Author's Note: This is the story behind Iruka, Anko, and Naruto's friendships in my story Cats, Smurfs, and Cake. I just thought it would be cute. :)

A Bowl of Kindness

Naruto liked ramen. He had heard that Ichiraku's had the best in Konoha. Of course, the first time he'd gone in, he'd been chased back out, having chopsticks, bowls, and even some kunai and shuriken thrown at him. He only needed to attempt it twice before he realized that he wasn't wanted there. So, he stood just outside, watching everyone else coming and going and having fun. …And eating ramen.

He squeaked as someone knocked into him and quickly ducked back, expecting to be shoved or hit. "Ah-!"

"Oh, I'm sorry!" The brunet man caught him before he fell, frowning. "I didn't see you there."

Naruto looked up at the man and frowned. He was barely that—barely a man, anyway, because he was still a little on the young side. He was obviously a chunin—he wore the chunin vest—and had a scar running across his nose. His dark brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and his brown eyes were kind, and curious. …Maybe even a little lonely, like his.

The man tilted his head and glanced inside Ichiraku's. "Are you hungry?"

The blond ducked his head again and tried to pull away, but the man was still holding onto his arm. "…They won't let me inside. Everyone always throws things at me and yell at me to get out," he mumbled finally, realizing the man wasn't letting go.

"…You're Uzumaki Naruto, aren't you?" The man smiled and knelt so that they were level with each other. "I'm Umino Iruka. I'm a very good customer of Teuchi, so I don't think he'll mind if I bring in another customer. After all, what does it matter who eats as long as they make money, right?" The blond blinked up at him in confusion, then his stomach rumbled, and the chunin laughed and stood. "I don't think your stomach wants to take 'no' for an answer! Come on. Let's go meet my friend."

Naruto nodded hesitantly and grabbed onto his vest as he began into the restaurant, trying to keep up with him. He winced as the entire restaurant turned to glare at him, and some even lifted their hands to throw things at him, making him duck his head and whimper. "Mn-!"

"Is there a problem?" Iruka asked sharply, stopping when he realized that the blond was frightened.

One of the other men—another ninja, a jounin this time—stood, glaring at him. "Do you know what he is, Iruka?! How could you just let him walk in here?!"

The brunet narrowed his eyes. "I know exactly what he is. He's a hungry little boy."

"He's the—"

"I know you're a jounin and all, Ebisu, but let's not forget that if it comes to blows, I win," Iruka snarled, eyes narrowed. "Now sit down and leave me alone."

Naruto hesitated to follow him further, but he wasn't given a choice; the chunin grabbed him by the collar of his skirt and lifted him up onto a bar seat, right next to a woman with purple hair and brown eyes playing with a kunai. She looked down at him in surprise, blinking for a moment, before looking up at Iruka in confusion.

Iruka smiled sweetly. "Anko, this is Uzumaki Naruto. Naruto, this is Mitarashi Anko. She's one of my best friends. She'll look after you if I can't, okay?"

"What the hell?" Anko asked, appearing just as confused as she had before. She let out a yelp as the chunin smacked her in the back of the head. "Ow! What the hell?!"

"You shouldn't curse in front of children, Anko," the man scolded.

"Tch, whatever." She looked down at the blond skeptically, then managed a small smile and ruffled his hair a little. "Nice to meetcha, kiddo."

Iruka smiled, happy that his friend had accepted the blond, then turned as Teuchi walked over to them. "Good evening, Teuchi-san."

"Evening," the man replied, then blinked at the blond in surprise. "Oh, looks like you've brought someone new."

Iruka smiled again. "This is Uzumaki Naruto. I found him outside, so I figured he was hungry."

"Ah. Well, Uzumaki Naruto, what type of ramen would you like?" Teuchi asked, turning his gaze back to the blond.

Naruto looked between the three adults in confusion, then ducked his head and mumbled, "Spicy beef ramen, please."

The man smiled and patted him on the head. "Good choice. I'll get that right out to you. You two will have your regulars, won't you?" he asked, turning his attention to the two ninja.

They smiled and nodded, each giving their own form of affirmation. Naruto decided that this… wasn't so bad.

.-.-.-.-.-.

Anko and Iruka were strange. Well, he knew that all ninja were strange, but they seemed intimately so; like a brother and sister. Anko would poke fun at Iruka, Iruka would lose his temper, and she'd quickly apologize or—if she didn't do it quickly enough—she'd duck the punch he'd send at her head. Iruka would also poke fun at her, but in a more subtle, polite sort of way. Anko would roll her eyes, shove him playfully, and go back to eating.

They'd even managed to pull him into it, teasing him for eating so quickly, or for his spiky yellow hair. He'd finally braved a poke saying that Anko had no right to talk about hair. He'd been alarmed when Anko had let out a small growl—she had been playing with a kunai when he was brought in—but was reassured when she caught him in a headlock and gave him a noogie.

He was sad when the bill was paid and they all left the restaurant. He shoved his hands in his pockets and turned to go, only to let out a yelp as one of them grabbed the back of his shirt and dragged him back. "Gack-!"

"Hey, you didn't think we were going to let you walk home alone, did you?" Anko complained, frowning, before giving him another noogie. "You're a cute kid! Someone might try to beat you up!"

Naruto mumbled something about it not being anything new but was only rewarded with a smack on the back of the head. "Ow! What the hell was that for?!"

Anko yanked him away from another smack, instead giving him a noogie slightly harder than the first. "Kid's your age shouldn't be cussing, squirt."

Iruka scowled and blew a piece of hair out of his face, then crossed his arms. "…You know what, Anko and I were going to go to my house, have ice-cream, and watch movies. Why don't you come with us?"

"Huh?" The blond looked up at them in confusion.

These people were insane. They had brought him into enemy territory, paid for his meal, and had been kind to him. Something must have been up.

Feeling the need to prove that he could see something was up, he stated, "…There's something wrong with you."

"Well, duh, we kill people as an occupation," Anko stated, smiling, as she ruffled his hair again. She frowned when the blond's gaze didn't soften and looked up at her friend. "…Iruka…"

"…You grew up way too quickly," Iruka stated, sighing. "Just like we did. Now, if someone had tried to take us in like we did with you, maybe we wouldn't have turned out like we did—chasing each other down with kunai and trying to kill each other over jokes we didn't mean."

"…Or you chasing me down and trying to kill me over jokes I didn't mean," the jounin mumbled, scowling and crossing her arms, but the brunet ignored her.

Naruto looked down at his feet. "…Sounds better than what I have."

"Then become a part of it!" Iruka suggested cheerfully, smiling. "We haven't scared you away yet, have we?"

The blond blinked up at him in confusion, then looked up at Anko to find her giving him an encouraging smile. After a few moments of thought, he sighed and nodded slowly. "Alright. But if you guys are tricking me, I'm gonna be really mad!"

"…What are you gonna do? Eat ramen at us to death?" Anko asked, and had to laugh when the blond let out a roar and tried to tackle her. She stumbled, but didn't fall, and tossed him down to the ground. Then, she took off running.

Iruka scowled and helped him up. "Come on, Naruto. Let's lock her out of the apartment and eat all of the ice-cream while she claws at the window."

"What?! Did I hear you right?! Iruka, don't you dare!" she roared, spinning to look at him.

The brunet caught Naruto around the waist and began running toward his apartment. "I'll dare all I want! It's my apartment!"

Naruto decided that being friends with Anko and Iruka wouldn't be so bad, if they had no ulterior motions.