Akatsuki Child

*16*

Mai sat quietly while playing with Kuro while all the others were chatting. Which was basically just Naruto shouting and Sakura and Ino arguing. Just the usual.

Mai didn't mind it much though. It reminded her of the Akatsuki. She missed them alot. They were her family.

"Hey Mai, where are you from?"

Mai stopped playing as she knew this was the moment where her false background would come into play.

All the practicing with her mama and Itachi came to mind and she easily spoke out.

"Mai from village hidden in flower. "

"Really? Where's that at?" Sakura questioned.

"I heard of it before once in a book. Not much on it. Only that it's a small village near the village hidden in the rain. Not much is known on how to get there either." Shikamaru piped in.

Mai just silently nodded in agreement.

"Did you move here with your family?" Ino curiously asked.

"No. Mai live with Kashi." Mai replied shortly. She couldn't tell them about the Akatsuki and she didn't exactly want to talk about her birth family. She didn't know if she should talk much about Kakashi either.

"Kashi?" Naruto asked. "Who dat?"

"Mai's guardian. "

Just then, Teuchi-san came over with his daughter, both carrying trays with bowls on them.

"Alright kids, here is your food." Teuchi-san said as he began to hand out all the bowls. Placing them in front of their respective person. His daughter following behind him in setting the bowls in her hand down.

"You kids enjoy now!" She said with a smile before walking off with her father.

Excitingly, Naruto turned to look at Mai. He was practically bouncing in his seat.

"What's wrong Naruto? What you jumping around for so much?" Kiba asked confused.

"I'm excited to see Mai try Ramen for the first time. I'm sure shes going to love it. Believe it!" He replied loudly while grinning brightly at Mai.

Mai could practically feel the excitement oozing out of Naruto and could feel his gaze on her. His excitement was so strong that Mai herself could feel herself getting excited as well. Naruto was praising the ramen very highly here so she faced the bowl in front of her excited. Though her face remain neutral, anyone can see the awe and excitement swirling in her clear eyes.

Mai settled Kurochi in her lap, making sure he was comfortable, before reaching her hand out to the table in front of her. She felt around for a clear spot a bit before gently slapping the table. Using the vibrations, she was able to 'see' where everything was. Grabbing her chopsticks, she settled them in her hands firmly before using them to pick up the miso flavored noodles in the bowl before her. She wasted no time in bringing them to her mouth.

The flavor immediately filled her mouth along with the texture. Mai chewed her food before swallowing before letting out a quiet 'ah'.

"'Ah?' What's that suppose to mean? Do you like it or not?" Kiba asked confused.

Mai quickly nodded as a small smile slowly lit up on her face. She really enjoyed the ramen, She's never had anything like this before. She excitingly continued eating her food as Naruto laughed beside her.

"See Mai-chan! I told you! Its the best thing to ever exist!" He shouted loudly before he as well quickly began eating.

"Un. Kitty right." Mai said with a small smile while facing Naruto before turning back and diving back into her own food.

"Kyaahh! Look at her smile! She's so cute!" Sakura squealed.

"Do you want to try my ramen Mai-chan? I have the pork one!" Ino said with a smile.

"Y-you c-c-can try...mine too....I-its t-t-tofu.." Hinata muttered quietly with a small smile.

Mai faced the direction of the two girls and happily nodded. And just like that, Mai got to try a it of everyone's food. Even Choji and Sasuke's. Sasuke even shared one of his tomatoes with her!

In the end, Mai was very full as she at the equivalence of two bowls which is quite a lot for her. Eating so much food, she could feel herself getting sleepy. She didn't even realize it when she fell asleep on Naruto's shoulder, tightly hugging her stuffed bear to her chest.

Naruto looked down at the small girl that fell asleep on his shoulder and he felt a weird feeling in his chest. He was confused and couldn't figure out what this feeling was. 'Is this what it's like to have a family?'

Naruto could feel his eyes water a little bit but before anything could leak out he quickly wiped his eyes before smiling brightly at the others. Even though he never really got along with anyone around him, it was nice to eat with everyone.

"It seems Mai-chan fell asleep so I'm gonna take her home." Naruto said as he gathered the small girl in his arms before standing up. As soon as Naruto's arms wrapped around Mai, her body became instantly alert. Had it not been the familiar smell of Naruto(ramen and dirty socks) she would have instantly attacked. Instead though, she just snuggled into him more.

"Tch, dobe. Do you even know where she lives?" Sasuke tsk'd as he looked at the blonde boy holding the mysterious girl in his arms.

Naruto looked as though he didn't think of that as he sheepishly smiled before glaring at Sasuke. "Shut up teme! I can just ask gramps to tell me where she lives!" Naruto said, semi-loud.

After everyone paid(Sasuke paid for Mai), they all walked out of the restaurant and parted ways from each other as it was late now and they all needed to return home. Sasuke followed behind Naruto though again, much to the blondes annoyance, to make sure the small girl got home safely.

When they reached the hokage's tower, the two made their way up and to the man himself office. Sasuke went to knock on the door but was left shocked when Naruto kicked the door open and walked in semi-loud.

"Gramps, I need to know where Mai-chan lives!" He said as he walked towards the older man, ignoring everyone else in the room.

"Its good to see you too Naruto." Hiruzen replied, sweat dropping at the blondes actions. "And theres no need to know. Her guardian is right there." He said while pointing towards the silver haired jonin who was lazily staring at the blonde holding the silver haired girl he was tasked with taking care of.

At this new found information, Naruto and Sasuke both turned towards Kakashi at the same time and just stared at him.

Kakashi began to slightly sweat under their stares as he hesitantly chuckled. 'What did I do?' he thought to himself as he picked the small girl up from Naruto's arms.

He gave a quick thank you to the two boys before giving a farewell to the hokage and poofing away.

_____

Sorry I've been gone for so long. Ive been so busy and everytime I go to work on the story I get sidetracked to easily. It took me so long writing this alone as I kept getting distracted. But anyways, I want to know if you guys want me to do a couple more filler chapters or just start with the actual story. If you want more fillers, ima need you're help with ideas as I'm not processing any right now. But yea, other then that, I hope you enjoyed the update and let me know what you think. I'll try my best to work hard too!