Naruto and Menma stepped inside. A stale smell washed over them. Dust lay like a thin veil over every corner. Though the house was covered in dust from having been unoccupied for so long, the furniture had, surprisingly, been kept in fairly good condition.
Sunlight spilled through the cracks around the windows, illuminating the dust motes floating in the air. To their surprise, when they had arrived that morning, they had found that the water and electricity were working, too, as if the house were quietly welcoming its new owners.
Menma stood in the middle of the house, slowly surveying his surroundings. A trace of melancholy crept into his eyes as he sighed, "Everything's changed." His voice echoed through the empty house, as if recounting its past.
"What a hassle. We still have to clean the place." Menma couldn't help glancing at Naruto. If Naruto had already learned Multi-Shadow Clone, they might have been able to get everything done in no time.
Naruto looked at Menma, who was staring at him strangely. Naruto couldn't help feeling confused, as if Menma were saying, "You can take care of all the chores."
"How about... we look around first?" Naruto suggested to Menma.
"Mm, that works." With that, Menma headed upstairs.
On the second floor, Menma opened the door to a room. A faint, musty smell lingered inside, and spiderwebs hung in the corners.
The moment Menma spotted the webs, his heart gave a jolt, and he stopped in his tracks. He carefully avoided them, warily scanning the room in case a spider suddenly appeared.
His gaze was drawn to a cabinet. As he walked toward it, he kept glancing at the spiderwebs.
Suddenly, he felt something crawl past his foot. He jumped up with a startled "Aah!" When he looked closely, it turned out to be a tiny insect. He breathed a sigh of relief, though his heart was still pounding.
He had been afraid of spiders, centipedes, and snakes before he crossed over. He hadn't expected to still fear them after arriving in this world.
With trembling hands, he opened the cabinet and found a mostly white cloak inside. Five large characters were printed on it: Fourth Hokage.
"Minato's cloak. That's so cool," Menma said, pleasantly surprised. He picked it up and put it on, but it was a little too big. From behind, only the characters for "Fourth Generation" could be seen.
Menma's attention shifted back to the cabinet. Hanging inside was a Kunai—the very Flying Thunder God Kunai that belonged to Minato.
Menma took it down and toyed with it in his hand. He thought that if he learned Flying Thunder God, he could show off even better than Minato. The thought made him grin foolishly.
Downstairs, Naruto went into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. There were still some spoiled, rotten foods inside. The moment he smelled them, he covered his nose.
"How long have these things been in here?" Naruto said with a disgusted look at the rotting, foul-smelling food.
He looked around the first floor, but found nothing else worth seeing, so he headed upstairs.
As soon as he reached the second floor, he noticed a room with the light on. Curious, Naruto walked over. Inside, he saw Menma wearing the Fourth Hokage's cloak and playing with a Kunai.
"Menma, what are you...?" Naruto asked.
"Unless I'm mistaken, these should belong to our dad. That means our dad was the Fourth Hokage!" Menma explained.
"What? Our dad was the Fourth Hokage?" Naruto stared at Menma in shock.
"By general reasoning, yes. There's a photo here, too." Menma picked up a photograph from the corner and handed it to Naruto. It showed Minato and Kushina together.
Naruto took the photo with trembling hands. His eyes stayed fixed on the two people in it, and his own gradually reddened as tears welled up.
His lips quivered as he asked in a choked voice, "Are they... our... mom and dad?" Each word seemed to struggle out from deep in his throat, and his body swayed slightly with emotion.
"Since the Third Hokage gave us the key to this house, it must have belonged to our parents. So naturally, everything inside belongs to them, too," Menma replied, looking at Naruto.
Big tears rolled down Naruto's cheeks. It was the first time he had ever seen a photo of his parents. Living in the house where Minato and Kushina had once lived made him feel as if he were a little closer to them.
Seeing Naruto cry, Menma understood how he felt. He walked over, gently patted Naruto on the back, and smiled at him. "It's okay, big brother. You still have me."
At those words, Naruto threw his arms around Menma. Just as the brothers were lost in the warmth and sorrow of the moment, a knock suddenly sounded at the door.
The sound was like a stone dropped into a still lake, shattering the quiet. They both stopped. Naruto was still sniffling softly. Menma patted him on the shoulder, then turned and went downstairs to answer the door.
Watching Menma leave, Naruto wiped away his tears and hurried after him.
The two of them reached the door and opened it. Standing outside was a man with a bowl-cut hairstyle and thick eyebrows, dressed in a green training suit with a Chunin uniform over it. He wore his Forehead Protector around his waist like a belt. The visitor was none other than Konoha's Blue Beast, Might Guy.
Menma was overjoyed at the sight. This was the mighty Guy, who had nearly kicked his way to the finale! Menma looked at Might Guy with admiration.
Beside him, Naruto still hadn't recovered from learning who his parents were. His head hung low.
"Hello! I'm Konoha's Blue Beast, Might Guy! It's a pleasure to meet you. I've been given a mission by the Third Hokage, and starting today, I'll be teaching you to read and write!" With that, Might Guy struck his signature pose.
"Huh? Guy's going to teach us... to read and write? What a waste of his talent. Even a Chunin, or a Genin, could teach little kids to read. What was Hiruzen Sarutobi thinking?" Menma grumbled inwardly.
"Um... Teacher Guy, I'm Uzumaki Menma, and this is my big brother, Naruto Uzumaki." Menma smiled politely and, out of habit, held out his hand to shake.
Might Guy enthusiastically took Menma's hand, his eyes brimming with energy. Then his gaze fell on Naruto. Under his gaze, Naruto looked up and said with a little confusion and frankness, "Hello, bushy-browed teacher."
Menma groaned inwardly. Calling him by a nickname the moment they met—he hoped Teacher Guy wouldn't get angry. But Might Guy was quite broad-minded. He laughed, gave Naruto a thumbs-up, and said, "You've got plenty of spirit, Naruto!" He didn't seem to take the nickname as an insult. Instead, he saw it as a sign of Naruto's energy.
"Right, Naruto? Don't be so down. Your youth is only just beginning!"
Seeing Might Guy, Menma had a bad feeling. Could it really be okay to have this guy, who always went on about youth, teach them to read and write?
Would they have to study while doing Taijutsu training? Like, if they couldn't learn a hundred characters today, they'd have to do a thousand squats?
Menma immediately broke into a cold sweat. That would be the death of him. But on second thought, it didn't sound too bad. After all, the only things that could hurt the Six Paths were Senjutsu and Taijutsu. Thinking that over, Menma made up his mind: no matter what, he had to learn Taijutsu from Guy.
"Um... Teacher Guy... could I work up a sweat like you while learning to read and write? I heard you're a Taijutsu genius. Could I train with you?" Menma looked at Might Guy almost pleadingly.
Might Guy and Naruto both froze for a moment, but Guy quickly recovered. Striking his signature pose at Menma, he said, "I approve of your youth! I accept your request."
Menma copied Might Guy's thumbs-up, his teeth gleaming as he smiled.
Naruto looked at Might Guy, then at Menma, utterly confused. He had no idea what the two of them were doing.
Only then did Menma realize what was going on. He hurriedly invited Might Guy inside. The moment they entered, he suddenly remembered that they hadn't cleaned the house at all. There wasn't even anywhere to sit—it was all covered in dust.
Seeing this, Menma awkwardly scratched his head and said to Might Guy, "Sorry, Teacher Guy. We just moved in today and haven't had time to clean yet. And now you're here."
"That's all right, Naruto! Doing chores is another way to work up a sweat. Let's make our youth burn!" Might Guy said to Menma.
"Um... Teacher Guy, I'm Menma. He's Naruto."
Menma suddenly remembered all the things that had happened between Might Guy and Kisame. He had a feeling this might become a regular occurrence. After all, he and Naruto really did look alike—there was hardly any difference between them. The only possible distinction was that Naruto had three whisker marks on each cheek, while he had only two.
Hearing Menma say that, Guy gave an awkward smile and said, "I see. Sorry about that. I won't mix you up next time. Now, let's work up a sweat!"
With that, Might Guy started assigning chores as if he were handing out a mission. Then he turned solemnly to Menma and said, "If we haven't finished cleaning the house by this morning, you'll run ten laps around the village!"
Might Guy had taken into account that the two kids hadn't trained much. If it were him, he'd have started them at a hundred laps.
Hearing this, Naruto's mouth fell open. He stared at Might Guy in shock, then looked at Menma.
Menma was stunned, too. He had thought they might have to do a hundred or two hundred squats or something. Why were they going to run ten laps around the village right off the bat?
Konoha was pretty big, after all. Running ten laps around it would nearly kill them.
After Might Guy had assigned them their cleaning tasks, Menma started wiping the furniture. When he reached a corner, he saw another spiderweb. His body trembled slightly. He hesitated, then finally worked up the courage to clean it.
Naruto, who was mopping nearby, saw him and laughed. "Menma, why are you so afraid of spiders?" Menma blushed and said, "What's so funny? Spiders have so many legs. They look terrifying."
Hearing them, Might Guy encouraged Menma. "Menma, don't be afraid. This is your chance to overcome yourself. It's a challenge of youth!" Menma took a deep breath, gritted his teeth, and carefully cleaned away the web.
Watching them work hard, Might Guy said, "Now this is youth!" Then he, too, grabbed a rag and wiped down some of the higher surfaces.
At noon, it was time for lunch. The three of them gathered together, while Naruto and Menma collapsed onto the floor, panting heavily.
They hadn't expected to clean the entire house from top to bottom in just half a day. It had been quite a job.
Might Guy looked down at the two lying on the floor and smiled in satisfaction. "Now this is youth! To reward you for your hard work, I've decided to take you on five laps around the village!"
At that, Naruto and Menma froze. Menma grumbled inwardly, Come on, man. So no matter whether we finish the work or not, we still have to run laps around the village?
Might Guy called the two brothers over, ready to take them to lunch. Naruto immediately perked up and asked what they were having. Menma sat up, then slowly got to his feet.
"What do you want to eat?" Might Guy asked them.
"Ramen! Let's have ramen for lunch!" Naruto said excitedly, looking at Might Guy and then at Menma.
"Ramen again?" Menma frowned at Naruto's excited suggestion. "Won't you get tired of eating it so often? How about we try something different?"
Naruto shook his head and replied earnestly, "How could you ever get tired of good food?"
Menma couldn't do anything about Naruto, so he reluctantly agreed to go eat ramen.
"All right, then. Let's go get ramen!" Might Guy said, remembering to give them a thumbs-up.
Before you continue