Chapter 1: Pleasant Meetings

(Random Street)

It was just another day in the village of Konoha. The birds were chirping and the people were enjoying their day. We currently find our favorite Number One Hyperactive, Knucklehead Ninja, Naruto Uzumaki walking through the streets of Konoha heading for his favorite place in all of the village, Ichiraku Ramen.

Its been a week since Naruto and his team have returned after their mission in the Land of Waves and things have been great. Of course, after they got back things between them when back to normal also. Sakura bugging Sasuke for a date and completely ignoring him while Kakashi ran off to read that perverted book of his. All in all, things weren't so bad for Naruto. He's been shot down by Sakura many times.

"Man, I can't believe that it's been a week since we got back from the Land of Waves. My bodies still sore." Naruto said with a groan. "Oh well, nothing Ichiraku's can't fix." Naruto said as he started running.

While Naruto was running, he saw something out of the corner of his eye a skidded to a halt. What he saw really ticked him off as he watched several people get thrown out of a restaurant that wouldn't serve him any food when he was younger. The people looked like they were hungry and were arguing with the manager but with no results. So, Naruto decided to help them out as he walked towards them.

(Restaurant Entrance)

Three people were rudely thrown out of a restaurant by the manager and two of his best men.

"I said no!" The manager yelled with anger. "We don't serve your kind here Rain ninja." He finished with a sneer.

"Why the hell not? We're hungry so let us eat." A boy with orange hair yelled as he got in the mans face only to be pushed down by one of the managers thugs.

"Get lost brats, or else..." The thug on the left began with a grin.

"...We're gonna teach you a lesson." The thug on the right finished cracking his knuckles.

"Come on Yahiko, it's not worth it, let's just go." A blue haired girl said from behind the now identified Yahiko.

"No way Konan, we're paying customers. They can't just throw us out because of where we're from." Yahiko said as he glared at the three in front of them.

"Yahiko, you're going to get us in trouble. Maybe we should just look for someplace else to eat." A timid boy with red hair said trying to stop a fight from starting.

"Oh come on Nagato, you to." Yahiko said as he looked at his friend.

"You should listen to your friends kid." The manager said as he watched the three.

"Please sir, at least take this for the trouble." Konan said as she held out a hand full of money and a bag in the other.

"It's going to cost more then that." The man said then noticed the bag in Konan's hand. "This'll do just fine." The man said as he snatched the bag out of Konan's hand, knocking her down.

"Hey, that's all of our money, give it back." Yahiko yelled at the manager while Nagato ran to Konan's side.

"Sorry kid, but because of all the trouble you and your bratty friends caused. Consider this..." The man started but was cut off by someone yelling at them.

"Hey!" Someone called from the side getting all of their attention only to see a spiky haired blonde kid wearing an orange jumpsuit and whisker marks on his face.

"What's the big idea kicking them out of your restaurant and taking their money, you old goat?" Naruto said as he glared at the manager and his thugs.

"None of your business you demon brat, get lost." The man said as he and his thugs walked back into the restaurant.

Naruto then turned to the three people he just helped and saw that they were each wearing short grey shirts with green trimming and mesh armor undershirts. They also wore black and white belts with grey pants, with the exception of the girl who wore a black and white skirt with a pouch on the front. What really got Naruto's attention however, was their headbands with the symbol for rain on them.

'So, these guys are ninja too? I wonder why their here.' Naruto thought as he eyed the three with curiosity until he noticed that the girl was still on the ground.

"Need a hand?" Naruto asked as he extended his hand towards her.

"Sure, thanks." Konan replied as she grabbed the blonde boys hand and stood up.

"Don't mention it." Naruto said then faced the three. "So, I guess you guys are ninja too, right?" Naruto asked getting nods from all three of them.

"Yeah, we're from the Rain Village. It's nice to meet you by the way, I'm Yahiko." He said with pride.

"I'm Nagato, it's nice to meet you." He said with a small smile.

"And I'm Konan, thanks for the help." She said with a kind smile.

To say that Naruto was speechless, was an understatement as he stared into Konan's amber eyes. As he stared at her, the only thing to come to his mind was one word.

'Beautiful.' Naruto thought as he stared at her but then noticed that a hand was waving in his face.

"Hey, are you alright?" Konan asked as Naruto faced her.

"Um, yeah. I've just never seen anyone as beautiful as you before." Naruto said then turned red. "I mean...a-a not beautiful um...I-I meant." Naruto stuttered as he tried to think of something else to say, not noticing the blush on Konan's face.

'He called me beautiful. No ones ever called me beautiful before.' Konan thought with a blush then noticed his features. 'Well, he is pretty cute.' Konan thought as she watched him.

"Haha, it's okay man. You don't have to strain yourself." Yahiko said making Naruto stop stuttering and look at them all embarrassed.

"Heh, sorry about that. Oh, by the way, I'm Naruto Uzumaki." Naruto introduced himself with his foxy grin.

"Nice to meet you Naruto, and think you for the compliment." Konan said making Naruto and herself blush until a grumble got their attention and faced an embarrassed Nagato.

"Sorry." Nagato said with a faint pink on his cheeks.

"It's okay, you guys can come with me if you're hungry." Naruto said grinning.

"Really? That'd be great." Yahiko said getting agreeing nods from Konan and Nagato.

"Alright, then follow me. Also, I have one very important question to ask. How do guys fill about ramen?" Naruto asked as they walked down the street.

(Ichiraku Ramen)

"Here we are, the place that sells the greatest food in the world." Naruto announced as as he and the Rain ninja stood in front of his favorite food stand.

"Ichiraku Ramen? I've never heard of it." Yahiko said as he eyed Naruto with curiosity. "Are you sure they'll let us eat hear?" Yahiko asked with uncertainty.

"Of course they will. They let me eat here when no one else let me eat at their place." Naruto replied as he walked in followed by the other three.

"Hey, old man, Ayame." Naruto said as he greeted the two behind the counter.

"Well, theirs our favorite customer. What took you so long, it's not like you to be late?" Teuchi questioned as he eyed Naruto.

"Yeah, for a minute there, we thought that you found a new place to eat at." Ayame said with amusement.

"Heh, sorry about that. I got...sidetracked." Naruto replied as he gestured toward the three behind him.

"Oh, I see." Teuchi began as he the three, then smiled. "Well then, welcome to Ichiraku Ramen, what'll have?" Teuchi asked kindly.

Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan hesitantly walked to the counter a sat down around Naruto, with Konan on his right while Nagato and Yahiko sat on his left. They thought for a minute before they made their choices.

"I'll have a bowl of BBQ pork ramen with extra pork." Yahiko said with a wide grin.

"I'll have the seafood special, thank you." Nagato said with a small smile.

"And I'll have miso ramen, please." Konan said politely.

"Alright then, and you Naruto? As if I had to asked." Teuchi said with a knowing smile.

"I'll have four bowls of miso ramen." Naruto replied with a large smile.

"Alright, let's get started Ayame. We've got customers to feed." Teuchi said as he and his daughter walked to the back.

Once Teuchi and Ayame left, an awkward silence over came the four. Naruto wanted to break the silence but didn't know how until, something caught his eye. He noticed the blue origami flower in Konan's hair.

"Hey Konan, that's a nice flower. Did you make it yourself?" Naruto asked getting Konan's attention.

"Yes, I did. It was the first origami I ever made. I've had it since I was younger. It means a lot to me." Konan replied with a smile.

"Oh, so you make origami? That's so cool." Naruto said as he flashed her his foxlike grin earning a blush from Konan.

"If you think that's cool, you should see us in action." Nagato said with a small smile.

"Oh really?" Naruto began. "Is that a challenge? Because if it is I'm ready, believe it." He finished with a confident expression.

"Hmm, maybe it is." Yahiko replied with his own confident expression.

Before they could say anything else, Teuchi and Ayame returned with their food and they all started eating. However, the rain ninja suddenly stopped after their first bite, earning them the attention's of Naruto, Teuchi, and Ayame.

"Is it okay? Theirs nothing wrong with it is their?" Ayame asked a little worried.

"It's the best thing we've ever eaten!" They yelled in unison and started scarfing down the rest of their ramen faster then Naruto.

'Well, I did say it's the greatest food in the world.' Naruto thought with a sweat drop as he started eating as well.

Later, after they finished eating, the group had left with Teuchi and Ayame asking them to come again. They were walking and talking about random stuff, whether it was about each other or their villages and were starting to like Naruto. However, Konan was the one who was starting to like Naruto even more and couldn't help but notice how cute he looked.

"Well, Naruto." Yahiko started. "This is the best day we've ever had since we came to Konoha, thanks to you." He finished as pat Naruto on the shoulder.

"Yeah, we've never had this much fun in our village before, thanks." Nagato said with a thumbs up.

"Yeah, and we hope to see you around while we're here." Konan said with a kind smile.

"Heh, thanks, I hope to see you guys around to." Naruto began with his foxy grin. "Anyway, see you around. I've got to get home and get some sleep, it's pretty late." He finished with a yawn.

"Alright, see you man." Yahiko said as he started walking off.

"Yeah, see you." Nagato said with a smile as he followed behind Yahiko.

"Thanks for today, we all had fun and..." Konan began with a blush. "...I want you to have this." Konan said as she reached into her pouch and handed Naruto an orange origami flower.

"You're giving this to me?" Naruto asked getting a nod from Konan.

"Yeah, you're one of our friends now. And I figured that since orange is your favorite color, you should have it in that color." Konan said with a blush growing.

"Heh, thanks Konan, I'll treasure it always." Naruto said as he put it in his weapons pouch.

"You're welcome, see you later Naruto." Konan said as she followed her teammates back to their hotel.

"Well, I think I better get going before it's morning but, I wonder if I'll see Konan again, she is pretty cute." Naruto said to himself as he started walking back to his apartment while unaware that he was being watched.

(Hokage Tower)

"Well now, it would appear that Naruto has a crush on someone who doesn't always hit him. That's good for him, good for you Naruto, good for you." Hiruzen Sarutobi said to himself as he gazed into his crystal ball and watched Naruto walk back to his apartment with a smile on his face.

"Now then, to take care of these last documents for the Chunin Exams." Sarutobi said as he started filing one document after another.