Twelve minutes later, I was panting by the ramen shop.
"Almost... huff...  there..." I gasped, hands on my knees. I looked up, seeing the school in the distance. I stood back up straight and psyched myself to start running again. Then, I noticed a mass of people leaving the grounds.
There's no way in Minato's name I was late to his graduation! I thought frantically. I dashed to the gateway, stopping to stand on my toes to see above the mass of parents.
Where the head is he?! I thought, straining my neck. Then, I noticed a solitary ninja sitting on the tree swing sideways, his blue eyes looking down.
"Ha ha! Found ya!" I breathed, and started struggling against the crowd to reach him. I heard some muttering as I got closer. And not the nice mutterings either.
The villagers still think the same? Idiots, I rolled my eyes, glancing around at the clearing Genin and co. I actually recognized a few.
I finally reached the tree, but stopped within three feet of him. He was crying silently as people whispered not so quietly amongst themselves. I guess he didn't pass.
"Hey," I started, reaching a hand out to him, coming closer. "You okay?"
If all eyes weren't on us before, they sure were now. The Blond looked up at me, turning his head to the left to do so. There was a small hint of recognition-
"Who are you?"
Erk- wow, that hurt, Naruto!!!
"Erm...." I glanced around. So it's been too long. Fine. He still stared at me with drying eyes.
"Don't cry, baka, you don't wanna have that look on your face when I tell you where you're going with me," I told him, crossing my arms. I felt the crowd eye me. It was getting annoying. Naruto was looking at me with the same look.
"Where-? Who-?" He started, and I sighed at his stupidity.
"Ramen, of course! Where else would you go to eat?"
Instantly his eyes lit up. "Ramen?" Jeez, did this kid have swings or what?
"Yes, ramen from your favorite place. So get up and quit ya raining before I change my mind."

Ten minutes later we were finishing our bowls of ramen at Ichiraku, Naruto having ate three bowls, and I had..... Ya know what? Let's move on.
Soon, I heard a voice from behind me.
"Hello Naruto," he said, and I turned. It was a shinobi that I didn't recognize, a younger one.
"Oh hi, Mizuki-sensei!" Naruto said, finishing off his ramen. The shinobi- Mizuki-San- glanced at me.
"May I talk to you?" He asked Naruto. He then glanced at me, hate in his eyes. So he was one of those. "Alone."
Naruto glanced at me, a person who was now a stranger to him. However, Naruto still hesitated.
"Go on, Naruto-kun, I'm not going to run off. Follow your sensei." I wave my hand in front of my face. The blond smiled, and followed his sensei out.
Alone, I ordered another bowl of ramen. This is going to cost most of my leftover money from this week, I thought to myself. As I watched the ramen get made, suddenly the cook and owner looked at me curiously.
"Can I ask you a question?" He asked, startling me from whatever I was thinking.
"S-sure," I say, fingering my chopsticks. The man placed the bowl of ramen in front of me, and then looked directly into my eyes.
"Aren't you Uchiha Ran? The girl whose family left the village six or seven years ago?"
I fell out of my chair, I was so surprised that he recognized me.
"Are you okay?" He asked as I pulled myself up.
"Y-yeah, I was surprised, that's all." I sat back down.
"So...." he looked at me, waiting for an answer.
I scratched the back of my neck. I muttered, "I didn't think anyone would actually recognize me..."
"Well well well! Long time no see! How are you?" He asked. I started eating my ramen.
"Good, I guess. No one recognizes me, though Sasu-chan might of..." I trailed off.
"Sasu-chan?" He repeated I sighed inwardly.
"Uchiha Sasuke."
"Oh, him! Wait- why do you call him Sasu-chan?"
I went red.
"That- it- gah!" I said, putting my head into my palms. The man burst into laughter as another customer came in.
After I had..... some more.... ramen, I paid and told Ichiraku(?)-san to tell ramen-kun I'd be at his house.
I had a bad feeling, since Naruto still hadn't returned from talking to Mizuki-San. I got a bad feeling around that man.
I hurried to Naruto's appartment, knocking on the door. No answer.
"Naruto- Kun?" I called out, but still got no response. Let's follow my gut, shall we? I turned away from the door and rushed to the Hokage's... building? 12 years and I still didn't know what it was called. Anyway, I got there right as I saw Naruto sneaking out, carrying a large scroll on his back.
"Naruto-kun!" I hissed under my breath, glancing around at the surroundings. No one was around.
"Huh? Oh, you're the nice girl from earlier! Sorry, I can't talk, I gotta study this scroll!"