The market area had more people than either of the men had predicted, and both Naruto and Sasuke drew in a crowd no matter where they went.
As Naruto paraded down, waving at people and taking pictures his stomach growled. He looked expectantly at Sasuke.
"I knew this would happen." Sasuke said with disappointment. "15 minutes."
"Not… not ramen." The boy said settling himself down into Naruto's neck.
"You've never had this ramen Menma!" Naruto smiled. He didn't stop to think that the boy should have no reason to know that Naruto always ate ramen.
Ichiraku's had a restaurant and it had a poster of Naruto at the front windows. The waiting time to enter was usually half an hour, but because the inauguration was tomorrow and everyone wanted to eat at Naruto's favorite spot the line was ridiculously long.
Naruto saw the line and groaned, almost dropping the kid.
Sasuke rolled his eyes. "You can just walk right in. You're literally on the poster."
"But then what about everyone waiting in line for a table." Naruto furrowed his eyebrows. "It's not fair to them."
"Big Brother!" Konohamaru yelled from the front of the line. "Big Brother! Come eat with me!" He was waving furiously at the two.
Naruto laughed and started running in place. "Sasuke! Let's go!"
"I'm not hun—" Sasuke's stomach growled.
Naruto and the boy stared at him expressionless.
Sasuke cleared his throat. "If the food isn't ready in the next 15 minutes we are leaving."
As Sasuke had suspected, when Naruto and him met up with Konohamru in the line the people stepped aside and allowed them in before them. In record time they were seated in a table for four. As they made their orders fans came and asked to take pictures with Naruto, who smiled politely for each of them.
"Please allow Naruto to finish his meal before asking him to sign any more autographs, my dear customers." Teuchi said with a smile on his face. Despite having a full staff, he personally arrived with their four orders to congratulate Naruto.
"Hmm…" Teuchi was staring at the boy sitting next to Naruto, who was desperately trying to avoid making eye contact. "That boy reminds me of this one kid who refused to come into my shop, even in the rain." He looked to Naruto, winked, and walked away.
Naruto stared at the man. He was about to say something, but Teuchi walked away just as he was about to speak. "Future Lord Sixth, this meal is on me." He called back as he walked away back to the kitchen.
"Thank you!" Naruto screamed after him with a smile on his face, already beginning to eat.
"Yes! Big brother I knew eating with you would be the best!" Konohamaru said with his mouth full of food. "So, who's the kid?"
The boy started to eat his food in silence. Sasuke was sitting across from him and he refused to mess this up. He side-eyed the man next to Sasuke, he was looking at him suspiciously. He then turned to Sasuke, who slightly nodded at the boy, allowing him to answer.
"My name is Menma big br-Konohamaru." The boy corrected himself and smiled at them.
Konohamaru raised his eyebrow. "Oh, you know my name?" He was still eating at record speed.
"Da-Naruto called you that." The boy looked at Sasuke who was eating his ramen in silence.
The boy looked down and started eating as fast as he could before Sasuke rushed them out.
"Hey big bro, why are you showing a kid around on such a busy day?" Konohamaru spoke with his mouthful.
"It's my mission!" Naruto said, with his mouthful too. "I'm still a shinobi like you and I just do as I'm told." He finished his bowl.
Konohamaru was confused because there was no way Tsunade would order an escort mission, but he trusted his brother entirely. He finished his bowl and just as he was about to continue the conversation Sasuke stood up. "It's been 15 minutes. We're leaving" He said coldly.
The boy stared at his half-finished bowl. How did they finish this already? He thought staring at their empty bowls.
"Let's go. Menma, pick that up and chug it." Naruto ordered the boy. "Come on now kid."
The boy did as he was told and slurped the ramen as quickly as possible. When he finished, he saw Konohamaru giving him a funny look, as if he was concentrating as hard as he could.
"I'll follow you guys." Konohamaru rushed after Sasuke. As the four left the restaurant, they saw that the crowd of people had just doubled. Word had got out that Naruto and Sasuke where at Ichiraku's.
The crowd surrounded them and quickly pushed both Konohamaru and the boy away from the village heroes.
"Mr. Sasuke and my big brother really are the biggest celebrities in all of the Leaf." Konohamaru said to the boy as they saw the crowd continuously grow. He guided the boy to the sides, at a distance from Naruto and Sasuke. "So Menma, tell me, are you excited to watch the inauguration?"
"Uh… yeah." He was nervous. He didn't want to make Sasuke angry.
"I'm guessing your parents must be some super famous people if they got my big bro and Mr. Sasuke escorting you." He was whispering, but he had a smile on his face, as if he had solved the mystery behind the whole ordeal.
"Uh… yeah. My dad is famous." The boy said looking as Naruto ran a hand through his hair and bowed at the people begging him for an autograph and as Sasuke stood there with his arms crossed in annoyance.
"Oh, and what about your mom?" Konohamaru pressured him.
"My… my mom?" He asked as he saw Sasuke grow so annoyed to the point where he grabbed Naruto by the collar and started dragging him away from the crowd. "I… I don't…"
Konohamaru pressed on. "Oh man, she must be super famous if you can't talk about her! Can you give me hints about who she is? How does she look? Is she pretty? What color is her hair? I bet I can guess who she is if she's famous!"
"She…" the boy thought about it. "Her hair… is black." He looked at Konohamaru. "And her eyes… are white."
There are 5 chapters left and I will post one each day until the conclusion.
Thank ya'll for reading.