Naruto habitually pulled out his old keys, worn shiny with use, and slipped one into the lock.
"Click."
The key slid smoothly into the keyhole.
Naruto turned it to the right.
It did not budge.
Naruto: "..."
He blinked his blue eyes, unwilling to believe it.
He pulled it out, lined it up, slid it back in, and twisted!
A dull clunk, unmistakably conveying "no," came from the lock, and the key remained stubbornly stuck.
Naruto stared at the obviously brand-new door, its panel noticeably thicker than before. His mouth twitched, and a vein seemed to throb at his temple.
That old geezer's renovation crew replaced the door and didn't leave me a key? Give me back all that worry I wasted on him!
Naruto took a deep breath and, somewhat helplessly, curled his fingers and knocked on the pristine new door.
This was the first time he had ever needed to knock to get into his own home.
"Knock, knock-knock."
The knocking had barely faded when light footsteps, quick as a bounding fawn, sounded inside. Then the door swung open.
Hanabi Hyuga poked out her little face, beaming brightly. Her large eyes lit up like stars at the sight of Naruto. "Wow! Big Brother Naruto, you're back!"
Her voice was clear and bright, bubbling with a little girl's excitement.
"Perfect timing! My sister and Big Sister Ino just finished making dinner!"
Hanabi reached out a little hand and grabbed Naruto's wrist with surprising strength, hauled him inside, then shut the door with a bang, all in one smooth motion.
As Naruto stepped inside, a warm breath of air, mingling the aroma of food with a certain... well... new-furniture smell, washed over him and instantly enveloped him.
He instinctively looked up and around, then froze in the entryway.
*Was... was