ai slightly grimaced at the rice bit but smiled. Her lover had made this with all his heart, she wouldn't allow to go to waste. As the two sat down, enjoying their alone time for one day out of the week, a comfortable silence descended.

"I'm glad that Miyako-san was willing to look after the kids for the day." Naruto spoke, causing Ai to nod. While they loved their children, they wanted to have some days to themselves to relax and just enjoy each other's company.

"What would you like to do after this, Naru-kun?" Ai questioned as Naruto hummed as he looked at the food before him and noticed that Ai had barely touched the rice. He chuckled slightly as he pointed at the food.

"Well, as soon as you finish your rice, we can go watch a movie." Naruto said jokingly, but quickly stopped as he noticed her stiffen at that, her hands slightly trembling. Naruto reached out his hand and gently laid it on hers.

"Ai… what's wrong?" He asked her soften as he saw a pained look flash on her face as she looked down.

"I… I don't really like rice." Her voice was quiet, like that of a mouse, but he could feel the pain in it. Seeing her hurt like this made him unease, it was as if someone was squeezing his heart. He did the only thing he could do in that moment; he hugged her.

"It's ok love, I'm here." Naruto comforted her, gently running his hand through her hair as she sniffled.

"I-I'm sorry, Naru-kun. You worked too hard in making this food and I just said I hate it." She sobbed quietly in his shoulder, but Naruto shook his head.

"It's fine, love. Tell me, why don't you like rice?" He questioned her in the same soft voice. She once again stiffened as memories slowly started to come back to her, as the tears began to flow down her cheeks.

"W-When I was young… my… my mother at one point put shards of glass in my rice…" She choked out, the memory too painful for her. Naruto tightened his hold on her and gritted his teeth. What kind of mother would do that to a child?

"And then when I was in the orphanage, the rice was of sub-par quality. I can still taste the sand in it." She finished with a hollow chuckle, but Naruto wasn't having none of it. He leaned back as he broke the hug and looked at her before he looked at the rice.

"Ai-chan… you really have suffered a lot during your childhood, didn't you?" Naruto spoke softly as he gently took a spoon full of rice and put it in his mouth. Ai looked at him on confusion before her confusion turned to surprise as he kissed her, practically feeding her the rice from his mouth. He back away as she wordlessly chewed on the rice and swallowed it. That was the best rice she had ever eaten.

"From now on, every time you eat rice, think of this." Naruto said with a grin as she dumbly nodded at him. Naruto chuckled at her reaction before his eyes softened and recalled some of his own memories.

"Ai-chan, when I was a kid, most shops didn't want to sell me food and those that did were either overpriced or it was rotten and expired. I cannot begin to tell you how many times I was sold spoiled milk." Naruto said with chuckle as Ai looked at him with worry. When Naruto had shared all of his emotions, she had felt everything. But hearing the details was still gutting wrenching for her.

"That's why I love ramen. Because it was the first food that I ate that wasn't old, wasn't expired, it was delicious and warm." Naruto recalled his first ever ramen bowl. Ai smiled sadly at him as she took his hand.

"I'm sorry, Naruto-kun. Your childhood must have been hell compared to mine. All the hate that you had to bare…" She trailed off as she brought a hand his cheek and traced his whiskers. Naruto shook his head as brought his forehead down and rested it on hers.

"You had it hard too. Your mother practically abandoned you, worse, she hurt you." Naruto almost growled out. If he ever met that woman, he didn't know if he'd be able to control himself. Ai saw the anger that swirled in his eyes, anger at her mother, but more than that, she saw the love he held for her. She leaned in a bit and gave him a quick kiss.

"That's all in the past now…" She trailed off as the two looked at each other, lost in their eyes as if they were looking at each other's souls.

"So… are you going to feed me more rice?" Ai questioned him to which he blinked before nodding.

"Anything for you… my Idol-sama." He whispered into her ear as she blushed at that.

"W-Where did that come from?" She questioned him as he smirked.

"You're a respected Idol, well, I suppose you were. But now, you are my Idol, Idol-sama." Naruto winked at her as her blushed reached an impossible level, enough to make steam come out of her ears.

"T-T-Then, how about a…live performance?" She suggested, now it was Naruto's turn to blush madly. Surly she wasn't suggesting…

"R-R-Roleplay?" Naruto stuttered out as she shyly nodded at him as she looked away, she wasn't very good at the teasing bit and felt like an idiot for asking such a thing.

"As you wish… Idol-sama." Her eyes widened at his response as she looked at him in surprise. On that day, two things happened to Ai. One, she had a new found love for eating rice, no longer reminding her of shards of glass, but rather a warm, comforting kiss from her lover. And two, she gained enough confidence in her teasing and flirting that it would become a regular occurrence between the two.

Flashback end:

Naruto chuckled to himself as the memory played out in his head before he got a devious idea. Seeing that one of the rice containers was still open and Ai's back was turned to it, he scooped up some rice into his mouth and walked over to Ai.

"Naruto-kun, what are you–" Ai started but was caught off guard when Naruto locked lips with her and she felt…rice? Yes, rice enters her mouth. The kiss lasted only seconds as Naruto parted away from her as she chewed on the rice. Yes, she very much loved rice, because it remaindered her of Naruto and his kisses.

And done! So, what did you all think? Leave a review or two and your thoughts in them! I'll see you all next chapter, the Reality Dating Arc!